Work Text:
r/AMA . 18h ago
maillardqueen1998
I am the Joseon King known as Yeonhuigun – Ask Me Anything
Experience
Many of you know about the man that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Seoul talking about being from five hundred years in the past. The security camera footage was on the news and many people managed to get phone footage of it.
As an update, he managed to find me – that’s his Cook Yeon, the woman he was looking for – and we’re living together now. I’m the same Yeon Ji-yeong who won the prestigious French cooking competition La Pôele d’Or and then went into a coma on the plane home. I’m writing his answers for him – he’s not used to computers yet! He’s only been here a month and a half, so a lot of things are still new. He’s happy to answer most questions, as long as they are polite. I’ll read him the questions and write his reply as he says it.
(Please be nice! This is his first time on Reddit.)
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kingarthursmaige1264
are you really the joseon king? I find it kind of hard to believe tbh. how do we know ur not a schizofrenich?
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong here!) He doesn’t think this one’s worth answering, but if you don’t believe us, please look into all the articles written about us looking into the information. Some of them have really good points! The recipe book that made it into the historical record – Mangunrok – is the most persuasive piece of evidence, I think. Most people thought it was a fake because it had recipes that weren’t believed to have been invented in Joseon Korea written with approximations of their modern names hundreds of years before they appear in other recipe books, but the paper’s been carbon-dated to the sixteenth century and now most people believe it’s actually a real document. Along with the camera footage of him appearing out of nowhere, which has come from so many people at different angles that you can’t claim it’s AI. Also, no-one has been able to find any records of him existing before this point, which is nearly impossible for a modern day human.
kingarthursmaige1264
sounds like bs to me but ok
alphawolf_88
yeah this is fake
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gideonlovesbees9
Hiii! I’m from the uk! I dont know much about Josun but i looked it up and it said Yonigun loved food. I want to ask, what does a king eat every day? Is it basically the same as everyone else but fancier or is there like king food or something? Thanks!!
maillardqueen1998 OP
It may seem strange to someone of these times, when food of all types is plentiful and accessible, but I was used to having the best of everything, ingredients that were rare were brought to my table as offerings. We had an indoor garden built to grow rare delicacies and I was used to eating five high class meals every day such as those I am told may be found now in restaurants.
gideonlovesbees9
FIVE!!? how did you EAT it all!?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I did not eat every item at every meal. I was able to choose from the selection of foods what I wished to eat. The idea was never that I would eat it all.
(Ji-yeong here!) He didn’t eat many of the ban-chan – that’s the Korean side dishes – but he usually ate the main dish if I cooked it.
greenjersey
do you still eat like a king?
maillardqueen1998 OP
She cooks for me often, so you could say that I still do sometimes, but she works at her restaurant all day, so her father is teaching me to cook.
(Ji-yeong here!) I teach him as well! I just don’t have a lot of time!
iliveatdennyshouse
What can you cook now?
maillardqueen1998 OP (edited)
I can cook bibimbap, stir fry, seaweed soup and dumplings. I can make salads and sandwiches too, and I’m still learning how to cook eggs. They are difficult for me. I have high expectations and it’s not easy to make food I like.
(Ji-yeong) He’s picky.
He’s saying ‘don’t write that’. He’s one of the pickiest people I’ve ever cooked for.
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maisytallulahrice200
Lets address the elephant in the room. You went crazy at a banquet and killed a bunch of people in the night. What happened? You’re literaly a murderer.
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) What happened is that his uncle dressed up in some of his clothes, including a mask, and went around killing people Yi Heon had threatened so it looked like Yi Heon had killed them.
puppy-jumps-the-wall
I need to get rid of so many textbooks.
maisytallulahrice200
is that what he told you? lol 🙄
maillardqueen1998 OP
He couldn’t have been there. He was fighting people in the forest, not at the palace when it happened. I’m not sure if I changed things by going back in time, but he was ready to kill them at the banquet, but he didn’t. We talked and he calmed down. Maybe without me he did do those things, but I’m fairly sure it was his uncle who set things off.
maisytallulahrice200
sounds like he did kill people in the forest
maillardqueen1998 OP
I’m not answering these questions.
greenjersey
pretty sure your meant to kill people in battle lol 🤔
bigtittyardvark666
Why would he wear a mask if he was a king?
maillardqueen1998 OP
It was a dancing mask. He performed a traditional dance at the banquet for his grandmother.
lijiminbread19
guys she clearly dosent want to answer this cmon
pumpkinbread
Is that what happened!!? I litterally studied this in college and we had a seminar on it and his motivations behind it!!! I can’t believe it was all wrong!!!
