Our Every Moment - Chapter 12
Six years ago, when my mother remarried that man, from the very beginning, the way Tae Oh looked at me was not good. Not knowing the meaning behind that gaze, Seo Hee thought it was a clear warning.
The contemptuous gaze, as if looking at a gold-digging mother and daughter who approached to take her father’s wealth, and his sharp words were etched in her heart, vividly recalled as if it were yesterday.
It was the first time the two families gathered together.
From the moment they first met and exchanged greetings, Tae Oh exuded a chilly aura and remained silent throughout, only giving short answers to questions from the elders.
Seo Hee felt like she was sitting on pins and needles due to the inexplicable hostility emanating from his gaze towards her, but for the sake of her mother’s complete happiness, she maintained a fake smile.
His father said the boy was so blunt that he was no fun, and she had no choice but to think, ‘So be it.’ But in that brief moment when her mother and his father went to the restroom, Seo Hee saw through his true nature.
He, who hadn’t said a word to her, threw out a question with no context as soon as the adults left their seats.
“Really, are you that woman’s daughter?”
“……”
“Why did it have to be you? How, why, of all people, are you that woman’s daughter?”
“That’s…what do you……”
The grown son of her mother’s remarriage partner was definitely not an easy person to deal with.
On top of being a difficult person, he had an icy cold face and spoke in a hard voice that sounded like not even a needle could penetrate, word by word. His appearance was so dreadful.
Before she could properly understand the meaning of his words, his venomous remarks struck her ears like poisoned arrows.
“…You can never be my sister. Your name can never be on the documents that prove you’re part of our family. As for your mother, no one knows how long she’ll be listed either.”
“What…what do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know about our father, but I will never be swayed by you two. I don’t know how your mother coaxed him to the point of remarriage, but I will never accept your mother as my stepmother. She’s just an object to fulfill my father’s desires, nothing more, nothing less. So give up on your vain delusions early on. I’m telling you to know your place.”
“……”
Seo Hee was rendered speechless by the humiliation. The glass of water she unknowingly grabbed shook in her hand.
The two had known each other for a considerable time. If he disliked this meeting, he had plenty of chances to stop it, but coming all the way here with this attitude, how was she supposed to interpret it? Her voice trembled.
“If you hated it so much, you should have stopped it before arranging this meeting.”
“Right, if I had known you would show up here… I would have stopped it no matter what.”
What the hell was he saying? His forced logic made no sense and left her so dumbfounded that no thoughts came to mind.
In that brief moment when her mother and his father left their seats, the person Seo Hee faced was not the blunt man his father described. He was a rude and cold-hearted person who didn’t hesitate to say harsh words to someone’s face, and a vicious person who could suffocate others with a single contemptuous glance.
She couldn’t even stupidly splash the glass of water in his face. Her mother and his father looked so affectionate walking back to their seats together, and her mother’s eyes seemed to sparkle with happiness as she looked at him, so Seo Hee couldn’t bring herself to abruptly get up and leave.
She could only suppress her burning anger and swallow back her welling tears with all her might.
Unlike Tae Oh, who ate calmly as if nothing had happened and even wore a faint smile at times, Seo Hee felt like every bite of food she forcibly swallowed got stuck in her throat.
How should she handle this situation? A huge tornado was sweeping through her mind, and it was despairing that she couldn’t do anything about it right away.
She had no idea how she managed to sit through that meeting or what conversations took place.
Cold sweat broke out, perhaps from indigestion. Enduring to the point of suffocation, she tried to leave her seat with the excuse of an urgent matter, but…
“I’ll take you.”
Tae Oh’s words from behind made her groan inwardly.
She didn’t even know how she said goodbye. Seo Hee hurried out of the restaurant and tried to hail a taxi, but Tae Oh, who followed her out, grabbed her wrist.
Pulled by his rough strength, she was dragged somewhere. Fed up, before he could open his mouth, she took the lead.
“Our mother! She’s not that kind of person. She’s not a bad person you can talk about so carelessly.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“Mom didn’t want anything. It was his father who first brought up remarriage. Mom refused several times, worried that you, an adult, and I would feel uncomfortable, but his father kept persuading her.”
“Ha, judging by how you’re talking so smoothly about things I don’t even know, you must have frequented that house a lot. Huh? The mother and daughter conspired and seduced him. Right.”
Tears streamed down her face from the injustice. Even when she tried to shake off his grip on her wrist, he only tightened it and wouldn’t let go.
