Unrequited Love Thresher-Chapter 30: The Place I Want to Reach

Ordinary.

A word also known as “normal,” it was what Ha Giyeon wanted most.

Conversely, there was someone who absolutely despised the word.

Nam Taekyung hated ordinary more than anything in the world.

Being average, being common—it meant nothing. It meant you didn’t matter whether you were there or not. It might as well have meant idiot. Somewhere along the way, the word had become a tag that clung to him like a curse, and he came to loathe it enough to want to rip it off.

Until he entered elementary school, Nam Taekyung had believed he was special. Born the first child into a peaceful, modest household, he had, unlike his plain parents, been gifted with an unusually pretty face.

His large, sparkling eyes, the dimples that appeared when he smiled, and the beauty mark at the corner of his lips all became his charms.

Surrounded by loving parents and relatives, showered with affection and praise, he grew up convinced that he was prettier, smarter, and happier than everyone else. So much so that he pitied others.

All the kids in his kindergarten liked him. So did the teachers.

Sharp and cunning, Taekyung knew exactly what adults liked. He’d give his things to other kids when adults were watching, greet people with bright smiles.

But behind the scenes, if someone annoyed him or seemed weak, he’d break or hide their things. Then, when an adult showed up, he’d pretend to be the one who found them and handed them back.

"Taekyung, you're such a sweet and pretty boy."

The more affection and attention he got from adults, the more obsessed he became with it. He came to believe all the future love and attention he would receive already belonged to him.

And then—

“What was your name again...?”

After graduating from his private little world of kindergarten and stepping into elementary school, everything changed. There were kids who were prettier and better-looking than him. Some even had the same name. Plenty were smarter, too.

The teacher knew his name, sure, but there was no special gleam in her eyes when she looked at him. The kids didn’t treat him any differently either.

Taekyung tried to deny it. It’s okay, he told himself. At least my family is the happiest.

But even that illusion began to crumble.

"Hey, I’m going to my friend’s house later. Wanna come?"

By chance, he followed a friend home after school—and was left speechless.

A giant gate like the ones in storybooks. A wide yard filled with blooming flowers. A huge, sophisticated mansion in the middle of it all.

It was a house that only existed in cartoons and movies. Up until then, Taekyung had believed their apartment was the best anyone could have. He’d been to countless friends’ houses, but nothing like this.

Inside, there was a mother prettier than his, a father more refined than his. The fluffy sofa, the pretty cakes and plates that looked like they came straight from fairy tales—it was all too much. The cake tasted so good, it made him question whether what he ate on his birthdays even counted as the same food. This, he thought, this is a real cake.

The other kid invited that day stuffed his face beside him, but Taekyung ate slowly, not wanting the cake to disappear.

He wanted it. Wanted to eat it forever. But there were too many eyes watching—he couldn’t steal it. In the end, he finished it. The sweetest cake in the world. And when the plate was empty, he felt like crying.

He scraped the bottom with his fork, clinging to what was left.

"Would you like another slice?" frёewebnoѵēl.com

The friend’s beautiful mother gave him another piece, and when he left, she even packed some up for him to take home. And Taekyung, as he accepted it, believed it was because he was special. That the cake itself was special too.

He rushed home and tasted the cake again in his room.

“...Huh?”

The moment he took a bite, he knew something was wrong.

“This isn’t it...”

It didn’t taste the same. The cake he’d eaten at the house was the sweetest thing he’d ever had—but this? This wasn’t even close. It was just like the ones he’d had on his birthdays. Maybe even worse. It was... ordinary.

Why...?

He couldn’t understand. It was the same cake. He’d seen them cut it from the same one he’d eaten. It wasn’t a different slice.

So why?

His gaze slowly swept across his bedroom.

Unlike his friend’s, it was small. The furniture wasn’t stylish. The bed wasn’t big or soft. His parents weren’t beautiful or impressive.

And then there was his reflection in the mirror.

He didn’t wear cool clothes. He didn’t smell nice. He didn’t look like someone who lived in that mansion.

For the first time, Taekyung tasted pity—and defeat.

They hadn’t given him the cake because he was special. They’d given it to him because they felt sorry for him.

He refused to accept it.

I’m supposed to be the happiest person in the world.

“No... But Mom and Dad love me the most.”

