A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 175

175. [Side Story] The Children Grow Up (3)

Hearing Dobin and Yena’s voices, Jeong-oh hurried over.

“My darlings. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Mommy, Park Dobin is angry,” Yena said, hugging Jeong-oh tightly. Saebyeol chimed in, backing Yena up.

“We were playing and drawing, but Dobin took all the crayons. When Yena tried to take them back, Dobin got mad.”

“Waaaaah!”

Dobin’s pent-up sadness, which had been building into a tearful expression, finally exploded. A trickle of cold sweat ran down Jeong-oh’s forehead.

“Yena, you shouldn’t do that when you’ve invited a friend over. Dobin, Auntie will give you a crayon. Don’t cry.”

Jeong-oh hugged and soothed Dobin, who was sobbing.

Not long after, Dobin’s maternal grandparents arrived. Jeong-oh, who had visited Dobin’s maternal grandparents’ house before, greeted them warmly.

“You’re here early.”

“Yeah. The little guy called us this morning, saying he wasn’t feeling well. I figured today was the day [the baby is coming] and left right away. I called Dobin’s dad earlier, and he said she’s in the delivery room.”

‘The baby’s coming today!’ Jeong-oh felt a strange sense of anticipation.

“Is Yena’s grandmother here?”

“She went to her academy [private tutoring school].”

“Still looking great as ever.”

While Jeong-oh and Dobin’s grandmother were exchanging greetings, Dobin came running over, sobbing.

“Grandmother. Waaaaah…”

The unresolved sadness burst out in front of his grandmother. Jeong-oh, at a loss, explained the situation from beginning to end.

“The kids had a little fight… I’m sorry. They’re usually such good friends, but Yena must have been a bit sensitive today.”

“Dobin probably was too. Kids grow up fighting, so there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

Dobin’s grandmother hugged and comforted Dobin.

“Dobin, let’s go home.”

“Waaaaah. No way. I can’t leave Jeong Yena and Kang Saebyeol here and go home alone.”

Dobin expressed his feelings through tears, but his grandmother couldn’t understand him.

“Dobin, if your sibling is born later, we’ll go see them together. Are you going to keep crying like this?”

While his grandmother was repeatedly comforting Dobin, Saebyeol’s mother also arrived at Jeong-oh’s house. Only then did Dobin stop crying. Everyone exchanged greetings, and the children awkwardly parted ways.

After greeting the guests, Jeong-oh let out a sigh of relief and wiped away the cold sweat.

Only then did she see her daughter, her lips pouting like a duck’s beak.

“Yena, you usually get along so well with Dobin. Why did you suddenly fight?”

“Park Dobin is a dummy.”

“Jeong Yena. You shouldn’t call your friend a dummy.”

“But he really is a dummy. Park Dobin is bad.”

Yena told Jeong-oh everything that had happened. While listening to Yena’s story, Jeong-oh learned something new. ‘Saebyeol also likes Yena, so Dobin is jealous…’

The child’s honest story made her mother feel both amused and worried.

“Park Dobin got mad at me and said, ‘Is it all because you’re pretty?'”

“Huh?”

“‘Is it all because you’re pretty?’ That’s why we fought.”

Then, Yena, with a serious expression, told a charming story that made Jeong-oh feel a bit conflicted.

‘That’s strange. Is that how kids fight these days?’

“So, did that make you feel bad, Yena?”

Recalling the feeling at that time, Yena blinked and suddenly shed tears.

“It felt good when Dobin said I was pretty, but it makes me angry when he attacks me with something I liked…”

‘That’s what made her upset.’

Jeong-oh hugged Yena.

She realized that a child who only hears good things from friends might feel wronged. On the other hand, she was also worried that Dobin might have been hurt a lot.

“You felt upset because Dobin got angry, right?”

Nod, nod.

“Do you know how grateful you should be that Dobin always said you were pretty? It’s because our Yena is pretty, but also because Dobin’s heart is just as pretty.”

“Hwaaah.” Jeong-oh repeatedly wiped away the child’s small sobs, persuading her.

