A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 89

Yena sat on Jiheon’s lap, eating her meal.

Jeong-o couldn’t say a word, finding it adorable how the child, who had even learned to use chopsticks, didn’t lift a finger and just opened her mouth like a baby bird whenever her dad brought food to her. It was a happy mealtime.

After lunch, Jiheon said to Yena,

“Yena, Daddy has something to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“We’re going to the hospital again.”

Today’s schedule: they were going to proceed with the paternity test.

Jiheon had looked into everything, which was why he had been so busy in the morning.

“This time, we’re not going to the hospital because Yena is sick. We’re going because we need to do a test, a test that will ‘stamp’ [confirm] that Yena is Daddy’s daughter.”

“How?”

Yena asked at Jiheon’s explanation. Her expression was stiff. A test to prove that Yena is Daddy’s daughter made her nervous again.

“They’ll take a little bit of Yena’s blood and a little bit of Daddy’s blood, and then they’ll do the test.”

“How?”

Yena turned her head and asked Jeong-o, who was sitting next to her.

“Mom, how does taking blood say that Yena is Daddy’s daughter? Blood is all red.”

The daughter, who had been talking to her dad the whole time, asked her mom the difficult question. Jeong-o’s face turned red.

I don’t know. Mom doesn’t know. Mom is a liberal arts person to the core…….

The brain, unable to explain blood tests clearly, sobbed silently.

In the meantime, Yena changed her target.

“Can you stamp a seal if you draw blood?”

The daughter, who had been bossing her dad around like a runaway colt, briefly came to her senses and asked her dad politely. The child was still confused, as much as the mix of honorifics and casual speech. He had to explain everything one by one.

Jiheon showed Yena his thumb and asked,

“Do you see the fingerprint on Daddy’s finger?”

“Yes. I have fingerprints too!”

“Right. Do you know that these fingerprints are different for everyone?”

“Yes. I learned it at daycare.”

“Okay. So even if Yena gets lost and forgets her address, if we register this fingerprint at the police station, Yena can find her way home. The fingerprint becomes a map to get home.”

After explaining about fingerprints, Jiheon searched on his phone for a video of blood magnified 1000 times and showed it to Yena. It was a video where you could see the red blood cells and white blood cells.

“We have something like that in our body too. Look, this is red blood magnified 1000 times under a microscope.”

Yena frowned and turned her head.

“Ew. It’s gross.”

“Is it just gross?”

“It looks like frog eggs.”

“Okay. So, the blood that just looks red to our eyes actually has these frog egg-like things in it, right? If you magnify this even more, you can see the blueprint, the map, engraved in our blood. There’s a map like a fingerprint in our blood too.”

Jiheon explained patiently without getting tired. Yena listened intently to Jiheon’s voice, as if she really understood everything.

“A blood test is a test to find that map. Daddy and Yena have very similar maps. That’s because Yena is Daddy’s daughter.”

“So, the maps in our blood are alike?”

“Yes. They’re alike.”

Yena’s eyes sparkled at her dad’s confident answer. Yena stared intently at the blood video for a long time, which she had refused to watch earlier, saying it was gross.

A map in the blood!

Even the map inside me that I can’t see directly, that I have to magnify thousands of times to see, resembles Daddy! It was such a wonderful story. The seven-year-old’s heart swelled with pride.

“Mom, I want to go get the test done quickly.”

* * * * * * *

Jeong-o packed the documents needed for the paternity test and visited the Department of Laboratory Medicine with Jiheon. It was a laboratory located in a corner of a fairly large health checkup center.

Jeong-o filled out the consent form for Yena’s paternity test and moved according to the instructions. Jiheon had his blood drawn first. When dark red blood flowed from Jiheon’s arm, Yena’s expression also hardened.

“Now it’s Yena’s turn. Can you do it? If you endure it well, Mom will buy you ice cream later.”

Yena seemed very nervous, so Jeong-o coaxed her with ice cream and sat Yena on her lap. Yena was so scared that her face turned pale, and she twisted her body. But she didn’t refuse completely.

It was admirable that the child, who usually made a fuss even about relatively thin vaccination needles, overcame her body’s resistance and persevered.

Soon, the needle was inserted into the child’s arm. Jiheon held Yena’s other hand, and Jeong-o hugged and comforted the child, who had closed her eyes tightly. Yena groaned painfully while the blood was being drawn.

“All done.”

The nurse who removed the needle said.

“Mommyyy.”

Yena, who had been holding her breath during the blood draw, hugged her mom as soon as the needle was removed.

“You did well. My baby. You did well.”

Jeong-o praised her daughter for overcoming the scary moment.

Yena was so tense that she fell fast asleep in the car on the way home. Jiheon carried Yena on his back and laid her down in her room.

Carrying the child up to the 4th floor. Jiheon did the work that Jeong-o had been finding very difficult lately twice today.

Jeong-o thanked Jiheon, who came out to the living room after laying the child down.

“Thank you for moving Yena.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Thank you for explaining the blood test earlier, too.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Still, it’s better when two heads come together than one.”

“Jeong-o, you need to say it right.”

Jiheon, who had been answering lightly with “It’s nothing, it’s nothing,” retorted to Jeong-o with a serious face.

“It’s not that the two of us put our heads together, it’s that I said everything. Your brain wasn’t there to explain the blood test, my brain explained everything.”

