A child who looks like me

Baek-il, who had quietly waited for Jeong-o’s tears to stop, eventually returned with more snacks from the convenience store.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind. Is it because of that cold case?” he said, pouring soju into his glass.

Jeong-o let out a deep sigh, finally calming her tears, and opened her mouth.

“The sea witch in The Little Mermaid… could actually be a sage.”

Baek-il blinked at the unexpected topic. As his gaze became dazed, he looked even more innocent.

“Do you know why the sea witch took away the Little Mermaid’s voice? Because if the Little Mermaid spoke just once, the sea would turn into a sea of blood.”

In a voice that was cold like a witch’s, Jeong-o explained, “If the Little Mermaid said, ‘I’m the Little Mermaid, and I lived in the sea with my father and sisters,’ what would happen? We would see a mermaid family in the aquarium within a year. The sea witch was protecting the safety of the sea world.”

Her voice, delivering the harsh reality, was solemn and serious.

I too have no choice but to remain silent for safety. I don’t know what impact the truth I’m holding will have on your family and mine.

Baek-il’s expression became contemplative.

It seemed Jeong-o’s absurd story had hit him quite seriously, so she gently cautioned him.

“Please don’t tell the kids this story. Let’s keep it between us.”

“Ah… yes.”

Baek-il replied clumsily, perfectly fitting his image.

Unloading her complaints to someone who didn’t know her situation was surprisingly effective.

After finishing an entire bottle of soju, she felt a bit lighter in heart.

She thought she could shake it all off and live well starting tomorrow.

Even though she was still afraid of running into Ji-heon.

“Thank you so much, Officer. You truly are the people’s support.”

Jeong-o gave a thumbs-up with both hands.

“Not at all. I’m glad to hear that I could help. Then take care.”

“Yes! You should head in too, Officer!”

Jeong-o bent down to bow to Baek-il, following his lead.

However, despite their spirited farewell, an awkward situation ensued.

Hahaha.

As they continued in the same direction, they would awkwardly smile when they saw each other, and again when they greeted each other.

After walking for a few more minutes, Jeong-o initiated a conversation.

“It seems we’re headed in the same direction.”

“Right. My house is across from that lemon laundromat over there.”

“Oh? Is it the six-story villa?”

“Yes.”

“I’m in the five-story villa next to it! We’re neighbors! It’s really reassuring to have a police officer as a neighbor!”

As Jeong-o expressed her delight, Baek-il eventually smiled too.

With a bright smile, he looked even more handsome. He must be quite popular at the police station.

Jeong-o couldn’t help but beam at Baek-il’s face.

“What do you do, Jeong-o?”

“I’m a copywriter.”

“Oh, that’s impressive.”

“I’m still struggling a lot in many areas, though.”

“Still, it’s remarkable. You’re raising a child on your own while working.”

“I get a lot of help from my mom. Oh, Officer, aren’t you married?”

“No. I live alone.”

“If you don’t have a girlfriend, I could help set you up.”

“No, it’s alright. I prefer being alone right now.”

Baek-il politely declined.

Well, there must be many others who make such proposals besides me.

Jeong-o decided to be satisfied with just having a police officer as a neighbor.

All in all, it was a pretty nice night.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

The next day.

Jeong-jiheon returned to the office late in the afternoon after going out for an external meeting, having gone in early that morning.

He had a lot to sort out before heading out, so he couldn’t acknowledge Jeong-o when he spotted her in the morning. He planned to quietly find an opportunity to talk to her after he returned, but she was not at her desk.

“Where did Assistant Jeong-o go?” he asked Gi-hun, who was sitting next to her.

“She went to the studio for a radio advertisement recording today.”

“When she comes back, please tell her to stop by my office.”

“Sir, there’s a product tasting event for Daewon Liquor today. Everyone will be moving there soon. Assistant Jeong-o will come straight over after her recording.”

At Gi-hun’s words, a weak sigh escaped from Ji-heon’s lips.

He had remembered clearly until yesterday, but after hearing Jeong-o’s shocking confession, his mind had gone blank.

He couldn’t even understand what this feeling was.

He realized he did not resemble her father.

That’s fine. He could understand the lies. After all, he didn’t want to be seen as someone resembling her father.

But resembling her ex-boyfriend? Was that really true?

He learned that when he pretended to be her late father in front of her, she had called him “oppa” instead of “dad.”

“How much do I resemble him that she would mistake me for him even momentarily when she was drunk?”

No, had her thought process broken down entirely because of the alcohol?

Whatever it was, it felt bitter. He discovered that being told he resembled someone else wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Yet, the thought that if there were no such connection… he might be disconnected from her was anxious.

On the other hand, he was angry at that ex-boyfriend.

What kind of horrible thing had he done to make her cry so much all this time?

‘Please… he hasn’t passed away, has he?’

Recalling her tears, he couldn’t dismiss that possibility.

How should he ask about her ex-boyfriend?

How much should he ask without making her uncomfortable?

‘Wow… I never thought I’d have to deal with such concerns in my life.’

Because of Jeong-o. Because of me.

Despite feeling so troubled by all of this, Ji-heon hurriedly completed his work for the tasting. He then got into the car without being late.

As he traveled with his driver, his phone vibrated. Checking it, he saw it was his mother, Mrs. Jang Young-mi.

He ignored the first call. But he couldn’t ignore the second one. Ji-heon sighed deeply and answered the phone.

“Yes, Mom.”

[Are you busy, son?]
“Yes. I’m on my way to an event for the advertiser.”

His mother’s warm voice made his tone soften as well. But his expression remained cold and stiff, as it always was.

[Are you eating well? You’re not feeling unwell, are you?]
“Yes. I’m healthy. How about you?”