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pumpkinbread
Okay but it sounds like they’re telling the truth, so I dodn’t know why you’re trying to say theyre not.
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pumpkinbread
that’s really mean why would you say that?
cX_Marine
just ignore them. there a troll
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tinyheadbigheart5
If you guys are living together now does that mean you lived together in the past? Did you date when he was a king? How does that even work?
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Yi Heon) The palace houses many hundreds of courtiers and staff including the palace cooks, so in a sense we did live together, but she was my head cook and our relationship remained professional for most of our time together in the past. Needless to say, she was very easy to fall in love with and my closest personal servants told me that I grew more obviously fond of her as time went on and I gave concessions to her that cooks would not normally receive.
(Ji-yeong) He told me he didn’t think of me as a woman, then he kissed me when he was drunk and things unfolded from there.
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) He didn’t want me to write that. 😜
charizardpenis4
Concessions like what?
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Yi Heon) I listened to her more than I did other courtiers and respected her opinions. She was able to calm my temper, which not many could claim. After my mistake (Ji-yeong – he means the kiss) I asked my friend Chief Royal Secretary Im Song-jae for advice on giving gifts to placate members of the female sex one might have wronged and he was able to advise me into finding and gifting to her her lost ‘handybag’ (😅). I also showed her our indoor garden, where we grow royal offerings. We also went to the market on one occasion and I bought her silks and trinkets, one of which ended up attached to my journal, Mangunrok.
gideonlovesbees9
YOUR JOURNAL WAS MANGUNROK!!? 😮😮😮😮😮
maillardqueen1998 OP
Yes. I wrote down all the recipes she made me.
gideonlovesbees9
😮😮😮😮🤯🤯🤯
charizardpenis4
😍❤️ cute!
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kissslauren012mango
what did yuo want to be wen u grew up? ❤️💚🧡💙✨
Mike_Rover1972
your an idiot
cX_Marine
🤦🏼♂️
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puppy-jumps-the-wall (edited)
Hi, I’m writing my dissertation on the private lives of monarchs and how it differs from their public personas, especially when they’re divisive historical figures, and I was wondering how were you different in your private life to your public life?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I don’t understand. Do you mean when I was alone or when I was in private, that is to say not addressing the public? I was followed most times by a group of servants and courtiers to attend to my needs. I wasn’t often alone.
puppy-jumps-the-wall
I guess both? Did you act differetn when you were with just those staff or did you act different when you were alone?
I’m autistic so I get how it can be when you need to kind of ‘act’ for people all the time even if you’re meant to be being yourself.
maillardqueen1998 OP
I don’t know if I acted different when I was alone compared to when I was around servants. In a room with servants felt like privacy to me. You must understand that, as a king, with such little privacy afforded to me, I was not used to being alone. Servants were meant to be furniture. They did not talk or act until they were bidden. My servants in particular were expected to be discrete about what they saw or heard. I did not think about true privacy often.
When I was alone, truly so, it made me more paranoid that I would be attacked without aid. It was easier in that sense to be in a room with servants whom I knew would be loyal to me.
For public appearances, I did have a persona. I had to be in control at all times. Any moment of weakness would be exploited by my courtiers. In the court of a king, everything is politics. Every man there has another motive, every one in five is scheming or is part of some scheme, every one in ten has poison at the ready waiting for an opportunity. I was not surprised when my uncle rose up with rebel forces at the end of my reign. I had been expecting something like it for a long time. It only surprised me at how many were involved and who was involved. To this day, I do not know if my own grandmother was involved or wanted me dead. It is painful for me to think of.
