Chapter 67
- Just Say One Word 2021.12.18.
Screech! Ji-heon couldn't avoid the approaching car, and his legs seemed to give way as he collapsed. The driver who stopped the car got out and ran over.
“Um, are you okay? I didn't actually hit you with the car……”
The driver asked with a troubled expression.
“It seems like you have some health issues; you should go to the hospital……”
“No, it's okay. I'm fine.”
Ji-heon barely managed to lift himself up. As he trudged back towards the elevator, he thought he might be going crazy. The moment the car headlights flashed, a name was etched into his mind. A strange emotion also swirled intensely. I love you, Jeong-o. Why did I hold back those words? I regret not telling her I loved her……. No other memories came to mind. It was like finding the remnants of a ruined house, clinging to a fragment of memory. Is my memory real? Or is it a delusion I created? But, to call it a delusion, it's too……. Ji-heon recalled the day he first met Jeong-o two months ago. The woman who trembled at the sight of his face. He was so bothered by her obvious nervousness that he even called Jeong-o into his office separately. She had a tense expression then as well. Yet, he also felt a hint of resentment in her eyes. Then there were times when she asked questions as if trying to imprint herself on him.
“……Do you know who I am?”
“Yes, Lee Jung-oh, Assistant Manager, copywriter.”
“……Anything else?”
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
He coldly retorted, ignoring her pleading eyes. He treated her even more coldly to control himself, as he kept losing his heart to her.
“Have you ever heard my name, even once? My name. Lee Jung-oh.”
“Did you shoot an ad so famous that your name would be known?”
The look of disappointment she gave him then, was it because he didn't recognize her? As he recalled each meeting and conversation with her, his suspicion deepened.
“There were lovers who loved each other. ……They thought they loved each other, but maybe not. As soon as the man found out about the woman's pregnancy, he left. So the woman raised the child alone. But this man appeared in front of the woman again after a few years.”
“Actually, he's not her father but her Oppa. Director Jeong resembles my ex-boyfriend, not my father.”
“Director Jeong acts exactly like my heartless ex-boyfriend.”
Was that all, everything, about me? Her cryptic stories. Were they like hints thrown at me? So you were giving me hints, hoping I would regain my memory on my own?
“Director, I hope you find your memories. They wouldn't have been useless memories. I believe they weren't. Maybe you've hidden them in a place so deep that no one can find them, like a time capsule, because they're the most precious and best memories.”
Were you waiting for me like that? Believing that my memories would return someday? Even after the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Ji-heon couldn't move. The words she had given him, as if filling in the memories he had forgotten, gripped his heart at will, shaking it and then releasing it. He barely managed to walk a few steps and opened the front door. But as soon as he opened the door and stepped inside, he collapsed again.
‘Ah…….’
Your child…….
“Isn't our Yena pretty?”
“Even if that person and I were in such a insignificant relationship, something brilliant could still come out of it.”
“Still, I'm grateful. I can't help it. He created Yena.”
You were especially affectionate when talking about the child. You spoke so lovingly that even I, watching, fell in love. Ji-heon recalled the time he held Yena. He thought the child had a fever, so he lifted her forehead to check. And he discovered the child's distinct salmon patch. Ji-heon quietly raised his hand and touched his own forehead, where the salmon patch had disappeared. Lee Jung-oh is type O, the child is type B. Me too, type B. Was she our child? Was Yena…… your and my child? Staggering, with trembling legs, he searched for the car smart key. Other thoughts occupied his mind, and he couldn't remember where the car key was. He thought he should take the spare key and went to the study. The spare key was in the desk drawer in the study. And under the spare key, he saw a thick document that had been unfolded once and then folded and put in the drawer. The proposal that Jeong-o wrote on May 27th. He traced the two lines of copy she had added with his fingertips again. - You who have forgotten me. You will weep, longing for what you have forgotten. In the end, thick streams of tears flowed down his cheeks.
