I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 114: Shelves incident.

"Take. Off. Your hand." she snapped, each word sharp and precise. "Immediately."

Si Hon didn’t move.

Not even a fraction.

His grip remained exactly where it was, fingers still wrapped around her wrist, firm but not forceful, like he was caught between instinct and hesitation and decided to stay right in the middle of both.

When he spoke, his voice came out quieter than before— honest, unfiltered in a way that didn’t match the situation at all. "I’m... kind of scared to."

The words lingered there, hanging awkwardly between them.

And just like that, the noise of everything else seemed to fall away again.

Silence returned— but it wasn’t the same silence as before. This one felt closer. Tighter.

Like the space between them had narrowed without either of them moving, the air turning faintly heavy, charged with something neither of them thought of.

Si Hon shifted slightly, just enough to ease his stance, but his hand didn’t leave her. If anything, it only made the situation feel more deliberate, more noticeable.

He cleared his throat under his breath, trying— somehow— to steer things back into something normal.

"Look... you just need to calm down a bit, okay?" he said, softer now, like he was negotiating with something unpredictable. "It’s really not that seri—"

He stopped.

Not because he didn’t know what to say.

But because she still hadn’t looked away.

Not once.

Her gaze stayed locked onto him, unblinking, steady in a way that felt less like anger now and more like a decision being made in real time.

(Author note: shit I’m BLUSHING!!!)

There was no rush in it, no visible reaction— just that quiet, unwavering stare, as if she was weighing something far more important than his words.

For a brief second, Si Hon forgot what he was even trying to say.

"That serious," he finished anyway, though the confidence from earlier had thinned out, his voice dropping just a little as the moment stretched.

And still—

She didn’t move.

***

(Mihu and Suha, including Seong) 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

From a completely different angle, the entire situation twisted into something else entirely— something softer, brighter... and wildly inaccurate.

Mihu stood a short distance away, hands clasped tightly under her chin, her eyes practically glowing as she leaned forward just a little, completely absorbed in what she thought she was witnessing.

To her, this wasn’t a tense standoff or a near fight waiting to snap— no, the details rearranged themselves into something far more dramatic.

Si Hon wasn’t restraining her boss... he was pinning her, close enough for breath to mingle, holding her wrist like it meant something, like it mattered.

The tension between them? Not danger. Not hostility. Chemistry. The kind that sparked in slow burn scenes and exploded three Chapters later.

"Ah... woah..." she whispered under her breath, barely able to contain herself, her voice trembling with excitement. "Is this... a romance...?"

Her gaze sharpened even more, tracking every micro-movement like a seasoned drama addict dissecting her favorite scene.

"Is this what they call..." she continued, her tone dropping into a reverence, "how to steal your enemy’s heart... step one?!??!?!"

Meanwhile, just a few steps away, where reality remained... slightly more grounded.

Suha stood beside Seong, staring at the exact same scene with wide, curious eyes, her small frame completely still as she tried to process what she was seeing.

There was no dramatic interpretation in her head, no layered storytelling— just a simple, honest attempt to understand.

Slowly, she turned her head toward Seong, her finger rising to rest against her lips as she tilted her head.

"(◍•-•◍)... Mom..."

Seong didn’t answer immediately. And she already had a bad feeling about where this was going.

Suha blinked once, then asked with complete seriousness, her soft, broken speech carrying an innocent kind of weight—

"Is thish... what theyey call... cheatin...?"

Seong froze.

Not slightly. Not subtly.

Completely.

For a brief second, even the air around her seemed to stop moving as her brain tried— and failed— to process that sentence in a normal way.

Suha, unaware of the damage she had just done, continued, her voice small but certain as she looked back at Si Hon and the blue-haired woman.

"Dad... cheat... at Mom...?"

A long pause followed.

Seong slowly lowered her gaze to Suha... then lifted it back toward Si Hon... still holding— pinning another woman against a shelf like he had zero awareness of how this looked... and then back to Suha again.

Her expression didn’t change much.

But something in her eye did.

"No," she said flatly, her voice unnaturally calm in a way that definitely meant something was being suppressed. "Dad is just... dealing with someone who has anger issues."

She crossed her arms tightly across her chest, posture firm, final, like she had decided this explanation would be the reality whether the universe agreed or not. "We’re safe."

That was enough.

Suha’s entire face lit up instantly, her earlier confusion vanishing like it had never existed. "Woah! Dad ish hero!"

She beamed, proud and impressed, completely satisfied with the answer.

Seong didn’t respond.

Didn’t nod.

Didn’t correct anything further.

She just stood there, arms still crossed, eyes locked unto Si Hon in the distance—

And if you looked closely at her...

Just closely enough—

Her eyes twitched.

Once.

***

(Back to our baby Boi.)

Si Hon didn’t move.

Not even after everything that had just happened.

He stood there, one hand still holding both of her wrists pinned gently above her head, the other braced against the shelf beside her— just enough to keep her from hitting the wood behind her if she struggled again.

It wasn’t rough. It wasn’t forceful. But it was firm enough to leave no room for misunderstanding.

A full minute passed.

No one spoke.

The air between them settled into something dense, almost tangible, like it had weight now— something pressing softly against their skin, making even the smallest movement feel deliberate.

Then, finally—

***

Cliffhanger... Yes.. sorry. I need this... 2chp adayhehe