A child who looks like me

She had thought about it.

The land of Seoul couldn’t be that vast, so it was possible that they might brush past each other someday.

Jeong-o had imagined that coincidence.

And she had steeled her heart.

Even if she ran into him, she wouldn’t be flustered.

She wouldn’t cry, laugh, or get angry.

She wouldn’t feel pain. She wouldn’t say she had suffered much.

She would treat him as calmly as possible.

If they brushed past, then so be it…

Despite making this resolve several times.

Her heart felt like it was malfunctioning, clattering as if it were breaking down. No, it felt like her whole body was broken.

She couldn’t move. She didn’t even have the strength to shake off his grip on her arm.

Tears threatened to fall, but it felt as if he had blocked every part of her, and she couldn’t let them out.

Their eyes reflected each other’s faces.

Unlike Jeong-o, who could hardly breathe, Ji-heon looked at her face with indifference.

No signs of happiness, surprise, disgust, or embarrassment. Just an expression looking at something insignificant.

…What on earth could I possibly say here?

As all sorts of emotions flitted through her, Ji-heon straightened her up.

Jeong-o’s legs were still trembling. She wanted to crumple down to the floor.

Before the moment became too awkward, Mi-ran introduced Jeong-o to Ji-heon.

“Director, this is Lee Jeong-o, the new copywriter in Production Team 2.”

“Oh, a copywriter.”

He didn’t even raise an eyebrow and instead recited her position instead of her name.

To you, I am merely that kind of person.

It was surprising, embarrassing, and hollow, yet her lips remained still.

“Nice to meet you.”

He calmly extended his hand to shake hers.

Jeong-o slowly moved her head to look down at that hand.

It felt as though a thick line was drawn over the tips of his fingers.

It seemed like he was saying, “I’m sorry to meet you like this, but please keep your distance.”

After hesitating, Jeong-o slowly reached out her hand. There was nothing she could do about the trembling in her fingers.

The man she hadn’t seen for seven years. The hand she had grasped after seven years.

His hand was still large enough to completely envelop hers, but the warmth she once felt was no longer there.

‘…Is this your answer?’

Don’t cry.

She bit her teeth tightly to swallow her emotions.

Only after confirming his reaction could she recall her long-ago resolution.

She would treat him as calmly as possible.

She wouldn’t crumble.

She lifted her head to face him.

His eyes were dark, dry, and cold like a desert night.

The deep, profound eyes she had once loved so dearly were no longer there.

‘You’ve changed so much.’

It felt as if he were someone else…

Jeong-o decided to accept reality.

Finally, their hands separated.

Without displaying any emotion, he calmly walked away.

Only then did a long sigh escape between her lips.

Her legs gave way, forcing her to lean against the wall next to her.

“Are you okay?” Mi-ran, who was standing beside her, asked.

“Oh, yes. I’m fine.”

Jeong-o hurriedly replied as she stood up straight.

What should I do now? Can I continue working at this company?

Realistic worries continued to fill her mind. It felt like the inside of her scalp was drying out.

With her mind still dazed, she was led by Mi-ran and soon arrived at their team’s area.

“This is our team’s personnel I talked about yesterday. This is copywriter Lee Jeong-o.”

Mi-ran introduced Jeong-o to the team members. Two people stood up from their seats.

“This is our team’s PD, Park Young-gwang, and this is graphic designer Song Gi-hoon.”

After Mi-ran introduced the two, Jeong-o finally regained her senses.

“Hello. I’m copywriter Lee Jeong-o.”

“Oh, so you’re the assistant. Welcome.”

“Wow! Hello!”

The man who looked to be in his mid-thirties and the one in his twenties greeted her in turn. Both had friendly expressions. However, the woman who merely turned her head slightly without standing up wore a disgruntled expression.

“And this is graphic designer Ko Eun-joo.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Eun-joo nodded her head to greet her and then turned back to her monitor. Her expression didn’t match her words of welcome.

Jeong-o thought that working in this company wouldn’t be easy.

***

“NO, NO, NO! I’m not learning Go, ughhh!”

Dobin sat down in front of the Go academy building and cried out loud.

Passersby cast curious glances at him. To them, the Go academy seemed less like a place of learning and more like a slaughterhouse.

“Come on, stop crying!”

His mom, Jin-seo, raised her voice as well. Although they were attracting attention, there was nothing they could do.

Last week, while sitting next to her dad watching a Go broadcast, the boy had asked him various questions about the rules of Go. His questions showed a surprising insight for a seven-year-old.

