The SUV finally stopped on a deserted country road outside Seoul. A man wearing a hat and mask got out angrily.
“Why are you following me?”
Apparently, he hadn’t expected the persistent pursuit from a motorcyclist.
Tae Hyuk, still on his motorcycle, gestured towards the SUV’s trunk.
“Let’s see what’s inside the trunk.”
Thud.
Asking to see the trunk apparently triggered the man, who pulled out a knife and threatened Tae Hyuk.
“If you don’t want to die, get lost.”
Tae Hyuk was amazed at his intuition for spotting a bad guy just by looking at a car. He was almost a genius, perhaps even possessing a supernatural ability.
Tae Hyuk gestured provocatively at the knife-wielding man.
“Come on, try and kill me.”
At that moment, his life felt like an action movie. Living with such a mindset, it was no wonder his grandfather was driven to frustration.
When Tae Hyuk was being punished for skipping school, Detective Park Jae Su came to the school.
“Anyway, thanks to you, the girl was safe.”
Tae Hyuk had called Detective Park Jae Su to inform him about the kidnapping incident, and he quickly left the scene. The family of the almost-kidnapped girl probably thought the police had saved her.
“It wasn’t a big deal catching such a novice kidnapper.”
Detective Park Jae Su, who had been quietly observing him, remarked, “You never ask about the victims.”
Feeling accused, Tae Hyuk responded defensively, “You just said she was safe.”
“Yes, she’s safe because she didn’t die. But she could have.”
Tae Hyuk felt uneasy hearing that the little girl trapped in the trunk almost died. She had fainted right after seeing him, thinking he was a bad guy since he was wearing a helmet.
“She’s suffering from aphasia due to the shock. She has to stay in the hospital until she recovers.”
Tae Hyuk was startled. “She can’t speak?”
Was it partly his fault?
He realized he hadn’t been catching criminals for the victims, but to feel like a hero. Guilt washed over him for not paying enough attention to the child.
Back in the classroom, Tae Hyuk asked Cha Hyun, “What should I give a young girl as a gift?”
Cha Hyun, busy writing a screenplay, casually replied, “A cute stuffed animal.”
“A dinosaur?”
Finally looking up, Cha Hyun advised, “Get her a teddy bear. One with a heart necklace would be even better.”
The next day, Tae Hyuk went to a toy store with Hong Sik.
“Find a bear with a heart necklace.”
Hong Sik looked confused. “There’s no bear with a heart necklace.”
Instead, there was a pig stuffed animal wearing a heart-patterned shirt. Tae Hyuk bought both the pig and the bear and dressed the bear in the pig’s heart shirt.
“Do I really have to do this?” Hong Sik looked reluctant.
Tae Hyuk insisted, “It’s embarrassing to do it alone.”
For a 17-year-old, embarrassment was a greater disaster than the end of the world.
On the way to the VIP hospital room where the child was admitted, many people stared at Tae Hyuk and Hong Sik. Children pointed and followed them. They were certainly standing out today.
“Is that Tae Hyuk?”
Detective Park Jae Su, in front of the VIP room, burst into laughter seeing them in stuffed animal costumes. Tae Hyuk urged him to open the door quickly, eager to get it over with and leave.
When Detective Park Jae Su opened the door to the hospital room, Tae Hyuk pushed Hong Sik, who was wearing a bear costume, to go in first.
Stumbling into the room, Hong Sik was followed by Tae Hyuk, who sauntered in wearing a tiger costume. The child in the bed looked startled at their appearance.
Hong Sik, clapping his bear-paw hands, complimented the child, “Wow, you’re so pretty! Are you an angel?”
Despite his initial reluctance, Hong Sik seemed to be doing well.
Tae Hyuk watched Hong Sik’s bear interacting with the child and then turned to look at her. She was indeed beautiful, with large eyes and delicate features, looking more like a doll than the ones in the toy store.
It was then that Tae Hyuk fully realized how frightened the child must have been that day. The child, suffering from aphasia, silently watched the bear and tiger without fear.
Tae Hyuk, in his tiger costume, reached out to the child. “Roar. I’m a righteous tiger. Say hello.”
Hong Sik playfully scolded Tae Hyuk for speaking like that. Tae Hyuk playfully hit Hong Sik’s bear costume on the head, causing Hong Sik to flail as he couldn’t see.
Meanwhile, Tae Hyuk offered the teddy bear he was holding to the child. “This is a gift from me.”
Everyone in the room watched the child’s reaction, hoping for some sign of improvement. The child looked silently at the teddy bear.
Leaning forward, Tae Hyuk brought the bear closer. “Please accept it. I’m not scary. Well, I’m a tiger.”
The child, with eyes clear as glass beads, looked at Tae Hyuk once and then slowly reached out her hand towards the teddy bear.
17 years later, when Tae Hyuk saw the bear with a heart-patterned shirt in Na Young’s room, he didn’t recognize it immediately. It was a memory he had completely forgotten.
The pain was greater when he read about Na Young’s abduction. That he had so easily forgotten the incident that pushed her life into turmoil.
Maybe he lacked the qualities of a hero.
With Detective Park Jae Su’s death, there was nothing left to prove that he had saved 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.]
