A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 20

20. One Week Left

13 years ago.

Midterm exam day at ○○ High School.

The second period was Classical Chinese. A subject where students with good memorization skills could finish the test in 10 minutes.

In the classroom, desks were aligned in rows for the exam, and Eun-bi sat in the third seat from the end in the last row. It was a good spot to slack off without being noticed by the teacher.

Also a good spot to use a cheat sheet.

A4 paper cut in half, filled densely on both sides, and slipped into a sleeve was undetectable. Eun-bi solved her memorization subjects like that every time. Now, she had become so skilled that she could take it out and look at it the moment the teacher turned around.

And so, she finished the exam safely.

During the break, the students moved busily. Someone nudged Eun-bi’s seat, and her desk became crooked, out of line. Annoyed, Eun-bi straightened her desk. In the process, the cheat sheet in her sleeve fell to the floor.

Thud.

The first person to notice was Lee Jung-oh, who sat diagonally next to her.

“Eun-bi, you dropped this.”

Eun-bi felt like her heart, not the cheat sheet, had dropped.

Jung-oh casually handed Eun-bi the paper, which looked like a cheat sheet at a glance.

“Thanks.”

She said a short greeting and snatched the paper away.

‘Did Lee Jung-oh see it? What if he tells the teacher? What if I get a zero?’

Eun-bi had made cheat sheets for previous exams as well. What if those were discovered too?

Even if she destroyed the evidence, she wasn’t confident she could get the same score if she had to retake the test. She felt like her blood was running cold.

In the end, Eun-bi’s worry about the cheat sheet ruined her concentration for the next exam.

It would be a disaster if her family found out about her exam results. Eun-bi was the youngest daughter of a family of legal professionals. Her mother was a law school professor, her father was a judge, and her older brother was an S University [Seoul National University, a prestigious university in South Korea] law student preparing for law school.

Her parents were people who thought studying was the easiest thing in life. They took good grades for granted and couldn’t understand bad grades. Eun-bi had lived suffocatingly in that environment.

In that situation, if her cheating on other exams was discovered…

For days after the midterm exam, Eun-bi was on edge, as if she were walking on thin ice. Every time Jung-oh got up from his seat, Eun-bi was afraid. It felt like he would run to the teacher and reveal everything at any moment.

Anxious, Eun-bi decided to win Jung-oh over.

“Jung-oh, do you want this? I’ve never used it.”

Eun-bi held out a lip gloss from her favorite luxury brand. It was a method she often used with her friends. Her friends always gladly accepted the gifts. The friends who received the gifts became tools that were easy to take advantage of.

But Jung-oh was different from Eun-bi’s friends.

“No. It’s okay.”

“It would be nice to have one.”

“No. I don’t wear makeup. Really, it’s okay.”

Inside, she was very anxious. Did he think it was a bribe? Was that why he couldn’t accept it?

“You’re already pretty, so you’d be even prettier if you wore makeup. And this is a luxury brand.”

“I really don’t need it, Eun-bi.”

Jung-oh refused to the end. Eun-bi felt like Jung-oh was looking down on her.

“Thanks for the thought. Sorry.”

Jung-oh left so coldly.

After that, Eun-bi became even more afraid of Jung-oh. She had to make sure that no one could believe Jung-oh’s words as soon as possible. Before he became a ticking time bomb, quickly.

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

Thursday morning, when office workers’ hearts swell with the anticipation of the weekend.

Ye-na cheerfully said, popping her head out of the neck of her T-shirt.

“Mom, one week left!”

“Until what?”

“Don’t you know what day next Thursday is?”

There was no way she wouldn’t know; her daughter had told her over a hundred times.

Children live with the joy of waiting. Waiting for Christmas, waiting for Children’s Day, waiting for their birthdays.

That anticipation raises the child. Jung-oh realized that her daughter had grown significantly since this time last year.

Already seven years old.

Ye-na was born before completing the full 40 weeks. The 2.7kg baby, born at 37 weeks, made her mother constantly anxious.

Even after Jung-oh was discharged from the hospital, the child couldn’t be discharged due to cyanosis [bluish discoloration of the skin due to lack of oxygen in the blood], and Jung-oh couldn’t even get postpartum care and went to see her daughter every day. Even after Ye-na was discharged after a week, Jung-oh continued to worry.

There was something else strange about the child. In the middle of the baby’s reddish forehead, like a sweet potato, there was a dark spot.

