A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 111

111. Butterfly Effect

After work, Jiheon visited Jungo’s house, lost in thought.

Just how wronged does Kim Jingu feel to harbor such resentment? He only served a year for the hit-and-run, and then five years for a bigger crime. Why is he still so angry?

‘If he served more time than expected, he might be upset.’

But I lost my memories because of that.

Jiheon couldn’t sympathize with Kim Jingu’s anger at all.

“Dad, relax.”

While Jiheon was deep in thought, Yena approached, studying his face intently. Jiheon sat Yena on his lap.

“What?”

“Dad, you’re doing this here.”

Yena pinched Jiheon’s forehead with her fingertip. He must have been frowning while thinking so seriously.

Yena pressed and smoothed the spot she had pinched.

“Dad, relax.”

Where did she learn such words?

Yena, you make my heart melt.

Her sparkling eyes gently push away the darkness in my mind.

“Right. I need to relax so our Yena doesn’t worry.”

“…….”

“I guess Dad’s healing fairy is almost gone.”

Jiheon smiled gently and showed her his wrist. He tried not to erase it, but the temporary tattoo sticker for children didn’t last long. Now, only a blurry outline of the healing fairy remained.

Yena also checked Jiheon’s wrist and became quite serious.

“What should we do? Should I buy a sticker and put it on again?”

“Yes.”

“Then Dad should give Yena money.”

“How much?”

“Two thousand won [approximately $1.50 USD].”

Jiheon’s reaction was a little slow to Yena’s adorable request, his heart completely disarmed. He opened his wallet and checked inside, but there were only a few bills. And except for the checks, they were all fifty thousand won bills [approximately $37 USD each].

“I don’t have money.”

“Dad doesn’t have money either?”

“Yeah. That’s right. Sorry. Dad will bring it tomorrow.”

“No. I have money in my piggy bank too. Yena has a lot of money.”

“How much is in your piggy bank?”

“About, one hundred million?”

Pfft. Jungo, who had been quietly watching from a distance, burst out laughing first. Even for a child who is quick with calculations, she seemed to have fantasies about money she hadn’t counted yet.

Realizing that this wasn’t right from everyone’s reaction, Yena quickly changed her words.

“No, about one million won [approximately $740 USD]?”

This time, she blurted it out and stared intently at her mom’s face. When Jungo quietly shook her head, Yena changed her words again.

“About one hundred thousand won [approximately $74 USD]. Anyway, Yena has been saving for her whole life, so she has a lot of money.”

The money in the piggy bank, which was one hundred million, finally became one hundred thousand won. For a child, one hundred thousand won, one million won, or one hundred million won is all the same amount of money.

“So I’ll buy it. With one hundred thousand won, I can buy fifty stickers.”

“You’re going to use the money you’ve saved your whole life for Dad? Is that okay?”

“Of course. Of course. Dad is more precious to Yena than money.”

After answering, Yena immediately ran to her room and brought her piggy bank. The rabbit piggy bank made a fairly heavy sound. The sound of the money Yena had saved for her seven-year life becoming stickers.

“Yena, Dad doesn’t hurt at all anymore, and my heart is all better. So, one healing fairy is enough.”

Jiheon quickly said before Yena broke the rabbit’s neck.

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

Ring ring. Ring ring.

For the tenth time already, the man didn’t answer the phone. Eunbi threw her cell phone onto the bed and screamed, pressing the call button repeatedly. Tears welled up in her eyes.

She went to the blind date as her brother told her to. He was a 43-year-old divorcee. It was as if he had poured black powder on his balding head, and black powder fell every time he bowed. Eunbi felt nauseous and couldn’t eat.

The divorcee showed interest in Eunbi’s appearance but frowned slightly when she said she was thirty. He said casually that it was the first time he had met a thirty-year-old.

And he boasted about his assets, acting as if she should be proud to meet him. Several houses, several buildings, adding up to several trillion… The source of his overflowing confidence was money.

The divorcee spoke as if he had this much money, so she should “match” him.

Eunbi couldn’t bring herself to cater to the divorcee’s tastes and got up, saying she felt unwell.

Leaving Max Planning, she felt like she was falling off a cliff.

Eunyeop had booked a series of blind dates for his sister with wealthy men in their 40s. Some of them had been divorced twice, and some even had children.

Receiving such a list made her miss the man even more. A normal office worker, but young, smart, and handsome, whose looks alone were absolutely not inferior to Jung Jiheon.

Eunbi swallowed her pride and sent a text message to the man.

– Why aren’t you contacting me?

– I have so many difficult things going on. I feel like I’m going to die. Please come and comfort me.

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

After putting Yena to bed, Jungo and Jiheon went outside. Even late at night, the air was muggy. Jiheon firmly warned her, feeling like Jungo was looking at the convenience store at the end of the alley over his shoulder.

“Lee Jungo, don’t wander around at night.”

“Why?”

“You’re so pretty that someone might kidnap you.”

“Hoo.”

“I’m serious.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Jungo, who had been sighing, replied without any soul.

I’m serious. Jiheon was about to talk about Kim Jingu but quickly closed his mouth. He couldn’t worry her before investigating separately.

Jungo, who was looking at Jiheon with a sullen expression, said.

“You be careful, too.”

Jungo, who had parted ways with Jiheon, who was worrying for nothing, went straight to the convenience store. She was desperate for a beer because of the hot weather. She decided to quickly empty a can of beer and go home to sleep comfortably.

