Chapter 43
43. Angel's Kiss 2021.09.25.
After sending Ji-heon away, Jeong-o returned to the conference room and spoke to Team Leader Seong Mi-ran.
“I’m back. The meeting’s off.”
“What did the director say?”
“He said he has something to do today and wants to meet tomorrow morning.”
“Ah, that’s good.”
Contrary to Jeong-o's expectations, Mi-ran looked relieved.
“The AE roughly told me the research results, and there's something we missed. So, I think we need to rack our brains a bit more. Let's do our best by tomorrow morning.”
There was a part that needed to be supplemented. Hooo. Jeong-o also sighed. If he hadn't stopped Jeong Ji-heon from leaving the company, he would have been in trouble on both sides. Only after feeling relieved did he recall what had just happened in the office.
“Huh? Deputy Manager, are you sick?”
Gi-hoon said, examining Jeong-o's complexion as he passed by.
“Huh? No. Why?”
“Your face is red. You look like you have a fever.”
“No, it’s just a bit hot in the conference room.”
Jeong-o made a rough excuse.
* Ji-heon picked up Seung-gyu and headed to Seung-gyu's house.
“Aigoo. I should be driving. Our director, who has a chauffeur, is personally driving and visiting my humble home. I'm so grateful, so grateful.”
Seung-gyu, happy that his friend kept the promise from three weeks ago, praised Ji-heon all the way. Ji-heon didn't show much reaction to Seung-gyu's flattery. In fact, he was nervous. He had never spent time playing with children. He didn't even know how to talk to them. If he could run away now, he wanted to run back to the company. The expression Jeong-o had shown him before leaving the company was still vivid in his mind.
“Can't I just show my face to the kids and leave?”
“Why? Are you busy?”
“I don't know how to deal with kids, so I feel burdened.”
“Hey. There's no rulebook for dealing with kids.”
“Still, I can't play with kids as fun as you do.”
“I don't play with them in any fun way. I just watch them from the side. I smile at them, matching their eye level. And I move my body a bit.”
“Move my body…….”
“I don't mean dance and sing, but you end up moving your body a lot when you're with kids. It'll be a good experience. You'll become a dad someday too.”
Ji-heon frowned, and Seung-gyu, noticing, asked.
“Why?”
“No. I just have a bit of a headache.”
“…….”
“I’m okay now. It was just for a moment.”
Ji-heon replied as if it was nothing. The car, which had been running smoothly on the road, arrived at the apartment complex. Not far from the neighborhood where Lee Jung-oh lived. Ji-heon thought of Jeong-o once again and moved his steps with Seung-gyu.
“Dad’s home!”
Seung-gyu shouted as he opened the front door, and the precious children ran out.
“Daddy!”
Seung-gyu lifted his daughter Do-yoon high and stroked Do-bin. A few steps away, Yena's figure could also be seen. Dressed in a cute red outfit, Yena looked like a little Santa.
“Yena’s here too.”
“Hello.”
Yena greeted Seung-gyu. Ji-heon also glanced at Yena. Her pretty face seemed even prettier than the last time he saw her. Seung-gyu pulled Ji-heon's arm and said to the children.
“Kids, you have to greet your uncle too.”
“Hello, Uncle!”
Do-bin greeted playfully, as if he was screaming. Yena also greeted with sparkling eyes.
“Hello.”
“Yes. Hello.”
Ji-heon accepted Yena's greeting with an awkward smile. Jin-seo also came out of the kitchen and welcomed Ji-heon. Jin-seo's complexion looked particularly pale today.
“Ji-heon, it’s nice to see you again.”
“Yes. I hope I’m not intruding.”
“We're the ones intruding. You must be busy, but we asked you to come again. Have you had dinner? Please wait a moment.”
Jin-seo quickly showed her face and ran back to the kitchen. Ji-heon felt sorry for Jin-seo, thinking about how busy she must be, feeling obligated to treat someone when she was already overwhelmed with taking care of the children. Yena tugged at Ji-heon's clothes as he stood there blankly. Ji-heon lowered his head. Yena raised her head high and looked at him with her bright eyes.
“I’ve been waiting.”
Ji-heon was surprised by the child's words that she had been waiting. Three weeks is quite a long time for children, but what would it be like to count those long days? He had only spent a few minutes with this child three weeks ago. Did those few minutes with him really have such value for the child? Anyway, he was grateful that she remembered. Ji-heon was dragged along as Yena pulled on his pants. A Go board was already prepared on the living room table. Yena sat in front of the black stones and blinked her eyes. It was a sign for him to sit in front of her. The reason she had been waiting for him was clear. She wanted to play the Go game from a long time ago again. As Ji-heon sat down, the child opened the black and white stone containers and placed them one by one on the Go board. Ji-heon watched quietly as the child did this. Ji-heon's eyes widened as he checked the moves that were unfolded one by one on the Go board. The game from three weeks ago was being replayed exactly as it was. The hair on his whole body stood on end, and his head throbbed.
“You remembered all of that?”
The child nodded instead of answering. The gaze sweeping over the Go board was quite serious. Ji-heon thought that the child would become a Go player.
“From here. You can start from here.”
Yena, who had replayed all the games from three weeks ago, said to Ji-heon. It was Ji-heon's turn. As Ji-heon placed a stone, the child smiled as if she had expected that spot and placed her stone next to it. After a few moves, Ji-heon became quite engrossed. Had the child been studying continuously while replaying this game? He thought that he might even lose. The child had definitely improved tremendously compared to three weeks ago.
