A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 67

Screech!

Jiheon couldn’t avoid the approaching car. His legs seemed to give way, and he collapsed.

The driver, having stopped the car, rushed out.

“Are you alright? I don’t think I hit you with the car…”

The driver asked, looking perplexed.

“It seems like you might have a health issue. You should see a doctor…”

“No, it’s alright. I’m fine.”

Jiheon managed to get up. As he trudged back towards the elevator, he wondered if he might be going crazy.

The moment the car’s headlights flashed, a name was etched into his mind.

A strange emotion also welled up intensely.

I love you, Jungo.

Why did I hold back those words?

I regret not telling her I loved her…

No other memories surfaced.

He felt like he was clinging to a fragment of memory, like discovering the remains of a ruined house.

Are my memories real? Or are they just figments of my imagination?

But, to call it a figment of imagination, it’s too…

Jiheon recalled the day he first met Jungo two months ago.

The woman who trembled at the sight of his face. She seemed so nervous that it bothered him, and he even called Jungo to his office separately.

She had looked nervous then too. Yet, he also sensed a hint of resentment in her eyes.

Then there were times when she asked questions as if trying to imprint herself on him.

“…Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, Copywriter Lee Jungo.”

“…Is there nothing else?”

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

He coldly brushed her off, avoiding her pleading gaze.

He treated her coldly to control himself from being captivated by her.

“Have you ever heard my name, even once? My name, Lee Jungo.”

“Did you shoot an ad so famous that it would make your name known?”

The look of disappointment she gave him then, was it because he didn’t recognize her?

As he recalled each meeting and conversation with her, his suspicion deepened.

“There was a couple who loved each other… or so they thought. As soon as the man found out about the woman’s pregnancy, he left. So the woman raised the child alone. But then, years later, this man reappeared in front of the woman.”

“Actually, he’s not my dad but my brother. The director resembles my ex-boyfriend, not my dad.”

“The director acts just like my heartless ex-boyfriend.”

Was that all, everything, about me?

Her cryptic stories. Were they hints she was giving me?

So you were giving me hints, hoping I would regain my memories on my own?

“Director, I hope you find your memories. They weren’t useless memories. I believe they weren’t. Maybe the most precious and best memories are hidden so deep that no one can find them. Like a time capsule.”

Were you waiting for me like that? Believing that my memories would return someday?

Even after the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Jiheon couldn’t move. The words she had given him, as if filling in the memories he had forgotten, gripped his heart, shook it, and then released it.

He barely managed to walk a few steps and opened the front door.

But as soon as he stepped inside, he collapsed again.

‘Ah…’

Your child…

“Isn’t our Yena pretty?”

“Even if that person and I were insignificant, something brilliant could still come out of it.”

“But I’m still grateful. I can’t help it. He made Yena.”

You were especially affectionate when talking about the child.

You spoke so lovingly that even I fell in love.

Jiheon recalled the time he held Yena. He thought the child had a fever, so he lifted her forehead to check. And he discovered the child’s distinct salmon patch [a common birthmark, usually a flat, pink or red mark on the skin].

Jiheon slowly raised his hand and touched his own forehead, where the salmon patch had disappeared.

Lee Jungo is type O, the child is type B.

I am also type B.

Was she our child?

Was Yena… your and my child?

Staggering, with trembling legs, he frantically searched for the car’s smart key. His mind was so consumed by other thoughts that he couldn’t remember where he had put it.

He went to the study to get the spare key. The spare key was in the desk drawer in the study. And beneath the spare key, he saw a thick document that had been opened once and then folded and put away in the drawer.

The proposal Jungo had written on May 27th. He traced the two lines of copy she had added with his fingertips again.

– You who have forgotten me.

You will weep, longing for what you have forgotten.

Finally, thick streams of tears flowed down his cheeks.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

Not many people heard Jungo and Eunbi’s commotion in the restroom. Nevertheless, some were so surprised that they covered their mouths. Because she was pretty, sociable, and from a good family, her colleagues regarded Chae Eunbi as a classy copywriter.

