Chapter 1: The Worthless Son-in-Law
The rain hammered against the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Park family mansion, each droplet seeming to mock Kim Tae-Hyeon as he stood in the opulent living room, water dripping from his cheap polyester suit onto the imported Italian marble floor. His shoes—worn and resoled twice—left small puddles that the housekeeping staff would undoubtedly complain about later.
"Look at him," Mrs. Park Mi-Jung's voice cut through the air like a blade, her perfectly manicured finger pointing at Tae-Hyeon with undisguised disgust. "Standing there like a drowned rat, ruining our floor with his cheap clothes."
Tae-Hyeon kept his eyes fixed on the ground, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Three years. Three years of this humiliation, and still, it felt like a fresh wound every time. He had married Park So-Young out of love, believing that their feelings for each other could overcome any obstacle. How naive he had been.
"Mother, please," So-Young's voice was tired, lacking any real conviction. She didn't even look up from her phone as she spoke, her attention focused on whatever was more important than defending her husband. Her designer dress, worth more than Tae-Hyeon made in six months, sparkled under the chandelier's light.
"Don't 'mother please' me," Mrs. Park snapped, her voice rising. "This embarrassment has been living off our family's generosity for far too long. Look at him! Twenty-eight years old and what does he have to show for it? A part-time job at a convenience store and a community college degree that isn't worth the paper it's printed on."
Mr. Park Dong-Su lowered his newspaper, his cold eyes appraising Tae-Hyeon like a piece of defective merchandise. "The boy is hopeless, Mi-Jung. We've given him every opportunity to prove himself worthy of our daughter, and what has he done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"Sir, I've been trying—" Tae-Hyeon began, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Trying?" Mrs. Park's laugh was sharp and bitter. "Trying to do what, exactly? Embarrass us further? Do you know what Mrs. Choi said to me at the charity gala last week? She asked me why my daughter was still married to a beggar. A beggar, Tae-Hyeon! That's what people think of you, of us, because of you."
The words hit Tae-Hyeon like physical blows. He had worked eighteen-hour days, taking on extra shifts and weekend jobs, desperate to contribute something meaningful to the household. But nothing was ever enough. The Park family's wealth was generational, built on real estate empires and business connections that stretched back decades. What could a poor orphan from the slums possibly offer such a family?
"And speaking of worthy men," Mr. Park continued, folding his newspaper with deliberate precision, "Lee Min-Jun called earlier. He's closing the Henderson deal next week. Twenty billion won, Tae-Hyeon. Twenty billion. Do you even know what that number looks like?"
Tae-Hyeon's stomach churned at the mention of Lee Min-Jun. The golden boy of Seoul's business elite, heir to Lee Industries, and everything Tae-Hyeon was not. Handsome, educated at Harvard, wealthy beyond imagination, and worst of all, clearly interested in So-Young.
"Min-Jun is what a real man looks like," Mrs. Park said, her voice taking on a dreamy quality that made Tae-Hyeon's skin crawl. "Thirty years old, CEO of his own company, drives a Lamborghini, owns properties in three countries. And so handsome! So-Young, you should have married him instead of this... this..."
"This what, Mother?" So-Young finally looked up, but her eyes weren't defending Tae-Hyeon. Instead, there was something cold and calculating in her gaze as she looked at her husband. "Say it."
"This parasite," Mrs. Park finished with satisfaction. "This worthless parasite who's been sucking our family dry for three years."
Tae-Hyeon felt something break inside his chest. He had endured the constant comparisons, the snide remarks, the way they spoke about him as if he weren't in the room. But hearing his own wife encourage her mother's cruelty was a betrayal that cut deeper than any insult.
"I should go," he said quietly, turning toward the door.
"Yes, you should," Mr. Park agreed. "And while you're out there getting soaked like a homeless person, think about this: Min-Jun is taking So-Young to dinner tomorrow night. Business meeting, of course. They're discussing the merger between our companies. Something you could never understand, let alone participate in."
Tae-Hyeon stopped walking. "Merger?"
"Oh, didn't we tell you?" Mrs. Park's voice was sickeningly sweet. "The Parks and the Lees are joining forces. It's going to be the business deal of the decade. And Min-Jun specifically requested that So-Young handle the negotiations on our end. He said he works better with... capable partners."
