So, there had been an unavoidable reason.
Chloe’s refrigerator was packed with a carton of milk, twenty cans of beer, and all sorts of frozen food.
She couldn’t keep feeding the child nothing but frozen pasta and pizza with killer flavors all the time.
That had been the only reason.
“What a beautiful family. Try this once. The kids really love it!”
At the tasting booth, an auntie handed over a freshly cooked piece of sausage.
On Ijo took the sausage, fed it to Gru, and asked,
“Our baby, is it yummy?”
“Yummy!”
On Ijo smiled brightly as he looked at Chloe.
“The kid likes it, honey. Should we buy more?”
“Who are you calling honey.”
Chloe pushed the cart roughly and moved forward.
On Ijo smiled bitterly and was about to follow when the auntie at the tasting booth suddenly tilted her head.
“The male customer looks exactly like someone I’ve seen somewhere before….”
A brief silence fell.
Gru rolled her big eyes as if reading the room.
In the awkward situation, On Ijo and Chloe wore extremely troubled expressions.
Well, it would be troublesome if On Ijo were recognized in such a crowded place.
“Oh my, come to think of it, aren’t you that person who appears on the news often?”
“Yes? That person, you mean……”
“That hero, I mean, the hero. Wasn’t it On Ijo?”
On Ijo smiled awkwardly and threw the sausage cup into the trash bag.
Gru looked at On Ijo with downcast eyes, sensing trouble.
It was the face of someone bracing for an uproar.
If it were Jurim, he would have coldly denied it. Were brothers really this different?
In the end, Gru grabbed On Ijo’s hand.
“Dad! Gru wants to try that one too.”
“……!”
At Gru’s action, On Ijo’s eyes went wide.
Gru sent Chloe a pleading, sad look, asking for help.
“……Haah.”
Chloe, who had been watching from afar, held her head as if suffering from a headache.
‘Hurry up, Unni!’
Gru’s lips trembled as she continued to shoot pitiful glances.
Chloe bit her lip.
In the end, she came stomping back and linked her arm with On Ijo’s.
“I think you’re mistaken. This person isn’t On Ijo. Let’s go, honey.”
On Ijo covered a bursting laugh with his fist.
“Yes, honey!”
He tucked his large frame into a small ball and hung onto Chloe’s arm as he was dragged away.
The auntie at the tasting booth clicked her tongue and muttered.
“Guess not. Well, no way that hero would be such a foolish, lovesick fool….”
Pfft. This time, it was Chloe who burst out laughing.
“A foolish, lovesick fool. Pffft.”
As Chloe wiped away tears and repeated the words in a tone mixed with laughter, On Ijo’s ears burned red as he rubbed his face.
“Can’t you stop laughing?”
“Ahahahaha!”
Even at On Ijo’s pleading tone, Chloe didn’t stop laughing—she laughed even louder.
Gru stared blankly at Chloe bursting into giggles for the first time and at On Ijo, who couldn’t take his eyes off her.
After buying groceries, they immediately moved to buy clothes for Gru.
Wherever they went, they apparently looked like a family.
“Wow, the pretty baby looks exactly half like each parent.”
Gru rolled her eyes.
On Ijo and Chloe didn’t correct people when they mistook Gru for their child.
It might have been because they couldn’t let On Ijo’s identity be discovered, but…….
Even staying still, a smile spread and a warm heat circulated through her chest.
Her white cheeks flushed red.
It was embarrassing to think this way alone, but still…….
Her fingertips felt tingly, as if she had gone grocery shopping with Mom and Dad.
Attachment accumulated and a tree was growing larger. The leaves were rustling noisily.
To Gru, it seemed to sound like the sound of being loved by Mom and Dad.
‘I’ll make these two into a loving couple like this and open the title.’
It wasn’t that she had other thoughts; it was really to open the title. It wasn’t because she liked the family-like feeling, really.
Even while thinking that, Gru’s eyes sparkled as she looked at On Ijo and Chloe.
