A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 85

Pfft.

Jiheon, who had been sharply glaring at Eunyeop, suddenly burst into a faint laugh. And then.

“Crazy bastard.”

Eunyeop was taken aback.

“…What?”

“No, I was just lost in thought and said it to myself.”

“…”

“It’s late, hurry up and go. Return your access card properly.”

Jiheon opened the door wide. Eunyeop was now in a position where he had to leave before being embarrassingly kicked out.

The moment Eunyeop stepped out the door, it was mercilessly slammed shut. Eunyeop was furious at Jiheon’s rude behavior.

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

Drrrrrrrrr.

Jeong-o woke up to the loud vibration of her cell phone ringing in the morning.

“Hello…”

[Mom, wake up!]

Her daughter’s booming voice came through the phone. And outside the phone, there was the sound of giggling.

Yena, who had woken up first, had called Jeong-o with her own phone. She was having a lot of fun.

“Lee Yena. It’s okay at home, but don’t play pranks like that at daycare, okay?”

“Mom, I don’t turn on my phone at daycare.”

Yena replied cheerfully. Jeong-o’s face brightened as her daughter seemed to be in a good mood from the morning. On the other hand, she was a little worried about her daughter’s fluctuating emotions these days. She was also concerned about how often she cried.

“Yena, my princess. Look at me.”

“Okay.”

“Yena’s been crying too often lately. Let’s not cry today. Okay?”

Jeong-o patted Yena’s shoulder and urged her.

“Okay.”

Yena nodded smartly at attention. Jeong-o hugged Yena and secretly sighed.

She felt like it was all her fault that her daughter cried so often and that her mental state was unstable. She felt like she had given her too big of an assignment at an age when she should be loved and grow up warmly without needing to know about adult circumstances.

But she couldn’t postpone the assignment. She knew that if she crossed this mountain [overcame this challenge], her daughter would be happier.

“It would be nice if you could say hello to your dad in the morning too.”

Jeong-o said, watching Yena’s reaction. It was hard to know what Yena was thinking as she rolled her eyes.

“Isn’t that still not okay?”
Yena asked after a long time.

“Mom, is it true?”

“What is?”

“Is that man really Yena’s dad?”

“Of course! Of course, he is!”

It was the first time Yena had properly asked about Jiheon first. There was a little hope. Jeong-o took this opportunity to tell Yena the truth.

“Yena, actually, Dad had a big car accident on his way to see Yena when she was in Mom’s tummy. So he forgot the way to Yena.”

“…”

“Yena hates getting shots because they hurt, right? Dad got those painful shots for months. He was so badly hurt that he had surgery and took a lot of medicine.”

Yena’s eyes became glistening as she quickly empathized with Jeong-o’s story.

“Dad almost didn’t make it, but he survived. To see our Yena.”

“…”

“So let’s welcome Dad. Okay?”

Yena didn’t answer in the end. She seemed a little sullen. Jeong-o felt sorry for making her daughter, who had been happy to get a cell phone, feel down again.

An hour later, Jiheon came again today without fail. As if to make up for yesterday’s mistakes, Jiheon came out much earlier than usual and waited in front of Jeong-o’s house.

“Yena. Hello. Did you sleep well?”

“…Hello.”

Still, thanks to the conversation in the morning, Yena reacted. It was a listless greeting in a drooping voice, but that alone gave Jiheon strength.

A better today than yesterday. That was enough to be satisfied with. He could also have hope that tomorrow would be even better.

Jiheon, who waved his hand for a long time as he watched Yena leave, took Jeong-o’s hand. Jeong-o held his hand tightly and then let it go.

“I’m not going to the company today. I’m going to the factory with Gihoon. I’m going to pick up the beer and go to the filming site.”

“Song Gihoon?”

“Yeah. Gihoon is going to drive. So I hope you can leave quickly without being seen.”

“You’re going in Song Gihoon’s car?”

