A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 22

22. Out of Control

Eunbi, hearing that Lee Jung-oh and Jung Ji-heon had already left for a client dinner, quickly finished her work and tried to find the restaurant.

She found them at a spacious table in the bar with five people: two clients, the account executive in charge, Jung Ji-heon, and Lee Jung-oh.

Hearing Jung-oh’s loud voice, Eunbi frowned.

‘Does he have bells on him somewhere? Why is he being so loud and showy?’

She was annoyed by Lee Jung-oh, who was constantly telling jokes for the clients. And Ji-heon was just quietly smiling and watching.

“We’re so late, aren’t we? Work suddenly piled up,” Eunbi said, cutting in between Jung-oh and Ji-heon. She took a seat and greeted the clients.

Soon, the remaining seats were filled, and Jung-oh quietly moved away from the center, settling at the edge. Eunbi felt relieved.

The client, whom she had briefly met at the company, was very talkative and kept making unfunny jokes. Eunbi forced a few smiles before excusing herself to the restroom.

‘I need to get out of here soon.’

Ji-heon, who hated being bored, had been sitting for a long time, so he must be feeling restless.

‘Should I call my brother?’

She remembered that her brother, Chae Eun-yeop, had mentioned having business nearby today.

Eun-yeop and Ji-heon were old friends. If she asked Ji-heon to leave without a reason, he might refuse, but if she used Eun-yeop as an excuse, he would probably agree.

She was glad that Ji-heon was her older brother’s friend. This connection was strong.

Eunbi sent a text message to Eun-yeop, asking him to meet up with Ji-heon nearby.

Eun-yeop, quick to understand, replied that he would contact Ji-heon.

Eunbi came out of the restroom, looking pleased.

However, Ji-heon’s seat was empty.

“Where did Director go?”

She asked the employee sitting next to her.

“He went outside a while ago.”

A chill ran down her spine. The voice that had been grating on her ears until recently was gone. Eunbi immediately turned her head.

Lee Jung-oh’s seat was also empty.

Jung Ji-heon and Lee Jung-oh had disappeared.

* * * * * *

In front of the convenience store.

The hand that reached out to touch her felt like it was kneading her heart, not her cheeks.

The fingertips that touched her cheeks were hot.

Lee Jung-oh was very drunk.

Even though he had started the prank, Ji-heon was no longer amused.

His chest felt heavy.

He seemed to truly believe that he was her father’s spirit, and that earnest gaze made him feel sorry for her.

He wanted to empathize with her sadness, but his body was rejecting it. He didn’t want to be drawn into her feelings about her father, into that noble emotion.

And even as he tried to reject it, the closer she got, the more she revealed her emotions with tear-stained eyes, the angrier he became at how beautiful she looked.

The impulse to hug her, who was so close, and kiss her was overwhelming his reason.

The existence of a father… He wanted to shatter her loving illusion and take that place.

Ji-heon needed to end this prank quickly.

“Lee Jung-oh, get a grip.”

It was pathetic to get serious after starting the prank.

“Your father is dead.”

“…….”

“If you let people get close to you like this, will you fall for just anyone?”

At his words, the color drained from her face.

Her hand slowly fell. She seemed too shocked to say anything.

Her eyes trembled, like a leaf left alone on a branch, enduring the wind.

“…What, who are you?”

“Who am I? I’m Lee Jung-oh’s superior.”

Ji-heon needed to be more brazen.

“Not your father, just a man. A living person. Jung Ji-heon.”

“…Are you playing a prank on me right now?”

“Isn’t it more ridiculous to believe it?”

He had given the woman he liked for the first time feelings of shock and disillusionment.

Nevertheless, his heart was racing as if the brakes were broken.

The twisted desire to erase the word ‘father’ from her mind was not fading.

He turned away, clenching his fist tightly.

“I feel sorry for your situation, but be careful. This world is full of people who take advantage of kind-hearted people like Lee Jung-oh.”

