A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 128

128. Toffee Flavor

The next morning.

Ham Dae-geun woke up alone in an unfamiliar house, in an unfamiliar bed.

“Where is this…?”

He blinked and looked around. It wasn’t a hotel, judging by the furniture, nor was it his sponsor’s house. He could hear water running in the bathroom.

“I proposed, and then we drank, but…”

Yesterday, Dae-geun had proposed to Eun-bi. He didn’t want a meaningless relationship, so he’d offered the ring early. Eun-bi had seemed surprised at first but accepted gratefully and put the ring on immediately.

Marrying Eun-bi was beneficial for Dae-geun in many ways. He liked Eun-bi’s appearance and age, but also her family.

In terms of assets, they were probably only 1/100th of his, a relatively poor family, but they had something he didn’t.

Everyone except Eun-bi was a lawyer, and his future father-in-law, Chae Seo-bok, was a remarkable figure being considered for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Marrying into such a family would bring considerable prestige.

Dae-geun felt good about Eun-bi’s acceptance and seemed to have drunk a lot. But he usually didn’t drink to the point of blacking out.

Tilting his head, he reached for his neatly folded clothes on the bedside table when the bathroom door opened and Eun-bi came out.

“You’re awake? You must not be feeling well. Drink some honey water.”

Eun-bi approached Dae-geun with a cup she had placed on the table. Dae-geun took the honey water from Eun-bi and asked, unlike his previous confident attitude, now somewhat foolishly.

“Eun-bi, why am I here…?”

“You said you had to see how your bride lives since we’re getting married. You barged in,” Eun-bi replied with a smile.

At Eun-bi’s smiling reply, Dae-geun groaned and covered his forehead. He felt like he was dying because he couldn’t remember anything.

“I’m sorry. And thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Hurry up and wash and have breakfast. You’re busy today, right?”

“But Eun-bi, I can’t remember what happened yesterday, so can we do it again…?”

“Oh? Just a moment. I got a call from a friend. I need to take this call.”

Eun-bi smoothly avoided Dae-geun’s request.

Everything went according to plan.

She had received a proposal from Ham Dae-geun and succeeded in getting him drunk and bringing him home. Dae-geun also believed that he had spent the night with Eun-bi, so now she just had to wait quietly for time to pass.

*I will get married with everyone’s blessings and have a healthy baby. I can use the excuse of giving birth abroad and leave for America right after the wedding. Then I can get away from this man and live comfortably.*

The thought of surviving somehow made her burn with determination.

It was a strange thing. Once she decided to have the baby, she felt an unknown strength.

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

Seung-gyu spent all night searching through photo folders to find pictures to show Jin-seo.

“This is a picture of Do-bin cutting the umbilical cord, and this is a picture of him after his first bath.”

On the computer monitor, a bright red sweet potato with a grumpy face crying, and a bright red sweet potato that had been washed and had a blank expression, alternated. [The sweet potato is a metaphor for a baby’s red and wrinkled appearance.]

“They both just look like monkeys.”

Jin-seo asked Seung-gyu a perplexing question, just as he was about to reply that he thought they looked a bit like them.

“Look. Doesn’t it seem a little different? Could the baby have been switched in between?”

She thought the pictures before and after the bath looked different. Jin-seo’s expression was very serious.

“Think about it. Maybe he was switched at the hospital. This hospital is huge.”

“…”

“Were you mischievous like Do-bin when you were little? Did you cut your sibling’s hair and sprinkle powdered medicine on sculptures?”

“No. I didn’t. I was very kind and gentle.”

“Right! I wasn’t either! I stopped right when my parents told me not to. My mom said I was easy to raise.”

Doyoon with his bowl-cut hair was laughing gleefully in the distance. Usually, he would have laughed along without knowing why, but now a sigh came out first. No, it felt like tears would come out first.

Regretting the time that could not be turned back, Jin-seo clicked the mouse. Pictures of Do-bin as a newborn passed by one by one. There was definitely a different kind of loveliness than now.

“You took so many pictures…”

Everything was new because it was her first child. She always pointed the camera at the child and wanted to record every moment.

