The closer I got to the Director’s office, the harder my heart pounded.
I had absolutely no idea why he had summoned me.
Could he be planning to cancel the contract?
My mother had completed her skin-graft surgery and was now entering the regenerative treatment stage. If something went wrong with the contract at this point, I would be the one left in a desperate situation.
No, that couldn’t be it.
There was no way.
A family that needed an heir more than anything wouldn’t unilaterally cancel a contract. Besides, the insemination had been successful, and the baby was already five weeks old…
If they wanted to cancel it, they never would have gone this far in the first place.
Then what was this about?
Trying to guess on my own wasn’t getting me anywhere, but my mind was so tangled that I couldn’t stop imagining all sorts of possibilities.
As I wandered through my thoughts, I began to notice that the atmosphere here was somewhat unusual.
Starting from the hallway leading from the elevator to the Director’s office, the entire floor had an incredibly fresh and pristine feel to it.
It was almost like entering another world. The air was strangely clean.
And to match the atmosphere, every secretary was dressed impeccably, looking neat and polished from head to toe.
Every now and then, I even saw people walking around wearing masks and gloves.
So what I’d heard at the Chairman’s office really was true.
The requirement to wear masks and gloves when facing or speaking with the Director, and even the rule forbidding people from washing only their bangs…
Apparently, all of it was real.
But these people were incredible.
How could they possibly put up with such a difficult personality?
Was that why they were considered elite secretaries?
I looked around wide-eyed, as though I had just witnessed a world straight out of a legend.
—-“All right. Put these on and follow me. Absolutely do not take them off while you’re inside.”
“Yes.”
I accepted the mask and gloves from the secretary and stared at them for a moment.
An unusual sense of tension crept into my chest.
Putting aside his obsession with cleanliness, he was, after all, the biological father of the child growing inside me—a child created from both his genes and mine.
The thought made me feel strangely unsettled.
After carefully putting on the mask and gloves as instructed, I stepped inside the office.
The door finally opened, revealing a figure seated directly in front of me.
Is that the Director?
His presence was overwhelming.
The moment I stepped into the room, he completely dominated my field of vision to the point where I couldn’t see anything else around him.
The tall man, with a lean yet powerful build, was dressed in a jet-black suit with a subtle sheen.
He stared at me without blinking.
There really are people who look this good in a black suit…
Sitting with his long legs crossed elegantly, one hand supporting his chin as he observed me, he looked like a massive black panther radiating a dangerous, wild aura.
His beautifully shaped forehead was exposed by his neatly slicked-back hair.
His nose was the highest and straightest I had ever seen.
The lines descending from his forehead to his nose were so sharply defined that they were almost breathtaking, while his prominent T-zone gave his face distinctly Western features.
He was handsome enough to leave anyone facing him momentarily stunned and completely lose their train of thought.
But…
He looks somewhat familiar.
Had I seen him somewhere before?
Surely I wouldn’t forget a man this handsome…
But I didn’t have time to wrestle with some half-formed memory.
Standing before the Director as he stared at me with such cold eyes, I didn’t even have a second to leisurely think about anything else.
Seeing me standing there dazed, he gestured for me to sit.
I cautiously approached and sat where he indicated.
The long sofa I was sitting on was arranged somewhat differently from the ones in other offices.
It was positioned an unusually long distance away from the sofa where the Director was sitting.
As soon as I sat down, he lowered his legs and adjusted his posture.
But how could someone stare at another person like that?
His gaze remained firmly fixed on me without wavering, making me so self-conscious that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
—“Welcome. I assume you can guess who I am without an introduction.”
His deep, resonant voice made my ears tingle slightly.
I bowed my head politely before answering.
“Yes. Hello, Director. I was told you were waiting for me, so I already knew.”
—“I apologize for calling you here so suddenly. It must have been inconvenient. Thank you for making the time.”
Despite his words, he didn’t look particularly apologetic or grateful.
Still, I simply answered, “Yes,” and let it go.
—-“We’re both busy, so let’s get straight to the point. The reason I asked you to come here today is…”
Cha Ju Heon paused for a moment.
His gaze dropped toward my abdomen.
After looking at my lower stomach with an odd expression, those sharp eyes lifted back to me.
—-“It’s because you have failed to comply with the terms of the contract.”
“…Excuse me?”
I had failed to comply with the contract?
This had come completely out of nowhere.
I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
From the moment I decided to become a surrogate and began the process, I had followed every single word written in the contract.
I had moved to a new place.
Even my meals followed the dietary plan sent by the Chairman’s secretary.
Once a week, I underwent a thorough medical examination with the family doctor and followed every one of his instructions without missing a thing.
I was protecting this child with the utmost sense of responsibility.
I hadn’t made a single mistake compared to what we had agreed upon.
So what on earth was the problem?
When he saw that I genuinely had no idea what answer he was expecting, he slowly spoke again.
—-“Why are you still working?”
“Working?”
The unexpected question came out of my mouth in a genuinely bewildered tone.
In the cold, tense atmosphere, the Director folded his arms across his chest and stared at me.
