Chapter 75
- The Spicy Taste of Life 2022.01.15.
“You’re being completely fooled by Lee Jung-oh!”
Jeong Ji-heon coldly stared at Youngmi, who was shouting in excitement.
“How did you know, Mother? That Jeong-o and I are seeing each other.”
A chill ran through his questioning voice. Youngmi closed her gaping mouth and furrowed her brow. Ji-heon's interrogation continued.
“Are you investigating me?”
“I… I heard it from Eun-bi. Yes. From Eun-bi.”
“Eun-bi did? What exactly did Eun-bi say?”
“……”
“Are you saying Chae Eun-bi investigated me?”
“That’s not the important thing!”
“No. That is important to me.”
“……What?”
“Who on earth told you whether Yena is my biological daughter or not?”
“I found out myself. I did it myself!”
Youngmi wanted to skip the story about Chae Eun-bi and point out the ugly behavior of that Lee Jung-oh, but her son couldn't seem to see the point. She felt frustrated and wronged. She took out a result sheet labeled 'Genetic Test Report' from her bag and showed it to Ji-heon.
“Here! Can’t you believe it even after seeing this?”
On the bottom of the first page of several result sheets, the result 'Probability of Paternity (%) : N' was printed in bold. Ji-heon took the result sheets, calmly scanned them, and then coldly sneered. So, Mother approached Yena. And then she didn't say anything to me. I can't trust Mother at all anymore.
“How did you get the samples? How did you approach Yena?”
As Ji-heon pressed her, Youngmi's pupils shook wildly. She was flustered because her son should have been shocked and collapsed at this point, should have reflected on the past and regretted it, but he wasn't shaken at all. Now, Ji-heon looked at Youngmi with sharper eyes. Eyes that were focused on the truth rather than their mother-son relationship. With the thought that if she had been involved in harming Yena, he would have no choice but to report her, even if she was his mother.
“Did you try to kidnap Yena too?”
“Wh, what…!”
“Were you involved in Yena’s kidnapping?”
“Kidnapping! What nonsense is that!”
Youngmi, in her own way, felt wronged and burst out.
“How did you know about Yena and Jeong-o’s existence? Since when have you known?”
Ji-heon persistently pressed. Unlike Youngmi, who was excited and shouting, Ji-heon remained calm and rational throughout. That's what made it terrifying. Surprised by her son's relentless attack, Youngmi honestly confessed.
“It hasn’t been long! Only two days! It was when Eun-bi came to me, complaining about Lee Jung-oh, Lee Jung-oh, that I found out!”
“As soon as Chae Eun-bi mentioned the name Lee Jung-oh, you had Yena’s paternity test done.”
Ji-heon let out a cold, mocking laugh. The outline was slowly taking shape.
“You knew that I met Jeong-o seven years ago.”
In the end, Youngmi had confessed everything. It was just a confirmation of what he had already guessed, so Ji-heon wasn't greatly surprised. But the disappointment in his mother could never be undone. Ji-heon looked at the result sheet again.
“The paternity test was done yesterday, and you received the results yesterday as well. Did you take the samples to the lab yourself?”
“……”
“You must have asked Driver Choi to do it. Then can we trust Driver Choi?”
Youngmi felt a chill down her spine at Ji-heon's sharpness, as he approached the truth as if he had her in the palm of his hand. Driver Choi had parked the car in the underground parking lot of Ji-heon's house and was waiting for Youngmi. Last night, Youngmi had suddenly called and said she would be visiting her son's house at 6 a.m. He was very dissatisfied, but he sensed something unusual and agreed without complaint. After barely overcoming the drowsiness, Driver Choi got up, picked up Ms. Jang Young-mi, and came to Ji-heon's house. He hoped that Youngmi would come out very late. He wanted to rest a little longer. But she came out earlier than he thought. Moreover, her son, Jeong Ji-heon, was with her.
“Hello, Driver.”
“Yes. Hello, Director.”
“Driver, I’m sorry, but I’m going to check the black box memory card.”
Ji-heon, after a light greeting, got into the car and took out the memory card from the black box. It was a quick movement without any unnecessary actions. Driver Choi stood there blankly, not knowing what was going on. Ji-heon connected the memory card to the tablet PC he had brought. And he played the video recorded on the memory card. The video recording of the time around 4 p.m. yesterday, when Driver Choi received the document envelope from Ms. Jang Young-mi and moved to the research institute. It was also the time when he met lawyer Chae Eun-yeop in the middle. After checking the video at that time, Ji-heon let out a cold sigh, and Youngmi stammered as if she was dumbfounded.
“Oh, no, why is Eun-yeop, why…”
Before Driver Choi could answer the whole story, Ji-heon asked first.
“Driver, you met lawyer Chae Eun-yeop yesterday, right?”
“Ah, yes… The lawyer said he would give me an electric car someday, and I received it yesterday.”
“How many times did that person call you yesterday?”
“About four or five times…”
Ji-heon's eyes narrowed. Youngmi's mouth was wide open. It was the first time he had seen the elegant Ms. Jang Young-mi looking so dumbfounded. Realizing that something was wrong, Driver Choi immediately apologized.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just don’t contact lawyer Chae Eun-yeop anymore. Block him completely.”
