Chapter 6
After mealtime ended, the absurd declaration came down that from now on, mornings and evenings would be spent together as a family.
And that family included Baek I-hae, the prospective fiancée.
‘The food is delicious, but eating among them would probably give me indigestion!’
It was a sad situation where she’d rather have the food brought to her room so she could eat leisurely by herself.
With those words, Seo I-heum turned away without a trace of regret. Among the three left standing there dumbfounded, the one who spoke first was Seo-yeol.
The way he glared at her viciously reminded her of a wild cat.
“I hate people like you the most!”
Having said his piece, she watched his retreating figure as he dashed up the stairs, a hazy blur in the distance.
‘I should’ve told him I hate him too, but it’s already too late. Just a moment ago, I felt sorry for him and let it slide.’
She let out a sigh and started heading toward the elevator when a hand approached the back of Baek I-hae’s neck. The force pulling at her school uniform top made her involuntarily let out a choked gasp.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing!”
“Wait.”
“Use words before you act, words! What’s the point of having a mouth if you’re not going to use it!”
Did he think she was some kind of mutt?
Grumbling, she rubbed her neck, which had suddenly felt sore. Even at the sight of her like that, Seo Do-gyeom showed no sign of apology.
He just stared blankly, prompting Baek I-hae to snap irritably.
“Why’d you call me?”
“You’re broke, aren’t you?”
Oh, great, now he’s starting to take after his little brother.
Her face was about to crumple into a scowl when Seo Do-gyeom continued.
“Let’s go buy clothes. He gave me a card to buy shoes or whatever you need.”
“Is there a limit?”
“No.”
At his firm reply, Baek I-hae’s face lit up brighter than ever before.
“Let’s go!”
“……”
“What are you doing? I said let’s go?”
With a rich guy like this, she could shop without worrying about money, so she started humming a tune under her breath—only to find Seo Do-gyeom standing there blankly.
Wondering if he meant for her to go alone, she approached him again to take the card.
“Don’t smile.”
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom is calming his queasy stomach.]
‘This bastard, should I just punch him once and run?’
Saying that seeing someone smile makes his stomach turn! If there weren’t a status window, I might’ve mistaken it for him falling head over heels for my smile!
The card or her pride.
Baek I-hae, who had been clenching her fist tightly, soon wiped the smile from her face and said seriously.
“Alright then, Do-gyeom. Can we go now?”
Though her face was serious, her voice was unnecessarily bubbly.
“……”
Seo Do-gyeom nodded without a word.
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom’s stomach has settled. Returning to normal condition.]
Damn it.
I’ll never smile at you again, she thought, grinding her teeth.
Her anger finally subsided right after Seo Do-gyeom brought her to the department store.
He’d even brought along a driver, so she’d been tense about where they were going, but then he told her to pick out clothes at the department store. Any brand, anything!
‘As a joke, I pointed to a bag worth tens of millions of won, and he headed straight to the counter—I nearly had a heart attack.’
Thanks to that, she realized it wasn’t a joke and bought several outfits at prices that seemed reasonable to Baek I-hae.
On top of that, she bought shoes, bags, and stationery to her heart’s content, while Seo Do-gyeom silently followed along.
“You’re kind of unexpected.”
“What?”
“You don’t care about shopping like this. I thought you’d say let’s head back soon, or that you’d wait somewhere else and to call you when I’m done.”
After all, the accompanying driver was carrying the bags, so there was no real reason for Seo Do-gyeom to tag along.
“I’m not interested.”
Unlike her, he was dressed in a black tee and black slacks, replying indifferently.
For a high schooler, his unnecessarily long limbs drew attention from those around them. Or maybe it was that peculiar aura of his.
“But you are interested.”
“What’s that got to do with you?”
“I can’t force my lack of interest on you.”
Baek I-hae blinked slowly. In Seo Do-gyeom’s black eyes, visible through his hair, there was no hint of a lie.
‘What, what is this? Why are you suddenly flirting like that?!’
For a brief moment, her heart raced.
Baek I-hae turned away, afraid her flushed face would give her away.
“Fine, do whatever you want!”
“Sure. After all, you’re a guest my father asked me to look after.”
A guest, huh. Of course that’s all it is.
Baek I-hae let out a deep sigh, realizing it had been her own misunderstanding. But the lingering echoes of that heartbeat refused to fade completely, leaving her unsettled.
And so, the day passed.
