A child who looks like me

Ji-heon followed Bae-il outside. The two sat on the stairs behind the police station building.

He was suddenly reminded of childhood memories over something trivial. Sitting without chairs, sitting on the dirt ground without worrying about getting dirty, he thought that as long as he could play with friends, he could stay up all night.

In fact, while the memories of those fun times were vivid, he hadn’t known a thing about what had happened to his friends after they drifted apart.

They occasionally ran into each other in the long hallway filled with classrooms, but at some point, even those awkward encounters disappeared. He had heard the news that his friend transferred to another school only much later.

How have you been? Why did your name change? How did you become a police officer?

There were many things he was curious about, but Ji-heon couldn’t bring himself to ask. Sensing this, Bae-il spoke first.

“My mother passed away in the third grade, and I went to live with my aunt and uncle.”

“But your name changed, too.”

“It’s because of the naming tradition in my uncle’s family. My uncle’s generation has the character ‘Su’ in their names, so I couldn’t use that name.”

“……”

“It’s just that my mother left me, but my life changed so much.”

Ji-heon couldn’t say anything. He felt he couldn’t even begin to fathom the magnitude of that sadness and loss.

“I’ve gotten used to this name now. It feels like the name I used to have was just a fleeting dream.”

Bae-il spoke in a flat tone, as if he were talking about someone he had only known briefly a long time ago. Although his voice didn’t carry much emotion, there was a lonely breeze in the emptiness of his words, like a vacant house.

She must have passed away a long time ago.

“How are you doing now?”

“Just as you see. I’m a police officer and I live alone.”

“I never expected you to become a police officer.”

“So you thought I’d become a professional Go player instead?”

Bae-il smiled softly as he replied. The joking question felt heavy like the call of a bird.

“You got married this time, right? Congratulations. And congratulations on having a competent daughter like Yena.”

“I had amnesia.”

Ji-heon opened up to his long-lost friend, bringing up a topic he hadn’t been asked about. Perhaps he didn’t want to give the impression of being a heartless father to Bae-il, who might have known Jeong-oh separately.

“It’s not that I deliberately didn’t look for Jeong-oh; I lost all my memories.”

“Have your memories all come back now?”

“No. I just traced my past and found Jeong-oh and Yena. I’m still trying to recover my memories.”

After a moment of silence, Bae-il nodded and then asked,

“What was it like to lose your memory?”

“It felt empty. I think life was boring for seven years.”

“……”

“The strange thing is that while I lost the memories from seven years ago, my memories from childhood come back more vividly.”

“……”

“I guess I wanted to meet you. I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Ji-heon’s serious voice made Bae-il’s eyes widen. Bae-il looked at Ji-heon with an expression of surprise, as if he had transformed back into the child he once was.

For Ji-heon, it was a painful realization. It seemed his friend clearly remembered the wounds inflicted in their relationship.

“If I hurt you in any way, I’m sorry.”

“…You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’ll apologize on behalf of your mother for the pain she caused you.”

Eventually, Bae-il lowered his head, unable to look at Ji-heon. Perhaps it meant that hearing an apology now was meaningless, but he couldn’t be sure.

Ji-heon decided to set aside the heavy topic and change the subject.

“When do you have time? I’ll invite you over to my house. I want to introduce you to Jeong-oh and Yena…”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I’ll be leaving soon. I applied for a transfer to a regional station.”

“When are you leaving?”

“As early as next week. The date hasn’t been set yet.”

“…”

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to follow through with the Yena case until the end. I’m sorry.”

Ji-heon desperately wanted to maintain their connection and made the offer, but Bae-il politely declined.

“Still, thank you for looking into it.”

Ji-heon felt a lump in his throat at his friend’s composed smile.

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

While waiting for her husband, who said he had work and didn’t return, Jeong-oh was lost in thought.

On the day Yena went missing, Jeong-oh discovered a note in Yena’s daycare bag. The note, adorned with the stylish logo of a group that seemed to be hastily drawn, contained a significant message:

– Looks like mom, acts like dad. A child who resembles both.

