Chapter 4
- 7 Years Later 2021.05.12.
“It seems he has lost his memory of the last three years.”
At the attending physician's opinion, Ms. Jang asked.
“If it’s three years, does that mean my son’s memory is stuck at twenty-three?”
“That’s right.”
“Is it possible that his memory might return someday?”
“It’s possible. But please try not to stress him out, as it could be difficult for the patient. The patient's stability is the priority.”
“……”
“There may be other issues as well, so you’ll need to observe him for a long time.”
Ms. Jang’s pulse raced at the doctor’s advice. It was unfortunate that her son had lost three years of his memory. But if it was just the last three years… if that was all… it might be better for her son! What had happened to her son in the last three years was only his military service, discharge, and a short relationship with a child named Lee Jung-oh. If that was all, wouldn’t it be okay if he lost his memory? He had only spent two semesters in college during those three years, so he wouldn’t be too far behind others. Ms. Jang’s mind raced. Erase all traces of her son’s past, especially the traces of that child named Lee Jung-oh. And go back to the time when he didn’t know Lee Jung-oh and start over. This is an opportunity for my son to be happier.
“Yes. I will keep a close eye on him. Thank you, doctor.”
Ms. Jang greeted the doctor and came out of the examination room. Eun-bi was standing outside the examination room with an anxious look on her face.
“Mother.”
The daughter of Supreme Court Justice Chae Seo-bok. This child, who had been studying in the United States and recently returned, had diligently guarded Ji-heon’s hospital room. It could be a sense of duty as a witness to the hit-and-run accident, but it also seemed that she liked her son quite a bit. A child from a good family who was properly educated. My son’s partner should be someone like this.
“Yes, Eun-bi.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“He said he lost his memory of the last three years. We don’t know if his memory will return or not.”
Ms. Jang told Eun-bi the truth and sighed deeply.
“……Then has he lost his memory of me too?”
Eun-bi also looked worried. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Ji-heon Oppa used to adore me a lot.”
“Oh, really?”
“He even said we should date when I come back to Korea, although it was a joke, but he won’t remember that either.”
The moment she heard Eun-bi’s confession, Ms. Jang unknowingly grabbed Eun-bi’s hand tightly.
“It’s okay! You can start over.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Of course. Absolutely.”
Her shy smile as she cheered her up was so pretty. Ms. Jang sincerely began to imagine a happy future. How wonderful would it be if a child like this became her daughter-in-law someday? After parting with Eun-bi, Ms. Jang returned to the hospital room. Ji-heon, who had been asleep, woke up and was staring blankly out the window.
“You’re awake? How do you feel?”
“Just okay.”
Ms. Jang spoke to Ji-heon, who answered dryly in a monotone. She wanted to bring some life back into her son.
“You saw Eun-bi, right? Eun-bi worked hard while you were lying unconscious. She came to visit you every day without fail.”
“Eun-yeop’s sister?”
“Yes. She just came back from studying abroad in the United States a few days ago, so she must be busy, but she took good care of you.”
“……”
“Oh, do you remember this? It seems you adored Eun-bi a lot. You said that before she went to study abroad. That you would date her when she came back to Korea.”
“Really? That’s strange.”
“……”
“Eun-yeop’s sister isn’t my type.”
Ji-heon said coldly, as if he had no feelings. His expression was empty, as if there was a large hole in his chest. It seemed that her son had not only lost his memory in this accident but had also cut off many of his emotional ties. Watching this made Ms. Jang feel so sorry that she laughed weakly.
“Well, maybe it was just something you said as a formality.”
“……”
“But she’s really kind and pretty. She’s also very sociable and smart. She’s so good to me too. You must have adored her because you liked the way she acted.”
No. He wouldn’t have said such nonsense even as a formality. He wouldn’t have adored her either. Ji-heon wanted to refute, but at the same time, he didn’t feel like saying anything, so he remained silent. What happened during the three years I lost? The military… was military life that difficult? How can I have no memory at all? He wanted to recall something, even something very small, but it was no use. Ms. Jang asked with a worried expression as Ji-heon’s brow furrowed.
“What’s wrong? Does your head hurt again?”
“It’s okay.”
“……”
“It feels like I’ve forgotten something very important.”
The more he tried to remember, the more his head felt like it would break. But it felt like the tears were flowing from his heart, not from his eyes.
