A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 150

Eun-yeop Chae’s scandal, the charges of attempted murder and solicitation of murder, dominated the news, so Youngmi couldn’t help but hear about it.

The attempted murder charge concerned her son, Jihun. She learned that Eun-yeop Chae had tried to kill Jihun, causing a car accident.

Her son had almost died, and she desperately wanted to check on him, to hear his voice, but she couldn’t reach him.

Fortunately, her husband occasionally relayed news about their son. She heard that he was uninjured and continuing his work life without issue.

“But the person who stopped Jihun’s accident was badly hurt. Gwon Bae-il, apparently an old friend of Jihun’s from childhood.”

“…His name was… what?”

“Gwon Bae-il. I think they were friends in elementary school? Why? Does the name sound familiar?”

At Jae-gwang’s question, Youngmi’s heart pounded.

Youngmi frantically searched through old records, convinced she had made a note somewhere in her notebook…

‘Ah…….’

In an old notebook, Youngmi found the names Yoo Soo-il and Gwon Bae-il.

Yoo Soo-il. A child who had hung around Jihun when he was nine and attending the chess prodigy class. She hadn’t liked the boy and had called his mother, asking her to keep their sons apart.

The boy’s mother had told Soo-il exactly what she had said, and Soo-il had told Jihun. Jihun had been furious. Youngmi couldn’t help but be angry as well.

Youngmi had gone to the restaurant where Yoo Soo-il’s mother worked and harassed her. She had colluded with the restaurant owner and had her fired. After that, Yoo Soo-il’s mother had gotten a job at a nearby restaurant but hadn’t stayed long and soon moved to the countryside.

She had been relieved that she had successfully separated her son from Yoo Soo-il, but she had also felt uneasy. The look on the boy’s mother’s face at the end had lingered in her mind for a long time. About a year later, Youngmi had inquired about Yoo Soo-il.

A significant event had happened to Yoo Soo-il in the meantime. The boy’s mother had passed away from an illness, and the boy had been adopted by his aunt and changed his name.

That name was Gwon Bae-il.

Youngmi’s hand, holding the notebook, trembled.

Why had Gwon Bae-il stepped forward to save Jihun?

Her head throbbed, and a drop of blood fell on the name Gwon Bae-il. Youngmi quickly blocked her nose with a tissue.

She had a nosebleed at least once a day, and they were hard to stop.

*I think I’m going to die…….*

Even in the midst of that, she was a mother who worried about her son’s safety.

*Will Jihun be okay?*

* * * * * * * *

Jihun, upon entering the hospital room, stared blankly at Jeong-oh, who was standing close to Bae-il.

“What are you doing?”

Jeong-oh was dumbfounded by Jihun’s narrowed eyes.

*Seriously, he comes to see a friend who was in a car accident, and he acts like he’s catching his wife cheating.*

“No… I was just wondering if he couldn’t speak. I was wondering if he couldn’t make a sound…”

“Bae-il. Are you okay?”

Jihun, ignoring Jeong-oh’s reply, asked Bae-il.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

Bae-il spoke for the first time. This time, Jeong-oh’s mouth dropped open at Bae-il’s reaction.

“He can talk?”

“No, he didn’t say a word earlier.”

“You must have scared him.”

“Ha, geez. Haa, geez. Haaa…….”

Jeong-oh felt like Bae-il and Jihun were conspiring to make fun of him, and he was annoyed, but he couldn’t get angry at the injured person. Jeong-oh gave them space to talk.

After Jeong-oh left, Jihun spoke after a long silence.

“The surgery went well, they said… How do you feel?”

“Not bad.”

“Okay. That’s good.”

Jihun sat in the seat where Jeong-oh had been sitting. When their eyes met, Bae-il turned his head as if embarrassed.

“It’s your fault.”

“…….”

“You should have valued yourself more.”

*So you’re starting by scolding me too.*

Jihun’s way of speaking was the same as Jeong-oh’s. Bae-il ended up laughing again. Jihun, unaware that Bae-il was laughing, continued to speak.

“If something had happened to you, it would have been much more painful than seven years ago. Because I remember everything this time.”

*I see.*

*If I had died, you would have been more hurt.*

The friend was scolding him, assuming that something had gone wrong with him, but for some reason, Bae-il liked hearing those words. The fact that there was someone who could be in pain because of his well-being, that there was someone who thought it was fortunate that he was alive, was somehow appreciated.

