Chapter 89
89. Paternity Test 2022.03.05.
Yena sat on Ji-heon's lap and ate her meal. Jeong-o couldn't say a word, finding it adorable that the child, who had even learned to use chopsticks, didn't lift a finger and opened her mouth like a baby bird whenever her dad brought her food. It was a happy mealtime. After lunch, Ji-heon said to Yena,
“Yena, Daddy has something to tell you.”
“Yes.”
“We’re going to the hospital again.”
Today's schedule: they were going to proceed with the paternity test. Ji-heon had looked into everything, which was why he had been even busier in the morning.
“This time, we're not going to the hospital because Yena is sick. We're going because we need to do a test, a test that stamps 'Yena is Daddy's daughter' with a bang.”
“How?”
Yena asked at Ji-heon's explanation. Her expression was stiff. A test to prove Yena was Daddy's daughter. That made her nervous again.
“We’ll draw a little bit of Yena’s blood and a little bit of Daddy’s blood, and then we’ll do the test.”
“How?”
Yena turned her head and asked Jeong-o, who was sitting next to her.
“Mommy, how can drawing blood tell us that Yena is Daddy’s daughter? Blood is all red.”
The daughter, who had been talking to her dad the whole time, asked her mom the difficult question. Jeong-o's face turned red. I don't know. Mommy doesn't know. Mommy is a liberal arts student to the core... Her brain, unable to explain blood tests clearly, wept silently. In the meantime, Yena changed her target.
“Can you get a stamp if you draw blood?”
The daughter, who had been using her dad like a runaway colt, briefly came to her senses and asked her dad politely. The child was still confused, as much as the mixture of honorifics and casual speech. He had to explain everything one by one. Ji-heon showed his thumb to Yena and asked,
“Can you see the fingerprint on Daddy’s finger?”
“Yes. I have fingerprints too!”
“That’s right. Do you know that these finger fingerprints are different for each person?”
“Yes. I learned it at daycare.”
“Okay. So even if Yena gets lost and forgets her address, if you register this fingerprint at the police station, Yena can find her way home. The fingerprint becomes a map to get home.”
After explaining about fingerprints, Ji-heon searched for a 1000x magnification video of blood on his phone and showed it to Yena. It was a video showing the appearance of red blood cells and white blood cells.
“We have something like that in our bodies too, look. This is what red blood looks like when magnified 1000 times under a microscope.”
Yena frowned and turned her head away.
“Ew. It’s gross.”
“Is it just gross?”
“It looks like frog eggs.”
“Okay. So, in the blood that just looks red to our eyes, there are actually these frog egg-like things, right? If you zoom in on this even more, you can see the blueprint, the map, engraved in our blood. There's a map like a fingerprint on our fingers in our blood too.”
Ji-heon explained patiently without getting tired. Yena listened intently to Ji-heon's voice, as if she really understood everything.
“A blood test is a test to find that map. Daddy and Yena have very similar maps. That's because Yena is Daddy's daughter.”
“So, the maps in our blood are alike?”
“Yes. They’re alike.”
Yena's eyes sparkled at her dad's confident answer. Yena stared intently at the blood video for a long time, which she had refused to watch earlier, saying it was gross. A map in the blood! The fact that the map inside me, which I can't see directly and can only see when magnified thousands of times, resembles my dad! It was such a wonderful story. The heart of the seven-year-old swelled.
“Mommy, I want to go get tested quickly.”
\ Jeong-o packed the documents needed for the paternity test and went to the Department of Laboratory Medicine with Ji-heon. It was a laboratory located in a corner of a fairly large health checkup center. Jeong-o filled out the consent form for Yena's paternity test and moved according to the instructions. Ji-heon had his blood drawn first. As dark red blood flowed from Ji-heon's arm, Yena's expression hardened.
“Now it’s Yena’s turn. Can you do it? If you endure it well, Mommy will buy you ice cream later.”
Jeong-o thought Yena seemed very nervous, so she soothed the child with ice cream and sat Yena on her lap. Yena twisted her body, so frightened that her face turned pale. But she didn't refuse completely. Jeong-o was proud that the child, who made a fuss even with the relatively thin vaccination needle, overcame her body's resistance and persevered. Soon, the needle was inserted into the child's arm. Ji-heon held Yena's other hand, and Jeong-o hugged and patted the child, who had her eyes tightly closed. Yena groaned as if in pain while the blood was being drawn.
“All done.”
The nurse who removed the needle said.
“Mommyyy.”
Yena, who had been holding her breath during the blood draw, hugged her mom as soon as the needle was removed.
“You did well. Our baby. You did well.”
Jeong-o praised her daughter for overcoming the frightening moment. Yena was so nervous that she fell fast asleep in the car on the way home. Ji-heon carried Yena on his back and laid her down in her room. Carrying the child up to the 4th floor. Ji-heon did the work that Jeong-o had been struggling with for some time now twice today. Jeong-o thanked Ji-heon, who laid the child down and came out to the living room.
“Thank you for moving Yena.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Thank you for explaining the blood test earlier too.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Still, two heads are better than one.”
“Jeong-o, you need to say it right.”
Ji-heon, who had been answering lightly with "It's nothing, it's nothing," retorted to Jeong-o with a serious face.
“It’s not that the two of us put our heads together, it’s that I said it all. Your brain wasn’t there to explain the blood test, my brain explained it all.”