The emphasis on 'capable' was like a slap in the face. Tae-Hyeon turned to look at his wife, searching her face for any sign of the woman he had fallen in love with four years ago. The woman who had told him that love was more important than money, who had promised to stand by him no matter what.
"So-Young?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly.
She didn't meet his eyes. "It's business, Tae-Hyeon. You wouldn't understand."
Those words—'you wouldn't understand'—echoed in his mind as he left the mansion and walked into the storm. The rain soaked through his thin jacket within minutes, but he barely felt it. The physical cold was nothing compared to the ice that had settled around his heart.
As he walked the fifteen blocks back to the small studio apartment he rented with his convenience store wages—he had refused to live in the Park mansion after the first year of marriage, unable to bear the constant humiliation—Tae-Hyeon replayed every moment of his relationship with So-Young.
They had met at a coffee shop near the university where she was completing her MBA. He had been working there part-time, saving every won to pay for his own classes. She had smiled at him, actually smiled, when he had accidentally spilled coffee on her expensive textbook. Instead of being angry, she had laughed and said it gave the book character.
For six months, they had dated in secret. She had told him it was because she wanted to be sure of her feelings, not because she was ashamed of him. He had believed her then, just as he had believed her when she said her family's initial rejection didn't matter, that they would come around eventually.
The wedding had been small, intimate. So-Young had insisted on paying for everything, which should have been his first warning sign. Her family had attended but made no effort to hide their disappointment. Mrs. Park had actually worn black to the ceremony, as if attending a funeral.
And maybe she had been. Maybe their marriage had been dead from the very beginning, and Tae-Hyeon had been too blind with love to see it.
His apartment was dark and cold when he finally arrived, water pooling around his feet as he stood in the doorway. The contrast between this tiny space and the Park mansion was stark. Here, he had a bed, a small table, a hot plate, and a bathroom barely large enough to turn around in. There, he had access to luxury beyond imagination but felt poorer than he ever had in his life.
Tae-Hyeon peeled off his wet clothes and sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wedding photo on his nightstand. In it, So-Young was radiant in her designer dress, and he looked proud and hopeful in his rented tuxedo. They had been happy that day, or at least he had thought they were.
When had it all gone wrong? Was it when he lost his job at the marketing firm six months into their marriage? Was it when his first business venture failed, taking their small savings with it? Or had So-Young never really loved him at all? Had it all been some elaborate game, a rebellion against her parents that had gone too far?
His phone buzzed with a text message. For a moment, his heart leaped, hoping it might be So-Young apologizing for her family's behavior, or even just asking if he had made it home safely.
Instead, it was from his landlord: "Rent is three days late. Pay by tomorrow or find somewhere else to live."
Tae-Hyeon threw the phone against the wall, watching it shatter into pieces. Three hundred thousand won. That's all he needed to keep his tiny sanctuary, and he didn't have it. The convenience store barely paid minimum wage, and his other part-time jobs weren't enough to cover his basic expenses.
He had been too proud to ask the Parks for money directly, but maybe it was time to swallow that pride. Maybe if he could contribute something meaningful to the household, if he could prove his worth somehow, things would change.
As he lay down on his thin mattress, still damp from the rain, Tae-Hyeon made a decision. Tomorrow, he would ask Mr. Park for a loan to start a small business. He had ideas, plans he had been developing in his spare time. A delivery service that could compete with the big companies, targeting underserved neighborhoods. It wasn't glamorous, but it could be profitable with the right backing.
He would make one more attempt to prove himself worthy of the Park name, worthy of So-Young's love. And if that failed... well, he didn't want to think about what came after that.
Outside, the storm continued to rage, lightning illuminating his small window in brief, violent flashes. Tae-Hyeon closed his eyes and tried to imagine a future where he was successful, where he could look Mrs. Park in the eye as an equal, where So-Young looked at him with pride instead of embarrassment.
It was a beautiful dream, but as sleep finally claimed him, Tae-Hyeon couldn't shake the feeling that he was running out of time to make it a reality. The Park family's patience was wearing thin, and he could sense that major changes were coming, whether he was ready for them or not.
The last thing he heard before drifting off was the sound of his broken phone buzzing intermittently against the wall, the screen cracked but still receiving messages he would never read.