A child who looks like me

Screech!

Ji-heon, unable to dodge the approaching car, collapsed as if his legs had given way.

The driver of the car got out and rushed over.

“Hey, are you okay? I didn’t hit you with my car….”

The driver asked, looking perplexed.

“It seems like you have health issues; maybe you should go to the hospital….”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

Ji-heon barely managed to rise to his feet. As he trudged back toward the elevator, he thought that he might be going crazy.

At the moment the headlights of the car flashed, a name lodged in his mind.

A strange emotion also surged within him.

I love you, Jeong-oh.

Why did I hold back those words?

Regretting that he couldn’t tell her he loved her…

Other than that, he couldn’t recall any memories.

It felt like he was clinging to fragments of memory, discovering remnants of a home that had already turned to ruins.

Are my memories real? Or are they delusions I’ve created?

However, it felt too vivid to dismiss as mere delusions…

Ji-heon recalled the day he first met Jeong-oh two months ago.

The woman who had trembled at the sight of his face. It was so odd how tense she seemed, so he had called her to his office separately out of concern.

At that time, too, she had worn a tense expression. Yet, there was also a sense that she seemed to be blaming herself.

There were moments when she would ask him, as if trying to engrave herself in his memory.

“…Do you know who I am?”

“Of course. You’re the copywriter Lee Jeong-oh.”

“…Anything beyond that?”

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

Avoiding her desperate gaze, he had responded coldly.

Wanting to control himself from being swept away by her, he had treated her even more brusquely.

“Have you ever heard my name? My name, Lee Jeong-oh.”

“Have you done any advertising that’s famous enough for people to know your name?”

The look of disappointment she had given him at that moment seemed to question why he didn’t recognize her.

Recalling each of their meetings and conversations only deepened his suspicions.

“There was a couple who loved each other… They thought they loved each other, but maybe they didn’t. As soon as the woman learned of her pregnancy, the man left. So, the woman raised the child alone. Then, years later, the man appeared before her.”

“Actually, he’s not her father; he’s her older brother. The director resembles my ex-boyfriend.”

“Because you act just like my heartless ex-boyfriend.”

Was all of that me?

Her enigmatic stories. Were they hints she was throwing my way?

So, you were hoping I would find my memories on my own by giving me hints?

“Director, I hope you find your memories. They can’t be useless memories. I believe they aren’t. They might be hidden deep within, in a place no one can find, like a time capsule.”

Did you wait for me like that? Believing that someday my memories would return?

Even after the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Ji-heon couldn’t move. The words she had shared seemed to clutch his heart tightly, squeezing and shaking it at will.

He managed to take a few steps and opened the front door.

However, as soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, he crumbled again.

“Ah…”

Your child…

“Our Ye-na is so pretty, right?”

“Even though that person and I were such insignificant people, something so radiant could still come out of it.”

“Still, I’m grateful. There’s nothing I can do about it. After all, you made Ye-na.”

You were especially affectionate when talking about the child.

You spoke so lovingly that it made even me fall in love with you.

Ji-heon recalled the moment he had held Ye-na. He had thought she felt warm, so he lifted her forehead to check her temperature. Then he noticed her distinct salmon birthmark.

Ji-heon quietly raised his hand to touch his own forehead, where the salmon birthmark had vanished.

Lee Jeong-oh is type O, and the child is type B.

I’m also type B.

Was she our child?

Ye-na… was she the child of you and me?

Staggering, he searched for his car smart key with trembling legs. Other thoughts consumed his mind, and he couldn’t remember where the car keys were.

Thinking he should at least grab the spare key, he went to his study. The spare key was in the desk drawer of the study. Beneath the spare key, he saw a thick document that had been folded and carelessly placed in the drawer.

A proposal written by Jeong-oh on May 27. He traced the two lines of copy she had added with his fingertips.

– You, who have forgotten me.

You will weep longing for what you have forgotten.

Finally, thick tears rolled down his cheeks.