Hmm. That's true, but it feels very strange? The warm feeling of gratitude Jeong-o had felt towards Ji-heon a moment ago turned salty. Jeong-o's expression also turned sour.
“There’s always someone trying to add a spoon to someone else’s accomplishments.”
“What? A spoon? A spooooon?”
In the end, Jeong-o's eyes widened at Ji-heon's provocation, who added one more word.
“It’s unbelievable, unbelievable! Who is the one who should be talking about spoons right now! It’s a good thing I raised the child. If Oppa had raised our Yena, I wouldn’t be able to say that Yena is my daughter anywhere.”
“Getting all worked up.”
Ji-heon, who had thoroughly teased Jeong-o, smiled proudly. In the meantime, Yena got up and opened the door. She had woken up to Jeong-o's loud voice.
“Mommy, are you fighting with Daddy?”
“No. We’re not fighting! Mommy and Daddy are just talking.”
Jeong-o hurriedly tried to smooth things over, but Yena's sullen expression didn't improve. Yena asked Ji-heon.
“Daddy, don’t fight with Mommy.”
Ji-heon's expression was very relaxed and gentle.
“Daddy doesn’t fight. Daddy doesn’t get angry at all because Mommy is so pretty.”
Jeong-o was even more dumbfounded by his brazenness.
\ Yesterday, and today, Eun-yeop watched Ji-heon. Yesterday and this morning, Ji-heon did not take a paternity test. Eun-yeop thought he would proceed with the test while Yena was hospitalized, but Eun-yeop's thoughts seemed to have gone too far. He said that no paternity test request had come into the hospital either. Still, Eun-yeop couldn't sit idly by. He continued to track Ji-heon's movements and Ji-heon's contact information. Fortunately, he caught something quite a bit. Jeong Ji-heon was preparing to get a paternity test from a specialized institution. Eun-yeop tasted the joy of the fact he had learned after much effort.
‘So, you’re going to get a paternity test somewhere else? At least you’re trying to use your head.’
Secretly, avoiding him, avoiding something. He laughed, feeling like he knew his anxious inner thoughts. Eun-yeop, who had found an exploitable employee at the specialized institution Ji-heon had booked, quickly contacted the employee and made a tempting offer.
“Is it difficult to get a divorce because your spouse has a weakness? I’ll solve it neatly for you. You’ll trust me if you look at my career.”
Counseling that scratches the other person's itch works much better than a few bucks. Eun-yeop targeted the other person's weakness and gave them a refreshing promise. The employee eagerly took the bait.
“Just stop one paternity test. My nephew will go to the lab. I told him I’d give him a simple health checkup. Switch my nephew’s blood with the client’s blood. So that it can never come out as a parent-child relationship. The client’s name may be Jeong Ji-heon, or it may be Lee Yena, or it may be Lee Jeong-o. Anyway, switch the blood that is being tested as a set with Jeong Ji-heon.”
Eun-yeop showed meticulousness by putting in the same person to make the results of the previously manipulated test and this genetic test the same. If the genetic nucleotide sequence information is the same as the previous result value, Jeong Ji-heon will have no choice but to believe it. According to Eun-yeop's request, the employee faithfully carried out the mission. He even took perfect measures to ensure that even if an unexpected problem arose, it could be concluded as the fault of another employee. Eun-yeop, who had been anxiously running around busily yesterday and today, finally took a breath. When he first heard that the test was wrong, he might think it was a happening. Jang Young-mi would want to trust the test results, but on the other hand, she would try to believe Jeong Ji-heon's claims. But what if the second test result also comes out as a mismatch? And what if the genetic value remains unchanged? If it goes wrong once, it's suspicion, but if it goes wrong twice, it becomes certainty. Then Lee Jeong-o becomes an unmistakable swindler. Eun-yeop, who had successfully completed the work, visited Eun-bi's house. Eun-bi, who had been living like a recluse without leaving the house for several days, could not welcome her Oppa. She thought that her Oppa would bring some welcome results, but after telling her not to do anything, nothing had been achieved.
“Living the good life?”
“Oppa told me not to do anything. Is there anything I can do?”
“So you’re not even going to work?”
“You were the one who told me not to go! And do you even know how hellish that place is for me right now?”
Chae Eun-bi retorted sharply to Eun-yeop.
“I’m going to change jobs. Say hi to Jeong Ji-heon for me. Tell him you ruined your sister’s life.”
Eun-yeop gave a bitter smile before hardening his expression.
“Listen carefully, Chae Eun-bi.”
“……”
“Today, Jeong Ji-heon will be doing a paternity test for Lee Yena, and the results will come back as no possibility of being the father.”
“No possibility? How do you know that, Oppa?”
Eun-yeop didn’t say anything. But Eun-bi could guess what her Oppa was thinking just by looking at his eyes. Eun-bi asked with a shocked expression.
“You manipulated it?”
“You just go and comfort Jeong Ji-heon and Ms. Jang. With the mindset that you understand everything. Got it?”
Eun-yeop said nonchalantly. To Eun-bi, her Oppa seemed just as terrifying as Jeong Ji-heon. Eun-bi knew that the direction Eun-yeop was heading was a swamp. The more you fall in, the harder it is to get out.
“……Sometimes, it seems like Oppa is more obsessed with Jeong Ji-heon than I am.”
“It’s because I’ve invested so much in you.”
“……”
“I have to recoup my investment.”
Eun-yeop wore a confident smile. He was looking forward to what would happen in a few hours.
