At the far end of Buam-dong, the traditional Korean restaurant <Unak> had a room with a clear view of Bugaksan Mountain.

This room, located in the deepest part of the restaurant, had an exceptionally beautiful view, especially on drizzly days. True to the restaurant’s name, it offered a panoramic view of Bugaksan Mountain with clouds draped around it.

Tae-hoon, who was frail and had a small appetite, would visit this place on the day he was discharged from the hospital. On such days, the restaurant would close its doors to welcome only him.

“We will serve you Hanwoo beef wraps with napa cabbage, clear corb shell soup, and steamed abalone from Wando.”

When the third or fourth course dish came out, Tae-hoon, who had been silently gazing at the scenery, asked Chief Seok, who was sitting beside him.

“So, how long are you planning to be gone?”

“I haven’t set a period. Since we’ve been apart for so long, I should start by winning the children’s hearts.”

Chief Seok had recently resigned from the company.

He should have quit several years ago, but Park Yoon-hwa’s strong insistence had delayed it. After that, it was delayed again because he was assisting Soo-hyun in settling into the company.

Now, Taesung had become Soo-hyun’s new company, without anyone remembering its old name.

Several months ago, Chief Seok had called himself the last old-timer left in the company and asked for his resignation to be accepted. He then revealed his plans to go to the United States to see his family.

So today’s meal was, so to speak, a farewell dinner before Chief Seok left for America.

“Chief Seok, you’ll still come to Korea often, right?”

Hae-in asked as she scooped up some corb shell soup and fed it to Jun-woo. In the brief moment she looked away, Jun-woo smacked the spoon away, and the soup spilled.

“Jun-woo, Jun-woo!”

“Shh, Jun-woo-yah. Just a moment... We have guests.”

Hae-in quickly put a finger to her lips, cautioning Jun-woo.

These days, Jun-woo insisted on doing everything himself and threw a tantrum over every little thing.

Hae-in was breaking a sweat trying to stop Jun-woo’s tantrum, when Soo-hyun put his hands under Jun-woo’s armpits and lifted him up high. In that gap, Hae-in quickly took out a towel and wiped the spilled soup off Jun-woo’s clothes.

“Just leave him be. Seeing him insist on doing everything himself, it seems Jun-woo has quite the personality.”

Tae-hoon just chuckled, finding Jun-woo cute, and then casually added, “Don’t you two plan on having a second child?”

At her father-in-law’s words, Hae-in’s hand, which had been about to put down her spoon, paused for a moment.

The dream she had last night was strange, and she had a gynecologist appointment scheduled for this morning. Still, she was keeping quiet, worried that the adults might be disappointed if it turned out she wasn’t pregnant.

She had felt so nauseous in the early morning, but after making the gynecologist appointment, the symptoms had vanished as if washed away.

She had also had irregular periods recently, so Hae-in was secretly worried that she might be getting her hopes up for nothing.

While Hae-in hesitated, unable to answer, Soo-hyun spoke up from beside her.

“We are thinking about a second child, but we are waiting since my wife might want to pursue her career. Having another child would inevitably delay her work.”

“Everything has its time. You can’t have both at once.”

Tae-hoon seemed to be hoping for another grandchild, now that he was a grandfather.

He had never brought up the topic of a second child before, so saying it now might mean it was something he had been holding in for a long time.

Tae-hoon, whom they thought was maintaining his health well, had recently fallen seriously ill again and been hospitalized. Perhaps because he had recovered from a quite critical condition, he seemed determined to say what was on his mind.

“Father, I know you might be disappointed, but our affairs are our own...”

Just as Soo-hyun was about to cut off Tae-hoon’s words, Hae-in quickly interjected.

“Father, if we were to have a second child, I would prefer a daughter.”

“A daughter?”

At Hae-in’s reply, Tae-hoon’s face, which had hardened with disappointment, bloomed into a bright smile.

“Hehehe, a granddaughter would be nice. Well, the reason I brought this up is...”

He was a father-in-law who usually didn’t interfere with his son and daughter-in-law’s affairs. Sure enough, Tae-hoon said he had a strange dream last night.

He was walking alone on a mountain path when a small white tiger cub jumped out and pounced on him.

“Oh, really?”

Hae-in pretended not to know, but she thought it was similar to the dream she had had last night. Of course, what appeared in her dream was a small puppy, not a white tiger.

“But even though the tiger jumped at me, instead of being scared, I thought, ‘Ah, it’s finally here.’ It’s very strange. Even after waking up, the lingering image stayed with me for a long time, so I really wanted to tell you all.”

“Is there really no news yet?” Tae-hoon looked intently at Soo-hyun and Hae-in.

Only Jun-woo, who knew nothing, was stirring his bowl with his fork. Hae-in lowered her head, pretending to take care of Jun-woo, and Soo-hyun silently put food in his mouth.

It was because they had made a firm promise to each other to keep it a secret from the adults until they were certain.

“If you keep doing that, I might even develop morning sickness that I don’t have.”

Hye-yeon, who had been listening beside them, chuckled softly and chided Tae-hoon. Tae-hoon just chuckled, “Is that so?” and turned his gaze to the view of Bugaksan Mountain with clouds hanging around it.

“We will serve the next course.”

