A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 46

46. Four Men

All the conversations from just five minutes ago flashed through Jung-oh’s mind like a panorama of her life.

And I didn’t even know he was standing behind the pillar…

I never imagined that my actions, which I thought were so fatally charming, would be this regretful.

Besides.

He’s my man, he’s my man, he’s my man…

Ugh. God!

I made so much fun of Chae Eun-bi’s lies, and now I’ve told the exact same lie.

Lee Jung-oh, you idiot. When was this man ever yours?

Even seven years ago, when you fell in love, this man wasn’t yours.

How absurd must this sound to him…

“You were quite the talker,” Ji-heon teased in a chilling voice, standing close. Jung-oh felt like she was going to throw up the abalone bibimbap she had just eaten, so she covered her mouth.

God, why do you give me such trials?

In her desperation, Jung-oh heard the voice of the god within her.

‘Run away!’

God gave Jung-oh strong legs to use in times like these. Jung-oh abandoned Ji-heon and ran towards the company building. Tears welled up in her eyes.

I need to get closer to him, and we barely became friends.

Why does this kind of misfortune happen? Me, a liar.

Rushing into the office, Jung-oh grabbed Mi-ran’s arm and asked pleadingly.

“Team Leader, do you have any outside work for me to do?”

“Oh, I don’t know? Why? Do you want to go outside?”

“Yes! Please let me go!”

“Oh, okay, okay. The AE [Account Executive] is going to a meeting with Sori Telecom, so go with them.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Jung-oh hurriedly packed her bag and left the office. Avoiding Ji-heon, Jung-oh ran down the stairs and hid in the first-floor lobby bathroom until she received a call from the AE, and then she came out.

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

Lee Jung-oh ran away. Like a flying squirrel.

Ji-heon hurriedly chased after her, but he had to stop because he received a phone call.

After finishing the call, he rushed to the office to find Lee Jung-oh, but she had already run away.

He wanted to tell her to come back immediately, but Ji-heon held back. The current outside work would be helpful to her, so he couldn’t rashly stop her. Either way, she would have to come back.

He was her boss, and they were destined to meet someday, so Ji-heon decided to enjoy the brief wait.

As lunchtime was ending, someone knocked on the door of his office. The person who entered was none other than Chae Eun-yeop.

“Are you busy? I came to a company in the next building and stopped by for a moment.”

“Yeah. Good to see you. Sit down.”

Ji-heon greeted his friend warmly.

Chae Eun-bi’s older brother, Chae Eun-yeop. Seven years ago, when Ji-heon had an accident, Eun-yeop, like Eun-bi, helped Ji-heon recover. So Ji-heon is still polite to Eun-yeop.

Eun-yeop freely uses the word ‘best friend’ when talking to Ji-heon, but Ji-heon doesn’t feel as comfortable with Eun-yeop as he does with Seung-gyu.

Still, he’s a moderately good friend who cares about my health.

But he was a friend that I didn’t know if I could continue to be close with in the future.

I unintentionally caused worry to Eun-bi’s older brother Eun-yeop because of the incident involving Chae Eun-bi, so I should have a serious expression, but I kept smiling because I kept thinking about Lee Jung-oh.

“Why do you keep smiling?”

Eun-yeop asked, seeing Ji-heon repeatedly trying to hold back his laughter.

“Just. Something funny happened.”

“What happened?”

“It’s just a personal matter.”

Eun-yeop gave a formal smile.

In fact, he was a little displeased. They had been friends for quite a long time and had many things intertwined, but Ji-heon still seemed reluctant to give him that spot next to him.

He felt uneasy for some reason. It felt like something he had been longing for was going wrong.

In the meantime, Ji-heon asked. His voice was casual, as if asking about the weather.

“By the way, did you hear about Eun-bi?”

“What about?”

“That she decided to stop the fake relationship.”

“…….”

“Did you know? That Eun-bi was going around saying she was going to marry me.”