Today, Jeong-oh handed over the original note to Bae-il. Some might think it was a prank, but for a child’s mother, it was something that couldn’t be overlooked. If what the woman, Pyo Ji-ae, said was true, then that director had to be the culprit.

But could her words really be true? Were they not all fabricated?

Regardless, one could assume that someone knew about Jeong-oh and Ji-heon’s relationship from the beginning.

‘It can’t be Ji-heon’s mother, nor can it be Chae Eun-bi… What about Chae Eun-yeob?’

After a moment, Jeong-oh shook her head. If Chae Eun-yeob were the culprit, she likely wouldn’t have just threatened them and left. Chae Eun-yeob would have done something more sinister.

Could there possibly be a third party involved?

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Ji-heon’s brother.’

Jeong Ji-heon’s half-brother, Jeong Ji-tae, the CEO of Seoyeon Foods. A talent set to take over the Seoyeon Group from their father, Jeong Jae-gwang. Unlike Ji-heon, he was someone who lived solely for work…

As half-brothers, there might be some conflict between them. If he knew that Ji-heon had a child, he might have wanted to keep them in check.

‘No, our family isn’t that influential.’

When Jeong-oh shook her head again, Yena, pouting her lips like a duck, approached her.

“Mom, I’m sulking.”

“Why?”

“Dad hasn’t come back.”

“Are you sulking about Dad?”

“Yeah. I think Dad forgot that I was waiting.”

Yena puffed her shoulders up in a sulky manner. Today had been overwhelming for her, and she hadn’t had a chance to catch up with her lifelong Go friend, Dad.

Still, she thought Dad must be busy, so she waited quietly, but as it approached 10 PM, her anger bubbled over.

Understanding Yena’s feelings, Jeong-oh hugged her and comforted her.

“Right? Why hasn’t Dad come yet?”

At that moment, the sound of the front door opening could be heard. Comforted in her mother’s arms, Yena quickly pushed away and dashed toward the entrance. Her sulky face remained unchanged as she intended to confront Dad about being late.

“Dad, you’re bad…!”

“Yena, what’s this?”

However, seeing the bag in Dad’s hand, Yena immediately changed her expression. The sound of ice snacks rattling in the bag made her eyes sparkle.

“Thank you, Dad!”

Yena quickly snatched the bag from Ji-heon’s hand. By the time Jeong-oh hurried to the entrance, Yena had already torn open the packaging of the ice snacks.

Jeong-oh shot Ji-heon a disapproving glance.

“What’s with bringing ice cream at this hour?”

“It’s just ice, just ice.”

Yena chimed in with Ji-heon.

“Right! Just ice! Ice that tastes like fruit!”

The sight of Yena with her cheeks stuffed full of ice, making slurping sounds, was indeed cute.

“But don’t buy too many at once. She eats them all in one sitting. If she can’t eat them today, she’ll wake up early tomorrow and eat them all secretly.”

“Got it.”

Ji-heon replied to Jeong-oh’s scolding. He couldn’t argue back for long. His expression had brightened considerably since he left the police station. Before Jeong-oh could ask what had happened during that time, Ji-heon spoke up.

“Jeong-oh.”

“Yeah?”

“I met a friend from 24 years ago.”

“Is that what you were talking about earlier? The friend from second grade?”

Jeong-oh asked enthusiastically, as if it were her own matter.

“Who is it? Did you meet them at the tournament? Are they a supervisor? Or a police officer?”

“They were a friend I thought would become a Go player, but they became a police officer.”

“Did you meet them at the police station today?”

“It’s Officer Kwon Bae-il.”

His voice, which had risen in excitement, suddenly fell.

“…What?”

“Officer Kwon Bae-il was my friend.”

“But you didn’t recognize him at first. Did you remember later?”

“His name changed. He used to be called Yoo Su-il.”

Yoo Su-il. It was a name Jeong-oh had heard from Ji-heon before. A friend from Ji-heon’s Go genius class when they were in second grade. A bright friend whom his mother had separated him from, preventing them from hanging out.