Jin-seo’s hand paused as she blankly scanned the pictures, reminiscing about memories from years ago. Jin-seo urgently called Seung-gyu.

“Honey, look at this.”

“Huh? What is it?”

Seung-gyu, who was massaging Doyoon’s chestnut bangs and chanting ‘Grow hair, grow hair’ like a spell, came over.

“Look at this.”

“A picture of your mother’s store? Why is this?”

On the monitor screen was a picture of Jin-seo’s mother holding Do-bin, who was just over 100 days old. It was taken at the ‘Jinseo Flower Shop’ in the Hwayangdong market, which Jin-seo’s parents ran a long time ago.

“Look outside the store.”

“Oh!”

Seung-gyu, who checked the picture closely, also exclaimed. Jung-oh was seen walking with a baby carrier. The baby Jung-oh was holding was probably Yena.

Since Jinseo Flower Shop and Guksund Baekban [a local restaurant] were close, Jung-oh also passed by that road a lot.

“Dad, why? What are you looking at?”

Do-bin, who was curious about Seung-gyu and Jin-seo’s reaction, also ran over. Seung-gyu picked up Do-bin and pointed to Yena in the monitor screen and asked.

“Do-bin, do you know who this is?”

“I don’t know. Who is it?”

“It’s Yena.”

“Wow.”

Do-bin stared for a long time at the little baby peeking out of Jung-oh’s arms.

“Yena is pretty even when she was a baby!”

If you love, love like Park Do-bin.

Even if Yena showed up with a bowl cut, Do-bin would only see her as pretty.

Seung-gyu and Jin-seo chuckled at Do-bin’s exclamation.

“Mom, let’s find Yena again!”

“Okay. Let’s look.”

Jin-seo readily gave her son her seat, thinking it would be nice to spend the day playing ‘Find Yena’ in old photos. At that moment, the picture changed.

“Uh?”

Jin-seo, who was about to leave the computer, turned her head back towards the monitor screen.

It was the same picture of Jin-seo’s mother holding Do-bin, but the situation outside the store was different. In the place where Jung-oh with the baby carrier had disappeared, there was another face Jin-seo knew.

He wasn’t in a police uniform, but he was easy to recognize because he had a fair and handsome face. It was Sergeant Kwon Bae-il. He was also walking in the direction Jung-oh was going.

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

Guk-soon went shopping with Jung-oh for the first time in a while.

Tomorrow at lunch, her daughter was invited to Jae-gwang’s house. Ji-heon’s half-brother, Jung Ji-tae, would also be there, so Guk-soon was also concerned. She wanted to dress her daughter in pretty clothes.

Guk-soon’s eyes were serious and sharp as she held up a neat blouse to Jung-oh’s clothes. Seeing her mother, Jung-oh pouted and said.

“Mom, you should come too. It would be nice if we went together.”

“What would I do there without the Madam?”

It seemed that Madam Jang Young-mi had gone on a trip. She didn’t know if Jae-gwang had called the children while Young-mi was away, or if Young-mi had left because Jae-gwang was inviting the children.

In fact, there was not much to worry about whether Young-mi was there or not. There was her wise son-in-law Ji-heon, so there would be no big problems. She had no doubt that Ji-heon would solve any problems that arose. Before she knew it, Guk-soon had become reassured by her son-in-law.

“The Madam raised her son really well.”

Her infinite affection for Ji-heon shifted to praise for the Madam.

“For that alone, I’m actually grateful to the Madam.”

“Mom.”

Jung-oh, who knew well what kind of person Jang Young-mi was, could not agree with Guk-soon’s assessment. But she respected her mother’s character, who tried to see the good in people.

*Will I ever have the generosity to forgive and embrace the person I resented, like my mother?*

“If I wasn’t your daughter, I would have resented and hated Ji-heon’s mother much more than I do now.”

The relationship between mother and daughter is fate. Her mother had the biggest impact on her life. When her mother goes ahead, she thinks that path is the right one.

“I will never have the same heart as my mother, but I hope I can be the same kind of person to Yena as my mother is to me.”

Jung-oh sighed and smiled.

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

And time passed quickly, and it was the next day.

