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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Dad's Here
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1.

The midday sun, once high in the sky, was beginning to dip. The elementary school playground was quiet, the children having washed away like the tide after school.

One might think it was empty because kids these days don't play outside, but in a corner, five or six children who had stayed behind were gathered in a circle. From a distance, the cluster of little ones looked as cute as a clump of cotton balls.

Up close, however, it was the scene of a heated argument.

“Go Han-byeol, you know you were in the wrong!”

“No, I wasn't! It wasn't my fault!”

Soccer was the cause of the trouble.

“What are you talking about? I saw it with my own eyes! You pushed Min-seong, like this! We saw you!”

“That's right! We all saw it, so stop being so stubborn, Go Han-byeol! That point doesn't count! It's void!”

The second-graders, all classmates, often kicked a ball around after school. It was hard to call it soccer, with the pint-sized kids just booting the ball around without rules or a referee, but even in such a chaotic game, Han-byeol's team always had a significantly higher score.

Naturally, the other team was full of complaints.

“We're never playing soccer with you again, Go Han-byeol! Don't even think about playing with us anymore! Just you try asking to join!”

“Fine, I won't! I'd rather go home, wash my feet, and go to sleep than play soccer with you guys!”

All Han-byeol had to do was tactfully concede one point. But he refused, veins popping on his neck, which only made the others more irritated.

Even the kids on Han-byeol's team started to cautiously watch the situation, and soon it was one against many.

“Go Han-byeol lies as easily as he breathes! This is why you shouldn't play with kids who don't have a dad!”

Desperate to win by any means, they resorted to cheap shots.

The children knew Han-byeol's weakness all too well. They had carefully stored away the labels their mothers whispered about him. There were words that followed Han-byeol around like hashtags.

“My mom said so! She said Go Han-byeol hasn't had a dad since he was born! That's why she said he's a pitiful kid!”

A broken home. A single-parent family.

“My mom said that too! She said Go Han-byeol's mom had him all by herself!”

The son of an unmarried mother.

“Hey, Go Han-byeol. You don't have a dad, do you? You haven't had one since you were born, right?”

“That's not true! I have a dad too!”

Flustered by the surprise attack, Han-byeol's face turned beet red. He clenched his small fists and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Hey Go Han-byeol. Then where's your dad? Call him. Right now.”

“No!”

“See? You don't have one, do you? You don't have a dad, right? It's true you don't have a dad, isn't it?”

“That's not true! My dad is a super, super busy person, so he can't talk right now! I have a dad too!”

His chest burned as he told the lie. In that moment, if someone could conjure up a father and bring him here, he was confident he could give up his beloved soccer for the rest of his life.

No, he could even give up things he loved more.

As the children teased him one after another, the cornered Han-byeol could only pant heavily. They poked him in the stomach and pushed his shoulders, telling him to hurry up and call his dad if he had one.

A wave of sorrow, too immense for his small body to bear, washed over him, but Han-byeol forced his eyes wide and fought back tears with all his might.

“Is that why you live with your mom and grandma? Because you don't have a dad?”

“I told you to call your dad. Why can't you? Go on, do it.”

The kids pushed his shoulders tauntingly, and he staggered back step by step, nearly tripping over the soccer goal behind him.

Just then.

A sound bordering on a roar echoed as a single car entered the school gate.

Its high-output main silencer produced an explosive sound, like a race car. The children covered their ears and watched the vehicle enter without hesitation. In that gap, Han-byeol straightened up and dusted himself off.

The car circled the playground in a wide arc, and the children stared, mouths agape, as if watching an acrobatic stunt. It seemed to draw closer, and then the low-slung vehicle stopped in front of the soccer goal.

The children stared at the car as if mesmerized. Their gazes were filled with wonder, as if a strange, unknown creature had just appeared.

A moment later, the heavily tinted window rolled down. A grown man, who had been tapping the steering wheel and scanning the children, took off his sunglasses.

At that, the children's eyes widened in surprise, and Han-byeol's lips parted slightly.

“Han-byeol.”

Korea's world-famous actor.

“Dad's here.”

It was Im Eun-seong.

***

3 months earlier.

It was a morning radiant with autumn sunlight. The intense heat of the summer sun had clearly subsided, and this early autumn morning, when chestnuts were just beginning to ripen, carried a slight chill.

As the ample sunlight streamed in, Yeon-joo's eyelids fluttered. She pulled the blanket over her head and tossed for a moment, but soon sat up with a rustle.

The moment she opened her eyes, she habitually reached for her phone. After checking the time and today's weather, she typed a search term into the search bar. It was a seamless motion, as if she had been wondering about something all night.

Im Eun-seong

Unless something extraordinary happened, searching for him every morning was her first daily task. As she typed his name, the first thing to catch her eye was his actor profile.

In the black-and-white photo, shot with a large softbox for frontal lighting, his face was remarkably three-dimensional and harmonious.

His hairline, the border between his forehead and hair, was straight all the way to the back of his head, and below his lyrical eyes, the tip of his nose was smoothly defined—the face of a classic handsome man.

The bridge of his nose was unusually high, and his thick eyebrows were neat. His upper lip was thin, but it was supported by a full lower lip, creating a balance with his sharp jawline.