The description of Yoo Su-il that Ji-heon had given back then was so different from the current appearance of Kwon Bae-il that Jeong-oh was just as surprised.

“If his name changed…”

“He said his mother passed away, and he went to live with his aunt, so he had to change his name.”

As life changed, so did his name. How painful must those times have been?

“What was his expression like?”

“He seemed indifferent.”

“…How do you feel about it?”

“It was just… strange.”

Ji-heon also wore a blank expression as he conveyed how he felt at that moment. However, Jeong-oh could sense the emptiness at the end of his words. The feeling of joy in meeting someone precious overshadowed by sorrow. It was a feeling Jeong-oh knew well.

“I realized again. Even if you regain something precious, you can’t go back to the way things were.”

“…”

“You can only do your best to live in the present.”

Jeong-oh quietly nodded at Ji-heon’s words. Meanwhile, Yena, who had been away, returned. With one hand holding a container of ice snacks, she suddenly hugged her dad around the waist and said while tapping the floor with her other hand,

“Dad, sit here.”

Ji-heon sat down as instructed. He was now at eye level with standing Yena. She leaned in close to his ear and said,

“I’m going to give you some ASMR.”

Yena stuffed her mouth full of ice and started crunching it right next to Ji-heon’s ear. It was a sound she only shared with someone she liked. Ji-heon found it hard to contain his laughter and ended up covering his face with one hand, letting out a puff of air.

“Okay, Yena, enough playing. You need to brush your teeth and go to bed.”

“Okay.”

After making Dad laugh for a while, Yena quickly finished off her ice snacks and headed to the bathroom, responding to Jeong-oh’s reminder.

It was late at night, so Yena fell asleep quickly.

After putting Yena to bed, Ji-heon unexpectedly started hopping on one foot and tilting his head. Jeong-oh burst out laughing at Ji-heon’s silly behavior and asked,

“What’s that? What’s wrong?”

“When Yena was giving me ASMR earlier, ice got in my ear.”

Jeong-oh’s expression, which had been laughing without understanding, suddenly stiffened.

“It sounds like it hasn’t come out yet.”

“You should have told me right away if ice got in your ear!”

“I thought that was how it worked.”

Ah, this fool.

Ji-heon wasn’t just a dad who dotes on his daughter; he was simply a big fool. No one had told him that he should stay still even if ice gets in his ear, but Ji-heon seemed to be trying so hard to live life to the fullest, thinking that he couldn’t do any better.

“If the ice melted, it should have become a bit sticky. Is it okay?”

“Yeah. It didn’t go in too deep. It should come out when I wash up.”

Ji-heon replied lightly to Jeong-oh’s late concern and headed to the bathroom.

While Ji-heon was washing up, his phone, which he had left on the dining table, rang. He let the first call go, but when the phone rang again, Jeong-oh rushed to the phone. The screen displayed the name ‘Father.’

I can answer for him, right?

Feeling pleased, Jeong-oh picked up the call.

“Yes, Father.”

[It’s our daughter-in-law.]
“Yes. Ji-heon is in the bathroom right now. How have you been?”

[Yeah, yeah.]
Hearing her cheerful tone made his voice brighten on the other end as well.

“I’ll let Ji-heon know to call you as soon as he comes out.”

[No, no. Your daughter-in-law can tell Ji-heon.]
“Yes, Father. Then I’ll pass it on. What’s going on?”

[I was thinking it might be nice if you all come over this Sunday if you’re free.]
He was inviting Ji-heon’s family to his home. Before Jeong-oh could respond, Ji-heon approached quickly. As soon as he heard “Father,” he rushed over. Ji-heon took the phone from Jeong-oh.

“Father, what’s going on?”

[Yeah. Ji-heon, how about you bring your family over on Sunday?]
Ji-kwang’s suggestion made Ji-heon glance at Jeong-oh’s face. Sunday was just two days away. It was such a sudden invitation that it might be inconvenient for Jeong-oh.

Seeing Ji-heon hesitate to answer, Ji-kwang added one more thing.

[Your brother is also coming to see you.]
“Brother?”