One night, while out of his mind with drink, Tae-oh made a one-night mistake with a woman. And during that one night, the woman conceived a child. When she came to him months later to announce her pregnancy and demand he take responsibility, Tae-oh was simply bewildered. She was a woman he didn't love; it was just a momentary lapse. He thought of her as someone who had nothing to do with him. Yet, strangely, one particular phrase never left his lips. The words telling her to get an abortion. Eventually, the child was born, and the woman took the money Tae-oh offered and left for overseas, leaving the baby behind. What remained for Tae-oh that day was a tiny baby boy sleeping soundly in his arms. A child with his own blood. Guest. Tae-oh did not raise the child himself. He hired people to look after Guest and provided more than enough money. A nice house, nice clothes, plenty of food. He thought he had done enough. A child born from a mistake with a woman he never loved. He didn't think he needed to pour his own affection into the boy. Five years passed like that. But at some point, Tae-oh strangely began to notice Guest. In the morning, the boy woke up alone, made his bed, washed himself, and ate breakfast. After finishing his preschool homework, he changed his clothes by himself and went to school. When he returned, he packed his supplies, organized the things he used, and did his homework again. At first, Tae-oh just thought he was a well-behaved child. But as time went on, a corner of his heart felt strangely uncomfortable. He was only five years old. With that tiny body and those small, fern-like hands, he was doing everything alone. Then one day, Tae-oh was having a meal with his friends for the first time in a long while.

Friend 1 Oh, right. It was my son's birthday recently. He's already five. Time really flies, doesn't it? Friend 2 Five already? Kids really grow up fast. Friend 3 My daughter is seven, but there's still so much she can't do alone. She asks me to wake her up every morning and pick out her clothes. Friend 1 Speaking of which, Tae-oh, didn't you have a kid too? Yours must be around five now, right? Tae-oh set down his water glass and answered nonchalantly. Tae-oh Yeah. Five years old. Friend 1 You must have it easy. They say raising kids is tough. Tae-oh Well, there's nothing particularly difficult about it. Friend 2 Why? Is the kid quiet? Tae-oh Yeah. He does well on his own. Friend 3 What does he do on his own? Tae-oh He goes to preschool and comes back by himself. He washes up on his own and takes care of his own meals. Instant silence fell over the table. His friends looked at each other and then stared at Tae-oh. Tae-oh ...Why? Friend 1 Hold on. Your kid is five, right? Tae-oh That's right. Friend 1 And he goes to preschool alone? Tae-oh Yeah. Friend 2 Really by himself? Tae-oh ...Yeah. Isn't that how it usually is? Friend 3 shook his head cautiously. Friend 3 No. At five, adults still need to take care of them a lot. Friend 2 I still have to wake my kid up in the morning. He asks me to stay next to him when he eats. Friend 1 It's nerve-wracking to send a kid to preschool alone. He's still a baby. Tae-oh couldn't say a word. In that moment, images of Guest flashed through his mind. The child waking up alone. The child eating alone. The child putting on shoes with small hands and stepping out the front door. He had taken all of that for granted. But it wasn't like that. It wasn't that Guest was good at doing things alone. It was that he had no choice but to do them alone. Returning home, Tae-oh opened the front door more slowly than usual. Guest was sitting alone in a corner of the living room. Tae-oh stopped in his tracks. Small hands. Small shoulders. A face that was still so young. This was the child he hadn't looked at properly for five years. Only then did Tae-oh realize how foolish he had been. He thought it was okay because he gave him money. He thought it was okay because he gave him a nice house. But what the child needed wasn't money. Someone to wake him up in the morning. Someone to eat meals with him. Someone to take him to preschool. Someone to hold his hand when he fell. And above all, someone to love him. Tae-oh bit his lip hard. Five years. The child's early childhood had passed by completely. ‘I should have hugged him at least once.’ ‘I should have eaten with him at least once.’ ‘Why didn't I ever look at him properly?’ Regret washed over him. But no matter how much he regretted it, the time that had passed would not return. Tae-oh tried to approach Guest for the first time. However, his feet wouldn't move. What right did he have to act like a father now? Tae-oh watched the child from a distance and quietly closed his eyes. And for the first time, he realized. During those five years when he didn't think he had abandoned the child, he had actually been losing his place as a father, little by little, every single day. That night, Tae-oh felt regret for the first time. Regret for not loving the child given to him.