I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

20.

“It seems my brother really liked your brother. My brother is homeschooled instead of going to school due to certain circumstances. So he rarely gets a chance to play with kids his age.”

“Homeschooling?”

“Yes. Your brother’s name is Sehun, right? I heard you calling him earlier. Is Sehun homeschooled too?”

It was a weekday morning. Normally, ten-year-old children would be in school at this time.

Jian, who had been trying to send the brothers away as quickly as possible, hesitated at this unexpected topic. Sehun’s education had been Jian’s biggest concern recently.

Ever since he learned that Sehun could read and write, he felt even more urgent. He wanted to provide proper education for such a smart child.

However, in his previous life, Jian’s education had been limited. He had barely managed to get a high school diploma due to part-time jobs, so even if he tried to teach Sehun something, it was limited to Korean and simple number calculations.

“If it’s okay with you, how about Sehun and my brother do homeschooling together? I’ve already arranged the best teachers in the industry for each subject. I’ll cover the costs too.”

It was too good an offer to refuse. If only Hyunwoo wasn’t suspicious and Hyunsu wasn’t the ‘su’ from the novel, Jian would have wanted to agree immediately.

“Well, I need to ask Sehun’s opinion and think about it. It’s a very sudden proposal. And I don’t know anything about you as a customer.”

At Jian’s words, Hyunwoo made an exaggeratedly apologetic expression.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Yoo Hyunwoo. I run a small guild.”

Hyunwoo extended his right hand for a handshake. Jian swallowed quietly. Yoo Hyunwoo. Only one character different from Hyunsu, the ‘su’. If he had checked the name when Hyunwoo showed his hunter ID yesterday, he might have noticed to some extent.

Putting aside his regret, Jian couldn’t keep refusing the handshake, so he grasped Hyunwoo’s hand and shook it, feeling a strange gaze.

Sehun’s face looked displeased as he watched their clasped hands. Remembering how Sehun had wiped his hand before, Jian quickly pulled his hand back.

“I’m Lee Jian. As you can see, I run this small cafe.”

Jian introduced himself too. It was the first time he had revealed his name to a customer.

“Please forget about what happened yesterday and think about it seriously. Don’t children need to meet and play with peers to naturally develop social skills? It must be hard to see the child playing alone while you’re working.”

Hyunwoo hit Jian’s sore spot precisely. Jian had been feeling sorry for Sehun playing alone while he worked.

Although he had decided to keep Sehun close and pay as much attention as possible, even that became difficult with the sudden influx of customers.

Jian looked at Sehun in his arms, lost in thought. As this novel was the story of Hyunsu and Sehun, these children were destined to meet again later even if they didn’t meet now.

He intended to raise Sehun well so that he wouldn’t become a ruthless villain. Additionally, he thought that if he helped Sehun get along well with Hyunsu from now on, it might change what Hyunsu would go through later.

Although Hyunsu eventually came to love Sehun, what he went through before that could hardly be called happy.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Alright. Hyunsu, say goodbye.”

“Yes. Goodbye. See you later, little brother.”

Hyunsu put his hands together on his stomach and bowed his head. After greeting Jian, he waved at Sehun. Instead of returning the greeting, Sehun buried his face in Jian’s chest.

Hyunwoo patted Hyunsu’s head as he left the cafe, the boy looking dejected. After the bell on the cafe door rang, Jian separated Sehun from his chest.

“Hyunsu seems to be the same age as you. Didn’t you want to be friends with him?”

Jian asked in a gentle voice while stroking Sehun’s cheek.

In the novel, Sehun was the one who fell for the other first. But looking back on today’s events, it seemed only Hyunsu showed interest.

Wondering if Sehun had turned away from Hyunsu out of shyness, Jian looked into the child’s eyes. Sehun shook his head and tightly grasped Jian’s clothes.

Feeling the child’s anxiety, Jian tilted his head. He couldn’t understand why the child was acting this way.

“…I only like hyung.”