That was the most exhausting part of being king.
puppy-jumps-the-wall
I’m sorry. That sounds really hard.
gideonlovesbees9
Was Mangurok your diary, then? Was that part of your private life?
maillardqueen1998 OP
Yes, I would say it was. I did not intend to keep it as secret. It was not something I would have been ashamed to show, but it was not something I routinely showed to others.
LeslieAnnMarieCaybard1946
what Is Mangurok
gideonlovesbees9
It’s a recipe book Yonhugun wrote when he was still king and it had some personal notes as well. Mostly it was stuff about the food and he drew pictures of it too.
huevos_sexys28
what about when you went to the bathroom?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I had a chamber pot brought to me when I required it and a screen. My private attendants assisted me in dressing and bathing as well. Is this strange to you?
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pumpkinbread
do you like showers?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I love showers! 😍 (Ji-yeong – he made me put the heart eyes in) They are like warm rain! I only wish that I could have had a shower in the palace!
The only downside is that the house we live in only has a shower and I miss baths a great deal. Ji-yeong has promised me we can go to a bathhouse soon. I am looking forward to it!
(Ji-yeong) The first time I showed him how the shower worked, he was in there for an hour and a half and he used half a bottle of shower gel and all of my new bottle of conditioner even though he doesn’t ahve long hair anymore.
I couldn’t be mad at him. He was so excited. 😅
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Terabite_Dungeon_Sound_xx
do you have a phone
maillardqueen1998 OP
My Ji-yeong bought me a phone. It is too complicated and I don’t use it.
(Ji-yeong) I bought him an i-phone and then an ancient flip-phone from the 2000s and he still complains it’s too complicated. Next time, I’m getting him a carrier pigeon.
maillardqueen1998 OP
He thinks that’s a good idea and he wants a hawk. 🤦♀️
Terabite_Dungeon_Sound_xx
lol
humansword-hand
What about a rotary phone?
maillardqueen1998 OP
That would be complicated for me and him! 😜
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puppy-jumps-the-wall
Did you have a proper relationship with your family? From what I’ve read it looks like a lot of royalty didnt have proper relationships with their family. It was all backstabbing and everyone hated each other.
maillardqueen1998 OP
My mother and I were close. She is the person from whom I inherited my love of food. We would eat together and discuss the flavours. She always had something new to say. I miss her terribly.
pumpkinbread
did you get on with your grandmother? i know people say you killed her but if your uncle did that then did you actually like her?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I don’t know. I found out she was involved in my mother’s death very recently. I was intending to talk to her about it but she died and I was never able to. Other than that, we were mostly amicable even if she did like to gossip with her court ladies and I learned a dance to perform for her at her birthday. Something that was cruelly used against me by my uncle after.
pumpkinbread
are you okay? sorry. i didnt mean to ask something really personal. just say if u don’t want to answer stuff
maillardqueen1998 OP
It’s cathartic to talk about. It feels like I am talking just to Ji-yeong. She would not ask me a question I would not be comfortable answering.
(Ji-yeong) That’s true. I haven’t read him some of the mean ones.
pumpkinbread
is he okay?
maillardqueen1998 OP
He’s fine, thanks for asking. ❤️🩹
pumpkinbread
🫂
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seahorse_bluesky
What did you were on your days of?
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) He doesn’t understand the question. 😅 The answer is, as a king he didn’t get days off. He wore his formal robes almost every day.
maillardqueen1998 OP
I’ve explained it to him and he wants to add that he did occasionally get days where court was not held, but usually that was when he was ill, so he would wear his sleep clothes. They were simple white underclothes, similar to the clothes people wear for martial arts.
kingarthursmaige1264
this is mentaly ill
kingarthursmaige1264
why r u guys beleving this bs lol its such bull
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BabyyyxxEstherCute
Did you ever get involved in palace gossip? What was the best bit of gossip you heard?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I was always the centre to any gossip I became involved with and, as such, I never enjoyed listening to it. It was a matter of life and death to discern which parts were false rumour and which parts might present risk. Usually I would pass on the whole of the gossip to my guard, who would keep abreast of it.
