Chapter 44: Inoue Ren

The sound of splashing water and children's laughter echoed around the swimming pool area as Ji-woo carefully set down the pieces of the barbeque grill near the shaded patio. She had just started assembling it when—

RING! RING!

Her phone buzzed loudly in her pocket.

Ji-woo pulled it out and glanced at the caller ID. Her eyebrows twitched in recognition.

"Bae Sung-min?!"

She instinctively turned toward Eun-ha, who was busy sorting the ingredients. "I need to take this call."

Eun-ha, not even looking up, simply nodded. "Go ahead. Eun-soo! Get the vegetables and fruits from the fridge!"

"Okay, Mom!" Eun-soo's cheerful voice responded.

Ji-woo hurried inside to the living room, answering the call as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Bae Sung-min! What do you want?"

On the other end of the line, a deep chuckle resonated. "Jiji, you don't sound happy to hear from me."

Ji-woo rolled her eyes, already exasperated. "It's not that, but— Wait. Why are you calling me?"

A beat of silence.

Then, with a tone dripping with smugness, Sung-min casually replied,

"I'm in Seoul."

Ji-woo's eyes widened in shock. "WHAT?!"

Her voice nearly echoed in the empty living room.

"Why the hell are you in Seoul?!"

Sung-min, now sitting comfortably in the lobby of Dawn Entertainment, leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk on his face.

"I ran away from home."

Ji-woo facepalmed so hard she nearly dropped her phone. "You did WHAT?!"

"I ran away," Sung-min repeated cheerfully. "I've finally decided—I'm going to pursue my dream of becoming an actor."

Ji-woo's brain short-circuited for a second.

"Do you—do you even HEAR yourself?! Your parents are going to KILL you!"

Sung-min laughed carefreely. "Oh, I already passed that challenge. The family bodyguards were chasing me, but I managed to shake them off."

Ji-woo let out a horrified gasp. "And how exactly did you do that?!"

Sung-min's tone turned mysterious. "A handsome, mysterious guy helped me."

Ji-woo rubbed her temples. "A handsome mysterious guy?! Do you even hear yourself?!"

Sung-min, completely ignoring her distress, continued, "He was so cool, Jiji. Like, I don't even know his name, but he wore all black, and his voice was so deep and mysterious—"

Ji-woo cut him off. "I don't care if he was Batman! GO HOME!"

Sung-min chuckled, completely unfazed.

"Jiji, you're overreacting. I'm at Dawn Entertainment right now."

Ji-woo almost dropped her phone again. "EXCUSE ME?!"

Sung-min grinned as he looked around the famous talent agency's lobby.

"I'm here to get signed as an actor," he said, sounding way too confident for someone who just ran away from home.

Ji-woo suddenly burst into laughter.

Sung-min blinked. "Uh... What's so funny?"

Ji-woo barely managed to catch her breath. "You! Do you seriously think you can just walk into a top entertainment agency and they'll sign you on the spot?! Your overconfidence is going to get you killed one day!"

Sung-min pouted. "Yah! You don't have to crush my dreams like that!"

Before Ji-woo could lecture him further, Sung-min suddenly gasped.

"Wait, I see something—"

"Bae Sung-min, don't you DARE—"

Click!

The line went dead.

Ji-woo stared at her phone. Then she sighed dramatically, shaking her head.

"That reckless idiot."

She quickly typed out a message:

"Take care of yourself, you crazy fool."

After sending the message, she stood up and stretched, mentally cursing her childhood friend.

Bae Sung-min.

The runaway chaebol son, who had been her classmate all throughout high school.

Back then, Ji-woo had focused on studying and later passed the college entrance exams, successfully enrolling at Mugunghwa University in Business Management.

Sung-min, on the other hand, had been adamant about not going to college, instead chasing his dream of acting—a decision that had put him at odds with his family for years.

And now?

Now, he had officially lost his mind and run away to Seoul.

"...His parents are going to have an aneurysm when they find out."

Shaking her head, Ji-woo put her phone away and made her way back to the swimming pool area, where Eun-ha and Eun-soo were still setting up the food.

As she walked back, she muttered to herself,

"Maybe I should prepare a funeral wreath for him in advance..."

---

The warm afternoon sun bathed the quiet streets in golden light as Seo-woo and Eun-woo strolled hand-in-hand toward Haneul's house.

Seo-woo, feeling playful, hummed a cheerful tune before bursting into song, his voice light and melodic.

🎶 "Walking, walking~ To see a friend~ With my little nephew who's cute till the end~" 🎶

Eun-woo giggled, his tiny shoulders shaking. "Uncle Seo-woo, you sing so well! Like a real singer!"

Seo-woo smirked. "Of course, of course! I have many talents. But you know what? You will be amazing too."

Eun-woo blinked up at him. "Me?"

Seo-woo nodded dramatically. "Yep! A great pianist!"

Eun-woo blushed shyly and lowered his head. "B-but I'm not that good yet..."

