A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 82

“He has a salmon patch [a birthmark] on his forehead. Just like I did when I was little.”

A salmon patch on his forehead?

“And a seven-year-old who already knows how to play Go [a strategic board game].”

He even plays Go?

Jae-gwang was thrilled by Ji-heon’s story. Jae-gwang stared at the photo for a long time, scrutinizing it as if counting the child’s eyelashes.

The child was so cute it made his heart ache. Extremely cute, but…

‘This cute child is Ji-heon’s daughter?’

Jae-gwang’s eyes repeatedly shifted between the child in the photo and Ji-heon’s face. He intently compared the child in the photo with his son, becoming more engrossed.

Have I ever seen this child’s cute side?

They say it’s blood, so they look alike, but one is extremely cute and the other is not cute at all, so frankly, it was hard to judge.

‘Did she take after her mother….’

Jae-gwang barely put down the photo and cleared his throat. He shouldn’t jump to conclusions. First, he needed to show a rational side as a father.

“Is she really your child? Are you sure?”

“Yes, she is. I have some memories, though very little, clearly.”

“But it might not be a real memory. It’s been seven years.”

“……”

“We need to do a paternity test first.”

“That’s… there’s a bit of a problem.”

“……”

“The child doesn’t like me yet.”

“Why?”

“She’s been without a father for seven years.”

After staring blankly, Jae-gwang nodded as if understanding Ji-heon’s feelings.

“……I see. It would be hard to accept a father who suddenly appeared after seven years.”

But he emphasized the principle with dignity.

“Still, we have to do what we have to do.”

“Yes. I will soon. But I think I need to get somewhat close to her first. That’s why I’m telling you first, Father.”

Ji-heon had told Jae-gwang everything truthfully, but he avoided talking about Young-mi as much as possible. He also said that the reason he and Jeong-oh broke up was due to a traffic accident. He said they lost contact afterward.

Even if Ji-heon resented his mother greatly, he couldn’t give the impression of badmouthing her in this situation.

Talking about something that couldn’t be proven could backfire. There was a risk that his father might also react negatively to his story.

He had to avoid touching on sensitive topics as much as possible, not transparently reveal how he currently felt about his mother, and only speak the truth.

“Actually, my mother secretly did a paternity test.”

“So, your mother knew?”

“Yes. I didn’t ask how much she knew, but it seems she did some investigating. But the results she received said there was no possibility of a parent-child relationship.”

“What on earth does that mean?”

“She secretly tested the child’s hair, but it seems the hair was switched in the middle. Chief Choi went to the genetics lab with the sample for my mother, and he met Chae Eun-yeop on the way.”

“Isn’t Chae Eun-yeop your friend?”

“He’s also Chae Eun-bi’s brother. A friend who wants to marry me off to Chae Eun-bi.”

It was surprising and hard to believe, but it made sense. Jae-gwang stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“If it’s revealed that the child is my biological daughter, it would push him further away from his dream of marrying me to Chae Eun-bi, so he must have plotted something like that.”

“Does that mean things aren’t settled between you and Chae Eun-bi yet?”

“It was settled a long time ago. It’s just that Chae Eun-bi and Chae Eun-yeop can’t accept it.”

“……”

“It seems my mother can’t accept it either.”

Ji-heon carefully brought up his mother’s story again.

“My mother told me not to associate with the child. She said to do a paternity test first, and if it’s confirmed, then we can talk again.”

“Your mother is not wrong. A paternity test comes first.”

“I can only do a paternity test if I get close to the child, Father.”

“……”

“Of course, I could do a paternity test with the child’s hair first, but there might be contaminating factors like Chae Eun-yeop again, so I’m trying to be as careful as possible. I plan to take her directly for a blood test.”

At Ji-heon’s calm assertion, Jae-gwang frowned and pondered.

After a while, Jae-gwang said,

“Alright. Do that. But it shouldn’t be too late.”

“I’ll do it quickly.”

As permission was granted, a faint smile appeared on Ji-heon’s lips. The fact that his father acknowledged that the paternity test his mother had conducted unilaterally was flawed was a decent achievement.

“The child’s mother is a copywriter?”

“Yes.”

“If the child is really your daughter… the connection is amazing.”

“It’s fate.”

Saying it was fate, Ji-heon paused as he thought of Jeong-oh.

“I want to work at an advertising company. I want to be a copywriter. What’s your dream, Oppa [term of endearment for an older brother or male friend]?”

The sound of waves crashing. The refreshing smell of the sea. And the woman who smiled beautifully, sparkling in harmony with that sea.

Lee Jeong-oh with long hair.

It was the first time an image had come to mind instead of just thoughts.

Two months ago, Ji-heon, who had been working at headquarters, was appointed as a director at Max Agency. It was his own decision, but there was no real reason.

It was as if some unknown force was pulling him, and he wanted to go to the advertising agency without any particular reason. Chae Eun-bi, Chae Eun-yeop’s sister, was a nuisance, but even that didn’t bother him because his will was so firm.

Was it a desire to meet Jeong-oh? Was there a part of my subconscious that longed for Lee Jeong-oh?

“It is fate.”

Ji-heon said once more, firmly, as if casting a spell.

Jae-gwang smiled gently and watched his son closely. His son seemed a little cute.

‘Does she resemble him….’

When the child was growing up, Jae-gwang was too busy with work to properly take care of his family. The reason he hadn’t seen his child’s cute side might not have been because the child wasn’t cute, but because he hadn’t spent enough time by his child’s side.

“I’ll be going now. I’ll come back later to tell you more.”

As Ji-heon got up from his seat and reached for the photo of Ye-na on the table, Jae-gwang quickly and sternly said,

“Leave the photo here.”

