Baby, You and I

셋 [Set]

By morning, Jaehyun wakes up to a terrible headache. Thankfully, a glass of water and two pills are on the nightstand, waiting for him, with a note from Lingxi that tells him to take them and head downstairs for breakfast. Jaehyun takes a quick detour into the bathroom first to wash his face and brush his teeth with his own toothbrush that he purposefully left here in Lingxi’s place in case emergencies like this would happen. As he stares at himself in the mirror, he cards his hands through his black hair, noticing that he’s wearing one of Lingxi’s shirt and cotton tracksuit.

“Just how s**t-faced was I to not remember anyone changing my clothes?” he mumbles to himself.

Downstairs, he’s greeted by Lingxi serving two plates of pancakes and bacons.

“Where’s the brat?” he asks, sitting in his usual seat in this apartment.

“That brat cleaned your puking mess on the staircase and changed your clothes. He says you’re welcome. But he already left for work.” Lingxi takes the seat in front of Jaehyun and stares. “Now, let’s talk. Why are you such a coward that you had to send someone else to pick Chaehyun up in China?”

“I didn’t,” Jaehyun immediately snaps.

“Oh, yeah? What was Yuan doing there, then, if not to convince her to come back?”

“He’s been looking for Chaehyun after she disappeared. He didn’t know I knew about Chaehyun’s hideaway and because the idea of forcing her to marry me came up, I figured it’s time for her to show herself again. Yuan was her best friend. He would’ve been a great help to convince her to get back.”

“And you really had to send him there before yourself?”

“I didn’t send him there! He went there by himself.”

“But you knew about it and never stopped him.”

“I...” Jaehyun trails off, taking an angry bite from his pancake. “It would have been easier if they get their shits together first because that’s where it all started,” he admits, letting sprinkles of the pancake in his mouth rain on the table. “Yuan introduced me to Chaehyun. I got her pregnant in a one night stand. She met another guy she seriously had feelings for and introduced him to her best friend but s**t happened. How fvcking cliché. And that’s what pushed her to blackmail me because she knew she had to get herself back somewhere else.” He takes a sip of the coffee Lingxi hands him. “Your coffee still tastes like s**t, Ling. I’m surprised Seojoo even drinks this cup of poison.”

Lingxi holds both of Jaehyun’s hands to calm him down. He knows all too well that when Jaehyun’s frustrated, he’s going to go for the most irrational words. “Now, you understand the consequences of your actions, right?”

Jaehyun sighs before nodding and looking away.

Lingxi touches Jaehyun’s cheek. “When I gave you the idea of asking for Chaehyun’s help, I didn’t say you had to marry her.”

Jaehyun looks up. “That could’ve been what she wanted. Stability. Chaehyun was a practical person; between romance and luxury, she’d pick whatever buys her a Chonelle bag surprise in the morning, or a Michelin Star dinner date at night. And you know I can very well cater to her lifestyle.” Taking a deep breath, he pulls on his hair and shuts his eyes. “Just as long as she plays the role of a wife for this fvcking board to stop pestering my father.” He looks at Lingxi straight in the eyes. “I swear he’s grown more gray hair this month than he had collectively grown the entire year before.”

“You’re forgetting one tiny detail, honey.” Lingxi takes a sip from his coffee mug. “The board is looking for an heir. Your bloodline. They’re not looking for a wife.”

Jaehyun takes each of Lingxi’s words carefully as he finally realizes what his best friend is telling him. And when it all clicks in his mind, his small eyes bewilder. “Are you suggesting I’d just get the custody of my son?”

“It sounds weird coming from you but that’s the idea. If you don’t want to get married yet, at least let them know that you already have a child and it shouldn’t be a problem now that you’re his only parent left.” Lingxi frowns, as if remembering something. “Where’s the kid, anyway?”

“I don’t fvcking know because I never really gave a f**k about these things before.”

Lingxi slowly nods. “At least, you’ve been giving Chaehyun the money to support this kid the entire time, right?”

Jaehyun thinks about it for a few seconds before answering. “I’m not sure, Ling. I mean, from what I’ve heard from Yuan when he first stalked her there, he didn’t see any kid with her and she didn’t leave Korea with a kid, either. She probably left the kid here, somewhere.”

“I thought she said she was disowned by her family? Where would she leave the kid, then?”

Leaning back, Jaehyun looks away to think briefly about it. “I have no idea. Maybe the Parks know something.”