“Do you think I was just happy about it? When I found out his father wasn’t an ordinary office worker, believe it or not, I felt uncomfortable too. I was also worried that Mom might be treated this way. Why should our mother be subjected to this absurd treatment? Why?”
“If you didn’t want to be treated that way, you shouldn’t have done things that could be misunderstood in the first place. A side dish shop lady who clearly knew he ran a food company approached him, and you’re complaining about this treatment?”
“How can you make such ridiculous claims? It was his father who first sought her out, saying he heard good things about my mom’s cooking skills and wanted to propose a business!”
“Ha, so she seduced him by giving him all sorts of side dishes, existing or not? While offering her body to a lonely widower?”
Suddenly, nausea surged up. With strength she didn’t know where it came from, Seo Hee shook off his arm and hurriedly went to a nearby flowerbed, where she vomited out all the food she had forcibly swallowed.
Urk. Urk. Cough.
She didn’t know if what poured out was food or her utterly wrecked and wounded heart.
Seo Hee weakly crouched down next to the flowerbed, her strength drained along with the cold sweat. Suddenly, a handkerchief fell onto her legs with a plop. He was still standing guard nearby, as if he had more to say.
Seo Hee didn’t touch the handkerchief he gave her and instead took out a wet tissue from her tote bag to wipe her mouth. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she spoke.
“I…I don’t have any intention of doing that either. I have absolutely no desire to have my name on that family’s registry. I was planning to become independent as soon as Mom remarried. I already found a studio apartment. So you don’t have to worry about such absurd things. And the two of them decided to manage their assets separately even after remarriage. I heard they already signed an agreement and got it notarized, but I guess you didn’t know. You don’t trust your father much, do you? You should…have a conversation with him.”
Seo Hee, who had been crouching, stood up and coldly turned her back on him. His handkerchief that was on her knees fell to the ground with a plop, but she didn’t even notice. She was just focused on holding herself together so as not to crumble in front of him, and she had no energy to pay attention to the gaze piercing her back.
Seo Hee worried and agonized over that incident for a long time.
If she only looked at his father, there was nothing to worry about. Over the course of more than a year, the man she observed was not only affectionate to her mother but also had a gentle and dignified manner in his words and actions. He wasn’t the type to flaunt his wealth, but rather had an excellent character who knew how to lower himself and be considerate in front of her mother.
She couldn’t understand how such a good man could have such a rotten son.
Once Seo Hee learned of his son’s character, she no longer felt happy about her mother’s remarriage.
After much deliberation, when she informed her mother of the conflict with Tae Oh in a subdued and concise manner, her mother surprisingly accepted it calmly. She seemed to already know about Tae Oh’s rough personality and appeared to have heard the reason from his father as well. Apparently, he had a lack of maternal love from a young age, so he didn’t have a favorable view of women.
Seo Hee couldn’t let go of her worries easily because the attitude he showed her that day was not something that could be justified by such a short explanation. But her mother seemed to have a different opinion.
“Daughter, don’t worry. I’m fine. You know I’m not that kind of person, and his father knows it too. Tae Oh will also realize it over time. So Seo Hee, you don’t have to be timid in front of anyone and can always be confident. You know what I mean?”
“I wish it were that simple. But that person…he really makes me uncomfortable. Will you really be okay, Mom? What if he treats you disrespectfully?”
The words ‘Do you have to remarry a man with a son like that?’ rose to the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them out loud.
“He won’t do that. We’re not even living together anyway. Tae Oh has been independent for a long time. When we occasionally meet, his father will always be by my side. So you don’t have to worry. Okay?”
In the end, not only her mother but also his father came to soothe Seo Hee’s anxiety and tried to alleviate her worries. The two eventually remarried, and Seo Hee hoped that, as they said, nothing would go wrong and their new beginning would be smooth.
Contrary to her concerns, Tae Oh did not treat her remarried mother disrespectfully. Since he didn’t intentionally create occasions to meet, there seemed to be no reason for them to clash.
As planned, Seo Hee moved out to a studio apartment and lived alone. When she had to go to his father’s house once every two months for a so-called family gathering, her nerves became on edge because of Tae Oh, whom she inevitably had to face, but she thought she just needed to get through that day, so his sharp gaze and cold treatment weren’t too hard to endure.
And so, one year passed, then two years. With the passage of time, Tae Oh’s attitude also gradually changed.
The sharp and fierce gaze that always poured out when they were alone together began to change into something else at some point. She foolishly thought that perhaps he was starting to accept her mother and her as family, little by little.
Until long ago, that day, when he suddenly barged into her studio…until she glimpsed something other than contempt in Tae Oh’s eyes as he looked at her……
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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