A child who looks like me

Jeong-oh wanted to cry.

He felt like he had become thin as paper and wanted to escape through the crack under the office door.

“No, I….”

He hadn’t intended to eavesdrop on their conversation; it was just his pride that made him want to avoid showing this side of himself to Chae Eun-bi. But now he couldn’t honestly admit that.

“Since you almost made a mistake with me yesterday, can we just let this slide?”

If he could just escape from here, he felt like he could shake off the chaos from yesterday.

“I really didn’t eavesdrop on purpose…”

“I know.”

Ji-heon walked around the sofa and knelt in front of her, bringing their eye levels closer.

Jeong-oh didn’t want to have a conversation with Ji-heon, so he kept his head down.

“I was trying to recreate the situation from Wednesday, but thinking about it, this is even better.”

“…”

“Because when you’re hiding, the truth is easier to see.”

Jeong-oh felt ashamed to hear his voice and wanted to cover his ears, but he hesitated as he brought his hands up to the sides of his head.

He slowly lifted his gaze to look at Ji-heon.

He was smiling at him.

What did he just say?

“…Are you saying you were trying to tell me the truth?”

Ji-heon nodded.

“Why? Why?”

“Because I’m concerned about what you’re misunderstanding.”

“…”

“There’s no one I’m going to marry. Not yet.”

Calm down, heart.

It was fear, not excitement.

The man who had been pouring out cold words to others only moments ago was now smiling kindly at him, causing a fluttering feeling inside.

“Yes, yes. I got it…”

Jeong-oh cautiously stood up. He couldn’t be alone with this man any longer.

“So, you called me not for work but because of a misunderstanding? Can I leave now since we cleared it up?”

Step by step, Jeong-oh distanced himself from Ji-heon, moving cautiously, until he finally opened the door with a click.

As the door opened, Ji-heon watched her hurriedly leave the office, just like the night before in front of the pork cutlet restaurant.

Ji-heon gazed blankly at the door that had swung shut.

It was good that they had settled last night’s mistake, but beyond that, it felt ambiguous whether it had truly resolved anything.

Even after telling Jeong-oh the truth, he felt an uneasy discomfort that perhaps the misunderstanding hadn’t been fully cleared up.

***

This is so difficult. Lee Jeong-oh.

What’s going on? What’s all this?

Jeong-oh muttered to himself as he hurried away from Ji-heon.

He finally understood the situation.

Chae Eun-bi and Jeong Ji-heon had been in a fake relationship for a long time. Eun-bi had been obsessed with the relationship, and the marriage plans were also a fabrication of hers.

He had misunderstood so much. It was no wonder.

It was all orchestrated by Eun-bi!

“Assistant, where have you been? Is everything okay?”

Gi-hoon asked, looking at Jeong-oh, who had just returned from Ji-heon’s office, breathing heavily as if he had just completed a 100-meter sprint.

“No, no, no. It’s nothing.”

“Then why are you covering your mouth? Did you eat something alone?”

“No, no, no. I didn’t eat.”

Of course, he had eaten two cookies, but that wasn’t why he was covering his mouth.

He was worried his lips would move against his intentions.

He felt like he couldn’t control his expression.

He was just so shocked. So shocked.

Sitting down and finally managing to catch his breath, Jeong-oh tried to organize the conversations he had overheard in the office in his mind.

So, the two of them started dating, or rather, pretending to date because of the rumors from four years ago?

He didn’t know what the rumors from four years ago were, but in any case, their relationship had been fake.

Jeong Ji-heon hadn’t invested much emotion into that fake relationship, allowing four years to pass. Meanwhile, Eun-bi had been working hard to impress Ji-heon’s mother.

Ji-heon’s mother liked Eun-bi, which led Eun-bi to believe she would eventually marry Ji-heon…

Because Ji-heon had no woman!

Can I understand it this way?

After organizing his thoughts as he remembered, his heart began to race again. He didn’t know why. He shouldn’t feel excitement for Ji-heon anymore. He shouldn’t.

Perhaps it was because the day he would meet Ye-na was approaching rapidly. That must be it…

Jeong-oh stood up and looked over at Eun-bi’s desk. Everyone from Production Team 1 was present, but Eun-bi’s seat was empty.