A twitch occurred under Eun-yeop’s eye.

Ji-heon was wearing a subtle smile, but his eyes were chillingly sharp. They were eyes that were pursuing the truth.

“Why don’t you just get married?”

Eun-yeop tried to hide his nervous feelings and recommended it to Ji-heon.

“Anyway, you don’t have any close women, do you? It’s not just because she’s my sister, but Eun-bi is really kind and understanding…”

“Eun-bi should meet her real match.”

Ji-heon cut off Eun-yeop’s words, pretending to think of Eun-bi but completely drawing a line.

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

Jung-oh, who had returned to the company after a very beneficial outside work, heard a bolt from the blue from Ki-hoon as soon as she put her bag down at her desk.

“Assistant Manager Lee, Director Jung wants to see you.”

“Crazy!”

Jung-oh shouted without realizing it. The team members laughed, unaware of Jung-oh’s serious situation.

I’m going to quit.

I’m going to change jobs.

I’m going to end everything.

Jung-oh searched for a resignation form on the internet and printed it out.

Park Young-gwang, the Deputy Manager, asked, seeing Jung-oh scribbling something on the printed paper.

“What are you doing?”

“I thought it would be reassuring to carry a resignation letter in my heart.”

Assistant Manager Go Eun-joo also tilted her head towards Jung-oh and asked.

“What did you do wrong again, Assistant Manager?”

Jung-oh folded the resignation letter twice and put it in her pocket, then smiled at Eun-joo.

“Assistant Manager Go Eun-joo, you know I really like you.”

“…Let’s go.”

Perhaps Jung-oh’s desperate eyes got through to her, Eun-joo surprisingly agreed to accompany her at once.

Ki-hoon also pushed his chair and approached.

“Should I go with you too?”

“Oh. I’d appreciate it.”

“But if we all move together without a reason, won’t the director think it’s disrespectful? I don’t think he’ll like it?”

“It’s okay. I don’t like him either. And I also have something to report. It’s okay.”

Eun-joo answered Ki-hoon’s question cynically.

The Three Musketeers went to Ji-heon’s office together again.

Equipped with Eun-joo on the left and Ki-hoon on the right, Jung-oh stood bravely in front of Ji-heon.

Despite Ji-heon’s absurd expression, Jung-oh faced him head-on.

“Director, you called for me.”

“I didn’t call for the two people next to you.”

“Yes. Assistant Manager Go Eun-joo also has something to report, so she came with me. Mr. Song Ki-hoon will also listen together.”

Ji-heon, with a cold expression at Jung-oh’s brazen answer, asked Eun-joo.

“What do you have to report?”

“It’s the Dawon Liquor new product package design.”

Go Eun-joo answered, handing over the document she was holding behind her. Ji-heon roughly flipped through the document and said dryly.

“Let’s do it this way. Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Ah, no, Assistant Manager Go Eun-joo…

Jung-oh’s forehead became cold at Eun-joo’s curt answer.

The air was hot. She felt someone’s intense gaze.

Jung-oh swallowed hard at Ji-heon’s gaze, which seemed to be constantly staring at her.

Should I hit him on the back of the head? Then wouldn’t today’s memories disappear?

“He’s my man.”

If I could just erase those five syllables from his memory, I could somehow endure it. It’s truly tragic that I’m in a situation where I have to work hard to revive his memories, but I want to erase his other memories.

“Director, what did you want to say to me…”

Jung-oh asked, dragging out the end of her sentence.

“I heard you went to Sori Telecom. Does it match the current production direction?”

He asked casually.

“Yes. The CEO of Sori Telecom likes storytelling. I think we can prepare well as planned.”

“I see.”

Tap, tap.

He tapped the table with his fingertips along with a short answer.

It felt like the hairs on her body were standing on end. Heat rushed to the tip of her nose.

His fingertips. His voice. His eyes.

None of them were direct threats, but Jung-oh couldn’t move as if her whole body was paralyzed.

