A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 47

47. People Who Know Her

Clatter, clatter.

With Doyun napping, the sound of water splashing against the dishes filled the quiet house.

Interspersed between the clatter were Jinseo’s sighs.

Yesterday, after arriving at the hospital and regaining consciousness, Jinseo underwent several tests while still disoriented. She was eventually guided to the emergency room of the obstetrics and gynecology department, where she received unexpected news.

“A third child.”

So that’s why I’ve been so down.

How honest our bodies are.

The lack of energy, occasional dizziness, and loss of appetite over the past few days all pointed to one thing: pregnancy. Already, a tiny house the size of a bean was being built in her belly, accompanied by a faint, thumping heartbeat.

Even after hearing the heartbeat, Jinseo struggled to believe it.

“A third child.”

The children grow up so fast. Mothers can’t keep up.

Although she felt behind, she was still trying.

She hadn’t even become a good mother to her two children yet, and now there would be another.

Dobin is starting elementary school next year. Will I be chasing after him with a big belly? What if the third child is born on Dobin’s entrance ceremony day?

Just imagining that day made her head spin.

So that’s why I collapsed. Instinct is a scary thing.

“A third child……”

Seunggyu, who had finished the dishes, came into the living room and sat next to Jinseo, glancing at her furtively as she muttered. He had taken a day off work to take care of her, but he didn’t know what to say.

“We’re going to have a third child.”

“……”

“It’s not just hard for me, is it? It must be hard for you too, right?”

Seunggyu tensed at Jinseo’s monotonous, indifferent voice.

“Honey, I did something wrong……”

“Wrong? The baby is listening. Don’t say things like that.”

Even as she corrected Seunggyu, her voice lacked its usual energy.

“Children should be blessed.”

“……”

“When Dobin enters puberty, the third child will be about the size of Doyun.”

Seunggyu lowered his head and swallowed hard.

He didn’t know how it had happened. The first child had also been conceived before marriage, and Seunggyu, who had started married life unprepared, had always felt guilty towards Jinseo. But a third child?

“Honey, I’ll do better. I’ll take childcare leave or something. I’ll do anything. Don’t worry too much.”

If he could, he wanted to offer to give birth to the child himself.

That’s what he felt, but Jinseo only gave a weak smile.

It felt like her life was changing with each child.

She felt like she was entering her fourth life.

* * * * * * *

The hand that had been tapping him was caught. Jiheon grabbed Jungo’s hands with one of his, lowered his head, and kissed her easily.

Jungo didn’t know what to do and closed her eyes. Tears welled up and trickled down her face. She felt his lips touch her eyelids, and Jungo flinched.

The lips that had been kissing her eyelashes moved down.

The kiss, which felt no different from a kiss on the back of her hand at first, grew more intense with each repetition. Before she knew it, he reached her lips again, and he devoured them without hesitation. He held her tightly as her legs threatened to give way.

He was the same as he was seven years ago. No, he had become even more aggressive and demanding. His hands, his eyes, his breath were all intense. As if he had decided that there was no need for formalities, his rough breath rushed into her.

Every time she shifted in his arms, his breath deepened, as if he intended to fill her so completely that she couldn’t hold any more.

She had confidently declared that he was her man, but it felt like her heart had been captured instead.

She shouldn’t like this man too much because she didn’t know him well enough yet; she shouldn’t fall too deeply. Even as her vision blurred, she repeated this countless times in her mind, but the sensations he evoked were so overwhelming and thrilling that Jungo made a tearful face as their lips remained locked.

Her uncontrollably pounding heart kept interfering with her reasoning.

She really didn’t know what to do.

Why is he moving so fast? Can’t he slow down? I’m a person with a child. My side is a children’s protection zone! He needs to take it easy.

Well, if you hide the sign and give a warning, it won’t sound like a warning.

He was too fast, making it difficult to fully trust him. But on the other hand, she desperately wanted to.

Jiheon’s large hand grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her closer. Just as she had pushed him away, she now willingly let him capture her. The tips of his fingers pressing on her scalp felt hot.

There was definitely a moment when surrendering felt easy.

For the first time, Jiheon felt overwhelmingly grateful to be alive and healthy.

Her internal struggle to remain sane despite the temptation amused him.

He knew what she was worried about.

But that didn’t mean he could stop. The allure of this woman, Lee Jungo, had already exceeded his limits. He couldn’t be a gentleman and hold onto his reason in front of her.

He could no longer suppress the instinct that was building inside him.

Anyway, she accepted his advances even while half-heartedly resisting.

The soft lips, the sweet breath within, were dizzyingly pleasant.

“But I’m not your man yet, am I?”

He asked, his breath ghosting over her lips as he leaned closer.

“Make it quick. Make me your man.”

She glanced at him, as if misunderstanding his teasing. Even that was so cute that he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Make me yours.”

I don’t know how you’re going to make me yours, but I’ll give you everything you ask for.

* * * * * * *

After parting with Jiheon, Eunyeop contacted his younger sister, Eunbi. He met her secretly, away from the Max Planning building.

As soon as Eunyeop saw his sister, he frowned and demanded.