So when they heard the rumors that Eunbi and Jiheon had broken up, people sided with Eunbi and gossiped about Jiheon. Many felt sorry for Eunbi.

But the voice that came from inside the restroom was contrary to the image her colleagues had of Chae Eunbi. People were quite shocked to hear Eunbi’s ranting, not only looking down on single mothers but also shamelessly cursing the mother.

When Eunbi came out of the restroom, people glanced at her and then cautiously avoided her.

Eunbi approached Jo Yuri, the assistant manager of Production Team 1, who was standing awkwardly nearby.

“Assistant Manager Jo, you heard it too, right? I’m going to sue Lee Jungo for assault. You’ll be a witness for me, right?”

“Um, Manager Chae…”

Assistant Manager Jo Yuri said quietly, avoiding Eunbi’s gaze.

“…I didn’t hear it well. Why don’t you ask someone else?”

Team Leader Ahn Chanseop, who was standing next to her, also cleared his throat.

“Um, Manager Chae Eunbi, it seems like you’re under a lot of stress today. Why don’t you go home and rest.”

Eunbi was dumbfounded.

Eunbi, who had left work immediately, went to Jiheon’s family home, Mrs. Jang Youngmi’s house.

Knowing that Eunbi had come, Mrs. Jang Youngmi ran out barefoot.

She had been frustrated because she hadn’t been able to reach Eunbi, and Jiheon had visited the family home a few days ago but had left in a hurry and hadn’t answered the phone since. Mrs. Jang was even thinking of visiting Jiheon and Eunbi at Max Planning tomorrow.

“Mother!”

Eunbi recognized Mrs. Jang and burst into tears.

“Eunbi, what’s wrong? What happened?”

Mrs. Jang hugged Eunbi, looking anxious.

A child who had a long relationship with her son and then broke up. Although her son had let go of Chae Eunbi, Mrs. Jang still had lingering feelings. She was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to meet another daughter-in-law as sociable and devoted to her in-laws as Eunbi.

Eunyeop’s story that Jiheon and Eunbi often broke up and got back together was also a source of some hope.

“I’m sorry for not contacting you all this time…”

“No, no. I’m alright.”

“It seems like Oppa [term used by a female to refer to an older brother or male friend] and I have broken up. I was so scared to say that…”

“Oh, what should I do…”

Youngmi liked Eunbi, but she couldn’t do anything if her son was firm. She wanted to force Jiheon and Eunbi to get married, but.

“I wish I could help, but there’s nothing I can do. What should I do…”

“Mother, please stop Oppa. He’s in danger right now.”

Eunbi suddenly said something strange to Youngmi, who was comforting her. Youngmi frowned and asked.

“…In danger? What do you mean?”

“One of the company’s employees has latched onto Oppa. She’s not a decent woman, and she’s manipulating Oppa with a child. That’s why we broke up.”

Eunbi said, shedding tears.

Youngmi was so surprised that she couldn’t close her mouth.

“A single mother, she wagged her tail at Oppa first, Mother. So Oppa is being played by her right now.”

“…”

“What should I do, huh? Waaaaah, waaaaaaah…”

“…A single mother, Eunbi. Explain it so I can understand. Jiheon is playing around with a single mother?”

Youngmi asked again in a trembling voice. Eunbi wiped away her tears with her hand and nodded.

“Yes, a single mother with a seven-year-old child. How dare she, to my Oppa… sob… I don’t know if Oppa has some kind of weakness, but my persuasion isn’t working, Mother…”

“Who is it? What’s her name?”

“Assistant Manager Lee Jungo. Copywriter Lee Jungo from Production Team 2.”

Youngmi’s eyes widened at Eunbi’s sobbing answer.

“Mother!”

Eunbi shouted towards Youngmi, who had lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the floor.

