A child who looks like me - Ch175

Hearing Do-bin and Ye-na’s voices, Jeong-o rushed over.

“Beautiful kids. What’s going on? What happened?”

“Mom, Park Do-bin got angry!”

Ye-na ran to Jeong-o, hugging her as she spoke. Sae-byeol chimed in.

“While we were drawing, Do-bin took all the crayons. When Ye-na wouldn’t let him, Do-bin got angry.”

Waaah!

Do-bin, who had been frozen in sadness, finally burst into tears. Cold sweat dripped from Jeong-o’s forehead.

“Ye-na, you can’t do that when you invited a friend over. Do-bin, auntie will give you one of Do-bin’s crayons. Don’t cry.”

Jeong-o held Do-bin in her arms, soothing him.

Before long, Do-bin’s maternal grandparents arrived. Jeong-o, having visited Do-bin’s grandparents before, welcomed them warmly.

“You arrived early.”

“Yeah. This morning, the child slowly said he was feeling sick. I thought today might be the day, so I left right away. When I called Do-bin’s dad earlier, he said they were in the delivery room.”

A baby was going to be born today! Jeong-o felt a bit anxious as well.

“Is Ye-na’s grandma here?”

“She went to her academy.”

“She still looks great.”

While Jeong-o and Do-bin’s grandmother exchanged greetings, Do-bin ran over, sniffing.

“Grandma! Waaaah…”

The lingering sadness exploded in front of his grandmother. Jeong-o explained the situation, flustered.

“The kids got into a fight… I’m sorry. They’re usually very good friends, but I think Ye-na was a bit sensitive today.”

“Do-bin must have felt the same way. Kids fight as they grow, so you don’t have to apologize.”

Do-bin’s grandmother hugged him tightly, comforting him.

“Do-bin, let’s go home.”

Waaaah. No! I can’t go home leaving Jeong Ye-na and Kang Sae-byeol behind!

Do-bin expressed his feelings through his tears, but his grandmother couldn’t understand him.

“Do-bin, we’ll go see the baby when your little sibling is born, but are you going to keep crying like this?”

While his grandmother continued to comfort him, Sae-byeol’s mom also arrived at Jeong-o’s house. Only then did Do-bin stop crying. They all exchanged greetings, and the kids awkwardly parted ways.

After greeting the guests, Jeong-o let out a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead.

Finally, she noticed her daughter, whose lips were jutting out like a duck’s bill.

“Ye-na, why did you suddenly fight with Do-bin after getting along so well?”

“Park Do-bin is a fool.”

“Jeong Ye-na, you shouldn’t call your friend a fool.”

“But he really is a fool! Park Do-bin is mean.”

Ye-na spilled all the events from the house to Jeong-o. While listening to Ye-na’s story, Jeong-o realized something new: Sae-byeol also liked Ye-na, which made Do-bin jealous…

The child’s honest words made Jeong-o feel both good and worried.

“Park Do-bin got angry and asked me if being pretty is all that matters.”

“Hmm?”

“He asked, ‘Is being pretty all that matters?’ That’s why we fought.”

Then, Ye-na shared a cute story with a serious expression, leaving Jeong-o a bit puzzled.

That’s strange. Do kids fight over things like this these days?

“So, did Ye-na feel bad?”

Recalling how she felt at that moment, Ye-na blinked her eyes and suddenly dropped a tear.

“When Do-bin said I was pretty, it felt nice, but he got mad at me for something I liked, so it made me angry…”

So that’s what hurt her.

Jeong-o hugged Ye-na.

If a child only hears good things from friends, she might feel hurt. At the same time, Jeong-o was also worried that Do-bin must have been hurt as well.

“Did you feel hurt because Do-bin got angry?”

Ye-na nodded.

“Do you know how grateful you should be for Do-bin always telling you that you’re pretty? It’s because our Ye-na is pretty, but also because Do-bin’s heart is kind.”

Waaah. Jeong-o wiped away the little cries as she persuaded her.

“It doesn’t feel good to fight with friends, right?”

Ye-na nodded.

“Then you should make up, right?”

