Chapter 66
- Night of the Storm 2021.12.15.
Jeong-o. Lee Jeong-o. Jeong Ji-heon's eyes, fixed on the monitor, became transparently wet. Red blood vessels burst in the whites of her eyes. Red eyes that looked as if they would shed tears of blood at any moment.
“Ma'am... are you okay?”
The man, who had been quietly watching, asked worriedly.
“...Could I have this photo?”
Ji-heon couldn't hide the trembling in her voice as she asked the man. The man readily sent her the file. After taking the photo, Ji-heon left the flower shop and immediately contacted Seung-gyu.
[Yo, buddy.]
“Are you off work?”
[Yeah. On my way home. Why?]
“Do you still have the data you collected on Lee Jeong-o?”
[Uh... yeah.]
Seung-gyu's voice became smaller, as if it were a difficult topic to talk about.
“Can you send it to my email?”
She asked Seung-gyu. Ji-heon had never directly checked the data on Lee Jeong-o that Seung-gyu had investigated.
\ After a relaxing weekend for the first time in a while, it was Monday. Night shifts started again. Jeong-o finished a long meeting and returned to her seat, leaning lazily against the chair. Now, whenever someone appeared in the hallway near Ji-heon's office, she couldn't help but tense up. That person had left work early today. As always, at 12 PM, a text message saying she was busy with work was all the trace of Jeong Ji-heon she got today. She had seen her face from afar a couple of times, just to check if her eyes, nose, and mouth were doing well. Although they were in the same company and the same division, the two were as far apart as the distance between their offices and her seat. It wasn't a new thing that she couldn't see him often, but why did she feel so suffocated? It was probably because of the dream she had last night. In the dream, Jeong-o and Yena were wearing matching white, pretty dresses like a couple, strolling through the park when they found Ji-heon. Ji-heon was also wearing a handsome suit. Unlike Jeong-o, who hesitated after recognizing Ji-heon, Yena ran with open arms. And she hugged Ji-heon tightly. Ji-heon held Yena and sat on a bench in the park. Yena sat on Ji-heon's lap, smiling comfortably. As if she didn't care about her mother. The problem was Jeong-o's mood. She wanted to bring Yena back from Ji-heon, but her legs wouldn't move. She woke up from the dream, shuddering as she tried to bend her stiff legs. Dreams are a reflection of the unconscious. Perhaps the fear of losing Yena to someone else appeared as a dream. Meeting Chae Eun-yeop on Friday must have been one of the sources of anxiety as well. Anyway, she had decided to wait until Ji-heon's memories returned, so she would try to endure it for a while. Jeong-o tried to think positively about the anxiety factors. At least she knew who the suspicious person was, so that was a relief. She didn't know from which direction the arrow would fly, but now she felt like she could at least grasp the direction. Besides, Chae Eun-yeop had approached her by impersonating another lawyer, so she could use this as a weakness. What would be the best way to do it? While she was pondering, she heard the sound of heels clicking. Chae Eun-bi, who had been going out frequently these days, seemed to be starting work late at night after playing somewhere again.
'That team just doesn't have any collaboration.'
She pitied An Chan-seop, the leader of Production Team 1, and put her hands back on the keyboard. It seemed better to think at home, finish work quickly, and go home. But this time, her phone vibrated. Her mother Guk-soon's name appeared on the screen. Jeong-o immediately answered the phone.
“Hello.”
[Mom.]
“Yena, my princess!”
The voice that came from the other side of the receiver was not Guk-soon's voice, but her daughter's voice. Jeong-o's voice greeted Yena and rose a tone higher. After the fact that she was a single mother was widely known in the division, she didn't need to be conscious of anyone's eyes anymore. Chief Park Young-gwang, who was standing next to her, smiled as he watched Jeong-o run into the hallway with her phone to her ear. 8 PM. Jeong-o checked the time and asked.
“Are you home?”
[Yeah.]
“You need to wash up. Did you wash up?”
[Yeah. I washed up by myself today.]
“Good job. What is Grandma doing?”
[She's doing laundry in the bathroom.]
Yena's voice, which had been answering calmly, suddenly lowered.
[Mom, but Grandma cried today.]
The smile that had been all over Jeong-o's face disappeared at the news Yena urgently conveyed.
“Why? What happened?”
[No. Someone just came to the restaurant. But Grandma cried. So she didn't clean the restaurant and came home.]
“A strange customer came?”
[I don't know. They ordered food but didn't eat any of it and left.]
“Grandma cried because the customer didn't eat the food?”
[I don't really know. But that customer is Mom's friend.]
“What?”
[She said she was Chae Eun-bi twice. And she gave me 50,000 won too.]
Jeong-o turned her head and looked at Chae Eun-bi's seat. Chae Eun-bi was working, her shoulders shaking as if something was so good. Come to think of it, Chae Eun-bi, who had only been showing a rotten expression lately, had a strangely excited face. Chae Eun-bi. You finally touched my family.
[But Grandma took the money away. She said she had to give the money back.]
“……”
[Mom, but Grandma cried secretly. It's a secret that Yena told you.]
Before Jeong-o could answer, the call was cut off from the other side first. It seemed she had made the call secretly. Jeong-o saw Eun-bi get up from her seat and head to the bathroom, and immediately followed her.
“Chae Eun-bi.”
Eun-bi, who was fixing her makeup in front of the sink, looked at Jeong-o and raised one corner of her lips crookedly.
“Assistant Manager Lee Jeong-o. This is the company. Let's be respectful.”
Eun-bi pointed out, but Jeong-o was not in the mood to be respectful.
“Why did you give my daughter money?”
“She took it readily, though.”
“……”
“She took it so well that I thought she was a beggar.”
