A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 81

81. Cuteness That Saves the World

As Jeong-o and Ji-heon walked to the parking lot, Ji-heon’s phone vibrated. He glanced at the screen, hesitant to answer. Jeong-o asked,

“Who is it? Why aren’t you answering?”

“My mother.”

“Take it. …Should I give you some space? Or just go alone?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Jeong-o stepped back slightly, but Ji-heon quickly pulled her back to his side. He then answered the call.

[Hey, Ji-heon.]

Even before Ji-heon could raise the phone to his ear, Lady Jang Young-mi’s sharp voice blared.

“Yes, Mother.”

[Come home. We need to talk.]

“What about?”

[What do you mean? You must have a lot to say, too.]

Young-mi’s voice barely contained her urgency.

[Eun-yeop came home earlier.]

“Mother, I told you not to meet Chae Eun-yeop…”

[Everything she said makes sense. I honestly don’t know who’s lying, you or her.]

“……”

[You, who used to be so kind and obedient, suddenly broke up with Eun-bi, stopped listening to me, and ignored me. How can I accept anything you say? If that Lee Ye-na isn’t your daughter, do you know what will happen to you? You’ll be a fool. A pushover. And not only that, you’ll be a laughingstock…]

As the provocative words poured in, Ji-heon quickly turned down the volume.

[Get a test first. A blood test. If the blood test shows that she’s your child, then we’ll talk again. Right now, I’m against you seeing someone like that.]

It wasn’t a pleasant call, and thankfully, it ended quickly.

Jeong-o, aware of Ji-heon’s family dynamics, quickly understood the gist of the conversation.

“Your mother is saying something.”

“…She wants me to get a paternity test quickly. A blood test.”

“I can cooperate, but I’m worried about Ye-na.”

Ji-heon sighed. He was already concerned about losing more ground with his daughter, who already didn’t like him much.

Quickly gathering his thoughts, Ji-heon said decisively,

“Let’s do the paternity test later. When Ye-na accepts me.”

“Your mother will keep pushing. How are you going to handle that?”

“It’s okay. I have a way.”

Ji-heon answered firmly, reassuring Jeong-o.

The car sped smoothly down the road and soon arrived in front of Jeong-o’s house. As Jeong-o unbuckled her seatbelt, Ji-heon asked cautiously,

“Can I come in?”

“Of course. You should come in. Hurry up.”

At Jeong-o’s answer, a bright smile bloomed on his face. Jeong-o couldn’t help but smile at his delighted expression, like a child who had received an unexpected treat.

She found herself thinking he was cute, so easily moved by small things. He’d probably stop smiling if he knew what she was thinking.

Thanks to Ji-heon, Jeong-o also began to cherish her daily life more. Her child’s sleeping face, her child’s casual remarks, the time spent with her child… She knew Ye-na was the most precious princess in the world, but sometimes Jeong-o was overwhelmed by reality and neglected her.

There were times when she was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t answer until Ye-na had called her ‘Mom’ about ten times, and there were many times when she just played with her roughly. When the child fussed because she couldn’t sleep, she would scold her to be quiet.

She realized how envious Ji-heon would be of the things she had easily and conveniently overlooked. With that thought, Jeong-o also reflected on her actions. She resolved to be a more affectionate mother to her child in the future.

As Jeong-o opened the front door, the child ran over.

“Mommy!”

“Princess Ye-na!”

The usual mother-daughter reunion. Jeong-o hugged Ye-na tightly and walked to the center of the living room, asking,

“Did our Ye-na come straight from Gunsan because she missed Mommy?”

“Yes. I wanted to sleep with Mommy.”

“But Grandma must be tired.”

“Ye-na was tired too. But I still came.”

As the mother and daughter continued their conversation, Guk-soon, who was unpacking in the room, came out and asked,

“Lee Ye-na, aren’t you going to say hello to your father?”

“…Hello.”

Ye-na omitted the title ‘father’ and whispered to Jeong-o,

“Mommy, why did he come again today?”

“Your father said he missed Ye-na.”

Jeong-o whispered back to Ye-na.

“Why? We saw him yesterday.”

“Ye-na slept with Mommy yesterday too, and that’s why she came back from Gunsan today. It’s the same thing. Your father wants to see Ye-na every day.”

Hmph.

Ye-na wasn’t convinced by Jeong-o’s gentle persuasion.

She wanted to ask why he hadn’t come before if he wanted to see her every day. But she was afraid that her mom would hate her if she associated with the man, so she didn’t say anything.

Ji-heon spoke to Ye-na, who was stuck to Jeong-o like glue because of her stubbornness.

“Ye-na, shall we play Go [a strategy board game] together?”

But Ye-na refused with a sulky look.

“No, thank you.”

Hmph. Does he think I only play Go all the time?

“I’m going to play cat’s cradle with Mommy. Mommy, let’s play cat’s cradle.”

“Okay, sure.”

Jeong-o, who was suddenly chosen as her cat’s cradle partner, glanced at Ji-heon and brought the yarn. Her plan was that if she made a shape and passed the string to Ji-heon, they would naturally end up playing together.

But the problem was that Jeong Ji-heon didn’t know how to play cat’s cradle.

Jeong-o took the string back from Ye-na’s hands and held it out to Ji-heon. A look of panic crossed Ji-heon’s face.

