#but he isn't owed anything from hae-in because of it

[juliemolinaz]

The opinions of people on Twitter about Queen of Tears' episodes sometimes makes me feel like I'm in a different universe. After today's episode, I saw more than a few "OMG, look at how upset Eun-seong is learning about Hae-in's diagnosis!!!! He really loves her!!! Hyun-woo was happy when he heard the news!!!! And look at how Eun-seong passionately is trying to find a cure for Hae-in!!! Hyun-woo has never done that!!! Hae-in should be with Eun-seong!!!!" And it's like, are we watching the same show?

While I don't necessarily like some of the things Hyun-woo did after hearing about Hae-in's diagnosis, his reaction to Hae-in telling him about his diagnosis makes a lot of sense. He was miserable in that family for at least 2 years. He didn't feel like Hae-in cared about the loss of their baby and she was so cold to him. I honestly can't see a lot of people not experiencing a sense of relief and happiness that they'd be out of a toxic environment if they just put up with it for a few more months. As for Hyun-woo not trying to find a cure for Hae-in, have people forgotten how he threatened the hospital in Germany with a lawsuit if they didn't try something to make her eligible for the treatment? And that's not even to mention all the things he's been doing to help Hae-in's family out so she can try to focus more on her health.

Eun-seong's actions towards Hae-in are not romantic, they are obsessive and possessive. Eun-seong's idea of what love is has been fucked up by his mother abandoning him. He thinks you have to endure and suffer your feelings for someone unlike his mother who never showed she was missing him. What Eun-seong doesn't get is that while it's good to show your feelings towards someone, that you also need to respect the other person's feelings too. And Eun-seong hasn't done that at all. He hasn't been listening to and respecting Hae-in's boundaries. She has made it clear that she doesn't want anything to do with him, and he's still trying to force himself into her life. Eun-seong feels like he's owed Hae-in's love because of their interaction all those years ago. Also, like he schemed to make her family lose their money. Why would he even think that Hae-in would want to be with him after that?

Thankfully, people here are more reasonable when it comes to Eun-seong.

[miloslushie]

cw: violence, burning, mutilation, obsessive behavior

宝贝 (Bǎobèi) = baby, treasure, darling, treasured object

²⁄₇

'Love can't be bought by money, Dear.'

'Find someone who loves you because of you.'

'Love makes us all foolish, Chenle.'

Chenle's mind was sometimes a broken record of sayings people would say to him. He'd go through life, minding his own business, and he'd suddenly think about something someone said and ponder it for longer than he should. It used to be very harmless thoughts, thoughts of funny things his hyungs have said or a scene in a movie. Now, though...

Chenle thought of squeezing a neck so tightly the owner would not be able to breathe, thought of yelling and tearing down flesh to it's bone, and thought of them. Them and their grin as they lifted Chenle up from the practice room floor, chastising him and complimenting him all at once. That was his favorite thought.

Unfortunately, his tendency to ponder these thoughts regularly annoyed his hyungs. They'd be enthusiastically discussing a plan they were to carry out and Chenle would space out, leaning his cheek onto his favorite hyung's shoulder. His favorite hyung also was their leader, and definitely took issue with Chenle not paying attention. He'd chastise him lightly as his other hyungs (+ Jisung) would echo his statement, giving him looks that screamed 'are you serious?'

Thankfully they knew better than to say things such as 'Are you dumb?'. They knew if they even dared they would be on the receiving end of Chenle's rage, being able to breathe only through a tube for a year. He demonstrated this in front of them, in fact, when he flew off the handle and choked a student who made a pass at their darling and had the gall to call Chenle 'dumb' and 'fucking insane' for accusing him.

"Great job, Belle.. but save some for the rest of us, will you? Jennie was practically clawing into their skin looking at the fucker." Donghyuck lazy chastises as Jaemin bashes the boy's head in, while Jeno went to work hacking the man's body parts. Renjun rolled his eyes and stuffed the body parts into a toxic bag, "Jennie should learn to be more fucking patient then, I was itching to kill the asshole but I held back."

"That's 'cause you're a soy boy."

"I will skin you alive, Heather."

Mark reenters the alleyway with Jisung tailing behind him, both of them wearing black latex gloves. Mark was holding his phone in his dominant hand and a wad of cash in the other, regarding the rest of the group with cold eyes. Donghyuck rolls his eyes, giving their defacto leader a patronizing smile. "Why the glare, Minnie? the job's done, isn't that what you wanted to happen?"

"Shut the fuck up, Hae-Heather." Chenle snorted. Mark was the one who came up with these cover names, but he seems to be the one who has the most problems with them. Chenle beckons Jisung to his side and smacks the back of his head, grinning at his friend's small 'ow'. "Guys, I've called the dump truck. We need to be quick." Mark told them, and they abided by his orders.

Chenle smiles thinking of these memories as he watches the car moves into a diverging path from his Tesla model X, foot toying with the ignition. He wanted to watch Jisung finish this guy off, but he knows better. He knows if he goes, the kill will be messier than it needed to be. Plus, he already had his time to play with the guy before this, slowly sucking away at his bank account and his reputation over the course of a few weeks. He smiled with so much glee his face felt like it was stretching to contain it.

'Still, it's such a shame..' He leans back into the driver's seat, the smile on his face absolutely jubilant. The live concert recording slowly faded into the audience's applause, and Chenle wants to throw his back and laugh. It was like the song knew he was celebrating a win. '... I know my 宝贝 would tell me to follow through and run him over.'

Ah, his 宝贝, his beautiful, angelic 宝贝.

They were so, so cute. The cutest thing he's ever seen, the most angelic being to walk the earth. Everything they did was cute, from smiling in glee when they won a claw game, to crying on the floor talking about their period cramps. Chenle felt the need to protect, to smother them in love, just because of how cute they were. He'd do anything for them to show him their cuteness, absolutely anything.

The intro of a classical track starts, Franz Liebenz's Liebestraum. Chenle looks out of the window, savoring the delicate sounds of the piano. "Liebestraum, huh... fate's really spelling it out, isn't it?" He snorts, watching as a glow emanated from the patch of land surrounded by trees. Jisung did it.

He hits the ignition and drives off, the piano accompanying the crackling of the fire coming from the car.