"Nonsense!" Seo-woo grinned. "I'm already reserving my seat at your future piano recital." He pointed at himself with a proud expression.

Eun-woo gasped, eyes wide. "Uncle, that's embarrassing!" He covered his face with his hands, his ears turning pink.

Seo-woo laughed and patted his nephew's head gently. "You'll get over it. You're already doing great, but if you ever need help, I'll be right there, okay?"

Eun-woo peeked through his fingers, then nodded softly. "Thank you, Uncle..." His voice was barely above a whisper, his tiny hands gripping Seo-woo's fingers just a little tighter.

Seo-woo felt his heart melt at the innocent gratitude in his voice.

After a few more steps, they finally arrived at Haneul's house, a grand yet elegant mansion with high gates and neatly trimmed hedges.

Seo-woo reached out and pressed the electronic bell near the gate. A few seconds later, the main door opened, and a housekeeper emerged, walking towards them.

She squinted slightly as she approached. "Who—" Then, she recognized Eun-woo.

"Eun-woo?" The housekeeper raised a brow. "Why aren't you in school today?"

Eun-woo fidgeted shyly. "Uhm... My family is at my uncle's house today, so I didn't go..."

The housekeeper then turned to Seo-woo, who was wearing a face mask, making it difficult to recognize him.

Seo-woo greeted her politely, his tone warm. "Hello, we're here to see Haneul."

Eun-woo, still a little nervous, spoke up. "I... I want to invite Haneul to our barbeque pool party at my uncle's house..."

The housekeeper's expression softened, but a hint of concern lingered in her eyes.

"Haneul didn't go to school today either," she said with a sigh. "He was crying all night. It's probably a good thing that you came. Maybe some time with his friend will cheer him up."

Seo-woo and Eun-woo exchanged worried glances.

The housekeeper then turned and walked toward the main house. "Let me confirm with the butler first."

Inside the mansion, the butler quickly dialed a number and placed a call to Woo-seok.

After a brief conversation, the butler turned to the housekeeper and nodded. "Master Woo-seok said yes. Haneul may go."

The housekeeper smiled in relief and made her way up to Haneul's room.

She knocked gently. "Haneul, sweetheart, your friend is here."

A few seconds later, the door creaked open, revealing a small boy with red-rimmed eyes and a sad expression.

"Haneul," the housekeeper said softly, "Eun-woo is here to see you."

Haneul's eyes widened. His tired, gloomy expression instantly shifted to one of surprise.

He quickly ran past the housekeeper, his small feet pattering against the marble floor as he rushed to the gate.

When he saw Eun-woo standing there, his chest tightened with emotion.

And then, he saw the tall young man standing next to his friend.

His jaw dropped slightly.

"...Seo-woo hyung?"

---

Deep in the mountainous region, far from the bustling city where Seo-woo and his family enjoyed their peaceful lives, a dimly lit laboratory hummed with eerie silence. The room was filled with the faint scent of chemicals, the sharp tang of antiseptic mixing with the metallic air of research equipment.

At the center of it all, Inoue Ren, a young man with sharp, calculating eyes, meticulously examined a row of test tubes, each filled with vibrant, swirling liquids of various colors. His fingers, covered in thin latex gloves, carefully adjusted the temperature settings of a cryogenic chamber nearby.

Yet, despite the complexity of his work, his expression remained grim.

His latest experiment—one that had been six years in the making—was still incomplete.

Ren frowned, his mind drifting back to his failed attempt.

[Flashback]

Back then, he had been on the verge of a breakthrough. Using a highly classified detector, he had successfully identified two men on the streets whose genetic compatibility suggested a rare reproductive match—a phenomenon he had been obsessed with proving.

His plan had been simple:

Drug them. Kidnap them. Make them do the deed. Monitor their condition for scientific purposes

But things had gone terribly wrong.

One of the men, unexpectedly powerful, had fought back. His bodyguard had been equally relentless, ensuring that Ren's hired men failed their mission. The entire operation crumbled before it even began.

The would-be kidnappers had been arrested, thrown into prison, and interrogated.

But Ren had planned ahead.

He had ensured that none of his subordinates knew his true identity. The trail leading back to him was non-existent.

Yet, six years had passed since that incident... and his detector had not detected another match since.

[Back to the present]

Ren clenched his jaw, eyes burning with frustration as he turned away from the failed cryogen capsules.

"This is ridiculous..." he muttered, tossing his gloves onto the table.

He had been meticulously searching for another reproductive match, yet no new candidates had surfaced.

It was infuriating.

He wanted a fresh subject, one he could observe from the very beginning. He needed to study the phenomenon as it developed naturally, not after the subject had already given birth.

His fingers drummed impatiently against the table as he checked his phone, scrolling through the online businesses he frequented.

One website, in particular, caught his attention—a small online store selling handcrafted items.

He had been interested in their products for a while, thinking they would make his lab feel less cold, less clinical—a touch of cuteness in a world filled with steel and chemicals.

But something was off.

The store owner had stopped responding to his inquiries.

Ren narrowed his eyes. "Strange..."