Instead of answering, Ye-na clung to Jeong-o’s neck, hugging her tightly. Jeong-o gently rubbed Ye-na’s back.

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

After four hours of labor, the baby was born. It was a healthy baby weighing 3.2 kg. As the loud cries filled the hospital room, Jin-seo felt a mix of fear and anticipation for the future.

In the evening, Jin-seo’s parents came to visit along with Do-bin and Do-yoon. Do-yoon was fascinated by seeing his little sister, but Do-bin didn’t look cheerful. Wondering if he was upset about having another younger sister when one was already enough, she subtly asked, but Do-bin just shook his head.

“I heard you fought with Ye-na.”

Do-bin’s grandmother answered instead. Jin-seo turned to Do-bin.

“Really? You fought with Ye-na? What happened?”

“Ye-na only plays with Kang Sae-byeol and not with me.”

Do-bin replied sulkily, pouting.

Hearing this, his grandmother intervened.

“Why are you fighting over something like that?”

“…….”

“You’re in elementary school now, so you shouldn’t just play with Ye-na. You should also play with other kids. Play with the boys, and make friends with other girls too.”

“You don’t know anything, Grandma.”

Do-bin shot back rudely at his grandmother’s suggestion and slumped against the wall, hugging his knees.

Nobody in this world understands my feelings.

That’s how my feelings drift away.

I don’t even know where the path of my feelings starts and ends.

So, I can’t stop it.

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

Ye-na went to her academy holding a bag of candies her grandfather had given her long ago.

But neither Do-bin nor Sae-byeol showed up at the academy. Even though Sae-byeol was at the Go academy, Ye-na still felt strangely empty. In art class, it was no different; she didn’t find much joy in drawing.

After finishing her academy classes, Ye-na returned home and started munching on candies by herself.

“Princess Ye-na, Daddy’s home!”

Ji-heon returned from work and happily called out to the child, but Ye-na looked at him with weary eyes before turning her head away.

Noticing Ye-na’s mood, Ji-heon quietly approached Jeong-o and asked with a glance. Jeong-o recounted what had happened earlier that day.

At the end of her story, she added her observations from watching them.

“Sae-byeol seems to like Ye-na, too.”

“Oh… really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do I want to cry?”

“Right? I feel good too.”

“No, that’s not it. It’s the opposite.”

Ji-heon felt like crying because his daughter was so beautiful. But he couldn’t blame Jeong-o for giving birth to such a pretty girl.

Seeing Ji-heon’s serious expression, Jeong-o playfully smiled and went over to Ye-na. But as soon as she approached, the voice raised.

“Jeong Ye-na!”

Startled by her mother’s excited voice, Ye-na bit down harder on the candy.

“Did you eat all of this already?”

Jeong-o shook the nearly empty candy bag at Ye-na, scolding her.

How many times had this happened? No matter how much she talked, Ye-na didn’t seem to understand, but today Jeong-o decided she would have to give a stern warning.

“If Do-bin isn’t here, you should have saved the candy to give to him tomorrow! How can you eat it all yourself?”

But the scolding couldn’t continue. Ye-na had blood pooling in her mouth.

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

Ji-heon, Jeong-o, and Ye-na hurried to a dental clinic that was open for evening appointments.

It turned out that there were not one, but two wobbly teeth. Blood was flowing from both front teeth, making her mouth even messier.

“We’ll have to pull both of them.”

At the doctor’s suggestion, Ye-na turned pale with fear. However, before she could struggle and run away, one tooth was quickly pulled out. It had already been so loose that there was little effort required for the extraction.

“I figured that would happen. Eating all that candy makes your teeth wobble like that.”

During the procedure, Jeong-o commented. Ye-na, looking like she was about to cry, surrendered the remaining tooth to the doctor while making a whimpering sound.

The kind doctor quickly finished extracting the teeth.

“All done! Doesn’t that feel refreshing?”

“Really?”

Ye-na asked, her pronunciation a bit off.

Ye-na’s cuteness decreased by 20%.

Ye-na’s adorableness increased by 10%.

