A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 112

112. Concerns I’ve Never Had

Seven years ago.

Jiheon’s body, which had been damaged in the car accident, was slowly recovering.

While Jiheon was in the hospital, people outside were busy moving around. Even so, Seunggyu, Eunbi, and Eunyeop often visited the hospital room.

Jiheon didn’t know how close he had been with Eunyeop, which was frustrating, but since he knew Eunyeop’s family, he didn’t stop the siblings from visiting.

“My mother asked me to help make sure that Kim Jingu spends the rest of his life in prison.”

Eunyeop occasionally brought news of Kim Jingu, the hit-and-run driver. That year, Youngmi often asked Eunyeop, who had become a lawyer, for help. Eunyeop was quite affable, so he seemed to be maintaining a good relationship by catering to Youngmi’s feelings.

However, Jiheon didn’t have any particular thoughts about the hit-and-run accident. He thought that if a person was punished as much as they had done wrong, it would be fine, and he was worried that acting too viciously would only damage his father’s reputation in business.

“But it’s difficult to get a heavy sentence for a simple drunk driving hit-and-run. At best, it’s a fine or a few months in prison.”

“…….”

“If you had died, he would have gotten more than five years, but you’re recovering so well.”

Eunyeop made a joke-like comment, chuckled, and then flinched. He realized that Jiheon’s expression had turned cold.

“Don’t worry. I’ll still get him at least a year. He’s a very bad guy. He’s stubbornly denying it even though the evidence is so clear.”

Eunyeop finished the conversation, watching Jiheon’s reaction.

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

He went to bed early, but couldn’t fall asleep. Jiheon recalled his conversation with Eunyeop seven years ago and was lost in thought again.

Until now, Jiheon had never met Kim Jingu. He wasn’t even called to the trial. Because he had lost his memory and couldn’t make any statements, he only heard news of what happened to Kim Jingu from afar and didn’t know anything about him.

He only knew what Kim Jingu looked like through photos. In fact, he had forgotten about Kim Jingu for several years.

The fact that Kim Jingu, who was a forgotten existence to him, still harbored resentment towards Chae Eunbi bothered him.

If there was anything unfair, there must have been an excessive investigation. And since Eunyeop would have fully cooperated with that investigation, there might have been something illegal.

Chae Eunyeop was capable of that. Since Youngmi would have hated Kim Jingu, Chae Eunyeop would have tried hard to please Youngmi.

He also wanted to meet Kim Jingu once. He wanted to know what he was so dissatisfied with.

However, if it wasn’t just unfairness, but if he contacted Chae Eunbi with the purpose of extorting money using their bad relationship as an excuse, Jiheon thought it would be better not to get involved at all. So it was difficult to decide.

‘Anyway, I should at least find out where Kim Jingu is currently staying.’

Jiheon decided that he should use someone to find out where Kim Jingu was currently living and went to sleep late.

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

The next day.

Jeong-oh’s cell phone had been vibrating every 30 minutes since morning.

– The marriage registration hasn’t been processed yet.

– Did you get a notification text from the district office? Let me know if you do.

– I still haven’t gotten a notification. What’s the problem?

– Is the district office usually this slow? Should I go back?

Jeong-oh thought that if she didn’t tell him properly, Jiheon would keep bothering her with text messages, so she sent a reply.

– You saw how crowded the district office was. How busy do you think they are? Just wait a bit.

– How much is a bit?

As soon as Jeong-oh sent the reply, a reply came back immediately.

Jeong Jiheon. Why don’t you do your work this passionately?

Jeong-oh was worried about the future because the person who would soon be her husband had no public integrity and only private persistence.

– You have to wait a day or two. Koreans all wait, so you should wait with an open mind too.

The moment she sent the reply, it vibrated again. Jeong-oh, grumbling that her boss was bothering her too much instead of doing the work she was supposed to do, got up and stared at her cell phone.

– The family relationship registration report (marriage) you requested has been processed.

Was it because Jiheon was nagging so much that she was also anxious? It was a natural step to get a notification that the marriage registration had been processed, but what was this, her heart fluttered at one businesslike sentence that had no emotion in it.

She and Jeong Jiheon had become a married couple.

Jeong-oh recalled December 31st, seven years ago. The day she boarded the train to Gunsan alone. A close-knit family with a daughter sat right next to her.

Jeong-oh felt depressed watching them laugh and chat about trivial things. She cried a lot inside. Thinking that she would never be able to have such a family.

It was so cold back then. It felt like winter would never end, but before she knew it, a child was born, she regained happiness, and after a few years, she formed a close-knit family.

To be honest, she was happier that Yena had a father, but that didn’t mean that the joy of becoming a married couple with Jiheon was pushed aside.

Just one text message arrived, and nothing in the world would change, but it felt like a strong pillar was being built over her head.

She turned her head slightly. Jiheon was already out in the hallway. He made eye contact with her from afar.

The director, who always wore a cold and indifferent expression like a trademark, had a slight blush on his face. People who didn’t know him wouldn’t know, but people who did know him could easily guess that he was full of joy.

Jeong-oh glared at him, thinking that he was about to approach her without noticing. Jiheon, who was prevented from approaching, walked to the end of the hallway. Now that the thing he was worried about was resolved, he seemed to be trying to do his job properly.