Ye-na looked displeased.

“You don’t know how to play cat’s cradle?”

“Ye-na, you should call him Dad.”

At Jeong-o’s correction, Ye-na pressed her lips together even more stubbornly.

“Our Ye-na is a kind friend who helps her friends when they have difficulties and teaches them when they don’t know something. How about being kind to Dad and teaching him how to play cat’s cradle?”

Jeong-o handed the string to Ye-na and coaxed her gently. After a long pause, Ye-na reluctantly showed the yarn to Ji-heon. Since both hands were occupied with the yarn, she had to use her toes to point.

“Put one finger here, and another finger here. Put one in here and here too, and then pull it.”

“Here? Here?”

Ji-heon moved his fingers, following Ye-na’s wiggling toes.

Jeong-o and Guk-soon barely managed to hold back their laughter as they watched the two of them, who looked as serious as if they were conducting a science experiment while playing cat’s cradle.

Ji-heon followed Ye-na’s instructions and put the yarn on his thumb and index finger. The string that had been neatly wrapped around the child’s small fingers was passed to Ji-heon’s hand.

Ye-na pulled her hand away and said,

“Now, pull it!”

At Ye-na’s thorough advice, Ji-heon pulled the string with all his might. But he failed to control his strength, and the yarn unraveled. Ye-na looked like she was about to cry, and Ji-heon felt embarrassed.

“Aaaah, it’s ruined! You ruined it because of you!”

“Ye-na, you should call him Dad.”

Jeong-o immediately corrected her.

* * * * * * * *

A precious night passed quickly, and the next morning arrived.

Ji-heon dressed neatly in a suit and visited the Seryun Group headquarters. He had something to discuss with his father.

Chairman Jeong Jae-gwang, the head of Seryun Group.

A meticulous man who worked 380 days out of 365 days a year, seemingly using 25 hours a day.

“Father, I’m here.”

“Yes.”

“You’re here on a Sunday.”

“I have a lot to review.”

It had been almost two months since they had met privately, except for a brief encounter during the executive report, but the father and son’s conversation was cold and distant.

“When you sit in this position, you’ll understand how I feel. It’s a position that is responsible for the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. Not only those employees but also their families become our family. So I have to work hard.”

The story about work and the advice that followed contained his father’s life philosophy.

He was so perfect when it came to work, but he was never a family man. Perhaps his father’s thorough sense of responsibility made his mother even lonelier.

Perhaps his mother was more obsessed with him because of the love she didn’t receive from his father.

A heartless father. A father who had been heartless.

He wasn’t sure if he could tell his father everything. He didn’t know if his father would be a shield that could block all the external pressure, or if he would side with his mother and pressure him.

He was afraid that the conflict would escalate, but he would still confront it.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Yes. That’s why you came. Tell me.”

Ji-heon took courage and began.

“Father, don’t you want to see your granddaughter?”

At the sudden question, Jae-gwang’s eyebrow rose.

“Have you finally changed your mind?”

Jae-gwang sighed roughly, as if it were a natural but tedious topic, and answered easily.

“Yes. Get married. I used to want your brother to get married first and then send you off, but now that’s not the case. If you’ve made up your mind, do it right away. Have lots and lots of granddaughters and grandsons.”

“No, it’s not that.”

“……”

“Actually, I already have a child. Seven years old.”

Jae-gwang, who had been waving his hand as if trying to dismiss a troublesome task, raised his head sharply and looked at Ji-heon.

In the silence, Jae-gwang stared at Ji-heon and invited him to sit on the sofa, and he also sat opposite him.

“Sit down.”

An illegitimate child. His son had an illegitimate child.

It was fortunate that he was still unmarried, but the fact that the child was seven years old was quite problematic.

“What’s the child’s name?”

“Lee Ye-na.”

“Lee?”

“I didn’t know.”

“……”

“I lost all my memories and missed everything.”

Jae-gwang took a deep breath as if preparing himself and said,

“Tell me. Tell me everything without leaving anything out.”

Ji-heon told Jae-gwang everything that had happened. How he met Jeong-o and how they broke up. How Jeong-o lived her life because of his car accident and amnesia, and how they met again.

While listening to Ji-heon’s story, Jae-gwang slowly rubbed his sweaty hands.

He never thought that his son would be the protagonist of such a story. And…

“Granddaughter. A granddaughter…”

Shock, excitement, curiosity, and pity.

Various emotions that he had forgotten while focusing on work seemed to be clamoring inside him, each claiming to be the most important.

His son fueled his excited heart even more.

“Father. Daughters are great. Daughters rule the world. Besides…”

“……”

“She’s very smart.”

Smart?

“And she’s very pretty.”

And pretty? Very?

“She’s very cute.”

Even cute?

“She has a cuteness that saves the world.”

Ji-heon, who had come with the mission to persuade his father, took out a photo from his inner pocket that would be the finishing touch.

It was a photo he had received from Jeong-o. A photo of Princess Ye-na’s beautiful appearance taken on the morning of her seventh birthday.

Jae-gwang picked up the photo with trembling hands.

A precious girl who appeared in the Jeong family after three generations.

His feelings after first greeting his precious granddaughter with a photo…

This can’t be.

Jae-gwang unknowingly placed his hand on his heart. His heart ached.

It really was a cuteness that saves the world.