\ Jeong-o couldn’t go to the hospital. When she was with Ji-heon, she felt like she could overcome anything, but just the fact that she had lost contact with Ji-heon completely broke her spirit. But her body was honest. She was overcome with sleepiness and had chest pain. Even when she was sitting still, she felt nauseous all the time, as if she had motion sickness. She couldn’t keep putting it off. She couldn’t keep despairing either. She had to make a decision. Let’s try one last time. Let’s contact him again one last time. Jeong-o bravely picked up her phone. Turururu. Her heart raced throughout the ringing tone. But the call never connected. Her heart, which had collapsed so many times, collapsed again, and her mind became so ruined that she couldn’t even build a single brick. When she was so dry that not even tears would flow, her phone vibrated after a long time. Unexpectedly, Ji-heon’s name appeared. Jeong-o hurriedly answered the phone.
“Hello.”
[Lee Jung-oh?]
It was definitely Ji-heon’s voice. How long had it been since she had heard his voice?
“Oppa……”
There were so many things she wanted to say. So many things. The resentment she had been holding in exploded. The tear ducts, which she thought were dry, welled up again.
“Why didn’t you contact me……”
She said it as if she was complaining. But she couldn’t get too angry. Yes. I also thought something was wrong. There’s no way Oppa would just cut off contact.
“Oppa. Did something happen? Nothing happened, right?”
But her resentment didn’t last long. Checking on his condition was the priority.
[I’m fine.]
Jeong-o felt relieved at the answer she heard from the other side of the receiver. Yes. It’s okay as long as nothing happened. Now we can solve other problems together. That’s what she wanted to say.
[I know my mother met you instead of me. Wasn’t it all over then?]
A dry voice was heard again.
“……Huh?”
[Didn’t that convey all my opinions?]
She heard words so heartless that she couldn’t believe they were his.
[Could you please not contact me anymore? It’s burdensome.]
But it was definitely his voice. Jeong Ji-heon’s voice coming from Jeong Ji-heon’s phone. Jeong-o’s expression froze. A darkness even greater than when contact was lost loomed before her eyes.
[You wouldn’t want to be a stumbling block in someone else’s life either, would you?]
She felt breathless. Did I become a stumbling block in Oppa’s life? Why? Because I had a child?
[You better be prepared when you contact me again.]
“……Prepared?”
Prepared. What preparation!
[I’ll hang up assuming you understood. Take care.]
The calm and sharp voice signaled the end. Click. Without an answer to her question, before she could even say goodbye, the call was disconnected. No way. Her strength drained, and she dropped her phone. But she shook her head. That can’t be. It must be a lie. Jeong-o picked up her phone, wiped away her tears with her sleeve, and quickly redialed Ji-heon’s phone number. [The phone is turned off, please leave a message after the beep…….] The message she had heard dozens of times rang painfully in her eardrums. That was the end for the two of them. \\ Oppa, our child has turned one. She has started calling me Mom. She sometimes says Dad too, I don’t know where she learned it. Ji-heon, our child is now running around. She’s also going to daycare. She’s very curious and eats well. She likes touching Mom’s face and sometimes sings. Jeong Ji-heon. Yena will be in elementary school next year. She’s very pretty, has a good personality, and has many friends. She doesn’t have a dad, but she’s so bright. I don’t wait for your call anymore. Now that I think about it, you never told me you loved me. Well, I don’t think it was all a lie. You liked me to some extent, but not enough to say you loved me. It’s okay. It’s okay now. That season, which she had been unable to let go of for a long time, remained only as hard sediment like iron pellets. And enough time for the surface of those iron pellets to rust again. Seven years had passed. Now she no longer cries because of a love that has gone away. *
“Mom, why is there a Gacha machine here?”
On the way back from the academy. Yena, who had let go of her mother’s hand and ran a few steps ahead, stopped in front of the Gacha machine and asked.
“Mommy, why is there a Gacha here?”
The child's sparkling eyes, head tilted up, tickled Jeong-o's heart. Eyes that shone like black pebbles swaying in the current under clear valley water. Even that clever mind, feigning a curious expression, was endearing.
“Mommy, why is Gacha here?”
“Lee Yena. Are you really asking because you're curious why Gacha is here, or are you asking because you want to play Gacha?”
Jeong-o narrowed her eyes and asked.
“Tell me honestly.”
“Because I want to.”
Yena, her true feelings exposed, confessed, pursing her plump lips slightly. Too cute to scold. Jeong-o chuckled.
“Choose. I'll let you do just one. Even if you don't get what you want, there's nothing I can do. I'll only let you do it once.”
“That one.”