Slap! Jeong-o couldn't control her anger and slapped Eun-bi across the cheek. The shock must have been as great for Eun-bi as the stinging in Jeong-o's palm. Eun-bi, who collapsed onto the sink from Jeong-o's blow, covered her cheek and glared at Jeong-o. She had calculated that she would use the fact that she had been assaulted if she was provoked, but when it actually happened, she felt very dirty.
“How dare you hit me?”
Eun-bi, who stood up with a vein popping out of her neck, screamed.
“That's why you hear that you're all the same!”
“……”
“Are you proud of being a single-mother family for generations? Is it hereditary to sleep around? But you should have thought about your life and had an abortion. You wouldn't want to hear that she's just like her mother and sleeps around.”
Jeong-o's hand rose again at Chae Eun-bi's outburst.
“Eek!”
Eun-bi screamed, guarding the cheek she had been hit on with both arms. The sight was truly ridiculous.
“That's enough. You're just hopeless.”
Jeong-o, who had withdrawn her hand, gave up and turned around.
“Don't touch my family again. This is a warning.”
“A warning, what, what! I'm going to sue you too. I'm going to sue you for assault!”
Eun-bi shouted at Jeong-o, who was leaving first. At this moment, an absurd voice was heard from behind Eun-bi.
[Are you proud of being a single-mother family for generations? Is it hereditary to sleep around? But you should have thought about your life and had an abortion. You wouldn't want to hear that she's just like her mother and sleeps around.]
Go Eun-ju, who came out of the toilet stall, pressed the playback stop button on the recording file.
“Don't misunderstand, Assistant Manager. This isn't illegal wiretapping, but I was testing how nicely my voice sounds in the bathroom, and it's ruined data because of you, Assistant Manager.”
Eun-ju sneered coldly and left the bathroom first.
“She's always acting so high and mighty, how pathetic.”
The muttering to herself as she left the bathroom was clearly heard by Eun-bi as well. Eun-bi's face twitched. \ Ji-heon, who returned home, immediately checked the email Seung-gyu had sent. - Buddy, I did this investigation at your request, but I feel a strong pang of conscience. Please keep it a secret that I did this investigation. Attached to the email were several documents that Seung-gyu had received from a company, along with an earnest request. Ji-heon carefully examined the documents line by line. Her heart was pounding more than ever as she examined the stark, refined facts. Lee Jeong-o's daughter, Lee Yena. 7 years old. Born on May 27, six years ago, at a gynecologist's office in Gunsan. The child's blood type, B. Lee Jeong-o is type O, but the child was type B. The information, which began with a brief profile of Lee Jeong-o's family, became increasingly detailed as it delved into Lee Jeong-o's past. The Studio apartment she lived in when she was a college student was in the Haengdang-dong Studio apartment village. Ji-heon felt strangely concerned about the address and turned on the road map. And she quickly remembered the place. It was the place where she had met Lee Jeong-o on the day of the Dawon Liquor new product tasting event.
'Was I drawn to that place by a memory I don't remember?'
Was I a frequent visitor there in the past? Was that why I instinctively sought it out? Even as I told myself not to jump to conclusions, my heart kept drifting to that predetermined place. And Lee Jung-oh, who had gone to Melbourne, Australia, for a working holiday seven years ago. I was in Melbourne during that time too. Could this be a coincidence? Am I forcing a nonsensical story to fit? Huh? Lee Jung-oh. My whole body trembled as if it had become one giant heart. With trembling fingertips, Ji-heon clicked to turn another page and let out a rough sigh. A photo she had taken during her working holiday was embedded in the document. Long straight hair, a sky-blue t-shirt with a character printed on it. Ji-heon picked up her phone and found the photo she had taken at the Melbourne restaurant, 'The Crown,' and opened it. ...Yes. That outfit. It was her. It was Lee Jung-oh. Her gaze toward the monitor became blank. After a long sigh, Ji-heon straightened her body and read the words 'THE CROWN' in her heavily stacked inbox. The owner of The Crown had sent Ji-heon an email a few hours ago. Ji-heon clicked on the email. Mr. Jeong. Hope you're doing well? I'm contacting you because I remembered the request you made when you visited our restaurant last week. I happened to have the opportunity to review the restaurant's CCTV footage, and I noticed that about an hour before you visited the restaurant that day, someone touched the photo on the wall. This Asian woman seems to have taken your photo. Do you happen to know her? Ji-heon downloaded and opened the attached video that came with the email. The interior of The Crown restaurant, which Ji-heon had visited, was visible. An Asian woman wearing a hat entered the rather quiet restaurant. It was Lee Jung-oh. It couldn't possibly be anyone else. Lee Jung-oh. Jeong-o, sitting in the corner of the restaurant, stared at the wall where the photos were attached, and then noticed something and looked around. And while no one was watching her, she took a photo off the wall. Tears welled up in her throat. Lee Jung-oh. Who the hell are you? With what kind of heart have you been watching me? It felt like she had to meet her immediately and hear the story. Ji-heon left the house right away. Her stomach churned and she felt dizzy as she went down in the elevator. She remembered Lee Jung-oh, who had gripped the handrail tightly in the elevator they rode together. Only after rushing down to the underground parking lot did Ji-heon realize that she hadn't brought her car keys. She had to go back home, but her legs were shaking. It felt like the world she was breathing in was too much to bear. She had to go to her. Ji-heon sat down for a moment, then got up. At that moment. Screech! A car that hadn't noticed the person sitting down belatedly saw Ji-heon and stopped abruptly with the sound of tires screeching. Flash. The headlights poured onto Ji-heon's face. A flash of light flickered in his head as well. Tears that she couldn't hold back fell. I love you, Jeong-o. Why did I hold back those words?