That’s enough. This is enough.

He had reminded her of how cruel the people in the real world could be.

He was relieved to have the excuse of ‘advice’.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you home.”

He moved slowly, but there were no footsteps following him.

After two steps, Ji-heon turned around and saw her back, walking away quickly in the opposite direction.

“Lee Jung…”

Before he could say all three syllables of her name, she caught a taxi and left.

* * * * * *

Eunbi hurried out of the bar and called Ji-heon. He didn’t answer.

Just in case, she found Jung-oh’s phone number and called him as well.

Only a message saying that both of them were unavailable returned.

Eunbi was anxious.

“Chae Eunbi.”

Eun-yeop approached from afar, calling his sister’s name.

As he had replied, he would come to the bar; her older brother had arrived.

“Did you come out alone? Ji-heon isn’t answering his phone.”

Eun-yeop, who knew nothing, asked Eunbi.

“Um… Ji-heon disappeared.”

“What? You called me without even checking properly?”

“No, he disappeared when I came out of the restroom.”

“He disappeared without telling you?”

Eun-yeop frowned and questioned her. Eunbi couldn’t say anything.

Eun-yeop, who had taken out a cigarette, blew a rough sigh at Eunbi’s face.

“Chae Eunbi, can’t you even do that one thing?”

“…….”

“How many years has it been, and you still can’t win Jung Ji-heon’s heart? Even though I’ve paved the way for you so much?”

Eun-yeop’s influence was also significant in Eunbi’s obsession with Ji-heon. Eun-yeop wanted Eunbi and Ji-heon to get together and spared no support.

Seven years ago, it was Eun-yeop who suggested Eunbi transfer while she was studying in the United States, and it was Eun-yeop who bought a room in the officetel [a building with both office and residential spaces] where Ji-heon lived.

Eun-yeop put as much effort into his relationship with Ji-heon as Eunbi put into Ji-heon’s parents.

Eun-yeop was a person with clear ideals and goals.

“Father is preparing for the general election next year. You need to get married before then. That’s the only way Father will feel at ease.”

“…….”

“You need to do that well, at least, to help Father. Right?”

‘I’m investing so much in you, who can’t do anything well.’

Her brother’s words, the reprimand behind them, tightened Eunbi’s heart.

The only thing she could do, because she was not smart and couldn’t study well, and was of no help to the family: marriage.

That’s why Eunbi had no choice but to be more obsessed.

She will get married. She must marry Jung Ji-heon.

Eunbi clenched her fist.

“That’s the only thing I want from you. Do well, Chae Eunbi. Okay?”

At the encouragement that came after the harsh words, Eunbi nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

* * * * * *

‘Bad guy.’

Jung-oh, who had returned home without even taking her bag, lay down next to Yena, who was already asleep, and suppressed her anger.

‘Who is he to lecture me? Without even knowing.’

Bad guy, bad guy.

She almost fell for him and blurted out everything she had and didn’t have. If he hadn’t quickly ridiculed her, she might have even talked about Yena.

Still, even so.

‘I said my dad passed away, and he imitates my dad?’

How can he make fun of that? What’s wrong with his personality?

Disappointment only piles up as the days go by.

‘Can I show my daughter to a man like this? Wouldn’t it be better to just pretend that her father doesn’t exist, like now?’

Jung-oh fell asleep, chanting ‘bad guy’ about a thousand times, like counting sheep.

The next morning.

Jung-oh barely managed to lift her heavy body and came out to the kitchen.

She had been running around in the rain and drinking all sorts of alcohol yesterday, so it seemed like she had a hangover and a cold.

“Did you drink a lot? Sit down quickly,” Guksoon said.

The clear smell of dried pollack soup drew her in, but Jung-oh didn’t have the strength to pick up a spoon. Guksoon scooped up a spoonful of dried pollack soup and put it in Jung-oh’s mouth, who was looking weak. To Guksoon, Jung-oh was a thirty-year-old baby.