\ Not many people heard Jeong-o and Eun-bi's commotion in the bathroom. Nevertheless, some were so surprised that they covered their mouths. Because she was pretty, sociable, and from a good family, her colleagues regarded Chae Eun-bi as a dignified copywriter. So when they heard the rumor that Eun-bi and Ji-heon had broken up, people sided with Eun-bi and gossiped about Ji-heon. Many also thought Eun-bi was pitiful. But the voice that came from inside the bathroom was contrary to the image that her colleagues had of Chae Eun-bi. People were quite shocked to hear Eun-bi's ranting, not only looking down on single mothers but also unhesitatingly cursing the mother. When Eun-bi came out of the bathroom, people glanced at each other and slipped away. Eun-bi approached Jo Yuri, Assistant Manager of Production Team 1, who was standing awkwardly nearby.
“Assistant Manager Jo, you heard it too, right? I'm going to sue Lee Jung-oh for assault. You'll be a witness, right?”
“Um, Team Leader……”
Assistant Manager Jo Yuri said quietly, avoiding Eun-bi's gaze.
“……I didn't hear it well. Why don't you ask someone else?”
Team Leader An Chan-seop, who was standing next to her, also cleared his throat.
“Um, Chae Eun-bi, it seems like you're under a lot of stress today, why don't you go home and rest.”
Eun-bi was dumbfounded. Eun-bi, who left work immediately, visited Ji-heon's family home, Ms. Jang Young-mi's house. Knowing that Eun-bi had come, Ms. Jang Young-mi ran out barefoot. She had been frustrated because she hadn't been able to contact Eun-bi for a while, and Ji-heon had visited the family home a few days ago but had left in a hurry and hadn't answered the phone since. Ms. Jang was even thinking of visiting Ji-heon and Eun-bi at Max Planning tomorrow.
“Mother!”
Eun-bi recognized Ms. Jang and burst into tears.
“Eun-bi, what's wrong? What happened? What!”
Ms. Jang hugged Eun-bi, feeling restless. The child who had a long relationship with her son and then broke up. Her son had let go of Chae Eun-bi, but Ms. Jang still had a lot of lingering feelings. She was also afraid that she would not be able to meet another daughter-in-law who was as sociable and devoted to her in-laws as Eun-bi. Eun-yeop's story that Ji-heon and Eun-bi often broke up and got back together became a kind of hope.
“I'm sorry for not contacting you all this time……”
“No, no. I'm okay.”
“Oppa and I, I think we broke up. I was so scared to say that……”
“Oh, what should I do……”
Youngmi liked Eun-bi, but she couldn't do anything because her son was so firm. She wished she could force Ji-heon and Eun-bi to get married.
“I wish I could help, but there's nothing I can do. What should I do……”
“Mother, please stop Oppa. Oppa is in danger right now.”
Eun-bi suddenly said something strange to Youngmi, who was comforting her. Youngmi frowned and asked.
“……In danger? What do you mean?”
“One of the company employees is clinging to Oppa. She's not even a decent woman, and she's controlling Oppa with a child. That's why we broke up.”
Eun-bi said, shedding tears. Youngmi was so surprised that she couldn't close her mouth.
“A single mother, she made the first move on Oppa, Mother. So Oppa is being played by her right now.”
“……”
“What should I do, huh? Waaaaah, waaaaaaah……”
“……A single mother, Eun-bi. Explain it so I can understand. Ji-heon is playing around with a single mother?”
Youngmi asked again in a trembling voice. Eun-bi wiped away her tears with her hand and nodded.
“Yes, a single mother with a seven-year-old child. How dare she, to my Oppa…… Hng…… It's like Oppa has some kind of weakness, my persuasion isn't working, Mother……”
“Who is it? What's her name?”
“Assistant Manager Lee Jung-oh. Lee Jung-oh, copywriter from Production Team 2.”
Youngmi's eyes widened at Eun-bi's sobbing answer.