Yena pointed to the Gacha machine on the bottom left.
“It eats up three 500-won coins. Yena, if you have three 500-won coins, how much is that?”
“1,500 won!”
Jeong-o had asked the question to teach her math, but the answer came faster than usual. It seemed she had already calculated it in her mind. Jeong-o glanced at Yena with narrowed eyes and placed three 500-won coins in her cute little hand. Yena skillfully inserted the coins into the Gacha machine. Judging by her adept handling of the machine, it seemed she had used this tactic on her grandmother often. This seven-year-old was quite sly. Jeong-o thought of the sly man from seven years ago. He was so subtly sly that she didn't even realize she was being deceived. She found it absurd that she was reminded of her child's father in such a strange place.
‘But I'm not the Lee Jung-oh of the old days anymore.’
Jeong-o was now someone who could chuckle, thinking back to her naive self from seven years ago. Just because she thought of him from time to time didn't mean she missed him. It was merely like a farmer recalling a particularly severe famine. Just a terrible past. She hoped to never encounter him again in her life.
“Wow! Mommy! I got what I wanted!”
Yena, holding the Gacha capsule in her hand, jumped up and down, but Jeong-o felt empty. A bouncy ball. Just a lump of rubber molded into a round shape. Displeased that the bouncy ball cost 1,500 won, she asked Yena.
“Yena, you wanted this?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“Because it's the color of Go stones.”
Yena, having taken the contents out of the capsule with her own strength, answered. This lump of rubber, dressed as a soccer ball despite being a bouncy ball, was good because it was a similar color to Go stones. Unbelievable. Jeong-o chuckled. Like the leaves of the roadside trees in this season, her daughter had grown significantly again without her realizing it. She had become a child who knew and could express her preferences. All the way to the restaurant, Yena's hand didn't leave her pocket. Jeong-o could clearly see her fidgeting with the bouncy ball in her pocket. Her pace was also faster than usual. It was clear that she was determined to quickly go to her grandmother's restaurant, take the bouncy ball out of her pocket, and start playing in earnest. The two walked briskly and arrived at Guksun's Home-style Meal. Guksun's Home-style Meal. Ms. Lee Guk-soon's restaurant. It was a small restaurant with only five tables, but it was famous in the neighborhood. It was so popular that nearby office workers would line up and wait during lunchtime.
“Grandma!”
“Our baby is here? Come and eat quickly.”
As Yena opened the restaurant door and shouted loudly, Guk-soon greeted her with a beaming smile. Dinner for the two of them was already prepared on the table. Before even sitting down at the table, Yena took the bouncy ball out of her pocket.
“You played Gacha again?”
Guk-soon recognized what Yena was holding and asked. Yena didn't answer, feeling guilty. Tonight's dinner menu was bean sprout soup and stir-fried pork. Yena quickly became sullen at the table without pork cutlet or tteokbokki. Oblivious to Yena's feelings, Guk-soon picked up a dried anchovy side dish and placed it on top of Yena's rice bowl.
“What's our puppy doing? You need to pick up your spoon quickly.”
When Yena didn't move, Guk-soon's hand instinctively reached for Yena's spoon. Guk-soon scooped rice from Yena's rice bowl and brought it to Yena's mouth.
“Mom, let her eat on her own.”
Jeong-o, sitting across from them, said as she shoveled rice into her mouth like a farmhand.
“It's because she's not eating.”
Guk-soon retorted. Her daughter and granddaughter were Guk-soon's treasures. Her daughter eating her fill of the food she had made, her granddaughter diligently putting food into her mouth—these were Guk-soon's joys of the day. As if reading her mind, Yena looked at her mother and said.
“Grandma, I get full just watching Mommy eat.”
Pfft. Jeong-o burst out laughing while swallowing her rice. A child is a mirror of an adult. A child picks up the fragments of words that adults casually utter and makes their own pockets. That's why Jeong-o also tries to use beautiful words and actions, so that she can be a role model for her daughter, Yena. Even during the meal, Guk-soon got up several times to attend to customers. Jeong-o tried to help, but Guk-soon cherished her daughter.
“Eat quickly and go home. Go home and prepare for work tomorrow.”
“What is there to prepare for work?”
“It's your first time going after changing jobs. You need to prepare your mind.”
As if preparing her mind was a large-scale move, Guk-soon's voice was filled with strength. * The next day.
“Do well. Don't skip lunch.”
