“I can’t take this…… . ”


  The fragrant aroma of the coffee tickled her nose, but Chelsea didn’t drink it . In the past, she latched herself onto Jimin so that her friend could buy her steak . She even had a steak song that she would sing . But right now, that woman was nowhere to be seen .

  She had come here to apologize . If she took the expensive beverage, it would be putting the cart before the horse .

  Sungyoon was calm as he pointed towards the store where he had purchased the coffee .

  “I can’t get a refund . ”


  Chelsea had no rebuttal for his words, so she had no choice . She took the coffee .

  Sungyoon, once again, sat down next to her .

  “Were you waiting for me every day?”


  Once Sungyoon went into a labyrinth, he had no idea when he would be coming out . There were times when he exited early like the present day when he had encountered something unexpected . Sometimes he stayed longer than usual, as the number of moonstones he had gathered was too low . It was the reason why there was no way Chelsea could have correctly guessed the date of his return .

  In the past, he picked one day of the week that he designated as a rest day . Hence, Chelsea usually came on that day to meet him . But despite having a designated rest day, there were times when plans went awry in the labyrinth . It was why several of her trips had been in vain before . The current day wasn’t the designated rest day, yet, Chelsea had been waiting for Sungyoon before he returned to the Support Center .

  It implied that she had been waiting for him every day .

  As expected, Chelsea nodded .

  ‘What should I do about this?’


  Sungyoon was lost as to what he should do . He really didn’t hold an ounce of resentment towards Chelsea . However, the problem remained: she felt very responsible for what had happened to Sungyoon .

  She really was an innocent and kind person .

  ‘If the world is only filled with assholes and bitches, that would be hell . ’


  If there really was a world like that, killing one’s life might be the only salvation .

  “I’ll say this again, Ms . Chelsea . It wasn’t your fault . ”


  Chelsea was about to say something, but he raised his hand to stop her .

  “Also, I’ve received your apology . ”


  He shook the empty paper bag in front of her eyes .

  “If you aren’t satisfied with that, you can bring me food occasionally, and you can be a friend that I can talk to . ”


  “That isn’t enough . . . !”


  “I’m telling you the truth right now . There is nothing more that you can do for me, Ms . Chelsea . ”


  Chelsea shut her mouth .

  Her intelligent mind was spinning . However, she had no rebuttal for the connector’s words . The only additional compensation she could think of was money . But although she was an elite, she was a mere researcher . Sungyoon was a beginner Connector, but he was a Connector nonetheless . He had massive income potential . It wouldn’t make sense for her to give him money . The sums of money that appeared large to her, weren’t that large to Sungyoon . Moreover, this disparity would become worse as time passed .

  Was there anything else she could give? Chelsea discreetly looked down at her body . Underneath her white lab coat, she had an ample bosom and a slim waist . Her hips had a gentle swell to them too . She placed her arms underneath her breasts, and her two weighty mounds slightly rose .

  She knew about her looks . She knew how men viewed her . She didn’t have any experience, so she had no technique . However, she was still an above-average catch . It happened when she was having such thoughts .

  “I can guess what you are thinking right now . ”


  She heard Sungyoon’s words sharply in her ears .

  “Absolutely not . ”


  It didn’t sound as if he was saying no because of some moral objection . It really sounded as if he was disgusted . It was like a physiological reaction, and it almost made Chelsea angry .

  “Also, you should never think about doing such a thing from now on . Do you know how upset your parents will be, if they knew about this?”


  Just the thought of Shinhae doing something like that in the future made him want to faint . When his thoughts started to overlap between Shinhae and Chelsea, he felt an urge to speak out .

  In the end, Sungyoon scolded her .

  He sounded like a father talking to a daughter . Until now, he had always been emotionless, and his actions always looked mechanical . Chelsea had never seen the man speak so much . His current speech was longer in length than all the words combined from their previous conversations .

  For a while, Chelsea couldn’t speak . She was like a child being scolded . However, she started to find her current situation ridiculous and funny .

  “Pffft!”


  In the end, she couldn’t hold back her laughter .

  “Ah-hahahahahahaha!”


  A laugh full of mirth rang out in the park .

  “Ah . I’m . . . pfft . . . sorry . ”


  It really was rude to suddenly laugh out loud when someone was speaking . Chelsea stopped laughing, and she apologized . However, the corners of her mouth danced, and tears had appeared in her eyes . One could tell that she was still holding back her laughter .

  Sungyoon awkwardly smacked his lips . He wasn’t offended . He also realized the ridiculousness of his actions .

  “I’m sorry . I overstepped my bounds . ”


  Sungyoon lowered his head towards her, but she waved it away .

  “No! Those were helpful words . Did you say those words with your daughter in mind?”


  “Yes . ”


  “Hoo-hooht! Your daughter receives a lot of love from you . I want to meet her one day . ”


  She had seen a picture, but she hadn’t actually met Shinhae . She had gone through a lot with Sungyoon at this point in time . Chelsea wanted to meet the child named Shinhae, who received so much love from Sungyoon .

  “When an opportunity presents itself, I’ll introduce her to you . ”


  He was proud of his daughter . There was no way he would avoid the opportunity to show off his daughter to someone else . It was what he genuinely felt .

  Chelsea let out a shallow breath . It felt as if she had poured out all her negative emotions with her laughter . The oppressive emotion weighing down on her chest was gone . Of course, the feeling of guilt hadn’t completely vanished . She still wanted to pay him back somehow . However, the desire to pay him back even at the cost of her own body, was completely gone now .

  “So, you just want me to be your conversation buddy?”


  She had regained her normally vivacious and cheerful self . She queried Sungyoon .

