Chapter 05 …
Haru’s most treasured detective tool was Detective Dodo’s magnifying glass!
If Haru’s father was here, there was bound to be something about him that resembled Haru!
Haru let out a giggle.
“Hehehe. Haru really is a genius.”
Haru emerged into the living room and proudly held up the magnifying glass.
“Haru, what is that…?”
“From now on, Haru is going to investigate you uncles, so nobody move!”
“Daddy will help you.”
Gong Dae-in tried to get up discreetly, but Haru stopped him.
“No! Haru will do the investigating.”
“What exactly are you planning to investigate?”
“The things that make you look like Haru! If you’re Haru’s daddy, you must look like Haru!”
Kang Tae-jun’s gaze moved between Haru’s round eyes and tiny nose.
Her brown eyes, with faint double eyelids, peeked out from beneath her straight-cut bangs. She had a round nose and soft-looking brown hair. Her appearance was as adorable as cotton candy, yet there wasn’t a single feature that resembled him.
Whatever else might be different, those gentle, large eyes certainly belonged to neither him nor Jangmi.
His gaze persistently examined the eyes behind Gong Dae-in’s glasses.
Those drooping eyes, soft as silken tofu, looked exactly alike.
Clicking his tongue, Kang Tae-jun suddenly spoke before anyone else could.
“Genetics can skip a generation.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Haru might resemble her grandparents instead of her father or mother.”
Haru’s little mouth fell open.
“Keuhahaha! Looks like you’re getting nervous!”
Lee Hyun-woo burst out laughing.
“If you’re scared, then just die!”
“I believe I told you not to use vulgar language in front of a child.”
Ignoring Kang Tae-jun, Lee Hyun-woo leaned his face toward Haru’s magnifying glass.
“Haru, take a good look. You and Daddy look exactly alike, don’t we? Daddy is handsome, so that’s why Haru is so cute and pretty!”
Haru moved the magnifying glass back and forth in front of Lee Hyun-woo’s face. She paid particular attention to his ear, which was covered in piercings, moving the magnifying glass closer and then farther away as she let out a thoughtful groan.
“Hmmm.”
“What do you think? Do we look alike? Do I look like your daddy?”
His ears did seem a little similar, but then again, maybe they didn’t.
“I’ll investigate the other uncles first, too.”
With a serious expression, Haru examined her next candidate, Kang Tae-jun.
There wasn’t a single thing about this uncle that resembled her!
Finally, she turned to Gong Dae-in.
Seeing Gong Dae-in’s light-colored hair, Haru grabbed her own short pigtails and held them in front of her eyes.
“Is the color similar to Haru’s?”
Kang Tae-jun interrupted again.
“Haru, your daddy’s grandmother had brown hair, too.”
“Hmmm.”
Haru rubbed her chin with her gloved hand. It was Detective Dodo’s signature pose!
She thought that imitating Detective Dodo might help her think of something, but nothing came to mind!
However, Detective Dodo never rushed!
There was always a clue somewhere. Hehehe.
Haru rubbed her chin again.
The culprit was usually the person who seemed the least likely to be the culprit!
Haru pointed decisively at Kang Tae-jun.
Having failed to find even a single resemblance to Haru and had his magnifying glass put away after just five seconds, Kang Tae-jun looked bewildered and pointed at himself.
“Me?”
“For now, Uncle will raise Haru.”
Kang Tae-jun’s tense shoulders relaxed, and he smiled confidently.
“I’ll make sure you don’t regret that choice.”
“I don’t accept this!”
Lee Hyun-woo shouted.
“Do you think I’ll just hand my child over to you without a fight?”
“She’s my child.”
“She’s my child!”
“She is my child.”
“Didn’t you say earlier that we should abide by Haru’s decision?”
At that moment, a thunderous rumbling sound came from Haru’s stomach.
The three men, who had momentarily frozen, shouted at the same time.
“Is Haru hungry? What do you want to eat?”
“Daddy will buy you anything you want.”
“10:23 a.m. The probability of feeling hungry…”
Phew.
Relieved that they seemed to have passed the first stage of the Find Daddy test, Haru wiggled her chubby cheeks and lit up her eyes.
“Tteokbokki! The kind I always ate with Mommy!”
Kang Tae-jun muttered under his breath.
“Feeding a little child such spicy food…”
“The child said she wants it! Haru, Daddy will buy you the most delicious tteokbokki!”
“The sodium content in one serving of tteokbokki ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams, which can approach or exceed the recommended daily sodium intake. However, if she drinks plenty of water and doesn’t add any extra noodles or other ingredients…”
Haru was hungry.
“Can’t we all go eat together?”