He tried to calm his racing heart while recalling the unease that still lingered.

Knowing the true nature of Ji-heon and Eun-bi’s relationship didn’t guarantee his child’s safety.

He still didn’t know anything about his mother, Mrs. Jang Young-mi.

The phone call from seven years ago must have been related to her, and unless he understood the immense influence she had over him, he couldn’t act recklessly.

It was highly likely that Mrs. Jang liked Eun-bi, which meant Ji-heon hadn’t been able to honestly tell his mother about their fake relationship. This suggested that Ji-heon valued his mother’s opinion.

Who wouldn’t find their mother important?

He had a feeling he might have to confront his mother, Jang Young-mi, someday.

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

Saturday afternoon.

Jeong-oh had to go to work today because he was busy preparing for a competitive presentation. As he got ready, Ye-na, who was watching him intently, said,

“Mom, Do-bin is going camping with you, Dad, and Do-yun.”

Jeong-oh bent down to meet Ye-na’s gaze and asked, “Do you want to go camping too, Ye-na?”

“No. I just wanted to say that. You’re busy, right?”

The child should be more childlike. Sometimes it was sad to see her hiding her true feelings with such maturity.

“Even if I’m busy, I can still go. Summer is too hot, so let’s go in the fall.”

Ye-na’s face brightened at Jeong-oh’s promise.

“Mom, can I tell Do-bin?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Call him!”

She seemed unable to wait even a moment. Jeong-oh reluctantly called Do-bin’s mom, Jin-seo.

[Yes, Ye-na’s mom!] Jin-seo answered the phone in a warm voice.

“Hello, Do-bin’s mom. I’m calling because Ye-na has something to say to Do-bin.”

[Oh, really? Yes, I’ll get Do-bin for you.] Jeong-oh handed the phone to Ye-na.

Holding the phone to her ear, Ye-na cheerfully shouted, “Hello. Park Do-bin!”

[Ye-na, I’m sorry.] But before Ye-na could say what she wanted, Do-bin immediately apologized.

“Why?”

[Actually, you know… my dad said he can’t share. Mom said it wouldn’t work.] This was the matter that had been bothering Do-bin for a few days. Jin-seo had said there was no need to bring it up again, but it was a significant issue for Do-bin.

Jeong-oh could hear Jin-seo calling out, “Park Do-bin!” urgently from the other end of the line.

Ye-na blinked, surprised by what was happening, but then recalled a conversation from the previous Tuesday and casually responded.

“Oh, it’s okay.”

“Aren’t you mad?”

“No. I thought it wouldn’t work out anyway. But you know what? I’m going camping too! In the fall!”

“Really? Did you know that if my dad becomes your dad, we can’t get married?”

“Huh?”

The children were each trying to get their point across while diligently continuing their conversation.

However, when the topic of marriage came up, the phone quickly passed back to Jin-seo.

[Ye-na, hi! Hi! Do-bin is saying all sorts of strange things. Is your mom next to you?] “Yes. Just a second.”

Ye-na immediately handed the phone back to Jeong-oh.

“Hello.”

[Ye-na’s mom, haha… Our Do-bin has a lot of shortcomings. Thank you for letting him be friends with Ye-na.] Jin-seo’s laughter, trying to ease the awkwardness, was followed by the usual expression of gratitude.

“No, thank you. I really appreciate it too.”

[Then I’ll see you on Monday. Please tell Ye-na I’ll see her then.] Jin-seo politely said goodbye and hung up.

***

After the call, Jeong-oh asked Ye-na, “What did Do-bin say sorry for?”

“Do-bin said he would share his dad with me. But he can’t.”

“He said he would share his dad?”

Jeong-oh felt a sharp pain in her chest, surprised by the children’s conversation.

“I didn’t ask for that.”

Ye-na retorted sulkily.

How did such a conversation even come up?

Thinking about how the child felt about accepting that casually made it hard for Jeong-oh to smile.

With a heavy heart, she continued getting ready when her phone vibrated.

The studio had sent the radio ad work. Although they had finished up to five drafts, one was missing. Jeong-oh asked the PD, but he couldn’t remember properly.

Now, Jeong-oh was in a rush to send another email. To do that, she needed to use the company computer.

“Has Gi-hoon come in yet?”

