Chapter 7
- My Princess 2021.05.22.
I don't know how the day went by. It was a day so painful for Jeong-o that she felt like vomiting. Nevertheless, the fact that the end can be happy is thanks to a comfortable home and a precious family. On days when I leave work early, I go to Guk-soon's restaurant to help with the cleanup, but for some reason, Guk-soon closed the restaurant early today. Jeong-o opened the front door, and her puppy-like daughter ran to her.
“Mommy!”
“Princess Yena!”
My princess who destroys the universe with her loveliness and cuteness!
Jeong-o's energy, which had been completely drained, was fully recharged with her daughter. Jeong-o easily picked up the running Yena.
“You didn’t work late?”
Guk-soon came out to the living room, wiping the water off her hands on her pants.
“Yeah. It’s my first day.”
Jeong-o kissed Yena on the cheek and answered Guk-soon. I'm happy like this. Jeong Ji-heon, you can't ruin this. A life that was once hell has now become heaven. When I thought I had lost love, a greater love came to me. The love that my daughter Yena taught me became the strength to live. So, I can't just vaguely resent and hate Jeong Ji-heon. I just hope this heaven doesn't fall apart. Around 9 p.m., Jeong-o spread out a mat and lay down next to Yena. It was time for the child to go to dreamland. She turned off the light in the room and gave Yena a pillow with her arm, but the energetic seven-year-old was not likely to fall asleep easily. Yena repeatedly played pranks on Jeong-o and giggled, and after being scolded a few times, she lay down straight. Yena, who had been blinking her eyes, called her mother in a low voice.
“Mom, I met a seven-year-old at the academy today.”
“You made a friend!”
“Not yet a friend. He doesn’t know anything about Go.”
“You can be friends even if you don’t know Go. Yena can teach him. Someday, your friend will be as good as Yena.”
“He cried so much because he didn’t want to learn Go?”
“He might like it someday.”
Jeong-o's voice rose with joy at the thought of her daughter making a friend. But Yena twitched her lips as if she couldn't believe her mother's words.
“What’s your friend’s name?”
“Park Do-bin.”
“Is he a boy?”
“Yeah.”
Yena's voice slowed down.
“His mom came to pick him up today too, and she came yesterday too.”
“……”
“I think she’ll come tomorrow too.”
She was pretending to sound sleepy, but Jeong-o could sense the hidden meaning in her words.
“Were you jealous of Do-bin?”
“No.”
“……”
“……Just a little bit jealous.”
Jeong-o's heart stung at her daughter's sincerity, which she showed after hesitating. My princess. I love you and cherish you so much that I want to do anything for you, but I only have one body, so there is a limit to what I can do. It's not that I haven't thought that it would be nice if she had a father. Today, as always, I came to that thought and vaguely thought of Ji-heon.
‘But does he not know that I gave birth to Yena? I thought he would ask about it somehow.’
As soon as she thought of Ji-heon, a big question mark appeared in her head.
‘Does he firmly believe that I would have given up the child?’
Anyway, even if he finds out the truth, I won't let him get away with nonsense like he's going to take my daughter away now. Jeong-o clenched her fist tightly as she thought of Ji-heon. Then, before long, she released her fist powerlessly and lamented. What kind of cruel twist of fate is this? To meet the father of my secretly raised child at work. And as my superior, no less. The man she met after 7 years still boasted handsome looks. Although his impression had become much colder.
‘Were there many women?’
Of course, there would have been. He was a person who liked women so much. Until we started dating, no, until our first kiss, he seemed like a man with no sexual desire at all, as abstinent as he was. That bastard, his true nature was a beast. Jeong Ji-heon in a private space was a completely different person from Jeong Ji-heon in a public place. He tormented her to the point of obsession, and it seemed like he enjoyed it. When they spent the weekend together, he wanted her as if he would stay up all night. There were times when she had to pretend to be asleep because she was so exhausted. No, it didn't seem like the time mattered, whether it was night or day. He was such a lecherous person. He must have had so many women that I couldn't count them on my fingers.
‘He must have charmed this woman and that woman.’
And he must have erased someone like me quickly. His time had flowed by so leisurely, but she felt sad at the thought that only she had been restless. In one corner of her heart, a season that she couldn't leave was still lingering.
‘Should I quit the company after all?’
I didn't want to show myself being swayed by emotions. But I didn't want to be in a position where I was running away either. It was a night of deep worries. * The next morning. Ji-heon visited his parents' house. Actually, he was supposed to visit yesterday and sleep over to have breakfast with his parents, but he wasn't feeling well, so he stopped by in the morning. But his mood hadn't improved in the morning either. He had a strange dream last night and had been in a daze ever since. As if he were possessed by a ghost.
“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”
Ms. Jang Young-mi, who had been watching Ji-heon repeatedly rubbing his shoulders during the meal, asked. I can't tell them that I'm thirty-three years old and fell off the sofa while sleeping.
“I think I slept wrong.”
Ji-heon answered vaguely.
“Be careful with your attitude in front of your employees. If you show too much discomfort, they might misunderstand.”
His father, Jeong Jaekwang, advised without missing the opportunity.
“Yes.”
Ji-heon answered briefly. He was not comfortable having a meal with his parents. His father was a blunt person who only talked about work, and his mother was a person who had excessive interest in Ji-heon. Ji-heon remained silent, fearing that the meal would be prolonged if the topic of marriage came up.
“How’s the new job? Is it manageable?”
“So-so. I’ve barely gotten used to people’s faces.”
When Ji-heon answered his father's question vaguely, Youngmi chimed in.
“Honey. It’s only been a week since Ji-heon moved companies. Oh, Eun-bi is also at that company……”
“Father, what about my brother?”
