A child who looks like me

“…What does your mom hide from you? That kind of talk is hurtful, son.”

Mrs. Jang glanced at Ji-heon, speaking lightly to deflect his question.

Whenever there was an unfavorable mention, his mother would add that she felt hurt.

Ji-heon decided that there was no need to continue the conversation.

The way back home from his family’s house felt long and distant.

He pulled over in a dark spot and fell deep into thought.

When he was younger, his mother had interfered in his friendships. After he caused a ruckus back then, his mother contacted the friend’s mother and completely ruined their relationship.

Since then, Ji-heon had been careful about his friendships. He tried not to make friends that his mother wouldn’t approve of, and he firmly maintained the boundaries among friends.

As a result, he had few friends.

By not engaging in behaviors that would get him in trouble with his mother, he believed her obsession had naturally faded.

Or so he thought.

He never considered that, just as he could deceive his mother, she could easily deceive him as well.

But then, how could he ever find out?

It had already been seven years since that incident.

It would be hard for an ordinary person to remember something from seven years ago.

Ji-heon absentmindedly tapped on his phone screen and called Jung-o.

“Hello?”

Jung-o answered immediately.

He could hear a muffled voice on the other end that sounded like Ye-na.

“Are you with Ye-na? Should we talk later?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Just as Ji-heon was about to hang up out of courtesy, Jung-o unexpectedly held him back. After a moment, Ye-na’s voice faded, and the surroundings grew quiet; it seemed Jung-o had moved to another room to avoid disturbing her.

“Actually, you know that koala stuffed animal you gave me? Ye-na is throwing a fit for me to make a pouch for it.”

“A pouch?”

“She said the baby kangaroo is warm because it’s in the mother’s pouch, but the baby koala is just being carried around and gets cold. So she wants me to make a pouch for it.”

Ji-heon smiled with his eyes closed at the sensitivity of the child.

He could easily imagine the scene of Ye-na whining to Jung-o. Even in his imagination, the child was incredibly cute and adorable. The thought that Jung-o’s childhood wasn’t so different from this crossed his mind, and he felt an urge to run over and check right away.

“Ye-na’s grandmother used to carry her a lot in a pouch when she was little.”

A grandmother, a mother, and a child. A household of single mothers spanning two generations.

To others, it might seem like a meager and unfortunate collection of family members, but upon reflection, there was nothing inferior about it compared to his own family.

He hardly spoke to his father except about work, and he rarely saw his half-brother, meeting only a few times a year.

As for his relationship with his mother… it was a bond that hid bondage and suspicion behind the words “I love you,” merely looking at its surface.

On the outside, his family appeared bountiful and perfect, but it was, in reality, very flimsy and superficial.

What Ji-heon lacked in his family, Jung-o possessed.

“Oh, why did you contact me?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“Huh. If that’s the case, then why are you being so vague? It makes me anxious.”

“Are you anxious about my voice?”

“Of course! How could I not be nervous that you might suddenly call me to work?”

For a moment, he felt excited but was soon deflated.

His desire not to be called “sir” by her clashed with the realization that if he hadn’t been, she wouldn’t have treated his call with such importance.

In any case, he needed to become someone more personal and significant to her.

“By the way, I’ve been cooking a bit.”

Hoping to hold onto this voice a little longer, Ji-heon thought about what to say and ended up throwing out a random comment.

“Yesterday, while cooking for fun, I tried flipping a pancake, and I did well!”

“Wow! Really?”

He had thought she would dismiss it lightly, but surprisingly, her voice sounded cheerful and sincere. Ji-heon felt a little proud.

“When will you let me see you do it?”

“Yes!”

“…”

“Please show me.”

He had expected her to reject the offer outright, but unexpectedly, she answered affirmatively.

“When can you come to our house?”

“Whenever Ye-na is asleep?”

Huh.

He felt as though he had been hit hard by her boldness.

He covered his mouth with his hand to stifle his laughter.

“Does that mean you can do it today?”

The world on the other end of the phone fell silent.