After a while, Deputy Go Eunju, who had returned to her seat after going to a meeting, leaned over to Jeong-oh’s side and offered her congratulations in a low voice.

“Deputy Lee Jeong-oh. Congratulations.”

“Yes?”

“I heard you registered your marriage.”

“Oh? How did you know…….”

“I heard it from the director.”

“…….”

“It seems like he’s telling everyone he knows.”

Of course. That’s Jeong Jiheon for you.

He wasn’t going to work, he was going around bragging about this news.

The fact that he had told even Deputy Go Eunju, who wasn’t very close to him, meant that Jeong Jiheon was really determined.

Shortly after, Gihun came to her seat and offered similar greetings.

“Deputy, congratulations.”

“Did he tell Song Gihun too?”

“Who told you first? I thought I was the first to congratulate you.”

Jeong-oh quietly pointed to Deputy Go Eunju’s seat. Gihun smiled and nodded, then delivered the epilogue.

“When I said I was going to give you a congratulatory bouquet, the director told me to give it to him. He said he’ll take care of you, so I don’t have to worry about it.”

“…….”

“I got the flowers taken away by the director. I wanted to give them to you.”

There was a look of resignation on Gihun’s face as he showed the ordered bouquet.

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

Even after the marriage registration, the two people’s lives were not much different. Jiheon went to Jeong-oh’s house every morning and evening to spend time with Yena, and occasionally visited the new house to check if the interior was going well.

These were busy days for his body, but his heart was very peaceful.

Yena also spent busy days in her own way. The Go tournament was approaching. The Go academy teacher said she would send her for the experience, but Yena’s world expanded greatly as she practiced Go.

Now, Yena was able to compete with the second-grade elementary school student who was participating in the Go tournament with her.

Jiheon also became more and more thoughtful. Jiheon couldn’t even guess Yena’s potential. He was in a position to play Go at Yena’s level now, but someday there would come a time when he would have no choice but to lose to Yena.

Professional Go players have their prime, and that prime is trending towards younger and younger ages. Now, professional Go is dominated by players in their early 20s. That means everyone starts very young.

Children who dream of becoming professional Go players sit at the table and place stones on the Go board according to the set rules, even during the turbulent times of their lives.

They learn loneliness faster than others, and they become adults faster than others. While their inner selves mature, they sometimes don’t enjoy the ordinary things that their peers enjoy, the childishness.

Will Yena choose that kind of life? Will she say she wants to be a Go player someday?

Yena. Dad doesn’t want you to become an adult too quickly.

“Yena, why do you like Go?”

“Just because.”

He lowered his voice as much as possible and asked seriously, but the child’s answer had no weight. But it was the purest answer. There is no real reason why someone likes something. It’s just that they’re drawn to it.

“It’s just fun.”

“Will it be fun even if you lose in the tournament?”

“I don’t know. I’ll tell you if I lose.”

Yena’s determined voice was like kneading Jiheon’s heart like dough. Jiheon smiled, putting aside his worries for a moment at the child’s simplicity of thinking about things when they happen.

Suddenly, he was amazed that he was pondering so deeply about a problem that he had never even thought about just a few months ago.

He never knew that a life that was empty and devoid of anything precious could be filled with so much vitality. There could be days when worries about the future and concerns about life felt warm.

Anyway, there seems to be no need to rush about Yena’s future from now on. Yena will do well no matter what she chooses or when she starts.

Vrrr.

The smile that had lasted for a long time while looking at the child faded. Jiheon’s cell phone vibrated briefly. Jiheon took out his cell phone and checked the text message, and his pupils widened.

– Kim Jingu has died.

Jiheon had been secretly watching Kim Jingu’s whereabouts by hiring someone. He had told them to approach him carefully because he wanted to meet Kim Jingu, but the counselor gave him unexpected news.

Jiheon immediately went outside and called the counselor. The counselor answered the phone right away.

[Yes. Customer.]

“I checked the text message you sent me and called you. What happened?”

[Kim Jingu stayed in Pohang and then went to Gyeonggi Province. I heard the news late in the process of re-identifying his whereabouts. He died at dawn.]

“……What was the cause of death?”

[It seems he drank alcohol at a fishing site and fell to his death.]

“Are you sure?”

[I heard it through the police.]

To think he would leave the world so futilely.

After hanging up the phone, Jiheon searched for recent accidents on his cell phone. There was an article about a man in his 30s being found dead in a reservoir in Gyeonggi Province. Rather than feeling relieved that Kim Jingu, who had been feeling uneasy, had passed away, he felt complicated.

With a hollow heart, he opened the email inbox he had exchanged with the counselor. His personal email account, which he had checked in three days, also had quite a bit of spam. In the middle of the spam, he saw a familiar name.

‘Kim Jingu’.

The sender’s name was Kim Jingu. And the title of the email he sent was ‘Jeong Jiheon’.

Jiheon opened the email with a nervous heart. There was only one sentence in the email.

– Did you think I wouldn’t know you were tracking me by hiring people?

Above the email, which was filled with intense emotion, there was an attachment. It was a 3-second video. It was a picture of a black car moving, taken secretly.

The date of dispatch was July 26th at 7 PM.

The estimated time of Kim Jingu’s death was July 27th at 1 AM.

Jiheon suddenly thought that Kim Jingu might not have fallen to his death.