Hmm. It’s true, but it feels very awkward?

The warm heart that had been grateful to Jiheon a moment ago turned salty. Jeong-o’s expression also turned sour.

“There are always people who try to take credit for someone else’s achievement.”

“What? Take credit?”

Jeong-o’s eyes widened at Jiheon’s provocation, who eventually added another word.

“It’s unbelievable! Who is the one who should be talking about taking credit right now! It’s a good thing I raised the child. If you had raised our Yena, I wouldn’t even be able to say that Yena is my daughter anywhere.”

“Someone’s getting defensive.”

Jiheon smiled proudly, having thoroughly teased Jeong-o. In the meantime, Yena woke up and opened the door. She had woken up to Jeong-o’s raised voice.

“Mom, are you fighting with Dad?”

“No. We’re not fighting! Mom and Dad are just talking.”

Jeong-o hurriedly tried to smooth things over, but Yena’s sullen expression didn’t improve. Yena asked Jiheon.

“Dad, don’t fight with Mom.”

Jiheon’s expression was very relaxed and gentle.

“Daddy doesn’t fight. Daddy doesn’t get angry at all because Mom is so pretty.”

Jeong-o was even more dumbfounded by his smooth talk.

* * * * * * *

Yesterday, and today, Eun-yeop watched Jiheon.

Yesterday and this morning, Jiheon did not take a paternity test at the hospital. Eun-yeop thought that he would proceed with the test while Yena was hospitalized, but Eun-yeop’s thoughts seemed to have been ahead of him. He said that a request for a paternity test had not come into the hospital either.

Still, Eun-yeop couldn’t sit idly by. He continued to track Jiheon’s movements and contact details. Fortunately, he caught something quite a bit. Jeong Jiheon was preparing to undergo a paternity test at a specialized institution. Eun-yeop tasted joy at the fact he had learned after much effort.

‘So, you’re going to get a paternity test somewhere else? You’re still trying to use your head, though.’

He laughed, feeling like he knew the anxious inside, avoiding himself, avoiding something secretly.

Eun-yeop, who found an exploitable employee at the specialized institution Jiheon had booked, quickly contacted the employee and made a tempting offer.

“Are you having a hard time getting a divorce because your spouse has a weakness? I’ll solve it neatly for you. You can trust me if you look at my experience.”

Counseling that scratches the other person’s itchy spot works much better than a few bucks. Eun-yeop targeted the other person’s weakness and gave them a refreshing promise. The employee eagerly took the bait.

“Just block one paternity test. My nephew will go to the lab. I told him I’d give him a simple health checkup. Switch my nephew’s blood with the client’s blood. So that no biological child can ever come out. The client’s name may be Jeong Jiheon, or Lee Yena, or Lee Jeong-o. Anyway, switch the blood that is tested as a set with Jeong Jiheon.”

Eun-yeop showed meticulousness in putting in the same person to make the results of the previously manipulated test and this genetic test the same. If the genetic base sequence information is the same as the previous result, Jeong Jiheon will have no choice but to believe it.

According to Eun-yeop’s request, the employee faithfully carried out the mission. He even took perfect measures to ensure that even if an unexpected problem arose, it could be concluded as the fault of another employee.

Eun-yeop, who had been anxiously running around busily yesterday and today, finally took a breather.

When he first heard that the test was wrong, he might think it was a happening. Jang Young-mi would want to trust the test results, but on the other hand, she would try to believe Jeong Jiheon’s claims.

But what if the second test result also comes out as a mismatch? And what if the genetic values ​​remain the same?

If it goes wrong once, it’s suspicion, but if it goes wrong twice, it becomes conviction.

Then Lee Jeong-o becomes an unmistakable fraud.

Eun-yeop, who had successfully completed the work, visited Eun-bi’s house.

Eun-bi, who had been living like a *폐인* [recluse] without leaving the house for several days, could not welcome her brother. She thought that her brother would bring some welcome results, but nothing had been achieved since he told her not to do anything.

“Are you having a good time?”

“You told me not to do anything. Is there anything I can do?”

“So you’re not going to work either?”

“You told me not to go! And do you know how hellish it is for me there right now?”

Eun-bi retorted sharply to Eun-yeop.

“I’m going to change jobs. If you meet Jeong Jiheon, say hello. Tell him you ruined my sister’s life.”

Eun-yeop smiled bitterly and hardened his expression.

“Listen carefully, Chae Eun-bi.”

“…….”

“Today, Jeong Jiheon will have Lee Yena’s paternity test, and the result will be no possibility of being a biological child.”

“No possibility? How do you know that?”

Eun-yeop didn’t say anything. But Eun-bi could guess her brother’s intentions just by looking at his eyes. Eun-bi asked with a shocked expression.

“Did you manipulate it?”

“You can go and comfort Jeong Jiheon and Ms. Jang. With the mindset that you understand everything. Got it?”

Eun-yeop said casually. In Eun-bi’s eyes, her brother was as creepy as Jeong Jiheon.

Eun-bi knew that the direction Eun-yeop was going was a swamp. The more you fall into it, the harder it is to get out.

“……Sometimes it seems like you’re more obsessed with Jeong Jiheon than I am.”

“It’s because I invested in you.”

“…….”

“I have to recover as much as I invested.”

Eun-yeop smiled confidently. He was looking forward to a few hours later.