A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 138

138. A Fool Who Only Knows You

There are people you dislike just by looking at their face.

Eunbi actually disliked Jung-oh from the moment she first saw her.

A classmate who was similar in height, build, and even entrance exam scores.

“I think Lee Jung-oh and Eunbi are the prettiest in our class.”

In the social circles she frequented, Eunbi was often compared to Jung-oh.

“No way, Jung-oh is much prettier than me.”

Eunbi was disappointed with her friends who evaluated her and Lee Jung-oh as equals, but she smiled and feigned humility. Shouldn’t they say, ‘No, you’re prettier’ when she said that? Eunbi’s friends closed their mouths, as if that was the expected response.

Then one day, Eunbi saw Jung-oh talking happily with a cafeteria lady.

“Jung-oh gets along well with the cafeteria lady too?”

“That’s her mom. Didn’t you know?”

A friend replied to Eunbi’s casual remark. Eunbi was shocked.

How can she have such a bright expression when her mom works in the cafeteria? Isn’t she ashamed?

“The kids say Lee Jung-oh lives with her mom. It seems like she doesn’t have a dad.”

“…….”

“But she has a really good personality. I thought Jung-oh was a rich girl like you.”

Eunbi was annoyed by her friend’s comment, but she couldn’t say anything.

After that, Eunbi began to watch Lee Jung-oh more closely.

Lee Jung-oh never seemed intimidated. When she ran into her mom and other friends asked about it, Jung-oh introduced her friends to her mom with a bright face.

That her family was dirt poor, that she was born without a father, that her mom worked in the cafeteria kitchen—none of those facts could bring her down.

A child who isn’t intimidated. A child who is navigating this fierce school life so smoothly. A child who makes friends so easily, while Eunbi struggles to maintain her friendships.

In fact, she didn’t like the way that child smiled and walked around. She just didn’t like her.

Lee Jung-oh, who had been a thorn in her side throughout her school days.

She thought she would never see her again, but she met her again at the company ten years later. As a copywriter in the same team, right next to her.

Lee Jung-oh was the same as she was ten years ago. She radiated a sense of being loved and well-raised, and so she was loved even more. Even though she had become a single mother in the meantime, she wasn’t intimidated. That grated on Eunbi’s nerves. On the one hand, she felt impatient.

*I need you to be a worse person for me to hate you.*

She felt wronged because Jung-oh wasn’t, and she was miserable because she couldn’t resolve that feeling of being wronged.

She was always the one who struggled and became unhappy, unable to find satisfaction.

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

“Talk to me. I can only help you if you talk to me.”

Eunbi’s eyes wavered at Jung-oh’s firm voice.

*Why are you so serious about my problems? How can you be so serious, as if you can really help?*

*What have I ever done to you? Don’t you even hate me?*

She wanted to ask sincerely, but Eunbi hid her feelings and scoffed.

“Are you crazy? Why would I trust you enough to tell you my story?”

In the end, Jung-oh couldn’t press her any further and turned away. Eunbi reached out to Jung-oh as she walked away, but then lowered her hand. After realizing that Jung-oh wasn’t leaving her but was just going to the bathroom, she unconsciously sighed in relief.

After moving from the emergency room to a general ward, Eunbi pondered how to live.

Everyone must be waiting for the news that Eunbi had a successful surgery. She couldn’t just ignore Dae-geun’s pressure. If she displeased Ham Dae-geun, it could affect her father.

She had to avoid causing trouble until her father became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Her family needed Ham Dae-geun. But she couldn’t marry Ham Dae-geun.

*Then, let’s just hold on for a few days. Until her father’s confirmation hearing is over.*

As she was thinking about this and that, she heard a voice from outside the hospital room.

“Oh? Mom, why did you come all the way here?”

“I was worried, so I came.”

Eunbi quickly guessed who was talking to Jung-oh. Jung-oh’s mother, Ms. Lee Guk-soon, had even come to the hospital.

“What’s there to worry about a grown-up daughter?”

“How’s your friend doing?”

“Yeah. I think she’s okay.”

“You both haven’t had dinner, have you? Take this in and eat it.”