Driver Choi immediately followed Ji-heon's instructions. After confirming that Driver Choi had blocked Chae Eun-yeop's number, Ji-heon immediately asked Youngmi.
“Mother, how much did you tell Chae Eun-yeop about me?”
But Youngmi only shook her head.
“No. That can’t be. Look. Is this enough time to switch something?”
Even after rewinding the video several times, she couldn't believe the truth. The black box didn't have a device to show the inside. It looked like Eun-yeop opened the car door and went inside, but it wasn't recorded exactly what he did. Youngmi raised her voice again.
“I believe the test results! You’re being fooled! You need to come to your senses!”
“There’s no need to get excited, Mother. We can just do the test again.”
People tend to deny reality after experiencing a shocking event. Ji-heon knew that his mother was currently in that process.
“I’m 100% sure I’m right, but even if I’m not, my mind won’t change.”
Ji-heon spoke politely to the end, even though he despised his mother.
“Please stop now.”
“……”
“Because of you, that child has lived without a father for six years. How are you going to face her later?”
* Early morning. Guk-soon jumped up and went outside at the sound coming from the kitchen. Jeong-o, who was standing in the kitchen, smiled when she saw Guk-soon coming out. As she lived, she saw her daughter doing kitchen work.
“Why are you here? Are you determined to ruin your mother’s housekeeping?”
“No. Because Mom made a lot of things yesterday, there’s a lot to eat at home. I can just heat it up.”
“Okay. Get ready to go to work.”
Guk-soon snatched the frying pan that Jeong-o was holding. Jeong-o rubbed her mother's arm and acted cute.
“Mom, you had a hard time yesterday.”
“……”
“Ji-heon said to tell you that he’s very sorry that you had such a hard time, Mom.”
“What again. It’s okay.”
“……”
“Yena’s father must have had a harder time. And he even got told to leave by my daughter.”
“I know… It’s rough, rough.”
Jeong-o sighed as if the ground was sinking. Guk-soon remembered Ji-heon's embarrassed expression and quietly cleared her throat because she felt like laughing. Why are her daughter and her daughter's man so cute and causing such a fuss?
“Sigh… I feel so bad for Jeong Ji-heon when I think about it.”
“He needs to have those trials and errors. Did he think he could become a father for free?”
“……”
“He must have grown up well, but he needs to step on rough ground and know the spicy taste. That’s how he becomes a father.”
“Sigh…”
“Don’t be discouraged. Before long, they’ll leave you out and play by themselves.”
“No way.”
“Just you wait and see.”
Jeong-o simply shrugged at Guk-soon's bold assertion. * Yena's way to kindergarten. Ji-heon was there in front of the house again today.
“Did you sleep well, Yena?”
Hmph. Yena naturally snorted, firmly grabbed Jeong-o's hand, and walked ahead. Should I be relieved she didn't cry and scream like last night? Jeong-o understood both Yena's and Ji-heon's feelings all too well, and just felt that fate was cruel. Ji-heon trailed after them. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything else. The most important person in this soon-to-be family was the seven-year-old kid, Lee Yena. Ji-heon was constantly on edge, worried that Yena might burst into tears at any moment, or that she wouldn't be able to take the kindergarten bus this morning. And so, Yena left. Just like yesterday, Ji-heon waved until the kindergarten bus was out of sight, then told Jeong-o about what happened this morning.
“It seems Yena met my mother yesterday.”
“Your mother, Oppa?”
“On the way to Yena's academy. My mother probably took some of Yena's hair.”
Ah! Jeong-o clapped her hands.
“That's right, that's right! Yena mentioned it. She said a lady's bracelet got caught in her hair and messed it up.”
She didn't mention that the lady gave Yena fifty thousand won, fearing it would upset Ji-heon. How unfortunate. To ruin her first meeting with her granddaughter like that. Jeong-o, who had been lost in thought for a moment, asked.
“So, did she do a paternity test with Yena's hair?”
“She did, and it came back negative.”
Ji-heon's voice was small, worried that Jeong-o would be upset. But contrary to Ji-heon's expectations, Jeong-o burst out laughing.
“Pfft. What kind of test did she do? Did she use Do-bin's hair instead of Yena's?”
You can't hide the sky with your palm. She can just do the test again.
“What do you think, Oppa?”
“About what?”
“Yena might not be your biological daughter. Don't you have any doubts?”
“Chae Eun-yeop must have manipulated it all. The driver met Chae Eun-yeop while he was taking the data from my mother to the lab.”
“No.”
“……”
“I'm just saying, honestly. It's possible that Yena really isn't your biological daughter. Don't you have any doubts?”
Jeong-o blinked her eyes repeatedly, as if acting spoiled, at Ji-heon's rational question. Her expression clearly tested his feelings. He wasn't foolish enough to fall for that, but Ji-heon had never doubted it from the start. He would never leave her alone again. He wouldn't make her feel insecure. He wouldn't tolerate anyone trying to interfere and cause trouble.
“I don't.”
“……”
“Stay by my side.”
“……”
“Just stay by my side.”
With a short answer, Ji-heon expressed his honest feelings and wrapped his arm around Jeong-o's shoulder, pulling her close. Jeong-o recalled what Yena had said to her in her sleep last night.
“So don't leave me, Mom.”
How could this father and daughter be so alike?