The server who had cleared the empty plates reappeared with the next dish.

“This is abalone from Wando and Dokdo shrimp. The shrimp are alive, so we’ve covered them with abalone shells. Enjoy your meal.”

Plump, live shrimp that looked fresh at a glance were placed on a small plate. They moved even with a slight touch, giving the feeling that they had just been caught.

“We’ve been treated to a precious dish.”

Just as Chief Seok was about to pick up a shrimp to taste it, Hae-in, who had been looking at the shrimp in front of her, felt a strong wave of nausea.

“Ugh.”

Hye-yeon, who had been watching, said to Tae-hoon with slight surprise, “I wonder if the new baby has indigestion because you keep pressuring her.”

“Hehehe, goodness gracious. Can’t I even say this much? I’m just feeling a bit put out.”

Hae-in covered her mouth with her hand and smiled faintly, worried that the adults might be embarrassed, but the nausea didn’t go away and surged back up.

Ugh.

Hae-in, who barely managed to hold back the rising sensation that even made her eyes water, thought it wasn’t the time to deceive the elders.

“Um, actually, I did make a gynecologist appointment.”

“Ah, is that so? I knew it! I told you I had a dream!”

Tae-hoon was laughing heartily when Jun-woo, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly started imitating his mother.

“Ugh, ugh.”

He covered his mouth with his small hand and made the “ugh, ugh” sound, mimicking his mother from a moment ago, making the adults watching unable to hold back their laughter.

“Jun-woo must already know that a sibling is coming out.”

Tae-hoon smiled brightly and reached out to Jun-woo. “Grandpa,” Jun-woo said, wriggling down from his chair with Soo-hyun’s help, and ran straight to Tae-hoon and hugged him.

Could it be that the time to really present them with a second grandchild was near?

Hae-in looked at the two of them with a contented smile and gently stroked her belly.

It was a completely different situation from when she had to hide her pregnancy with Jun-woo from everyone.

________________________________________

“You’re ten weeks pregnant,” Professor Jo Soo-jin said, smiling kindly as she moved the ultrasound probe over Hae-in’s belly.

“Ah, so it was real.”

As soon as she suspected she might be pregnant, nausea had washed over her morning and evening. On the day she met Tae-hoon and returned home, Hae-in had thrown up everything she had eaten as soon as she arrived.

She had to stay in the bathroom for a long time, so much so that Soo-hyun was restless, wondering if it wasn’t pregnancy but some other illness.

Professor Jo Soo-jin had become famous for her recent paper and had a tight schedule. The few days she had to wait until her appointment were quite nerve-wracking, wondering if she was pregnant or not.

And today, as soon as she heard the words “you’re pregnant,” Hae-in suddenly felt all the tension leave her body.

“Would you like to hear the heartbeat?”

The ultrasound device slid gently over her belly and found its position. Then, as Professor Jo tapped on the keyboard and adjusted the monitor, the sound of the fetal heartbeat filled the examination room after a moment.

Thump, thump.

“Ah.”

Hae-in, who had barely let out a sighing breath, felt tears well up in her eyes.

She remembered how many thoughts had gone through her mind when she first heard Jun-woo’s heartbeat when she was pregnant with him.

Back then, she had to hide her pregnancy and was in a situation where no one could congratulate her.

It was a time when even Hae-in, the mother, clung more to her dying younger sibling than to the fetus in her womb, unsure whether the pregnancy would be a blessing or a curse.

“Mom?”

Jun-woo, who had been holding onto Soo-hyun’s pant leg, quietly walked over to Hae-in. He glanced at his father’s face, which was filled with emotion, and then gently took his mother’s hand.

“Jun-woo-yah, you’re going to have a sibling.”

As Professor Jo Soo-jin said this, Jun-woo looked around with a curious face and jumped up and down.

“Mommy, thump-thump! Thump-thump!”

“Yes, Jun-woo-yah. It looks like a real sibling is coming.”

A moment later, an ultrasound photo was in Hae-in’s hand.

Inside the photo was the shape of a baby lying in a fairly large, round gestational sac.

“Jun-woo-yah. This baby is inside Mommy’s tummy right now. It’s waiting here to meet Jun-woo.”

As Hae-in showed the photo to Jun-woo and explained, Soo-hyun put his arm around Hae-in’s shoulder.

“Congratulations, Hae-in-ah.”

Hae-in held the hand that was on her shoulder and looked up at his face. Soo-hyun had a rather complicated expression.

“How do you feel? Now that you’ve heard the news about the second child.”

Hae-in asked cautiously, noticing that Soo-hyun’s face didn’t look entirely happy. Then, Soo-hyun, his eyes reddening, sighed and said with a hollow laugh.

“No. I was just thinking about how badly I treated you.”

“That’s all in the past.”

“You can forget it. I’ll remember. I can’t forget if I want to do better in the future for all the things I couldn’t do back then.”

Soo-hyun lowered his head and gave Hae-in a light kiss on the cheek, then smiled.

“I don’t care if it’s a daughter or a son, but I think it would be nice to have a daughter who looks like you. Congratulations.”

Hearing Soo-hyun’s voice whispering in her ear, Hae-in’s heart gradually fluttered.

It was a day she received good news about her pregnancy from the very beginning, as if compensating her for the difficult past days.