The night after the sewing shop owner finally left should have felt peaceful.
It didn't.
His mother barely touched her dinner.She kept glancing at her phone—at the message from Kang Dojin requesting a private meeting.
Her hands shook every time.
The toddler sat beside her on the floor, quietly watching.He didn't ask.He didn't speak.
He simply observed her growing fear.
Fear not of danger…
But of truth.
After putting him to sleep, she sat alone by the small window, staring out into the narrow alley.
The streetlight flickered.Shadows stretched thin.
She whispered to herself:
"…Why now…?"
Her fingers gripped her shirt tightly.
She remembered a smile from years ago.A deep voice.A warm hand that held hers.A man who walked beside her on cold nights, promising a future they would build together.
A man she lost before she could even say goodbye.
And his name…
Dojin.
She pressed her forehead to her knees.
"Please… don't let it be the same man…"
But fear told her otherwise.
The toddler, half-awake, opened his eyes.
He heard everything.
The next day, she took him to the market to buy cheaper vegetables.Money was always tight, even with the boutique orders.
The market was crowded—grandmothers haggling, vendors shouting prices, people pushing carts.
His mother tried to stay unnoticed, but whispers followed her:
"That's the woman from the boutique event!""I saw her in a photo!""She's moving up.""Her kid is scary-smart though…"
The toddler's ears twitched at that.
Not fear.Recognition.
People were noticing.
Too fast.
She stood in line at a vegetable stall when the vendor raised the price suddenly.
"Cabbage is 5,000 won today!"
His mother frowned. "Yesterday it was 3,500…"
"Today is different," the vendor snapped.
A lie.A greedy lie.
Before she could apologize and step back, the toddler tugged her sleeve.
Then pointed directly at the sign behind the vendor—the one the vendor forgot to change—
It still said 3,500 won.
The people in line gasped.
The vendor turned and froze.
Everyone saw it.
Everyone saw the toddler point at it.
Someone whispered:
"…He noticed?""A baby caught the lie?""That's scary smart…"
The vendor's face flushed.
"He—he's just pointing randomly!" he snapped.
But the toddler shook his head.
He tapped 3 fingers into his palm.
Then 5.
A perfect gesture meaning:
"The price changed from 3,500 to 5,000."
People murmured louder.
"He understands numbers?""How did he notice so fast?""That baby isn't normal…"
His mother's face flushed in panic.She bowed repeatedly.
"S-Sorry! I'm so sorry—he's just playful—please forgive—"
She grabbed the stroller and rushed away, trembling.
The toddler watched her.
She wasn't scared of him.
She was scared of how the world would react.
And he understood that perfectly.
Back at the apartment, she collapsed beside the stroller.
Her voice cracked painfully.
"Why… why do you have to be so smart…?""Why can't you act like a normal baby…?""I don't want people to look at you like you're strange…""I'm scared… I'm so scared they'll take you from me…"
She covered her face and cried.
The toddler crawled out of the stroller and hugged her tightly.
Then whispered:
"Mama… mine."
Her breath hitched.
She pulled him into her arms, crying harder.
"I won't let them take you… I won't… I won't…"
He rested his head on her shoulder.
But inside?
He made a silent vow:
No one will take her from me either.Not the neighbors.Not the gossip.Not poverty.Not the businessman.
He would grow strong enough to protect her.
And then stronger.
Until no one dared to touch her life again.
That evening, a new message buzzed on her phone.
This time, it wasn't a request.
It was an instruction.
I'll be sending a car to pick you and your son up tomorrow at 2 PM.We need to talk.— Kang Dojin
Her heart stopped.
"Why… why does he want to see me…?" she whispered.
She checked the time.
She checked the date.
She checked the message again.
Her hands shook uncontrollably.
"He knows something… He must know something…"
She sank to the floor, hugging the toddler tightly.
"I don't want him to know about your father… I don't want him involved…"
The toddler stared up at her.
His father?
What secret was she hiding?
What truth was she afraid of?
Just as she began to compose herself, someone knocked at the door.
Softly.
Not the landlord.Not the neighbors.Not the old man.
She opened it nervously—
And nearly collapsed.
A woman stood there.In her late 40s.Straight posture.Calm eyes.A presence that felt… official.Dangerously official.
She bowed politely.
"Are you Seo Hana?"
"Y-Yes…"
The woman smiled sadly.
"I was a friend of your husband."
His mother's knees buckled.
"My… my husband…?"
"Yes," the woman said."I worked with him.Before he passed away."
Her eyes shifted to the toddler.
She froze.
Covered her mouth.
"Oh my god…" she whispered."He looks exactly like him."
His mother's heart shattered.
"Please… please tell me the truth…" she begged."What… what do you know about him?Who was he… really…?"
The woman looked at her.
Then at the toddler again.
Finally, she said:
"I think you need to know everything.Before Kang Dojin finds you."
The toddler's eyes widened.
So it WAS connected.
The father.The businessman.The past.The danger.
All tied together.
And now—
The truth was about to surface.