A small voice, barely audible, flowed from the reddish lips. A smile formed on Jian’s face upon hearing this confession.

“I like Sehun too. But wouldn’t it be good to study with a friend? I’ve been upset because I feel like I can’t pay enough attention to you when I’m busy with work.”

Fortunately, today wasn’t as busy as yesterday, allowing for some breathing room in between. Kim Soochul, who Jian thought might come back to bother them, didn’t show a single hair.

Even so, it was difficult to keep taking care of Sehun constantly. Hyunwoo’s proposal scratched exactly where Jian had been itching.

Jian had ordered books suitable for Sehun’s age and bought toys said to be good for brain development, but he hadn’t thought of hiring teachers for each subject like Hyunwoo had.

Since Hyunsu was also being homeschooled, if he got close to Hyunwoo in the future, he could easily obtain necessary information for Sehun.

Although Hyunwoo’s identity was suspicious, as Hyunsu’s brother, he could be trusted to some extent. After all, Hyunsu’s character described in the novel was the opposite of the ‘gong’.

Hyunsu, having grown up receiving a lot of love, was not stingy in giving love, didn’t know how to hate people, and had a big and kind heart that could embrace even rough edges.

That’s why he approached Sehun first and talked to him when everyone else avoided him, which led to that incident.

Wouldn’t the influence of the people who raised him have played a big part in Hyunsu growing up to be such a person?

The age difference between Hyunsu and Hyunwoo seemed to be at least ten years. Like himself and Sehun. Hyunwoo probably had a big influence on Hyunsu’s growth. Sometimes like a brother, sometimes like a parent.

“I only need hyung…”

Sehun was already acting as if he didn’t want to be apart from Jian for even a moment. It was touching and cute, but also worrying.

Social skills were essential for Sehun to grow up properly. He needed to get along well with people other than Jian and be able to empathize with others’ pain so that the cruel nature that had led him to kill people mercilessly wouldn’t even sprout.

It was hard to believe that this currently adorable child could become a terrifying villain if things went wrong.

Jian’s heart was increasingly leaning towards one side. To help Sehun get along well with Hyunsu and aid in the child’s emotional development.

“I like spending time alone with Sehun too. But it would break my heart to see Sehun living with only me, looking at no one but me, without a single friend.”

“…”

The child, who had been protesting silently with his mouth tightly shut, nodded after a while. Jian kissed Sehun’s cheek as if to say he did well.

At that time, Jian didn’t know. That a full-fledged period of hardship was about to begin. That getting children of the same age to get along well was harder than he thought.

* * *

Upon hearing from the teacher that the two children were fighting, Jian ran up to the second floor without even closing the cafe door.

They had decided to conduct the homeschooling at Jian’s house. It was because Sehun couldn’t bear to be separated from Jian.

In the morning, Hyunwoo would drop Hyunsu off at Jian’s house before going to work, and then teachers would visit Jian’s house according to the schedule starting from 9 AM.

The first week was fine. Although Sehun kept his mouth shut even when Hyunsu tried to befriend him by talking to him, the classes went smoothly because Hyunsu had such a good nature.

But no matter how good one’s innate personality is, Hyunsu was only ten years old. As much as he enjoyed playing with friends, it was an age where he was clumsy at dealing with negative emotions.

When Sehun started coveting what Hyunsu had, the once-peaceful class time quickly turned into chaos.

“Eek! This is mine! Yours is over there, why do you keep touching mine!”

“This one looks better.”

“No! I said this is mine!”

“B-boys… Teacher will give you a new one. So please don’t fight…”

It was origami time with colored paper. The art teacher had clearly distributed ten sheets of colored paper each to Sehun and Hyunsu.

But Sehun quietly watched the shape Hyunsu was making, then took the half-folded colored paper from Hyunsu.

At first, Hyunsu generously gave up his colored paper. Although he had grown up almost like an only child due to the big age difference with his brother, he inherently liked sharing things with others.