The three men looked at one another.
At that moment, Kang Tae-jun’s phone rang.
“Mr. President, the board meeting is in one hour.”
“Cancel it.”
“Pardon?”
“Cancel all of today’s appointments.”
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-woo and Gong Dae-in also took out their phones.
“Cancel my entire schedule for today. Something important has come up with my family.”
“Let’s postpone the video conference until tomorrow. Our priorities have changed.”
“Can Gomi come with us, too?”
When Haru held up her teddy bear, Gong Dae-in nodded. Lee Hyun-woo chimed in as well.
“Of course!”
The tteokbokki restaurant wasn’t far away, and there was nowhere to park a car nearby, so Haru and her three daddies decided to walk there.
The unusual combination of three extraordinary men and a five-year-old girl naturally attracted everyone’s attention.
“That’s Kang Tae-jun from Daehan Group!”
“Why would Kang Tae-jun be here? He just looks like him.”
“Do you think a face like that is common? Hey, this is insane. Look beside him!”
“Oh, that’s Lee Hyun-woo! Wait, so that really is Kang Tae-jun? Are they collaborating on something with the entertainment industry? But why are they here?”
“But the guy beside them is insane, too! Don’t you know Gong Dae-in? The CEO of A Tech! Its stock price has skyrocketed recently! But are those three close? Why are they together? Are they really working on a business deal? Hey, let’s buy their stocks right now!”
“But who’s that little girl?”
Lee Hyun-woo flashed a bright smile at the people secretly pointing their cameras at them.
“She’s my daughte—Mmph!”
Kang Tae-jun removed the hand he had used to cover Lee Hyun-woo’s mouth and warned him.
“Are you planning to expose Haru to the media just to satisfy your own greed?”
Grinning at Kang Tae-jun’s expressionless face, Lee Hyun-woo retorted.
“I could do that whenever I wanted anyway. What’s so bad about media exposure?”
“Being exposed to excessive attention from an early age is bad for a child’s emotional development. I can tell just by looking at you.”
What an insufferable bastard. The thought left a bitter taste in Lee Hyun-woo’s mouth.
He deliberately responded aggressively.
“You sound so old-fashioned. Did you go and read some parenting book written ten years ago? Things are different these days. How are you supposed to raise a child when you don’t know anything about current trends? You’re not qualified to be a father.”
“Trends aren’t necessary for raising a baby. All you need is money.”
“I have more than enough money, too!”
“Wait, where did Haru go?”
Kang Tae-jun and Lee Hyun-woo stopped and turned their heads.
Only then did they realize that Haru and the bespectacled man had disappeared.
The two hurriedly quickened their pace, each trying to get ahead of the other.
As soon as they opened the door to the tteokbokki restaurant, the spicy aroma hit their noses.
Haru plopped down at the table in the middle.
“Haru wants to sit here.”
The three men sat around her in a triangular formation, each keeping a wary eye on the others.
Kang Tae-jun placed Gomi in the seat diagonally across from him.
“What would you like to order?”
The elderly woman called out as she stirred the tteokbokki.
“I’ll have one serving of tteokbokki.”
“Will that be enough to fill you up? Three servings of tteokbokki and a platter of assorted fried snacks over here!”
“Wait, we should check the capsaicin content first…”
Haru shot her hand into the air.
“Grandma! Four servings of tteokbokki and a set of fried snacks, please!”
The elderly woman spotted Haru and exclaimed.
“Oh my goodness! Isn’t that Haru? What brings you here?”
“Huh? Graaandma! Have you been doing well?”
Recognizing the elderly woman’s face, Haru hopped off her chair and bowed deeply.
It was the owner of the tteokbokki restaurant she used to visit often with Mommy. Haru had been sad when the restaurant disappeared…
“My goodness, what a small world! It’s only been two months since Grandma moved her shop to this neighborhood, and now I get to see Haru here!”
Oh no! She couldn’t let anyone discover her secret hideout!
Haru felt a little startled, but she decided to stay brave.
Grandma was a kind adult, so it was okay! Even Detective Dodo wouldn’t be able to resist Grandma’s tteokbokki!
“Where’s Jangmi? And what are you doing with these three gloomy-looking men?”
“They’re Haru’s daddies.”
Lee Hyun-woo answered quickly.
The elderly woman furrowed her brows.
“Haru’s daddies?”
“I’m Haru’s real daddy.”
“No. I’m Haru’s daddy.”
The elderly woman looked at the three men one after another before suddenly shouting at them.
“Where were you three calling yourselves fathers when Jangmi was struggling all alone? And now you show up out of nowhere? With three of you, you could’ve come a long time ago and taken turns changing her diapers!”
