Chapter 18
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〈Chapter 18〉
Im Chae-yeon’s Past (1)
* * *
When Chae-yeon was a child, her family was known for being very close-knit.
The reason for this was her mother’s extraordinary love for her father; even years after their marriage, her mother’s love showed no signs of cooling, as if they were still living their honeymoon phase.
“Chae-yeon, should we give Daddy a call and see when he’s coming home?”
“Yeah!”
Her mother would always call her father whenever his clock-out time approached.
The sight of her mother looking so fluttery and excited while making those calls was one of Chae-yeon’s favorite things.
After all, she hoped that one day, she too would find someone who would make her heart flutter just as much.
“Ah… I guess he’s really busy again today. Yes, well then, I’ll put Chae-yeon to bed first.”
Her mother, Kim Suyeon, let out a quiet sigh after hanging up. Lately, he had been coming home late more and more frequently, perhaps because work had picked up.
“Is Daddy going to be late again tonight?”
“That’s what he said.”
“Aww… then I won’t get to see him at dinner.”
Since Chae-yeon was only seven years old at the time, she would usually be in dreamland by the time her father got home.
Suyeon stroked her disappointed daughter’s hair and whispered affectionately.
“It’s almost the end of the year—should we ask Daddy to take us to the amusement park on his day off?”
“Really?”
“Of course. I’ll tell him when he gets here. So, Chae-yeon, let’s go to sleep now. Okay?”
“Okay!”
Just like any other day, it had been peaceful. Suyeon had finally succeeded in coaxing her daughter to sleep—a difficult task, given the girl’s endless chatter about what she wanted to do at the amusement park.
“Goodnight, my sweet girl.”
After kissing the forehead of her daughter, who lay sleeping while hugging a dolphin plushie, she quietly slipped out of the room.
* * *
Late that night.
Her husband returned home, completely pickled in alcohol. The scent of booze wafted toward her even from a distance. Suyeon hurried over to support her husband, Im Chang-seok.
“I didn’t hear anything about you having a company dinner tonight. Did something happen?”
Chang-seok didn’t answer.
Assuming he was simply exhausted, Suyeon sat him down on the bed and began hanging his jacket on a coat rack.
While she was doing so, her husband’s low, heavy voice drifted from behind her.
“Suyeon, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time…”
“About what?”
Suyeon stopped mid-spray while applying fabric freshener to his clothes and turned around. Her eyes met Chang-seok’s, which were filled with a complex range of emotions.
Opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, he fumbled with his briefcase as he spoke.
“Could we… just stop now?”
“What? Stop what, exactly…?”
Her husband’s solemn aura and the resolute look in his eyes—realizing that all of this was leading toward the word “divorce,” she dropped the spray bottle she was holding.
“Honey… did, did I do something wrong? If I did, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, so please, just tell me honestly what the problem is.”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Chang-seok ran a rough hand through his hair, disheveling it.
“It’s just… I’m doing this because I’m a piece of shit.”
“What are you talking about? Why would you…”
“I’m seeing another woman.”
Suyeon’s breath hitched and stopped.
Immediately following the declaration of the affair, a heavy silence filled the room. A moment later, Suyeon let out a dry, hollow laugh and picked up the spray bottle with trembling hands.
“…Stop with these unfunny jokes. You’re going to wash up and go to sleep, right? I’ll go draw the bath for you.”
As Suyeon tried to flee the room, Chang-seok’s voice, thick with guilt, held her back.
“Stop! Chae-yeon’s father, please, I’m begging you—don’t say another word.”
She changed how she addressed him, calling him “Chae-yeon’s father” to remind him of his duty as the head of a household. Chang-seok understood the intent behind it, but…
“The reason I was late… was because I was meeting that woman.”
There was no stopping him anymore.
He had already resolved to make a fresh start. Despite the numerous chances Suyeon gave him to return to the family, he prioritized a stranger over his own wife and child.
“Just why are you doing this…? I love you more than anyone else. You have a beautiful daughter in kindergarten. What could possibly be lacking that would drive you to do such a thing?!”
Suyeon’s desperate screams echoed through every corner of the house.
Her voice, saturated with resentment, began to eat away at Chang-seok’s heart.
“I’m sorry…”
“I don’t want to hear an apology. Chae-yeon’s father. If you break up with her right now, I can act like today never happened. So please, snap out of it…!”
“……”
Chang-seok looked away without a word—a silent answer that he couldn’t do that. Unable to bear it, Suyeon approached and grabbed both of his shoulders.
