Chapter 85
85. Lie 2022.02.19.
Pfft. Ji-heon, who had been sharply glaring at Eun-yeop, suddenly burst into a faint laugh. And.
“Crazy bastard.”
Eun-yeop was taken aback.
“……What?”
“No, I was just lost in thought and said it to myself.”
“…….”
“It’s late, go quickly. Return the access card properly.”
Ji-heon flung the door wide open. Eun-yeop was now in a position where he had to leave before being embarrassingly kicked out. As soon as Eun-yeop stepped outside, the door was mercilessly slammed shut. Eun-yeop was furious at Ji-heon's offensive behavior.
\ Drrrrrrrrr. Jeong-o woke up to the loud vibration of her cell phone ringing from the morning.
“Hello…….”
[Mom, wake up!]
Her daughter's booming voice came through the phone. And outside the phone, there was the sound of giggling. Yena, who had woken up first, had called Jeong-o on her cell phone. She was in the middle of having fun.
“Lee Yena. It’s okay at home, but don’t play around like that at daycare, okay?”
“Mom, I don’t turn on my cell phone at daycare.”
Yena replied cheerfully. Jeong-o's face brightened as she saw her daughter in a good mood from the morning. On the other hand, she was a little worried about her daughter, whose emotions had been fluctuating lately. She was also concerned about her crying so often.
“Yena, princess. Look at Mom.”
“Okay.”
“Yena cries too often these days. Let’s not cry today. Okay?”
Jeong-o patted Yena on the shoulder and urged her.
“Okay.”
Yena nodded her head smartly at attention. Jeong-o hugged Yena and secretly sighed. She felt that her daughter's frequent tears and unstable state of mind were all her fault. She wondered if she had given her too big of an assignment at an age when she should be loved and raised warmly without needing to know about adult circumstances. But she couldn't postpone the assignment. She knew that if she crossed this mountain, her daughter would be happier.
“I wish you would say hello to your dad in the morning too.”
Jeong-o watched Yena's reaction as she told her wish. It was hard to know what Yena was thinking as she rolled her eyes.
“Is that still not possible?”
Yena asked after a long time.
“Mom, is it true?”
“What is?”
“Is that man really Yena’s dad?”
“Of course. Of course!”
It was the first time Yena had properly asked about Ji-heon first. There was a little hope. Jeong-o took this opportunity to tell Yena the truth.
“Yena, the truth is, Dad had a big car accident on the way to Yena when she was in Mom’s belly. So he forgot the way to Yena.”
“…….”
“Yena hates getting shots because they hurt, right? Dad got those painful shots for months. He was so badly hurt that he had surgery and took a lot of medicine.”
Yena's eyes became glistening as she was quickly absorbed in Jeong-o's story.
“Dad almost didn’t make it, but he survived. To see our Yena.”
“…….”
“So let’s welcome Dad. Okay?”
Yena didn't answer in the end. She seemed a little gloomy. Jeong-o felt sorry for making her daughter, who had been in a good mood after getting a cell phone, feel down again. An hour later, Ji-heon came again as usual. As if trying to make up for yesterday's mistake, Ji-heon came out much earlier than usual and guarded the front of Jeong-o's house.
“Yena. Hello. Did you sleep well?”
“……Hello.”
Still, thanks to the conversation in the morning, Yena reacted. It was a listless greeting in a drooping voice, but that alone gave Ji-heon strength. Today was better than yesterday. He could be satisfied with that much. He could also have the hope that tomorrow would be even better. Ji-heon waved his hand for a long time as he watched Yena leave, and then he took Jeong-o's hand. Jeong-o held his hand tightly and then let go.
“I’m not going to the office today. I’m going to the factory with Gi-hoon. I’m going to get the beer and go to the filming location.”
“Song Gi-hun?”
“Yeah. Gi-hoon is coming with his car. So I wish Oppa would disappear quickly.”
“You’re going in Song Gi-hun’s car?”
“Yeah. Gi-hoon has a car.”
Who dares to stand between me and Lee Jeong-o? Ji-heon frowned and asked sullenly.
“Why is Song Gi-hun going?”
“Gi-hoon designed the beer can package.”
“What about Go Eun-ju?”
“Go Eun-ju has something to do in the morning.”
“…….”
“Gi-hoon should be here soon. Oppa, go quickly.”
Ji-heon repeated Jeong-o's words a few times and gritted his teeth inwardly.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
The two of them. The two of them are going to the factory alone. They're going to the factory and then to the filming location.
“I’ll have to deal with Song Gi-hun soon.”
“What? What are you going to deal with?”
Jeong-o, who had ghostlike heard his small mutter, asked sharply. Ji-heon smiled slyly as if it was nothing.
“Just kidding, just kidding.”
“I just got a bad feeling?”
“I’m kidding.”
“Okay, okay. Just go to work quickly.”
Jeong-o immediately cut him off, thinking the argument would be long, and pushed Ji-heon toward the road. But Ji-heon didn't budge. He quickly attached a condition.
“Okay. I’ll go to work willingly.”
“…….”
“If you drag me to that corner and give me a kiss.”
……The father of my child is so full of charm. What's really amazing is that he's really serious. A sigh poured out from between Jeong-o's lips. \ Time passed, and it was 5 p.m. Yena, who had finished her day at daycare and went to the Go academy, kept looking around throughout the class. Do-bin was nowhere to be seen.
“Teacher, where’s Do-bin?”
“Oh. Do-bin went to the dentist and is coming. He’ll be a little late today. Do you want to wait for Do-bin?”
“Yes.”
Yena answered the teacher and sent a text message to Guk-soon. She said that she could be picked up late today. It was so amazing and convenient to be able to contact someone directly. She wanted to give her friend Do-bin her phone number soon. Yena wore her cell phone around her neck so that it could be seen well. The teacher smiled and called Yena, who was returning to her seat.