His rich friend had said his parents were always busy, that he was lonely. That was why he’d invited them over.

So Taekyung was still better off. His parents told him they loved him every day. On weekends, they took him on trips, bought him presents.

But then, Taekyung’s entire world collapsed.

“Taekyung, you’ll be a good big brother, right?”

Because of the thing growing in his mother’s belly.

The mother who had always looked at him with love now stroked her stomach and smiled with joy. The father who used to hug him after work now whispered affection to a shapeless thing.

They didn’t love Taekyung the most anymore. That fact shattered him.

For the first time, he screamed, threw things.

"I hate it! I don’t want a sibling! Why is that my sibling?! Why don’t you love me anymore?!"

"Nam Taekyung!"

"How could you throw things like that?! You’re getting a scolding from Dad tonight!"

Instead of comforting him, his parents scolded him—and protected it.

Like he was the villain.

What had he done wrong?

That night, his father scolded him more harshly than ever before. And for the first time, Taekyung thought about killing a sibling who wasn’t even born yet.

He was no longer happy.

He was just another ordinary person.

“Wait... what was your name again?”

They remembered the names of kids in mansions but couldn’t even remember his.

Because he was ordinary.

Taekyung wanted to become special. Like back in kindergarten, when everyone loved him.

To do that, he had to change. He couldn’t change his parents or his looks, so he needed something else. Something that stood out.

Top grades. He always ranked near the top.

But that wasn’t enough. He had to do more.

He started cramming at academies, pushed himself harder. Used any method he could to become number one.

If there was someone he couldn’t beat in grades, he’d plant cheat sheets in their desk and quietly rat them out. He’d stir up rumors and isolate them so they couldn’t study properly.

If that’s what it took to be special, he’d do it.

"Taekyung, you’re a big brother now. Take care of your sibling."

"I’ll be a good hyung."

The small lump that had been born screaming nonstop did nothing but eat, sleep, and shit. Still, their mother looked at it with joy. She didn’t care whether Taekyung was studying or at school.

The lump started crawling. Its eyes opened. It stared at him.

When it giggled with drool at the corners of its mouth, Taekyung sometimes muttered “retard” between their parents’ proud laughter.

It had stolen everything from him. It gave nothing back.

"Hyung..."

Apparently, the love from their parents wasn’t enough. The {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} lump reached out to him too—and Taekyung scrubbed the spot it touched with water for ages.

He couldn’t let it show. He had to pretend to be a good brother. That way, when it died, his parents wouldn’t blame him.

And then, in sixth grade—

"Aaaah! My baby! Nooo!"

Taekyung’s sibling died.

More accurately—Taekyung killed them.

The lump had just started walking. Just started attending kindergarten. His parents lavished care and attention on it. When it ate, they watched closely. They barely let it out of their sight.

"Taekyung, can you watch your sibling for a bit?"

"Play with your sibling."

Now they wanted him to pour his love into it, too. They even brought it into his room while he studied.

That thing, with its dumb eyes, kept whining to play.

Taekyung’s patience snapped the day it ruined his homework. Scribbled over his notebook with crayons. His cram school teacher scolded him for the first time.

They only said, “Try to do better next time,” but to Taekyung, it felt like condemnation.

That was the moment he decided to kill it.

He stuck close to the lump even more after that. Waited for his chance.

It came sooner than expected.

That day, his mother had her hands full with work. Constantly on the phone, often stopping in the street to take calls.

They walked together, holding hands with the lump in the middle.

"Hang on, I need to take this call."

As soon as his mother turned and let go of the lump’s hand, Taekyung knocked the ball it was holding out of its arms and gently kicked it away.

The yellow bouncy ball—it had once been his.

For the first and last time, Taekyung gave his sibling something.

The ball rolled into the street. The lump whimpered, chasing after it.

Everything that followed went just as he had predicted. The small body flew into the air, then crashed down. Blood soaked the pavement. His mother screamed.

It had lost too much blood. It died.

There had been a rumor once—if you see someone die in front of you, you faint from shock. The kids used to say that.

Taekyung knew now it was a lie.

“Pfft...”

He watched it die with his own two eyes—and couldn’t stop laughing.

Why did it feel so satisfying?

At the funeral, as his mother sobbed and screamed—

Nam Taekyung smiled brighter than he ever had in his life.