Eunbi was appalled. It seemed like Ms. Lee Guk-soon had even packed a lunch box.

“What about you, Mom?”

“I ate something already.”

“Mom, can you put it down? I’ll go buy some water. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, Mom, it’s like you had foresight. I ended up running because Chae Eunbi collapsed, but I didn’t fall because my shoes were comfortable.”

“See? But don’t run around. Always be careful.”

The conversation stopped and the door opened.

Eunbi immediately lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and pretended to be asleep. Guk-soon carefully approached Eunbi, raised the table attached to the bed, and lined up the food she had brought. Eunbi finally opened her eyes, wondering what she was doing in someone else’s hospital room.

Guk-soon noticed this and spoke to her.

“Are you awake? You should eat dinner.”

“I guess you came because you were worried I might harm Jung-oh?”

Eunbi retorted sharply. Guk-soon smiled as if acknowledging Eunbi’s sarcasm, half as an excuse.

“I just… I came to see if you had eaten.”

“…….”

“That’s how I am. It’s because I only have one daughter. I’m sorry.”

In fact, the reason Guk-soon followed her daughter so closely was also because of Eunbi. Thirteen years ago, Guk-soon lost her job in Seoul and went to Gunsan because of what happened with Eunbi. A mother’s feelings as she leaves her studying daughter alone to earn money cannot be expressed in words.

She was proud of her daughter for working hard and doing well on her own, but she was also worried about small things.

One day, her daughter was depressed because she didn’t bring her performance evaluation assignment and received a deduction. Her heart ached all day that day. *I could have brought it to her, if only I lived in Seoul, my daughter wouldn’t have received a deduction,* she kept blaming herself.

Every rainy day, every snowy day, she kept worrying about whether her child had taken an umbrella, whether she had been rained on, and she was anxious about whether her child was sick.

Perhaps it had become a habit to worry like that, even after they started living together, she was restless whenever something happened to her daughter. Perhaps she was relieving the regret of not being able to do enough for her daughter as a mother back then by running around like this.

She once resented Eunbi for separating the mother and daughter like this, but seeing her lying sick like this, she felt sorry for her again.

“When you live alone, you have to eat well. Make sure to eat well.”

Guk-soon just laid out the lunch box and left the hospital room right away.

Eunbi bit her lower lip tightly with a resentful expression.

She had been feeling nauseous all along. But looking at those lunch boxes, she felt strangely hungry. Eunbi clenched her fist, vowing never to eat them. Even more embarrassingly, tears fell in drops on her fist.

She realized one bitter truth.

*I can never beat Lee Jung-oh.*

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

Jinseo came home after a long time, even bringing Yena. It goes without saying that Dobin’s tension increased even more.

Because they were just laughing and running around too much, Jinseo rummaged through her memories and nagged.

“Park Dobin, you said you would read a book together if I let you invite Yena.”

“Yes! I know!”

Dobin picked up a children’s proverb book that was lying around in the living room with a raised voice, flipped through a few pages, and came into the busy kitchen.

“Mom, is it bean rice again today?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Then can you give me just one bean here?”

Dobin held out a bowl. Jinseo opened the rice cooker and put a few beans on the bowl, asking.

“What are you going to do with the beans?”

“I only need one. I have to divide it in half. They say you have to share even one bean.”

It seemed like he had found a proverb in the book. Jinseo scolded Dobin.

“How are you going to divide this? Don’t even think about dividing something like this. You’ll hurt your hand.”

“That’s what it says in the book? ‘Share even one bean’.”

“That’s just what they say.”

“Then isn’t ‘You’ll hurt your hand if you try to share even one bean’ the right thing to say?”

Yena approached and giggled at Dobin’s reply. Yena flipped through another page of the book next to Dobin and asked Jinseo.

“Auntie, what’s a blank sheet of paper?”

“It means a blank sheet of white paper.”

Dobin also read the book and asked.

“Mom, what does ‘lift together’ mean?”

“It means to lift something from both sides.”

As soon as Jinseo answered, Dobin and Yena disappeared into the next room. After a while, the two children came out again, waddling as they actually lifted a sheet of paper together. In the end, the thin paper tore.

