Hero Hunter is on Parental Leave C28

Chapter 28

It had been a contract drafted in desperation, something he clung to like a drowning man grabbing at straw—never meant to have actual legal power.

Even back then, Won Iheun accepting his proposal so readily had surprised him.

But now the man wanted to renew it, with amendments—

and even have it notarized.

“What exactly are you adding? What kind of contract do you want to rewrite?”

Yeongung asked in a low voice.

But the real question stuck in his throat like a fishbone:

Did you find me because your memories came back—

because you can track pheromones, because all those impossible things turned out to be true?

If Iheun truly remembered everything, then Yeongung would have no choice but to tell him about Jaehee.

And the reaction he dreaded wasn’t anger—

but the uncertainty.

Would he accept the child?

Would he allow Yeongung and Jaehee to remain together?

There was no predicting it.

Yet in some other corner of his heart, he wished—

desperately—

for Iheun to remember all of him.

A tangle of emotions twisted in his chest.

Iheun simply watched the conflicted omega quietly, as though waiting for his thoughts to settle.

“A-bu…”

Both of them looked down at the baby squirming in Yeongung’s arms.

“Heh… suck suck.”

Hungry, Jaehee had his tiny thumb in his mouth, sucking earnestly.

“My baby’s hungry. Daddy will get your food ready.”

As he turned toward the kitchen, Iheun extended his arms, indicating he would take the baby.

“Hunter Yeongung, eat first. Leave the child to me.”

Yeongung froze.

Among the lavish dishes on the table, he spotted one small, cartoon-decorated baby dish.

“It’s a hanwoo–cabbage–seaweed porridge. I made it easy for the baby to digest, so don’t worry. The temperature is perfect too.”

Iheun explained the ingredients naturally—

and it wasn’t store-bought.

He had made it himself.

When Yeongung hesitated, Iheun reached forward and lifted Jaehee from his arms.

Yank.

The baby immediately scrunched his face and yanked on Iheun’s hair with surprising force.

The papa-clinger was throwing a fit—

and he remembered the last time they met, how Iheun barely reacted to his charm attack.

Knowing how deceptively strong his child’s hands were, Yeongung winced.

That must hurt like hell…

But even after those chubby fists grabbed entire handfuls of hair, Iheun didn’t flinch.

Eventually, Jaehee burst into tears out of pure frustration.

“Waaah… A-bya…!”

Through watery eyes, he reached for Yeongung.

“I’ll just take him.”

Habitually prioritizing Jaehee over his own comfort, Yeongung tried to retrieve the baby—

but Iheun hoisted the child up high.

“I know you’re raising him delicately, but if you keep this up, he’ll get spoiled.”

Jaehee, accustomed to his soft and gentle papa, erupted into wails under the unfamiliar alpha parenting style.

“Waaah—!”

Yeongung panicked and tried to snatch him back—

But like magic, Jaehee’s crying stopped.

“…Heung…? Hic…”

Gentle alpha pheromones flowed from Iheun, wrapping around both omega and child.

Calm like nothing happened, Iheun lowered the baby to his chest again.

“No idea who he takes after, but his temper’s no joke.”

Yeongung stared at him, bewildered, as Iheun pulled out a chair.

Not only their looks—

Jaehee’s stubbornness, persistence, and iron will were all miniature versions of Won Iheun.

There were times it annoyed Yeongung how little the baby took after him.

But now Iheun was acting like Jaehee got his attitude from Yeongung.

“Funny. That temper is your— Never mind.”

Deciding not to pick that fight, he went to sit across from him—

Only for Iheun to pull him into the chair directly beside him.

Iheun fed the baby smoothly, with practiced hands.

“Eat and listen. We should finish our earlier conversation.”

Only after seeing his son happily munching the baby food did Yeongung finally relax and pick up his spoon.

One sip of soybean paste soup—

his eyes widened.

This flavor.

His vision grew blurry with heat.

Raising a child was war.

He couldn’t remember the last time he ate a meal without rushing.

Outside of hunter work, he was often called an idiot.

So when they lived together, Iheun had handled all the cooking.

It wasn’t as if Yeongung had pushed it on him—

Iheun simply banned him from the kitchen after tasting one unfortunate kimchi stew.

Each did what they were good at—

and just as Iheun cooked exceptional meals,

he’d also “compensated” Yeongung for the labor in bed.

“Keh—!”

A very untimely memory made Yeongung choke.

Iheun quickly handed him water, and he gulped it down.

“Hah…”

As he calmed his racing heart, he lifted his head—

and found Iheun watching him with a strangely tender gaze.

“Is it that good? You’re eating like you’ll choke again.”

“Ahaha… y-yeah. It’s good. Your cooking’s still amazing.”

“Eat slowly while listening.”

“To what…?”

Iheun stroked the hair at the back of Yeongung’s neck—

a sensitive place.

“That contract we talked about. I wasn’t joking. I already told Lawyer Go to prepare the documents. He’ll bring them here this week.”

“Lawyer Go is coming to Muhaedo?”

Go was the legal advisor in Tako Guild’s risk management division.

“Won Iheun, whatever contract you’re planning to shove at me—

using a guild lawyer for something personal between us is… that’s embezzlement.”

Iheun fed Jaehee another spoonful before replying.

“You think I’d use guild money? I hired him with my personal funds. Don’t worry about that.”

Then he ran his thumb slowly beneath Yeongung’s earlobe, where pheromone glands concentrated.

The touch sent a tight jolt through his lower belly.

Iheun didn’t miss a single one of his small omega reactions.

“We’ll discuss the rest after the baby sleeps. Eat first. Tsk. You’re all skin and bones. It’ll take time to fill you back out.”

A hand slowly creeping toward his pelvis was swatted away immediately.

“How am I supposed to eat when you’re doing shit like that?”

Only when Iheun withdrew his touch did Yeongung finally focus on his meal.

“Snoo… snoo…”

With the baby asleep—lulled by the white-noise lullaby—

Yeongung sat on the edge of the queen-sized bed beside the crib.

Iheun lay shamelessly on the bed.

“You seriously plan to sleep here tonight?”

“Three. The Principal and Agent shall…”

“…share a sleeping space.”

When Iheun began reciting the contract clause, Yeongung finished the line in resignation.

Why had he ever written something so idiotic?

He wanted to go back in time and strangle his past self.

Yeongung stiffened like a chopstick and warned:

“Jaehee’s here. He’s asleep, but he’s here.”

Translation:

Behave yourself.

But to his surprise, the man who had been acting like a clingy beast all day suddenly behaved with restraint once they were lying down.

“Of course. By the way—when will you put your face back?”

“…Dunno.”

“This is that bastard Sayeong’s work, isn’t it? What method did he use?”

In reality, he had changed his face with fake-face medication, but he lied deliberately.

“…One of Sayeong’s abilities. Useful guy.”

Then Iheun stood up and returned with a small shopping bag.

“Oh. That bastard who deserves to be eaten alive told me to give you this.”

Inside was a bottle of pills—

the regular fake-face medication Sayeong supplied him.

Familiar packaging, familiar pills.

Yeongung accepted it without suspicion.

“What is that?”

Under Iheun’s persistent stare, Yeongung shoved the bottle into a drawer.

“…Just vitamins. He felt bad I’m raising a kid alone, so he brought me supplements. Anyway, I’m tired. Let’s sleep.”

He pulled the blanket over himself and shut his eyes—

Never seeing the sly, predatory smile curling the alpha’s lips as he gazed at his peaceful face.