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) On the other hand, I heard a lot of gossip working in the kitchens. I heard that one of the dish washing maids became pregnant with the baby of a court scribe and that they were planning to run away together to Jeju Island. But it turned out that they had only been kissing and everything else was hearsay. It was fun while it lasted!
My friend and fellow cook Gilgeum also had a massive crush on the court jester, Gong-gil, and Cook Maeng tried to set them up several times. Nothing came of that either.
maillardqueen1998 OP (edited)
He’s reading this over my shoulder. He says he’d heard the same court scribe was having an affair with one of his courtier’s concubines! Apparently he was involved in some of the gossip.
He wants to clarify he wasn’t involved in any of the gossip. He only heard of it afterwards.
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Normansland
Favorite food?
maillardqueen1998 OP
My Ji-yeong’s doenjang pasta. (Ji-yeong – he pronounces it ‘bastra’)
maillardqueen1998 OP
Before I met her, I enjoyed venison steak the most.
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PrinceyBubbles2012
can you give a talk at my school 😻😽
maillardqueen1998 OP
We can’t promise anything. Where is your school?
PrinceyBubbles2012
malaysia 😺
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duckduckduck1446 (edited)
what was the worst meal you ever had
maillardqueen1998 OP
In my early days as king, I was struck by a sickness and the newly hired head cook decided to impress me by making a dish that was both health-restoring and delicious. Unfortunately, he was not gifted at balancing the two conflicting parts and presented me with a soup that was both violently sharp, stringent and lacking in discernible flavour. In some ways, it was an impressive feat. It had my taster convinced I was being poisoned until several minutes had passed and she had felt no ill effects, after which she permitted me to try a sip. The dish was the last of only a handful this cook made, none of which were truly pleasing to me, and after it I had him removed from the position.
duckduckduck1446
okay when u say removed
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) Trust me, you don’t want to know.
puppy-jumps-the-wall
Was there anything else that wasn’t medicinal?
maillardqueen1998 OP
This same cook made a pancake of lotus root and green onion, which tasted strongly of beans despite no beans being present within the creation.
(Ji-yeong) He sounds like a talented man! 🤣
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yeonnamsu_historian
In your opinion, Heon-a, which of your contemporaries was most misrepresented in historical texts and how were they to know in real life?
maillardqueen1998 OP
Abba, you can ask him that directly. 🤦♀️Please go away.
yeonnamsu_historian
Love you, sweetheart.
maillardqueen1998 OP
Abba please.
lijiminbread19
oh my god thats so cool! are u her dad?
yeonnamsu_historian
I am, yes.
lijiminbread19
whats it like to live with a king from history?
yeonnamsu_historian
He’s a polite young man and he is very respectful. I have been teaching him how to cook and use some of our modern technology. He loves my daughter very much. I love to ask his opinions on history as it is always fascinating to hear from someone who lived in a similar period to those I specialise in researching.
pumpkinbread
does he ever help you solve problems when ur reserching?
yeonnamsu_historian
Yes. He is very helpful.
lijiminbread19
Op i know hes your dad but i rly want to know the anser to this
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Yi Heon) Ishmail of Persia was entertaining to drink with. The first time we met, we drank until sunrise. I don’t remember much from that night but I do remember his uncanny elephant impression and his subsequent undignified fall into a plant. I am told he was remembered as a supernatural force in battle but, drunk, he cut himself on his own sword trying to pull it from its holster. I regret that I did not get to test his fighting prowess sober, but we did attempt a spar that I do not remember most of. Had his country been closer to Korea, I do believe we would have remained great friends.
lijiminbread19
also did u ever meet king sejong?
maillardqueen1998 OP
My grandmother met him as a small girl but he was before my time.
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) There, you see. I am a good daughter. Please, Abba, go away.
yeonnamsu_historian
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
yeonnamsu_historian
Dinner is on Abba tonight. I will make some fish stew. 🐟
maillardqueen1998 OP
Thank you Abba. 😘
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copcarlesbian
ok I don’t believe you but this is entertaining – OP what’s the best thing about being a king? (lol)
maillardqueen1998 OP
One aspect that I miss is respect. My sweetheart laughs at me if I make mistakes. My courtiers would never dare laugh at me.
