A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 157

157. The Miracle Child

Six years ago, on the morning of May 27th.

My water broke three weeks before my due date. Noon [the protagonist] felt like the world was going dark.

I don’t know how I made it to the hospital. If Guk-soon [Noon’s mother] hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I relied solely on my mom to get to the hospital. Guk-soon had packed a bag in advance, so there was no frantic rushing around.

As soon as I got to the hospital, I changed clothes, had a urine test, an antibiotic test, and an internal examination… Time flew by in a blur, and before I knew it, Noon was lying in the delivery room.

They said my cervix wasn’t dilating quickly enough. My water had broken, but the baby wasn’t coming down. I had no choice but to be given a labor-inducing drug, and then my stomach started to hurt little by little. As the intensity increased, Noon became more and more frightened.

“Mom, what am I going to do…?”

“It’s okay. It’s okay. You can do it. It’s okay,” Guk-soon said firmly.

“What am I going to do? What am I going to do…?”

“You haven’t even started labor yet.”

“That’s why, what am I going to do? It already feels like it hurts, even though it hasn’t started…”

“Just think of it as taking a watermelon out of your body.”

“…Mom, is that something you should be saying? I’m scared to death…”

“Thinking of it as taking out a watermelon might make it a little less hard.”

Guk-soon answered nonchalantly and got up. In fact, Guk-soon was also very worried, but she kept pretending to be okay for her daughter, who was already terrified.

She felt sorry for her daughter, who was trembling with chapped lips, so she went to get her some water to at least moisten her lips, but Noon grabbed her.

“Mom, don’t go. Don’t go.”

“Just wait a bit.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to get water.”

“No. Just stay here with me. I think the baby’s coming.”

Because of Noon’s fuss, Guk-soon couldn’t do anything and had to stay put.

I was in labor, but time passed slowly. After a while, Noon got tired of nagging her mom and became quiet. In the meantime, Guk-soon held Noon’s hand tightly and told her about an important decision.

“There’s something called cord blood banking. My friends gave me hundreds of thousands of won because I’m the first to have a grandchild. So I did it. Mom signed it in your name. Is that okay?”

“I don’t know. Do whatever you want, Mom…” Noon answered haphazardly, overwhelmed by intermittent labor pains and fear of what was to come. Undeterred, Guk-soon continued her explanation. She wanted to assure her daughter that her million-won investment was not in vain.

“They used to just throw away the baby’s umbilical cord, but there’s something amazing in it. They can even treat incurable diseases with the blood in it. Leukemia, for example, used to be treated with bone marrow transplants, but now they can do it with the umbilical cord. Isn’t that amazing?”

“Mom, I’m in so much pain…”

“I hope she grows up healthy without any illnesses, but you never know. Our granddaughter doesn’t have any siblings, and if something big happens later, we’ll regret it. So I decided to store it for 15 years. They said I can apply for an extension after 15 years. Did Mom do a good job?”

“Yes. You did a good job, you did a good job…” Noon answered vaguely, sweating profusely. Guk-soon smiled contentedly.

Soon, the intensity of the labor pains increased.

The longest seven hours in the lives of the two mothers and daughters.

Noon met her angel after the birth pangs.

The baby was placed in Noon’s arms as soon as she was born. Guk-soon captured the moment in a photo.

A baby born with a red spot on her forehead. A beautiful baby as if an angel had kissed her.

Noon had been acting like a baby until the baby was born, but it was amazing, admirable, touching, and proud to see her holding the baby as if she had become an adult.

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

The cord blood bank sent a text message every year on Yena’s birthday. Guk-soon had been managing the text messages without telling Noon because a million won was still a lot of money. [A million won is a significant amount, roughly equivalent to $800 USD, highlighting the value Guk-soon placed on this investment.]

Because stored cord blood is much more likely to go unused than used. She was worried that her daughter might scold her.

Of course, it would be great if she lived a healthy life without ever needing it, but it would be rewarding and fortunate if it could help her family like this.

Cord blood use is available to the individual, parents, grandparents, and siblings, so if the human leukocyte antigen [HLA] type matched, Young-mi could also receive a donation.

“That’s what happened, but you don’t even remember, do you?” Guk-soon said, laughing as she brought up the story from six years ago.

“Mom!” Tears welling up in her eyes, Noon hugged Guk-soon’s neck.

“How can my Lee Guk-soon be so wise? You’re the wisest in the world, my mom!” Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss.

“You used to call me a sweet potato.”

“Mom, sweet potatoes are my favorite thing in the world. Everything tastes good with sweet potatoes.” Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss.

“Ew! How gross. Get away from me!”

“I’ll go get Jeong, dear!” Noon, who had kissed Guk-soon on the cheek about ten times, was pushed away by Guk-soon and went to the bedroom, fluttering her arms.

When she opened the bedroom door, she saw Ji-heon [Noon’s husband]. Ji-heon was sitting in a corner of the bedroom with a blank face, looking a little pitiful.

“Honey.”

“Yeah.” Still, he smiled gently when Noon called him.

“Mom has something to say.”

“Did you tell your mother?”

“Yeah. I have to tell her.”

