A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 115

115. Don’t Cry Now

Eun-bi visited her brother’s company again. Even after hearing about Kim Jin-gu’s death, a sense of unease lingered, and she looked around anxiously. The nausea persisted.

She opened Eun-yeop’s office door to find him scowling.

“Is this your playground?”

Eun-yeop snapped, irritably rising from his seat. Seeing his sister, he added a reprimand. “Do you know how hard I worked to arrange that meeting? How could you ruin it like that?”

He was referring to the matchmaking meeting Eun-bi had abruptly left.

“I wasn’t feeling well.”

“You should have taken medicine and endured it. Do you even know what kind of opportunity that was? You can’t meet that person even if you wanted to now.”

“Oppa, Kim Jin-gu is dead.”

Eun-bi, impatient with Eun-yeop’s nagging, blurted out what she had heard from the police.

Eun-yeop’s face, which had been contorted in a scowl, froze. He had seemed ready to lecture for ten minutes, but his voice completely disappeared. Eun-bi found that reaction even more unsettling.

“…Do you know about it too, Oppa?”

“How did you find out?”

“The police called. They said my contact information was in Kim Jin-gu’s notebook, so they contacted me.”

“…”

“I’m scared… You didn’t have anything to do with it, did you?”

“Get out if you’re going to talk nonsense. I have a guest coming.”

“Then answer me. Are you really not involved?”

As Eun-bi asked the question, the door creaked open.

“…Attorney Chae?”

A middle-aged man peeked his head in, looking for Eun-yeop. Eun-yeop’s face, which had been fierce towards Eun-bi, smoothed out. He straightened up respectfully and fastened the button on his suit jacket.

“Welcome, sir.”

Turning her head, Eun-bi was startled. It was the man whose picture had been in the stack of papers her brother had given her. His hair was even whiter than in the picture, though.

“Eun-bi, say hello. This is Ham Dae-geun, CEO of Daegun Industries.”

Eun-yeop’s voice softened.

“…Hello.”

“Mr. Ham, this is my sister, Chae Eun-bi. She’s a very talented copywriter.”

“Oh, is that so?”

The man grinned, revealing several gold teeth. Eun-bi was frightened and couldn’t stay any longer.

“I’ll be going now.”

As Eun-bi fled, Ham Dae-geun watched her with a greedy gaze.

“Your sister is quite a beauty.”

“She takes after me. I’ve been hiding her away because I didn’t want to introduce her to just anyone. You’ll be seeing her again soon, sir. Please take good care of my sister.”

“Haha, I should be the one asking you to take care of me.”

Dae-geun scratched the back of his head awkwardly and looked around. It was his first time visiting a lawyer’s office. The bookshelves were filled not only with law-related books. Dae-geun examined the bottom shelf and asked,

“Are you interested in hypnotism, Attorney Chae?”

“Lawyers have to persuade people. The art of persuasion is essentially the same as hypnotism.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Eun-yeop smiled subtly as he watched Dae-geun nod.

* * * * * * * *

Nine years ago, Eun-yeop heard the news of Jung Ji-heon’s enlistment.

He scoffed inwardly at the thought of that fastidious guy, who was always aloof, never letting anyone get close, suddenly joining the army.

Eun-yeop’s father had suggested enlisting together, but Eun-yeop didn’t want to. Jung Ji-heon was the easiest friend to exploit, but he wasn’t valuable enough to follow into the army.

Besides, Eun-yeop firmly believed that Ji-heon wouldn’t last more than two months in the army and would return.

However, contrary to Eun-yeop’s expectations, Ji-heon did well in the military. He had changed a little after his discharge. Ji-heon had made a new friend.

It was someone Eun-yeop knew too. Park Seung-gyu.

Park Seung-gyu was a high school classmate, and they had even been in the same class once.

Eun-yeop didn’t particularly like Park Seung-gyu. Park Seung-gyu was an ordinary guy from an ordinary family with nothing to boast about. He was a decent student, but not as outstanding as Eun-yeop.

Eun-yeop had always ignored him because he wasn’t lacking in anything, but that guy had latched onto Jung Ji-heon. As high school and college classmates, and as senior and junior soldiers in the army.

Park Seung-gyu had won Ji-heon over so well that Ji-heon showed Park Seung-gyu expressions he had never shown Eun-yeop.