“…I just thought that when Ye-na wakes up, it wouldn’t work out. She always wakes up if I’m not around.”

…Well, that makes sense.

“Ah, how about you bring the pancake and frying pan to the office? I’ll sneak in quietly to see if you can really flip it well.”

“Forget it.”

Forget it, Jung-o.

.*

“Not happening.”

His voice was sulky from disappointment, making Jung-o laugh.

Her face turned slightly red.

She genuinely just wanted to see him flip pancakes with her own eyes. But it seemed this crafty man had misinterpreted her words.

It’s my fault. I showed a gap to this opportunist.

As Jung-o finished the call, she reflected on her thoughts.

“I have to go because Ye-na is calling. Have a happy Friday! And enjoy your cooking hobby.”

After leaving her encouragement, Jung-o let out a long sigh and went out into the living room. It had been a delightful call.

It felt like going back to the time seven years ago when they would talk all night without any particular reason.

“What’s making you so happy all by yourself?”

Kuk-soon, who was making a pouch for Ye-na, asked as she saw Jung-o smiling.

“It’s nothing. I just thought of something fun. Oh, Mom, I need to step out for a bit.”

“Where are you going again?”

“I forgot something, so I’m going to the office for a bit. It’ll only take an hour or two. Just go to bed first.”

“Go tomorrow. It’s late.”

“If I get caught tomorrow, it’ll be a hassle. It’s better to go quickly today.”

“Be careful.”

Waving her hand to reassure the worried Kuk-soon, Jung-o left the house.

He had received a call from the law firm. The lawyer seemed quite busy, so they scheduled a late-night consultation. Still, it was a relief to have an appointment set without having to wait until next week.

When he opened the front door after going down to the first floor, he spotted a familiar face. It was Officer Kwon Bae-il from next door.

“Hello, Officer!”

“Oh, hello! How have you been?”

At his awkward greeting, Jung-o smiled gently.

Today, Bae-il was dressed in a suit instead of his usual police uniform. He looked like he was heading out for a formal meeting.

With his tall stature and slender face, the outfit suited him well.

“Where are you going? It’s the first time I’m seeing you in a suit. You look great today.”

“Thank you.”

However, there was a somewhat odd detail in his polished suit. A piece of yellow masking tape was stuck to the back of his hand.

“By the way, Officer, you’ve got something on your hand.”

“Oh, this?”

Bae-il didn’t seem to have any intention of taking the tape off and shyly held it out for her to see.

“It worked well when you put the tape on my mosquito bite back then…”

“Ah, so you put that on because you got bitten by a mosquito?”

“Yes, it was the only tape I had.”

Hahaha. This guy really doesn’t know how to make the most of his good looks.

PT is over, and I don’t carry tape around anymore; I want to buy him some clear tape…

“I’m glad it worked.”

Jeong-oh politely smiled, not wanting to say that it was far from effective.

“Lee Jeong-oh, you seem to be in better spirits than before.”

“Is that so?”

“It looks that way. Is there any sign of resolution with the long-unsolved case?”

“I’m not sure about that yet.”

“Either way, you look much better. Keep your chin up, and if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to call the police.”

“Yes, thank you.”

With Baeil’s encouragement, Jeong-oh felt a bit more energized.

She took a taxi to the law firm. It was located about halfway between her office and home. She was surprised to learn that this large law firm, which ranked among the top ten in the country, also handled individual consultations, thinking they only dealt with companies.

Following the office staff’s guidance, Jeong-oh entered the building.

At 9 PM, the hour was quite late, and the staff looked tired.

“Please wait a moment. The attorney will be with you shortly.”

“Okay.”

After standing at the desk for about three minutes, footsteps echoed closer.

“Lee Jeong-oh?”

A man called her name.

“Yes.”

“Hello. I’m the attorney in charge of your consultation today… Ha Jin-cheol.”

Did the staff member and the attorney just exchange strange looks? Jeong-oh hesitated for a moment before greeting him. She had definitely checked Ha Jin-cheol’s face on the law firm’s website, but though he wore glasses, he looked quite different from the photo.