She didn’t know much about babies, but she had never seen a child like that, so she asked the nurse, who said it was a ‘salmon patch.’ It appears in many newborns and disappears after one year.

But Ye-na’s salmon patch has been in place even as Ye-na turned seven.

As the child’s face turned fair, the salmon patch turned red. She wondered if she should get it treated, but the treatment process was complicated, and she heard that it would disappear around puberty, so she covered her round, pretty forehead with bangs and watched.

Somewhere, they call the salmon patch ‘an angel’s kiss.’ A mark left by an angel who kissed the baby because she was so pretty.

Jung-oh believes that. Ye-na must have been an angel in her previous life. So she made this world a paradise now.

Someday, when Ye-na’s salmon patch disappears, she thought she would be a little sad. Jung-oh hoped that Ye-na would grow up just a little slower.

“What do you want to do for your birthday, Ye-na?”

“I want to eat cake with Mom and Grandma.”

Ye-na said her simple dream.

Jung Ji-heon.

Our child’s seventh birthday is approaching.

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

Production Team 2, Max Planning.

Jung-oh had sensed something strange for several days.

Miran seemed to be distancing herself from her.

But she didn’t show it enough to be noticeable. The initial kindness she had felt at the beginning of her employment had faded a little, but Team Leader Sung Mi-ran was a fair person to everyone.

More than that, Jung-oh was more concerned about Production Team 1.

She thought that Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae of Production Team 1 was treating her coldly, but from some point on, she felt openly ignored. At first, only Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae did that, but today it seemed that Assistant Manager Jo Yu-ri had joined in.

What’s bitter is that they are careful in front of other people. It was most dangerous when they were away from the team members or when Jung-oh was left alone in the conference room. It was just criticizing Jung-oh’s ideas late or making strange requests, but it was tiring.

Today, Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae spoke to her while Production Team 2 was away.

“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh. I heard that you have a dinner with Dawon Liquor today?”

“Yes? No. I haven’t heard.”

“I think it would be good to try to listen a little. It’s not good if you’re the only one who doesn’t know what everyone knows.”

“I know now, so it’s okay.”

Jung-oh also retorted coldly because she felt that the way she spoke resembled Eun-bi.

Si-nae, who was flaring her nostrils at Jung-oh’s reaction, said.

“The client wanted to have a dinner with the production team, so it was arranged urgently. But the account executive is away on a business trip. Unfortunately.”

“…….”

“We’re all busy with our assignments, so I think it would be good if Assistant Manager Lee could find a place. Please.”

That was today’s strange request.

It wasn’t that difficult to find a place for a dinner, so Jung-oh nodded willingly.

“Yes. I understand.”

But.

“You have to go in person.”

“Yes?”

“If you do it over the phone, they might just give you a rough idea. Go in person and check the place and the menu, and then call us. And pick up the client.”

Assistant Manager Jo Si-nae wanted a client reception package.

At this point, you could call her Little Chae Eun-bi, right?

“I hope the account executive gets in touch in the middle. The account executive would do well, but I feel uncomfortable asking Assistant Manager Lee.”

“If you’re uncomfortable, you can go with me.”

“That’s not possible. I’m too busy. Anyway, I trust you. Assistant Manager Lee.”

Si-nae smiled.

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

The working-level staff of Dawon Liquor urgently contacted them, saying they wanted to meet the production team. Ji-heon was in a difficult situation because the account executive and the planning team leader were away on a business trip.

The client who said he would come to the company was a section chief. They were not people who Ji-heon needed to personally entertain with alcohol.

But he was more interested in the rice cake than the Buddhist prayer [more interested in the reward than the ritual].

Since they said they would meet the production team, Lee Jung-oh would also appear.

He was curious about what Lee Jung-oh would look like at the dinner.

Ji-heon moved to the production team. Production Team 1 was almost in their seats, but no one was in Production Team 2.

“There’s no one in Production Team 2.”

Ji-heon spoke to Assistant Manager Jo Yu-ri, who was sitting at the very end.

Yu-ri stuttered and replied.

“Yes? J-J-J… Assistant Manager Go and employee Song went to print shooting, and Assistant Manager Lee said that Dawon Liquor was coming, so she went to find a place for the dinner.”

Ji-heon’s eyebrows twitched.

“She already left?”

“Yes? J-J-J… The client said they were coming early.”

Before Yu-ri could finish her answer, Ji-heon turned around and left.