The guy who had always been cold and distant with him would talk to Park Seung-gyu like a real friend and genuinely laugh at his jokes. He had even gone on a solo backpacking trip overseas on Park Seung-gyu’s recommendation.

Eun-yeop regretted not enlisting together as his father had suggested, but it couldn’t be helped. After that, Eun-yeop did his best to win back Ji-heon’s heart and restore their friendship.

He devoured self-help books on relationship skills, how to move people’s hearts, and the art of persuasion and eloquence.

Eun-yeop was truly sincere. Even after passing the bar exam and being incredibly busy, he tried to find out about Ji-heon’s private gatherings and follow him.

One day, he heard that Ji-heon had shown up at a high school reunion.

By the time Eun-yeop arrived at the bar, it was already in full swing. Ji-heon’s face was flushed, as if he had drunk quite a bit, and Seung-gyu was teasing him, with the recording button on his phone camera pressed.

“Jung Ji-heon, what’s going on?”

“Stop it.”

“No, don’t just drink, tell me. Why are you so happy? It’s suspicious.”

“Stop filming.”

Ji-heon kept smiling as he told Seung-gyu, who was pointing the camera at him, to stop.

It was a sight Eun-yeop had never seen, or even imagined. When Eun-yeop had once pointed a camera at him, asking to take a picture together, Ji-heon had frowned and blocked the lens with his hand. But now, Jung Ji-heon was like this.

Eun-yeop snatched Seung-gyu’s phone and pressed the stop recording button.

“Ji-heon told you to stop.”

The atmosphere in the bar briefly turned cold at Eun-yeop’s intervention. Seung-gyu awkwardly took the phone back from Eun-yeop, and Ji-heon chuckled at Seung-gyu. The brief moment was enough to show how close the two had become.

Eun-yeop pushed his way through the other friends and sat down in front of Ji-heon.

“Jung Ji-heon, it’s been so long. Why are you so busy?”

“You’re the busy one. I heard you became a lawyer. Congratulations.”

Ji-heon congratulated Eun-yeop. Following Ji-heon’s words, a congratulatory atmosphere formed here and there.

It was a pleasant situation to show off, but that wasn’t Eun-yeop’s purpose today. Eun-yeop humbly brushed off the congratulations from his unremarkable friends and spoke to Ji-heon.

“I heard you went to Australia. Was it fun?”

“Yeah.”

“You really seem much brighter these days. Do you have a girlfriend or something?”

It was just a conversation starter, but Ji-heon didn’t even give a short answer.

Eun-yeop couldn’t tell if he was hesitating or ignoring his question. Eun-yeop clenched his fist under the table and waited for Ji-heon’s answer.

“No.”

The answer came very late. Eun-yeop nodded immediately and brought up a topic that only the two of them would know.

“Is your father very busy? I heard his business in Vietnam is doing well. My father said he connected him with someone he knew.”

But then, Park Seung-gyu intervened.

“Why are you bringing up things only you know in this atmosphere?”

Seung-gyu put his arm around Ji-heon’s shoulder and looked at Eun-yeop with a sullen expression. He didn’t seem to have any malice, perhaps because he lacked tact, but he had a natural annoyingness.

As time passed, Ji-heon got up first. Seung-gyu said he would see him off to the front of the store and got up with him. Of course, Eun-yeop followed.

Eun-yeop became impatient as Seung-gyu and Ji-heon said goodbye as if nothing had happened and as if they would meet again tomorrow. After Ji-heon left, Eun-yeop sneered at Seung-gyu.

“Life’s good, huh?”

“What are you talking about?”

Seung-gyu retorted.

“Isn’t it obvious? If your junior who came into the military was from a family with nothing, would you have taken care of him like that? You must have had some calculation in mind.”

Seung-gyu stared at Eun-yeop with wide eyes as Eun-yeop pointed it out.

“You met Jung Ji-heon as a junior in the military. You must have saved a country in your past life. You’ve got a big catch.”

“Chae Eun-yeop, do you see friends as catches?”

Seung-gyu asked with eyes reddened from being quite drunk and a blurry gaze.

“I’m not very close to you, so I can’t say anything to Ji-heon, but that kind of attack, that kind of thinking, is really low.”

“…”

“If you’re jealous that I seem close to Ji-heon, I can understand that, but don’t say those things anywhere else. You’ll lose whatever you have left.”

