Sa Rang listened quietly, already knowing that Do Han’s father had remarried Hye Ri’s mother.
“The first time I met my stepmother, she greeted me… and I just collapsed and cried.”
Sa Rang’s eyes widened, imagining a young Do Han crying.
“When my mother was alive, my father would always call out another woman’s name when drunk. It was her name. The woman he had longed for.”
The original Korean paragraph consists of 36 lines. Here is the verbatim English translation with the same number of lines:
Sa Rang’s mouth slightly opened in surprise.
Despite it not being her own story, her heart was racing, yet Do Han seemed calm, as if speaking about someone else’s family affair.
“I hated my father. I pitied my deceased mother. So, I left Hye Ri behind. On the anniversary of my mother’s death, which my father couldn’t even remember… I was nothing but an unlucky son to him, but Hye Ri was his precious daughter, resembling the woman he loved. I thought if Hye Ri disappeared, it would hurt him, just like when I lost my mother.”
Sa Rang was speechless with shock.
Though he said he pitied his mother, Sa Rang found Do Han even more pitiable.
Such a reality was too much for a thirteen-year-old to bear.
“Hye Ri must have hated me for that. That’s why she wished for our breakup. You were the only one I was ever sincere with. I knew it would hurt me the most, just like I tried to take Hye Ri away from my father.”
“So, you broke up with me for your sister?”
“No.”
Wasn’t it guilt that made him grant Hye Ri’s wish?
Sa Rang couldn’t guess what he would say next.
“I said I’d reveal to you how awful I am if we didn’t break up. I was scared of you looking at me with disgust.”
Sa Rang was bewildered to learn the real reason for their breakup after five years. Her heart was more tumultuous than ever.
The grief from their abrupt breakup turned into anger due to the misunderstanding that he had another woman, and over time, it shifted to self-blame about what she did wrong.
Now, even that had faded somewhat, stabilizing her, but now a tangle of emotions had resurfaced.
She couldn’t define these feelings, just felt a suffocating fullness in her heart.
“…So, in the end, you ran away for yourself. That means you didn’t really like me much.”
Sa Rang concluded so.
His feelings for her only went that far.
That’s why he could easily speak of breaking up.
“If I hadn’t been sincere about you, we wouldn’t have broken up. I wouldn’t have cared how you saw me.”
“Claiming to love me? You never even called my name.”
In response to her resentful voice, Do Han revealed a deeply hidden story.
“My stepmother’s name was… Chae Sa Rang. If your name wasn’t identical to hers, I would have called it countless times. It was agony not being able to utter your name that rose to my throat every time I saw you. Until I met you… to me, the word ‘love’ meant the same as misfortune.”
Do Han seemed like he was looking at an old scar, saying it was alright now. So, Sa Rang felt sorry for him.
At that time, it must have been like a torn flesh, bleeding.
Left untreated, festering to the core.
Even if it doesn’t hurt anymore, the memories of that day would have remained as vivid scars.
Do Han had said he collapsed and cried upon first meeting his stepmother.
Just that was enough to imagine how much a child’s heart had been torn apart.
And that name was Sa Rang.
Why did it have to be her stepmother’s name, Sa Rang, that prevented him from even speaking the word love?
The original Korean paragraph consists of 41 lines. Here is the verbatim English translation with the same number of lines:
“Why did my name have to be Sa Rang, causing him more pain?”
Sa Rang resented the fate that was cruel only to Do Han.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to drag you into my misery, that’s why I suggested breaking up. I was afraid that being with me would make you stop smiling.”
Do Han was afraid that Sa Rang would gradually lose her laughter and eventually even her small smiles.
He dreaded the moment she would stop loving him.
“I also hoped you would meet someone better than me.”
Sa Rang let out a bitter laugh unknowingly.
The good person for me was Do Han.
The person I love is the best person for me.
No one else could be better than him.
After making me believe I could never love again.
Making it impossible for me to love anyone else but him.
How could he have wished for me to meet someone better?
Sa Rang regretted the time she spent hating him, the youth she spent longing for him.
“No need to apologize. It doesn’t change anything.”
It was too late, Sa Rang thought.
She had already torn out half of her heart, leaving nothing left to give him.
If even the remaining half were tainted by him, she felt she wouldn’t be able to breathe.
She understood his situation was complicated and his story wasn’t easy to share.
But that didn’t excuse his actions from five years ago.
No simple confession could heal the deep wounds he had inflicted.
It was like losing half of her heart and then being handed a small bandage.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
