Chapter 34
- Someday, May Flower Rain Will Fall 2021.08.25.
Silence lingered in the wake of the truth. Jeong-o lowered her gaze and continued speaking. She didn't have the confidence to look at Ji-heon.
“I apologize for lying. In my own way, I thought that if I said he resembled my ex-boyfriend, it would make me look like I was being more forward with you, so it was a lie I told to draw a line.”
Right. It was something that would be revealed someday anyway. This humiliation. This feeling. It's miserable now, but it's something that ends with just one time.
“It won’t happen again.”
Jeong-o bowed and left the office. Eun-bi watched the door open and close after Jeong-o left, and slowly took a breath. Now, Lee Jung-oh was defeated. The liar Lee Jung-oh admitted that she was a liar, so Ji-heon would realize something. What the end looks like when you get caught by a woman with nothing.
“Oppa, you almost got into big trouble. I told you, she stole something from me before.”
Eun-bi, relieved, spoke in a rather comfortable voice.
“What if you had trusted her without suspicion and she had laid her hands on your valuables?”
“Get out.”
If he was shocked, it would be normal to ask more about Lee Jung-oh. But his answer, contrary to Eun-bi's expectations, shocked her. Eun-bi looked up at Ji-heon. His eyes, with a chillingly dry and cold feeling, were staring intently at her. They seemed to contain contempt for all existence.
“Don’t interfere in my affairs again.”
His voice was eerie. Her parted lips couldn't hold any words. The large hand clenched tightly below her waist seemed as if it would come up and strangle her neck at any moment. It was such a terrifying moment that the thought of leaving this place quickly came before the desire to win back his heart. Eun-bi quickly fled the office as if running away.
\
“Assistant Manager Lee, do you have anything special to do today?”
As quitting time approached, Team Leader Seong Mi-ran asked Jeong-o.
“Nothing special. I have to do the PT meeting during overtime.”
“No. Go home early today.”
“Yes? Aren’t we having a meeting?”
“You can skip it for one day. Just go.”
Mi-ran ordered her to leave work on time. Mi-ran had noticed that Jeong-o's expression had noticeably worsened after Eun-bi grabbed her wrist and took her to Ji-heon's office. She could sense that something had happened today.
“Go quickly. Go and rest.”
“……Yes. Then I’ll go early.”
Mi-ran pushed her back, and Jeong-o ended up leaving work early. On the way to the restaurant, she bought Yena's favorite ice cream.
“Mom, I’m home.”
“Mommy!”
“Oh my, who is this? What brings you home so early today?”
As she opened the door to the restaurant, Yena shouted and ran towards her, and Guk-soon looked surprised as if the sun had risen in the west.
“I just finished work early, so I came early.”
“Mom, what’s this?”
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet. I’m hungry. Give me food.”
“Mom, what is it?”
In the middle of Jeong-o and Guk-soon's conversation, Yena kept asking, pointing to the ice cream bag in Jeong-o's hand. The slyness of asking even though she knew it was ice cream was just like Jeong Ji-heon.
“I bought it for our Yena. Did Yena eat?”
“Yes! I ate, so can I eat ice cream?”
Yena almost snatched the bag from Jeong-o's hand. Guk-soon quickly set the table. Even though it was just for one person, there were plenty of side dishes. Jeong-o took a large spoonful of rice and brought it to her mouth. Guk-soon watched her and asked.
“Did something bad happen?”
“How did you know?”
“A mother knows everything.”
A mother knows. That her daughter always eats a lot when she's having a hard time or feeling bad. Eating much more rice than side dishes meant that her daughter wasn't in a good mood.
“Mom, when I was in the first year of high school, there was a kid I really hated. I met her at work.”
“Why do you hate her? Why couldn't you get along?”
“She was originally a bad person. And she's still not great.”
“……”
“I had a bit of a conflict with her today, and I'm so upset.”
Jeong-o grabbed the spoon and clenched her fist, hitting the table with a thud.
“I'm going to give her a good thrashing.”
“……”
“I won't forget! I will definitely take revenge!”
As Jeong-o burned with determination, Guk-soon clicked her tongue beside her.
“How can someone with a child be so narrow-minded? Instead of letting it all go and getting along.”