When she asked if he wanted to try attending a Go academy since he showed interest, Dobin excitedly nodded his head. So, Jin-seo also looked into the academy and registered him with excitement.

But after just one day, the child complained that it was boring. Today, he had burst into tears.

Jin-seo felt like crying too.

The tuition was a waste. She wished he would at least go for a month.

Jin-seo barely managed to calm her rising emotions and gently soothed Dobin with encouraging words.

“Son, just sit for 30 more minutes, okay? If you go and learn for 30 minutes, I’ll let you play a game for 30 minutes.”

“…An hour.”

“Okay. Go in quickly.”

Finally, with that sad condition attached, the child wiped his tears. Somehow, it felt a bit bittersweet.

Watching her son’s slumped shoulders as he opened the academy’s entrance door, Jin-seo let out a deep sigh.

She wanted to be a good mother.

Not necessarily a perfect one.

She believed her child would excel at everything. Before asking him to do anything, she thought he would handle it skillfully, and when she taught him one thing, he would naturally grasp two, three, or four. After all, he had been quite obedient before he could fully understand language.

But children do not grow according to expectations. They only want to do what they want, eat what they want, and moreover, how can a seven-year-old be so strong?

Even though her child was adorable, it was sometimes, no, often, exhausting.

Thus, she came to realize a painful truth that no one had told her.

To become a “good mother,” one essential thing was a “gentle child.”

Sniffle, sniffle. Ugh, ugh.

Despite the condition of getting to play games for an hour, Dobin was still sniffing.

Since the older elementary school kids were in their lesson time, everyone was in the classroom. There was another teacher nearby, but he was helping the older kids solve problems. Dobin felt abandoned.

He had to endure living like this for at least a month, but he couldn’t see how he could possibly manage. After all, he had to hold on for 30 minutes…

“Hey.”

At that moment, a girl sat down in front of the sniffing Dobin. He looked up to see her.

She was a pretty girl, with big eyes and a fair face, almost doll-like.

“Don’t cry; look at this.”

She looked like a little princess, yet her voice was as clear and lovely as one in a carol.

For some reason, she suddenly told him to look at the Go board.

Dobin stared at the Go board like a docile sheep. The girl placed her hand on the board like a maple leaf.

“Try this.”

Dobin followed the girl’s lead.

Suddenly, she began placing Go stones one by one on Dobin’s small hand.

He didn’t understand why she was doing that. Dobin, who had stopped crying, was flustered and asked, “What is this? Why are you doing that?”

“If you drop it, you’ll get a smack.”

The girl filled Dobin’s small hand with Go stones. It was like a flower with five white leaves blooming atop the black buds.

When the girl made the flower and giggled, Dobin completely forgot that he had been crying until then.

“My name is Lee Ye-na. What’s yours?”

“…Park Dobin.”

Even while answering, Dobin was tense, worried he might drop the Go stones. Ye-na asked again.

“Do you go to the Kkwekkori daycare?”

“How did you know?”

“I saw your bag yesterday.”

…Had she been watching him since yesterday?

Ye-na’s eyes, filled with laughter, sparkled like jewels.

The flower blooming on his hand seemed to float up to his heart.

Just as his tense arm was about to freeze, Ye-na released the stones she had placed on Dobin’s hand. It was like playing a game of freeze tag, and finally, Dobin could move his body.

As Ye-na removed the Go stones one by one, she explained, “Look. This is a white stone, and this is a black stone.”

“I know.”

“Do you want to play with the white stones or the black stones?”

“Black stones.”

Dobin answered all her questions as if he were enchanted by her. If she asked him, he felt like he could tell her his home address, as well as the names of his mom, dad, and younger sibling.

Ye-na nodded and brought the black stone bowl in front of Dobin and the white stone bowl in front of herself. Then she placed a white stone in the center of the Go board.

“Then I’ll put it here.”

“……”

“Do you know how to capture this?”

This question was difficult. However, he could easily recall his dad’s answer from a few days ago. Dobin surrounded the white stone with four black stones to block its path.

“Oh. You know how to play Go?”

As if his ordinary move was something amazing, Ye-na praised him. Dobin’s face turned as red as a rose. The flowers flowing into his heart began to form a bouquet.

She was a child with a floral scent.

“Why are you crying when you know how to play? Don’t cry.”

She said.

Seven-year-old Park Dobin had never met a girl like her in his life.

Outside the academy, Jin-seo waited anxiously for her son.

She had expected him to burst out after just 30 minutes, but he hadn’t come out for over 40 minutes.

‘Is he still crying the whole time?’

