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Jiyu nodded absentmindedly and quickened her pace toward the entrance. Ae-jeong followed, grumbling.
“Your dad will pick you up by ten. I’d love to go with you if I could, but I’m letting you go alone since you complained so much. Anyway, I've only ever seen parties like that in movies; I'm dying to know what they're actually like, honey.”
Leaving Ae-jeong close behind her, Jiyu hurried out the front door. If she lingered, Ae-jeong might actually insist on tagging along to the party.
“I’m off!”
Her light footsteps, clad in ankle-high sneakers, raced down the hallway.
✾ ✾ ✾
Hunter, having just finished his shower, stepped into the dressing room.
Tap, tap, tap.
He heard the sound of a light, clumsy knock from a small hand. There were the sounds of fluttering footsteps and the noise of someone stifling a giggle.
It was his five-year-old sister, Daisy.
He pulled a pair of dark-colored pants from the hangers, where crisply ironed chinos were organized by color, slipped them on, and shouted toward the door.
[Daisy. I told you I have to leave soon. I can't play with you today, so go to Rosa.]
Whenever she got the chance, Daisy pestered Hunter to play with her. It was because he rarely nagged her about things being dangerous.
Her much older brother would toss her high into the air and catch her, or let her climb all over him like a pillar without a word of complaint. He also knew magic tricks, like eating a coin with his mouth and spitting it out through his ear, and his juggling was better than most circus performers.
[It's not Daisy. It's Dad,] the child replied. Then, a low voice shushing her leaked through the gap in the door.
Father? Is it already time for him to get off work? It seems a bit early.
Hunter replied firmly, as if wanting to be heard.
[Daisy, tell your dad that people over forty are forbidden from entering this room.]
Recently, a warning sign resembling a pirate flag had been posted in front of Hunter's door.
Must Knock!
No Entry for Those 40+.
Fine for Violations: $100
For the sake of Daisy, who couldn't read yet, he had also drawn a small picture of a stick figure wearing a skirt knocking on a door.
Not long ago, he had started living with his door closed. In the past, he found it tedious to open and close it every time, and he felt suffocated when the door was shut, so he kept it wide open except when he slept.
Perhaps because of that, family members accustomed to the open door would often burst in without knocking, only to recoil with an "Oops!"
But recently, the need for privacy had become desperate.
‘As if they know what I’m doing in here. Do they still think I’m a kid?’
Daisy replied triumphantly in an excited voice.
[Mm-hmm, that's why Daisy knocked. Daddy says he's too old, so he can't knock.]
Then, Jerard's voice followed.
[Hunter. Can we talk for a bit before you leave?]
Hunter, who had just taken a navy shirt off the hanger, paused. Jerard's voice was a tone lower than usual.
He usually leaves that kind of voice at the office.
It was deeply ominous that Jerard, who had come home earlier than usual on a Friday evening, was doing something he never did. It was even worse because Hunter couldn't even guess the reason.
Did I do something wrong recently?
When Hunter didn't answer, Jerard added:
[Uh... I mean, man to man. An open and honest conversation.]
Hunter, who had been unfolding the shirt to put it on, froze in place.
Man to man?
Open and honest?
Could this be...
His face contorted as he replied firmly.
[No.]
Then, a soothing voice came back.
[Come on, Hunter. I'll pay the fine, so it'll only take ten minutes.]
Was it two or three years ago?
One by one, children had started appearing who had spent the previous night having an "open and honest conversation" with their father, or both parents, about the physical changes of puberty, nocturnal emissions, masturbation, and safe sex. Every single one of them shuddered, agreeing that it was absolutely horrific.
Since his own parents hadn't said anything until now, he had thought he was lucky they weren't that tacky.
He was turning fifteen in two months; what "open and honest conversation" did he want to have now?
It was too late.
He already knew everything there was to know.
[Lauren suddenly got an idea a few days ago and has been hounding me to talk to you, so I had no choice. I promise to keep it as short as possible.]
Hunter narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.
‘Mom? Suddenly?’
No way. A few days ago, he had thrown away some stained underwear bundled with a few pieces of clothing that were too small to wear in the trash. Lauren didn't clean his room, so there was no way she could have known.
Staring at the door, he spoke through gritted teeth.
[Three minutes.]
If he had to do it anyway, he'd keep it as short as possible.
[...How about five minutes? 200 dollars in cash, paid immediately.]
The negotiation came from outside the door.
He hesitated for a moment.
He heard Daisy's breathless, scream-like giggling. It seemed the two of them would stay there in front of the door until he opened it. Five minutes was bearable.
Hunter strode forward and flung the door open.
Jerard, holding Daisy in one arm, was gripping her chubby forearm and clashing his upper and lower teeth together as if he were about to eat her round little fist. Daisy squirmed in his arms, laughing and shrieking.
In front of his youngest daughter, born late, Jerard threw away all dignity and played the fool. He, who had been smiling with deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, cleared his throat awkwardly and set Daisy on the floor.
[Hunter! Spin me around!]
As soon as Daisy saw him, she grabbed his hand and pleaded.
[Just once.]
Hunter became a human pull-up bar, holding her small hands and enduring until Daisy, who had climbed up his leg like a spider, kicked him in the stomach and spun around once.
Meanwhile, Jerard signaled to Rosa, who was waiting at the end of the hallway. Rosa, who had gone from being Hunter's nanny to Daisy's nanny, quickly approached, picked up the child, and headed toward the playroom.
When he was five, he didn't think he let Rosa carry him away like that.
Suddenly, Hunter wondered if he had been a bit of an odd child. Then he shrugged.
Not really.
There are guys like Rex; what am I compared to him?
[Son. Can I come in now?]
Standing on the threshold, Hunter crossed his arms and reluctantly, slowly stepped aside. Jerard quickly slid one leg into the room and gave Hunter's bare shoulder a light punch.
[Kid, you've got a great build. You've grown as wide as a door in the meantime.]
Hunter gave a short snort and draped the shirt he was holding over his shoulder. His father had always been someone he looked up to, but now their eye levels were roughly the same.
Seeing him in a suit with a tie tightened to the neck, it seemed he had been pushed by Lauren to come here before he even had a chance to change out of his work clothes. He took off his jacket and sat backward in Hunter's desk chair, resting the backrest against his stomach.
The genial smile on his lips softened his sharp, intelligent eyes.
He was from "old money" with a perfect lineage, even among the elite of Manhattan, but thanks to his unassuming attitude and open-mindedness, he had a wide network and few enemies.
Because he received more invitations to events in New York, large and small, than the Mayor of New York did, people even urged him to enter politics.
With a relaxed and leisurely aura, Jerard looked much younger than his age, maintaining the lean physique of his prime even as he approached his late forties. This was thanks to the strict exercise routine he had ingrained in himself through the military academy and the army.
On weekend mornings, he would go jogging in Central Park with Hunter, competing for speed, or engage in silly battles of pride over weight at the gym.
While he acted like he had a screw loose at home, once he stepped outside, he would disarm his competitors and devour them completely the moment a weakness appeared. It was no fluke that the Hamilton Group's size had more than doubled since Jerard Hamilton became chairman in the early 2000s.
Of course, to his son, he was a pretty decent father who didn't push adult authority. So, Hunter didn't think he would say something like a stifling old fogey or treat him like a child with textbook stories after suggesting a man-to-man conversation.
Even so, topics like puberty were awkward. If he could gloss over it, he wanted to avoid it by any means.
So, he decided to strike first. The best defense is a good offense.
[Physical changes during male puberty, the physical differences between men and women, the process of how a baby is made, and even how to have sex. I know it all, so let's skip those parts.]
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