A child who looks like me

The owner of the restaurant “The Crown” approached Ji-heon, holding a photo he had taken from the wall.

“Do you see this? This person here is you. And the person next to you is the woman you brought. Do you remember?”

Ji-heon frowned and stared closely at the photo.

The photo the owner showed was a picture within a picture. In other words, it was another photo taken against the backdrop of Ji-heon’s photo.

“Oh! It really looks like you, Director! This is amazing!” Deputy Park Young-gwang exclaimed after checking the photo.

Ji-heon’s face was small enough to barely recognize. It was a picture of him shortly after he had left the military, with short hair and a slight smile. He was with an unfamiliar woman.

While Ji-heon’s face was distinct, the woman’s face was a bit further away and out of focus, making it blurry.

His heart raced, and his head throbbed.

The only identifiable details about the woman were a sky-blue T-shirt with a character on it and her long hair.

Ji-heon asked the owner for permission and saved the image of the photo to his phone.

Even after seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe it.

Did I really have a girlfriend?

Or perhaps he didn’t want to believe it.

Was his body resisting the retrieval of those memories? Now that he had come to care for Lee Jeong-o?

In the midst of this, he thought of Jeong-o.

Seeing her made his heart ache painfully. It seemed to have started after he learned that she had a child.

You have a child, and I had a girlfriend. Does that make our situations a bit similar? Is there no need for me to resent you anymore?

There was no longer any reason to delay the inevitable.

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

In the end, Jeong-o couldn’t enter the restaurant and had to eat alone.

“It would have been more fun if the assistant had come along. We found a trace of our director there. He had taken a photo at that restaurant seven years ago. The owner remembered it. But the photo is gone now,” Young-gwang shared his thoughts after returning from the restaurant.

Jeong-o was surprised and asked, “The owner remembers? From seven years ago?”

“Yes. Mr. Jeong. He even remembered your name. Apparently, the director was so handsome that people loved the photo when it was displayed. Our director’s looks are internationally recognized.”

“……”

“But the director has no recollection, right? He must have amnesia or something. So he doesn’t remember anything at all. It’s quite unfortunate.”