A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 55

55. I Love You Too

“I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink.”

The handsome man sitting next to Eunbi said, looking concerned.

Eunbi, who had come to the bar alone and started talking to the man, shook her index finger and her head, slurring slightly.

The bartender, sensing the situation, topped off Eunbi’s glass.

Eunbi downed the drink in one go and smiled contentedly. The man next to her looked even more worried.

“You really should stop drinking.”

The man said as Eunbi was about to flag down the bartender for another.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?”

Eunbi retorted, her face flushed and her words a little slurred.

“You’ll ruin your health,” the man said gently. Eunbi’s eyes, which had been glaring fiercely, quickly softened. A tear escaped, not forced or deliberately manufactured, but a genuine tear flowing from her heart.

The memories of the past days, when she had lived only for Jung Jiheon, wavered with the man’s simple words. It was so easy to be shaken.

*Was there ever anyone who truly, sincerely worried about my well-being?*

Eunbi burst into tears in front of the man she had met for the first time that night.

* * * * * * *

In his calm eyes, Jung-oh saw a possessiveness that made her uncomfortable.

His gaze was so intense, as if he wanted to absorb every detail of her, that Jung-oh suddenly felt exposed and ashamed. She also felt a little teased, as he simply stared at her without saying a word.

She couldn’t quite grasp the memories that had been so clear seven years ago. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the scar beside his broad chest and defined abs, and she didn’t know where to focus her gaze.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to control her breathing.

As if trying to match her pace, he shared his breath with her, and she felt a tremor in his exhale. Only then did she realize that he was also nervous, which offered a small comfort.

But that comfort was fleeting.

The large hand that had swept up her spine from under the blouse draped over her shoulders paused, hesitant to move further. When his fingertip finally touched her skin, the dam broke.

Jung-oh leaned back into him, feeling a strange sense of familiarity mixed with a touch of shame. She was also subtly disappointed by his practiced touch, a feeling she couldn’t quite articulate.

Before she knew it, he gently laid her back on the bedsheets and covered her body with his own. She couldn’t even think of resisting. When he pressed down firmly on her wrist and waist, she felt her strength abandon her.

Wherever his lips touched, reddish marks bloomed on her fair skin. The thirty-three-year-old Jiheon knew things the twenty-six-year-old Jiheon hadn’t. Jung-oh’s body reacted intensely to that difference. She flinched, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Her vision blurred from the intense sensations, and she looked at him through tear-filled eyes.

Jiheon, who held her captive beneath him, let out a long sigh that bordered on an exclamation.

After a long period of restraint, he finally held the woman he considered the most beautiful in the world in his arms.

It felt like the day he first met her, his eyes stinging and his heart aching. Beyond simple pleasure, a sigh of admiration escaped him, as if he were in the presence of something sacred. His heart pounded so hard his head throbbed.

He didn’t truly believe she would run away, but his instincts seemed to have taken over, compelling him to hold her close and never let go.

*I want you to want me as much as I want you.*

“Say it.”

“…”

“Say you don’t like it, if you don’t.”

It was a question of whether she was ready to fully accept him.

She thought it was unfair of him to ask for permission with eyes that promised he would never let her go. But Jung-oh also recognized the sincerity in his gaze.

*Don’t give your heart too much, you might get hurt again someday.*

*I have a goal, and I came to him for that goal, and until I achieve that goal, I must not be swayed by personal feelings, I must not lose my rational judgment,* she repeated to herself, but she couldn’t move, as if her body was held captive by his voice, his breath, his eyes, and his touch.

*Lee Jung-oh, you are mine, whether now or then, whether I have lost my memory or not.*

His eyes, filled with raw desire, seemed to whisper those words.

The lighting highlighted the sculpted muscles of his body, creating dramatic shadows. She couldn’t help but be captivated by everything about him. He was such a beautiful, yet infuriating man.

A path she could no longer turn back from. As he had done, she answered him with a complaint.

“You’re really mean.”

“I am.”

Would her words, spoken while held tightly in his grasp, still be considered pathetic?

Jiheon smiled languidly, readily acknowledging her criticism.

An irresistible weight slowly settled upon her.

She wanted to appear experienced and in control, but she couldn’t suppress her nervousness. She felt her heart pounding twice as fast as his touched hers.

Jung-oh fought back tears, not wanting him to feel embarrassed and stop.

Her vision turned white and then black, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. At the end of a faint pain, a profound heat filled her heart.

He seemed to be trying to brand himself onto her, to make her understand the depth of Jung Jiheon’s stubbornness. In the end, tears streamed down her cheeks, unable to withstand his presence.

“Turn your head.”

“I don’t want to…”

“Look at me.”

When she groaned and turned her head to hide her tears, he gently grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his gaze.

Jiheon lowered his head and kissed away her tears, gently brushing the hair from her face.

He wanted to comfort her, but he found himself intoxicated by the sight of her trembling eyes.

He groaned, trying to suppress his voice, but the rapid breaths that escaped him only fueled his desire.

He wanted her again and again, driven by the satisfaction of what he could see and hear, and the longing created by what remained hidden.

The more he knew her, the more captivated he became. She was an utterly beautiful woman. He wanted to capture every aspect of her, so much so that even blinking felt like a waste.

She was like the missing half he had searched for his entire life. Even if he erased the past and started over, everything would be alright as long as she remained.