This person is angry.

I dragged a man who suffered because of Chae Eun-bi’s lies into the world of lies again. I shouldn’t have said those words.

Jung-oh lost the will to resist.

“Then I’ll call you again next time.”

He said politely, returning the document he had received from Assistant Manager Go Eun-joo. Jung-oh moved her heavy steps with the Three Musketeers.

And, in that last step.

Click.

The moment the door closed behind her, Ki-hoon turned around. Only Ki-hoon and Eun-joo came out of the office.

“Huh? Assistant Manager Lee didn’t come out.”

“Looks like she has something urgent to talk about.”

“Shouldn’t we protect her?”

“We’ve done enough. Let’s go.”

Eun-joo walked ahead towards the hallway.

The door was quietly locked from the inside.

…Locked.

Only suffocating tension filled the silence.

Jung-oh, who voluntarily remained in the office, was trapped between the door and Ji-heon’s body.

She spoke cautiously.

“Director, the reason I said that was…”

“Whose man am I?”

However, he interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

As expected, he pointed out that phrase first. She was so sorry that her lips wouldn’t open any further.

“If you said I was yours, you have to take responsibility.”

Jung-oh slowly shook her head.

No, no, I’m not yours. Jung Ji-heon is Jung Ji-heon’s…

“What courage did you have to say that?”

Ji-heon threw out any words and watched her reaction.

He had learned a few of her habits in the meantime.

When she loses her words, she uses her head.

There are moments when her eyes move from side to side as if she is calculating in her head.

He wanted to take over that gap. So that she only thinks of him.

Ji-heon quickly lowered his head and sucked her lips deeply before letting go.

He didn’t ask. She was the one who made him someone’s. He was hers, so she couldn’t argue with him, that’s all he had to say.

I’m your man. I am.

She looked a little more dazed after the short kiss.

The great opportunist Jung Ji-heon would never miss this moment. He lowered his head again.

Tap.

However, as he had done in front of the pork cutlet restaurant, a swat flew to his lips.

Jung-oh immediately realized that something was wrong. Her plan to start as friends had crumbled. Perhaps she should have noticed that day when he kissed her hand.

She didn’t know what kind of person he was, and she showed him too many different sides of herself, so she was wary and couldn’t think of that easy thing.

That this person still regards her as a woman.

He was approaching her with the appearance of a man he had never shown to Chae Eun-bi.

Tears welled up in her eyes in bewilderment.

But she still couldn’t let her guard down. She was a realistic person.

Tap.

She slapped his lips one more time, which were faster than his words, and pushed him away without thinking.

He was pushed back as she pushed him, and he really seemed like hers. It was so easy that she was rather embarrassed.

I want to come to my senses, at least.

“You’re the one who’s wrong.”

She glared at him with determination and seriously argued.

“No matter how urgent the situation was, you shouldn’t have done that. It’s not like a fake lover is okay and a fake marriage promise isn’t. Both are bad, both.”

You were wrong from the beginning.

You shouldn’t have done that. Your decision would have been a hope torture for Eun-bi.

He leaned back against the sofa, pushed to the edge of the sofa. As he leaned, his eye level was just right with her.

She was so serious, but he was still smiling as he looked at her head-on.

A gentle smile that seemed to embrace the world penetrated her heart.

She couldn’t help but feel her heart weakening.

She was flustered and began to stammer.

“So, so… you have to reflect until the Chae Eun-bi thing is resolved.”

“Okay.”

“Again, again! You can’t do that. You say okay without any emotion and lie, and when that’s revealed, you enjoy it again.”

He had a truly joyful look even though she was panting.

“Okay.”

“Huh. Geez. This isn’t the time to laugh. What did you know?”

“I know.”

“…….”

“That Lee Jung-oh’s words have gotten shorter.”

With that answer, he kissed her again. He lowered his eyelids and his determination to find her lips was no different from seven years ago.