It was a face where nothing was excessive or lacking. Moreover, his gaze, which seemed to pierce through the photograph, had a magnetic pull that made it impossible not to stop and stare.

Yeon-joo stared for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and searched for recent articles. Confirming that nothing had been updated since an article from three days ago, she clicked on the last one she had skimmed.

It was an interview with the actor Im Eun-seong, who had gone to the United States for a film shoot.

She read and reread it, as if to memorize every single character, before putting her phone down. Then she turned her head to look at the face of her still-sleeping child.

“Sleeping well, my son.”

Yesterday, she and her son, Han-byeol, had laid in bed chatting quietly until later than usual, and she had fallen asleep right there. It was a single bed, but it was more than enough for a mother and son to lie down in, so Yeon-joo occasionally slept in her son's bed.

Yeon-joo gazed at her sleeping son's face for a long time.

He had deep inner double eyelids, symmetrical on both sides, giving him delicate and pretty eyes. His fair, milky-white skin, without a single visible pore, was exceptional even for a child.

Perhaps because she had just seen his face in the photo, she thought she could glimpse his features in her son's face, and a worried expression settled over her.

“Hwaaahm, Mom, what time is it?”

As she watched him, Han-byeol naturally woke up and asked with a yawn. Yeon-joo quickly changed her somber expression to a warm smile.

“It's seven-forty now. Time to get up. Grandma will be here to wake you soon.”

Seeing her son struggling to wake up, repeatedly opening and closing his eyes, Yeon-joo moved closer, lay down, and hugged him tightly. As the small, slender boy's body fit perfectly in her arms, Yeon-joo kissed his face relentlessly.

“My son, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah. Good morning, Mom. Hwaaahm.”

Her son's voice, adorable and lovely as he let out a series of yawns, was so endearing that Yeon-joo kissed his face several more times.

*Ten years ago, when I gave birth to you alone, I never imagined you would become this precious to me.*

“Han-byeol.”

“Hm? Okay, I'm getting up.”

“No, it's not that. Mommy loves you so, so much.”

*There were days I mourned, feeling I had traded my own bright future for you.*

*When did you grow up like this to become my world, my everything?*

“I really, really, truly, truly love you. My son.”

As Yeon-joo held him tight and told him she loved him, Han-byeol, who had been resting in her arms, reached out and hugged his mother's back. When she felt the child's warmth on her back, Yeon-joo let her heart rest for a moment in the indescribably warm and gentle feeling.

“I really, reeeally love you too, Mom.”

It was a cozy scene. As wholesome as the autumn sunlight.

***

“Hey, Eun-seong. How are you feeling? Any jet lag?”

Tae-gon, the CEO of his agency, greeted Eun-seong, who was in the middle of a personal training session at the fitness center.

Eun-seong looked up, sipping a protein shake. He was in the middle of bulking up before his movie started filming, and his body was harder than ever.

“What do you think? I'm dying.”

“Body fat percentage?”

“Nine.”

“Oh. Almost there.”

Eun-seong, who was aiming for 7% body fat, looked almost inhuman. All the fat had vanished, leaving only muscle, which looked even more impressive drenched in sweat.

The trainer, a former national wrestling team member, guided Eun-seong through to the end, while Tae-gon stood watching with his arms crossed.

Tae-gon, flamboyantly dressed in a white pinstripe double-breasted suit with a navy pocket square, almost looked like a newlywed groom. It was a fashion choice that reflected his love for flashy attire, but it was completely out of place in the fitness center.

After finishing his last set, Eun-seong straightened up and stood. Tae-gon approached with a towel. Once the trainer gave Eun-seong a week's meal plan and left, Tae-gon spoke.

“The news that you're back in Korea will probably come out tomorrow. I've already talked it over with the American agent.”

“Just handle it.”

The American film shoot was scheduled to take six months in total, but filming was abruptly halted due to a personal scandal involving the director.

Because of that, Eun-seong had returned to the country unexpectedly, and it hadn't yet been reported to the press.

CEO Tae-gon quickly adjusted Eun-seong's schedule, moving up a Korean film that had been on standby. Eun-seong's time was money, and considering his influence, not a moment could be wasted.

“Oh, right, Eun-seong. About the fitting. Is today okay?”

“Today?”

Eun-seong's wardrobe for the film had been made. The samples had been produced before he left for the States, but his body had changed in the meantime, so they had to be remade.

From the costume team's perspective, they had to completely alter the clothes they had already made, but it couldn't be helped.

“Director Jin Hae-yeong is asking how today sounds. I guess they need some time for alterations too.”

“Sure, whatever. But do I have to go?”

As Eun-seong got up from his seat, Tae-gon quickly followed. He took the towel and protein shake from Eun-seong's hands and grinned.

“What are you talking about? We can't have your precious self running around. I'll tell Director Jin to come here. How's two o'clock?”

“Whatever you want.”

Eun-seong headed straight for the sauna, and Tae-gon stopped at the entrance. As Eun-seong disappeared without a backward glance, Tae-gon casually raised the empty protein shake bottle in a farewell gesture.

“Eun-seong! If I stay with you any longer, I think I'll turn gay, so I'm heading out first!”

Eun-seong had already taken off his shirt.