Eventually, Jin-seo opened the academy door and went inside.

“Dobin.”

“Mom!”

As Jin-seo saw her son, who was beaming with a bright smile, unlike when he entered the academy, she let out a sigh of relief. The teacher greeted Jin-seo with a pleased expression.

“Dobin’s mother, Dobin is adjusting very well.”

“Oh, really?”

That was the most heartwarming praise. She expressed her gratitude by hugging her son, who had rushed over to her side.

“Well then, teacher, I’ll be counting on you again tomorrow.”

“Yes, don’t worry.”

“Dobin should say goodbye.”

“Goodbye!”

Dobin politely said goodbye to the teacher and then shouted loudly into the practice room.

“Ye-na, goodbye!”

“Yeah, goodbye!”

A pretty girl waved her hand from inside the practice room.

‘He’s already made friends with his peers.’

Jin-seo felt a swell of pride at her son’s sociability.

Once outside the academy, Jin-seo asked Dobin, “How was the academy, son? Did you have fun?”

“Yeah! A lot!”

Dobin replied with an excited expression.

“What was the most fun part?”

Her smile felt joyful. Her voice sounded happy.

A mother couldn’t help but be unaware of this happiness.

After a while, Dobin, who couldn’t answer right away, asked another question.

“Mom, did you fall in love with Dad at first sight?”

“Where did you learn that?” Jin-seo asked, laughing lightly.

“Do you know what it means?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Because I’m experiencing it right now!

“Mom, I’m going to work hard at the Go academy!”

Dobin shouted with determination.

***

It was the beginning of a first love.

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

After coming back from a field trip, Ji-heon sat down, furrowing his brow and gently closing his eyes.

A woman he had only briefly encountered kept lingering in his mind throughout the afternoon…

The new copywriter from Production Team 2.

What was her name again?

The woman who had looked at him with startled rabbit-like eyes on her pale face.

She was pretty, but merely being pretty didn’t fully explain the feelings she stirred in him.

Her eyes reflected various colors like dragonfly wings. It felt like those wings were fluttering precariously and had fallen into the water. The soaked wings looked heavy, as if they were barely breathing.

She was a woman holding on with all her might at that moment.

The impression she left in such a short time was very diverse.

It was a little, no, extremely…

Unpleasant.

Those mere dragonfly wings couldn’t possibly block the flowing water. Yet, it felt oddly uncomfortable and suffocating.

She was a woman who stirred strange feelings within him.

Knock, knock.

He heard a knock.

“Yes.”

At Ji-heon’s response, the door opened. Team Leader Sung Mi-ran, whom he had bumped into in the hallway that morning, entered with documents in hand. It was the preliminary budget request form and list of participants for the competitive PT they were participating in.

Among the names he remembered, one name stood out uncomfortably.

Lee Jung-o.

“Is the new team member in Team Sung a copywriter?” Ji-heon casually inquired about her while signing the documents.

Mi-ran answered.

“Yes, you mean Deputy Lee Jung-o, right?”

“Did she have a health checkup before joining?”

Mi-ran’s eyes widened, as if questioning why he was asking that. But she answered right away.

“I haven’t confirmed, but she probably had to undergo it as a requirement.”

“It’s just that she seemed to be about to collapse suddenly and was shaking when I caught her.”

“…”

“It seems like there might be a health issue.”

At Ji-heon’s comment, Mi-ran’s expression turned blank again.

‘Is he genuinely concerned about the employee?’

She had thought he was a cold and scary man, having not seen him smile even once in the week since his appointment. But perhaps that wasn’t entirely true.

“Is it because the director is too handsome?”

Mi-ran relaxed her stiff muscles and made a joke. She wanted to get along well with the new department head. It wasn’t out of a desire to align herself with him but rather a wish to enjoy her work.

“Do I seem like the type to enjoy flattery?”

However, his immediate retort was chilling.

Mi-ran pressed her lips together tightly. His sharp gaze felt like it could tear through the paper of the documents, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“Bring Lee Jung-o.”

Mi-ran internally regretted bringing it up as she received this unfamiliar directive.

She stared at Ji-heon in surprise.

The department head had mentioned wanting to conduct personal interviews with employees of the same department. However, nothing had happened yet.

Was he going to start those interviews? Was Lee Jung-o, the newly transferred employee, going to be the first?

As a team leader, she wanted to know the purpose of this, even if only briefly, and opened her lips to ask again.

“What does it concern Lee Jung-o…”

“Bring her here.”

But Ji-heon cut her off without hesitation.

He had only one thought.

“I need to see her again. Right now.”