“Just what kind of woman is she that you’re clinging to her like this? Is she more precious than me and Chae-yeon? If you divorce me, what is supposed to happen to the two of us!”
“I’ll send child support every month.”
“That’s not what’s important right now! Both for me and for Chae-yeon, this is when we need your love the most… How can you do this to us…!”
Suyeon slowly collapsed to the floor. The room was filled only with the sound of her sobbing and Chang-seok’s guilt-ridden sighs. Clinging tightly to her husband’s knees, Suyeon spoke in a trembling voice.
“Am I not enough…? I’m confident I can treat you better than that woman. I’ll do whatever you want, so please… don’t leave our side…”
Chang-seok tilted his face toward the ceiling. The sight of his wife, looking utterly miserable, made his chest feel heavy and tight.
After a long silence, he spoke once more in a solemn tone.
“The woman I’m seeing… compared to you, she’s full of flaws. Her looks, her body, her personality—none of it even compares to yours.”
“Then why…!”
“Because I’m sick of a woman like you.”
Suyeon’s tear-filled eyes looked up at Chang-seok. Because of his cruel remark, her once-sparkling eyes turned dull and cloudy, as if a bucket of mud had been poured into them.
“At first, it was truly great. Being loved by a woman as beautiful as you made me feel proud; it was the driving force of my life. But…”
Chang-seok lowered his head as he continued.
“As time passed, those feelings began to go numb. Maybe it’s because I got used to your devotion. My heart stopped racing, and sometimes… I even started to find you annoying.”
Suyeon’s boundless love and devotion had, in the end, made her seem like a cheap woman.
No matter what happened, she always adjusted herself to suit Chang-seok. Because of that, there was nothing left for him to anticipate from her—no new excitement, no stimulation.
“Ah… Aaaah!!”
Suyeon’s scream, bordering on a shriek, echoed once more. Startled awake by the noise, Chae-yeon hurriedly threw open her bedroom door.
“Mommy…?”
With her fine, jet-black hair completely disheveled, her mother was prostrate on the floor, wailing.
It was the first time in her life that Chae-yeon had witnessed her mother so broken. Her mother had always maintained a bright and sunny disposition no matter what—so what could have possibly happened to cause this?
“Da-Daddy… did you fight with Mommy? Why? What happened?”
Knowing nothing of the circumstances, Chae-yeon asked with a trembling, tearful voice. Chang-seok looked down at his daughter, who was still clutching her dolphin plushie, with eyes full of pity.
And then…
“Chae-yeon, the truth is…”
In order to tear himself away from Suyeon’s love, he attempted to use his own daughter.
“Shut your mouth! What do you think you’re trying to tell Chae-yeon!!”
Just as he had calculated, Suyeon’s powerful maternal instinct forced her to bite the bait.
Because of a woman like that, Chang-seok was willing to destroy his own family. For the first time, Suyeon began to feel something she had never felt toward him before: disgust.
“I can’t stand the sight of you… Get out of this house right now!”
Battling a sensation that made her want to vomit, she kicked her husband out of the house.
And as days like this began to repeat themselves, Suyeon, unable to endure any longer, slowly initiated the divorce proceedings.
* * *
Once Chang-seok vanished from her side, Suyeon’s life became like a blank sheet of paper.
A life without purpose, without will. A life lived only by forcing herself to go through the motions for the sake of her daughter.
The benevolent gaze Suyeon once held for Chae-yeon eventually became dim and unfocused, as if shrouded by storm clouds. She would tear up photos of the ex-husband who abandoned her, only to be overcome by lingering attachment and tape them back together—over and over again.
Unable to handle her own negative emotions, she eventually began to denounce Chang-seok in front of Chae-yeon. Before long, this reached the point of injecting her daughter with a warped set of beliefs.
“Chae-yeon. Even if you find someone you love one day, you must never, ever reveal how you feel.”
“Why…?”
Confusion flickered in Chae-yeon’s sparkling eyes. “Chae-yeon. Even if you find someone you love later on, you must never, ever reveal how you feel.”
“Why…?”
Doubt flickered in Chae-yeon’s sparkling eyes. She was still a pure, innocent child—far too young to have formed her own values.
Suyeon continued, hoping her precious daughter would not commit the same error she had.
“the moment you reveal your love, you will be abandoned by that person. Look at Mommy. It’s because Mommy loved Daddy so much that things ended up like this, isn’t it?”
