Chapter 105
105. Even a Child Has Secrets
2022.04.30.
After Ji-heon left, Youngmi really fell ill.
She never thought her son would do this. That he would abandon his mother for a woman.
It felt like the sky was falling.
You were my everything.
Youngmi was lonely throughout her life raising Ji-heon. A husband who barely exchanged a few words a year, a son who was just as taciturn, and even her husband's son from his previous marriage who looked at her with unkind eyes.
She had lived her whole life unable to stand tall, always building up the spirits of the three men. She had devoted herself. At least, that's how she saw it.
She simply wanted her precious son to have a happy marriage. She wanted to see him marry a woman from a good family, someone decent, and live a life of luxury and security.
She had hoped for a simple future, living peacefully with a daughter-in-law who was affectionate and amiable, like a friend, and sometimes like a daughter. That was all. That was her wish.
That simple dream was completely shattered by Lee Jung-o. Now, even her son, who had been the treasure of her life, had turned his back on her. She couldn't stop him as he left, casually saying harsh words that he never wanted to see her again.
How did I raise you? How could you do this to me...?
Scenes from the past flashed through Youngmi's mind. The difficult, sometimes rewarding moments of giving birth to and raising her child, the countless emotions she had felt at those times... The memories of the past were piled up like mountains, but the empty future overwhelmed everything.
She felt like she was left alone in a pitch-black desert.
Jaekwang, who had rushed home as soon as he received a call from Ji-heon and finished his meeting, peeked into Youngmi's bedroom.
He had scolded his son for being so heartless as to cut off his mother, but on the other hand, Jaekwang could understand his son. His son needed to start a new family as soon as possible. And there should be no obstacles when his son started a new family.
So, it seemed like a good idea for him to distance himself from his mother for a while. In the end, it was Jaekwang's job to change Youngmi's mind.
"Honey. Ji-heon's mother."
"Don't call me."
"......"
"Tell Ji-heon. I told him that his mother doesn't even want to live anymore."
"You shouldn't drive a wedge into your son's heart like that."
Jaekwang's voice naturally became cautious as his wife became sharp. They didn't talk much to each other, but the balance between the couple remained unbroken. It was the tacit rule of the couple who had lived as husband and wife for over 30 years.
"Ji-heon will never leave you. He'll come back someday, so don't be too sick."
"It's because you didn't see how harshly Ji-heon lashed out."
"Ji-heon's mother."
Jaekwang gently comforted Youngmi again in a soft voice.
"Our granddaughter is really pretty. She has some of Ji-heon in her, and because she looks like Ji-heon, she seems to look like you too."
"......"
"I want to pick out clothes for you and our granddaughter, plant trees and flowers together in the garden, make a swing and push her all day long. I want to clap together when we see her antics, someday."
"......"
"Someday, let's do that, okay?"
Youngmi, who was lying with her back turned to Jaekwang, began to sob.
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone all this time."
"......"
"I was wrong for making you stay alone every day to grow the company, for ignoring the housework. It's all my fault."
Sob, sob, sob. Youngmi's sobs grew louder.
No matter how much she cried, her son would not return.
\
Between meetings, Jeong-o was busy searching the internet. About panic, about anxiety, about trauma.
It seemed that Ji-heon needed psychological treatment right now.
The basis of all psychological treatment is to discover and express emotions. Jeong-o began to think about Ji-heon's emotional state.
Ji-heon often looked at others as if he was indifferent to everything in the world. Perhaps he had been trained to maintain a poker face since he was young because he came from a family that ran a large business.
If it was the result of long training, there was nothing she could say, but if it had blocked somewhere in the passage of emotions, she wanted to fix it.
There might be many memories and emotions sleeping in his depths. Even if he couldn't remember the memories of seven years ago, she wanted to bring out his emotions.
She wanted to teach him how to be the master of his emotions so that he could become a person who could honestly express joy, sadness, anger, or pleasure.
While she was reading various materials, the phone rang.
"Yes. This is Lee Jung-o from Production Team 2."
[Lee Jung-o, come to my office.]
It was Ji-heon's voice.
Jeong-o looked at the phone that had been abruptly cut off after leaving only a short instruction and let out a hollow sigh.
Jeong-o, who grumbled all the way, entered the office and asked sulkily as soon as she closed the door.
"If you keep calling me like this, I might just transfer to another company, Director."
"What?"
Ji-heon's eyebrow arched greatly at Jeong-o's shocking warning. His footsteps as he approached her were heavy. Jeong-o was terrified. She could read his eyes to some extent. She had pressed some switch of his.
Jeong-o took a step back and said.
"Ah, no, just kidding."
"Then you can't. Who said you could?"
However, he came closer by as much as she retreated, no, twice the distance.
"I said it was a joke."
"Why would you make a joke like that? It makes my heart drop."
No, isn't my heart dropping more?
It didn't take long for the gap between the two to disappear.
Jeong Ji-heon coming closer like this is too obvious.
She resented the cramped space, but still, she couldn't make him anxious today after yesterday.
Okay. If you're going to do it, do it quickly.
Jeong-o's eyelids slowly lowered. Her lips also pouted out a little. However.
Whoosh.
"Ugh! What are you doing!"
She expected a kiss, but it was a headlock.
As expected, Jeong Ji-heon was an unpredictable man. He wrapped his arms around her neck from behind and tickled her waist, causing her body to twist involuntarily.