(Ji-yeong) Im Song-jae, Chief Secretary, would often laugh at him, to clarify.
He’s reading over my shoulder. He admits that’s true but that Im Song-jae knew when to keep his thoughts to himself and that I need to learn, which means that my boyfriend will be making his own breakfast tomorrow.
maillardqueen1998 OP
Now he’s apologising. I think someone else needs to learn how to keep his thoughts to himself. 😏
copcarlesbian
lolol 😅
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Bong_Clav1cle
Is it easier to date if your the king?
maisytallulahrice200
look up ‘chaehong’
Bong_Clav1cle
jesus ok
I thought this dude was nice. apparently not.
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Ji-yeong) He defended it the first time I met him, saying it was an honour to be selected to help produce an heir. I never agreed with it. I explained how awful it was and he stopped it from happening very shortly after I met him, so I assume it got through. I don’t want to defend what he did, but he was a very powerful young adult with nobody around to stop him and I think it maybe went to his head.
maisytallulahrice200
thats not better tho like is it
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_HESAIDCALMLY_dni18-
Is your name achually Yeonhigun? What’s you’re surname if not?
Terabite_Dungeon_Sound_xx
It’s Yi Heon. They’ve said a couple times in this thread. Youc an look it up as well just saying.
_HESAIDCALMLY_dni18-
I get that u dont have to be rude tho :/
Terabite_Dungeon_Sound_xx
😑
_HESAIDCALMLY_dni18-
:P
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friendlustfortheboat
Did you ever make friends with the servants? Or was that forbidden?
KeyChainKyle
definitely forbidden
maillardqueen1998 OP
(Apart from me? 🤭)
maillardqueen1998 OP
I had friends among the servants as a boy, playing in the palace grounds. The children of courtiers and of servants usually played in different parts of the palace and were scolded if they played together, but occasionally games between the two groups would break out, such as tag or hide and seek.
The servants I became friends with in my adult years were mainly my personal attendants and guards, though I suppose congenial acquaintances is a better way to put it. My eunuch, Chang Sun, was someone I considered close, like a grandfather or uncle figure. My court jester and personal guard, Gong-gil, was also a man I appreciated the company of.
(Ji-yeong) It was strange to me how many people he kept around him at all times and yet he never talked to any of them!
He says ‘what would I have said?’
maillardqueen1998 OP
He wants to add that personal relationships between servants and courtiers – including him – would have been severely frowned upon, even if as king he couldn’t be punished for them. His societal status would have been impacted if it were to have come out he had been socialising with servants, let alone treating them as equals, and this might have risked destabilising the court and turned public favour against him.
I think he had no idea how to talk to people without ordering them about and he intimidated everyone out of being friends with him.
I think he could have been good friends with my kitchen maid, Gil-geum, if he tried. He gets on well with my coworker who I think is very similar to her.
maillardqueen1998 OP
‘It’s different’ he says.
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S1llaS1
What were your true opinions on Kang Mok-ju, your courtesan? Were you aware she was against you?
maillardqueen1998 OP
She was always drawn to powerful men. I knew that, by remaining the most powerful man in the country, I had little to fear from her. I found that she had been scheming with my uncle behind my back near to the moment I came to the future, but I knew that her loyalties would have reversed to myself should I have been restored to power. In a way, that made her easily predictable.
NamjoonsTits
What did u see in her tho? Wasn’t she a bitch?
maillardqueen1998 OP
She was very beautiful and her wit and grace made her excellent company.
(Ji-yeong) He thought her being rude was funny.
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Cranium_Snatcher_5
Have you tried cigarettes?
maillardqueen1998 OP
😡
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songof_fire
Did you have any brothers or sisters/?
puppy-jumps-the-wall (edited)
He had six living half siblings at the time of his exile; two boys and four girls. The oldest girl was married to one of the sons of the Chinese Emporer, the second oldest girl was married to Yeonhuigun’s Chief Royal Secretary, the third oldest was King Jinmyeong, who was only ten when he became king, and it looks like the others married people as well but I won’t list them here as it’s not as relevant because they were only children when Yeonhuigun was king.
songof_fire
Wow, SIX! That’s a lot. I only have two and that feels like to much already.
maillardqueen1998 OP
I did not grow up alongside them in the same way you might expect. Sons and daughters had separate educations and, as I was the son of the Queen not of a concubine, I had a higher status and did not interact with my siblings very often.