Her mother’s voice sounded as if she were mocking herself.
At Suyeon’s affectionate yet twisted remarks, Chae-yeon shook her head.
The image of her mother planning events for her father every day, looking so fluttery every time she called him—Chae-yeon couldn’t believe that her mother, her role model and idol, was now negating that very image. She tried her best to deny it, but…
“If Mommy had loved Daddy less—no, if I had never shown my heart in the first place—Mommy and Chae-yeon could have lived with Daddy forever. Right?”
“T-that’s not true…!”
As a young child, Chae-yeon lacked the ability and experience to refute her mother’s logic. Moreover, because they lived in the same space, she had to endure Suyeon’s brainwashing-like words every single day.
‘No… that can’t be right…’
Even though she knew in her heart that her mother’s words were wrong, the repeated stories… the sight of her mother becoming more and more broken…
Little by little, Chae-yeon found herself being persuaded without even realizing it.
Furthermore, if she agreed with her mother, she was praised; if she denied it, her mother would try to persuade her with a fiery intensity. Chae-yeon had no choice but to begrudgingly comply.
“Daddy… Daddy…”
Even when she tried to reach for her father—the only lifeline she had left—she felt nothing but the emptiness of his absence.
Everytime she thought of her father, the one who could bring her mother back… or rather, the father who had turned her mother into this—
‘It’s just too cruel…’
Chae-yeon’s perspective began to warp at a rapid pace.
* * *
By the time Chae-yeon reached the sixth grade.
Suyeon, who had refused to touch the child support Chang-seok sent every month, realized that her spare funds were finally running out.
‘I have to be the one to provide for Chae-yeon.’
For the sake of her lovely daughter, Suyeon quickly found a job and began silently carrying out her duties.
Even though she had become gaunt from living like a recluse, her exquisite beauty remained unchanged. Perhaps because of that, her male colleagues constantly called her aside to confess their feelings.
“I’m sorry. I have no interest in dating.”
To Suyeon, who had been severely burned by a man, their confessions were nothing more than nauseating acts.
To her, men were like lethal weapons—an existence that could hurt her at any given moment.
After harshly rejecting those who clung to her persistently, Suyeon maintained smooth relationships only with the female employees.
And so… just as she was gaining recognition at the company and becoming accustomed to social life…
“Would you please consider dating me?”
A man from another department confessed to her.
Since she was already infamous in the company for being an Iron Wall Lady, it had been quite a while since anyone had approached her like this.
But whether it had been a long time or not, the result was obvious.
It ended in rejection.
Suyeon harshly criticized the man who had confessed—Jung Dong-hoon—and turned her back on him.
‘I don’t need a man…’
As long as she had her daughter, that was enough.
She resolved to live the rest of her life single.
She swore to herself that she would never again be swayed or hurt by a man.
But…
Suyeon’s resolve began to waver due to the presence of one man.
“Suyeon, make sure to drink this while you work.”
Even after several years had passed, his love for her showed no signs of fading. No matter how harshly Suyeon rejected him, he continued to approach the woman he loved with gentle sincerity.
‘Just what is with this man…’
Because he approached her warmly every single day, the sharp thorns around Suyeon gradually softened.
Sometimes they even ate meals together. And little by little, she began to fall for Dong-hoon’s considerate nature.
‘Dong-hoon…’
Suyeon realized that she had fallen in love with him. His face kept flickering in her mind, and just as Dong-hoon always watched her, she eventually found herself watching his back as he walked away.
‘I swore I’d never love again.’
She resented her heart for racing so wildly of its own accord. She never wanted to experience that same pain again, so why had she allowed herself to harbor these feelings?
Even while Suyeon wavered, Dong-hoon’s displays of affection never ceased. Believing that Suyeon had opened her heart to him to some degree, he held out a ring and proposed without hesitation.
“I will live my life looking only at you. So please… won’t you marry me?”
“You must know that I have a history of divorce. And that I have a daughter who has already entered middle school…”
“I know. If it means I can be with you, Suyeon, I can accept all of that.”
Just who was she that he would love her this much? A divorcée—to put it bluntly, a “used woman”—why would Dong-hoon go this far for her?
Her head spun, and Suyeon staggered for a moment. Pressing a hand to her forehead, she answered with a shallow sigh.
“Please give me some time to think.”
Remarriage. This was a grave matter that she could not hide from Chae-yeon.