“Hyun, I even doubt that they already know about Chaehyun’s death. What would they know about the kid she left? For all I know, they might not be looking for her anymore or her kid.”

“Are you suggesting that she left the kid in the hands of someone she’s not related to?”

Lingxi thinks about it for a bit. “Maybe she already left the kid in an orphanage or something. If that’s the case, this would be harder.”

“The business world isn’t that big, Lingxi. The Parks are no commoners. They lead the biggest law firms in the continent and one way or another, our paths have crossed or would be crossing. If I want to find my kid, I’d start asking them. The problem is not when the kid is in an orphanage. The problem is if he’s with them. Because then it’s going to be one hell of a fight in court if I just suddenly show up, claiming to be the kid’s father. They’d probably kick my ass, too, for being a jerk.”

“And you probably deserve that, too, just in case.”

“Come on,” Jaehyun whines. “I thought we’re best friends.”

“That doesn’t mean I’d tolerate your d**k moves,” Lingxi scolds.

Jaehyun shrugs. “You’re more than two years late in preaching.”

“It’s never too late to try and make up for it, though. What’s your plan?”

Jaehyun takes a deep breath before letting out a small, “I don't know.” He takes another bite of his pancakes, hearing the incessant ringing of his phone somewhere in the house. He can already feel that it’s just his new secretary looking for him again. “For now, I’d investigate a little and see if I can face the Parks. Probably, ask for forgiveness, too. If that’s what it takes to get back what’s rightfully mine in the first place.”

“You’re finally running those gears in your head,” Lingxi remarks, standing up. “But of course, you’re Byul Jaehyun and you’d do anything in your power to get what’s yours. Right?”

~

The following Monday, five days after Chaehyun’s death, Jaehyun sits in his office, expecting a visit from one of the private investigators he sent out to get information about the Parks. His plans of visiting Yuan in China all forgotten because of this. He needs to know if they have the kid, and figure out the best possible way to get him without going through a lot of trouble, hopefully.

He presses ‘*1’ on his hard phone on the first ring.

“Mr. Byul, a certain Seo Euntaek is here.”

“Let him in, Hyera.”

“H-how about Ms. Kim, sir? She would be here in two minutes and—”

“Just hold Jiyeon off and get back to work. Or you’re fired.”

Seconds after he ends the call with his new secretary, he sees a familiar man approaching his tinted glass doors, holding a manila folder under his arm. He’s wearing a black-collared shirt under a gray sweater and white trousers. Like Seojoo, he knows this man doesn’t smile too often.

“Euntaek. Long time no see,” Jaehyun greets him with a smile.

The man remains impassive. “I was here yesterday, Byul. And with you, calling me almost every hour, twenty-four hours a day for an update, I doubt I’d be able to move an inch to know those Parks from the inside.”

“Are you saying you can’t do it?”

Euntaek scoffs, leaning his hands against Jaehyun’s table with a steady gaze. “I’m saying I need some space and a little more time,” he quietly says, mimicking Jaehyun’s exact parting words from two months ago when he explained why he didn’t want a relationship with him, or with anyone for that matter, after their blissful night. “The Parks have an incredible amount of information security. Maybe you’ve forgotten the fact that they’re one of the most powerful families of lawyers and counselors.”

Jaehyun stands up from his seat, mirroring Euntaek’s actions. “You know, you were actually one of the best fvcks of my life, Mr. Seo. But I hope you’re not feeling too personally attacked for seeing me every day lately with the way you’re glaring at me now.” Jaehyun steals a quick peck on his lips from across the table. “Just do your job and we won’t have to see each other again afterwards.”

“You misunderstand, Byul. I don’t hate seeing you. I just hate dealing with idiots most of the time. You’re the biggest one, so far, and trust me, I’ve met a lot.” Just then, Jaehyun feels the manila folder being slapped against his chest. “Don't take it personally but I wasn’t even thinking about whatever happened to us anymore.”

Jaehyun absently holds the folder with both hands, still staring at him. “What’s this?”

“It’s a folder.”

“I know, asshole. I meant—”

“A little Park Chanhyun was registered to an international school for kids this morning,” Euntaek cuts him off. “The school is at least twenty minutes away from this building.”

As Euntaek explains this, Jaehyun turns to open the folder in his hands and gasps at the first page. “This... Is this him?”

