Divorce Contract C86

Chapter 86

 

“Igyeol?”

“Ah… Aunt.”

“What are you doing sitting there like that?”

“My stomach feels… kind of heavy. A little bloated.”

Eunsuk studied his awkward little smile, made a decision, and pulled him to his feet. From the bag she’d brought earlier, she pulled out a jacket and draped it over his shoulders. Before he could even understand what was happening, she had him by the wrist and was dragging him gently toward the front door.

She crouched at the entrance, clearly annoyed that no shoes had been set out, and rummaged around until she found his sneakers. She shoved them onto his feet.

“Come. Let’s walk a little. There’s a path outside—I saw it when I arrived.”

“But… I shouldn’t go out. I should at least tell—”

“You are not going alone, so what does it matter? Come, come. All is well.”

She stepped out first, smiling, waiting for him to follow. Igyeol hesitated between her and the cool breath of night waiting beyond the doorway. After a beat, the crisp air tempted him forward.

“The weather’s been lovely lately,” she said.

“It truly is refreshing.”

“Refreshing or not, keep yourself wrapped up properly.”

“…Before the cold settles into my bones?”

“Exactly. Once the cold gets into your bones, it’s misery.”

For the first time in days, Igyeol smiled—really smiled. That small brightness on his face hit Eunsuk so hard she almost cried then and there, but she held herself steady and squeezed his hand. Together, they walked along the curved path just outside the villa gate.

“With the streetlights on, it feels quite safe and pretty, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Though it seems the autumn leaves have all fallen already… maybe the rain came too often.”

“When little Ihyeon comes home, the cold will be setting in. I worry about that. I have no family myself, so I’ve never raised an infant before. I should probably learn beforehand.”

Igyeol’s expression turned serious too. Ihyeon was his first child as well. Even holding him required a nurse’s guidance. When he was alone, his hands froze from fear—he couldn’t even set the baby down confidently.

They stopped at a bench, shared their worries—hers for him, his for little Seo Ihyeon.

“Your milk still flows, yes? I think you’ll need a pump. Did you see one here?”

“No. And my supply gets thinner every day… would a pump really be necessary?”

At that, Eunsuk gave his chest a thoughtful once-over.

“To express by hand, you’d need more—well, more flesh to work with,” she said plainly. “So yes, a pump. But these days you can borrow them. We’ll manage it.”

“…Alright.”

“As for formula and bottles, you can prepare those later. For now, clothing is more urgent.”

“There should be some… but still… I want to buy them myself. His first outfit—I want to choose it. I want to buy his first little gown.”

Joy flickered briefly across his face—soft, shy, bright. It warmed her heart.

“Then we shall buy them,” she said. “Everything your heart wants.”

For the first time in weeks, a clean light shone in his eyes.

By the time they returned, night wind still clinging to their clothes, they found Seo Dohyeon pacing the living room with a pale face. When he laid eyes on Igyeol—hair mussed, cheeks flushed from the cold—his breath escaped in a long, shaky exhale.

He dragged a hand through his hair hard enough to hurt, wrestling whatever emotion was boiling in him. Why had Igyeol gone out? Without a word? Without even the smallest sign? His eyes were bloodshot, his breath unsteady.

“Ha…”

He’d searched the house room by room. Found the bedroom dark. The whole house too quiet. Worst of all—no trace of Igyeol anywhere.
The panic had been instant, suffocating.

The sound of the front door opening had nearly brought him to his knees.

“Where were you?”

“Ah… Aunt and I only took a short walk.”

Igyeol’s voice was reluctant, nervous. Dohyeon’s shoulders finally eased some. He nodded once, turned as if to go—then stopped beside him.

“Next time… if you go out, say so.”

“…What? Oh. Yes…”

Before he could finish, Eunsuk stepped forward and physically blocked Dohyeon with her arm.

“You fret because he took a few steps outside? As though he wouldn’t return? What, are you scared he’ll run away from you for good?”

“I worried because it’s cold,” Dohyeon said tightly. “If he fell ill, it wouldn’t be trivial.”

“Worry too much, and you’ll cage him,” she snapped.
“Inside, go.”

She steered Igyeol back into the bedroom like he was precious cargo, then spun around to confront Dohyeon.

“When Ihyeon is discharged, I want to take him and Igyeol home with me.”

“That’s impossible,” he said immediately. “Your home is too far. If the baby needed emergency care in the night—”

“There’s a university hospital just thirty minutes away.”

“Here,” he countered, “a ten-minute walk brings us to one. Their residence will not be moved.”

His tone was firm. But Eunsuk didn’t budge an inch.

“Do you even know what you’ve done to him?” she said, voice low and deadly.
“He fears other people’s touch. A single brush of skin, and he jumps like a frightened animal. He suffers hallucinations. His sleep is in pieces. He eats almost nothing. And yet—yet—you stand here speaking only about commute times to a hospital? Do not pretend this is care, Seo Dohyeon.”

“……”

“The way you guard him—it isn’t love. It’s a child clutching his favorite toy, terrified someone will take it.”

Her words hit like sharpened knives. Dohyeon laughed once—hollow, humorless. He wanted to deny her. But he couldn’t. Because she wasn’t wrong.

Then she noticed the bedroom door crack open.
Igyeol was peeking out—face tight with anxiety.

She raised her voice for him to hear.

“Even if you refuse, Seo Dohyeon, if Igyeol wishes to go with me, then he will.”

“You say it easily,” Dohyeon answered. “But you do not know what he has sacrificed to keep the child. If you try to take him away—know this: he cannot leave with the child, and he cannot leave without the child.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a small gasp sounded behind him.

He spun—too late.

Igyeol had heard.

His face was already shattering.
Tears trembling at the edges of his lashes.

Eunsuk stayed steady.
But Dohyeon’s expression collapsed.

“Ah…”

“Go, Igyeol,” she said softly.

His voice cracked as he pushed his hair back from his damp forehead.

“…It’s true. I—I did that.”

“What are you saying—!”

“He said he would let me raise the child… if I didn’t divorce him. So I agreed. He’s right, Aunt. I can’t leave him. I can’t leave because… my baby is with him.”

He bowed his head, and tears pattered to the floor.

He walked away—silent, hurting, trembling—into the bedroom.

Left behind, Seo Dohyeon faced the full force of Shin Eunsuk’s fury—nothing softened, nothing hidden.

“Now,” she said coldly,
“I expect you to tell me exactly what has happened between the two of you.”