A child who looks like me

After Ji-heon left, Young-mi truly fell ill.

She never expected her son to act this way. That he would abandon his mother for a woman.

It felt as if the sky had collapsed.

You were my everything.

Throughout Ji-heon’s upbringing, Young-mi felt profoundly lonely. She rarely exchanged more than a few words with her husband in a year, and her stoic son was no different. On top of that, there was her husband’s ex-wife’s son, who looked at her with disdain.

To raise the spirits of these three men, she had spent her life with her shoulders hunched. She had devoted herself to them. From her perspective, that was the case.

All she wished for was the happy marriage of her precious son. She wanted to see him marry a good woman from a good family and live a life of comfort and security.

She merely hoped for a modest future where she could get along with a daughter-in-law who was affectionate and friendly, like a friend or sometimes even like a daughter. That was all her desire amounted to.

Yet that simple dream had crumbled completely due to Jung-oh. Now even her life’s treasure, her child, had turned away. She could not reach out to the child who casually said he never wanted to see her again.

How could you do this to me after everything I’ve done for you?

Memories flooded Young-mi’s mind. The difficult moments, sometimes proud moments, of giving birth and raising her child, the countless emotions she had felt during those times… Even though memories piled up like mountains, the empty future overshadowed everything.

It felt like being left alone in the desert of a pitch-black night.

After finishing a meeting upon receiving a call from Ji-heon, Jae-gwang peeked through the door and entered Young-mi’s bedroom.

He had scolded his son for his harsh treatment of his mother, but on the other hand, he could understand Ji-heon. His son needed to establish a new family as soon as possible. When Ji-heon created a new family, there should be no obstacles in his way.

So, it seemed wise to keep a distance from his mother for a while. Ultimately, it was Jae-gwang’s responsibility to win back Young-mi’s heart.

“Dear. Ji-heon’s mother.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“……”

“Tell Ji-heon that I don’t even want to live anymore.”

“Is it wise to drive such a wedge into your son’s heart?”

Jae-gwang’s voice turned cautious as his wife was raising her ire. Though they seldom conversed, the balance between them had not been disrupted. It was an unspoken rule established over their thirty-plus years of marriage.

“Ji-heon can never truly leave you. He will come back someday, so don’t suffer too much.”

“You haven’t seen how harshly Ji-heon lashed out at me.”

“Ji-heon’s mother.”

Jae-gwang gently tried to comfort Young-mi once more.

“Our granddaughter is really beautiful. She has some resemblance to Ji-heon, and maybe because of that, she seems a bit like you too.”

“……”

“I hope you can pick out clothes with our granddaughter, plant trees and flowers in the garden together, make a swing, and push her all day long. I wish we could clap together watching her do her little tricks, someday.”

“……”

“Let’s do that someday, okay?”

Young-mi turned her back to Jae-gwang, and he could hear her sobbing.

“I’m sorry for leaving you alone all this time.”

“……”

“It was wrong of me to leave you alone every day for the sake of the company, and to ignore the household chores. I was at fault for all of it.”

The sound of Young-mi’s sobbing grew louder.

No matter how much she cried, her son would not return.

***

In between meetings, Jung-oh seized the opportunity to do some internet research. He searched about panic attacks, anxiety disorders, and trauma.

It seemed that Jiheon needed psychological therapy right now.

The foundation of all psychological therapy is said to be discovering and expressing emotions. Jeong-o began to think about Jiheon’s emotional state.

Jiheon often looked at others as if he were indifferent to everything in the world. Perhaps he had been trained to maintain a poker face from a young age because of his family’s large business.

If this was the result of years of training, there was nothing more to say, but if it meant that some passageway to his emotions had become completely blocked, Jeong-o wanted to help him fix it.

Deep within him, there might be many memories and feelings that lay dormant. Even if he couldn’t recall the memories from seven years ago, she wanted to bring his emotions to light.

She hoped to teach him how to own his feelings so that whether joy, sadness, anger, or pleasure, he could express himself honestly.

While reading various materials for quite a while, the phone rang.

“Yes, this is Lee Jeong-o from Production Team 2.”

[Jeong-o, please come to my office.]

It was Jiheon’s voice.

After leaving just a brief instruction, the call ended abruptly, and Jeong-o sighed in exasperation.

Muttering to herself all the way, Jeong-o entered the office and closed the door behind her, immediately confronting him.

“If you keep calling me like this, I might just quit. Director.”

“What?”

Jiheon raised an eyebrow at her shocking warning. He took a heavy step closer to her. Jeong-o felt a sudden chill; she could somewhat read the look in his eyes. She had pushed a button of his.

Taking a step back, she said, “Ah, no, just a joke.”

“That’s not okay. Who gave you the right to joke like that?”

However, as she stepped back, he moved twice as close.

“I told you it was a joke.”

“Why make a joke like that? It makes my heart race.”

Actually, my heart is racing even more!

It didn’t take long for the distance between them to vanish.

With Jiheon approaching, it was all too predictable.

As much as she resented the confined space, she couldn’t let him feel uneasy today, just as he had yesterday.

Alright then. If you’re going to do it, do it quickly.

Jeong-o’s eyelids fluttered down. Her lips instinctively moved a little forward. But—

Suddenly.

“Ugh! What are you doing?!”

She had expected a kiss, but it turned out to be a headlock.

Jiheon was indeed an unpredictable man. With his arms around her neck, he started tickling her waist, causing her body to twist involuntarily.

“Ah! Stop it! Stop it!”