“Yena. Do you know Suin?”
Next to the teacher stood a girl of Yena's age. She was a friend with long hair like the Little Mermaid and a pretty hairband.
“No. I don’t know her.”
“She’s a seven-year-old friend. Hong Suin.”
Yena greeted Suin.
“Hello. I’m Lee Yena.”
“Yeah. I know you.”
Suin had only been at the Go academy for a week, but she knew Yena. Her mom had told her. Yena was enjoying popularity she didn't even know about in the moms' community. They said a Go prodigy had entered the academy. They said she was a seven-year-old girl and very smart. Suin, who had been dominating daycare with her enviable intelligence, didn't want to admit that there was a child her age who was smarter than her. She wanted to defeat Yena and prove her genius.
“Teacher, can I play Go with Yena?”
“Suin said she’s played a lot of matches, right?”
“Yes.”
Suin answered confidently. The time had come to show off her skills, which she had learned Go from her dad and Oppa for over a year.
“Yena, do you want to play a match?”
“Yes.”
Yena also readily accepted the match. The teacher, who knew the competitive nature of the two children, said.
“The most important thing in a game is to accept whatever the outcome is. If you don’t cry when you lose and think about why you lost, you’ll be able to play better later. It’s the same when you win. Even if you win, don’t make fun of your opponent and review the game together to analyze which moves were strong and which were weak. Got it?”
“Yes.”
The two children answered energetically. Soon, the two sat facing each other across the Go board. Yena took white, and Suin took black. As soon as Suin placed a stone, Yena immediately made her move. Yena's movements were so fast, as if she were making moves without thinking. With the sound of the Go stones falling on the board, Suin felt her mind gradually being swept away. Suin took advantage of the teacher's brief absence to talk to Yena.
“You know all the Korean letters, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you know all your multiplication tables?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Then you don’t even know what 7 times 7 is?”
“No. I know that. 49.”
“Then what’s 9 times 6?”
“54.”
“You said you don’t know your multiplication tables, so how do you know that?”
In response to Suin's question, Yena drew a square on the Go board with her hand.
“You can create a Go board in your head like this, and then make six rows of nine Go stones and count them.”
Can she count that fast? Suin narrowed her brows and looked at Yena.
“Do you know English?”
“No. Our daycare doesn’t teach English. But why aren’t you focusing on the Go game? You’re going to lose.”
While Suin wasn't concentrating, Yena steadily increased her territory. Before she knew it, Suin couldn't catch up.
“Uh oh! No! Let me take that back. I couldn’t see well, so I placed it wrong.”
“No. The teacher said there’s no taking back moves in Go.”
Suin pleaded, cornered, but Yena wouldn't budge. In the end, Suin was brutally defeated. As Suin stared miserably at the Go board, Yena shouted.
“Teacher, Yena won!”
“Yena, what did I tell you to do when you win?”
“Suin, let’s review the game. You need to think about why you lost. I’ll tell you.”
Suin's lips pouted. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I know everything too. I was just letting you win.”
Suin got up first and left the classroom. Waiting in front of another classroom for the class to end, Suin rushed inside as soon as the classroom door opened.
“Oppa!”
Jaein was there. Jaein was Suin's Oppa, who had started attending the Go academy a year earlier than Suin. Sniffling, Suin grabbed Jaein's arm and told him everything that had happened in the classroom across the hall.
“Why are you crying over something like that?”
After hearing the story, Jaein comforted his younger sister with a nonchalant expression. He was an ordinary Oppa who fought with his sister every day and made her cry himself, but couldn't stand it when his sister was wronged by other friends. Jaein noticed Yena waiting for Do-bin and going to the bathroom, so he approached her and asked.
“Are you Lee Yena?”
“Yeah.”
“I heard you’re really good at Go.”
“Yeah.”
“But why aren’t you going home? Isn’t your mom coming to pick you up?”
“No. Her mom works.”
Suin, who was sticking close behind Jaein, intervened.
“Ah, then is your dad coming to pick you up?”
“No. She doesn’t have a dad.”
Suin chimed in again. Yena was flustered. Facing an Oppa with a larger build than herself and a friend with a sharp voice, she felt like a mute puppy. She couldn't understand why they were doing this.
“If you don’t have a dad, do you live with just your mom?”
Jaein asked. The corner of his lip was tilted up. She could tell he was mocking her.
“If you don’t even have a dad, who taught you Go?”
“……No. I have a dad too.”
Yena answered, feeling choked up. Jaein scolded Suin.
“Hey. She said she has a dad.”
“No. Mom definitely said it! She doesn’t have a dad.”
Suin's voice grew louder. Suin had clearly heard her mom's words. Her mom had said that Yena was the smartest. That a kid without a dad was so good at Go. I can't forget those words. Jaein asked Yena again.
“She says you don’t? Are you lying right now?”
“No. I do.”
“Then call your dad.”
“…….”
“Hurry up. You have a cell phone too.”
Jaein said, pointing to the cell phone hanging around Yena's neck. Yena fiddled with the cell phone with trembling hands. Suin pressed her.
“Hurry up and do it. Why can’t you?”
“…….”
“You don’t even know your dad’s phone number?”
You know all your multiplication tables, so how don’t you know your dad’s phone number?
“It’s a lie, isn’t it? That you have a dad.”
Mom told me not to cry. Yena bit her lower lip tightly and swallowed her tears. Trying to hold back the tears that had already formed, her face flushed red. She couldn't breathe. It felt like all the blood was draining from her body. The surrounding sounds were muffled. She wasn't moving, but the floor and ceiling flipped over and spun around. Yena clutched the cell phone tightly in her hand and lost consciousness.