However, Jiheon knew that Lee Jung-oh was someone who could be loved by anyone. So, even as he held her in his arms, a fierce, unquenchable thirst surged within him.

He needed constant reassurance that she was his.

* * * * * * *

A pale dawn.

The weight of responsibility stirred him awake. Jung-oh opened her eyes in Jiheon’s arms.

*Gasp.*

She felt disoriented waking up in the arms of a man who seemed twice her size, after only holding her small child, who was half her size.

Jung-oh carefully slipped out of bed, trying not to wake Jiheon.

Jiheon didn’t necessarily need to get up, but Jung-oh, as a working-level employee, had to assist with the repatriation arrangements. Jung-oh carefully gathered the scattered clothes and put them on, then squatted in front of the bed and watched him sleep.

*He’s so handsome when he sleeps, but why is he so lewd and mean as soon as he opens his eyes?*

She still felt the lingering effects of the previous night.

*I wish I was tormenting your head too.*

*Please remember me.*

She prayed earnestly in her heart.

In fact, it all felt like a dream.

A dream that would vanish in the morning.

It felt like this man would leave her again when he woke up.

*Still, I was happy in my dream.*

Her cheeks flushed again as she recalled the night before. Jung-oh covered her cheeks with both hands and stood up, then suddenly turned her head and saw his cell phone on the bedside table.

Her heart pounded.

*If only I could check the text messages, if only I could look at the call history.*

*If only she could figure out how close he was to his mother, how he treated her mother.*

*Then her journey would be much shorter.*

Jung-oh waved her hand in front of his eyes. He didn’t react.

*He’s not waking up, he must have been very tired last night, so wouldn’t it be okay?*

She didn’t know when another opportunity like this would arise.

Jung-oh touched Jiheon’s cell phone with a nervous heart.

*Eek!*

The screen lit up, dazzling her. Jung-oh quickly shielded the light and glanced at Jiheon’s face.

*Thump, thump, thump.* Her heart was racing.

There was a text message icon at the bottom of the home screen. Just as she was about to tap it.

“Are you awake?”

*Gasp.*

Jung-oh quickly turned off the screen and turned to Jiheon, his voice raspy as if he hadn’t fully woken up yet.

“Yes! I thought there would be a lot to sort out.”

Jung-oh regretted raising her voice in embarrassment.

He got out of bed.

“Let’s go out together.”

“No, I need to wash and change. I’ll go to my room.”

As she hurried to get up, he reached out and pulled her waist.

*Thud.*

In an instant, Jung-oh landed back on the bed.

“Wash up here.”

His gaze, looking down at her with a faint smile, was incredibly seductive.

It was a position that brought back vivid memories of the previous night. No, it didn’t seem like he was just trying to recreate it.

He was naturally that kind of person.

He had approached her cautiously at first, but once they had crossed a line, he had become insatiable.

Jung-oh, who knew his past and was just beginning to understand his present, felt a surge of fear.

She was happy, but also deeply troubled.

“…It hurts.”

Her reaction was surprisingly immediate.

He asked, surprised, “Does it hurt a lot?”

“Well, just a little.”

“You should have said something.”

Soon, the desire faded from his eyes. He wrapped Jung-oh in a blanket and gently laid her back on the bed.

“Lie down a little more. I’ll wash up and come back quickly.”

After urging her, he checked the time and went straight to the bathroom.

The sound of the shower filled the room.

“Hoo…”

Jung-oh, lying still on the bed, finally exhaled in relief.

It was another opportunity.

The cell phone was right in front of her.

Jung-oh quickly touched the screen and opened the text message app. There was no security lock, so she could access it immediately.

The name ‘Mother’ was near the top of the list. The last text message from ‘Mother’ read: ‘Have a good trip, son♥’.

Jung-oh tapped the message with a trembling heart.

The conversation between his mother and Jiheon was immediately visible.

They exchanged texts roughly every four days. Usually, his mother sent long messages and Jiheon replied briefly.

Jiheon rarely initiated the conversation, and even when he did, his messages were terse.

On the other hand, his mother’s messages were full of affection: *My son, good son, handsome son.*

It was a typical exchange between a doting mother and a reserved son.

But Jung-oh’s hand froze a few messages down.

– I love you, son. You know how Mom feels, right?

– Yes. I love you too.

While she was secretly looking at his cell phone, her heart, which had been teetering precariously like a fruit hanging from a branch, felt like it had fallen to the ground, unable to withstand the wind.

The words *I love you.*

The words *I love you* that he had never said to her.

Jung-oh put down the cell phone.

Jiheon quickly finished showering.

He was worried that Jung-oh was in pain. He thought it would be best for her to rest.

*I can go out instead.*

“Don’t go out, stay here…”

Jiheon’s words, as he came out of the bathroom while drying his hair, were cut short.

Lee Jung-oh was gone.

Jiheon walked silently to the empty bed and sat down.

The bed was still warm from where they had lain together, but she was gone.

Jiheon looked down at the cell phone on the bedside table.

The cell phone, which he had checked the time on before showering, was slightly askew.

Even before he had gotten up, she had tried to secretly access his phone.

*Should I have just left her alone without saying anything?*

The text message app was at the top of the list of recently used apps.

He tapped the icon.

*There’s a lot of work talk, and there seems to be some company secrets too…*

A hollow sigh escaped his lips.

What was she trying to find?