UR Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Then what have I been doing all this time?

Who was I trying to be recognized by, and for what?

The ache of sorrow mixed with a rush of anger.

“Grandma, I never did that. Steal someone’s marriage prospect? What else did Soo-hyun hyung say?”

“He said you wanted his blind date partner for yourself, so you went in his place. Like a thief.”

“That’s not true!”

I-bom let out a frustrated sigh.

“He asked me to go!”

“Don’t lie. Why would he ask you to take his place? And if what you say is true, why would you agree to take someone else’s blind date?”

Her voice grew sharper.

“Because of I-jun hyung.”

“What?”

“…I-jun hyung had debts. Grandma, you’ve been looking for him, right? He owed Soo-hyun hyung money and went into hiding. Did you know that? Because of the great Kang I-jun you’re so proud of, I went to that blind date in his place. Because of his debts!”

I-bom’s voice rose with his anger. His fists trembled as he clenched them tight. This was the breaking point. The voice he had always kept small his whole life now thundered louder than hers. He could taste the metallic tang of blood in his throat from shouting.

“How… how could you say that to me? That’s too much!”

She had no idea what it had cost him to shoulder I-jun’s debts.

He had wanted to do well. Wanted to live peacefully, even if poor, and to keep the family harmonious. He hadn’t wanted to burden her with more worries, so he took on all of I-jun’s messes and disgrace himself. Even when it was unfair, he swallowed it down because she believed “it’s better to keep the peace.” All for her sake.

But in the end, he spilled everything. He had been foolish to think he could bear the tangled chain of causes and consequences alone. Now everyone needed to know the truth.

Thwack—

“What, did your brother tell you to? Did I? Did you think shouting like that would make me say sorry or thank you?”

Something flew past his cheek. A roll of toilet paper hit the floor behind him and bounced away.

“Now you’re using your brother as an excuse?! Shameless!”

“….”

“You’re just like your mother—always making excuses and acting like you’re the only victim!”

“Mom never did anything wrong! And she spent her whole life suffering because of Dad—so why, why do you keep putting her down?”

His eyes burned wet and his voice kept rising. For the first time, I-bom couldn’t hold back his anger. This was the limit.

She narrowed her eyes at him for raising his voice, then seemed to regain her composure and shook her head slightly before speaking again.

“She did nothing wrong? Don’t be ridiculous! Your mother’s a thief—just like you! Haven’t you realized that after watching her all your life? Either way, you are not to covet what belongs to others. Go apologize to Soo-hyun, break up with his fiancée, and when your brother comes back, apologize to him too. Don’t you dare drag his name into this.”

“Belongs to others? Did you just say that?”

So in truth, no one had ever tried to hide it from him. They had simply never said outright, “You’re not part of this family,” choosing instead to keep it unspoken, hoping he would take the hint and leave on his own—or waste away like his mother.

He was a fool for thinking he could stay as their grandson if he kept his head down, for enduring in the hope they’d want him there.

“What exactly belongs to others?”

The suffocating pressure rose like deep water filling to the top of his head.

“Mr. Beom-ho is my lover, so I don’t understand why you’re calling him someone else’s.”

This was the one thing he could not yield. He had spent his whole life yielding to others, bowing his head, watching their moods. But not this.

“Ha. Oh, I-bom.”

His grandmother let out a disbelieving scoff.

“Stop with the stubborn nonsense. Don’t give me any more lip—just go apologize to your brothers.”

“I said I don’t want to!”

It was frightening and exhausting. The way she could so casually bring up his brother and demand he apologize to him made her more and more unbearable to be around. He was worn out—enough that he no longer wanted to be tangled up in this one-sided, thankless situation. Just one word—just one simple phrase, I-bom, you must have had a hard time too—would have kept this from feeling so bitter.

“I’ve… really endured as much as I can, Grandma.”

Anger. Sorrow. Regret. Disappointment.

These incomprehensible emotions clung to his heart like mud, weighing it down with pain. Tears threatened to spill, but they did not fall.

“Mm, and I’ve had a hard time with you too. When I see you, I see my wounded son’s face, and your shameless mother’s face.”

“Yes. I know it must be hard for you, having lost your child, but I lost my mom and dad too. I’ve always put up with you caring only for my brother and not for me. Because… you raised us after Mom and Dad were gone. I even put up with you sending only him to college. When you made me earn the living expenses for him while he was at school, I still agreed. Because… I thought if I did all that, you would love me, and that love would be repaid.”

“……”

“But now… now I don’t know anymore. Was I really such a terrible, bad grandson? Was it just because you suspected I might not be your son’s child that you hated me and never trusted me all my life?”

“……”

I-bom panted for breath. The thought that he should try to understand her had shattered into pieces. In the end, the relationship he had been holding together under the single word “family” was something only he had been working to maintain. Effort should be mutual—since it had been one-sided, no wonder he was this tired. In his mind, Beom-ho’s voice surfaced.

‘I-bom, you’re someone precious. Have confidence in yourself.’

“You don’t want to?”

The feelings steeped in malice were heavy and exhausting. Layer upon layer of deepening disappointment washed over his heart like invisible, murky water.

“Kang I-bom!”

“……”

Her voice came through with a rasping breath mixed in—a sound he had heard all his life, the breath of anger. The breath he’d hear after his grandmother and father fought, or after his father fought with his mother.

Kang I-bom.

It had always frightened him when his grandmother called him by his full name. At those times, the young I-bom would plug his ears and cry in a corner.

It’s all because of me. Because Mom gave birth to me wrong. Because I’m not really a child of this house.

That’s why he had believed he must never fight back against the anger poured onto him. He had thought he had to understand the favoritism toward his brother and never let his hurt feelings show. That he should live quietly, without standing out.

“Did I ask too much from you? You didn’t even know your father, and I took you in out of pity—shouldn’t you have been repaying that kindness with your life? And yet you go and make yourself hated by the family that took you in!”

He was so angry that no tears came. The dampness pooling under his eyes vanished as if it had never been there, leaving them cold and dry. He sank into disappointment.

“It’s not too late, so go to Soo-hyun’s place right now. Clear up the misunderstanding, tell that person the truth, and break up with them right away! Oh, Soo-hyun cried so pitifully… my heart just broke for him.”

It seemed her breaking heart was a sympathy that did not apply to him. Her dry hand, still clenched in a fist, pounded her chest as if to ease her frustration. She even made a face as if she were truly sad. But in her eyes there was not the slightest trace of pity, regret, or fondness for him.

A creeping, dark emotion rose inside him—an unpleasant mix of feelings. It was an indescribable despair aimed at someone he had once considered family.

“…Hoo.”

Biting his lip, I-bom let out a breath. Everything felt unreal.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again to the nightmare-like reality. The skin under his eyelids burned as if it had caught fire.

“A chaebol’s grandson, is he? Knows how to pick the good ones, doesn’t he? Tsk, you should aim for something within your reach.”

In his mind, Soo-hyun’s voice echoed.

“Doesn’t he just have one of those faces that screams ‘I’m amazing’? You should’ve called me right away and presented him to me properly.”

“That person’s an executive at Samho Group. Don’t tell me you didn’t know? He showed me his business card.”

Soo-hyun had flushed and smiled brightly as he spoke. When had he been the one saying he’d never associate with any feline beastman, his face pale as a sheet? Now he had no problem with tigers, the most dangerous species—more dangerous even than cheetahs. To say cheetahs were scary but tigers weren’t was a ridiculous lie. Could just being shown a business card really change his mind so obviously?

I-bom frowned. Shaking his head firmly, he met his grandmother’s gaze head-on.

“I can’t do that.”