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Eunjoo couldn’t imagine a good future with this creepy, insecure man. She had met him at a lonely time in her life and now she regretted getting in a relationship with him. She had never been in a long-term relationship before getting involved with this total shit stain of a person.
When Eunjoo looked back on her life, it just felt like an endless series of miserable circumstances. She struggled with school. Her parents frequently cheated on each other. She never believed in romance or dating, but as she saw what became of single women she decided to get into a relationship for safety and stability. Single women were vulnerable to any random creep and those creeps would only respect her if she was attached to a man.
Yoon Malchin had seemed decent at first. They met through a study group in high school. He was just consistently there. She found him entertaining. He had an opinion on everything. With time, she found him more and more annoying, but before they started dating, she thought he would be able to provide the kind of stability she wanted.
She laughed at his jokes to keep him calm. Malchin would go on a loud rant if nobody laughed at his snide jokes. “See you painted the barn today” when she put on makeup. “Fat women are so sad”. “I’m just messing with you”. Eunjoo never actually found Malchin funny. Too bad Malchin didn’t know that. He took her laughter as a sign that she was into him and pursued her.
“You should be my girlfriend,” he demanded as if he was going to lose it if she declined. Eunjoo went with it. If she didn’t start dating now, maybe she never would.
“Ok,” she agreed and Malchin seemed less threatening after her response. Then things got worse. He took any chance to belittle her and was never helpful after that. Eunjoo found herself looking at the ground more often in hopes of getting him to calm down or shut up.
She had hoped that dating Malchin would enable her to be a more confident person, but instead she was learning new reasons she should doubt herself because of his constant berating. Malchin would still admire random women when they went on dates. He flat-out gawked at them. It was so embarrassing. Eunjoo became more and more aware of his heavy breathing. He was like a living personification of the creepy phone call.
Then one day, Malchin introduced Eunjoo to his older brother Wonshik.
“Just wanted to show off my beautiful girlfriend Eunjoo. Can’t believe I got one before the cherished son of the family!”
Wonshik was like a breath of fresh air. Unlike Malchin, he acknowledged her from the first time they met and noticed her reactions to things. When she wanted to roll her eyes at Malchin, Wonshik would smile as if he thought his brother was ridiculous too. It was as if he knew what she was thinking.
“I’m surprised she agreed to date you,” Wonshik said. “Let’s all go on a group date some time”.
———-+++
Malchin got a job cleaning different equipment at a medical facility. This surprised Eunjoo, but at the same time it didn’t. Malchin had talked about them having a great future and comfortable life when they first got together, but after high school he worked a dirty job where he never washed his hands or followed the other safety protocols for cleanliness. In fact, he outright mocked his work place for “being full of neat freaks”. It seemed like his dirty soul had become his occupation. She felt disgusted when he would touch her with those invasive hands.
“What if you become infected from work?” Eunjoo asked him while they were on a date.
“You’re blowing this out of proportion! Typical woman! Making a big deal out of NOTHING!” Malchin yelled as he threw his bowl at the table.
———-+++
Eunjoo started looking forward to the moments she got to hang out with Wonshik. There were the group dates and then other times Eunjoo would go to the Yoon household to share a family dinner. Wonshik was his parents pride and joy. He was in university studying to become a doctor. He seemed to exude kindness and a love for life, unlike Malchin who was already burnt out on everything and everybody in his early 20’s.
Wonshik would bring different girlfriends to their group dates and with a sense of guilt, Eunjoo found herself cringing at these women. They were beautiful and educated, yet they treated Wonshik like any other med student. A couple of them lied and cheated on him. Malchin would just laugh at his misfortune.
“It’s because you never put them in their place! You let those women treat you like you’re disposable! Which you are!” Malchin roared with obnoxious laughter.
“I guess I’ve never met a loyal woman like Eunjoo,” Wonshik shrugged.
“I’ve lost my appetite,” Eunjoo started putting the dishes away. She wanted to leave before Malchin noticed that she hadn’t laughed with him this time. Knowing how insecure he was, Malchin would take it as a betrayal. Shamefully, she found herself fantasizing about a married life with Wonshik and felt like his comment about her loyalty had indulged this fantasy.
“There you go! Throwing a little hissy fit for no reason!” Malchin responded. “We’re going.”
———-+++
A couple years of dating Malchin had passed and Eunjoo had moved into the Yoon household. She and Wonshik often exchanged longing glances with each other.
Malchin came home extra agitated about work on a life-changing day.
“They denied me another promotion! I bet it’s because those frigid bitches at work wrote complaints about me!”
“I keep telling you to not burn bridges at work!” Eunjoo exclaimed.
“What am I supposed to do? They’re young and pretty! You’re getting older! I can’t help wanting to mess with them!” Malchin argued.
“If I was with Eunjoo, I’d cherish her and wouldn’t be comparing her to random women!” Wonshik argued back.
Then Malchin reached his hand back to ready a punch, but Wonshik caught it and threw Malchin forward before any fight could take shape. He held Malchin down. Wonshik was taller and had a better reach. This was the first time the two brothers had fought in front of Eunjoo. She was more shocked at Wonshik’s confession than anything.
“Wonshik... you... like me?”
“Of course I like you! You should give yourself more credit! I can’t imagine a more amazing woman. I love when you sing while cooking food. I love your observations about others and the way you keep everybody around you motivated. I love seeing you stand up for yourself more as the years go by. I know this is inappropriate to say to my brother’s girlfriend and I’d understand if you want me to leave your life after this, but to me, you’re the best person I’ve ever met,” Wonshik rushed out the words to fill the silence. It was as if his confession had given him boundless energy and the words spilled out of him because of it.
Eunjoo walked closer to Wonshik and kissed him. It was a light experimental kiss. She backed away and Malchin screamed.
“YOU FILTHY, RATTY PIECES OF SHIT!” He kept screaming. “OF ALL THE WOMEN IN THE WORLD!”
“I’m leaving after I graduate. I want you to come with me, Eunjoo!” Wonshik reached out a hand and Eunjoo grabbed it.
They left the house together and avoided Malchin after that. Wonshik and Eunjoo had a child named Bum.