“Mom, don't you know? People don't change. If I get along with her, I'll ruin my own personality. Once an enemy, always an enemy.”
“What enemy? Did she sell the country or something? Don't be childish. Do you still think you're in the first year of high school?”
From Guk-soon's perspective, she was worried about Jeong-o, and from Jeong-o's perspective, she couldn't understand Guk-soon.
“Mom. Even if you understand and let everything go like Mom, it's hard to be called a saint in today's world. Do you know what they call a personality like Mom's? Sweet potato. They call it sweet potato.”
“Sweet potatoes are so delicious. You youngsters are too spoiled. In my day, we couldn't eat sweet potatoes even if we wanted to.”
“Ugh, Mom, you're showing your age again. Old person, old person.”
“You're the only one in the world who calls me an old person.”
“Mom must only meet people her own age.”
“Tsk. You never give in. I wonder who you take after.”
It's the usual squabble. Guk-soon sighed and turned her head. I want to be on your side too, but I'm holding back because I'm worried it will make your work life harder. She was about to say something more, but she stopped, trusting that her daughter would handle it well enough. Yena poked Guk-soon.
“Grandma. Grandma.”
“Yes?”
“Mom takes after Grandma.”
With ice cream smeared all over her mouth, Yena smiled brightly.
“Mom takes after Grandma. And I take after Mom. Right.”
“Grandma can't say anything because of our puppy.”
Guk-soon smiled weakly because Yena was so cute. \ After cleaning up the restaurant and putting the child to bed early, Jeong-o made an excuse about an appointment and went outside. She bought a bottle of soju and a bag of chips and sat at the table in front of the convenience store. It was a day when it was hard to face her mother. She felt like she was going to cry.
“Your mom told our teacher when you were in the first year of high school. She asked her to look after her daughter. She said that even though she was born without knowing who her father was, she had never caused her mom any trouble.”
What Eun-bi had said that afternoon was like a nail hammered into her heart. It seemed that when her mother quit working at the school cafeteria, she had visited the homeroom teacher, worried that it might harm her daughter.
‘You didn't have to do that. Why make it so heartbreaking…….’
Imagining her mother bowing her head because of her, her heart didn't calm down even though it was all in the past. Moreover, to hear that tragic story in front of Jeong Ji-heon. The shock was doubled. She wished she only felt sorry for her mother. That would be enough to hurt. Why is my heart like this? It shouldn't matter anymore how Jeong Ji-heon sees her, whether he looks down on her, pities her, or not. It was unbearably humiliating to be in such a miserable state in front of Ji-heon. Jeong-o poured soju into her aching stomach and wiped away her tears. As she put down the soju glass and stared ahead with blurred eyes, she saw a man recognizing her and standing still. Jeong-o also recognized the man. They froze for a moment, pointing at each other with their fingertips. She met the kind-looking police officer again, who had escorted the lost Yena to the academy. Was his name Sergeant Kwon Bae-il?
“Ah, hello, Sergeant. Are you on patrol?”
Jeong-o wiped away her tears better and greeted him.
“No, I’m on my way home from work.”
“I guess your house is around here.”
“Yes.”
As the conversation died down, Bae-il asked a question first, perhaps feeling awkward.
“But, are you here alone?”
It was a question of whether she was drinking alone. Jeong-o wiped her nose and answered with a chuckle.
“Yes. It just turned out that way.”
She smiled, but her eyes were still wet. Bae-il said seriously.
“If you ever need help, you can always contact the police……”
“Ah, yes. I understand. Thank you.”
At that moment, tears streamed down from Jeong-o's large eyes. Someone who knew nothing about her situation offered a hand of concern just by looking at her face, and her heart was moved.
“Here, use this.”
A flustered Bae-il quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Jeong-o.
“Ah, a-ah, I’m sorry. It’s not a big deal, I just had something bad happen at work.”
“……”
“First of all, seeing my mom is just too hard. You know those days? Don't you have them, Officer?”
“I don’t, but… I think I understand…”
As expected of a police officer, his civil affairs counseling skills were excellent. Bae-il's kind appearance and the reassuring presence of a police officer mixed with her turbid emotions, and Jeong-o's tears fell even more. Bae-il ended up sitting down in front of Jeong-o.