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

Not many people heard the commotion between Jeong-oh and Eun-bi in the restroom. Nevertheless, a few were astonished enough to cover their mouths. Pretty and charming, and coming from a good family, her colleagues regarded Cha Eun-bi as a dignified copywriter.

So when people heard the rumors that Eun-bi and Ji-heon had broken up, they sided with Eun-bi and spoke ill of Ji-heon. Many felt sympathy for Eun-bi.

However, the voice coming from the restroom contradicted the image that colleagues had of Cha Eun-bi. Instead of merely looking down on single mothers, Eun-bi was openly criticizing the mother, and people were quite shocked by her tirade.

As Eun-bi emerged from the restroom, people discreetly slipped away, glancing nervously.

Eun-bi approached Jo Yu-ri, the assistant from Production Team 1, who was awkwardly standing nearby.

“Assistant Jo, you heard, right? I’m going to sue Lee Jeong-oh for assault. Will you be my witness?”

“Um, Manager…”

Jo Yu-ri avoided Eun-bi’s gaze and spoke softly.

“…I didn’t hear much. Could you ask someone else?”

Team Leader Ahn Chan-seop, who was standing beside her, also cleared his throat.

“Uh, Manager Cha Eun-bi, you seem to be under a lot of stress today. Maybe you should go home and rest.”

Eun-bi was flabbergasted.

After getting off work, Eun-bi went straight to Ji-heon’s family home, the house of Mrs. Jang Yeong-mi.

Upon learning that Eun-bi had come, Mrs. Jang rushed out on tiptoes.

Since she hadn’t been in contact with Eun-bi for a while, and Ji-heon had also left suddenly after visiting home a few days ago, she had been feeling anxious. Mrs. Jang had even thought about visiting Max Planning tomorrow to see Ji-heon and Eun-bi.

“Mother!”

Recognizing Mrs. Jang, Eun-bi burst into tears.

“Eun-bi, what’s going on? Why are you like this?”

Mrs. Jang anxiously embraced Eun-bi.

The girl who had a long relationship with her son was now in distress. Although her son had let Eun-bi go, Mrs. Jang still had lingering feelings. She was also worried about whether she would ever find another daughter-in-law who was as smart and dedicated to her in-laws as Eun-bi.

The story that Ji-heon and Eun-bi often broke up and got back together was a glimmer of hope.

“I’m sorry for not being in touch….”

“No, no, it’s okay.”

“I think I’ve broken up with oppa. It was so scary to say that…”

“Oh dear, what happened…?”

Mrs. Jang liked Eun-bi, but as long as her son was resolute, there was nothing she could do. If she could, she wanted to force Ji-heon and Eun-bi to marry.

“I wish I could help, but there’s nothing I can do. What should I do…?”

“Mother, please stop oppa. He’s in danger right now.”

Eun-bi blurted out something strange to the comforting Mrs. Jang. Mrs. Jang frowned and asked.

“…What do you mean by danger?”

“A company employee has latched onto oppa. She’s not even a proper woman; she’s a single mother with a child who is manipulating him. That’s why we broke up.”

Eun-bi said, tears streaming down her face.

Mrs. Jang was left speechless in shock.

“A single mother… did she approach oppa first, Mother? So oppa is playing around with her now.”

“……”

“What should I do, huh? Ugh, ugh….”

“……Single mother? Eun-bi, explain it clearly. Are you saying Ji-heon is involved with a single mother?”

Mrs. Jang asked again in a trembling voice. Eun-bi wiped her tears and nodded.

“Yes, she’s a single mother with a seven-year-old child. How dare she… Ugh… oppa must have some weakness, he doesn’t listen to my persuasion, Mother…”

“Who is she? What’s her name?”

“Lee Jeong-oh. The copywriter from Production Team 2, Lee Jeong-oh.”

Eun-bi choked out her answer, and Mrs. Jang’s eyes widened.

“Mother!”

Eun-bi shouted at Mrs. Jang, who had collapsed to the floor, her strength giving way.