“Mom, it’s weird. The blank sheet of paper tears when you lift it together? Isn’t it better to lift it alone?”

……Dobin is supposed to become smarter by following Yena, but it looks like Yena is becoming a fool by following Dobin.

Dobin flipped through another page of the book and tilted his head.

“Mom, and this is weird too. How do you tap on a stone bridge before crossing it? You have to get out of the car to tap on a stone bridge, and then there will be an accident.”

“…….”

“You’ll get into an accident if you tap on a stone bridge before crossing it. That’s the right thing to say, right?”

“…….”

“Mom. Who made up the proverbs?”

“People from the old days.”

“People from the old days weren’t very smart. Right, Yena?”

“Yeah. We’re smarter.”

Yena, who had been assimilated by Dobin, said brightly. Jinseo felt sorry for Yena for no reason.

“Yena.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“Just. Auntie is sorry.”

*I’m sorry that our Dobin is a fool.*

*I’m sorry that he’s a fool who only knows you.*

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

The situation that started in the morning was only getting bigger and more out of control. Eventually, there were growing calls online for a boycott of Seryun Foods.

There were many strange things. The fact that the incidents suddenly broke out simultaneously after Jiheon’s marriage announcement, and the fact that the reporters who wrote the first news articles could not be reached, were unsettling.

The fact that calls for a boycott were spreading through comments from overseas IPs [Internet Protocol addresses, indicating the location of the commenter] was also suspicious. The identity and whereabouts of the writer of the post exposing the unsanitary conditions of the Seryun Foods factory, and even the former employee of the Seryun Foods factory, were unknown.

It could be a number of people, but as time went on, Jiheon thought that it might be one person drawing a big picture, or the same group.

But he wasn’t sure if it was Chae Eunyeop. Right now, Chae Eunyeop was also in an important period, so he would have no choice but to lie low.

“There’s a flow to it. It’s like someone is building up a number of incidents and then detonating them one by one to see the reaction.”

When Jiheon gave his opinion, his brother Jitae nodded as if he had also felt the same suspicion.

“It could be the work of a rival company or a personal grudge. I’ll look into it too, so you should also look into it. A guy who has money, time, and even the ability to use people. There’s a possibility that such a guy started it.”

“Okay. I’ll go home for now. I didn’t see my daughter’s face last night either.”

Jitae blinked at Jiheon’s notification that he was going home in the midst of a serious situation, then chuckled as if he couldn’t stop him.

After receiving a call that Jung-oh and Guk-soon had not yet returned home, Jiheon went to Dobin’s house to pick up Yena.

Because Yena hadn’t finished eating yet, Jiheon waited for Yena and played Go-Stop [a Korean card game] with Dobin. Jiheon suddenly thought that Dobin, who was putting his heart and soul into Go-Stop, was cute and asked Dobin.

“What do you want to be when you grow up, Dobin?”

“Yena’s husband.”

It was a question without any ulterior motives, but Jiheon’s chest ached for some reason at Dobin’s answer without a moment’s hesitation.

“Dobin’s dream is to be Yena’s husband?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t there anything else you want to be?”

“No.”

“You don’t have to have one yet, but shouldn’t you have something else someday?”

“My mom says the most important thing in the world is love.”

“…….”

“So Dobin’s dream is to be Yena’s husband.”

*He really is a lover of the century.*

He didn’t like it very much before, and it still stings a little now, but as Jung-oh said, it was a good thing that there was someone other than himself who loved his child. His heart was becoming a little more generous.

The most important thing in the world is love……

As he repeated Dobin’s words, Jiheon’s eyes suddenly lit up.

That’s right. Why didn’t he think of that?

A person who has a lot of money and a lot of time. A person who can have malice towards him.

A person who can go crazy because of a woman.

A person in love.

Jiheon remembered what he had heard in passing from an employee of Production Team 1 at the company a few days ago. He heard that Chae Eunbi, who had quit the company crying and screaming, was soon engaged to someone.

*Who was it. It was an uncommon surname……*

Jiheon quickly took out his cell phone and pressed this and that, and his hand stopped at a person search window.

Ham Dae-geun.

He was the perfect person to fit Jiheon and Jitae’s predictions.