I intended upon getting closer with Prince Jinmyeong, but his mother never trusted me. I did not make an effort to get past that barrier until I heard he had wished to try some of my Ji-yeong’s dishes and we finally arranged a meal together. It was an attempt cut short by my uncle’s betrayal, but I am glad I did try to connect with him for the limited time we were able to. He was a well-mannered, respectful child and we shared a love of food, so we did not run out of conversation.
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LeslieAnnMarieCaybard1946
Have you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord?
NamjoonsTits
This is derailing so hard omg go away
LeslieAnnMarieCaybard1946
Ic an see you have no love in your heart young man. Jesus is the savour of the world and he loves you. He died for your sins.
NamjoonsTits
they/them
LeslieAnnMarieCaybard1946
I see te Devil is in yuor heart alre ady.
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maillardqueen1998 OP
He wants me to tell you he doesn’t know the names of everyone who took the state exams and wants to know which part of the country he frequented. 😅
LeslieAnnMarieCaybard1946
Jarusalem
LeslieAnnMarieCaybard1946
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o0PoppyIrisFlower0o
Did you have pets?
maillardqueen1998 OP
He didn’t have any pets. There were only working animals at the palace.
o0PoppyIrisFlower0o
🥲
maillardqueen1998 OP
(YH) I had a favourite horse named Yusong. He was a Halla, sixteen hands tall, even tempered, never spooked on a hunt. He enjoyed duck eggs as a treat and he had the glossiest mane of any horse. He was much superior to any horses found today.
(Ji-yeong – sorry! I didn’t know he had pets!)
o0PoppyIrisFlower0o
🥰🐎
o0PoppyIrisFlower0o
I keep bees! And I have a cat called Molly!
maillardqueen1998 OP
Bees! 😱
o0PoppyIrisFlower0o
And a cat called Molly!
DisarmMingSparkles
I lvoe bees so much! Cute! 🤗
o0PoppyIrisFlower0o
And a cat! 😘
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yuppieguppy
I used to be a person I’m not proud of. There was someone in highschool I used to bully because looking back I was an insecure person and I was scared people wouldn’t like me if i didn’t bully people before they bullied me first. In middle school I got bullied really bad and it made me not want to be a victim when I got to highschool but I took it way too far and honestly I can’t sleep because I’m so guilty I made that kid’s life hell. We made up ruomors that that kid had slept with a teacher and thats why they got good grades and because I was popular that kid never had any friends either. I wrote mean shit on their books too and put insects in their food and made fun of their clothes and there was one time we made up someone who had a crush on them and chatted so long like it was really serious then ghosted them and sent them a text that said ‘noone will ever love you’ and shit. I cant live with myself honestly. It wasn’t ok, any of it. I just want to ask, how do you do it? I don’t know how to live with myself. It haunts me so bad. I can’t imagine how much it fucked up that kid’s life. How do you live with what you did?
alphawolf_88
this isnt real thats how 🥱
yeonnamsu_historian
Hi! Ji-yeong’s dad here. Heon-a and I have had long chats about his regrets from his past. If it isn’t too bold to repeat what I have said to him, as simply an old man who has lived life, I will do so here. That is, what good does guilt do anyone? It doesn’t change any part of what you have done. Take your lesson and learn it well, live it humbly and earnestly and continue to do good in the world. Eventually, hopefully, your good impact on the world will outweigh your bad and you and those you have hurt can live with softened pain.
If you are able to say sorry, do so. It may help you both.
maillardqueen1998 OP
He’s glad Abba answered this first as he wouldn’t have known what to say. He wants to say that he lives with his own regrets and they haunt him very badly sometimes. He’s done terrible, terrible things. He’s only glad his mother never lived to see them - he doesn’t know if she’d forgive him then.
sunnycat
do you forgive him?
maillardqueen1998 OP
I forgave him a while ago.