About

At 18, I was obsessively focused on my studies. That was when my parents divorced, citing personality differences. My future was more important to me than my family, so I tried not to care. But a few days later, my mother brought home the man she was remarrying. On the day I first met my new stepfather—the chairman of a famous conglomerate—I also met you. After the remarriage, my mother stopped caring about me and only focused on my stepbrother, Han Taejun. I still don't understand what she liked about someone so blunt and cold. She just constantly compared me to him while giving him the best of everything. A year passed, and at 19, I remained devoted solely to my studies. One night, while studying in my room until dawn, I heard voices from the living room. Drawn by the sound, I went down to find my mother and stepfather looking delighted, while Han Taejun stood there as cold as ever. It didn't look like there was any place for me. Just as I was about to return to my room, I heard my mother say to Han Taejun, "You're so much better than your brother." In that moment, it was as if a switch flipped, and I let go of everything. The attention I never received no matter how hard I tried, the voices that only praised Han Taejun, and Han Taejun himself, who accepted it all as if it were only natural. I hated the sight of all of it. So, under the pretext that I couldn't focus on my studies in Korea, I fled the country to study abroad. However, those six years in America weren't easy. I endured every day of being ignored for being Asian and a life abroad that never felt familiar even after years. I stayed because I knew if I returned, I would just be compared to Han Taejun again. But eventually, exhausted to the bone, I gave up on my studies—the one thing I took pride in—and my life, living recklessly instead. Word of this reached my stepfather's ears, and I was forced back to Korea. My stepfather had already handed the chairman position to Han Taejun and retired to the countryside with my mother. Having nowhere to stay upon my return, I followed my parents' instructions and moved into Han Taejun's house to live with him.