A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 107

107. I Love You Too

Three hours earlier.

Having finished shopping, Jiheon returned home with Yena and Guksoon.

“Wow! Dad’s house is so big!”

Yena, visiting Jiheon’s house for the first time, shouted as she ran inside.

“It’s bigger than the kindergarten auditorium!”

The child ran around from room to room, shouting with wide eyes.

“Dad! Let’s play hide-and-seek with Yena!”

“Your dad has a lot to do. You promised to help him, remember?”

Guksoon replied to Yena instead of Jiheon.

“Oh, right!”

Even after nodding as if she had forgotten something important, Yena continued to run around the house, shouting.

Jiheon headed to the kitchen with Guksoon. He had bought a lot of ingredients and cooking utensils, but once he unloaded everything in the kitchen, his mind went blank.

Guksoon asked Jiheon like a general surveying a battlefield.

“So, what are you planning to do with all these ingredients?”

“Mother, please sit down. I’ll take care of everything.”

Although his mind was blank, Jiheon replied confidently.

His mission for today was to feed Jungoh the food he made himself. To seduce Jungoh, who loves to eat, with his cooking. It was to be the grand finale of his proposal.

“You’re going to do it all by yourself in three hours?”

“Yes.”

“That’s going to be tough.”

Guksoon, an expert cook, warned him of what to expect, but Jiheon just smiled.

“There’s a lot of good video content these days, so it’s easy to cook.”

“Still, it won’t be the same as what I would do.”

“It’s okay.”

“Alright. Good luck. Then what should I do?”

“You can tour the house with Yena and relax.”

“Okay, I got it.”

Jiheon insisted repeatedly, so Guksoon couldn’t stop him. However, after an hour, there seemed to be no progress in the preparation, and she became worried.

He has the best equipment, but he can’t use it…

The prospective son-in-law she had observed so far seemed embarrassed to receive help. Guksoon asked Jiheon again.

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“She’s coming at six, right? There’s two and a half hours left?”

The prospective son-in-law smiled awkwardly, even while sweating profusely.

Right. He’s putting so much enthusiasm into making food for my daughter, I shouldn’t ignore his feelings. Whatever happens, let’s just cheer him on in my heart.

Guksoon emptied her mind and turned away.

However, even after another hour, Jiheon was barely making any progress. The explanations in the video content were too unfamiliar and difficult for a beginner like Jiheon. Jiheon, who had been so confident, finally realized the reality.

“Mother.”

“Yes.”

“Please help me…”

“Okay, okay.”

Guksoon approached and rolled up her sleeves.

“The dish I’m trying to make is…”

“I know. Just by looking at what you’ve laid out, I can tell what you’re trying to do.”

Guksoon quickly grasped what needed to be done first with a single scan and efficiently organized the ingredients.

“It’s hard to ask for help, isn’t it? But you know what?”

“…”

“There are people who are waiting to help you. In this world.”

With Guksoon’s help, the kitchen came alive. One by one, the burners were lit, and all the pretty dishes they had bought today were washed.

While they were in the middle of preparing, the doorbell rang.

“Oh no. Is she already here?”

“No. The flowers have arrived.”

Jiheon opened the front door.

“Mr. Jung Jiheon, how do you do!”

Flower Dream. The owner of the flower shop that had helped Jiheon recover his memories from seven years ago had come to deliver the flowers in person.

“You came yourself. Please bring the flowers this way.”

His heart was as happy as if he were welcoming an old friend, but he couldn’t take too much time. The flowers followed in a line in the direction Jiheon guided them.

The flowers were laid out along the hallway that stretched straight from the entrance. At the end of the beautiful flower path, a splendid flower pillar was erected. The house, which had felt somewhat empty with not much furniture, had become a beautiful wedding venue.

Yena, who had never seen so many flowers in her seven years of life, opened her mouth wide.

“Then please make sure you succeed today. I can’t watch in person, but I’ll be cheering you on in my heart!”

The flower shop owner bowed politely and encouraged him.

Guksoon, who came out of the kitchen at the overwhelming fragrance of the flowers, was also surprised and said a word.

“You could open a flower shop!”

Yena burst out laughing at Guksoon’s tone.

“You were going to invest a whole day just in that, and you were going to prepare a meal too?”

Jiheon smiled awkwardly and installed light bulbs behind the flower path.

Watching Jiheon move busily, Yena shouted with excitement.

“Dad, Yena will make a congratulatory balloon!”

“Can you make it by yourself?”

“Yes! Yena has done all the research!”

Yena had also been waiting for today. She had searched for various videos, asked her dad questions, and today she had gone to the mart with her dad to buy this and that. Now it was time to create a wonderful piece of work according to the blueprint in her head.

“Okay. Then I’m counting on you, Yena.”

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

Beep beep beep beep.

Everyone tensed up at the sound of the front door passcode being pressed.

Inside the house, all the lights were turned off. In the darkness, everyone held their breath and waited for Jungoh to enter.

Finally, the front door opened. Jungoh stepped into the dark hallway.

Perhaps she was nervous because no lights were on, Jungoh’s sigh was loud. Jiheon immediately turned on the lights behind the flower path. Jungoh, who was standing at the end of the flower path, looked at Jiheon beyond it.

While she was frozen in surprise, the TV was also turned on. Seeing two photos repeatedly playing on the TV screen, Jungoh’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. Only then did she realize what was happening.

From inside the room, the child burst into laughter, not knowing what was so fun. Jungoh couldn’t make a sound at the child’s laughter, or at Jiheon’s lovely figure standing at the end of the flower path with a bouquet of flowers, looking nervous.

