Not because it hurt where he was hit, but because he realized too late what he had done.
What if Hye Ri hadn’t come back home? Even imagining it made his hands tremble.
He felt like he had become a dreadful monster.
Even now, thirteen years later, he still vividly remembered the feeling of that day. The memory was so clear that it felt like his grip on the steering wheel was getting stronger.
They arrived in front of Kyeong Cheol’s house just in time, and he parked the car.
When Do Han turned off the engine, Hye Ri, who had remained silent the whole time, finally spoke.
“I have cancer, Oppa.”
As he was about to get out of the car, he turned his head towards her.
“What?”
Do Han’s face stiffened in an instant.
“Our mom passed away from stomach cancer. They say it might be genetic, and I have it too.”
From the smiling Hye Ri, Do Han saw his deceased stepmother’s face.
The stepmother had treated him like her own child from the first moment she saw him.
Even when Do Han didn’t stay by her side, she always spoke to him affectionately and took care of him meticulously.
He had abandoned Hye Ri out of anger towards his father, so to his stepmother, he could only be a sinner.
Yet, even until the moment she died, his stepmother had pitied Do Han.
“For a while now, I’ve been feeling uncomfortable, but Dad had already made an appointment for tests. So, I went with him. I thought you should know before we go home. Even if Dad gets angry at you, please understand.”
Do Han found it difficult to accept this situation.
Because of Hye Ri, who spoke about having cancer in such a matter-of-fact way as if she had caught a cold, it felt even more surreal.
It seemed like a lie.
Now that he was barely twenty, he couldn’t believe that he could have cancer.
“Let’s go inside now, before Dad calls again.”
Hye Ri got out of the car first. Do Han stood still for a moment before stepping outside.
She walked ahead, and he followed her.
When they set foot inside the house, Kyeong Cheol rushed at Do Han and grabbed him by the collar.
“It’s because of you! All of this is because of you!”
“Dad, please don’t.”
I have translated the Korean paragraph into English while keeping the exact same number of lines as the original. Here is the translation:
Hye Ri pulled her father’s arm and tried to separate herself from Do Han, and he reluctantly let go of her, lowering both his hands.
“Now, do you feel relieved? Not only did you make Hye Ri’s mom die, but you’ve also pushed Hye Ri to this point. Are you satisfied?”
“Dad, why is it my fault that I’m in pain?”
“It’s because of this guy. Can’t you see that he must have gone through so much shock when he was young to get such a terrible disease? Both you and your mom…!”
Kyeong Cheol couldn’t control his anger and yelled at Do Han, who didn’t even blink at the news of his sister’s terminal illness.
“You despicable brat. An unlucky brat. You even resemble your damn mom, ruining someone else’s life.”
As Kyeong Cheol vented his anger and cursed at his son, Do Han quietly retorted.
“It was because of you that my mother and my life were ruined.”
The resentment he had harbored deep inside him for years spilled out.
A one-night stand with a woman he had no feelings for, followed by a marriage forced by obligation due to the pregnancy on that day.
Do Han had listened to Kyeong Cheol’s resentment throughout his childhood.
Each time, the compassion he felt for his mother turned into hatred for his father.
“Both my mother and I were unhappy beside you.”
“You’re saying that as if you were pitied by my mother, right? You grew up, raised by my mom who lived a life of luxury with someone else, while I struggled in poverty and even had to ask for money. And you call yourself unhappy?”
Kyeong Cheol’s mocking tone made Do Han clench his fists.
He had to accept even his birthday as an uncomfortable day.
He couldn’t erase the thought that his existence in this world was meaningless.
If that wasn’t unhappiness, then what was?
“Not just my mother and me. Father made everyone unhappy, including my stepmother and Hye Ri.”
“You shameless brat. It’s not me; it’s because of you! If you hadn’t abandoned Hye Ri, she wouldn’t be sick!”
“No, it’s because of you, Dad.”
Deep emotions that Do Han had suppressed for a long time surged from within him.
While Hye Ri and his stepmother might see him as a sinner, there was no reason for his father to treat him that way.
He had realized that too late, and even the time he had spent avoiding his own existence felt regretful.
Meeting love and finding peace and happiness, Do Han had finally started to pay attention to himself.
He didn’t want to go back to the way things were before.
That’s why he decided to release all his anger toward Kyeong Cheol at this moment.
Even if their father-son relationship were to break, he vowed not to let himself be trampled upon by his father anymore.
“My mother, me, my stepmother, and Hye Ri. Everyone was unhappy because of you.”
Kyeong Cheol’s face froze coldly.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
