Having made up his mind, Seojin turned to Shin Seyoung, who was holding the little client in his arms.
“Mr. Shin Seyoung, then come to my place with us.”
“Pardon? But we’ve only just met. I can’t impose on you like that.”
Apparently caught off guard by the unexpected suggestion, Shin Seyoung bit down hard on his lower lip and shook his head.
“I understand that it wouldn’t be easy for me either to immediately say I’d follow someone I barely know. But you don’t have anywhere you can go right now, do you?”
“That’s not what I meant. I’m actually grateful that you helped me.”
“Thank you for saying that. Anyway, like I said earlier, those people are going to come back. You’ll need to lie low for a few days, so even if it’s a little inconvenient, how about staying at my place?”
At the repeated gentle suggestion, Shin Seyoung slowly lifted his face and looked at Seojin. Before he knew it, his eyes had grown moist.
“I’m really sorry. And thank you for helping me today.”
Who could refuse a request from such a gentle, pretty protagonist when he looked like that? Of course, Seojin had a much bigger reason of his own.
“When someone’s in trouble, people should help each other. I’ll wait for you, so go pack your things.”
“Okay.”
Shin Seyoung bowed his head, then hurried up the stairs. In the meantime, Seojin bent his knees until he was at eye level with the little client.
“Jun, when are your parents coming back?”
“Soon…….”
“Then I guess we should wait until they get here before leaving.”
Perhaps reassured by the words accompanied by Seojin’s smile, the little client’s expression relaxed considerably. But what came next was unexpected.
“It’s okay. Jun can stay by himself!”
“No. We can’t do that.”
“Jun’s a big brother, so I’m not scared.”
From the brave tone of the child’s voice, Seojin realized that he was already accustomed to staying home alone.
“I see. You’re really brave. But because you called us today, Seyoung hyung didn’t get hurt. So I want to meet your parents and explain everything properly. I want to tell them it was thanks to Jun. How does that sound?”
“Hehe…….”
Apparently pleased by the praise, the little client smiled adorably. Manager Kim, who had been watching the two of them, casually spoke up.
“Then I’ll wait here and talk to them, so you should head back, Seojin.”
“Ah, you will, Manager Kim?”
“Mm-hm. I’m good at this kind of thing. You saw me earlier, right?”
Seojin recalled how Manager Kim had naturally slipped right between the gangsters and the police the moment they went up to the rooftop room.
“Then I’ll leave it to you, Manager Kim.”
“Yep. Leave it to me.”
Manager Kim winked as if telling Seojin to trust him. After confirming that Shin Seyoung still had not come down, Seojin walked toward the car. He also needed to properly explain the situation to Euni.
But unexpected music was playing inside the car.
It was a cheerful, lively melody.
A children’s song.
Doubting his own ears, Seojin walked right up to the window.
“I’m gonna! Dance today! Hey! Tomato!”
Euni was sitting in the child seat in the back, bobbing her head along with the song. She looked truly delighted as she waved her tiny fern-like hands back and forth.
Without realizing it, Seojin glanced toward the driver’s seat.
Haegang was leaning deeply back into the seat with his arms crossed, already looking in Seojin’s direction.
The orange-tinted interior lighting of the car softened his sharp jawline and fierce eyes in a strange way. Combined with the children’s song playing through the car audio system and Euni’s clear singing voice, it was impossible to think of him as a sub yandere top.
“Are you finished?”
He asked with the corner of his mouth curved upward.
“Ah, yes…….”
Unable to easily tear his eyes away from that gaze, Seojin answered quietly. Yoon Haegang lazily dipped his head once.
“Then let’s go back.”
“Ah, wait a moment. I need to explain something to Euni.”
Hurriedly waving his hands as if asking Haegang to wait just a little, Seojin opened the back door.
“Daddyyyy!”
Euni immediately threw both arms open, and Seojin broke into a broad smile as well.
“Yes, Euni. You waited a long time, didn’t you?”
“Nooo! Euni had fun! Mister Boss played songs for me!”
Euni beamed as she gestured toward Yoon Haegang.
“……He did? So you had fun?”
“Yeah!”
“I see. That’s a relief. Um, but Euni. Daddy has someone he wants to bring home with us.”
“Whooo?”
“He’s Daddy’s friend, but his home got damaged and he has nowhere to sleep, so Daddy told him he could come stay with us. Would Euni be okay with that?”
As Seojin carefully explained it step by step, Euni rolled her eyes around as though thinking hard.
“Do we have to help him?”
“Yeah. Daddy would like us to.”