“Yes, that’s him,” Euntaek confirms. “He was supposed to be enrolled for kindergarten but he took a pre-examination which showed that his intelligence level was above a kindergarten’s. The child can spell his own name, basic colors, numbers, fruits, animals, and a lot more; so he was recommended an acceleration to first grade of primary education.”

Jaehyun stares stunned at the photograph of a child with a mop of wavy black hair. The picture was obviously taken from afar but Jaehyun can still see enough. “Who’s this guy?” he asks, pointing at the tall man who’s holding the kid’s little hand. His face is a little blurry and his body’s partly covered by the people walking around them. But he’s sure as hell that the man is tall. Probably even taller than Seojoo.

“Check the next page”

And Jaehyun does. The document is a copy of the school’s registration with Park Chanhyun’s complete details. It was signed by a parent or guardian under the name of...

“Park Yeolchan.”

“That’s probably his name but we don’t know much about him yet,” Euntaek adds. “I already checked with the Parks’ line of counselors and lawyers since these names are available in their public files. No ‘Park Yeolchan’ came out. It turns out, our guy here is a very private person since his name won’t appear on the family’s registered members, too. As far as the school is concerned, they didn’t ask a lot about the guardian’s information because he paid the tuition fee in cash advance for six years. That’s a hell lot of money for someone who’s not a lawyer.”

“Maybe the family gave him the money?”

“Nope,” Euntaek denies quickly. “I already checked with your friend. Oh Seojoo confirmed that no banking transactions happened for the Parks to release this big amount of cold cash recently. And, no, the Parks prefer being paid through cashless transfer whenever people need to pay them something so it’s impossible for them to gather that big amount of cash to hand the school. They’re people particular with their actions so they need their movements documented, as much as possible.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“According to my reliable sources, the Park parents are not on good terms with the son. I’m guessing that this Park Yeolchan we’re dealing with is actually Chaehyun’s brother. Older or not, I can never tell. But I have no idea where he got the money from. I’ve been trying to dig about his occupational background but I always come up with nothing. See, this is exactly why I need you to stop squeezing me dry of updates. I need to be focused on learning more about them in order for us to understand what’s really going on and with you, being a negative distraction all the damned time, we’re not going anywhere.”

“He must be doing some illegal s**t, then,” Jaehyun suspects. “Otherwise, how could he have paid for six years worth of school expenses? I mean, he’s not even his son.”

“What kind of a narrow-minded asshole are you? The man is taking care of your child, you should thank him.”

Jaehyun looks up with a scoff. “You mean, he’s doing what I’m supposed to do.”

“And that sounded a lot worse, especially coming from you. Technically, you’re supposed to take responsibility of the child since his mother’s pregnancy, but we both know what kind of a person you are.” Euntaek gives him a sweet, mocking smile. “It’s disappointing, really. Fortunately, the kid seems smarter than his father that I hardly believe he’s actually yours. Although every time I glance at his pictures, I’m having these internal battles because the kid looks exactly like you. Except that he’s a little tall for his age.”

“How can you say that when I can barely see his face in here?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Euntaek muses, fishing out his phone and scrolling through his snapshots of the kid.

Jaehyun steals a glimpse long enough for him to see a whole album full of those pictures, but Euntaek quickly locks the screen.

“So now, you’re interested in him?” Euntaek scorns. “Remember when you didn’t want him two years ago, according to your own stories?”

“You have more pictures of him?” Jaehyun asks, incredulous, deciding to ignore the snide remark. The guy has more decent snaps of the child and he chooses to give Jaehyun something he can’t even see clearly.

Smiling with mischief, Euntaek leans closer. “It’s the twenty-first century, Byul. Of course, I’d take unlimited pictures. I even have a video of him close enough for you to hear him speaking in flawless English.”

“You mean you fvcking have clearer images than this?”

Euntaek’s smile turns even wider. “I do.”

“Well, then, may I have them, please?” Jaehyun seethes.

“I’m sorry, but, since you’re being an asshole just minutes ago, and probably your whole life, too, I think I have the right to deny you this request. Have a great day, Mr. Byul. I’ll call you when I find something.”

And just like that, Euntaek leaves him glaring at the door. He slams the manila folder on his desk before reminding himself of its contents. Quickly, he picks up the folder again and examines every available information, alternately staring at the beautiful child’s photograph. He keeps doing this while walking around his broad office. Despite the photograph’s lack of details, he knows the kid is beautiful.

“Chanhyun,” he mumbles. With a small smile playing on his lips, he kisses the photograph. “See you soon, my son.”