You Just Have to Take It - Episode 3

"Yun-seul."

A spine-chilling voice she never wanted to hear again burrowed into her ear, and at the same moment Woo Tae-kyung appeared before her eyes. The man who had slapped her cheek without mercy was now kneeling on one knee, wearing a gentle, tender smile that seemed to have materialized from nowhere.

When she lowered her gaze, a diamond ring glittered in his hand.

"Marry me."

So this was the life-flashing-before-your-eyes thing people talked about after death.

But why, of all memories, was she being shown the ones so filthy she wanted to carve them out with a knife?

"Yun-seul?"

At her unresponsive silence, Tae-kyung seemed flustered, his eyes darting around as he grew self-conscious of their surroundings. What is this? This never happened.

Just as she was puzzling over a scene that had somehow deviated from her memory, the sweet scent of chocolate cake rushed up to the tip of her nose. The aroma, stimulating her salivary glands, was startlingly vivid.

Yun-seul quietly stared down at her trembling hands. She opened her fist, then clenched it shut again. The moment she registered the pain of her nails digging into her palms, her heart began to pound like mad. She could feel it, unmistakably—hot blood running through her body.

Thirty-three. She had died a miserable death right in front of Min Jung-hee. And yet when she opened her eyes, she was twenty-three. She had returned ten years into the past, to the moment Tae-kyung was proposing to her.

Even as she realized her mind—which had always been clouded by a haze of medication—was unbelievably clear, tears welled up in Yun-seul's eyes.

Tae-kyung interpreted those tears however he pleased and spoke in a relaxed voice. "Ah… what's this? Is our Seul-ie crying because she's so moved?"

Get over yourself.

Yun-seul wiped her eyes, steadying the emotions churning inside her.

"Aigoo, Seul-ah. How are you going to survive with such a soft heart?"

When Tae-kyung straightened his bent knee and reached a hand toward her cheek, Yun-seul flinched in alarm and slapped his hand away.

"Seul-ah? What's wrong? Did it startle you that badly?"

At the sight of that concerned expression—that hypocritical face—nausea suddenly surged up. Yun-seul sprang to her feet and bolted for the bathroom.

She retched, over and over.

"Seul-ah, are you okay?"

At Tae-kyung's voice following her all the way into the bathroom, Yun-seul's brow creased irritably.

"This is the women's restroom. Get out."

At the sound of the door closing, she drew a long, deep breath of relief. She stepped up to the sink and washed her hands, lost in thought.

Her heart wanted to slap that repulsive cheek right then and there and end it all. But she wouldn't. Just as they had deceived her, she would stay by their side and deceive them, thoroughly and completely.

They—the ones who had become her family for her money and then killed her.

This time, I will never be your family. Not a single won will flow your way. I'll make you betray each other, tear each other apart, and wish you were dead.

In the mirror, Yun-seul's eyes held no innocence—only a cruel, venomous intensity.

By the time she had steadied her breathing and returned to the table, Tae-kyung was studying her with a worried look.

"Seul-ah, are you okay?"

"I guess I didn't sleep well last night—my stomach's been off. Sorry. I gave you a scare, didn't I?"

"No, don't worry about it."

Tae-kyung gently brushed her hair back and murmured in an affectionate voice. Wherever his fingertips grazed, it felt like insects crawling over her skin, but Yun-seul forced the corners of her mouth up into a smile.

They had put on their little play—there was no reason she couldn't put on hers. She would smile until her face cramped, right up until the day she dragged them to their ruin.

"You'll accept the ring, won't you?"

Tae-kyung scratched his head with a bashful expression. That look that had once seemed nothing short of pure now struck her as nothing short of revolting.

Without answering, Yun-seul stared at the diamond ring in his hand.

"Of course…"

When she let the words trail off, she could see hope spreading across Tae-kyung's face.

"Let me put it on for you."

The moment he, convinced of her yes, moved to slide the ring onto her left ring finger, Yun-seul ostentatiously curled her fingers and balled her hand into a tight fist. The bright smile drained from Tae-kyung's face in real time, darkening to a sullen gray.

Yun-seul drooped her eyes in a display of utter regret and spoke in a small voice. "Of course I want to accept it. It's just… I keep thinking about my mom."

"Ah…"

Tae-kyung, frozen mid-gesture with his hand thrust into empty air, quietly conceded the point and scrambled to change her mind. "Your mother would welcome this with both hands, wouldn't she? She's the one who wants our Seul-ie to be happier than anyone."