“I didn’t know my mother had done such a thing. I didn’t know such a thing had happened to you even more.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry. Really.”

“It’s okay.”

He heard Jihun’s apology once again. This time, Bae-il shook his head. Now he, too, could admit his past mistakes.

He could correct the past.

“I was too young. I had to blame someone to survive.”

*Even after you and I broke up, many things happened, and I thought of you in all those causal relationships. Because I thought that’s how I could endure it.*

*Hate is power.*

Perhaps that hatred had kept him alive until now. So maybe it was Jeong Jihun, Jeong Jihun’s mother, who had saved him.

“I chose you because I needed someone to hate.”

Jihun frowned because his heart ached at Bae-il’s answer. He didn’t know how to face someone who admitted his mistakes without even the slightest defense of himself.

“The police say they will handle it according to the principles. …You may not be able to continue working as a police officer.”

After a long time, Jihun spoke again.

“But I’ll do everything I can. I’ve already told them. That I don’t want punishment.”

“…….”

“However, it’s not just me, but also Kim Jingu who is involved, so I don’t know what the outcome will be.”

“You don’t have to try so hard.”

Bae-il replied as if he had already resigned himself to it. Jihun felt even more sorry for him at that sight.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to scold him for speaking as if he had given up on everything, his cell phone rang. It was the lawyer he had hired to resolve Bae-il’s case. Inevitably, Jihun got up from his seat.

“I’ll be back after a quick call.”

After Jihun left the hospital room, a little later, the door opened slightly and Jeong-oh came in again. Bae-il found it amusing that the couple took turns showing up as if they were working part-time.

“…You can talk?”

He already thought it was funny, but at Jeong-oh’s taunt, Bae-il finally burst out laughing.

“No, you can’t laugh! Your stitches will come loose!”

Jeong-oh urgently stopped Bae-il.

In just a few minutes of facing her, he could see why Jeong Jihun had changed so much.

Bae-il first confessed the incident that needed to be corrected.

“There was no meaning in wearing that hat on Monday. I just wore it as I grabbed it, but I only realized it after Lee Jeong-oh told me.”

“Good heavens!”

Jeong-oh flared her nostrils as if she was dumbfounded when Bae-il admitted his mistake. Bae-il couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He also realized that everyone can make mistakes.

The fact that Jihun hadn’t recognized him at that flower shop seven years ago wasn’t because Jihun had completely forgotten him.

He was endlessly ashamed when he thought of the tragedy caused by misunderstanding.

*Fate, ill-fated relationship, I could have changed it.*

*If I had reached out to Jeong Jihun first at that flower shop.*

*If I had congratulated him on his engagement and said, ‘Let’s meet again sometime and play a game of Go [a strategic board game] like when we were kids.’*

“I’m sorry.”

Bae-il apologized again for his past mistakes. Jeong-oh’s words were all correct.

He judged everything unilaterally. His world was dark, and he couldn’t see ahead.

“I judged Lee Jeong-oh’s happiness by my standards.”

*But in the end, you broke free from the framework I had planned and found yours. So wonderfully.*

*Without succumbing to any bad luck…….*

“Now, the flowers…….”

Bae-il hesitated and immediately closed his mouth when he tried to ask one thing.

“Living seems to be suffering. …If only suffering is piled on top of suffering, everything will collapse, but sometimes stars twinkle and flower rain falls on someone’s head. …So I can’t give up.”

Jeong-oh had said that once. It seems like it was when she was wondering whether to tell Jihun about Yena’s existence.

Even in unspeakable suffering, Lee Jeong-oh was enduring the pain, waiting for the flower rain.

*Is it raining flowers now? The one you’ve been waiting for.*

I don’t think I need to ask.

Seeing that your butterfly, who was flapping its wings so diligently, has finally returned.

No, she wasn’t just waiting for the flower rain. It seems like she had cultivated a flower garden on her own, so that butterflies would come.

“Yes? Flowers?”

Jeong-oh, who had been gritting her teeth and arguing until just now, got up from her chair, curious about what Bae-il had been about to say.

Knock knock knock.

The sound of knocking was heard the moment Jeong-oh approached Bae-il again. It was Jihun knocking on the open door.

Jihun, who walked over, stared blankly at Jeong-oh and said to Bae-il.