It was an utterly ordinary routine, and breakfast was still spent with the taciturn Seo family. Of course, the innocent food was delicious.
Her impressions so far: she had no idea what Seo Do-gyeom was thinking. Seo I-heum seemed to take care of her, but it was clear he wasn’t really interested, and Seo-yeol growled whenever their paths crossed.
Even so, Seo I-heum always warned the others to treat her well and not cause any trouble, since she was a ‘guest.’
Thanks to that, she had to walk to school side by side with Seo Do-gyeom. It was pure torture, trudging along in silence like that.
‘It’s because I’m paired with this guy that no one even approaches me!’
In the classroom, everyone just glanced their way, but no students dared to speak to her. At this point, she worried her mouth might as well have cobwebs forming over it from disuse.
The boring lessons dragged on. She’d learned this material in her previous life, but none of it had stuck in her head.
She half-listened while doodling words at the edge of her notebook.
‘The game revolved around the female protagonist, so details about Seo Do-gyeom’s family weren’t fleshed out much.’
The only thing she knew was that in the game, the male lead—Seo Do-gyeom—had lost his parents early and entered the world of organized crime.
<I don’t know anything about parental love. My mother passed away when I was young, and my father, who was murdered during my first year of high school, wasn’t exactly affectionate either.>
A line from the game’s Seo Do-gyeom suddenly flashed through her mind.
Baek I-hae’s doodling came to an abrupt halt.
‘First year of high school. So that means the old man dies this year?’
And murdered, at that.
She desperately tried to recall how it happened. Rushing through the game’s plot in her mind, she managed to glean a hint.
It was in the early part, during the female protagonist’s kidnapping episode. The rival faction, shrewdly realizing she was Seo Do-gyeom’s weakness, kidnapped her and subjected her to something close to torture.
‘In the game, that became the trigger for Seo Do-gyeom to recognize his feelings for the female protagonist and express rage for the first time—a meaningful scene.’
At the same time, she remembered the line the antagonist delivered to Seo Do-gyeom.
<What a shame. I thought it’d be as easy to kill her as it was to kill your father.>
The villain sneered at the spy they’d planted nearby, saying he hadn’t expected Seo I-heum to die so easily from a stab wound.
Back then, she’d thought the villain was handsome for a non-sub character and liked him for it—she must have been out of her mind.
‘A spy. That means there’s someone from the rival faction planted close to the old man. Someone who could get near enough to stab him without raising suspicion.’
In that case, it was likely someone who visited the house often.
She couldn’t say she had any fondness for Seo I-heum, but she didn’t hate the person providing her with food and shelter either.
So, knowing his future death, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
‘Besides, if the old man doesn’t die, Seo Do-gyeom won’t have a reason to enter the underworld so soon. …Couldn’t I just rehabilitate this kid and send him off to college like a normal person?’
It seemed like that would be better for the female protagonist’s future too. She meant it sincerely.
‘For now, I’ll shelve that thought and focus on saving the old man first.’
She drew a star over Seo I-heum’s name. Even his name was handsome, like the man himself.
‘Until I can escape, I need someone to handle my food and lodging and manage the dangerous adults around here, so he’s important.’
She was deep in serious thought when a status window notification suddenly chimed.
[Baby Gangster, Seo Do-gyeom, peeks at the supporting character’s messy handwriting and grows curious.]
“Hey, why are you peeking at someone else’s stuff without permission?”
If not for the status window, she wouldn’t have noticed how quietly Seo Do-gyeom had approached, now looking down at her notebook.
She quickly covered it and scolded him in a voice low enough not to reach the teacher.
Despite the reprimand, Seo Do-gyeom showed no sign of remorse, just staring at her blankly.
“Why did you put a star next to my father’s name?”
What sharp eyes this kid has. She hadn’t expected him to spot Seo I-heum’s name in that short time.
Hoping he hadn’t seen the words ‘death, how?’ scribbled nearby, she broke into a cold sweat.
Just putting those words together would make it look exactly like Baek I-hae was plotting against Seo I-heum’s life. So she hurriedly replied with an excuse.
“I’m interested in him.”
“In my father?”
“Yeah. He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
“……You do realize the age difference, right?”
“I do. But age is just a number, and the reason I’m hesitating is something else.”
“What are you hesitating about?”
Why was Seo Do-gyeom so full of questions? Baek I-hae, too annoyed to think it through, just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“Becoming your mom?”
“……”
Seo Do-gyeom silently recoiled, stepping back.