“Yeah. Gihoon has a car.”

Who dares to stand between me and Lee Jeong-o? Jiheon frowned and asked sullenly.

“Why is Song Gihoon going?”

“Gihoon designed the beer can package.”

“What about Deputy Go Eunju?”

“Deputy Go has something to do in the morning.”

“…”

“Gihoon should be here soon. You should go quickly.”

Jiheon repeated Jeong-o’s words several times and gritted his teeth inwardly.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

The two of them. Just the two of them are going to the factory. They’re going to the factory and then to the filming site.

“I’ll have to deal with Song Gihoon soon.”

“What? What are you going to deal with?”

Jeong-o, who had heard his small mutter like a ghost, asked sharply. Jiheon smiled slyly as if it was nothing.

“Just kidding, just kidding.”

“I just had a bad feeling?”

“It’s a joke.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Go to work quickly.”

Jeong-o immediately cut him off, thinking the argument would be long, and pushed Jiheon toward the road. But Jiheon didn’t budge. He quickly attached a condition.

“Okay. I’ll go to work willingly.”

“…”

“If you take me to that corner and give me a kiss.”

…How can a father be so charming?

What’s really amazing is that he’s really serious.

A sigh poured out from between Jeong-o’s lips.

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

Time passed, and it was 5 p.m.

Yena, who had finished her daily routine at daycare and went to the Baduk academy [Baduk is a strategy board game], kept looking around throughout the class. Dobin was nowhere to be seen.

“Teacher, where’s Dobin?”

“Oh, Dobin went to the dentist and is coming. He’ll be a little late today. Do you want to wait for Dobin?”

“Yes.”

Yena answered the teacher and also sent a text message to Guksun. She said it was okay to pick her up late today. It was so amazing and convenient to be able to contact someone directly.

She also wanted to quickly tell her friend Dobin her phone number. Yena wore her phone around her neck so that it could be seen well.

The teacher smiled and called Yena, who was returning to her seat.

“Yena. Do you know Suin?”

Next to the teacher was a girl about Yena’s age. She was a friend with long hair like the Little Mermaid and a pretty hairband.

“No. I don’t know her.”

“She’s a seven-year-old friend. Hong Suin.”

Yena greeted Suin.

“Hello. I’m Lee Yena.”

“Yeah. I know you.”

Suin had only been in the Baduk academy for a week, but she knew Yena. Her mom told her.

In the mothers’ community, Yena was enjoying popularity without her even knowing it. They said a Baduk prodigy had entered the academy. They said she’s a seven-year-old girl and she’s very smart.

Suin, who had roamed the daycare center with enviable intelligence, didn’t want to admit that there was a child more intelligent than her at the same age. She wanted to beat Yena and prove her genius.

“Teacher, can I play Baduk with Yena?”

“Suin said she’s played a lot of Baduk games, right?”

“Yes.”

Suin answered confidently. The time had come to show off her skills, which she had learned from her dad and brother for over a year.

“Yena, do you want to play a game?”

“Yes.”

Yena also readily accepted the game. The teacher, who knew the two children’s competitive nature, said.

“The most important thing in a game is to accept whatever the result is. If you don’t cry when you lose and think about why you lost, you’ll be able to play better later. The same goes for when you win. Even if you win, don’t make fun of your opponent and analyze together what moves were strong and what moves were weak. Okay?”

“Yes.”

The two children answered smartly. Soon, the two sat facing each other across the Baduk board. Yena took white, and Suin took black.

As soon as Suin put down a stone, Yena immediately made a move. Yena’s movements were so fast, as if she was making moves without thinking. The sound of the Baduk stones falling on the Baduk board gradually made Suin feel overwhelmed.

Suin took advantage of the teacher’s temporary absence to talk to Yena.

“You know all the Korean letters, right.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know all the multiplication tables?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“Then you don’t even know what 7 times 7 is?”

“No. I know that. 49.”