“Bae-il, I’ll go now. I’ll come again tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“I’ll come again.”

It was a suspiciously affectionate yet slightly cold greeting. Jeong-oh was caught by Jihun’s hand and left the hospital room without even saying goodbye properly. Bae-il didn’t see them smiling as he watched them leave.

Jihun, who was walking silently, asked on the way to the parking lot.

“Is Gwon Bae-il that good-looking?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Earlier, you said that Bae-il was good-looking, so the kids would be pretty. Out of the blue.”

Jeong-oh blinked for a long time before recalling.

*Is he sulking at such a polite remark? What a stingy guy.*

“Do you like him that much?”

“What do you want to hear? I like you more.”

“…….”

“My man is the best-looking. I’m living with the most handsome man in the world.”

“Okay. If you know that, don’t say that other men are good-looking.”

Jeong-oh sighed deeply and then chuckled.

Gwon Bae-il would never know that this man, who spoke so maturely in front of his old friend, is actually the most childish man in the world.

* * * * * * * *

After enshrining her father in the charnel house [a building or vault where bones or bodies are placed], Eun-bi heard about her brother’s accident in just one day. She had initially thought it was an unexpected accident, but it turned out that her brother was the main culprit. He had tried to hit Jihun with his car, but the police who were waiting had been injured instead.

Her brother was charged with attempted murder following solicitation of murder. Hidden slush funds were also discovered, so her brother would not be able to avoid imprisonment. It would be better for him to not wake up for several years as it was.

Now that the family was in ruins, Eun-bi was the only one who was sane.

Eun-bi persuaded her mother, who had fallen into despair.

“Mom, let’s go live in America. I’ll look into everything.”

“Are you going to leave your brother like that?”

“We can come and see him sometimes. As soon as he recovers, he’ll go straight to prison. He can’t be by Mom’s side.”

At first, her mother strongly refused, but as time passed, she gradually realized the reality. She wanted to protect her son, but she couldn’t go near him because of the intense public opinion.

Turning her head, her mother finally saw her daughter taking care of herself. The daughter, who she thought was the black sheep of the family, was standing firm in her place more steadfastly than anyone else. She now thought that she should protect her daughter at least as much as she could.

“Okay. Let’s go. We have to leave this place.”

With her mother’s decision, Eun-bi began preparing to immigrate.

She stroked her belly whenever she felt anxious. She hadn’t gone to the hospital again since collapsing in front of Lee Jeong-oh. So many big things had happened at once that she didn’t have time to worry about the baby. But before she knew it, it became a habit to stroke her belly and talk to the baby.

*Are you doing well there?*

She hadn’t checked, but she somehow felt like it was growing up healthy. That belief somehow supported Eun-bi. The fact that there was someone who absolutely relied on her became a source of strength.

While she was busy preparing to immigrate, she received a call from the police. It was a call saying that they needed to investigate a case involving Jeong Jihun.

Eun-bi went to the police station. The police officer who was waiting for Eun-bi greeted her.

“What kind of investigation do I have to undergo?”

“There’s something I need to show you.”

While the police officer was turning on the laptop PC, Eun-bi asked the police officer.

“Is the police officer who collided with my brother okay?”

“He woke up the day before yesterday.”

“That’s a relief.”

Eun-bi nodded quietly. She thought it was a relief that he hadn’t died, that her brother hadn’t killed more people.

Without any reaction to Eun-bi’s answer, the police officer handed Eun-bi a video.

“Please check the video.”

Eun-bi’s eyes widened as she checked the video. It was a video taken by the black box in Eun-bi’s car seven years ago. A record of when Jihun had the accident.

“How did this…….”

*I couldn’t find it no matter how hard I looked, so I thought it was gone.*

*I couldn’t understand how it was in the hands of the police.*

“Who had this?”

“Do you remember this incident?”

The police officer ignored Eun-bi’s answer and asked matter-of-factly. Eun-bi looked at the video again.

But something that wasn’t visible seven years ago was visible now.

The man who caused the accident, the face of the real culprit…….

“Wait a minute. This person…….”

It was a blurry silhouette, but Eun-bi could tell exactly. She couldn’t not know.

The police officer, who was carefully watching Eun-bi’s reaction, asked.

“Are you also acquainted with Police Officer Gwon Bae-il?”

*Police Officer Gwon Bae-il?*

*He told me he was an office worker?*

“…This person is a police officer?”