After much agonizing, Suyeon bared her honest feelings to her daughter and asked for her opinion on the remarriage…
“I’m so glad Mommy found someone good… I’m okay, so do whatever you want.”
“Chae-yeon, but still…”
“You’ve worked so hard taking care of me. So from now on, please grab hold of your own happiness, okay?”
Bolstered by her daughter’s support, Suyeon decided to remarry.
* * *
Chae-yeon expected that her mother, now remarried, would regain the bright disposition she once had.
She believed that Suyeon, who had quit her job to focus on being a housewife, would once again make those fluttery phone calls whenever it was time for her husband to get off work.
“Honey, I’m home~”
“You’re here. I’ve set the table, so eat whenever you’re ready.”
However, contrary to her expectations, there were no displays of affection from the remarried Suyeon.
Far from being sweet, her attitude was nothing but cold.
Suyeon performed the role of a wife—or rather, the duties of a housewife—only out of obligation, silently absorbing Dong-hoon’s love without giving any back.
‘I must never reveal my true feelings.’
Being abandoned by the man she loved was a pain she only needed to experience once.
In her heart, she wanted to reciprocate when her husband kissed her—or even do more—but she feared that if she did, she might hear those words again: that he was “sick of her,” just like her ex-husband.
‘I have to hide the fact that I love him until the very end.’
Fearing that her heart might be discovered if she took even a lukewarm stance, Suyeon surrounded her love with thorns. To ensure Dong-hoon never realized the depth of her affection, she maintained a chilly demeanor.
‘Mom…’
Chae-yeon knew her mother’s methods were wrong, but knowing where that behavior originated, she couldn’t bring herself to interfere.
Besides…
“I’m sorry, honey. I’ll do better from now on.”
Despite Suyeon’s misplaced attitude, the household remained harmonious thanks to Dong-hoon, who was always considerate.
Sometimes, the atmosphere even felt like their family had returned to the days before the divorce.
And because of that… Chae-yeon occasionally started to believe that her mother’s approach might actually be the right one.
However, that foolish belief was shattered to pieces by the time Chae-yeon reached her second year of high school.
“Just why the hell won’t you do it?! Saying you like me, saying you love me—is it really that hard to say it just once?!”
A drunken Dong-hoon finally poured out his pent-up resentment to his wife. It had already been three years since their remarriage. He had believed that if he simply kept giving her love, her cold attitude would eventually change; but as Suyeon continued to maintain her distance, he had fallen into a state of intense anxiety.
“I know you were deeply hurt by your ex-husband. I get it. But still, isn’t it about time you opened your heart…?”
At her husband’s plea, Suyeon’s breathing grew ragged.
Open her heart? Say she loves him?
Faced with a demand so directly linked to her trauma, she felt as if her heart might stop, and she clutched at her chest.
‘Please, don’t do this…’
If she gave in to Dong-hoon’s demand and ended up being abandoned again…
Then this time, she might truly become a wreck—unable even to return to society.
She had worked so hard to gain this harmonious family; she couldn’t let it be destroyed by one wrong choice.
“You seem very drunk. You should go in and rest.”
Lowering her gaze, Suyeon tried to hurry away, but Dong-hoon grabbed the wrist of the woman trying to escape.
“Chae-yeon’s Mom, please… Just once is fine, so tell me you love me.”
“Stop it! I even gave you the marriage you wanted so badly. What more do you want?!”
“It’s because I’m really struggling… I’m not sure… whether you truly love me.”
It looked as though tears might spill from Suyeon’s eyes at any moment.
‘My husband is suffering this much… is it finally time for me to reveal my true feelings?’
Biting down hard on her lower lip, Suyeon’s clenched fists trembled.
Seeing him kneel before her, begging for her love, she wanted to pull him into her arms and comfort him right away.
“I… I…”
Yes—she should just let go of everything and be honest. It’s possible that Chang-seok, my ex-husband, was just a particularly unique piece of trash…
Suyeon stroked the head of her husband, who remained looking down. She prepared to reveal the love she had kept hidden for years.
“I lo—…”
But then…
Flashbacks of her life as a total wreck suddenly flickered through her mind. The days she spent crazily missing the husband who abandoned her, showing such an ugly side of herself to her daughter. All of it slammed on the brakes, preventing her from revealing her true heart.
“Lo…”
Her mouth was open, and her voice was working fine. Yet, strangely, she couldn’t force out that one single phrase: “I love you.” Every time she tried, her chest tightened, and a lack of oxygen made her consciousness fade.