* * * * * * *

Max Agency, conference room.

Jeong-oh was staring blankly at the laptop monitor.

Ji-heon hadn’t come to her house this morning. He said he had work to do on a Sunday morning. After spending days starting and ending the day with him, she felt a little empty today.

The moment she thought she felt empty, she snapped out of it. No, when did I ever rely on Jung Ji-heon that much? She knew very well that she would welcome him if she could trust him and he became family, but she shouldn’t just rely on him.

He had complicated problems, and it would be overwhelming just to solve them.

Also, there was no guarantee that the same thing wouldn’t happen again as it did seven years ago. He might lose his memory again. In the end, to overcome any adversity without getting hurt, she had no choice but to become stronger herself. Without relying on Jung Ji-heon.

“Assistant Manager Lee, are you hungry? Should we order something to eat?”

Team Leader Park Young-gwang from the next team came in and asked.

The new copywriter from the next team had gone down to the countryside due to the death of his grandfather, and Chae Eun-bi was nowhere to be seen. By chance, Jeong-oh was once again in the position of solely revising the production plan as the representative copywriter.

Still, compared to the designers on the same team, her hardship was nothing. Besides, Team Leader Sung Mi-ran and Deputy Manager Park Young-gwang also checked in from time to time, so she didn’t lose energy. She was hungry, though.

“Deputy Manager, don’t you want to eat tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes]?”

“Sounds good. Should we eat Boribunsik tteokbokki? Assistant Manager Lee likes it there.”

“Unfortunately, they don’t deliver.”

“Then I’ll go buy it.”

“No, it’s hot….”

“It’s okay. Assistant Manager Lee always does all the hard work, so we have to feed you well. Let’s all eat together in the conference room later.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

After the kind Deputy Manager Park Young-gwang left, a knock was heard just as Jeong-oh was about to be alone again. Ji-heon was standing in front of the already open door.

Despite her resolution not to rely on Ji-heon, she was so happy to see his face that she smiled broadly. But soon, with conviction, she closed her open mouth.

“Director, you’re here.”

“Yes, I’m here.”

Ji-heon skillfully chimed in with Jeong-oh’s businesslike greeting.

It felt like some kind of play in the conference room with just the two of them, but Jeong-oh was proud to see him trying to keep his promise from yesterday to be careful in the future. It’s always good to be careful.

Even after the door closed, Jeong-oh acted nonchalantly.

“You said you had work this morning. Did you take care of it?”

“I met my father.”

“Really? What did he say?”

But Jeong-oh was the first to get excited at Ji-heon’s answer. Oops. Realizing she had made a mistake, Jeong-oh quickly curled her lips inward.

Ji-heon smiled pleasantly, as if he had been waiting for it, and reached out to her. The moment her hair was neatly tucked behind her ear, he lowered his shoulder and gently pressed his lips against hers.

Her hand, which had been resting on her lap, floated into the air in surprise. It felt like her heart had beat dozens of times in that less than 10 seconds until his lips parted.

Ji-heon wiped his glossy lips with his thumb and looked at her with a happy, smiling gaze.

Wow, this opportunist.

You can’t make mistakes in front of him. If you make a mistake, he takes advantage of the gap and confidently attacks.

She glared at him slightly, feeling a little resentful of his intention to take advantage of even the smallest moments, and then asked again.

“What did your father say?”

“He said he wanted me to do a paternity test quickly.”

“……”

“He said if Ye-na is really my daughter, the connection is amazing. He didn’t seem to have any animosity. He’s different from my mother. I think he’ll like Ye-na a lot. I have a feeling.”

“That’s a relief.”

Jeong-oh breathed a sigh of relief at Ji-heon’s answer. She had resolved not to rely on him, but she was amazed and wanted to rely on him even more because he was so reliably solving the problems she had been afraid of.

“And there’s one more thing I remembered.”

Ji-heon interjected into her brief reverie.

“I don’t know if this is a real memory, but I remembered something. It was like a beach, I could hear the sound of waves, and you told me there that you wanted to be a copywriter.”

Jeong-oh’s expression brightened even more as she listened to Ji-heon’s story.

“Yes, that’s right! I told Oppa at Melbourne Beach. That my dream was to get into an advertising company and become a copywriter. I asked Oppa what his dream was too, don’t you remember that?”

Jeong-oh’s heart was full of the fact that they finally had a shared memory. She was deeply moved.

“Oppa said he didn’t really have a dream. He was a young man without a dream. That’s how it was back then, but when we met again in Korea, he said he wanted to get a job and settle down.”

Ji-heon’s heart also fluttered at her excited expression. Ji-heon’s hand reached out to her again without him even realizing it.

Outside the conference room.

Deputy Manager Park Young-gwang, who had asked the team members in the office about their lunch menu and returned to the conference room, froze as he checked the glass window on the door.

The atmosphere in the conference room with only Assistant Manager Lee Jeong-oh and Director Jung Ji-heon was strange. Jeong-oh had her back to the door, so her face wasn’t visible, but Ji-heon’s profile was clearly visible as he turned towards Jeong-oh.

He couldn’t believe, even after seeing it with his own eyes, that the director, who had only shown a cold demeanor as if he had refrigerant in his body, was looking at Jeong-oh with eyes that seemed to drip with warm honey.

In the moment of disbelief, Ji-heon made eye contact with Young-gwang through the glass window. He could feel the coldness again in the gaze looking at him.

Ji-heon clearly recognized that Young-gwang was standing outside the door. Nevertheless, he did not take his hand away from Jeong-oh.

Don’t interfere.

Somehow, it felt like he could hear those words in his eyes. Young-gwang was terrified.