A child who looks like me

Eun-bi continued to ponder how she should live her life moving forward.

Her BJ friend, who was in trouble due to a manipulated broadcast, had done something outrageous. He had turned Ji-heon into an unfaithful man and Jung-o into his mistress. The story Eun-bi had shared with him in frustration before visiting Guksun Baekban had come back to haunt her.

After that, the BJ requested help from Eun-bi. He insisted they needed to reveal the truth to destroy Jung-o and restore their honor. Eun-bi found herself at a crossroads.

While she was deep in thought, a call came in. The caller was Ji-heon.

She realized the positive function of this exposure battle. Ji-heon, who had not even checked in on her during her absence and had never reached out to the Production Team 1 members, was now contacting her directly.

“Hello?”

[It’s been a while.] Hearing Ji-heon’s voice after so long nearly brought her to tears.

I really liked you, Oppa.

She still did. If he were to give up on Jung-o and come back to her, she would be ready to accept him. If he brought Yena with him, she could raise Yena too. She could even dedicate herself to his parents.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say those heartfelt words. Instead, Eun-bi asked with a sulky tone.

“What’s up?”

[I contacted you because one of the staff at the headquarters has been absent without leave for a long time.] “……”

[Are you going to come back to work?] “Is that an easy thing for you to say? How can I go back there?”

[You still need to settle things properly, don’t you?] He wasn’t trying to hold her back at all. The harshness of his words made her stomach churn.

[You need to come in tomorrow. Production Team 1 is struggling because of your absence without any notice.] “……Do you have anything else to say?”

[You still need to come in. We need to wrap things up properly.] “…….”

[Let’s talk tomorrow.] He avoided her question, quickly summarizing the matter and hanging up.

Maybe it was because it had been a while, but his voice sounded strangely cold yet gentle. She felt her resolve shake again, but now she understood. She had to let go of Ji-heon. The man she had liked for more than ten years and invested over four years in.

Imagining Jung-o standing next to Ji-heon, the anger inside her flared up again.

With tears in her eyes, Eun-bi picked up her phone again. The only person she could rely on now. The only man who would be on her side. She wanted to call him and seek his opinion.

The man picked up the phone right away.

“Director Jung wants you to come to the company tomorrow. He wants you to settle things properly.”

Eun-bi complained about what had just happened to the man, almost like a child. He asked.

[So, are you just going to sort everything out and leave?] “I want to endure it, but what can I do? I have no way out. I’m at a disadvantage here.”

[But you still have a weapon, right?] “…….”

[The fact that you were Director Jung’s lover.] The man’s answer cleared Eun-bi’s mind. The BJ had already described her as a victim on his channel. The company still believed that she and Ji-heon had been in a romantic relationship and had broken up. Indeed, it was a weapon she could use.

[In a love rivalry, preemptive strikes are crucial. Who gets to claim the victim’s position first is key.] That’s right. She couldn’t just leave quietly like this.

If she couldn’t have Ji-heon, then Jung-o shouldn’t be able to have him either. To do that, Jung-o had to be ruined. She needed to humiliate her.

Just like the BJ did, she would explode the situation. It wasn’t impossible.

Determined, Eun-bi’s eyes sparkled with a sharp light.

“Yeah. I’ll drop the bomb.”

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

The next day, as Ji-heon had requested, Eun-bi returned to work after a long absence.

As expected, no one welcomed her back. Her unexplained absence had caused her team too much trouble. Even Deputy Yoo-ri looked at her with displeasure.

“Looks like you had it easy. You’ve put on some weight.”

It was true that having stayed at home for so long, her body had become soft, and she had been sleeping all day due to having nothing to do. Eun-bi, stung by Yoo-ri’s words, offered another excuse.

“I’m just swollen. I’m not as well as you think.”

Eun-bi apologized gracefully.

“I’m going to resign. I’m really sorry for how things turned out. I feel wronged and upset too.”

And subtly, she hinted that she was the victim in this situation.