First day at the new company. Jeong-o left home with Guk-soon seeing her off. She had moved companies on the recommendation of a senior colleague who had transferred earlier. Although it was a small company, the conditions were good, so she didn't hesitate for long. However, the senior colleague abruptly told Jeong-o, who had arrived at the new company, to come to Gangnam. Jeong-o waited for her senior colleague at Bank Intersection. After a while, the senior colleague arrived.
“Assistant Manager Lee.”
“Senior colleague.”
Jeong-o, having greeted her senior colleague, asked about the matter.
“Why did you call me here?”
“The company was sold. To Max Planning.”
Life is unpredictable. Jeong-o couldn't close her gaping mouth and asked after a long while.
“When?”
“The official announcement was made last night. Didn't you see the article?”
There was no way she could have seen it. Last night, she had gone to bed early according to her mother's words.
“It seems things progressed incredibly quickly. But your position is still there. Only the company building and management have changed. It's just a temporary confusion, it'll be resolved soon.”
“……”
“Since it's your first time going anywhere, I've arranged for you to be directly employed here without having to write a labor contract twice. I'll be coming here soon too, so don't worry.”
Come to think of it, the place her senior colleague had asked to meet was in front of the building where Max Planning was located. Max Planning was a better company than the company she had transferred to, and the location was good, but it was sudden.
“The HR team has contacted me. Go in quickly.”
“By myself?”
“You can do it, Assistant Manager Lee.”
Her senior colleague patted Jeong-o on the shoulder as if to encourage her. Extreme fear was added on top of the excitement and nervousness of her first day at the new company. She felt like she had been dropped alone in the vast ocean. But life is originally alone. Thirty years. The experiences of a not-so-short life had become Jeong-o's assets. Compared to the despair of a long time ago, this level of tension was nothing. Lee Jeong-o, you can do it! Jeong-o braced herself and entered the building. A woman and a man were standing in front of the company entrance.
“Lee Jeong-o?”
When Jeong-o answered, "Yes!" the man introduced Jeong-o to the woman.
“Team Leader, this is Lee Jeong-o, the new copywriter.”
The woman, nodding her head greatly, extended her hand to Jeong-o.
“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh, welcome. I'm Seong Mi-ran, the team leader of Production Team 2. Let's work well together.”
“Yes. Please take care of me.”
The team leader's impression seemed good, which made her feel a little relieved. Soon, Jeong-o parted ways with the HR staff and moved with Mi-ran.
“I heard about it. You transferred to Ivory Planning but ended up coming here.”
“Yes.”
“You must be confused. It's been very hectic here lately, so there's no time to take care of you. You'll be able to adapt well, right?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Jeong-o answered energetically. Contrary to the hectic introduction, the inside of the company was as quiet as a mouse. Sensing something strange, Mi-ran also asked as soon as she ran into a staff member from the next team while moving to her seat.
“Why is it so quiet?”
“Director Jung is over there.”
The staff member from the next team pointed to the end of the hallway and answered. Jeong-o also turned her head and looked at the end of the hallway. He was a man who was much taller and slimmer than the others. His back view seemed more suited to the title of model than director.
“Really? Then there's no need to go and greet him separately.”
Mi-ran, muttering to herself, leaned her head closer to Jeong-o and said urgently.
“Actually, the director is scarier than the CEO. He's only been here for a week, but…”
“……”
“He's the chairman of the group's son.”
The chairman's son. He's from another world. Her stomach churned because of the tension.
‘I have to do well. I have to do well.’
The moment Jeong-o put strength back into her body, Director Jeong turned around at the other end of the hallway. Life is always unpredictable. Jeong-o's face, which had been facing the other end of the hallway, hardened. ...That body, that face. Seven years. As if the gap in time was a lie, she could clearly recognize him even from afar. The father of my child. Jeong Ji-heon. It was him. She never thought she would meet him like this. She never knew he was this kind of person. Jeong-o was so flustered that her body wouldn't move, but he approached without hesitating for even a step, without even a tremor in his eyes. Step, step, step. The sound of his heels landing echoed heavily, as if chaining shackles onto her body. It was as if all her breathing holes were blocked, and even breathing wasn't easy. Only her heart was struggling inside, thrashing as if it would burst out. He is coming closer. Something she had waited for like a dream someday. But now, she wanted to shake her head and refuse. While Jeong-o was shaking her head vigorously in her mind, he came very close. Eventually, his steps, approaching at a constant pace with the same stride, stopped. In front of her. Her thoughts froze. Ji-heon grabbed her tightly as she took a half step back without even realizing it.
