I Picked Up the Greatest Villain in the Story

21.

However, Sehun kept taking Hyunsu’s colored paper two, three times in a row. Hyunsu’s lips gradually protruded into a pout, and when Sehun reached for the red colored paper again, he finally exploded.

Sehun and Hyunsu grabbed the same piece of colored paper, both exerting force. Sehun’s face remained calm while Hyunsu’s turned bright red.

The paper, which was taking the shape of a rose, tore in the middle, and both Sehun and Hyunsu tumbled backwards.

Hyunsu’s lips quivered after hitting his head on the floor. The startled teacher tried to comfort Hyunsu, but Hyunsu lunged at Sehun faster.

“You’re really mean…!”

Hyunsu firmly grabbed Sehun’s hair with both fists. The long hair, reaching down to his collarbone, easily tangled between Hyunsu’s fingers.

“Ah.”

Sehun let out a groan with an expressionless face. A cold murderous intent began to fill his eyes as he looked at Hyunsu.

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, the teacher eventually went downstairs to call Jian.

“What on earth…”

Just an hour ago when Jian had peeked in, the two children were sitting side by side, obediently listening to the teacher’s lesson.

Jian was at a loss for words at the chaotic living room, but quickly approached Hyunsu. Though he knew Hyunsu wasn’t the type to get angry without reason, it was clearly Sehun who was being hit now.

“Big brother…”

Sehun whimpered upon seeing Jian. Feeling urgent, Jian hugged Hyunsu from behind to calm him down.

“Hyunsu, violence is wrong. Let’s talk this out instead, okay? Can you loosen your grip a bit?”

“Hic…”

Comforted by Jian, Hyunsu’s pent-up emotions burst forth and he started crying. Jian hugged the child, patting his back as he examined Sehun’s head.

Black hair was already scattered in clumps on the floor.

“Big brother…”

Sehun was shocked to see Jian comforting Hyunsu instead of him. As tears began to well up in Sehun’s large eyes, Jian panicked and looked at the teacher.

“Teacher, can you please comfort Hyunsu?”

“Ah, yes.”

At Jian’s request, the teacher approached to hug Hyunsu, but Hyunsu tightened his arms around Jian’s neck, refusing to let go.

Unable to forcibly separate the child, Jian and the teacher were at a loss. Meanwhile, Sehun suddenly stood up and ran out of the house.

“Sehun…!”

Alarmed, Jian forcibly detached the crying Hyunsu, leaving him with the teacher, and rushed downstairs. Reaching the first floor and looking around, Jian’s heart raced when he couldn’t see Sehun.

“Boss, where are you going with the door open…!”

A customer in front of the café called out to Jian, but Jian’s attention was entirely focused on finding Sehun.

“Sehun! Where are you?”

Jian’s heart sank, wondering how upset Sehun must have been to run away like that, given how afraid he usually was of leaving the house.

Jian hastily put on his shoes and started searching the nearby alleys. Without a tracking skill, he had no choice but to run barefoot.

As he entered the second alley after the first, he caught a glimpse of a child’s bare white feet.

“Sehun…”

Jian called out as he entered the alley. Despite being midday, the place was quiet, with air conditioner outdoor units and trash cans from shops scattered about.

In the silence broken only by Jian’s footsteps, a small sobbing sound was heard. The sneakers with badly creased heels stopped in front of an outdoor unit.

He could see the back of a head buried in knees. The hair was disheveled like a lion’s mane, showing how roughly it had been pulled.

Jian knelt in front of Sehun and carefully reached out. He tried to untangle the messy hair but stopped when it seemed to make it worse.

“Were you upset because I comforted Hyunsu first instead of you?”

Jian could tell how much Sehun liked him just by looking into the child’s eyes. Remembering Sehun’s shocked face when he had hugged Hyunsu made Jian’s heart ache too.

He had thought that since the two were destined to be together anyway, they would become friends quickly if put together. His prediction had been somewhat accurate.

Perhaps thanks to Hyunsu’s proactive approach, the two children grew closer day by day.