Jung-oh took a spoonful like a baby bird before picking up the spoon with her own hand.

“How much did you drink?”

“Just moderately.”

“You drank moderately too?”

“Mom, please be quiet. Yena will hear.”

“You’re embarrassed in front of your daughter? Tsk.”

Guksoon raised one side of her lips crookedly and scolded her.

“Eat a lot! How else are you going to get rid of your hangover?”

“No, it’s not a hangover, it’s a cold.”

“A cold in May?”

“It rained yesterday. I got a little wet, so I’m a bit like this.”

“Tsk. Good job!”

“…….”

“You like getting things so much that you ended up catching a cold? Tsk.”

She didn’t even have the strength to argue with her mother’s nagging.

At her listless appearance, Guksoon’s voice quickly lowered.

“Take a day off from work and lie down.”

“How long has it been since I changed jobs to take sick leave?”

“Then are you going to go to work like that?”

“It’s the weekend tomorrow anyway.”

“Tsk!”

Guksoon sighed loudly as if she was frustrated and got up from her seat.

Jung-oh lowered her head like a sinner and ate the dried pollack soup.

Thanks to the dried pollack soup filled with her mother’s love, her nauseous stomach calmed down a lot.

As her stomach calmed down, the events of last night suddenly came to mind above the clear soup.

‘Jung Ji-heon tricked me. That bad guy.’

As her memory came back to life, her anger also surged up.

But a moment later, she hiccuped.

“There was a couple in love.”

‘Oh my god… I made such a mistake.’

Because she was provoked by Jung Ji-heon, who was talking about limits, she blurted out such nonsense.

She wanted to say that there are no limits for a mother, so she told her story in the third person!

‘I’m crazy!’

Even if the light that filled every corner washed away the darkness, the past that could never be washed away.

Having to go to work today with this past is too terrible.

Jung-oh roared inwardly.

‘Ah! I don’t want to go to work!’

* * * * * *

Ji-heon, who had arrived at work early, quickly scanned the company. After confirming that Jung-oh had not yet arrived, he immediately went down to the first floor.

After standing guard for a while, Jung-oh’s figure appeared. Before he knew it, Ji-heon had become someone who could recognize her even from afar.

Jung-oh, seeing him approaching, stopped, avoided his gaze, and hurried away. But her walk and expression seemed somehow unsteady.

‘Is she having a hard time because she drank too much yesterday?’

That was all he could guess.

He followed her and boarded the elevator, but he couldn’t get close. The elevator was full of people, and Jung-oh was trapped at the very end. Ji-heon couldn’t move either.

That’s how the elevator stopped on the 9th floor.

With the thought that he could talk to her for a moment if he got off the elevator, he got off first and waited for her, but she didn’t seem to want to come out.

After a while, a hand signaled its presence through the crowd. She was sluggishly fidgeting at the back. Somehow, she seemed less energetic than usual.

The people also didn’t cooperate, so Ji-heon had to forcefully grab Jung-oh’s hand and pull her out of the elevator.

It was a movement that was out of his control. It was always like that. Whenever he faced Lee Jung-oh, Ji-heon would always do more impulsive things than planned, as if he was hypnotized.

The moment a small scream of ‘Kyaa’ was heard, the elevator door closed harshly.

Kyaa.

Poof.

Lee Jung-oh, whom he had hastily pulled out, was already in his arms.

A small, weak, and somewhat soft… hot body struggled, using him as a support.

Thump thump thump thump thump thump.

His heart also felt out of control.

An unknown emotion was coloring his body like ink spreading.

It was an unfamiliar excitement, but somehow, it was an emotion that made him vaguely miss something….

‘Because of that dream back then?’

She raised her head, leaning against his body, and looked at him with a red face.

He seemed to know this flushed face. Something within him also throbbed. Everything that was touching him became hot.