“Ah, I’m really sorry. Police officers have long-term unsolved cases, right? I have a kind of long-term unsolved case too…”
Jeong-o blinked her eyes towards the sky, trying to stop her tears. The Seoul sky where no stars could be seen. She felt like such an idiot. I have a mom, and Yena. This place where my family is is heaven, so I should be happy. Why am I whining and relying on alcohol like a loser? Because I met a pillar of the people who is reassuring just by existing?
“Living seems to be suffering.”
Like opening a tightly closed faucet, words flowed out along with tears.
“If only suffering piles up on suffering, everything will collapse, but sometimes stars sparkle and flower rain falls on someone.”
Still, she couldn't be a nuisance anymore, so she barely wiped away her tears and smiled faintly.
“So I can’t give up.”
Waiting for that day, she tenaciously clutches her blurry life. It's not just me. This painful world is full of amazing people. I respect the people who wipe away their tears now to see the moment when flower rain falls. So I will overcome it too. I can overcome it. I will definitely see my star sparkle someday. * Even though Lee Jung-oh had been humiliated and separated from Ji-heon, Eun-bi's anxiety did not disappear. The look in Ji-heon's eyes as he looked at her. She couldn't forget that shocking moment. It was all because of Lee Jung-oh. The thought that Lee Jung-oh had ruined Jeong Ji-heon made her feel so anxious that she was going crazy. After work, Eun-bi went straight to Ji-heon's family home, Ms. Jang Young-mi's house. If she didn't do anything, she felt like she would grow further apart from Ji-heon. She had to do something. It was a late-night visit, but Youngmi welcomed Eun-bi like family.
“Eun-bi! Welcome!”
“Mother, how have you been!”
Youngmi held Eun-bi's hands in both of hers and shook them happily.
“You seem to have gotten even younger!”
“Ohoho, you, how can I get younger. Eun-bi is getting prettier and prettier. A flower is blooming.”
Eun-bi smiled like a flower at Youngmi's compliments, who adored her.
“Have you been doing well too?”
“Yes. But I have a lot of work.”
“Are you having a hard time again because you're not being cunning and taking on all the hard work? You're in the same division as Ji-heon, so ask him to look out for you.”
“It’s okay, Mother.”
She had once told her that she was taking on a lot of important work within the team, and this was the good reaction she got in return. It was rewarding to tell Youngmi something. It would be nice if Jeong Ji-heon was even half as kind as her.
“How is it seeing Ji-heon’s face every day?”
“It’s good. It’s good just to see him. But Mother, actually, we’re both so busy that we don’t even have time to run into each other. I thought that if I worked at the same company as Oppa, I would see him more often and eat together a lot.”
Eun-bi said in a thin voice, as if acting spoiled.
“Besides, you know Oppa's personality. I think he keeps more distance because we're in a special relationship. I guess he's worried it will interfere with work. He's very cold.”
“Ji-heon is the same to me. He doesn't smile at all, not at all. He's so wooden.”
“I have to understand, I guess.”
“Yes. But it's because you have a big heart. It's because you were there that he went to the advertising company. Of course, Seung-gyu is there too, but. He went to the division you're in all because he was thinking of you. So you have to understand.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course! What else could it be.”
Eun-bi's dark heart was washed away by Youngmi's kind consolation. That's right. Jeong Ji-heon came to our division because he was thinking of me. Thinking that way, she felt energized.
“Eun-bi, then shall I go on a date with you instead? I should buy our Eun-bi delicious food and clothes. Shall we go shopping?”
“Then Mother, how about this weekend? Sunday.”
“Okay. Let's do that! I think I had a schedule, but I have to clear it for our Eun-bi.”
Eun-bi's eyes, overwhelmed with emotion, were glistening.
“Mother is more like my own mom.”
Youngmi was also impressed by her heartfelt words, her eyes seemingly about to shed tears at any moment.
“I wouldn't want anything more if I had a daughter like our Eun-bi! Get married soon. I wouldn't have any regrets if a granddaughter who looks like our Eun-bi was born.”
“Wouldn't you like a grandson who looks like Oppa more?”
“Aigoo, you say such pretty things. I like both, both!”
Hehehe. Someday. Yes. Someday. Jeong Ji-heon and my child will be born. I have to cheer up thinking about that time. I'm the one who will seize Jeong Ji-heon.