Today’s fight was probably part of that bonding process. They say children grow through fighting, after all.

Still, seeing Sehun curled up in this dirty alley made Jian wonder if this mess was caused by his own selfish desires.

“Are you not going to look at me?”

Jian gently touched the tip of Sehun’s fingers. It hurt to see the fingers flinch as if not wanting to be touched.

He also let out a small sigh seeing the dirty feet that had run out barefoot.

The small shoulders trembled slightly. Soon, the child’s tear-stained face appeared. In such a short time, the whites of his eyes, the area around his eyes, his nostrils, and both cheeks were all bright red from crying.

“I’m sorry about earlier. I should have comforted you first. I was thoughtless, wasn’t I?”

Thinking that the child had finally opened up a little, Jian apologized first. Sehun shook his head, contradicting Jian’s words.

“…Hug me.”

Then he spread his arms slightly. Jian smiled brightly and quickly picked up the child in his arms.

When they returned home, Hyunsu, who seemed to have calmed down, was sniffling softly and clinging tightly to the teacher’s side.

Hyunsu’s eyes hardened when he saw Sehun, and he turned his head away abruptly. Sehun didn’t even try to look at Hyunsu.

The teacher, sensing the atmosphere, stood up. The scheduled lesson time had already passed by 10 minutes.

“Um…”

“Ah, yes. You can go now. Thank you for your hard work today.”

“Not at all. Jian, you had it harder. Kids, I’ll see you next week then.”

“…Okay.”

Hyunsu gave a small response to the teacher’s words, while Sehun just rubbed his forehead against Jian’s neck.

After seeing the teacher off, Jian took Sehun to the bathroom. Hyunsu got up from the sofa and pattered after Jian.

‘Why isn’t this person coming?’

Jian scratched the end of his eyebrow, feeling perplexed. The children’s lessons ended at 5 PM.

Since Jian’s café operated until 7 PM, Hyunwoo usually came to watch the children from 5 to 7.

The person who was supposed to arrive 10 minutes before the end of the lesson was late without any contact.

“Hyunsu, wait a moment. I need to wash Sehun’s feet.”

“Okay.”

While washing Sehun’s feet, Jian carefully checked for any injuries. Fortunately, there were only a few reddish marks, with no wounds that needed immediate treatment.

As Jian wrapped Sehun’s feet in a towel and left the bathroom, Hyunsu stuck close to Jian’s side.

Sehun’s eyes filled with displeasure as he looked down at Hyunsu. When Hyunsu met Sehun’s gaze, he stuck out his tongue, still harboring unresolved feelings.

A second round of conflict was about to start without Jian’s knowledge.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I met the art teacher downstairs, and she said the kids fought? She mentioned that Hyunsu pulled out a lot of Sehun’s hair.”

Hyunwoo entered the house with perfect timing. Hyunsu, who was about to run to his brother in joy, saw Hyunwoo’s hardened expression and slowly retreated to hide behind Jian.

“Yoo Hyunsu, come here.”

The face devoid of any smile was quite scary. Even Jian was startled, so Hyunsu, used to his brother’s smiling face, was even more shocked. Large tears began to well up in his round eyes.

“Sehun kept taking my colored paper, hic, over and over…”

As the child explained tearfully, feeling wronged, Hyunwoo rubbed his forehead. He adored his much younger brother, so disciplining him was painful. Still, hitting a friend was something that needed to be addressed.

“Let’s talk together. Can you watch the kids for a moment? I’ll go close the café door.”

Jian intervened, feeling that both Hyunsu and Sehun were at fault. He set Sehun down on the sofa.

Sehun tried to resist being put down, but when Jian called his name firmly, he reluctantly loosened his grip.

Jian then went downstairs, apologized to the customers inside, and closed the café early.

He never dreamed he’d experience the hardships of parenting at the age of twenty.

As he entered the house, Hyunsu was kneeling in front of Hyunwoo. Sehun, who had been sitting with his head buried in his knees, looked up at the sound of the door opening.

“Big brother…”