A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 43

43. Angel’s Kiss

After seeing Jiheon off, Jung-oh returned to the conference room and said to Team Leader Sung Mi-ran.

“I’m back. The meeting’s off.”

“What did the director say?”

“He said he has something today and wants to meet tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

Contrary to Jung-oh’s expectations, Mi-ran looked relieved.

“The AE [Account Executive] roughly told me the research results, and there’s a part we missed. So, I think we need to rack our brains a bit more. Let’s do our best until tomorrow morning.”

A part that needed to be supplemented had emerged.

Hoo. Jung-oh also sighed.

If she had stopped Jung Jiheon from leaving the company, she almost would have been in trouble on both sides.

Only after feeling relieved did she recall what had happened in the office just now.

“Huh? Ms. Jung-oh, are you sick somewhere?”

Kihun said, examining Jung-oh’s complexion as he passed by.

“Huh? No. Why?”

“Your face is red. You look like you have a fever.”

“No, it’s just a bit hot in the conference room.”

Jung-oh made a quick excuse.

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

Jiheon picked up Seung-gyu and headed to Seung-gyu’s house.

“Oh, I should be driving. Our director, who has a chauffeur, is driving and visiting my humble home. I’m so grateful, so grateful.”

Seung-gyu, happy that his friend kept the promise from three weeks ago, praised Jiheon all the way.

Jiheon didn’t show much reaction to Seung-gyu’s flattery. In fact, he was nervous. He had never spent time playing with children. He didn’t even know how to talk to children.

If he could run away now, he wanted to run back to the company. The expression Jung-oh had shown him before leaving the company was vivid in his mind.

“Can I just show my face to the kids and leave?”

“Why? Are you busy?”

“I don’t know how to deal with kids, so I’m feeling pressured.”

“Hey. There’s no rule for dealing with kids.”

“Still, I can’t play with kids as fun as you do.”

“I don’t play with them in any fun way. I just watch them from the side. I smile at them at their eye level. And I move my body a bit.”

“Move your body…….”

“I don’t mean dance and sing, but you end up moving your body a lot when you’re with kids. It’ll be a good experience. You’ll be a dad someday too.”

Jiheon frowned, and Seung-gyu, noticing, asked.

“Why?”

“No. I have a bit of a headache.”

“…….”

“I’m okay now. It was just for a moment.”

Jiheon replied as if it were nothing.

The car, running smoothly on the road, arrived at the apartment complex. Not far from where Lee Jung-oh lived. Jiheon once again thought of Jung-oh and moved with Seung-gyu.

“Dad’s home!”

Seung-gyu shouted as he opened the front door, and lively children came running.

“Daddy!”

Seung-gyu lifted his daughter Doyoon high and stroked Dobin. Yena was also seen a few steps away. Wearing a cute red dress, Yena looked like a little Santa.

“Yena’s here too.”

“Hello.”

Yena greeted Seung-gyu.

Jiheon also turned his gaze to Yena. Her pretty face seemed even prettier than the last time he saw her.

Seung-gyu pulled Jiheon’s arm and said to the children.

“Kids, you have to greet your uncle too.”

“Hello, Uncle!”

Dobin greeted playfully, as if he was screaming. Yena also greeted with sparkling eyes.

“Hello.”

“Yes. Hello.”

Jiheon accepted Yena’s greeting with an awkward smile.

Jinseo also came out of the kitchen and greeted Jiheon. Jinseo’s complexion looked particularly pale today.

“It’s nice to see you again, Jiheon.”

“Yes. I’m sorry to intrude.”

“We’re the ones who are intruding. We asked you to come again when you must be busy. You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? Wait a little bit.”

Jinseo hurriedly showed her face and ran back to the kitchen.

Jiheon felt sorry for Jinseo, thinking about how busy she must be, feeling obligated to treat someone when she was already overwhelmed with taking care of the children.

Yena tugged at Jiheon’s clothes as he stood there blankly. Jiheon lowered his head. Yena raised her head and looked at him with her clear eyes.

“I’ve been waiting.”

Jiheon was surprised by the child’s words that she had been waiting. Three weeks is quite a long time for children, but what would it be like to count those long hours? He had only spent a few minutes with this child three weeks ago.

Did those few minutes with me really have such value for the child?

Anyway, he was grateful that she remembered.

Jiheon was dragged along by Yena as she pulled on his pants. A Go board [a strategic board game for two players] was already prepared on the living room table. Yena sat in front of the black stones and blinked her eyes. It meant for him to sit in front of her.

The reason she had been waiting for him was clear.

She wanted to replay the Go match from a long time ago.

As Jiheon sat down, the child opened the black and white stone containers and placed them one by one on the Go board.

Jiheon watched quietly as the child did what she was doing. Jiheon’s eyes widened as he checked the moves that were unfolded one by one on the Go board.

The Go match from three weeks ago was being replayed exactly as it was. The hair on his body stood on end, and his head throbbed.

“You remembered all of that?”

The child nodded instead of answering. Her gaze sweeping over the Go board was quite cautious.

Jiheon thought the child would become a Go player.

“From here. You can do it from here.”

Yena, who had replayed all of the Go match from three weeks ago, said to Jiheon. It was Jiheon’s turn.

As Jiheon placed a stone, the child smiled as if she had predicted that spot and placed her stone next to it.

After a few moves, Jiheon became quite engrossed.

Had the child been studying while replaying this Go match? He thought that he might even lose. The child had definitely improved tremendously compared to three weeks ago.

