"Mom, why did you have to say that at the table?!"

The moment they were back at their house which was almost as large and fancy as a mansion, Hayan had exploded. Mrs. Yeon knew exactly what her daughter was talking about but she didn't seem to want to acknowledge it like usual.

"What do you mean?" Mrs. Yeon acted oblivious. She was walking off in the direction of her bedroom but Hayan strode forwards and stepped in front of her, blocking her way. She glared at her mother who had her poker face on. Mr. Yeon halted in his steps behind his wife and daughter, looking somewhat worried, as if he knew this conversation wasn't going to go well.

"Why did you suggest that Taehyung and I have something going on in front of Aunty and Uncle? I already told you I don't like Taehyung in that way. We're just friends." It was a half-lie. They were never truly friends but that was what everyone had always forced them to be. That was what they were supposed to be, according to Mrs. Yeon, and Hayan was always playing along with these roles that she was made to follow. At the end of the day, it was all pretend. Hayan did not consider Taehyung a friend. He had always felt more like a rival to her, somebody she had to constantly compete with. And since Taehyung was naturally more talented than her, she despised him. Hayan would never like someone who was better than her. She was petty like that.

"I suggested that because that's what's good for you—" Mrs. Yeon started pathetically but Hayan cut her off.

"Oh, please, you know nothing about what's good for me. Do you think being with Taehyung will be good for me? How can something I don't even want be good for me?"

"Watch your tone, Hayan," Mrs. Yeon said sternly, her cold eyes glaring into Hayan's face.

"Then explain how this is good for me!" Hayan pressed, tired of being talked down by her mother.

"You're not mature enough to understand my intentions. I'm doing this for you and your future. No one can ever provide you with the financial security that Taehyung can." Mrs. Yeon responded. Mr. Yeon shifted on his feet behind her as the tension in the hall increased.

"So that's what this is about? Money? Why is everything about money and financial security to you?" Hayan scoffed.

"Because I know what it is like to not be financially secure and I don't want you to ever experience that." Mrs. Yeon uttered, her voice louder this time. Hayan also wanted to raise her voice. She wanted to scream at her mother and tell her that this wasn't about financial security. Mrs. Yeon was just a greedy woman. She had always been that way. Hayan had watched it throughout her childhood as Mrs. Yeon had never hesitated to show her ugly side to a child. No matter what came out of Mrs. Yeon's mouth, it had always been about money. Hayan had watched the greed being born and increasing with every year as if the ticking hands of the clock were boosters to her hunger for money.

"Why do I need to be with Taehyung for money when we are wealthy ourselves?" Hayan raised another question but Mrs. Yeon seemed too agitated to answer this time. She gave Hayan an angry look as if telling her that she was done with this conversation, then looked away and walked off. Hayan wanted to stop her mother as she watched her stomp off, her high heels clacking loudly, but some child-like part of her was still secretly afraid of her mother's anger. A part of her still shook when her mother shouted. Although, Hayan was now capable of shouting back but it still took her plenty of courage to do that. She was trying to grow out of it though, this fear, this habitual suppression. She was not a child anymore, she told herself every day, but she still somehow felt like a child most of the time, and she hated it, she hated it more than anything.

"It was just a suggestion, Hayan, don't worry. Your mother will forget about it in a few days." Mr. Yeon reassured Hayan when his wife was out of sight.

•

But Mrs. Yeon did not 'forget' about it like Mr. Yeon had said. On top of that, Hayan had to face the music for pissing her mother off that night. The backlash was that Hayan got the silent treatment for half of the day (which she did not mind, she loved it when her mother was quiet) and snarky remarks for the rest of it (which ruined her day). She was not allowed to eat her favorite snacks inside the house, but Mrs. Yeon obviously couldn't stop her from eating out. She couldn't be grounded anymore like she used to when she was younger and that was the only reason Hayan was glad to have become an adult. She knew her mother had less control over her now.  

Mrs. Yeon was so adamant about a blossoming relationship between Taehyung and Hayan that she pestered the girl about it for days. It got to the point where Hayan finally snapped, "You marry him then if you think he's so great!" This infuriated Mrs. Yeon so much that she kept slamming doors and snapping at her for days, going off about how disrespectful and rude Hayan was and that that was not how Mrs. Yeon had raised her.

On a Thursday evening, at dinner, when Hayan was starting to think that Mrs. Yeon had finally given up on pressuring Hayan into being with Taehyung, she brought it up again. It was when Mrs. Yeon and Mr. Yeon were talking about their business and how it was not doing so well recently. 

"See, borrowed luck doesn't last long," Mrs. Yeon sighed, shaking her head at her husband, who did not appear as distressed as her. She stopped eating and looked at Hayan across the table and Hayan knew exactly what she was going to say. She poked at her spaghetti lazily, already losing her appetite. 

"You asked me why you should marry Taehyung when we're rich," Mrs. Yeon paused and waited until Hayan tiredly lifted her gaze from her meal to her mother, then she continued, "Well, this is why, with the way things are right now we might lose all this luxury someday, but if you're with Taehyung you will never—"

"Borrowed luck? I'm glad that you're self-aware at least," Hayan snarked. Mrs. Yeon looked as if someone had insulted her entire bloodline. She clenched her jaw and her grip on the fork tightened. Mr. Yeon also looked startled by his daughter's words but he did not react. Mrs. Yeon, on the other hand, had turned red in the face. She was practically seething, shaking with anger. She was about to explode again and Hayan did not want to hear it. She had heard enough of it in the past few weeks. Putting down her fork, she got up from her chair and stomped off to her room without finishing her food. She had expected to hear Mrs. Yeon yelling behind her, but to her surprise, she remained silent. Hayan wondered if it was because she was too embarrassed or too angry to form a sentence. She assumed it was both.