Even though he was so drunk that his emotions could have been heightened, Seung-gyu turned around without raising a hand. And as if nothing had happened, he went back to his seat and laughed with his friends, making childish jokes.

An attitude that wasn’t swayed. Rational yet uncalculated behavior.

He was too good of a friend. A guy who was too upright and bright to be next to Jung Ji-heon.

Jung Ji-heon, that family should be mine, and I already have a 10-year plan in my head to mold and manipulate Jung Ji-heon. Eun-yeop became anxious.

Although he was uneasy, Eun-yeop couldn’t contact Ji-heon often because he was swamped with work. It seemed like Ji-heon was avoiding contact as well.

Several months passed, and then he received a call from his sister, Chae Eun-bi, who was studying in the United States. Eun-bi told him that she had passed the transfer exam to K University, where Ji-heon attended. Eun-yeop was able to regain hope.

His sister had liked Ji-heon since she was young. She must have prepared for the transfer to K University to have contact with Ji-heon.

Eun-yeop provided Eun-bi with a place to stay in Ji-heon’s officetel [a studio apartment often used as both an office and a residence]. And by an unexpected coincidence, Eun-bi witnessed Ji-heon’s accident, leading to a dramatic meeting. It was a good opportunity that could only be described as heaven-sent.

While Ji-heon was unconscious in the VIP room, Eun-bi, Eun-yeop, and Seung-gyu diligently visited the hospital room.

While going back and forth, Eun-yeop carefully observed the brainwave activity monitoring device attached to Ji-heon. By monitoring Ji-heon’s brainwaves, Eun-yeop learned that Ji-heon was in a long sleep.

Suddenly, he remembered something he had seen in a documentary about a con artist.

[Anyone can be hypnotized. Whether it’s self-suggestion, captivating speech, it can all be called hypnotism.]

Eun-yeop devoured papers and devoured professional books. He spied on experts to learn skills and even tried out what he had learned from a woman he met at a bar.

He was surprised himself. He didn’t know hypnotism was so easy. He felt like he could understand the process by which weak people fall into religious or multi-level marketing scams.

Eun-yeop visited Ji-heon’s hospital room every day. In fact, he didn’t have high expectations at first. He approached it with the mindset of trying it out since he had nothing to lose. But as he became more skilled, he began to look forward to the future.

“Ji-heon, I’ll save you.”

In the empty hospital room, Eun-yeop slowly spoke, holding Ji-heon’s hand.

“I’ll heal you. Trust me. You’ll be comfortable now.”

Secretly, whispering in his ear.

“The pain will disappear, and your body will be comfortable.”

Eun-yeop’s heart pounded like crazy every time he felt Ji-heon’s fingertips twitch.

“Erase your memories one by one, starting with the most recent. Like lighting a match and burning your brain. Everything in the place where the match flame has passed will disappear. Memories of traveling, memories of being in the military, memories of meeting new people. Set fire to all those memories… Because they’re memories I don’t need. Because they’re useless memories.”

I may be wasting my time now. But if it works, I might get something amazing.

“Nothing you’ve done has been useful to me. You have to keep repeating it in your mind. You have to burn it all away.”

As Eun-yeop gently sent his voice into Ji-heon’s ear, he suddenly straightened up.

The hospital room door was slightly open.

Why is the door open? I definitely closed it.

Eun-yeop wondered and got up from his seat, closed the door, and returned to his seat.

“…Twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four… All the time has disappeared. Erase all the memories.”

Ji-heon frowned deeply. He was reacting. Eun-yeop’s eyes, shining with a radiance close to madness, gleamed greedily. It felt like he had drunk strong liquor, and the hot blood in his body was flowing quickly.

“Now I’m empty. When I open my eyes, I won’t know anything. I’m just Jung Ji-heon. The comfortable Jung Ji-heon who lives the life his family has set for him.”

His voice trembled because he couldn’t control his joy.

It took quite a bit of effort to speak politely.

“Somewhere around the perfect age to start a new life. A comfortable life with no regrets about what you’ve lost.”

Tears could be seen welling up in Jung Ji-heon’s eyes.

It’s your fault, Jung Ji-heon.

If you had just looked down on me a little less, I wouldn’t have done this.

“Now don’t cry, Ji-heon. I’ll help you.”

Eun-yeop gently dabbed the tears with a tissue.

“So trust me.”