[Oh, my stomach isn’t well, so I’m struggling a bit. I can’t digest well even with a little stress.]
“Have you gone for a check-up? Make sure to take your medication regularly.”

[Yes. Thank you. Are you doing alright?]
“Same old, same old.”

[Yesterday, Eun-bi came over. She just had a cup of tea and went back, but I’m a bit worried. Is there something going on between you two?]

At the mention of Eun-bi, his expression tightened. After causing such a scene at the company, she had run off to his mother.

But he couldn’t discuss his relationship with Eun-bi with his mother right now.

It was frustrating that he couldn’t say a word properly because he was so worried about his mother’s health.

“…Right?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you soon.”

Since Young-mi and Eun-bi had been close for quite a long time, it would take a while to sort everything out. Ji-heon thought he would have to visit Young-mi someday.

[Mom feels uneasy when you say that.]
“……”

[Don’t make it too hard on your mom and dad. Ji-heon, you know how I feel, right? They love you, you know?]
“Of course.”

[Do you really know?]
“Of course. I love you too…”

To quickly end the call, he blurted out a confession that lacked sincerity.

Thanks to the cringeworthy love confession, the call was wrapped up fairly quickly. Ji-heon turned off his phone.

While three years’ worth of memories felt like they had been cut away with scissors, many memories from long ago had resurfaced.

Was it when he was nine?

There was a friend Ji-heon wanted to get close to. He was cheerful, smart, and talented. They attended a Go genius class together at school, but after finding out that Ji-heon’s mother was friends with that boy’s mother, she made him stop attending the class.

“I heard his father isn’t around. If you hang out with kids like that, you’ll get bad influences.”

Ji-heon couldn’t understand what his mother meant by the “bad influences” from a kid without a father. So he protested a few times, but it didn’t change the outcome.

“Your mom called my mom. She asked me not to play with you.”

One day, the friend said this. Ji-heon had thrown a tantrum, and Mrs. Jang Young-mi had called his friend’s mother directly.

That was the first time he hated his mother.

Young-mi looked at Ji-heon with a sympathetic expression, as if she thought he would understand someday.

“You shouldn’t hate your mom. They all do it out of love for you.”

To him, love was a tool for manipulation. Every moment of interference and separation came with the label of love attached to it.

“I love you.”

That damned phrase “I love you.”

Because of that, Ji-heon didn’t want to attach the word love to his desires.

He started to hate the word “love,” making it impossible for anything to become an object of love for him.

So, he had nothing precious.

“You don’t have anything precious. Everyone who passed you by is insignificant to you.”

His friend Seung-kyu’s sharp remark was completely true.

Was that why? Was it because the memories from seven years ago, the memories from three cycles of the four seasons, had all vanished in a lump that he felt so indifferent?

Recalling the empty past made him feel nauseous.

Before long, the car turned onto a small road in Haengdang-dong. He had heard it was a unique pub near the university, but even the driver tilted his head, unfamiliar with the path.

Suddenly, Ji-heon felt a sharp pain in his head as he glanced out the window and ordered the driver to stop.

“Please drop me off here.”

“We still have a little way to go, sir.”

“I’ll walk from here. I have a headache.”

Ji-heon got out of the car.

As summer approached, the day was still bright even though it was past six o’clock.

Arriving too early for the tasting seemed a bit awkward, so it was a good choice to walk slowly. Ji-heon took out his phone to check his location.

While turning his phone back on, he glanced around. Although he didn’t know anything about the area, it felt oddly familiar. It wasn’t like he knew anyone in Haengdang-dong.

For some reason, he began walking according to his feelings, following his heart.

With every step, he felt the tasting moving further away, yet he couldn’t bring himself to give up. Wandering aimlessly, he suddenly snapped back to reality and realized he was in a strange place.

It was a studio apartment neighborhood near the university, filled with old villas stacked closely together.

“Why am I here?”

Just looking at the scenery around made his eyes ache and his heart race.

What on earth had he lost?

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

Jeong-o had been outside all afternoon.

Team Leader Seong Mi-ran took good care of Jeong-o. Noticing something had happened to her the day before, Mi-ran made sure Jeong-o wouldn’t run into Ji-heon or Eun-bi.

Thanks to that, Jeong-o could spend the day listening to the sweet voices of voice actors in the recording studio.

In the evening, there was a tasting event for Daewon Liquor’s new products.

Since the recording ended earlier than expected, Jeong-o followed Mi-ran’s instructions and took the bus directly to the tasting venue instead of returning to the office. The tasting venue was close to the university Jeong-o graduated from, and the familiar bus route made her feel excited.

With plenty of time to spare, she stopped by the school and strolled around the campus.

It had been since her third year in college that Jeong-o had roamed the campus. After that, she took a long break and, upon returning, only attended online classes.

The end of her third year in college had been a bitter winter for Jeong-o.

Her body was gradually changing. There was a man who didn’t contact her at all.

After staying curled up inside the house for days, one day she finally went outside and walked aimlessly. It was during a time when the media was buzzing about unusual weather patterns.

Winter was definitely approaching, yet the trees were budding flowers as if they had forgotten the season. Seeing the wrongly bloomed flowers swayed her heart in that brief warmth, and Jeong-o cried her eyes out.

She was foolish enough to believe in love.

She had believed in a love she had never even expressed.

At that time, it was so painful that she wanted to die, yet seven years had passed so astonishingly.

“Now that past means nothing, huh, Jeong Ji-heon?”

As she left the campus and continued walking, she stumbled upon the house where she had lived a long time ago. A few new buildings had been constructed around it, but the apartment building where Jeong-o had lived remained unchanged. Seeing that building brought her an unexpected sense of joy.