"Milan, let it go." Mr. Yeon told his wife softly.

•

But Mrs. Yeon did not let it go. She was the most stubborn and persistent woman Hayan had known. Coming back home had started to become the most hated part of Hayan's day. She already had to be ordered around by Taehyung more than half of the day and now her mother wouldn't stop talking about him at home too. Taehyung, Taehyung, Taehyung. Everything was always about Taehyung. Will Hayan's life ever be about herself?

"And what about love? Taehyung and I don't have feelings for each other," Hayan tried a different approach to put her mother off. The argument about money wasn't working out. Mrs. Yeon always came up with some illogical reason to justify her intentions.

"Just ask him out," Mrs. Yeon had said but that was the last Hayan wanted to do. She wanted to get as far away from him as possible. She did not want to be with someone she hated and constantly felt inferior around. Who would want to be with their competition?

"What are feelings? Falling in love is easy. If you try to like him, he'll start liking you back." Mrs. Yeon argued, standing over Hayan's head while she was trying to answer a company email.

What.

Mrs. Yeon never made sense to Hayan. Her fingers paused over the keyboard as she turned her head to stare at her mother in confusion. What did she mean if Hayan tried they could fall in love? Was it truly love if one was trying to fall in love? No, Hayan did not believe love worked that way. It was something that happened naturally. It wasn't supposed to be something one could control. Surely, one could set up the mood, create the perfect moment, and say the perfect words, but if someone was not meant to fall for you, they wouldn't. It wasn't like Hayan could force Taehyung or herself to fall for each other.

"That's not how it works, Mom."

•

In a few days, they were back at square one again. Mrs. Yeon believed Hayan should prefer money over love and just marry Taehyung without any second thoughts. Hayan believed she should be left alone. For a moment, she thought about lying to her mother that she had gotten rejected by Taehyung to end this topic once and for all but the thought of that hurt her pride so she did not want to do that. Moreover, Mrs. Yeon could call up Taehyung to confirm her story. It was a never-ending argument and Hayan had grown exhausted of it. 

"I don't want money that bad, Mom, I'm not like you," Hayan deadpanned as she was making her bed. Mrs. Yeon stood beside the study table in her room, arms crossed, looking agitated and furious.

"Everyone says that until they hit rock bottom and regret the opportunities they let slip through their fingers," Mrs. Yeon said curtly. Her menacing eyes watched as Hayan fixed the pillows and then ran her hand over the bedspread to flatten out the wrinkles.

"Mom, can you drop it already? I'm tired." She sighed, turning to fold the blanket next.

"I would drop it if you just listen to me," Mrs. Yeon insisted. Hayan's shoulders slumped. She had lost count of how many weeks it had been since they were fighting over this topic. It had become annoying to the point that Hayan felt drained of all physical and mental power every time her mother opened her mouth. She felt so sick of everything that she had stopped eating but Mrs. Yeon did not seem concerned about that at all. Mr. Yeon was thankfully not supportive of his wife's schemes but he was no help either as he was not getting Mrs. Yeon to stop pestering Hayan all day and night. Hayan wondered if either of them cared about her. 

"You're not that great anyway, at least you should get with someone great to make up for it." Hayan heard Mrs. Yeon say and felt something snap inside her. One moment, she felt utterly cold and her chest ached. The next moment, her body had become hot like a mid-July summer day. Overcome by a painfully cold and raging feeling, Hayan dropped the blanket on the bed and turned to face her mother.

"You're literally telling me to seduce Taehyung into marrying me just for his money and you have the nerve to criticize me? Really? Is this part of your so-called perfect parenting? You've been living off of Taehyung's parents all your lives and now you want me to live off of Taehyung?!" Hayan spat out, her body shaking in anger. Mrs. Yeon looked stunned at Hayan's outburst for a moment then her wide eyes returned to their usual feline look, quickly glassing over her genuine surprise.

"Living off of whom? All your father and I did was use some good connections to become wealthy so that we could provide you with an outstanding lifestyle." She retorted, then added with a scoff. "Is this what I raised you for?" The tone of her voice feigned hurt and Hayan was taken back to the past, the past where a little girl used to believe that she had hurt her mother and cried and felt guilty about it until Mrs. Yeon verbally forgave her. Come to think of it, Hayan was always made to believe that she had hurt her mother when it was actually the other way around. Mrs. Yeon would rather accuse than admit, and she had always put herself first. She was a bashfully selfish woman, the kind that did not even care about her only child. She was always deflecting blame and putting it on Hayan so that she didn't have to be the bad guy. Hayan wondered if her heart always felt so heavy and bitter because she also carried her mother's guilt and anger on top of her own.

Yes, there it was, Mrs. Yeon's last tactic to coerce Hayan into submitting to her wishes. The typical emotional blackmail. It was all for you. I gave you everything. That's what all parents claim, but most of them just do the bare minimum and expect to receive far more than they gave. You should be grateful and listen to me. That's what Mrs. Yeon was telling Hayan. She wanted to grab at her emotions so she could bend and fold them however she liked it, so she could control Hayan.

Hayan was used to it, but she was tired. And she was unhappy, so unhappy. Standing in her room with her mother, all Hayan wanted to do was run. She wanted to leave. She wanted to escape. She felt caged in this place where she was not allowed to live her life according to her wishes and where nobody saw her or appreciated her. She felt alone and she had had enough of that. She decided if she could not get her parents to care for her, she wouldn't care for them either. The only way to escape this loneliness was to leave this house and she was going to do just that.

Feeling exactly like her mother and putting herself first before anyone in the world, Hayan turned to the door.

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A/N: This got emo real fast.💀