The Dynamics of Pure Love and Overprotection

#ContemporaryRomance #CampusLife #17YearUnrequitedLove #ControllingObsessiveOverprotectiveMaleLead #SweetYetIndifferentMaleLead #GuardianLikeMaleLead #RegretfulHardToApproachMaleLead #ObsessiveFemaleLead #CatLikeEccentricFemaleLead #TraumaFemaleLead #ObsessiveAffectionateFemaleLead

It seems like the time has finally come to give up on this dragging, one-sided love.

Yoo Chaewon fell in love at first sight with her older brother’s friend, Kang Euihyun. Ever since, she has followed him around and given him her entire heart.

Even though Euihyun knew she liked him, he never returned her feelings.

At first glance, their dynamic might seem precarious, but it was solid and flawlessly seamless.

Until Euihyun brought a strange woman to his birthday party.

Her seventeen year unrequited love was on the verge of being forcibly terminated.

[Preview]

“So you wouldn’t be able to say anything if I dated Jio oppa, right? Since I’d be dating a man without flaws.”

I should have known when to be satisfied and back down, but I tenaciously dug into Kang Euihyun’s intentions until the very end. I certainly had a knack for wearing people out.

The man set down his spoon and chopsticks entirely. His broad shoulders, which made the dining chair seem cramped, somehow looked as though they had been drained of energy.

“Do you genuinely like Han Jio, or do you just want to be in a relationship?”

Kang Euihyun cut right to the core of the issue I was dragging out. It was a good attempt, but it was not the exact question. He should have asked: do you genuinely like Han Jio, or are you just using him as a substitute because you want to date me but cannot?

I glared at Kang Euihyun for a moment. His attitude of treating my feelings as a childish whim, when he couldn’t possibly be oblivious to them, was incredibly irritating. My emotions were serious, gloomy, and heavy enough to drag me down, but because I had spent so many years openly liking Kang Euihyun, people tended to take my affection lightly. The object of my pure devotion was no exception.

“I want to be in a relationship.”

I lied. I omitted the specific words ‘with Kang Euihyun’ from the beginning of the sentence. Whenever I made anything resembling a confession, he responded with a suffocating silence. We were planning to spend the night together today, and I couldn’t let things get awkward again, so I had to endure it.

“If that is the case, hold off for a bit. I will find you a better guy than Han Jio. Just study hard for now.”

“I don’t want to.”

When that cheeky retort popped out of my mouth, Kang Euihyun let out a short breath in disbelief.

“Do you think I am still a student preparing for exams? Just manage your own love life properly. Stop making things difficult for every woman you meet.”

If he would just date me, it would make things so much easier for a lot of people, but the man insisted on taking the difficult route. Seeing him endure that hassle felt like he was loudly declaring that he would never do anything of the sort with me, which only made my heart crumble. It hurt again, knowing he could see the wound he was causing and still let it bleed. The pain from that broken glass earlier? It was nothing in comparison.  

* * *

Romance Guide

Background and Genre: Contemporary, Campus Life

Theme: Misunderstanding

Relationship Dynamics: Possessiveness, Jealousy, First Love

Male Lead: Scheming, Sweet, Virgin, Indifferent, Obsessive, Hard to Approach, Regretful

Female Lead: Virgin, Wounded, Pure Hearted, Affectionate, Seductive, Straightforward, Obsessive, Unrequited Love

Male Lead: Kang Euihyun

A handsome, smart man who is equally kind to everyone but has clear personal boundaries. He knows that Yoo Chaewon, the younger sister of the only close friend he opens up to, has been desperately attached to him since she was young. She’s someone he’s always seen as someone to protect. So what is he supposed to do when, in one single moment, he starts seeing her differently?

Female Lead: Yoo Chaewon

A woman who would stop at nothing for the person she loves with all her heart. She cannot even remember when her feelings began. As far back as she can remember, her life has revolved around Kang Euihyun. In front of the man who hangs around other women while knowing exactly how she feels, she could no longer suppress the dark, pure love she had harbored her entire life.

When to read this: When you want to see a male lead who realizes his previously unacknowledged affection for his friend’s sister, someone he was supposed to protect his whole life, and becomes utterly obsessed with her.

Relatable quote: How laughable. The guy who dismissed her seventeen years of devotion more than anyone else turned out to be the one clinging to that love more desperately than anyone.