A child who looks like me

As Jeong-o and Ji-heon moved to the parking lot, a vibration echoed. It was Ji-heon’s phone. After checking the screen, he hesitated to press the call button, just staring at it, prompting Jeong-o to ask.

“Who is it?”

“My mother.”

“Pick up. Should I step aside? Do you want me to go alone?”

“No, it’s fine.”

As Jeong-o moved a little away, Ji-heon quickly pulled her arm, bringing her back beside him. He then pressed the call button as she had suggested.

“Hey, Ji-heon.”

Before Ji-heon could even bring the phone to his ear, the stern voice of Jang Yeong-mi echoed through the line.

“Yes, mother.”

“Come home for a bit. Let’s talk.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“What else would there be? You must have a lot to say too.”

Yeong-mi’s voice was strained as she barely restrained her urgent feelings.

“Eun-yeob came by earlier.”

“Mother, I told you not to meet with Eun-yeob…”

“Everything that girl said is true. I really can’t tell if you’re lying or if Eun-yeob is lying.”

“…”

“You, who used to be so well-behaved and listened well, suddenly broke up with Eun-bi, ignored me, and disrespected me. How can I accept what you say? If that Lee Ye-na isn’t your daughter, do you know what happens to you? You’ll look like a fool. You’ll be a laughingstock. Not only that…”

As Yeong-mi’s provocative words rang in his ears, Ji-heon quickly lowered the call volume.

“Let’s do the test first. A blood test. If the results show you’re related, then we can talk again. I’m against you hanging out with that girl right now.”

It wasn’t a pleasant call. At least it ended quickly, which was a relief.

Jeong-o, who knew about Ji-heon’s family situation, quickly grasped the content of the call.

“Your mother is saying something, huh?”

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

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

Ji-heon sighed. He was worried that his daughter, who already hated her father, would lose even more points.

After quickly organizing his thoughts, Ji-heon resolutely said, “Let’s do the paternity test later. When Ye-na accepts me.”

“Your mother is going to keep complaining. How do you plan to endure that?”

“It’s fine. I have a way.”

Ji-heon answered confidently so that Jeong-o wouldn’t worry.

The car smoothly sped down the road, soon arriving in front of Jeong-o’s house. As Jeong-o unfastened her seatbelt, Ji-heon cautiously asked, “Can I come in?”

“Of course. You should come in. Hurry and get out.”

At Jeong-o’s response, a smile spread across his lips. His joy resembled that of a child who unexpectedly received pocket money, which made Jeong-o smile in return.

He became increasingly adorable in her eyes for being so moved by the smallest things. If he knew she was thinking that way, he would likely stop smiling.

Thanks to Ji-heon, Jeong-o also began to cherish her daily life. The sight of her child sleeping, the words she casually said, the time spent together—though Ye-na was the most precious princess in the world, there were times Jeong-o inadvertently neglected her amidst the pressures of reality.

There were moments when she was so immersed in work from the company that she only responded after Ye-na called her “Mom” ten times, or when she hurriedly played with her. There were times when she had scolded her daughter for whining about not being able to sleep.

She realized how envious Ji-heon must be of the mundane things she took for granted. This reflection made Jeong-o vow to be a more caring mother to her child.

As Jeong-o opened the front door, her daughter ran towards her.

“Mom!”

“Princess Ye-na!”

In a reunion that was no different from any other day, Jeong-o embraced Ye-na tightly and walked toward the center of the living room, asking, “Did our Ye-na come back from Gunsan just to see Mommy?”

“Yes! I want to sleep with Mommy.”

“But your grandmother must be tired.”

“I was tired too, but I still came back.”

As their mother-daughter conversation continued, Kook-soon, who had been organizing things in the room, came out and asked, “Ye-na, aren’t you going to greet your dad?”

“…Hello.”

Ye-na, skipping the title of “dad” in her greeting, whispered to Jeong-o, “Mom, why did you come back together today?”

“Because Dad said he missed Ye-na.”

Jeong-o also whispered to Ye-na, “You slept with Mommy yesterday and came back from Gunsan to sleep with Mommy today. It’s the same thing. Dad wants to see Ye-na every day.”

Hmph.

Despite Jeong-o’s gentle persuasion, Ye-na remained stubborn.

If he wanted to see her every day, why didn’t he come before? She wanted to question that, but she felt like if she got entangled with her dad, Mommy would hate her, so she said nothing.

With Ye-na clinging to Jeong-o like glue with her stubbornness, Ji-heon spoke up. “Ye-na, shall we play Go?”

But once again, Ye-na flatly refused. “No.”

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

“I want to play string games with Mommy. Mommy, let’s play string games.”

“Oh, sure.”

Suddenly chosen as the opponent for the string game, Jeong-o glanced at Ji-heon and brought out some yarn. Since string games are played alternately, her plan was to pass the yarn to Ji-heon after she spun it, allowing all three to play together.

But the problem was that Ji-heon didn’t know how to play the string game.

The yarn returned to Jeong-o after passing through Ye-na’s hands, and she pushed it toward Ji-heon. A tremor shook in Ji-heon’s eyes.

