If I Knew

Special mass release, August 8th of 2022. Part 6/7!

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"Who's your father, kid?" Seojin suddenly asked Tae-tae and the kid's face got darker.

He was uncomfortable. "I don't know!"

"Have you never been curious about that?" [It's only natural, isn't it?]

"Look, hyung, I don't need a man who hurt my mother in my life. She's my everything, as her son, I'm unable to do that," the boy seemed annoyed. "We aren't here to talk about that. We are here to... see if you deserve my aunt or not!"

[Did he just stutter to say that?] "And you have zero desire to at least know who he is?"

The kid bit his bottom lip. "No."

[He's lying.] "Okay. What else do you want to ask me?"

"Blood type?"

"AB!" That made him smile. [I bet it's because he has the same blood type as I do!]

[Oh my God, it's the same as my mommy, and me!] "Western zodiac sign?"

"Libra. October 19!" [My mother always said it was a good zodiac sign.]

[Damn, it's perfect. Mommy is an Aries, and they are both polar opposites and totally compatible. Whereas, I'm a Gemini.] "MBTI?"

"INTP!" [Thank goodness, Sunghae little sister made me do the test, or I wouldn't know how to answer this.]

[Mommy's an ENTP, same as me, so it works well.] "I..." his phone began to ring and he froze when he saw who it was. Gulping, he took the call. "Mommy? I... Okay? But why are you already coming here? ...Hm? Ah, alright. Can you buy me a new pair of professional headphones in purple and the new album from Tomorrow by Together? Mommy, please! You know how I love their song," he smiled, winning the argument. "You are the best mom in the world. Yes, try finding Beomgyu and Yeonjun's photo cards. I miss you too... Oh, and buy me a piece of lemon pie on the way, okay? Love you. Bye!"

Seojin was dumbfounded by that kid. Knowing that he probably asked that to buy him time until his mother come in. And when the kid hang up, he sighed, as if he had just lost a year of his life. [How amusing.] "So, you are a fan of TXT?"

Taeyoung blushed. "Maybe... Anyways, I bought you time enough to leave without her seeing you. The staff will keep it a secret for me, so don't worry. I thought she would only come at night, it seems like I was wrong," sigh. "Well, it was a pleasant meeting. I just hope you will be able to make her heart flutter because you can be perfect, but if you have no effect on her at all, it will all be useless!'

"She never dated anyone?"

The boy seemed tired. "No. At least, not since I remember. I never saw her with any men unless they are from her work. And she never sleepover anywhere, she always finds a way to stay at home every night, so we can spend time together!"

[That's what a mother would do! Maybe I'm paranoid because he has eyes identical to mine, as well as the fact that he does look like me as a child. But I'm starting to think he's lying about who's his aunt and who's his mother.] "It must have been lonely!"

"Uncle Mori once talked to me about my insistence in matchmaking her with the man I picked before. He told me not to pressure her so much because she was hurt by someone in her past. And he said that the fact that she could still be traumatized by this guy, must be the reason why she doesn't allow herself to fall in love again," Taeyoung passed his fingers through his hair. "But I want to see her happy and in love, with someone who deserves her. That's why I keep trying."

[Oh, yeah, he's my son. The way he touched his hair was proof enough. For fuck's sake. This eight-year-old boy is my son!] Seojin came to the shocking realization. [But I have to be 100% sure before freaking out about the fact that they hid him from me!] "You are an amazing kid, Choi Taeyoung!"

"So, you like me?" He asked with a wide smile.

"Do you still have any doubt about it?" [I need to find a way to get something from him that I could use to make a DNA test.] "I think we are very much alike."

[Is that his way to say I'm amazing? I'll take it.] "Thank you, for the compliment. Now you have to go, or mommy is going to come here at any moment and see you! That would get you in trouble, and me too. You don't want to get me in trouble, do you?"

"Never!" [Look at how he sweet talks so naturally, damn. He's identical to me. If he isn't my son, I swear to God, I'll marry an alligator!] "I hope the chocolates are tasty! You have my number, when you need it, just call me and I'll come to you!"

"Thank you, hyung. I hope you will be lucky with aunt Aeri!" [That way you will marry my mom, give me two siblings, and I'll be able to have a grandma who's a writer. Can you imagine if she writes a book and makes me the main character? God, I want that.]

[I don't know if luck is necessarily what I'll need.] "Next time we see each other, I'll bring you one of my mom's fantasy books, signed, for you!" He promised and his heart flutter when he saw the kid's wide smile.

"I look forward to that!"

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He couldn't just leave like that, after realizing that he could, very much, be that boy's father. So, he pretended to leave the condo and parked his car in front of the villa of one of his parents' friends, three villas from the Choi's. And so, he waited.

[When he took the call, it was written 'mommy' on the contact. So, it must be his mom. And if yes, and I'm right, then the one who will arrive with what he asked is going to be Aeri, not Jiah. I have to see it with my eyes,] he thought to himself, waiting inside his car.

And after half an hour, a car passed through him at way too much speed, heading to where he had left. So, he turned his car on and drove a little closer to the Choi villa, then stopped, in a spot they wouldn't see him. A spot that also gave him a full view of the car that had just parked there.

As the door opened, he felt his heart beating faster than normal. A signal of anxiety. And it got worse as it took the driver a whole minute to get off. Then she came into view and he felt as if a truck had passed over him ten times in a roll.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed as he saw Choi Aeri coming out of the car and running to the kid, who ran and hugged his mom. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck..."

The two of them seemed happy to see each other, and he felt even worse when he saw the gorgeous smile on her mouth. A genuine smile. [If at least I hadn't been blind before... Fuck. How must she hate me to hide from me that we had a son? A goddamn child. It's insane. Now it makes sense why she vanished and never came back until her parents' accident.]

[She was probably afraid of me discovering and taking him away. Because ain't no way I would do that. I'm not that kind of man, come on. I would absolutely have married her. With a son or not, because we did sleep together, and I was ready to take responsibility for it!]

[I've cursed myself up to this day for that. Knowing that as she was so in love with me, that was probably her first time as well. And I won't lie saying it was bad, because it was amazing, and I still remember that night vividly.]

[At first, I respected her, but once she disappeared, and seemed to not want me to find her again. But I hoped to meet her again. And then I learned that she was my parents' friends' youngest daughter, which made me feel worse. Especially when I got closer to her parents and realized how amazing they were.]

[I kept thinking of how much they would hate me if they knew what happened between us.]

[It must have been because she was the one with whom I lost my virginity, but she kept appearing in my mind constantly. I couldn't think of other women because she got under my skin like no one else. That's also why I've never slept with anyone else, and even when I tried once, with a random woman I paid for it, I just couldn't do it.]

[She made me forget who was Kimsoo and Jaewoo, as well as what they made me feel. I felt nothing but disdain when I saw them again. Not even pity. It was as if they became total strangers who I'd never met in my life.]

When he realized, he had already left and automatically gone to his parents' villa.