Yena in a white dress and Jung-oh in a beige blouse looked very much alike. Guk-soon did not forget to give her words of advice as she smoothed Jung-oh’s clothes.

“Don’t be intimidated, don’t get indigestion, and eat well.”

“Okay. I’ll be back.”

Jung-oh said goodbye to Guk-soon and left the house with Ji-heon and Yena.

After the car started and a long time passed, Ji-heon didn’t say anything. Jung-oh, who was teaching Yena how to greet and singing songs together, turned her head and asked playfully, looking at Ji-heon.

“Oppa [term used to address an older brother or male friend], are you nervous right now?”

“No.”

“You seem nervous?”

“…”

“You said you’re meeting your brother for the first time in a year? Is it because you have an uncomfortable relationship?”

“No. It’s not that.”

Even as he answered no, Ji-heon’s expression did not ease.

But after a while, Ji-heon spoke again.

“There’s no such thing as harmony in our family as you think. Especially if my brother comes, the meal will be all about work.”

“…”

“So, I hope you won’t be too upset.”

In some ways, he was nervous. He was also ashamed of his family’s lack of human qualities.

Hoping that today would go well, Ji-heon quietly drove the car.

While passing through the large gate and reaching the building, Yena’s mouth dropped open as she looked out the window. The fountain she had only seen in the park was inside the house! It wasn’t an apartment, but there was a garden!

“Did Dad live here too?”

“I did.”

“Until what age did you live here?”

“Nineteen.”

“Wow!”

“Do you like it? Do you like the house?”

“Yes! It’s like a palace.”

With Yena’s exclamation, the car stopped in front of a palace-like two-story house. Jae-gwang was waiting in front of the building.

“Welcome!”

Jae-gwang did not hide his welcoming expression. Ji-heon realized for the first time that his father knew how to make such an expression.

“Yena!”

Yena greeted Jae-gwang, who called her name first, smartly.

“Hello, Grandpa. I’m Jung Yena.”

“Yes! I’m your grandfather, Jung Jae-gwang!”

As he had done when they met before, Jae-gwang knelt down in front of Yena to make eye contact and spoke. After Jae-gwang got up, Jung-oh also greeted.

“Hello. Father.”

“Yes, yes! You came. Let’s go in quickly.”

Ji-heon, who had opened his mouth to greet following Jung-oh, hesitated and missed the opportunity to greet. Jung-oh noticed this and smiled a little.

The four people who entered the house passed through a long hallway and moved to the dining room. He had guessed to some extent because of what Ji-heon had told him before, but it was still an amazing scale of house.

*I dated Jung Ji-heon because I didn’t know about him; if I had known, I wouldn’t have started.*

She would have thought he was from a completely different world.

Suddenly, it felt new that he was next to her. Her shoulders stiffened with tension. While various thoughts flowed through her head, her steps reached the dining room.

When the four people sat down, an employee poured water for them. It felt awkward to be able to have a restaurant-like meal inside the house.

“Where’s Hyung [term used to address an older brother or male friend]?”

“He should be here soon. Call him.”

“If he’s supposed to be here, he’ll come.”

While Ji-heon and Jae-gwang were talking, Yena spoke to Jung-oh.

“Mom, the water tastes strange.”

“…”

“The water tastes like toffee.”

Jung-oh was listening intently to Ji-heon and Jae-gwang’s conversation and didn’t hear Yena’s words. Yena raised her voice.

“Mom! I said the water tastes like toffee!”

Jung-oh was startled by the voice.

“Yena.”

Jung-oh gave a stern warning, Yena frowned unhappily, and Jae-gwang belatedly understood and laughed heartily.

“Yes, that’s right! The barley tea tastes like toffee.”

Jae-gwang’s face, which had been expressionless while talking with Ji-heon, quickly brightened.

“The ingredient of toffee is barley. Toffee is made with malt, and malt comes from barley.”

Jae-gwang told Yena the truth about the taste of the water in detail.

“I heard she’s very smart, and she even has perfect pitch! As expected, she’s the granddaughter of Jung Jae-gwang of Saeryun Foods!”

Jae-gwang seemed like he would laugh heartily and give meaning even if Yena was just babbling nonsense.