Mrs. Jang’s mind went blank; she couldn’t process it.

Lee Jeong-oh.

No way, no way, could it be her…

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

After work, Jeong-oh didn’t go home but headed to her mother’s restaurant instead. Upon opening the door to the restaurant, she saw a table that hadn’t been cleaned.

The rice on the table was almost untouched.

It must have been evidence that Cha Eun-bi and her friends had been there.

Tears fell from Jeong-oh’s eyes onto the white rice.

Wiping her tears resolutely, Jeong-oh began to clear the table. Throwing away the food scraps, she found a bag of food waste.

Three servings of the daily special. She felt guilty for just throwing away food worth about twenty thousand won and for the hurt it must have caused her mother.

After washing the dishes, taking out the food waste, cleaning every corner of the restaurant, and leaving a short note, she finally left the restaurant.

“Mom, from tomorrow, let’s forget everything and live happily, just like we always have.”

She smiled at the dark restaurant but couldn’t stop the tears.

Feeling sorrowful for having to stay by Ji-heon’s side. If it were just her own sorrow, she could endure it. But if her family were to suffer because of her…

Thinking back to the attempted kidnapping of Ye-na long ago and Eun-bi tormenting her family by coming to the restaurant.

A sense of frustration washed over her, realizing she had to silently endure all of this. The impulse to just leave everything behind and take her mother and Ye-na to the countryside surged within her.

“Ah. No, I can’t do that. I’m a copywriter. I have to keep working…”

Still, as she thought about various paths she hadn’t taken, her mood improved a little. It took her over an hour to walk home, lost in thought.

In the alley where she could see the villa building, Jeong-oh fixed her clothes and face. Looking at her reflection in her phone, her eyes were still puffy.

“Well, since the lights are off at home, I won’t get caught by Mom.”

Jeong-oh stepped forward with optimism. However, someone blocked her path. It was Ji-heon.

His car was parked in the alley. He must have been waiting for her for quite some time.

“…Why are you here?”

Without answering her question, he silently approached her.

Without realizing it, Jeong-oh took a step back. She had just managed to hold back her tears, and now she felt anxious that they might spill over again. This was in front of her house.

“Director, should we talk tomorrow? I’m too tired today.”

“……”

“……There have been so many difficult things.”

“……”

“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow. I’ll go ahead.”

Jeong-oh took a few steps backward as if to flee, then turned completely around. But at that moment.

“Jeong-oh.”

He called her name just like the person she had loved seven years ago.

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Tears welled up in Jeong-oh’s throat again.

This is too much.

You know that calling me like that makes me feel miserable.

Jeong-oh turned her head and looked at him with resentment in her eyes. However, he didn’t seem the least bit sorry for what he had just said. Instead, his gaze seemed to blame her.

Yet it was also filled with a tender longing, a look that craved something.

Had he also been going through something difficult? Was that why he needed her?

Seeing that look of yearning made her heart ache.

What should she do in such a situation?

A man who had lived with a part of his heart missing, completely unaware of it.

A man approaching her, driven only by instinct, forgetting all the time they had spent together.

With a pitiful heart, Jeong-oh stepped closer to Ji-heon.

As she took a few steps forward, his face became clearer to her. Under the streetlight, his shadowed face was beautiful yet seemed sad.

Before she could ask why, he was the first to speak.

“Who is Ye-na’s father?”

“…….”

“Is it someone I know?”

Ji-heon clearly noticed Jeong-oh’s pupils dilating.

He felt anxious that she might evade the question and turn away again. It always happened like that: he chased after her, and she kept running away.

But that was probably because of the scars she carried from the seven years that weighed heavily on her heart. He could understand that a hundred times over, even if it couldn’t ease the burden of his own painful realization.

That time when I loved so deeply…

My lost memories. My everything.

The most precious thing.

What I had to protect.

“You only need to say one thing.”

Ji-heon, who had been quietly watching her, opened his mouth again.

“That child is my son.”

“…….”

“Ye-na is my daughter.”