“Mother!”
Eun-bi shouted towards Youngmi, who had lost strength in her legs and collapsed to the floor. Youngmi's mind was blank, so she couldn't hear Eun-bi's voice. Lee Jung-oh. Could it be, could that child be……. \ After work, Jeong-o didn't go straight home but went to her mother's restaurant. When she opened the restaurant door, there was an uncleaned table. The rice on the table was almost untouched. It must be the traces of Chae Eun-bi and her friends who had come. Jeong-o's tears fell on the white rice. Jeong-o bravely wiped away her tears and cleaned the table. Discarding the side dishes and rice that seemed almost untouched, a bag of food waste came out. Three servings of the set menu. She felt guilty for throwing away about 20,000 won and her heart ached at the wound her mother must have received. She neatly did the dishes, took out the food waste, cleaned every corner of the restaurant neatly, finished all the cleaning, left a short letter, and left the restaurant.
‘Mom, from tomorrow, let's forget everything again and live hard. Happily, as always.’
She smiled on purpose while looking at the darkened restaurant. But tears kept flowing. The sadness she felt because she had to stay by Jeong Ji-heon's side. If it was sadness that I was suffering alone, I could endure it enough. But if my family is having a hard time because of me……. The attempted kidnapping of Yena a long time ago, Chae Eun-bi coming to her mother's restaurant and harassing her family. The fact that she had to endure this quietly made her feel frustrated. She had the urge to just throw everything away and take her mother and Yena to the countryside.
‘Haa. I can't. I'm a copywriter. I have to work at the company…….’
Still, thinking about the paths she hadn't taken made her feel a little better. Although it took her more than an hour to get home because she was walking slowly. In the alley where the villa building was visible, Jeong-o tidied her clothes and face. Her face, which she looked at on her cell phone, still looked swollen around her eyes.
‘Still, the lights are off in the house, so Mom won't notice.’
Jeong-o stepped forward optimistically. However, someone was blocking her path. It was Ji-heon. His car was parked in the alley. It seemed he had been waiting for her for quite a while.
“……Why are you here?”
Without answering her question, he silently approached. Jeong-o unknowingly took a step back. She had barely managed to control her tears, and she was anxious that she might burst into tears again. And this was in front of her house.
“Director, can we talk tomorrow? I’m too tired today.”
“……”
“……Too many difficult things happened.”
“……”
“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow. I’ll go first.”
Jeong-o took a few more steps back as if running away, and then turned around completely. But at that moment.
“Jeong-o.”
He called her name as the man she had loved seven years ago had done. Jeong-o’s throat tightened again. It was too much. He knew it was hard for her when he called her like that. Jeong-o turned her head and looked at him with resentful eyes. But he didn't seem to feel sorry at all for what he had just said. Rather, he looked at her with resentful eyes. Yet also with affectionate eyes. Eyes that craved something. Had something difficult happened to him too? Was that why he needed her? Seeing those longing eyes, she felt sorry for him. How should she treat him in this situation? A man who had lived with a broken heart without even knowing it. A man who had forgotten all the time they had spent together and was approaching her with only instinct. Jeong-o took a step towards Ji-heon with a pitiful heart. As she got closer, his face became clearer. Under the streetlight, his face, shadowed, looked beautiful but sad. Before she could ask him what was wrong, he asked first.
“Who is Yena’s father?”
“……”
“Is it someone I know?”
Ji-heon clearly saw Jeong-o’s pupils shaking. He was anxious that she might avoid answering and turn away again. It was always like that. He chased after her, and she kept running away. But that must be because of the scars she had carried for seven years. He could understand it a hundred times over. Even if it couldn't support the weight of the bitterness he had realized. My lost memories of the one I loved so much back then... My everything. The most precious thing. The thing I had to protect.
“Just say one word.”
Ji-heon, who had been quietly looking at her, opened his mouth again.
“That child is my child.”
“……”
“Yena is my daughter.”