Feeling that a troublesome topic was about to come up, Ji-heon quickly spoke to Jaekwang.
“He said he had a sudden business trip.”
“It would have been nice if my brother could have joined us for the meal. He must be very busy.”
Youngmi had a displeased expression, but Ji-heon didn't care. Ji-heon, who had skillfully overcome the crisis, gave Youngmi a refined smile when their eyes met. The meal ended without any major incidents. Before going to work, Ji-heon went to his room and looked through the books he had read when he was young. He always felt strange when he came to his parents' house. The memories of when he was very young were quite vivid, but this was a place where he realized that he had no memories of when he was twenty-six, 7 years ago. What kind of person was I back then? What was I thinking? Since I can't remember, there was also a part of me that became more obsessed. When he put the book he had opened back in its place, the door opened and Youngmi came in. Youngmi's face lit up as soon as she found her son and came over to ask.
“Do you have some time this morning?”
“I have to go to work now.”
Youngmi was disappointed that she had been thinking of going on a date with her son for the first time in a while. Ji-heon called out to Youngmi.
“Mother.”
“Yes?”
“During those 3 years that I lost my memory.”
As Ji-heon started to speak, a cold shadow fell over Youngmi's eyes. The 3 years that her son lost his memory. It was Youngmi's least favorite topic.
“What could have happened?”
“You went to the military…… Other than that, it was the same.”
Ji-heon said quietly to himself in a light answer as if it were nothing.
“Is it the military after all?”
Youngmi forced a smile and raised her hand to stroke her son's hair.
“The fact that you don’t remember anything at all means you shouldn’t be tied to it.”
“But I feel like something happened.”
“……”
“I feel like I’ve forgotten something, but I don’t know what it is.”
“Do you remember this? You used to have a red spot here.”
Just like her son had done during breakfast, his mother also changed the subject to avoid a difficult topic. Her son had a salmon patch, a red, flame-shaped birthmark, on his forehead for a long time. It usually disappeared before the age of three, but her son's salmon patch lasted quite a long time. It probably disappeared around the time he was in the first year of middle school.
“I know. I used to cover my forehead with my bangs because of it.”
Ji-heon answered as if it were a trivial story. Youngmi continued, reminiscing as she touched the spot where the salmon patch had disappeared.
“I could even see what you weren’t showing in your expression. If I looked here.”
“……”
“That’s how it was back then.”
It was an unpleasant memory for Ji-heon. The fact that his feelings could be read even when he hid his expression was not a good thing for him. He hated it when the salmon patch became redder when he was in a bad mood. Youngmi, who didn't know all of this, smiled kindly and wrapped up the clumsy stories.
“Don’t worry too much about what happened 7 years ago.”
There's no lingering emotion left now. As if I used it all up back then. Ji-heon still lives his life hiding his true feelings.
"Still, if something difficult happens, talk to your mom. Okay?"
"Yes."
"I love you, son. You're all I have."
Ji-heon, responding loosely to his mother's embrace, quickly said goodbye and left his family home. Escaping the stage of being a good son, Ji-heon's eyes quickly lost their warmth. Exhaling the breath he had been holding, Ji-heon roughly stepped on the accelerator. It was a bright morning, but his mind was not clear. It felt like soot had settled in and wouldn't come out. He couldn't tell if it was because he had dredged up the events of seven years ago or because of last night's dream. * At the same time, in the pantry of Max Planning. Jeong-o brewed coffee with hollow eyes. She had fallen asleep at dawn, thinking about whether to continue working at the company or quit. The conclusion she finally reached was that she should stay, for now. She had to work hard, for now. That was the best she could do. She couldn't fall apart as long as she had a mother who had sacrificed her whole life for her children and a daughter who was growing up fast. Jeong Ji-heon was an executive, so she probably wouldn't run into him often. If she avoided him well, she could last a few months. In the meantime, she would prepare to change jobs again. Once she had decided on a direction, she felt much lighter. Her steps as she turned around with her coffee were also quite light. But that feeling didn't last long. Jeong-o froze in her spot. Following Jeong Ji-heon from yesterday, another villain had appeared today. The other person greeted Jeong-o with wide eyes.
"Oh my, who is this? You're Lee Jung-oh, right? Do you remember who I am?"
Of course, she couldn't not remember. It's just that she didn't want to remember. That friend who brought her the most tears during her school days, why is she here...?
"I'm Chae Eun-bi. Don't you recognize me?"
"...Oh, I know. ...Chae Eun-bi."
"It's so nice to see you, Jeong-o! How have you been?"
They weren't that kind of relationship. Jeong-o was even more flustered by the other person's overly enthusiastic greeting.
"Oh, well, so-so. ...You work at this company?"
"Yeah. I'm a copywriter."
Eun-bi answered with a smile to Jeong-o's obvious question. Still, it had been a good ten years since they graduated high school, and since they were meeting as colleagues at work, it would be meaningless to dredge up the past. Moreover, she couldn't be tied down to past events that Chae Eun-bi might have forgotten. Should she just try to get along coolly now? It was a company she wouldn't be at for long anyway. Just as she was about to put a new resolution in her heart and open her lips to greet her, Eun-bi spoke first.
"Come to think of it, you're the assistant manager who joined the team next to ours, right? Production Team 2?"
Eun-bi's lips pursed into a circle. As if she was very curious about Jeong-o.
"Yeah."
"How many years as an assistant manager?"
"One year."
"One year? What have you been doing all this time?"
The moment she felt something was off, Eun-bi's lips, which had been rounded, stretched out. It was a twisted smile, one side relatively longer. It was the expression of a noblewoman dealing with a lowly subordinate, but a hint of joy flashed in her eyes.
"I'm a section chief."