“Yena, are you losing or winning?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Yena replied firmly to Dobin’s question, who was just staring blankly, rolling his eyes.

“Wow! What if Uncle loses?”

Dobin asked seriously. It was nothing special, but it sounded like he was teasing.

A strange sense of competitiveness was triggered. I didn’t come all the way here to lose this Go match.

Jiheon made several moves without mercy.

Yena flinched as Jiheon came out aggressively. The last two moves seemed to be something the child hadn’t thought of. While Yena lowered her head deeply and stared intently at the Go board, Jiheon’s heart fluttered.

At that moment.

Thud.

“Dobin’s mom! Honey!”

The sound of something falling over came from the kitchen, followed by Seung-gyu’s shout.

Jiheon also got up from his seat and headed to the kitchen.

“Honey!”

Jinseo had collapsed.

Her face seemed pale for some reason, and she had lost consciousness while doing kitchen work.

“Mom!”

Dobin also shouted in surprise. Jiheon quickly grabbed Dobin, who was trying to run to his mother.

Seung-gyu laid Jinseo down and checked her pulse and pupils. Her lips were blue, but her breathing was okay.

“I’ll call an ambulance.”

While Seung-gyu was checking Jinseo’s condition, Jiheon called 119 for an ambulance. Seung-gyu’s face was also turning as pale as Jinseo’s.

Fortunately, the paramedics arrived quickly.

Seung-gyu left with the unconscious Jinseo, saying to Jiheon.

“Jiheon, I’m really sorry. Please take care of the kids for a bit.”

“Don’t worry and go quickly.”

Jiheon sent Seung-gyu away, hoping it was nothing serious.

As soon as Seung-gyu and Jinseo left, young Doyoon burst into tears.

“Mommy, Mommy…….”

She was still at an age where it was hard to be separated from her mom and dad. Jiheon picked up Doyoon at the mournful voice calling for her mother.

“Mommy…….”

He kept patting the child, but the crying didn’t stop. It was a very shocking situation for Jiheon as well, but it was obvious that the children would be more scared if he didn’t show a composed appearance.

By the time Doyoon was about to stop crying, Dobin was sobbing.

“What’s going to happen to our mom? Is Mom going to die?”

“No. No. It’s okay.”

“Then why is she like that?”

“She’ll go to the hospital and get better soon.”

“What if she can’t come back?”

“She’ll come back. Don’t worry.”

“Waaaaah…….”

The child, who had looked so dignified when making overtures to Yena, collapsed at the sight of his mother’s fainting. Fortunately, Doyoon, who he had picked up, had fallen asleep after crying. Jiheon put Doyoon down and picked up Dobin.

“What if our mom dies?”

“She won’t die. Don’t worry.”

“How does Uncle know?”

“Uncle knows everything.”

He barely managed to soothe Dobin and stop him from crying.

“Now stop. What are you going to do crying in front of your girlfriend? That won’t do, right?”

Dobin sniffed the snot that was sticking out of his nostrils and nodded reluctantly. By the time he put Dobin down, his shoulders were stiff.

Another challenge came to Jiheon, who was moving his shoulders to loosen his muscles.

Wasn’t Yena looking at him with her fairy-like face, blinking her eyes?

What about me? What about me?

Won’t you hug me?

What about me? What about me? What about me?

It seemed like a question mark aura was surrounding the child.

“Uh…….”

Cold sweat ran down his spine.

Jiheon bent down to match the child’s eye level and said gently.

“……I’m sorry, I can’t hug you.”

The child’s big eyes began to be covered with a transparent film.

Her lips were also pouting out.

No. I can’t make this child cry.

Jiheon’s voice trembled in embarrassment.

“……Okay. I’ll hug you, so let’s promise one thing.”

The plump lips that had been sticking out quickly went back in at the word hug.

“Don’t go to your mom later and say that the uncle is a bad person. Okay?”

Yena nodded vigorously.

The handsome uncle carefully reached out his arms. As her bottom was placed on his firm arms, her body was lifted up. Yena instinctively hugged Jiheon’s neck to keep her balance.

Wow…….

It felt like her heart was pounding like popcorn that her grandmother fries in a frying pan.

She had never been lifted up this high by someone before.

A different height from her mom, and a firm warmth different from her mom.

A safe warmth that seemed to block out all the scary things in the world.

Uncle hugged me, so I shouldn’t cry now. But I felt like crying because I was so happy.

Hugging not to soothe a crying child, but hugging to hug.

When he lifted the child up and the child hugged his neck, Jiheon felt a strange sensation in his chest.

The child, who was relying on him without any connection, was giving him a strange feeling. It was strange.

He had never thought about marriage, but he thought that it might be worth getting married if a child like this called him Dad.

But he still couldn’t move because he was wary of other people’s children. Besides, the child’s body seemed hot. Jiheon’s hand naturally went to Yena’s forehead, worried.

“Are you sick somewhere?”

“No.”

“You have a bit of a fever?”

The child held onto Jiheon’s clothes tightly, as if worried that Jiheon would put her down.

Jiheon, who had lifted the child’s bangs to check her forehead, noticed a red spot in the middle of the child’s forehead as he was about to lower his hand. The spot was even more prominent because the child’s face was pale.

Salmon patch.

“You have something like this too.”

“Do you have it too, Uncle?”

Yena asked, reaching out her hand to Jiheon’s forehead.

“It’s gone now, but I used to have it.”

Salmon patch, also called an angel’s kiss [a common birthmark].

Jiheon kept looking at Yena as if it were really a mark left by an angel kissing the child.