"Ugh! Stop it! Stop it!"
She couldn't escape even when she twisted her body. It wasn't her house, but his office, so she couldn't scream as much as she wanted. Jeong-o writhed in agony and ticklishness.
"Say you're sorry. Quickly."
"I'm sorry."
"It's no fun if you say it so easily."
"I said it with difficulty. You know how hard it is for me to say sorry."
"No. You said it easily."
"No, I didn't. Believe me."
"Then you can't. You can't do that to me."
His tone seemed to be filled with resentment, so Jeong-o asked with suspicion.
"By any chance, are you still doing this because of what I said yesterday?"
"Yeah."
Wow. Holding a grudge to the max.
She thought everything was resolved yesterday, but he had an unexpectedly petty side.
But that was also an expression of emotion. Jeong-o cooperated with Jeong Ji-heon's wrestling with the heart of comforting a child.
"Swear you won't go anywhere."
"I swear. I won't go anywhere."
"What?"
"I won't go. I said I won't go anywhere."
"Will you be by my side forever?"
"Yeah. Isn't it enough if I stay?"
"Then sign here."
"What?"
Ji-heon, who was hugging Jeong-o, waddled and tapped the paper on the table. It was a document whose contents were almost hidden. It seemed like he wanted her to sign in that blank space.
"Sign here. Because it's a written oath that you won't go anywhere."
"Okay. I understand. Let go. I'll do it."
Only then was the restraint released. Jeong-o picked up the pen and pushed aside the things that were covering the document.
Ah. A marriage registration form.
It was a marriage registration form with only Ji-heon's signature.
"You made such a fuss just to get me to sign here? Did you think I wouldn't do it?"
Ji-heon turned away as if avoiding an answer. Jeong-o chuckled and signed the marriage registration form. Jeong-o wanted to look at it more, but Ji-heon snatched it away as if he was afraid she would change her mind.
"I'm not submitting it yet."
"Why?"
"Because I need to get witness signatures too."
"You can get signatures from Park Seung-gyu or our team members."
Jeong-o argued, but he didn't answer again. She wondered if there was another problem, so her head tilted to the side.
He said after a while.
"Let's go together next week."
"......"
"Anyway, this. I wrote a draft of the complaint in advance. Read it and revise it if there's anything to revise. Let's get rid of this first."
Ji-heon handed over another document that was covering the marriage registration form. It was a defamation lawsuit against the BJ. This was also something that Jeong-o needed, so she quietly received the document, but Jeong-o was still wondering if Ji-heon had quickly changed the subject.
\
Friday, when work ended early. Jeong-o went to pick up Yena and Do-bin.
"Mommy."
"Princess Yena!"
Yena found Jeong-o first and ran over, and Do-bin followed behind.
"Hello, ma'am!"
"Hello, Do-bin. Do-bin, let's have dinner and play with Yena at my house today. Okay?"
"Yes!"
Jeong-o owed Jin-seo a lot, and now she had a chance to repay the favor. Jeong-o took a taxi with the children.
Do-bin looked a little nervous, visiting Yena's house for the first time. Meanwhile, Yena kept fiddling with her phone. Do-bin stared at Yena and muttered.
"I want a phone too."
"Ask your mom to buy you one."
"I asked my mom, but she said no."
"Why?"
"Because I don't listen."
"Why don't you listen to your mom?"
"No, I do listen to my mom, but I just can't do what she says."
Do-bin's excuse was funny, and Jeong-o secretly laughed. Do-bin continued seriously.
"And you try getting scolded by your mom every day. You wouldn't be able to do what she says either, would you?"
"Why do you get scolded every day?"
"My mom says it's her fault that I get scolded all day. Because she raised me wrong."
"If your mom raised you wrong, shouldn't she be the one getting scolded instead of you?"
"I don't know either."
"……."
"So, I'm forgiving my mom for what she did wrong all day long. My mom doesn't forgive me, but I forgive her."
Aww. You little cutie.
Do-bin's serious story finally made Jeong-o burst out laughing. She coughed to clear her throat and tried to compose herself, but Do-bin caught her. But Do-bin didn't seem to think Jeong-o was laughing.
"Ma'am, this is a secret. You can't tell my mom."
"Okay. I understand, Do-bin."
Jeong-o held back her laughter and nodded seriously.
It wasn't a long distance, so the taxi quickly arrived in front of the house. Yena was looking at her phone even as she got out of the taxi.
It seemed like she was texting her dad, but she'd been looking at her phone and grinning all day, having some kind of secret conversation. But Jeong-o had warned her once before, so her voice couldn't help but be stern.
"Lee Yena. I told you not to look at your phone while you're walking."
Now it was punishment time. Jeong-o took the phone from Yena.
"No! My phone."
"I'll give it back to you later. Not now."
"I won't touch it, I'll just wear it around my neck."
"Still no."
At Jeong-o's stern words, Yena pouted and made a cute request.
"Mom, you can't look at my phone instead. Okay?"
Does she hate showing it to her mom that much?
The more you do that, the more worried I get.
The only numbers saved on the child's phone are Jeong-o, Guk-soon, Ji-heon, and Jin-seo's phone numbers. If the child saves any other numbers, her mom will get a notification.
'It's definitely her dad she's texting.'
Jeong-o became quite thoughtful.
She was starting to wonder what kind of conversation the father and daughter were having.