“Honey…?”
Something was wrong with his wife. Her eyelids were fluttering, and beads of cold sweat were forming on her forehead. Worried, Dong-hoon reached out to caress her cheek, but…
Slap.
Brushing his hand away with force, Suyeon hurriedly covered her eyes. Turning her back so her husband couldn’t see her, she squeezed out a cold voice, forcing her usual tone.
“If you hate me like this, then just divorce me… I’ll give you one whenever you want.”
She said it knowing full well that Dong-hoon, who loved her so much, would never be able to choose the option of divorce.
As expected, Dong-hoon promised never to do it again and left the house to get some fresh air. Suyeon, who had been slumped on the floor, forced herself toward her room with footsteps that looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
* * *
After her parents’ quarrel ended.
Chae-yeon, who had heard everything from inside her room, went to find her mother the moment she heard her stepfather leave.
Creeeak.
The atmosphere was chilling. The mound of blankets where Suyeon lay was trembling incessantly.
Seeing this, Chae-yeon realized her mother was suffering too. She spoke in a sorrowful voice.
“Mom, please stop now… You know Stepdad isn’t the kind of person who would ever abandon you, even if you showed your true feelings. So…”
“For the past few years, Mom has managed to create a harmonious home without ever showing her heart… Dad gives the love, and Mom receives it. As long as I fully absorb his love without giving back, our family can last until the very end.”
Suyeon’s misplaced belief was delivered through her sobbing. As Chae-yeon watched her mother’s pitiful state with lingering sorrow…
Suyeon’s words continued.
“You’ll understand too, Chae-yeon, when you eventually find someone you love. Just how terrifying it is to be abandoned by the person you’re willing to give your entire life to.”
With those words, the brief conversation between the two came to an end. However, Suyeon’s earnest declaration took root in a corner of Chae-yeon’s heart.
And then, one day after Chae-yeon had become a university student…
“If you’re okay with it… would you like to go out with me?”
She found herself facing her first love, Kim Si-hyeon.
* * *
Chapters
Comments
- Chapter 23 - The Ex-Girlfriend Faces the Past April 22, 2026
- Free Chapter 22 - The Ex-Girlfriend Visits Her Family Home April 2, 2026
- Free Chapter 21 - The Ex-Boyfriend and Childhood Friend’s Countryside Life! March 31, 2026
- Free Chapter 20 - The Ex-Boyfriend Sorts Through His Memories March 29, 2026
- Free Chapter 19 - Im Chae-yeon’s Past (2) March 27, 2026
- Free Chapter 18 - Im Chae-yeon’s Past (1) March 25, 2026
- Free Chapter 17 - The Ex-Girlfriend and the Childhood Friend Engage in a Drinking Battle March 23, 2026
- Free Chapter 16 - The Ex-Girlfriend is Jealous of Their Relationship March 21, 2026
- Free Chapter 15 - The Childhood Friend Steals the Ex-Boyfriend's Lips March 19, 2026
- Free Chapter 14 - The Ex-Girlfriend is Afraid of Losing Her Ex-Boyfriend March 17, 2026
- Free Chapter 13 - The Childhood Friend Pulls Out Her Secret Weapon March 17, 2026
- Free Chapter 12 - Department MT with My Childhood Friend March 15, 2026 ADS
- Free Chapter 11 - The Childhood Friend and the Ex-Girlfriend Have a Spat March 13, 2026
- Free Chapter 10 - The 15-Year Female Best Friend Wants a Plushie March 11, 2026 ADS
- Free Chapter 9 - The 15-Year Female Friend Wants to Kiss March 9, 2026
- Free Chapter 8 - The 15-Year Female Friend Won't Back Down March 7, 2026 ADS
- Free Chapter 7 - Group Project with My Ex and My Childhood Friend March 5, 2026
- Free Chapter 6 - An Argument with My Ex-Girlfriend March 3, 2026 ADS
- Chapter 5 - My Ex-Boyfriend Changes His Profile Picture March 1, 2026
- Chapter 4 - My Ex-Girlfriend Keeps Glaring at Me March 1, 2026 ADS
- Chapter 3 - The Childhood Friend’s Love Advice February 28, 2026
- Chapter 2 - The Pain of Breaking Up February 28, 2026 ADS
- Chapter 1 - The End of a Dominant-Submissive Relationship. February 27, 2026
Lorenzio Ortega
L mom and dad