Youngmi’s mind was blank, so she couldn’t hear Eunbi’s voice.

Lee Jungo.

No way, no way, that child…

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

After work, Jungo didn’t go straight home but went to her mother’s restaurant. When she opened the restaurant door, there was a table that hadn’t been cleared.

The food on the table was almost untouched.

It must be the traces of Chae Eunbi and her friends.

Tears fell onto the white rice.

Jungo resolutely wiped away her tears and cleared the table. When she threw away the side dishes and rice that seemed almost untouched, a bag of food waste came out.

Three servings of the white rice set meal. Her heart ached with guilt for throwing away about 20,000 won [approximately $15 USD] and for the pain her mother must have felt.

She neatly did the dishes, took out the food waste, cleaned every corner of the restaurant, finished all the cleaning, left a short letter, and left the restaurant.

‘Mom, from tomorrow, let’s forget everything again and live hard. Happily, as always.’

She smiled on purpose while looking at the darkened restaurant. But tears kept flowing.

The sadness she felt because she had to stay by Jung Jiheon’s side. If it was sadness she was suffering alone, she could endure it enough. But if her family was having a hard time because of her…

Long ago, Yena’s attempted kidnapping, Chae Eunbi even came to her mother’s restaurant and harassed her family.

The fact that she had to endure this quietly made her feel suffocated. She had the urge to just throw everything away and take her mother and Yena to the countryside.

‘Haa. I can’t. I’m a copywriter. I have to work at the company…’

Still, she felt a little better thinking about the paths she hadn’t taken. It took her more than an hour to get home, walking slowly, taking her time.

In the alley where the villa building was visible, Jungo straightened her clothes and face. Her face, reflected in her cell phone, still looked swollen around her eyes.

‘But since the lights are off inside the house, my mom won’t notice.’

Jungo stepped forward optimistically. But there was someone blocking her path. It was Jiheon.

His car was parked in the alley. It seemed like he had been waiting for her for quite a while.

“…Why are you here?”

Without answering her question, he silently approached.

Jungo unconsciously took a step back. She was afraid that she would start crying again, even though she had barely managed to stop her tears. This was in front of her house.

“Director, can we talk tomorrow? I’m too tired today.”

“…”

“…I’ve had too many hard things happen.”

“…”

“I’ll see you at the company tomorrow. I’ll go first.”

Jungo took a few more steps backward as if running away, and then turned around completely. But at that moment.

“Jungo.”

He called her name as the person she had loved seven years ago had done.

Jungo’s throat became moist again.

It’s too much.

You know that it hurts me when you call me like that.

Jungo turned her head and looked at him with resentful eyes. But he didn’t seem to feel sorry for what he had just said at all. Rather, he looked at her with reproachful eyes.

Yet, also with affectionate eyes. Eyes that craved something.

Did he also have a hard time? Is that why he needs me?

Seeing his longing eyes, she felt sorry for him.

How should she treat him in times like this?

A man who had lived with a broken heart without even knowing it.

A man who had forgotten all the time they had spent together and was approaching her with only instinct.

Jungo took a step towards Jiheon with a pitiful heart.

As she got a few steps closer, his face came into view more clearly. Under the streetlight, his face with shadows looked beautiful but sad.

Before she could ask him why, he asked first.

“Who is Yena’s father?”

“…”

“Is it someone I know?”

Jiheon clearly saw Jungo’s pupils shaking.

He was anxious that she would avoid answering and turn away again. It was always like that. He chased after her, and she kept running away.

But that must be because of the scars she had carried for seven years. He could understand it a hundred times over. Even if it couldn’t support the weight of the bitterness he had realized.

Me, at that time, my everything that I loved so much….

My lost memories. My everything.

The most precious thing.

What I had to protect.

“Just say one word.”

Jiheon, who had been quietly looking at her, opened his mouth again.

“That child is my child.”

“…”

“Yena is my daughter.”