No matter how much she twisted, she couldn’t break free. Since they were in an office, she couldn’t yell freely either. Jeong-o writhed in a mix of agony and ticklishness.

“Say you’re sorry. Quickly.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s too easy. It’s not fun.”

“I said it with difficulty. Do you know how hard it is for me to say I’m sorry?”

“Nope. You said it too easily.”

“No! Please believe me.”

“Then that won’t do. You can’t say that to me.”

There was something about his tone that seemed to carry a sense of lingering resentment, prompting Jeong-o to question, “Are you still acting this way because of what I said yesterday?”

“Yes.”

Wow. What a sensitive guy.

She thought everything had been resolved yesterday, but he surprisingly had a timid side.

But that too was a form of emotional expression. With a mindset of comforting a child, Jeong-o decided to play along with Jiheon’s wrestling.

“I swear I won’t go anywhere.”

“I swear. I won’t go anywhere.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I won’t go. I won’t go anywhere.”

“Will you be by my side forever?”

“Yes. I’ll just be here, right?”

“Then sign here.”

“What?”

With Jeong-o still in his embrace, Jiheon clumsily moved toward the table and tapped a document that was mostly obscured, making it impossible to see the content. It seemed he wanted her to sign in the blank space.

“Sign here. It’s a pledge that you won’t go anywhere.”

“Okay, okay. Let me go, and I’ll do it.”

Finally, his grip was released. Jeong-o picked up a pen and pushed aside the papers that obscured the document.

Ah. A marriage registration form.

It was a marriage registration form that only had Jiheon’s signature on it.

“You made such a fuss just to get me to sign this? Did you think I wouldn’t do it?”

Jiheon turned away as if avoiding her question. Jeong-o chuckled and signed the marriage registration form. She wanted to look at it more, but Jiheon quickly snatched it away, seemingly afraid that she might change her mind.

“I haven’t submitted it yet.”

“Why not?”

“I need to get a witness’s signature as well.”

“You can just get the signatures from Deputy Manager Park Seung-kyu or our team members.”

When Jeong-o pressed him, he again didn’t respond. She tilted her head, wondering if there was another issue at play.

After a moment, he said, “Let’s go together next week.”

“…”

“By the way, I’ve drafted the complaint. Read it and let me know if you want to make any changes. Let’s get this done first.”

Jiheon handed her another document that had been covering the marriage registration form. It was a defamation complaint against BJ. Since this was something Jeong-o also needed to take care of, she accepted the document in silence, but she remained puzzled by how quickly Jiheon had changed the subject.

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

On Friday, when work finished early, Jeong-o went to pick up Yena and Dobin.

“Mommy!”

“Princess Yena!”

Yena spotted Jeong-o first and ran toward her, followed closely by Dobin.

“Auntie, hello!”

“Hello, Dobin. Today, let’s have dinner and play together at my place with Yena, okay?”

“Yes!”

Having received a lot of help from Jin-seo, she saw this as an opportunity to repay him. Jeong-o got into a taxi with the children.

Dobin, visiting Yena’s house for the first time, looked a bit nervous. Meanwhile, Yena was busy fiddling with her cellphone. Dobin gazed at Yena for a moment and then muttered.

“I want a cellphone too.”

“Just ask for one.”

“I asked my mom to buy me one, but she said no.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t listen.”

“Why don’t you listen to your mom?”

“I do listen, but I just can’t seem to act on it.”

Jeong-o couldn’t help but laugh quietly at Dobin’s explanation. Dobin continued earnestly.

“And you get scolded by your mom all the time. You probably can’t act on it like me.”

“Why do you get scolded all the time?”

“My mom says that me being scolded all day is because of her. She thinks she raised me wrong.”

“If your mom raised you wrong, then she should be the one getting scolded, not you.”

“I don’t really know about that either.”

“……”

“So I’m forgiving her for all the wrongs she did all day. Even if she doesn’t forgive me, I forgive her.”

Oh, this little cutie.

Jeong-o couldn’t hold back her laughter at Dobin’s serious words. As she let out a puff of laughter, she cleared her throat to regain her composure, but Dobin caught her laughing. However, it seemed he didn’t think Jeong-o was laughing at him.

“Auntie, this is a secret. You can’t tell my mom, okay?”

“Okay, I got it, Dobin.”

Jeong-o managed to suppress her laughter and nodded seriously.

Since it wasn’t far, the taxi soon arrived in front of Yena’s house. As Yena got out of the taxi, she was still looking at her cellphone.

It seemed like she was texting her dad, but Jeong-o couldn’t help but wonder what secret conversation was so urgent that she had been smiling while glued to her phone. However, since she had already given a warning, her voice had to become stern.

“Yena, I told you not to look at your phone while walking.”

This was now a punishment. Jeong-o snatched the cellphone from Yena.

“No! My cellphone!”

“I’ll give it back later. Not now.”

“I’ll just hang it around my neck without using it.”

“Still not allowed.”

Yena pouted her lips and cutely pleaded, “Mom, you can’t look at my phone instead, okay?”

Does she really dislike showing it to her mom that much?

The more she did that, the more it made Jeong-o worry.

The only numbers saved in the child’s phone were Jeong-o’s, Guksun’s, Jiheon’s, and Jin-seo’s. If the child saved any other numbers, the mom would receive a notification as well.

‘It’s certain that she’s texting her dad.’

Jeong-o began to think deeply.

She started to wonder what kind of conversations a father and daughter were having.