“You feel bad because you fought with your friend, right?”

Nod, nod.

“So, you should make up, right?”

Instead of answering, Yena clung to Jeong-oh’s neck and hugged her tightly. Jeong-oh stroked Yena’s back.

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

The baby was born after four hours of labor. A healthy baby weighing 3.2kg [approximately 7 pounds]. When the robust voice filled the hospital room, Jinseo was also afraid of the future.

In the evening, Jinseo’s mom, dad, Dobin, and Doyoon came to visit. Doyoon was amazed to see his sibling, but Dobin’s expression wasn’t bright. She wondered if he was upset that another sibling was born when one sister was enough, so she subtly asked, but Dobin just shook his head.

“I heard he fought with Yena.”

Dobin’s grandmother answered instead. Jinseo asked Dobin.

“Really? Dobin fought with Yena? Why? What happened?”

“Yena only plays with Kang Saebyeol and doesn’t play with me.”

Dobin pouted and answered in a sulky voice.

The grandmother, who was listening, chimed in.

“Why are you fighting over something like that?”

“…….”

“Now that you’re going to elementary school, you shouldn’t only play with Yena. You should play with other kids too. Play with boys too. Make other girlfriends too.”

“Grandmother doesn’t know anything.”

Dobin retorted rudely to his grandmother’s opinion and sat leaning against the wall, hugging his knees.

‘No one in this world understands my heart.’

‘That’s how my heart feels.’

‘I don’t even know where the path of my heart starts and ends.’

‘That’s why I can’t stop it.’

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

Yena went to the academy [private tutoring school] with a bag of candy that her grandfather had given her a while ago.

But Dobin didn’t come to either the Go [board game] academy or the art academy. Even though Saebyeol was at the Go academy, she felt strangely empty. It goes without saying at the art academy. Yena didn’t enjoy drawing very much.

After finishing her academy classes, Yena returned home and munched on the candy all by herself.

“Princess Yena. Daddy’s home.”

Jiheon, who had come home from work, called out to the child happily, but Yena looked at him with listless eyes and turned her head.

Jiheon, noticing Yena’s mood, quietly went to Jeong-oh and asked with a look. Jeong-oh told him what had happened during the day.

At the end of the story, she added what she had felt while watching today.

“Saebyeol seems to like Yena too.”

“Ah… really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t I want to cry?”

“Right? I feel good too.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s the opposite.”

‘Daddy wants to cry because his daughter is so pretty. But he can’t complain to Jeong-oh, who gave birth to her so beautifully.’

Jeong-oh, who playfully regarded Jiheon’s serious expression, smiled and went to Yena. But as soon as she went after her, her voice rose.

“Jeong Yena!”

Yena was also surprised by her mother’s excited voice and bit down on the candy even harder.

“Did you eat all of this again so soon?”

Jeong-oh shook the almost empty candy bag and scolded Yena.

‘How many times has this happened already?’ She thought she should sternly scold the child who didn’t listen no matter how much she told her.

“If you brought the candy back because Dobin wasn’t there, you should give it to Dobin tomorrow. Why are you eating it!”

But the nagging didn’t continue. Yena’s mouth was full of blood.

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

Jiheon, Jeong-oh, and Yena hurriedly went to a dentist who was seeing evening patients.

There were not one, but two wobbly teeth. Blood was flowing from the two front teeth, making her mouth even more soaked.

“I’ll have to pull them both out.”

At the doctor’s opinion, Yena turned pale and was terrified. But before she could struggle and run away, one tooth popped out with a ‘pop’. It was already so wobbly that it didn’t take much force to extract it.

“I knew it. If you chew on so much candy, your teeth will shake like crazy.”

Jeong-oh said in the meantime. Yena made a whining sound as she entrusted the remaining tooth to the doctor, feeling unfairly treated.

The kind doctor finished the extraction neatly.

“Okay, all pulled out. Doesn’t it feel refreshing?”

“Weally?”

Yena asked, making a lisping sound.

Yena’s prettiness has decreased by 10%.

Yena’s cuteness has increased by 20%.

Jeong-oh laughed at the sight.

