Chapter 82
82. Don't Interfere 2022.02.09.
“She has a salmon patch on her forehead. Just like I did when I was little.”
A salmon patch on her forehead?
“And she already knows how to play Go at seven.”
She even plays Go? Jaekwang was newly thrilled by Ji-heon's story. Jaekwang stared at the photo for a long time. He scrutinized it as if he were counting the number of eyelashes on the child. The child was so cute that his heart ached. She was very cute, but...
‘This cute child is Ji-heon's daughter?’
Jaekwang's eyes repeatedly went back and forth between the child in the photo and Ji-heon's face. He carefully compared the child in the photo with his son and became even more absorbed. Had I ever seen this child's cute appearance? Since they say she's blood-related, she does seem to resemble him, but one is very cute and the other is not cute at all, so frankly, he couldn't make a judgment.
‘Does she look like her mother…….’
Jaekwang barely put down the photo and cleared his throat. He shouldn't make a hasty judgment. First of all, he had to show a rational side as a father.
“Is she really your child? Are you sure?”
“Yes. She is. I have some memories, though very little.”
“But it might not be a real memory. It's been seven years.”
“……”
“We need to do a DNA test first.”
“That's, there's a bit of a problem.”
“……”
“The child doesn't like me yet.”
“Why.”
“She's lived without a father for seven years.”
Jaekwang, who had been staring blankly, nodded after a while, as if understanding Ji-heon's feelings.
“……I see. It would be hard to accept a father who appeared after seven years right away.”
But he emphasized the principle with dignity.
“Still, we have to do what we have to do.”
“Yes. I will soon. But I think I need to get closer to the child to some extent. That's why I'm telling you first, Father.”
A little while ago, Ji-heon had told Jaekwang everything truthfully, but he avoided talking about Youngmi as much as possible. He also said that the reason he and Jeong-o broke up was because of a car accident. He said that they broke up because they couldn't reach each other afterward. Even if the current Ji-heon resented his mother very much, he couldn't give the impression that he was badmouthing his mother in this place. Talking about facts that cannot be proven could be counterproductive. There was a problem that could cause his father to have a negative reaction to his story. He had to speak only the facts without touching the most sensitive parts as much as possible, and without transparently revealing how he currently felt about his mother.
“Actually, my mother secretly did a DNA test.”
“So your mother knew about it?”
“Yes. I couldn't ask her how much she knew, but it seems she did some investigation separately. But, the results my mother received said that there was no possibility of a parent-child relationship.”
“What on earth does that mean?”
“My mother secretly tested the child's hair, but it seems the hair was switched in the middle. Driver Choi took the sample to the genetics lab on my mother's errand, but he met Chae Eun-yeop on the way.”
“Isn't Chae Eun-yeop your friend?”
“He's also Chae Eun-bi's Oppa. He's a friend who wants to marry me to Chae Eun-bi.”
It was a surprising fact and he couldn't completely believe it, but it made sense. Jaekwang pondered, stroking his chin.
“If it's revealed that the child is my biological child, he'll be further away from his dream of marrying me to Chae Eun-bi, so he must have planned something like that.”
“Does that mean you and Chae Eun-bi haven't cleared things up yet?”
“I cleared things up a long time ago. It's just that Chae Eun-bi and Chae Eun-yeop can't accept it.”
“……”
“I don't think my mother can accept it either.”
Ji-heon carefully brought up his mother's story again.
“My mother told me not to associate with the child. She said that once I do a DNA test and it's confirmed that she's my child, then we can talk again.”
“Your mother isn't wrong. The DNA test comes first.”
“I can only do a DNA test if I get close to the child. Father.”
“……”
“Of course, I could proceed with a DNA test using the child's hair first, but there may be other contamination factors like Chae Eun-yeop, so I'm trying to be as careful as possible. I'm planning to take her directly for a blood test.”
At Ji-heon's calm assertion, Jaekwang frowned and pondered. After a while, Jaekwang said.
“Okay. Do that. But don't let it be too late.”
“I have to do it quickly.”
As permission was granted, a quiet smile appeared on Ji-heon's lips as well. The fact that his father acknowledged that the DNA test that his mother had unilaterally conducted was wrong was a good result.
“The child's mother is a copywriter?”
“Yes.”
“If the child is really your daughter... the connection is amazing.”
“It's fate.”
The moment Ji-heon thought of Jeong-o while answering that it was fate, he paused.
“I'm going to get a job at an advertising company. I want to be a copywriter. What's your dream, Oppa?”
The sound of waves crashing. The cool smell of the sea. And a woman who asked with a bright smile that matched the sea. Lee Jung-o with long hair. It was the first time an image, not a thought, came to mind. Two months ago, Ji-heon, who was working at headquarters, was appointed as a director of Max Planning, which was done by his own will, but there was actually no reason. It was as if some unknown force was pulling him, and he just wanted to go to an advertising agency. Chae Eun-bi, Chae Eun-yeop's younger sister, was a nuisance, but his will was so firm that he didn't even care about that. Was it a desire to meet Jeong-o? Was there a longing for Lee Jung-o somewhere in my subconscious?
“It's fate.”
Ji-heon said firmly once more as if chanting a spell. Jaekwang carefully watched his son, who was smiling gently. His son looked a little cute.
‘Does he resemble her…….’
When the child was growing up, Jaekwang was too busy with work to take proper care of his family. He thought that the reason he didn't see the child's cute appearance might not be because the child wasn't cute, but because he didn't stay by the child's side long enough.
“I'll be going now. I'll come back later to tell you more.”
As Ji-heon got up from his seat and tried to pick up Yena's photo on the table, Jaekwang quickly said sternly.