Ye-na looked at him disapprovingly. “Uncle doesn’t know how to play the string game?”

“Ye-na, you should call me Dad.”

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

“Our Ye-na is a kind friend who helps others when they are in trouble and teaches friends when they don’t know something. How about being kind to Dad and teaching him how to play the string game?”

Jeong-o gently encouraged Ye-na while passing the yarn. After a long pause, Ye-na reluctantly showed the yarn to Ji-heon, needing to use her toes as both hands were occupied with the yarn.

“Put one finger here, and another finger here. You need to put one in each of these spots and pull tightly.”

“Here? Here?”

As Ji-heon followed Ye-na’s wiggling toes, he extended his fingers.

Seeing the two of them acting serious while merely playing a string game, as if conducting a scientific experiment, made Jeong-o and Kook-soon struggle to contain their laughter.

Ji-heon obediently followed Ye-na’s instructions, placing the yarn on his thumb and index finger. The yarn, firmly caught on the child’s small fingers, transferred to Ji-heon’s hand.

As Ye-na pulled her hand away, she said, “Now! Pull tight!”

Under Ye-na’s thorough guidance, Ji-heon firmly pulled the yarn. However, he misjudged his strength, causing the yarn to unravel. Ye-na’s face fell, and Ji-heon felt embarrassed.

“Ahhh! It’s ruined! It’s all because of you, Uncle!”

“Ye-na, you need to call me Dad.”

Jeong-o immediately corrected him.

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

The precious night slipped by like turning a page, and the next morning arrived.

Ji-heon, dressed neatly in a suit, headed to the headquarters. He had business to discuss with his father.

The head of the Seoyeon Group, Chairman Jeong Jae-gwang.

A thorough man who worked 380 days a year, operating as if a day had 25 hours.

“Father, I’m here.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s Sunday, yet you’re here.”

“I have a lot to report.”

Except for a brief moment during the executive meeting, it had been almost two months since I personally met my father, but our conversation was devoid of warmth and felt stiff.

“When you sit in this position, you will understand how I feel. It’s a place where I’m responsible for the livelihoods of tens of thousands. Not just the employees, but their families become our family. So I have to live my life diligently.”

In his talk about work and the advice that followed, his life philosophy was evident.

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

My mother might have become more attached to me due to the love she didn’t receive from my father.

An indifferent father. A father who was emotionally distant.

I found it hard to judge whether I could confide in him about everything.

Would he be a shield to protect me from all the external pressures, or would he side with my mother and pressure me as well?

I feared that the conflict would grow, but I would confront it nonetheless.

“I have something to say.”

“Right. That’s why you came. Go ahead and tell me.”

Gathering courage, Jiheon began.

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

At that sudden question, Jaekwang raised an eyebrow.

“Have you finally made up your mind?”

With a sigh that suggested it was a boring topic, Jaekwang responded easily.

“Yeah. Get married. A long time ago, I thought your brother would get married first, and I would send you off after him, but that’s no longer the case. If you’ve made up your mind, do it right away. Have as many granddaughters or grandsons as you can.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“……”

“The truth is, I already have a child. She’s seven years old.”

Jaekwang, who had been waving his hands as if to dismiss the matter, suddenly turned to look at Jiheon.

In the silence, Jaekwang stared at him intently, inviting him to sit on the sofa across from him.

“Sit down.”

An illegitimate child. His son had an illegitimate child.

It was somewhat fortunate that he was still unmarried, but the fact that the child was already seven years old posed a significant problem.

“What’s the child’s name?”

“Her name is Lee Ye-na.”

“Is she from the Lee family?”

“I didn’t know.”

“……”

“I lost all my memories, so I lost everything.”

Taking a deep breath as if preparing himself, Jaekwang said,

“Tell me. Don’t leave anything out.”

Jiheon shared everything that had happened with Jaekwang: how he met Jeong-o, how they broke up, his car accident and amnesia, the life Jeong-o had to lead, and how they ended up meeting again.

While listening to Jiheon’s story, Jaekwang slowly rubbed his sweaty hands together.

He never expected his son to be the protagonist of such a story. And then,

“Granddaughter. A granddaughter, huh…”

Shock, excitement, curiosity, and sorrow—various emotions he had forgotten while focusing on work seemed to fight for dominance within him.

In that excited heart, his son added fuel to the fire.

“Father, daughters are great. They rule the world. Moreover…”

“……”

“She’s incredibly smart.”

Smart?

“And she’s incredibly beautiful.”

Beautiful? Incredibly?

“She’s unbelievably cute.”

Cute, even?

“She has a cuteness that saves the world.”

Determined to persuade his father, Jiheon pulled out a photo from his inner pocket—a photo that would serve as the final touch.

It was a picture received from Jeong-o, taken on Ye-na’s seventh birthday morning, showcasing her adorable appearance.

Jaekwang picked up the photo with trembling hands.

A precious girl, the first female heir of the Jeong family in three generations.

His feelings upon first seeing this precious granddaughter in the photo were…

It’s unbelievable.

Jaekwang unconsciously placed his hand over his heart. It hurt.

Indeed, she had a cuteness that could save the world.