The Ex-Girlfriend Faces the Past
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Morning arrived with the rooster’s full-throated crow. Sihyun smoothed his messy hair and forced his heavy eyelids open.
Grandma’s house always smells the same no matter where you are…
That peculiar countryside scent—hard to pin down, yet somehow nostalgic—filled the air. He lingered in it for a while before trying to sit up…
“…Mmm… Sihyun-ah…”
Only then did he realize his body was completely pinned by Yerin’s arms and legs.
Struggling only made her hold tighter. Giving up, Sihyun quietly sighed.
“I knew this would happen…”
His lower half was locked between her legs, and his right arm was trapped under her head as a pillow. Only his left arm was free.
In the old days he would have woken her with that free hand and escaped. For some reason, he didn’t feel like doing that now.
Staying like this isn’t so bad…
A faint smile touched his lips as he brushed Yerin’s hair back from her face. When he poked her soft cheek, her brows slowly knitted together.
“You’re so cute.”
“Pffft…”
As if responding to the praise, Yerin let out a little laugh. Sihyun broke into a cold sweat, thinking she might have woken up, but it was only sleep-talk.
“Whew…”
Relieved, he gazed at her face and noticed a speck of dust in her hair. He reached out to brush it away—
The door burst open.
“Kids, it’s about time for breakfast…”
Grandma stepped in. Anyone looking would have thought he was about to do something indecent to her granddaughter. Covering her mouth, she said,
“Grandma’ll be preparing some stamina food, so take your time and enjoy yourselves~”
“Grandma?!”
She closed the door with a mischievous eye-smile. Startled, Sihyun sat bolt upright; Yerin, who had been using his arm as a pillow, smacked her head against the bedding.
“Sihyun-ah, what’s going on…?”
Still half-asleep, Yerin asked. Sihyun couldn’t answer and simply left the room.
He went straight to Grandma and explained it was all a misunderstanding. She said she understood, yet kept giving him meaningful looks.
“Ha… it really wasn’t like that…”
Already drained first thing in the morning, Sihyun began eating with limp chopsticks. The menu was the same seafood meant to boost stamina as yesterday. He had no appetite.
I should avoid those kinds of dishes as much as possible.
While Sihyun ate rice with only kimchi, Grandma smiled contentedly and spoke to Yerin.
“Yerin-ah, you remember Boksoon, right?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget the grandma next door?”
Grandma nodded and continued.
“She’s been so sick lately she can barely move. Go show your face. While you were gone she kept making a fuss about how much she missed you.”
“What? Why are you only telling me this now…”
Yerin agreed and sped up her eating. Cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk full of sunflower seeds, she hurried out of the house.
“Sihyun-ah, you’re coming with me.”
“Yes.”
After finishing the meal and helping with the dishes, Sihyun followed Grandma outside.
What kind of work is she planning today?
He expected them to ride the cultivator out to the fields like yesterday, but Grandma simply walked along the coastal path.
Trailing behind her, Sihyun found the silence awkward and opened his mouth first to start a conversation.
“Grandma, where are we going right now?”
“Nowhere particular. Just taking a walk.”
“Huh?”
Looking out at the sea beside them, Grandma said,
“Truth is, I didn’t call you here because I needed an extra pair of hands. Yerin keeps bringing you up, so I wanted to talk with you a bit myself.”
The unexpected remark left Sihyun’s mouth hanging open. Had she sent Yerin away on purpose so they could have a serious talk?
Not knowing what was coming, he listened tensely. After a stretch of silence, Grandma spoke without looking back.
“Our Yerin… she grew up real pretty, didn’t she?”
“Yes… she’s pretty, and she takes after you, so her personality’s wonderful too.”
Grandma only chuckled and fell quiet again. Scratching the back of his head, Sihyun pressed on.
“I saw yesterday how much the villagers love her… the reason she’s always so bright is probably thanks to them…”
He stopped mid-sentence. Grandma had halted and was looking at him with a distant gaze.
She opened her mouth, closed it, hesitated, then let out a soft sigh and spoke.
“That’s right, isn’t it? The love she never got from her parents, she received from the villagers instead… I think that’s a real blessing.”
“What…?”
Sihyun froze in place, doubting his ears. The veil that had always shrouded Yerin’s parents was finally lifting.
Meanwhile, at Chaeyeon’s house.