Seeing this, Jeong-o couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ye-na has become a little silly!”

With her front teeth gone, Ye-na looked like a house with its door wide open. The new appearance was so cute that Jeong-o couldn’t help but express her feelings, but Ye-na, who always wanted to be seen as pretty by her mother, was disappointed.

“Waaah! Why?!”

Ji-heon quickly comforted her.

“Now that your baby teeth have fallen out, adult teeth will grow in their place. You have to take care of those adult teeth. They won’t grow back again, okay?”

“Waaah…”

Although Ye-na felt a bit hurt by her mother calling her silly, Ji-heon’s comforting words made her quickly wipe away her tears.

With the baby teeth gone, adult teeth would grow in their place. That thought sounded pretty cool to Ye-na. Though she hadn’t grown much taller yet, she felt a bit more mature.

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

The next morning.

While Mom and Dad were at the hospital, Grandma helped Do-bin get ready for school. Since Grandma was much slower than Mom, Do-bin arrived at his classroom just as class was starting.

Do-bin’s seat was in the back row of the first section, which allowed him to see the entire classroom. Naturally, he could see Ye-na, who sat in the front row of the third section.

However, all he could see from his seat was the back of Ye-na’s head. He couldn’t help but envy Sae-byeol, who sat in the front row of the first section and could see Ye-na’s profile.

As he placed his bag on his desk and stared at Ye-na, their eyes suddenly met when she turned her head.

His heart raced, and the muscles around his mouth twitched.

But contrary to Do-bin’s expectations, Ye-na tightly closed her lips and turned her head away again without saying a word.

He had hoped she would greet him first, allowing him to act as if everything was fine and reply cheerfully, but he felt utterly disappointed.

Do-bin couldn’t bring himself to say hello either due to his pride.

Throughout the first class, Do-bin couldn’t focus on what the teacher was saying. No, as he stared at the back of Ye-na’s head, time slipped away. It wasn’t until the first class ended and the kids began to move that Do-bin snapped back to reality.

Ye-na seemed to be heading to the bathroom. As Ye-na walked out of the classroom, Do-bin shuffled along behind her. However, before he could get close, Sae-byeol stepped in between them.

“Ye-na! Let’s go to the academy together with my sister today. She wants to play a game with you.”

“Okay.”

Hearing their friendly conversation made Do-bin feel upset again. But just as he turned away, feeling dejected…

“Did you lose your front teeth? Huh? Both of them are gone.”

At Sae-byeol’s voice, Do-bin stopped in his tracks.

Ye-na lost her front teeth? Both of them?

He wanted to see it so badly.

However, watching them talk without realizing he was close made him feel irritated again.

“Is it weird?” Ye-na asked Sae-byeol.

Yes, it’s weird. It’s really not good. Hmph.

Ye-na is silly and really not good.

“No. They all fall out. Mom told me mine will, too.”

Sae-byeol answered Ye-na’s question. However, that wasn’t the answer Ye-na was hoping for. Without asking Sae-byeol anything further, she turned her head away.

“Park Do-bin.”

Ye-na called Do-bin’s name.

Do-bin flinched, his eyes wide with surprise.

“Is it weird that I lost my teeth?”

It felt strange to see his friend, who looked somewhat incomplete with missing front teeth. But it didn’t mean that her pretty face had become ugly.

Ye-na quickly closed her mouth again, as if embarrassed to show her missing teeth. Depending on Do-bin’s response, it seemed like she might cry. Like a mirror, Do-bin mirrored her expression.

Do-bin didn’t want the friend he loved most in the world to feel down just because of a few missing teeth. If Ye-na felt sad, he thought he would feel sad too.

“No, it’s not weird.”

“…”

“It’s not weird, but pretty. Of course.”

You’re the prettiest.

Even if all your teeth fell out, you would still be the prettiest in the world.

At Do-bin’s response, a bright smile returned to Ye-na’s face. Her radiant smile, unbothered by her missing teeth, was truly beautiful, like a flower.

Finally, Do-bin smiled back at Ye-na, just like always.

The flow of feelings couldn’t be stopped.