“What did you do to Jung Jiheon? What did you do to make him say he’s giving up the fake relationship with such a disgusted look on his face?”

Tears welled up in Eunbi’s eyes.

“Jiheon said that? He did? With a disgusted look on his face?”

“What the hell happened!”

Eunyeop shouted, losing his patience.

His sister’s successful marriage.

In fact, Eunyeop had always believed that his sister would achieve that goal before she turned thirty. But Jung Jiheon’s resistance had been surprisingly strong.

His sister would have been married already if he had focused on someone else.

Somehow, time had passed. At some point, it had become an obsession for Eunyeop as well.

Now that he had come this far, he had to get his sister married to Jung Jiheon no matter what. There was no turning back.

Eunbi sobbed and confessed the truth through her tears.

“It’s because of that girl.”

“That girl?”

“After that girl came to the company, Oppa [older brother] became strange. She keeps flirting with Jiheon. She lied to Oppa that she looked like her father, then she said she looked like her ex-boyfriend… She keeps flirting like that. She keeps following Oppa around, trying to stick with him no matter what……”

“Is Jung Jiheon the kind of guy who would fall for someone just because they’re flirting with him?”

“That’s why it’s so strange!”

Eunbi raised her voice in frustration. And.

“Oppa, you have to do something.”

“……”

“You’ve taken care of all the women who hit on Jung Jiheon before, Oppa. You’re good at that, right? 응 [a soft, pleading ‘right’?]”

She clung to her brother.

Eunbi knew that her brother, Eunyeop, was the one who had created all sorts of rumors about Jung Jiheon four years ago. He had effectively conveyed those rumors to Madam Jang Youngmi, making Jiheon unable to move and forcing him to cooperate with the fake relationship.

Since then, Eunyeop had been constantly trying to block any woman who showed signs of getting close to Jiheon.

“Try to seduce him, play with him, do something!”

Eunbi shouted. It was the first time she had seen her sister so desperate. Eunyeop also took it seriously.

“What’s that woman’s name?”

“Lee Jungo.”

“……”

“Copywriter Lee Jungo, Deputy Manager of Production Team 2.”

Lee Jungo.

Eunyeop’s eyes widened at the name.

Eunyeop had heard that name before.

* * * * * * *

Eunbi was anxious. Time was running out. Just then, she received a call from a headhunter.

Eunbi skipped overtime and left work early to meet the headhunter. The meeting place was quite far away, but Eunbi willingly endured the inconvenience.

“Manager Chae Eunbi.”

The headhunter waved as she entered the cafe. A woman in a suit was sitting next to him – her target.

“Manager, this is the AE [Account Executive] I told you about. This is Deputy Manager Nam Jiae.”

“Hello. I’m Chae Eunbi from Max Planning.”

Eunbi greeted the AE cheerfully, following the headhunter’s introduction, and launched into her prepared story.

“Well, I don’t know if you know, but my boyfriend is the head of Max Planning. It just so happened that we ended up working in the same headquarters, which is uncomfortable in many ways. I like working, but I feel like I’m not being recognized purely for my abilities. So I’m thinking of changing jobs. I heard that Two H has a good company atmosphere, so I’m interested and looking into it.”

The headhunter and AE smiled and listed various aspects of the company. All of it was unnecessary information for Eunbi, but she enthusiastically agreed with their words.

“Thank you so much for the information. It will be helpful. I’ll contact you again soon.”

“Yes, Manager. It was nice to meet you too. I’ll be waiting to hear good news.”

The AE also responded to Eunbi’s greeting with a pleasant expression.

To that AE, Eunbi revealed her true purpose, as if in passing.

“Oh, Deputy Manager Lee Jungo used to work at your company, right?”

“Oh, Deputy Manager Lee Jungo? Ah! Max Planning acquired Sangah Planning, right! So Deputy Manager Lee Jungo is there? At Max Planning?”

The AE’s eyes lit up with the welcome topic. Eunbi cheered inwardly.

“Yes. I’m in Production Team 1, and Deputy Manager Lee Jungo is in Team 2.”

“Is she doing well? Deputy Manager Lee Jungo.”

“Yes. She seems to be doing well.”

“She’s a really sparkling talent.”

“She seems to be.”

Eunbi smiled politely, even though she felt like throwing up at the praise of Jungo.

“She’s good at her job, pretty, and smart. This is a secret, but there were occasionally advertisers who had ulterior motives regarding Deputy Manager Lee Jungo. If Deputy Manager Lee Jungo didn’t have a child, she would have received a lot of proposals.”

“……She has a child? Deputy Manager Lee Jungo has a child?”

“Oh? Didn’t you know? Ah…… Should I not be talking about this?”

Joy filled Eunbi’s eyes.

Even if the sky falls, there’s a way out!

“It’s okay. Tell me. I have nowhere to spread rumors.”

“She has a very cute daughter. The child is probably seven years old now?”

A thrill ran through her body from head to toe. She couldn’t hide her smile of joy.

How dare a mother touch my man?

‘It’s done, it’s done now!’

Her heart was pounding as she thought about how to expose this fact, not knowing that it was Pandora’s box.