Yun-seul barely resisted the urge to spit in the face of that nonsense. "You know better than anyone, Tae-kyung, how much Mom raised me—with love—as if I were her own daughter. I want to be a good daughter to her a little longer before I leave."

For a fleeting instant, she saw his face stiffen slightly. But that was all. Until the day he stamped his seal on a marriage registration form, he would volunteer himself as the most devoted of subordinates.

"Of course. Our Yun-seul-ie is so thoughtful. Still, think of me too, okay? I want to become family with you as soon as possible. I turn thirty this year, and… sorry. I know I'm older than you."

In the past, too, Tae-kyung had apologized like this, subtly pressuring her with their seven-year age gap as an excuse. It had worked back then. Not anymore.

She knew now that what he needed wasn't family—it was a marriage registration form to steal her inheritance.

"I love you so much, Tae-kyung, but… I think I'm still better off by Mom's side for now."

"Ah… I see. I'll have to try harder then, to win our Seul-ie over."

Yes. And I'll be watching just how hard you try. Run around like a dog and see how well you can please me. Not that it'll ever make you my husband.

I will never be family with you again, Woo Tae-kyung.

Hiding her icy expression, Yun-seul gazed at him with tender eyes. "Still, thank you, Tae-kyung. For preparing all this for the proposal."

"Thank me for what? I could do this dozens of times over."

"Should we head out?"

Unable to bear another minute in his company, Yun-seul rose and wrapped things up first. She refused his offer to drive her home and hailed a taxi right away. The phone in her hand—a small screen with a physical home button—reminded her yet again that this was ten years in the past.

"You must have worked hard planning the proposal. Go home and get some rest. You have work tomorrow, after all."

"Our Seul-ie is so considerate. Then text me when you get home, okay?"

"I will."

After the taxi pulled away, Yun-seul watched in the rearview mirror as Tae-kyung hurriedly dialed someone.

Min Sa-ra, probably. Or maybe Min Jung-hee.

She was dying to know what faces the two of them would make when they heard the proposal had failed.

Before opening the front door, Yun-seul closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The mere thought of the demons waiting inside wrapped her whole body in dread and revulsion. She squeezed her eyes shut, opened them, and pulled the handle.

"I'm home."

"There's my girl!"

The moment she stepped inside, Jung-hee came trotting over to greet her with her usual warmth. Cradling her wrist with tender affection, Jung-hee guided her toward the sofa.

In that instant, the memory of having her wrists bound, over and over, in the hospital flashed through her mind, and her breath caught in her throat. It was terrifying enough to make her fingertips tremble—but Yun-seul endured it, never once pulling her hand free of Jung-hee's grip.

"Did you have a good date?"

At the seemingly casual question, Yun-seul nodded with a face full of fluttering excitement.

In the past, Yun-seul had told Jung-hee every last tedious detail of her day. She'd loved the attention of Jung-hee listening so attentively to her words. And with the information she collected that way, Jung-hee had seen through her every move.

"It was lovely."

"Where did you go? Somewhere nice?"

"A restaurant on the Han River. It was a ship that they'd remodeled…"

How wonderful the atmosphere was, how delicious the food—Yun-seul deliberately rattled on about only the most empty-headed nothings. She didn't breathe a single word about the proposal, the one thing Jung-hee was most desperate to know.

Jung-hee would have already heard the news from Tae-kyung. She must be itching to know what Yun-seul was thinking. But until Yun-seul brought it up herself, Jung-hee could never ask about the proposal first.

Must be driving you crazy, Mom. Well—get used to it. It's only going to get worse from here.

Because she would never again feed you the prey you wanted.

After dragging out the pointless small talk, Yun-seul went up to her room on the second floor and lay down on the bed without turning on the light. She had steeled herself thoroughly, but face-to-face with the person who had killed her, her fingertips still trembled, her heart pounded as if it would burst, and her stomach churned with nausea.

Smiling at someone she wanted to strangle on the spot drained her to the bone.

"This time, it's your turn to suffer."

She would pay them back for everything, one piece at a time, until nothing was left.

Reaffirming her resolve once more, Yun-seul sprang up, switched on the light, and sat down at her desk. There was one thing she needed to do before anything else.

"Min Sa-ra, this time you're going to pay dearly for stealing someone else's writing."