“Yena became ugly!”

The front teeth that had completed Yena’s beauty were wide open like a house with the doors open. The new look was so cute that her impressions naturally popped out, but the child, who always wanted to be loved by her mother, was disappointed.

“Hwaaah. Why!”

Jiheon quickly comforted Yena, who was tearful.

“Now that your baby teeth have fallen out, adult teeth will grow in their place. You have to take good care of your adult teeth. They won’t grow back again. Got it?”

“Heeing…….”

She was upset that her mother called her ugly, but the tears that had briefly welled up disappeared at her father’s comfort.

Adult teeth grow in the place where baby teeth have fallen out. That fact sounded wonderful to Yena. She hadn’t grown taller yet, but she felt a little more grown up.

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

The next morning.

Because Mom and Dad were at the hospital, Grandma helped Dobin get ready for school. Grandma was much slower than Mom, so Dobin arrived at the classroom around the time class started.

Dobin’s seat was in the back row of the first group, so it was a seat where he could see the classroom at a glance. Of course, he could also see Yena well, who was sitting in the first row of the third group.

But all Dobin could see from his seat was the back of Yena’s head. He couldn’t help but envy Kang Saebyeol, who was sitting in the first row of the first group and could see Yena’s profile.

He put his bag on the desk and stared blankly at Yena, but at that moment, he suddenly made eye contact with Yena, who turned her head.

Thump, thump. The muscles around his mouth twitched.

But contrary to Dobin’s expectations, Yena kept her mouth shut and didn’t say anything, then turned her head again.

‘I was going to say hello first, pretending I had forgotten everything and greeting her brightly.’ He was so disappointed.

Dobin couldn’t say hello because of his pride.

Throughout the first period, Dobin couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying. No, time flew by while he was lost in thought, just looking at the back of Yena’s head. Only after the first period ended and the children started moving did Dobin come to his senses.

Yena seemed to be going to the bathroom. Dobin also moved, strolling along, following Yena, who left the classroom door. However, before he could get closer to Yena, Kang Saebyeol intervened between them.

“Yena. Let’s go to the academy with my sister today. My sister wants to play Go with you.”

“Okay.”

He was upset again when he heard the two people’s friendly conversation. But at that moment he turned his feet away with a disappointing heart.

“Did you lose your front teeth? Huh? You lost both of them.”

Dobin stopped walking at Saebyeol’s voice.

‘Jeong Yena lost her front teeth? Two of them?’

He wanted to see it so badly.

But he was upset and sulky again at the sight of them talking only to each other, not even knowing that he had come close.

“So, is it weird?”

Yena asked Saebyeol.

‘Yes. It’s weird. It’s very bad. Hmph.’

‘Jeong Yena is a dummy, and she’s very bad.’

“No. Everyone loses their teeth. Mom said I’ll lose them too.”

Saebyeol answered Yena’s question. But it wasn’t the answer Yena was waiting for. Yena didn’t ask Saebyeol any more questions and turned her head straight away.

“Park Dobin.”

Yena called Dobin’s name.

Dobin flinched and opened his eyes blankly.

“Is it weird that I lost my teeth?”

He was unfamiliar with the appearance of his friend, who looked somewhat empty because she had lost her front teeth. But that didn’t mean her pretty face had turned ugly.

Yena soon closed her mouth again, as if she was ashamed of showing her missing teeth. It seemed like she would shed tears depending on Dobin’s answer. Like a mirror, Dobin also followed her expression.

Dobin didn’t want his friend, whom he loved the most in the world, to feel depressed because of a few missing teeth. If Yena felt depressed, he would also feel sad.

“No. It’s not weird.”

“…….”

“It’s not that it’s not weird, it’s pretty. Of course.”

You’re the prettiest.

Even if all your teeth fall out, you’ll be the prettiest in the world.

A bright smile returned to Yena’s face at Dobin’s answer. The sight of her smiling brightly without being ashamed of her missing teeth was truly as beautiful as a flower.

Only then did Dobin also smile, following Yena as always.

The path of the heart could not be stopped.