Ji-heon immediately called Mi-ran.

“Team Leader, this is Jung Ji-heon. Please send me the contact information for Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh from your team.”

The excuse was good. Faced with the important task of the client coming to the company, Ji-heon had no choice but to contact Jung-oh.

Miran immediately sent Jung-oh’s contact information.

It was raining outside the window.

Ha ha. A dinner on a rainy day.

Jung-oh, who came down to the first floor, sighed sadly. Outside the building, beyond the glass door, heavy rain could be seen.

It suddenly started pouring, so it seemed like it was just passing rain. But she would have to buy an umbrella. Because she had to meet the client.

Jung-oh turned and went to the convenience store inside the building.

But there wasn’t a single umbrella to be seen, even though it was so full on clear days.

“Are all the umbrellas sold out?”

“Yes. It suddenly rained, so they all went out.”

What should she do about this? If it was just a dinner with the team members, it wouldn’t matter if she looked like a drowned rat, but since it was a dinner with the client, she had to look presentable.

Ha ha. Her first dinner after joining the company is a dinner with the client. It’s really making her heart swell.

She was standing blankly in front of the entrance, waiting for the rain to subside, when her pocket vibrated.

It was an unknown phone number.

“This is Lee Jung-oh.”

[Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh.]

Jung-oh was overwhelmed when she heard her name over the phone.

She remembered that day seven years ago. The day Jung Ji-heon called her and told her not to contact him again. Jung-oh had never doubted that voice, which was unclear whether it was Jung Ji-heon or not.

This voice now. This is Jung Ji-heon.

“Yes. Director.”

[You recognize my voice. Where are you now?]

“First floor of the building.”

Click. The phone hung up quickly.

The heart that had been soaked in memories that had nothing to remember became dazed.

Ji-heon took the elevator with an umbrella. For some reason, he thought she wouldn’t have an umbrella.

But as he went down, he met Seung-gyu.

Seung-gyu was delighted as soon as he saw Ji-heon.

“Oh. You have an umbrella! Let’s use it together.”

Seung-gyu clung to him more happily than ever. In a few days, Seung-gyu’s dark clouds had completely disappeared. He was back to being Ji-heon’s precious friend, guarding his side.

But today, the seat next to me… is not yours.

“I heard you’re going to a dinner? The client is coming?”

Ji-heon smiled at his friend, who knew the news of his headquarters brightly, as if he had heard it all.

When he got out of the elevator, he saw Lee Jung-oh standing outside the front entrance.

Ji-heon handed the umbrella to Seung-gyu.

“Use this.”

“Huh? Then what about you?”

“I’ll just run.”

“What are you talking about? We can use it together.”

“Just use it.”

“…….”

“Come out in 3 minutes instead.”

“…….”

“I’m going first.”

Ji-heon widened his stride and walked away.

Seung-gyu looked at the umbrella and Ji-heon alternately.

Jung-oh stood blankly, waiting for the rain to subside.

Then, a shadow fell over her shoulder from behind.

“Do you have an umbrella?”

It was Ji-heon.

No, you can talk a little further away. Why are you sticking your face over my shoulder? What if you hit your head while tilting your head?

He injured his head seven years ago, but he’s so careless.

Even in the midst of this, Jung-oh was worried about his safety.

“No, I don’t. Director.”

At Jung-oh’s answer, Ji-heon took off his suit jacket lightly and lifted it over her head.

“Let’s go together.”

Take… take this and go together?

It was a suggestion that was more frightening than exciting.

“No. It’s okay. I’m going to buy an umbrella over there.”

Jung-oh shook her head and pointed to the convenience store across the street.

“Then to there.”

Ji-heon was unstoppable.

He gently pushed her back. Jung-oh was thrown into the unceasing rain without preparation.

All preparations were Ji-heon’s responsibility. The arm that wrapped around her from behind, as if embracing her, held up the jacket firmly. The suit jacket, which was dozens of times more expensive than an umbrella, firmly blocked the rain.

Every time she moved, her round shoulder touched his broad chest.

It felt like his body temperature was added to her body, which had felt cold from the sudden rain.

Tok tok tok, the sound of the rain melted into the sound of her heart.

From afar, Seung-gyu stared blankly at this scene.

“That ba……”

The curse that hadn’t come out even when he was talking harshly to his friend a few days ago suddenly burst out.

But his face was full of smiles.

He’s planning to tease him vigorously from tomorrow.