  “Yes . That’ll be enough . ”


  “Understood . I’ll leave it at that for now . ”


  Sungyoon had wanted to end this situation as soon as possible . However, Chelsea had said something ominous as if she was going to do something in the future . After saying those words, Chelsea stood up . She twirled around to face Sungyoon .

  “I’m sorry for causing you trouble in so many ways . ”


  “You didn’t cause me any trouble . ”


  “You are a really good person, Mr . Sungyoon . ”


  Her beautiful eyes curved as she let out a bright smile . She took the empty paper bag that Sungyoon had been holding .

  “I’ll head back now . Shall we meet next time at the time we usually do?”


  “Let’s do that . Please get home safely, Ms . Chelsea . ”


  Chelsea once again smiled . Then, she turned around and exited the park . Her footsteps looked extremely light . He probably no longer had to be worried about her .

  ‘Worried?’


  Sungyoon became surprised at the sudden thought . Was he worried about the woman named Chelsea Strobe? He suddenly had a realization . It hadn’t been too long ago that he had decided to think only about Shinhae . However, now he was worrying about a woman that he had met not too long ago . It gave him grave apprehension about himself .

  ‘Do I fancy her?’


  Chelsea was such a beautiful woman that he might have subconsciously fallen for her . Sungyoon assessed the state of his heart .

  However, that wasn’t the case . His guard against women was still up, and he still mistrusted beautiful women . When he thought about becoming an item with Chelsea, it didn’t make his heart race . In fact, he got goosebumps .

  ‘What was it?’


  He went through various possibilities, and he came to one conclusion .

  It was natural for him to be worried about her . The woman had been ridden with guilt, and at one point, she even thought about being careless with her body . She was someone’s daughter, and maybe, there was an overlap between Shinhae and her .

  When he reached this conclusion, he became very surprised .

  In the past, he had been betrayed by his so-called friend and wife . When he had been crawling at the lowest point in his life, he wouldn’t have cared about Chelsea . The thought of spending his precious money to buy coffee for her wouldn’t have even entered his mind . In fact, he would have felt annoyed at Chelsea, who had been trying to apologize .

  ‘No, I did feel a troublesome emotion . ’


  It seemed his emotions weren’t as extreme compared to the time when he didn’t have any breathing room in his heart .

  Sungyoon placed his hand on his chest . He still couldn’t hear the beat of his heart; however, he wasn’t trying to find his heartbeat . It was a stance to check on his emotions and feelings .

  ‘Is my resolve faltering?’


  He wanted to live and die only for Shinhae . Shinhae was his driving force .

  That hadn’t changed . The driving force was still there, and it was the principle that guided all his actions .

  However, it wasn’t like before where he only had eyes for Shinhae . If it didn’t cause harm to his daughter, he was starting to look around his surroundings . He was starting to develop other feelings to a limited degree .

  His wound was healing .

  The wound in his heart was so very deep and large . If that wound had manifested on anywhere else in his body, he would have instantly died before he could have even been administered emergency measures .

  The progress was very small and slow, but the wound was starting to mend itself .

  It was said that time cures all . Or was it because he had more breathing room now? No, that wasn’t it . Even if these factors contributed to his wound mending, his wound was healing too fast .

  Sungyoon had a vague idea as to the reason behind it .

  ‘.…… is it because of those meetings?’


  It was said that every cloud has a silver lining . He had met the worst kinds of people before he fell to the lowest point in his life . Maybe, there was an opposite reaction for every action . After the lowest point in his life, he had only met kind and trustworthy people .

  It was only for a short amount of time, but the director of the orphanage had taken good care of his daughter . Then there was his greatest savior, Jimin . Jiyoon treasured Shinhae like her little cousin . Chelsea had been suspicious of him, but she had helped him in many ways . Finally, there were Tim and Emily, who looked at him with admiration in their eyes .

  ‘No! Not yet! I can’t trust them all yet . ’


  Sungyoon scolded himself . He knew that they were all good people . In the past, he would have been proud of the fact that he had met these people . However, he wasn’t like that anymore .

  Until his friend and wife had revealed their true nature, they had been ‘good people’ .

  ‘But in hindsight, there were subtle signs . ’


  He frowned as he thought about his ex-wife Miyun . It seemed that he had wool pulled over his eyes .

  Generally, these changes were good things . It was supposed to be welcomed . The people around him would welcome it, and if he went to a psychiatrist, the doctor would say it was a good development .

  Sungyoon knew there was something wrong with him . He was abnormal . If he wanted to go back to being normal, he might need to find his humanity once again .

  However, there was a part of him that resented the change .

  ‘I’m abnormal . So what?’


  At the very least, it would be better for him to be abnormal, if he wanted to live his life only for Shinhae . It allowed him to be able to ignore everything . He worried that this change might mean that he would no longer be able to focus solely on Shinhae . His money was supposed to be only for Shinhae, yet hadn’t he spent it on useless things today?

  However, he didn’t like the idea of ignoring his slowly recovering emotions . Even if he treasured Shinhae, wouldn’t it be better if he could return to what he used to be?

  It didn’t matter how long he thought about it . He couldn’t come up with a clear answer that he felt satisfied with . In the end, he decided to make one more resolution . He would keep this resolution as a way to deal with this change .

  ‘It doesn’t matter what happens . Shinhae is my first priority . ’


  The thoughts inside his head had been tangled up like a ball of thread . After he made this new resolution, he felt at ease .

  Sungyoon got up from the bench and immediately walked towards his lodging .

  His head was in a daze because he had agonized over his troubled thoughts . He wanted to go back to his ridiculous room inside the Chicken Coop .