Jeong-oh quickly called Gi-hoon. However, he didn’t answer. Knowing that Gi-hoon sometimes silences his phone, she called his office again.

After a long wait, the hold music stopped, and a male voice answered.

[Yes.] “Gi-hoon, have you come in? Sorry, but could you turn on my computer and send me some data? I need to send an email to the studio right away. The password is…”

[I’m Lee Jeong-oh’s assistant?] Gasp!

Hearing just that short “yes” response, Jeong-oh had mistakenly thought she was speaking with the same team member, Song Gi-hoon, and was asking him for a favor. But it turned out to be Jeong Ji-heon.

This was a disaster.

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

It had been a long time since she had to work on the weekend.

The production team had worked late into the night yesterday, so they would probably come in in the afternoon.

Ji-heon, as usual, checked the desk of Jeong-oh from Production Team 2 and was about to move to his office when he hesitated.

The phone rang in Production Team 2.

It was at the desk next to Jeong-oh’s, where Song Gi-hoon sat. With no one around to pick up, Ji-heon answered the call.

“Yes.”

[Gi-hoon, are you at work? Sorry, but could you turn on my computer and send me a file?] It was none other than Lee Jeong-oh. After a short response, Ji-heon, feeling the urgency in Jeong-oh’s voice, started to relay the request without even confirming whose voice it was.

[Please send the email to the studio right away. The password is…] “Lee Jeong-oh?”

At Ji-heon’s question, he heard a gasp from the other end.

Even that sound made Ji-heon’s heart flutter.

Suppressing a smile, he asked in a serious tone, “What’s the matter? Is something wrong?”

[Yes. There’s a missing file from the studio. I need to resend the email urgently…] Ji-heon immediately hung up the call from Gi-hoon’s desk and dialed Jeong-oh again on his mobile.

[Hello…] Unlike before, Jeong-oh answered with a defeated voice.

“I’ve come to Lee Jeong-oh’s desk. Just tell me the password, and I’ll take care of it.”

[No, no, no, no, no, it’s fine. I’ll get there quickly. I’ll arrive within an hour.] Jeong-oh insisted in a panic.

“But you said it was urgent.”

[No, no, it’s okay. I can do it.] “I know how to send emails too, so just tell me. It’s fine.”

[No, no, no… The password is personal information, so I can’t give it to you!] According to Max Planning’s regulations, the password couldn’t be classified as personal information. In cases where an employee faced unexpected issues and couldn’t access their assigned PC, the company had provisions to retrieve information at its discretion.

For this reason, the company also advised employees not to set the same passwords for personal and work accounts, but it seemed Jeong-oh wasn’t aware of this.

“Weren’t you going to tell Song Gi-hoon the password?”

Ji-heon felt a twinge of irritation. With Jo Si-nae absent, he even considered sending Gi-hoon to the adjacent team, but he took a deep breath and tried to persuade her.

“I’m sorry it turned out this way. Just tell me the password; I promise I won’t remember it.”

After another long sigh, she reluctantly started to recite the English consonants one by one.

“…W, J, D, D, L, T, K, R, T…”

Ji-heon turned on the PC and typed the letters as she had pronounced them.

wjddltkrt.

Soon, the computer desktop appeared. Ji-heon immediately opened the email inbox.

“It’s opened. What should I send?”

[Please resend the email I sent to Odi Studio.] “I sent it.”

It was a very simple task. After completing the transmission, Ji-heon smiled with satisfaction.

A voice of thanks came from the other end.

[Yes. Thank you!] But that was it.

As the call abruptly ended, Ji-heon let out another sigh.

A woman who wouldn’t move even a little according to my wishes.

Why am I so fixated on someone like her?

He couldn’t understand himself, but he didn’t dislike being focused on her.

Chuckling to himself, Ji-heon got up from his seat, but then hesitated when he reached for the computer’s power button.

Something felt off.

What was this unsettling feeling?

Sitting back down, Ji-heon opened a notepad on the computer and typed the English consonants Jeong-oh had pronounced in Korean.

wjddltkrt.

Checking the screen, a bemused laugh escaped Ji-heon’s lips.

“Hah.”

– Jeong is a (abbreviation for ‘leader’).

Just you wait, Lee Jeong-oh.