I never thought I’d have a day like this.

Instead of making a sound, she slowly moved towards Jiheon.

As Jungoh approached, Jiheon confessed.

“I love you. Jungoh.”

A gentle voice flowed from his tense, parched lips.

“Will you marr–”

Bang!

However, before Jiheon could finish his proposal, a mishap occurred. The balloon hanging next to the door. The congratulatory balloon that Yena had worked so hard to make had burst.

The prepared balloon was just like Yena’s pure heart. She had poured her heart into congratulating her dad’s proposal into the balloon. A handful of confetti would have been enough, but Yena greedily cut up colored paper and stuffed it into the balloon.

And as she had learned from the video content, she even added curling ribbon. In the end, the congratulatory balloon couldn’t withstand the weight and vibration and burst.

So much confetti poured down that it felt like a popular singer’s concert venue.

Jiheon, who was directly hit by what was either a congratulatory balloon or a congratulatory bomb right below the balloon, was the most handsome man in the world just three seconds ago, but soon became a human decoration cake covered in paper flowers and curling ribbon.

The paper stuck all over his face, which had been sweating during the preparation.

“Pfft.” Jungoh burst out laughing, and Jiheon closed his eyes tightly.

A lovely act done by his beloved child.

“Waaaaah.” From inside the room, the sound of a lovely child crying was heard. The child also seemed disappointed that things didn’t go as planned.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Don’t worry about us and continue what you were doing!”

Guksoon’s voice, embarrassed, was also heard.

“Mommy. I’m sorry. Waaaaah…”

With a resentful apology, the child’s crying was no longer heard.

Jiheon’s gaze, through the crack in the door, he could see Guksoon desperately hugging the crying child. Jiheon also wanted to go into the room and hug the child.

It’s not something to cry about because it failed. The fact that a seven-year-old designed a congratulatory balloon for her mom and dad and made it explode so spectacularly is really amazing.

Postponing hugging the child, Jiheon refocused on his role and shook off the paper stuck to his body. The house was a mess and the mood was a little broken. But he felt happier and more overwhelmed than ever.

His proposal to his beloved was being helped by her family. Jiheon thought he was the most blessed person in the world.

It’s okay. Everything is okay.

Even if life doesn’t go as planned.

“It’s really unpredictable, but I’m just grateful.”

If you are at the end of my life that has flowed so arbitrarily, I will always gratefully accept fate.

“I’m grateful for everything because you’re by your side.”

Thank you. For coming to me.

“I feel like I can do anything from now on.”

Thank you so much for bringing me back.

“Let’s keep living like this. Forever.”

A proposal after seven years. Words he had saved for this moment. Love he had saved.

Now I can express it to my heart’s content.

“I love you. Jungoh.”

Jungoh’s eyes, which had been filled with laughter, welled up with tears once again.

Perhaps it was because almost no memories of seven years ago remained, but the instinct towards Lee Jungoh was still the same. As if he had been waiting for this moment for seven years, his heart also reacted to her beautiful eyes and throbbed warmly.

“Marry me.”

Jiheon put the ring he had taken out of his pocket on Jungoh’s hand. He had reordered the design of the ring he had prepared seven years ago. The ring, which had found its owner after seven years, sparkled beautifully on her beautiful hand.

Jungoh choked up and barely opened her mouth.

“Thank you.”

I’m thankful too. For coming back to me.

“I love you too.”

It was the first time he had heard Jungoh say she loved him. Jiheon deeply realized that he had also been waiting for these words.

Before he knew it, Yena, who had stopped crying, watched her mom and dad through the crack in the door.

“Grandma. Mom and Dad are kissing.”

“Why are you watching that? Come here.”

The whispers of the grandmother and granddaughter were heard by Jungoh and Jiheon, but the two did not let go of each other’s hands.

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

Eunbi had been sleeping for days. She had nothing else to do, so she just kept sleeping. She didn’t know why her life had fallen so far, and even in moments when she felt so wronged that she felt like she was going to explode, she kept falling asleep.

Maybe she wanted to avoid everything.

When she was lonely and in pain, a man stayed by her side, but perhaps the man was also tired of her complaints, as he hadn’t contacted her.

Vibrate.

While blankly opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling, her phone vibrated.

She stared at the phone screen. A local area code was displayed. Come to think of it, she had received a call from the same area yesterday as well.

It seemed like a prank call. She was about to block the number, but she felt a desire to pour out some cool curses, so she pressed the receive button.

“Hello.”

No voice was heard from the other side, so Eunbi gained courage.

To hell with it.

“Don’t make prank calls, you trash that’s worse than a dog…”

[Chae Eunbi.]

But then, a man’s voice was heard from the other end of the receiver. The man knew her name. A chilling feeling made Eunbi’s voice drop low.

“…Who is this?”

[You don’t know me?]

“…”

[You know my voice. You said you remembered.]

“…”

[Kim Jingu, who you put in jail. Don’t you remember?]

“Eek.”

Eunbi was so surprised that she dropped her phone. The sound of the phone got louder. As her hand slipped, she pressed the speakerphone button.

[I protested so much that it wasn’t me, but you created a bunch of false evidence and made me live in jail for a year.]

Eunbi trembled as she picked up her phone.

[Listen carefully. I won’t let you get away with this.]

I have to hang up quickly.

Oh, no, the record button!

[I’ll make you the same.]

While Eunbi, flustered and terrified, picked up her phone and fidgeted, Kim Jingu spat out terrifying words.

[You too, Jung Jiheon, I’m going to kill you.]