“Hello. I thought you were someone else; your impression is quite different from the photo.”

“I hear that often. They must have edited the photo a lot. Please, this way.”

The attorney turned and walked down a long corridor. His strides were quite brisk.

Jeong-oh hurriedly followed him, passing several personal offices. The names of the attorneys were posted outside the rooms: Kim Jin-wook, Hong Da-kyung, Lee Min-hyeok, Ha Jin-cheol, Chae Eun-yeob…

The name “Chae Eun-yeob” caught Jeong-oh’s attention.

A distant memory flickered through her mind.

“Didn’t Chae Eun-bi come from a family of legal professionals?”

Jeong-oh carefully took out her phone, keeping some distance from the man in front of her. She typed “Attorney Chae Eun-yeob” into the search bar.

The image search filled the screen with the face of the man walking ahead of her—Chae Eun-yeob, not Ha Jin-cheol.

“Please, come in here, Lee Jeong-oh.”

The man opened the door to a corner office and said.

This man is deceiving me.

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

After finishing the call with Jeong-oh, Ji-heon remained in the same spot for a long time.

He wanted to bring her to his room as soon as possible, to mark her as his in some way.

“Should I give her a ring?”

He recalled that long ago, Chae Eun-bi had worn a ring that resembled a couple’s ring. He heard it had led to more misunderstandings about their relationship among the staff.

Should I believe in the binding nature of a ring? If I give it as a gift, will she put it on?

As he mulled over several worries, he returned to the original concern.

The memory from seven years ago. That issue had to be resolved first.

Ji-heon contemplated ways to restore the memories of that long-ago time, under the assumption that his mother might have hidden something.

The call records on his phone would have long passed the carrier’s retention period, so there was no chance of recovery.

What about credit card usage records? Could that reveal anything about the past?

Assuming his mother had arbitrarily canceled the cards he had been using all this time, those records wouldn’t be available either.

Seven years is quite a long time. The information lost to time was too far gone to retrieve.

Letting out a deep sigh, Ji-heon started his car, intending to go home but then decided to stop by a jewelry shop. It was the most famous jewelry shop in Gangnam.

“Welcome!”

“I came to look at women’s rings.”

“Are you looking for a proposal ring, sir?”

“Something like that.”

The staff member who greeted him warmly displayed several pretty rings before him.

They shouldn’t be too extravagant to avoid being burdensome, and since she has a child, they shouldn’t be sharp either.

Wait, if I’m doing this anyway, wouldn’t a more extravagant ring be better?

After much deliberation, he chose a simple ring with a delicate diamond cut. He knew that anything she wore would look beautiful, so there was no need to worry about the design. However, putting it on her would be a significant mission.

“How do I get her size? It might not fit her hand.”

“If you fill out a customer card, we can adjust it later when you bring it back. Would you like me to assist you with that?”

“Yes, please.”

“Could you provide your contact information and name?”

Following the staff member’s instructions, Ji-heon wrote down his contact information and name on the card. When the staff member paused while entering Ji-heon’s records into the computer, he asked,

“Sir, has your phone number changed?”

“It has, but why do you ask?”

“Do you know the last four digits of this number? ○○○○?”

“Yes, that was my old phone number.”

“Could I ask for the full number?”

Ji-heon recited the old phone number. The staff member smiled brightly.

“Your name is still on our records. You visited us seven years ago.”

Ji-heon was momentarily taken aback and looked at the staff member.

“Do you not remember? You bought a ring back then.”

“…When exactly was that seven years ago?”

“It says November 2nd, seven years ago.”

November 2nd, seven years ago.

The day before I had a car accident.

Recalling the pain from that time, his throat felt hot.

Ji-heon tried to hide his trembling voice and requested,

“Could I take a look at those records?”

“You purchased a beautiful proposal ring. Really, you don’t remember? It was our store’s top-tier product at the time.”

The staff member turned the monitor towards Ji-heon to show him the records.

Purchased item, date, credit card company.

A brief snippet of information appeared on the monitor, partially obscured.

November 2nd, seven years ago.

I…

I was going to propose to someone.