“Honey, the pajeon turned out well. Have some.”
“Thanks, honey.”
Suyeon placed side dishes into her husband’s bowl, and Donghun accepted them with a blissful expression.
Perhaps because she had become a little more honest with her feelings, the corners of Suyeon’s mouth refused to come down.
Why is it only Mom who’s gotten better…?
Even knowing the emotion was wrong, the more affectionately Suyeon treated Donghun, the more Chaeyeon’s stomach churned.
She had brainwashed her own daughter so thoroughly it left trauma, yet she alone had slipped free?
A raw sense of betrayal and deep resentment spread through Chaeyeon’s chest.
“Chaeyeon-ah, why are you just sitting there not eating? Doesn’t the food taste good?”
“…I’ll eat.”
The meal began with Donghun’s question. Mom’s cooking was always excellent, but the lovey-dovey display in front of her ruined everything.
Crunch…
Grinding rice grains between her teeth, Chaeyeon glared at her mother with cold eyes.
The next day.
After Donghun left for work, Chaeyeon—who hadn’t slept a wink—approached Suyeon as she folded laundry.
“Mom.”
“Hm?”
“Why are you suddenly being so nice to Dad?”
Just holding out until Donghun left for work had exhausted Chaeyeon’s patience. She had no energy left to beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
Suyeon’s hands, folding a towel, stopped mid-motion.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden…?”
“You always said it, Mom. That you must never let the man you love see your true feelings… that the moment I devote myself and depend on him, he’ll abandon me!”
Tears welled in Chaeyeon’s bloodshot eyes; her fists trembled violently. Seeing her daughter’s fierce reaction, Suyeon dropped the towel and forced herself to meet Chaeyeon’s hate-filled gaze.
Chaeyeon’s voice, thick with resentment, kept going.
“You brainwashed your own daughter like that, then turn around and do the opposite and get happy—does that make you feel good? Because of you I never once told my boyfriend I liked him while we were dating… do you have any idea how much that tormented me?!”
Unable to contain her rage any longer, Chaeyeon unleashed every emotion she had been suppressing.
Anger. Hatred. Contempt. She gathered every negative feeling and hurled them forward. Faced with it, Suyeon clutched her own chest and asked,
“Boyfriend… Chaeyeon, you were dating someone…?”
Afraid of interference, Chaeyeon had kept her relationship secret. But now that it was out, she spilled everything.
“I dated a guy from university for over a year and then we broke up. He loved me without holding back, just like Dad loves you… but I never once told him I liked him…”
Chaeyeon hugged her own arms. Then she sank to the floor and began to shake.
“Every time I tried to confess, the things you said kept coming back… I saw myself overlapping with the wrecked version of you… so we broke up without me ever showing him any affection!!”
Suyeon realized her daughter’s symptoms mirrored her own.
Receiving her daughter’s hatred for the first time left her breathless; her mind was too chaotic to organize anything.
“Mom… Mom’s sorry…”
All Suyeon could do was cry and apologize. To think her daughter had gone through that because of her—she couldn’t even lift her head from the shame.
In a trembling, tearful voice, she stammered on.
“I-I thought it was the right way at first too… but a few months ago Donghun-ssi asked for a divorce, and only then did I realize how wrong it was and start therapy…”
So that was why she had begun psychological treatment. Chaeyeon could only bite her lower lip, unable to reply.
Suyeon’s shaking hand touched Chaeyeon’s cheek as her guilt-laden voice continued.
“I didn’t even know my own daughter was suffering this much… what have I…”
Filled with self-loathing, Suyeon pounded her own chest with her fist. Watching her mother wail, Chaeyeon grew confused, thinking she had broken her mother all over again.
I-if this keeps up…
Suyeon might decide she didn’t deserve happiness and regress to how she was before therapy.
The thought of the family collapsing and her mother becoming a wreck again made Chaeyeon anxious; she began to edge backward.
At that moment—
Suyeon seized the wrist of the daughter who was trying to flee reality. Still on her knees, she looked up at Chaeyeon and said,
“I’m sorry, Chaeyeon-ah… all of this is Mom’s fault, so Mom will fix it somehow…”
After continuing to beg for forgiveness, Suyeon took the now-calmer Chaeyeon to a counseling center.
And with the very source of her trauma—her mother—helping with the treatment, Chaeyeon’s condition improved at a remarkable pace.