After tidying up her desk, Eun-bi expressed her intention to resign to Team Leader Ahn. He prepared the necessary paperwork without trying to convince her to stay.

“You just need to get the director’s signature and submit it.”

How could her last moment at a company where she had dedicated her youth end up like this?

Receiving Team Leader Ahn’s approval file, Eun-bi glanced across the room. There was Jung-o, the instigator of it all.

Jung-o was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t spare a thought for Eun-bi, even as she packed up her things for her resignation. She occasionally smiled and chatted with her team members.

We’ll see if you can still smile like that in an hour.

Eun-bi snickered to herself as she went to find Ji-heon. Without saying a word, she handed him the paperwork. Ji-heon skimmed through it before speaking.

“It’s a shame that it’s ending like this.”

It seemed he was disappointed not to see a responsible side of her. But only the phrase “It’s a shame” echoed deeply in Eun-bi’s ears, stirring her emotions.

I’ve built so many memories going back and forth to your home. I could have been a good wife for you.

She also wanted to save Ji-heon from being bewitched by the witch-like Jung-o, who had taken the easy path.

“Oppa, you’re being deceived right now. Jung-o is holding you back with the excuse that she has a child!”

Eun-bi poured her heart out to Ji-heon, making one last appeal.

“This is all Jung-o’s scheme. Why would she hide that she was pregnant with your child seven years ago? It wasn’t the child you wanted. Jung-o secretly gave birth to the child with the intention of claiming your wealth or inheritance later. And now she’s come back because she’s sure you’ve lost your memory! Don’t you understand?”

“Cha Eun-bi. That’s not it.”

But nothing got through to him. His calm voice, almost heavy with decorum, interrupted Eun-bi’s words.

“I found Jung-o.”

“…….”

“My memory has returned.”

Eun-bi’s eyes trembled.

“Jung-o hasn’t told me anything first. In fact, she misinterpreted our fake relationship and became even more cautious. I was the one who got entangled with someone like her.”

Ji-heon continued to speak calmly. It was the first time he was sharing their story.

“I didn’t even know Jung-o had a child. I certainly had no idea that the child was mine. And remember, you were the one who exposed the fact that Jung-o had a child at the company.”

At Ji-heon’s remark, Eun-bi swallowed her tears.

“Make sure to hand over your responsibilities properly. And organize the computer files well.”

“…….”

“You’ve worked hard.”

After finishing his words, Ji-heon handed Eun-bi the paperwork he had signed neatly.

Now, his gaze seemed almost kind, as if he were wishing her well for her future. He no longer glared at her with the cold, piercing eyes he had before. However, that dignified and calm pressure tightened around Eun-bi’s chest even more.

As she left the office with the documents, she encountered Team Leader Ahn Chan-seop again.

“Manager Chae, please hand over the materials you were responsible for before you leave. Don’t forget to send emails to the planning team and check in with the handover person to let them know what to do with each item.”

“Are you assigning tasks to someone who’s leaving today?”

“I also don’t want to make this difficult for you. But what can I do? A lot of holes have appeared in the work during your absence. If you don’t do the handover properly, the next person will have a hard time.”

Eun-bi opened her mouth to argue but then closed it.

Right. Today, I’ll make sure to be the true victim.

She sat down and turned on her PC. Her desktop was cluttered with files. Organizing it seemed impossible even if she stayed up all night.

Moreover, asking her to check the handover person for each file was too tedious for her to take on while leaving the company.

Eun-bi connected her personal PC to the company’s shared folder and inserted a download link in the email she was sending. Then she added a meaningful note.

“I am leaving this beloved company due to personal reasons. The affection I had for this place is matched only by my heartbreak. I hope none of my colleagues experience what I have. I apologize for not being able to say goodbye to each of you personally. I plan to give away some of my cherished items while organizing my desk. I’ll be leaving at 3 PM today, so I would appreciate it if you could stop by before then. Thank you for everything. Take care.”