—+“Yes. I’m asking why you’re continuing to work, carrying heavy things and running around like that. As I recall, the contract clearly states that you must quit your job immediately after a successful conception to ensure the stability of the pregnancy.”
“…Ah. Regarding that, I explained my circumstances to the Chairman, and he gave me permission.”
—-“What exactly did Grandfather give you permission to do? I don’t think he would have allowed you to run around and carry heavy boxes during the early stages of pregnancy, when the risk of miscarriage is highest.”
The way he spoke as though he knew every detail of what I had been doing suddenly reminded me exactly who he was.
No wonder he had seemed familiar.
He was the man I had bumped into a few days ago when I was hurriedly carrying a box of ingredients.
His hairstyle had been different then, and I had been too busy to do more than pass him by.
Who would have thought it would lead to this?
“…It might sound like an excuse, but I really wasn’t carrying anything heavy. The box I had that day was full of vegetables. I don’t normally run around like that either. I’ve even reduced my working hours considerably…”
—“The important point is that, contrary to what is written in the contract, you are still working. Were you not instructed to rest until the twelfth week?”
He cut me off without mercy and once again used the terms written in the contract to press his point.
Well, he wasn’t wrong. New chapters come out on g.com first.
Still, I felt a little aggrieved because the Chairman had given me permission.
I hadn’t simply decided to ignore the rules on my own…
“But, Director, I have my own circumstances, and I didn’t have much of a choice. If I suddenly quit, my workplace would be short-staffed and have a difficult time. That’s why the Chairman also willingly—”
—-“Do I need to take your personal circumstances into consideration? And besides, I’m the child’s biological father, not the Chairman.”
He let out a derisive scoff, and I felt insulted.
The laugh clearly carried the implication, So what?
Good grief. This man really did have a habit of cutting people off.
Putting his cleanliness obsession aside, he truly was a cold and rigid man.
—-“Mr. Baek Eun-woo. I have no interest in other people’s personal circumstances. To me, the child is what matters most. I only have one child. If something happens and you miscarry, wouldn’t both sides end up in a difficult position? During the early stages of pregnancy, especially for male omegas, the miscarriage rate is generally higher than for women. That is precisely why I included a clause requiring special care in the contract.”
Right.
That was true too.
Although the Director’s attitude was rather cruel and cold, he wasn’t saying anything wrong.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have let my feelings influence my decision to keep working at the café.
I should have found another solution.
—-“Of course, I understand that you’re using your own genes to have a child for me, and I know that agreeing to something like this wasn’t easy. That’s precisely why we have paid you an extremely generous sum in return. On top of that, every little detail has been adjusted according to your wishes. You understand that this is exceptional treatment that no other surrogate has received, correct?”
“I understand that very well.”
I instinctively felt myself shrinking back and answered in a subdued voice.
Partly because everything he said was technically correct, leaving me with nothing to argue against.
And partly because he was a Director, nine years older than me, and carried such an arrogant presence that I couldn’t help feeling intimidated.
“I know your side has treated me very generously. But please try to understand my circumstances as well. I won’t keep doing this for long. As soon as we find someone new and I finish handing over my duties, I’ll quit immediately.”
As a person, I believed in keeping my word and maintaining professional responsibility.
That was all I wanted to uphold.
“Please don’t worry about a miscarriage. Even without the contract, I naturally have a responsibility to the child, so I’ll take very good care of the baby. I’ll make sure to provide proper prenatal education, talk to the baby often, and take good care of them.”
To reassure him, I gently rubbed my lower abdomen and raised my voice slightly.
—-“You don’t need to do anything extra. Just follow the terms of the contract.”
“…I’m not planning to do anything extra. It’s just that the baby is growing inside me right now, and I heard that it’s good for babies to hear their father’s or mother’s voice frequently, so…”
At my words, the Director narrowed his eyes slightly and tilted his head, as though he found something very strange about what I had said.
—“Father?” His voice was quiet.
—“That child is not yours. You only signed a contract to carry the baby as a surrogate, so be careful not to let your emotions cross the line.”
…What? Me? Let my emotions cross the line?
I was only speaking theoretically.
What was wrong with this man?
Even if I was a surrogate, the thing inside my stomach wasn’t some parasite.
It was a living being growing inside me.
Wasn’t it only natural to cherish and protect it?
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of trying to take the baby away from you. I’m fully aware of my current situation.”
Because his attitude was so absurd, I responded somewhat curtly.
Yet once again, he didn’t seem to care in the slightest about my attitude or the way I spoke.
—-“No one knows what life will bring. What if you develop unnecessary feelings and change your mind, going back on your word? You yourself were adamantly against signing the contract at first, and yet you eventually changed your mind. Anything can happen. In any case, it’s only the fifth week. Be careful.”
—-“And there’s one more thing.”
I anxiously waited to hear what he would say next.
But strangely, the Director suddenly fell silent.
Not only did he stop speaking, he simply stared at me with an unreadable expression.
—“…Could you take off your mask for a moment?”
His voice was unexpectedly calm.
—-“I can’t hear you clearly with the mask on.”
And the next thing he said was a request to remove my mask—a completely disjointed remark that had nothing to do with the flow of the conversation before it.