Sigh. With a face even more burdened, Ji-heon got up from his seat. He looked quite solemn and upright. He seemed determined not to give in to any persuasion from Guk-soon, who was an altruist.

“Mother.”

Sure enough. Ji-heon, who was sitting in front of Guk-soon, preempted her before she could even speak.

“Even if Yena insists, there’s nothing we can do. Yena probably doesn’t know how hard it is. To donate, you have to get injections of hematopoietic stem cell growth factor [a substance that stimulates blood cell production] four days before the donation. You have to be hospitalized and have a lot of blood drawn. Yena will probably faint while having her blood drawn. My father wouldn’t want that either.”

Noon secretly sighed at her husband’s words, which he spoke clearly without showing any emotion. It was an eloquence that Noon could be persuaded by.

“Honey, that’s not it,” Noon interjected.

Guk-soon also smiled gently and placed her cell phone in front of Ji-heon. Ji-heon’s head turned down. There was a text message on the cell phone Guk-soon had handed him. It was an old text message.

– ○○ Cord Blood Bank. We sincerely congratulate you on your child’s birthday. The cord blood you entrusted to us is being safely stored.

Ji-heon wondered what this was about and picked up the cell phone without realizing it.

“I never thought this would happen, but I applied for cord blood storage when Yena was born. The cord blood bank sends me a text message like this every year, saying that they are storing it safely.”

“…….”

“We can use this. Yena’s grandmother can also receive a donation. Yena doesn’t have to suffer.”

Even with Guk-soon’s explanation, he couldn’t believe it.

Before Noon called him, Ji-heon had been sitting in the bedroom, lost in thought, feeling a stinging pain in his heart.

I can do anything if it’s something I can do.

Why can’t I donate? My daughter can, but why can’t I?

But there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t bear to see his young daughter, who had to live with a void in her heart because of his mother, suffer again because of his mother.

He thought that the right thing to do was to slowly prepare for the farewell that everyone has, if a donor didn’t appear. That’s what he was trying to convey.

It was a miraculous thing that he had never even thought of.

“…Ah, no, no…” Ji-heon was flustered and stammered, unlike the usual Jeong Ji-heon. Tears welled up in his eyes.

“I, my mother… don’t deserve it…”

What did my mother do to Noon? And what did she do to Yena?

He thought that even if his mother-in-law, Noon, and Yena hated his mother for the rest of their lives, there was nothing he could do.

Guk-soon reached out and placed her hand on Ji-heon’s knee.

“That qualification is that you have the same genotype [genetic makeup] as Yena. Being a grandmother and being able to receive a donation is the qualification.”

“…….”

“Everyone will be proud if it can be used for good. And how happy and proud our Yena will be. Isn’t that right?”

Ji-heon bowed his head like a sinner and couldn’t say anything. Finally, a thick tear fell. Ji-heon quickly covered his face.

Yena, who had declared a break with her father and locked herself in her room, slipped out. Yena’s eyes widened at the situation in the living room. Yena carefully approached Noon on tiptoe and whispered in Noon’s ear.

“Mom, is Dad crying?”

“I guess so.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Is it because our Yena is sulking?” Noon answered playfully.

Yena slipped closer to him and put her arms around Ji-heon’s neck, who was bowing his head.

“Dad, don’t cry. I’ll cancel what I said about not talking to Dad again.”

Ji-heon raised his hand and gently held her small arm.

A jewel-like child.

I want to give you so much, but I’m so sorry that I only receive from you.

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

The next day, Ji-heon and Noon visited Jae-gwang [Young-mi’s husband] and told him that they had Yena’s cord blood stored.

“What should I do with this? What should I do with this…?” Jae-gwang’s reaction was no different from Ji-heon’s.

“No, how can I… how can I receive such a precious thing…?”

“It’s precious. I hope you receive the donation and get well soon.” Noon had to persuade Jae-gwang, who said he was too sorry to receive it. Eventually, Jae-gwang trembled and grabbed Noon’s hand.

“I don’t know how to thank you, Yena, and our in-laws. I’m so sorry, but my gratitude just keeps piling up…”

Noon was rather embarrassed by Jae-gwang’s trembling hand.

It was decided not to tell Young-mi about the cord blood donation for now. It was judged that Young-mi would feel a great burden if she knew in advance. Young-mi would be grateful to know that a donor had appeared.

On the way out of the hospital, Noon shrugged her shoulders and said.

“You made a good decision to marry me, right?” Her voice, raising her chin high and speaking boastfully, sounded lovely to Ji-heon’s ears.

“Right? You made a good decision to meet me, right?”

“Do you think I only think that way at times like this?”

It seemed that his wife still didn’t know how much he loved her.

“I always think so.”

Even if it’s not something like this, you are my salvation and a miracle.

It will be forever.

Ji-heon stopped walking and pulled Noon’s waist.

“Huh? Honey, people will see us.”

“Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“…….”

“Weren’t you telling me to brag about meeting Lee Jeong-o like this?” Noon smiled brightly at the breath tickling near her lips. Ji-heon kissed her deeply, as if he really wanted to brag to the world about meeting Jeong-o.