But she ran into an unexpected man in front of the convenience store.

“Oh? Officer Kwon! Hello!”

Unlike Jungo, who greeted him happily, Baeil blushed as if embarrassed. Baeil was sitting alone in front of the convenience store, drinking soju [a Korean distilled spirit]. The soju bottle was already half empty.

Jungo went into the convenience store, bought a can of beer and some snacks, and came out.

“Drinking only raw soju will ruin your stomach. The staff of the people [referring to police officers] must be strong.”

“…I’m okay.”

Baeil, who answered awkwardly, bowed.

“Anyway, thank you.”

Jungo smiled and opened the beer can. She was just going to quickly drink the beer without any snacks and leave, but she was relieved to have a drinking buddy.

And she also had something to say to her neighbor.

“Officer, I’m moving.”

“…Ah.”

Again, Baeil’s reaction was slow.

“Is it good news?”

“Yes. I met the child’s father.”

“…A long-term unsolved case has been solved.”

Jungo nodded vigorously at Baeil’s cautious prediction.

“How do you feel?”

“It’s good. I can’t express it all in words.”

“….”

“But as good as it is, it’s also scary.”

“Everything will be fine.”

Baeil encouraged Jungo with a trustworthy voice.

“Lee Jungo is a strong person, so she will overcome everything.”

“How do you know if I’m strong or weak?”

“I can guess because you raised your child so well.”

Jungo felt good even while humbly shaking her head.

Baeil, as if adding conviction to his claim, opened his mouth again.

“Actually, Yena resembles me. I didn’t have a father either. It was just my mother and me in the world.”

“Ah…”

“It’s different now. Yena met her father.”

Jungo’s mouth opened at Baeil’s personal story, which she was hearing for the first time. His kind eyes looked lonely.

“Me too. I think I would have been in a similar situation to Officer Kwon. I also grew up without a dad.”

Jungo also confessed her personal history, breaking down the wall.

“But you know. Single-parent families can also be healthy and happy.”

“….”

“Officer Kwon’s mother must be really proud too. Her only son has grown up so tall and handsome, wonderfully as the staff of the people.”

“I wish it were.”

“….”

“She passed away without seeing me become a police officer.”

Ah. Once again, Jungo’s lips parted. It was a story she had offered to comfort him, but it ended up touching Baeil’s painful heart.

Baeil, realizing that Jungo was embarrassed, immediately apologized.

“Ah. I told a depressing story. I’m sorry.”

“No. No. I’m the one who’s sorry, Officer Kwon.”

Jungo, feeling awkward, turned her head to the side and sipped her beer. Perhaps because she had nothing to say, the beer can was emptied in a few gulps. As the alcohol spread inside, her body became warm and she gained courage.

“Officer Kwon, I told you before. Living is suffering.”

The courage to encourage our staff of the people, Officer Kwon Baeil, who seemed lonely and listless today for some reason.

“So, Officer Kwon’s age is the time he has overcome that suffering. You can applaud yourself.”

Jungo clenched her fist and said energetically.

“Your mother must be proud too.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you. Really.”

Baeil smiled gently. Jungo felt comforted by his kind impression.

Baeil, realizing that Jungo’s beer can was empty, said.

“You can get up first. I’ll stay a little longer and go in.”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. I’m fine except for having some worries. My long-term unsolved case is not over yet.”

“Ah… Is there no sign of a solution either?”

“I don’t know what will happen to me in the future.”

Just as Jungo had once confided in him, Baeil also conveyed his current concerns.

“You know the butterfly effect. The subtle flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one village becomes a typhoon in another region. Depending on what happens to that typhoon, the fate of the butterfly that caused the typhoon will also be determined.”

Jungo, who was blankly rolling her eyes at Baeil’s profound metaphor, suddenly said.

“Do you know that?”

“….”

“There’s a story that the butterfly in the butterfly effect is a cat. A cat without wings struggled to fly, so all the villagers helped a lot. To put our butterfly on an airplane. While making the airplane, a lot of carbon dioxide was emitted from the village. In the end, that became the typhoon.”

Baeil, who had been listening with his eyes wide open to Jungo’s absurd yet serious story, burst into laughter. Jungo smiled proudly with him, bringing a real smile to his kind face, which had been full of worries and even his smile seemed lonely.

“Yena’s father must be really happy. Because Lee Jungo is a really funny person.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Thank you. Have a good move.”

“Yes. I hope Officer Kwon is always happy wherever he is.”

Jungo blessed Baeil’s future as if saying her last goodbye in her life and left. Baeil watched Jungo disappear for a long time before getting up.

He trudged along. His steps were heavy throughout. Sweat clung to his clothes in the muggy weather.

Arriving at the lonely house where no one was there and even the belongings were nothing special, the things he had experienced outside the house felt even more like a dream.

On the bed, the cell phone, which had been ringing all day and had been put on silent, was quietly doing its job.

– Why aren’t you contacting me?

– I have so many difficult things going on. I feel like I’m going to die. Please come and comfort me.

Baeil frowned briefly at the two text messages, immediately pressed the delete button, opened the refrigerator door, and took out a can of beer.

He also emptied the beer can in one gulp, just like Lee Jungo had done a little while ago. A hot wind came in through the half-open window. Baeil leaned against it.

Outside the window, on the 4th floor of the next building, the living room light turned on and then off, which was captured in his eyes. It seemed like there were sweat droplets on his eyes as well.