“Yena, are you losing or winning?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Yena answered firmly to Do-bin's question, who was just staring blankly, rolling his eyes.
“Wow! What if Uncle loses?”
Do-bin asked seriously. It was nothing special, but it sounded like he was teasing him. A strange sense of competitiveness was triggered. He didn't come all the way here to lose this kind of game. Ji-heon made several moves without mercy. Yena flinched as Ji-heon came out aggressively. The last two moves seemed to be something the child hadn't thought of. While Yena was looking intently at the Go board with her head deeply bowed, Ji-heon felt a tickling sensation in his heart. At that moment. Thump.
“Do-bin’s mom! Honey!”
The sound of something falling in the kitchen was heard, followed by Seung-gyu's shout. Ji-heon also got up from his seat and headed to the kitchen.
“Honey!”
Jin-seo had collapsed. Her face seemed pale for some reason, and she had lost consciousness while working in the kitchen.
“Mom!”
Do-bin was also startled and shouted. Ji-heon quickly grabbed Do-bin, who was trying to run to his mother. Seung-gyu laid Jin-seo down and checked her pulse and pupils. Her lips were blue, but her breathing was okay.
“I’ll call an ambulance.”
While Seung-gyu was checking Jin-seo's condition, Ji-heon called 119 for an ambulance. Seung-gyu's face was also turning as pale as Jin-seo's. Fortunately, the paramedics arrived early. Seung-gyu left with the unconscious Jin-seo and said to Ji-heon.
“Ji-heon, I’m really sorry. Please take care of the kids for a bit.”
“Don’t worry and go quickly.”
Ji-heon sent Seung-gyu away, hoping it was nothing serious. As soon as Seung-gyu and Jin-seo left, young Do-yoon burst into tears.
“Mommy, Mommy…….”
She was still at an age where it was hard to be separated from her mom and dad. Ji-heon picked up Do-yoon at the voice calling for her mother so sadly.
“Mommy…….”
He kept patting the child, but the crying didn't stop. It was a very shocking situation for Ji-heon as well, but it was obvious that the children would be even more scared if he didn't show a composed appearance. By the time Do-yoon was about to stop crying, Do-bin was sobbing.
“What’s going to happen to our mom? Is Mom going to die?”
“No. No. It’s okay.”
“Then why is she like that?”
“She’ll go to the hospital and get better soon.”
“What if she can’t come back?”
“She’ll come back. Don’t worry.”
“Waaaaah…….”
The child, who had looked so mature when he was making a confession of love to Yena, collapsed at his mother's fainting. Fortunately, Do-yoon, who he was holding, had fallen asleep from crying. Ji-heon put Do-yoon down and picked up Do-bin.
“What if our mom dies?”
“She won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“How does Uncle know?”
“Uncle knows everything.”
He managed to soothe Do-bin and stop his crying.
“Now, stop it. What are you going to do crying in front of your girlfriend? You can’t do that, can you?”
Do-bin sniffled, sucking the snot that had escaped his nostrils, and nodded vigorously. After putting Do-bin down, Ji-heon's shoulders ached. As he moved his shoulders to loosen the muscles, another challenge came his way. Yena was looking at him with her fairy-like face, blinking her eyes rapidly. What about me? What about me? Aren’t you going to hug me? What about me? What about me? What about me? It felt like a question mark aura was surrounding the child.
“Uh……”
Cold sweat trickled down his spine. Ji-heon bent down to match the child's eye level and said gently.
“……Sorry, I can’t hug you.”
The child's large eyes began to be covered with a transparent film. Her lips were also pouting forward. No way. I can't make this child cry. Ji-heon's voice trembled with embarrassment.
“……Okay. I’ll give you a hug, but promise me one thing.”
The plump lips that had been sticking out quickly retracted at the word "hug."
“Don’t go to your mom later and tell her that I’m a bad man. Okay?”
Yena nodded vigorously. The handsome uncle carefully reached out his arms. As her bottom rested on his firm arm, her body was lifted up. Yena instinctively wrapped her arms around Ji-heon's neck to keep her balance. Wow……. Her heart seemed to be popping like popcorn that her grandmother fried in a pan. She had never been lifted up so high in someone's arms before. A different height than her mom, and a different kind of firm coziness than her mom. A safe coziness that seemed to block out all the scary things in the world. Uncle hugged her, so she shouldn't cry now. She felt like crying because she was so happy. Not hugging to soothe a crying child, but hugging to hug. When he lifted the child up, Ji-heon felt a strange fluttering in his heart as she hugged his neck. A child who relied on him so unconditionally, someone with whom he had no connection. The unfamiliarity the child gave him was strange. He had never thought about marriage, but he thought that if a child like this called him Dad, marriage might be worth considering. But still, he couldn't move carelessly because it was someone else's child. Besides, he felt like the child's body was hot. Worried, Ji-heon's hand naturally went to Yena's forehead.
“Are you sick somewhere?”
“No.”
“You have a bit of a fever?”
“I don’t hurt at all.”
As if worried that Ji-heon would put her down, the child held onto Ji-heon's sleeve tightly. Ji-heon, who had lifted the child's bangs to check her forehead and was about to lower his hand, noticed a red spot in the middle of the child's forehead. Because the child's face was pale, the spot was even more noticeable.
Salmon patch.
“You have one of these too.”
“Do you have one too, Uncle?”
Yena asked, reaching out her hand to Ji-heon's forehead.
“I don’t have it now, but I used to have it.”
A salmon patch, also called an angel's kiss. It really seemed like an angel had kissed the child, so Ji-heon kept looking at Yena.