“Leave the photo here.”
* Max Planning conference room. Jeong-o was staring blankly at the laptop monitor. Ji-heon didn't come to her house this morning. He said he had work to do on Sunday morning. After spending a few days starting and ending the day with him, she felt a little empty today. The moment she thought she felt empty, she snapped out of it. No, when did I become so dependent on Jeong Ji-heon? She trusted him, and she would welcome him if he became family, but she knew very well that she shouldn't just rely on him. He had complicated problems, and it would be overwhelming just to solve them. Also, there was no guarantee that the same thing as seven years ago wouldn't happen again. He could lose his memory again. In the end, in order to overcome any adversity without getting hurt, she had no choice but to become strong on her own. Without relying on Jeong Ji-heon.
“Assistant Manager Lee, aren't you hungry? Should we order something to eat?”
Chief Park Young-gwang, who was passing by the conference room, came in and asked. The new copywriter from the next team went down to the countryside due to the death of his grandfather, and there was no news from Chae Eun-bi. By chance, Jeong-o was once again in a position to revise the production plan alone as the representative copywriter. Still, compared to the designers on the same team, her hardship was nothing. In addition, Team Leader Seong Mi-ran and Chief Park Young-gwang also looked in from time to time, so she didn't lose energy. But she was hungry.
“Chief, don't you want to eat tteokbokki?”
“Sounds good. Shall we eat Boribunsik tteokbokki then? Assistant Manager Lee likes it there.”
“Unfortunately, they don't deliver.”
“Then I'll go buy it.”
“No, it's so hot…….”
“It's okay. Assistant Manager Lee always does all the hard work, so I have to feed her well. Let's all eat together in the conference room later.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
After the kind Chief Park Young-gwang left, Jeong-o heard a knock as soon as she was alone again. Ji-heon was standing in front of the already open door. Despite her determination not to rely on Ji-heon, she smiled broadly at the sight of his face because she was so happy to see him. But soon, she closed her open mouth with conviction.
“Director, you're here.”
“Yes. I'm here.”
Jeong-o’s neat greeting was met with Ji-heon’s skillful response. It felt like a play in a conference room with just the two of them, but Jeong-o was pleased to see him trying to keep his promise from yesterday to be careful. It never hurt to be cautious. Even after the door closed, Jeong-o acted nonchalantly and respectfully.
“You said you had something to do this morning. Did it go well?”
“I met my father.”
“Really? What did he say?”
But Jeong-o was the first to get excited at Ji-heon’s answer. Oops. Realizing she had made a mistake, Jeong-o quickly bit her lip. Ji-heon smiled pleasantly, as if he had been waiting for this, and reached out to her. The moment Jeong-o’s hair was neatly tucked behind her ear, he lowered his shoulder and gently pressed his lips to hers. Her hands, which had been resting on her lap, floated into the air in surprise. Until their lips parted, it felt like her heart had beat dozens of times in that less than 10 seconds.
Ji-heon wiped his glossy lips with his thumb and looked at her with a satisfied, smiling gaze. Wow, what an opportunist. You can’t make mistakes in front of him. If you do, he seizes the opportunity and attacks confidently. His determination to squeeze every last bit of time was a bit annoying, so she glared at him slightly before asking again.
“What did your father say?”
“He said he wanted to get the DNA test done quickly.”
“……”
“He said if Yena is really my daughter, it’s a fascinating connection. He didn’t seem to have any animosity.”
“He didn’t have any animosity?”
“He didn’t show it much, but I think he was rather pleased. He’s different from my mother. I think he’ll like Yena a lot. That’s the feeling I get.”
“That’s a relief.”
Jeong-o sighed in relief at Ji-heon’s answer. She had vowed not to rely on him completely, but it was amazing how he was so reliably solving the problem she had been dreading, and she felt a desire to lean on him even more.
“And there’s one more thing I remembered.”
Ji-heon interrupted her brief reverie.
“I don’t know if this is a real memory, but I remembered something. It was like a beach, I could hear the sound of waves, and you told me there that you wanted to be a copywriter.”
Jeong-o’s expression brightened even more as she listened to Ji-heon’s story.
“Yes, that’s right! I told Oppa at Melbourne Beach. That my dream was to get into an advertising agency and become a copywriter. I asked Oppa what his dream was too, don’t you remember that?”
Jeong-o’s heart was full at the fact that they finally had a shared memory. She was overwhelmed.
“Oppa said he didn’t really have a dream. He was a young man without a dream. That’s how he was back then, but when we met again in Korea, he said he wanted to get a job and settle down.”
Ji-heon’s heart also fluttered at her excited expression. Ji-heon’s hand unconsciously reached out to her again. Outside the conference room. Chief Park Young-gwang, who had asked the team members in the office about the lunch menu and returned to the conference room, froze after checking the glass window on the door. The air in the conference room with Lee Jung-oh and Director Jeong Ji-heon alone was strange. Jeong-o’s face was not visible because she was facing away from the door, but Ji-heon’s profile, turned towards Jeong-o, was clearly visible. He couldn’t believe, even after seeing it with his own eyes, that the director, who had always shown such a cold demeanor as if he had coolant running through his veins, was staring at Jeong-o with eyes that seemed to drip with warm honey. In the moment he was stunned in disbelief, his eyes met Ji-heon’s through the glass. He could feel the coldness returning to the gaze that looked at him. Ji-heon clearly recognized that Young-gwang was standing outside the door. Nevertheless, he did not withdraw his hand reaching towards Jeong-o. Don’t interfere. Somehow, he seemed to hear those words in his eyes. Young-gwang felt his legs buckle.