Just a little, just a little longer, may this moment continue.
*
On Ijo carefully laid the sleeping Gru down in the room.
“She hasn’t even had dinner yet; I wonder if it’s okay to put her to bed already.”
Chloe, who had been putting away the groceries in the refrigerator, turned her head.
On Ijo was coming out, closing the door.
“If she wakes up late, I’ll feed her.”
“Yes.”
On Ijo picked up a yogurt from the island table and sat down in front of it.
“Will you tell me now? What is it.”
Chloe, having closed the refrigerator, stared at him intently.
‘I knew this would happen. I texted because I didn’t want to talk face to face.’
“Isn’t it exactly what I texted?”
“That you have no intention of dating seriously? Is that the end of it?”
‘Well, it was rather half-hearted.’
“Yes.”
Chloe answered shamelessly.
On Ijo’s gaze, which had been fiddling with the yogurt, went up and down.
Then he let out a small mutter.
“Was that night really that bad? It was my first time, so I didn’t know well.”
“……?”
“If you give me a chance, I’ll do better.”
“…….”
On Ijo looked up at Chloe, who wore a dumbfounded expression, as if urging her.
“Crazy.”
Chloe, chewing on the curse, leaned her back against the refrigerator.
‘This fox-like bastard. He keeps acting cute, damn it.’
‘……How do I shake off this fox?’
To shake off a fox who wasn’t easy to deal with, Chloe deliberately chose harsh words.
“Things like love, lovers—they don’t suit me. That’s all.”
“Then—”
“It means I never had feelings from the start.”
‘Looks like this one works.’
Because at the words that there had been no feelings, On Ijo’s face had frozen like ice.
“So let’s end this here.”
“…….”
*
Gru, who had woken before she knew it, opened the door slightly and listened to the conversation as she looked at On Ijo and Chloe.
“So let’s end this here.”
At Chloe’s cold words, it felt like her own heart dropped with a thud.
On Ijo lost his words, repeatedly opening and closing his mouth, then swept his hair back and turned his body.
But as if she didn’t care, she washed her hands nonchalantly.
“…….”
Gru pressed her lips tightly. Her eyes trembled violently.
‘Why is Unni saying such cold things to Uncle?’
‘Won’t Uncle come to see Chloe Unni anymore?’
They suit each other so well.
‘I wish they wouldn’t break up like this.’
Gru recalled Chloe’s face, which had been a complete mess after speaking coldly to On Ijo.
‘Is Chloe making that kind of face even now?’
It was a moment where silence hung for a while.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
At the sound of someone knocking violently on the door, everyone stared at the entrance.
The violent sound of kicking and banging with feet rang out simultaneously with the doorbell.
“Who on earth…….”
As Chloe, her face heavily frowning, tried to open the door, On Ijo raised his hand to stop her.
“Let me open it.”
Click.
The moment he opened the door, On Ijo and Chloe, having confirmed the other party, were at a loss for words, their mouths open.
The man standing in front of the door took a deep breath and exhaled.
“Jurim, how did you get here…….”
“So there really was one. A woman.”
It was a gloomy voice.
Gru flinched, her shoulders trembling.
The one who appeared after opening the door was a young Jurim in his early twenties.
Dad from his police officer days?!
Her body moving ahead of her joy, Gru, who had been about to leave the room, halted.
‘He is Dad, but…….’
Strength drained from her shoulders.
Because he wouldn’t be the Dad that Gru knew.
Meanwhile, Jurim was looking at Gru, who had been about to come to him but stopped, with an unknowable gaze.
“Jurim. I don’t know how you found out, but let’s talk outside.”
“Yeah. Let’s talk later.”
Despite On Ijo’s dissuasion, Jurim strode into the house and opened the room door.
Gru, who had been poking her face out, looked up at Jurim and hunched her shoulders.
“Ha……. I’ve been looking for you for ages.”
He let out a deep breath and tightly embraced Gru’s small body.
A sense of relief could be felt directly from him.