“Then what is 9 times 6?”

“54.”

“How do you know that if you don’t know the multiplication tables?”

In response to Suin’s question, Yena drew a square with her hand on the Baduk board.

“You can make a Baduk board in your head like this and count by making nine Baduk stones in six lines.”

Can you count that fast?

Suin narrowed her brows and looked at Yena.

“Do you know English?”

“No. Our daycare doesn’t do English. But why aren’t you focusing on Baduk? You’re going to lose.”

While Suin wasn’t concentrating, Yena steadily increased her territory. Before she knew it, it was to the point where Suin couldn’t catch up.

“Uh oh! No! Give me a break. I couldn’t see well, so I put it down wrong.”

“No. The teacher said there’s no taking back in Baduk.”

Suin pleaded, cornered, but Yena didn’t give her a break. In the end, Suin was brutally defeated.

When Suin was looking at the Baduk board in dismay, Yena shouted.

“Teacher, Yena won!”

“Yena, what did I tell you to do when you win?”

“Suin, let’s review. You have to think about why you lost. I’ll tell you.”

Suin’s lips pouted out. Tears welled up in her eyes.

“I know everything too. I lost on purpose.”

Suin got up first and left the classroom.

Suin, who was waiting for the class to end in front of another classroom, ran inside as soon as the classroom door opened.

“Oppa!” [Oppa is a Korean term used by females to address older brothers or close male friends]

Jaein was there. Jaein was Suin’s brother, who had started attending the Baduk academy a year earlier than Suin. Suin sobbed and grabbed Jaein’s arm and told him everything that had happened in the opposite classroom.

“Why are you crying about something like that?”

Jaein, who heard the story, comforted his sister with a nonchalant expression. He fights with his sister every day and he also makes his sister cry, but he was an ordinary brother who couldn’t stand his sister being bullied by other friends.

Jaein found Yena waiting for Dobin and going to the bathroom and approached her and asked.

“Are you Lee Yena?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard you’re so good at Baduk.”

“Yeah.”

“But why aren’t you going home? Isn’t your mom coming to pick you up?”

“No. Her mom works.”

Suin butted in, watching from behind Jaein.

“Oh, then is your dad coming to pick you up?”

“No. She doesn’t have a dad.”

Suin intervened again. Yena was embarrassed. She felt like a mute puppy when she faced her older brother and her friend with a sharp voice. She didn’t know why they were doing this.

“If you don’t have a dad, do you live with your mom?”

Jaein asked. The end of his lips was tilted crookedly. She could tell that he was making fun of her.

“If you don’t have a dad, who did you learn Baduk from?”

“…No. I have a dad.”

Yena answered, feeling choked up.

Jaein questioned Suin.

“Hey. She said she has a dad.”

“No. My mom definitely said it! She doesn’t have a dad.”

Suin’s voice rose. Suin had definitely heard what her mom was saying.

Mom said that Yena was the smartest. She said that a kid without a dad is so good at Baduk. I can’t forget those words.

Jaein asked Yena again.

“She said you don’t? Aren’t you lying right now?”

“No. I have one.”

“Then call your dad.”

“…”

“Hurry up. You have a cell phone too.”

Jaein said, pointing to the cell phone hanging around Yena’s neck.

Yena fiddled with her cell phone with trembling hands.

Suin pushed her.

“Hurry up. Why can’t you do it?”

“…”

“Don’t you even know your dad’s phone number?”

How can you not know your dad’s phone number when you know all the multiplication tables?

“It’s a lie, isn’t it? That you have a dad.”

Mom told me not to cry.

Yena bit her lower lip tightly and swallowed her tears. Her face turned red as she tried to hold back the tears that had already formed. She couldn’t breathe. She felt like all the blood was draining from her body. The surrounding sounds were muffled.

She wasn’t moving, but the floor and ceiling were turned upside down and spinning around. Yena lost consciousness with her cell phone clutched in her hand.