Hero Hunter is on Parental Leave C24

Chapter 24

The next morning.

A canary-yellow daycare shuttle bus stopped at the rear gate of the apartment complex.

A teacher from Sunbeam Daycare, which operated on government subsidy, opened the bus door and stepped down.

Sunbeam Daycare accepted children from newborn to age seven.

Single-parent households could apply for policy assistance and send their children for free.

When touring the facility before enrolling Jaehee, Yeongung had decided it was a place he could trust.

The warm, responsible teachers reassured him even more.

As always, the teacher spotted the father-and-son pair and greeted them cheerfully.

“Good morning, Jaehee’s father. And good morning to you too, Jaehee!”

It was a familiar routine.

“Buuu buu—!”

The teacher’s face lit up at Jaehee’s morning energy.

The baby angel in Yeongung’s arms was as stunning as ever.

Though he’d struggled with severe stranger anxiety at first, now that he trusted her, he was affectionate and joyful when together.

But then, distracted by Jaehee, the teacher suddenly noticed Won Iheun and startled.

A rare outsider—and even taller than Jaehee’s father.

“Oh! I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

Iheun gave the teacher receiving the child a bright, businesslike smile.

“Hello. I just moved next door to Jaehee. I expect we’ll see each other often—please take care of us.”

Even her horn-rimmed glasses couldn’t hide her fluster at his superior visuals.

She blushed.

“Oh my! How kind. Well, if you’re Jaehee’s neighbor, you’re practically my neighbor too. Muhaedo’s so tiny that everyone knows everyone. If you ever need anything while settling in, feel free to reach out.”

Was she always this talkative?

Yeongung stared blankly at the two of them chatting so warmly.

On Muhaedo, he had abandoned the name Yeongung and lived as Yeongjun.

Using the fake-face drug, he hid his true appearance and passed as plain and ordinary.

She had always treated him kindly, even with his plain face—

but it was natural that her eyes drifted toward a dazzling beauty.

“Ang.”

Jaehee imitated a dog he saw walking across the apartment courtyard.

Recently, he copied the animals he watched around the island—even if the sounds were barely more advanced than babbling.

To Yeongung, it was genius-level brilliance.

“Did the puppy say ‘ang’?”

He reacted enthusiastically to every tiny gesture.

When Jaehee saw a cat dozing on the rocks, he would go “Oong.”

Yeongung was convinced his son could distinguish dogs from cats.

And because Jaehee was developmentally a bit slower than kids his age, every small action felt precious.

This time, Yeongung pretended to “aang!” and lightly bite him, making the child burst into giggles.

“Father.”

The teacher called him.

Watching the father-son pair was heartwarming, but they still had a long morning route to complete.

The bus driver also began giving signs that it was time to depart.

Sending Jaehee off was always agony for Yeongung—

the child could sense separation like a ghost.

As Yeongung lowered him, the smiling boy stared in disbelief and called out:

“Bba…?”

“Shall we watch your favorite Tintinping video?”

“U… uaaaaaaaang!”

Not even Tintinping worked today.

Jaehee struggled in the teacher’s arms, reaching desperately for his father.

Hold me. Right now.

Seeing his son cry as if the world were ending, Yeongung placed a hand over his heart.

It physically ached to see him distressed.

“Is being unable to live without someone hereditary…”

He muttered to himself and slowly approached the wailing child.

“Hic…”

The moment he neared, Jaehee abruptly stopped crying.

The teacher blinked in confusion.

Won Iheun had released pheromones to calm the child.

A hyper-dominant alpha’s pheromones could excite others—or soothe them.

Even Jaehee tilted his little head, bewildered by his own sudden calm.

The teacher, a beta who couldn’t sense pheromones, simply looked baffled.

After finally managing to send the little clingy barnacle to daycare, only Yeongung and Won Iheun remained.

And Iheun followed right behind him, step for step.

“…You’re seriously shameless.”

“What am I being accused of?”

He shouted at the man tugging his arm and dragging him somewhere.

“You really don’t know!? Why did you move next door to me? And why are you tagging along to daycare!?”

“If I want to make up for the two years we spent apart, living close is the best option.”

What exactly he planned to make up for—Yeongung had no idea.

“Living side by side could be nice too—parental leave.”

Those words from yesterday, before Iheun disappeared into the newly occupied unit next door, echoed in his mind.

He was on a form of parental leave.

But “side by side”…

It sounded like Iheun acknowledging that Jaehee was his child.

Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but—

Iheun shot him a sideways look, eyes lingering on his blurred features.

“Why did you change your face.”

“Because someone in hiding shouldn’t walk around with a face everyone recognizes.”

After two years here, he realized even his real face might not have been noticed—

but at the time, he wanted zero variables.

And no one recognizing him—

the media constantly chasing him—

was a liberating joy.

He actually liked the fake face.

But to Iheun, perhaps because it was unfamiliar, it was unacceptable.

“You don’t need that skin anymore.”

“Stop calling it skin. It sounds disgusting.”

Iheun stopped walking.

His eyes looked strangely furious.

“You really thought that thing could fool my eyes?”

He switched from “skin” to “that thing.”

As if it made it better.

“Show me your real face. Stop being annoying.”

Dominant genes were no joke.

Iheun’s expression as he demanded the real face overlapped perfectly with Jaehee whining for Tintinping.

Nearly falling for his looks, Yeongung quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Seriously—how did you find me? My hired eraser said restoring erased mana traces is impossible.”

“If you hired an eraser, it must’ve been Sae-yeong.”

Hearing him name Sae-yeong instantly, Yeongung stiffened.

Sae-yeong wasn’t guilty—he had simply done the job he was paid for.

To protect him, Yeongung lied.

“…No! Not him.”

But Iheun didn’t drop it.

His voice was cold.

“Tell that guy: if he wants to live out the rest of his natural lifespan, he’d better stay out of my sight.”

It was understandable.

For two years, the eraser had flawlessly erased all traces of Yeongung.

Sae-yeong, despite his frivolous appearance, was extremely responsible.

Considering the amount he’d been paid, it was expected—but even Yeongung was stunned by how thorough he was.

He even periodically cleaned the entire island’s mana residues.

But there was someone even more relentless—

and Yeongung stared at that someone now: Won Iheun.

“Ahem—anyway, how did you find me?”

“I didn’t track your unique mana. I followed something else.”

“Something else…?”

“Your pheromone.”

It was insane.

Sure, Iheun’s tracking ability was remarkable.

But pheromone tracking? He’d never heard of that.

And as a hyper-submissive omega, he shouldn’t emit anything traceable.

“That makes no sense. A hyper-sub like me—”

“How is it nonsense.”

Iheun lifted his chin, forcing him to meet his eyes.

“If it’s Hunter Yeongung’s pheromone, even one POU—one pheromone odor unit—is enough to suffocate me.”

Reflected in Iheun’s glasses—

was the face of an omega staring blankly in shock.