At Seojin’s nod, Euni held up two tiny fingers.
“But Daddy, our house has two rooms. Where will your friend sleep?”
Wondering if his daughter might secretly be a genius for immediately identifying the practical problem, Seojin cautiously answered.
“Daddy was thinking of sleeping with Euni for a while. How does that sound?”
At that, Euni clapped her hands together, delighted instead.
“Good! Euni likes it! I wanna sleep with Daddy!”
She even kicked her legs excitedly, and only then did Seojin let out a relieved sigh.
“Don’t tell me you’re taking him home.”
Yoon Haegang asked in a low voice. His gaze was directed at Shin Seyoung, who stood there with a Boston bag beside him.
“Of course he is, Boss. We can’t leave an omega alone when he’s in trouble. Right, Seojin?”
Manager Kim, who had approached without anyone noticing, suddenly cut into the conversation. Then he turned his head in a direction Yoon Haegang could not see and winked at Seojin, wearing an expression that seemed to ask, See? Didn’t I do well?
Manager Kim had thoroughly misunderstood that the sub yandere top was interested in Shin Seyoung, so this was his own form of consideration and backup.
Seojin, however, had heard the chill threaded through Yoon Haegang’s tone and was privately wondering, What’s wrong with him again? Still, he gave an awkward smile.
“Daddy! Let’s go hooome!”
Euni’s shout as she kicked her legs broke the oddly stiff standoff between the three men.
“Mr. Shin Seyoung, come this way.”
Seojin hurriedly beckoned to Shin Seyoung.
Yoon Haegang twisted his lips as he stared at the back of Seojin’s round head. Meanwhile, Shin Seyoung hesitantly approached the car.
Knowing there was no room in the back because of the child seat, Seojin was just about to tell him to sit in the passenger seat when Yoon Haegang spoke first.
“Mr. Noh Seojin, you sit in the passenger seat.”
Their eyes met directly, and for some reason Seojin could not find an opening to object. He obediently did as he was told.
Shin Seyoung also glanced between the two of them once before silently getting into the back.
“Boss, Seojin. Get home safely.”
“Yes, Manager Kim. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With Manager Kim seeing them off, the car pulled away.
No one spoke inside. Only the cute children’s song and Euni’s clear singing voice filled the car.
‘I could’ve just driven…….’
But he had already missed the chance, so Seojin simply hoped they would arrive as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the uncomfortable silence did not last long. As soon as the car came to a stop in the villa parking lot, Seojin hurried out.
Shin Seyoung awkwardly stepped onto the ground while clutching his Boston bag, and Yoon Haegang also opened his door and got out.
Seojin walked around the hood, opened the rear door behind the driver’s seat, lifted Euni out of her child seat, then greeted Yoon Haegang.
“Boss, thank you so much for everything, especially this late. Please get home safely.”
At Seojin’s words, which practically told him to leave immediately, Yoon Haegang tilted his head crookedly.
But after Euni brightly called out bye-bye and Shin Seyoung also bowed deeply at the waist, he turned away without lingering.
Soon, the sound of his dress shoes cut coldly through the night air as it receded into the distance.
At his attitude, which seemed to be radiating icy wind in every direction, Seojin let out a long sigh inwardly.
‘What now? Why is he suddenly in a bad mood again?’
When he had been alone with Euni earlier, he had not seemed like a sub yandere top at all.
Seojin tore his gaze away from Yoon Haegang’s retreating back and looked at Shin Seyoung, who had completely shrunk into himself.
“Shall we head upstairs?”
At Seojin’s gentle words, Shin Seyoung silently nodded.
Holding Euni’s hand, Seojin led the way.
Once he opened the front door and stepped inside, it finally felt as though the long day was coming to an end.
But when he looked at the person following behind him, he realized there was still something left to do.
“Mr. Shin Seyoung, you can use this room.”
Seojin gestured toward his own bedroom.
Then, saying that he would put Euni to bed first and asking Shin Seyoung to wait a little, he left the room.
While Shin Seyoung unpacked his belongings alone, Seojin finished what he needed to do and returned. Sitting opposite him on the sofa, he opened his mouth with a serious expression.
“Mr. Shin Seyoung. If you’re comfortable telling me, could you explain a little? It seems like you have family, so how did you end up living alone? And I also need to know how much I’m actually in a position to help you.”
Letting him stay for a few days would be easy.
It was not as though Seojin did not know what kind of situation he was in.
But if he wanted to untangle the knot, he first needed to properly identify what had caused it to become tangled in the first place.
His conversation with Shin Seyoung was the beginning.