A neatly composed message that piqued curiosity. It was a kind note that clearly expressed her position as a victim.

Now it’s up to you all.

With a light heart, Eun-bi clicked the “send” button on the all-staff email and headed to the HR department with the paperwork. When she returned after submitting the documents, she found the area around Production Team 1 in disarray.

Not only the handover personnel from the brands she had been responsible for but also employees she hadn’t been close to during her time at the company had gathered. They seemed excited at the prospect of receiving some of her cherished items.

“Beggars love free stuff,” she scoffed to herself. Anyway, it looked like her final moments would make for a good stage.

“Manager Chae, I heard you’re leaving the company.”

The team leader from the planning department approached her with a look of pity.

Behind the planning team leader, Deputy Jo Si-nae came forward, looking distressed.

“Manager! Why are you leaving?!”

Seeing Deputy Jo, who remained loyal even after being ousted from the team, made Eun-bi tear up for real.

“I didn’t want to either…”

Eun-bi hugged Si-nae and burst into tears.

“I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to keep my position. You know how much loyalty I had….”

“Manager Chae, what on earth happened? What unfair thing happened to you…?”

The planning team leader, softened by Eun-bi’s tears, stepped closer to ask. The surrounding people started murmuring. Deputy Jo Si-nae, feeling indignant, shouted.

“Don’t you know why Manager Chae is leaving? The man she was going to marry was cheating with another woman! And that woman is roaming around the same company!”

Deputy Jo Si-nae was about to leave for another company herself, so her words came out without hesitation.

Eun-bi felt a thrill of excitement inside.

Yes, Deputy Jo Si-nae. Keep going! Keep going until you reveal Jung-o’s name!

Someone cautiously asked,

“So you mean… the director has a mistress, and that’s why Manager Chae broke up with him?”

“Didn’t you know? That mistress is taking all of Manager Chae’s work…”

As Deputy Jo continued to glare at Jung-o’s position, Song Gi-hoon from Production Team 2 suddenly stood up.

“Manager Chae, what is this material?”

The flow of the conversation abruptly stopped. Eun-bi shot Gi-hoon a glare.

“What do you mean?”

“There’s something strange among the files in the download link you sent.”

“There were too many files for me to check each one. I thought it would be good for you to filter them out on your own, Gi-hoon.”

“No, this is really strange. It’s a recording file. Didn’t you check it?”

Gi-hoon lifted his laptop onto the partition and showed it to Eun-bi. In the folder accessed through the email’s download link was a file titled ‘Jung Ji-heon0604.’ It was a recording file. Gi-hoon clicked on the file.

[Did I ever ask you for anything? Why are you using my name for something you wanted to do? I never expected anything from you.] [We agreed to date! That was the promise! If we agreed to date, then we have to put in effort! I’ve worked this hard!]

Eun-bi’s heart dropped as she recognized the voices. It was her and Ji-heon.

It was a conversation they had fought over in Ji-heon’s office long ago. The conversation where Jung Ji-heon nailed down their fake relationship.

What on earth… How is this here?

“Why… is this…?”

Even while Eun-bi was frozen in shock, the stark truth continued to play from Gi-hoon’s computer.

[Eun-bi Chae. We only dated to cover up rumors from four years ago. You said that too, remember? After that, you should have wrapped things up instead of creating baseless rumors.] [….] [Just stop it. Wrap it up within a week. I’ll overlook all your bravado and lies up until now.]

My weapon. The weapon that proved I was Ji-heon’s girlfriend…

The crowd began to murmur. The way people looked at Eun-bi changed. Those who had felt a little sorry for her were now unable to hide their confusion.

Deputy Ko Eun-joo also stood up from her seat and asked Eun-bi, “Manager… when did you record this?”

“I… I didn’t do it! It was Director Jung Ji-heon who recorded it!”

“Oh, so the recording is true.”

Eun-joo nodded.

“No!”

Eun-bi shouted, her face flushed red.