Having pleaded for a good long while, in something close to a wail, Su-yeon Jeong quietly opened her eyes when Seong-ho gave no reaction at all.

And seeing Seong-ho's cold gaze, she wiped her tears and said,

"I can't be without the child. If you take the child from me…"

"One billion won."

"What?"

"I'll give you one billion won."

"What's that supposed to mean? One billion won? Do I look to you like I'm doing this for money?"

At Seong-ho, who'd brought up money out of nowhere, Su-yeon Jeong wore an offended expression.

And wiping away her tears, she shouted sharply at him.

"I didn't come here to sell my child!"

"I'll give you nine hundred million won."

"What are you—"

Without so much as a twitch of an eyebrow at Su-yeon Jeong's words, Seong-ho raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and said,

"I'll give you ten seconds. If you don't answer within ten seconds, the sum keeps falling. Ten. Nine. Eight…"

"I—I can't be parted from my child…"

Su-yeon Jeong's voice trembled.

Whether she carried on or not, Seong-ho kept reciting the numbers, gazing down at his watch.

"…Three. Two. One. Time's up. I'll give you eight hundred million won. I'll give you time again. Ten. Nine. Eight…"

From the mouth of the Su-yeon Jeong who had been wailing moments ago, not another word came out.

Eyes wide, she worked her lips as if there were something she wanted to say.

But she couldn't get it out, and another ten seconds passed.

"A pity—time's up again. I'll give you seven hundred million won. Shall we begin again, then? Ten. Nine. Eight—"

"W-wait! Wait a moment."

Su-yeon Jeong hurriedly threw up a hand toward Seong-ho, cradling her belly.

"One billion isn't enough."

Seong-ho, who'd been gazing at his wristwatch, let the corner of his mouth curl up and, lifting his head to look at Su-yeon Jeong, said,

"So you've finally decided to talk."

"One billion won't do. Give me more."

"One billion is a great deal of money, you know."

"The exchange rate's gone up, so one billion…