28 Reasons To Break Up With You

Chapter 1: The Gift of a New Beginning

Kang Seulgi lay motionless in the sterile hospital bed, the beeping of the machines around her the only indication that she was still alive. Stage four gastric cancer, the doctors had said, with only six to twelve months left to live. She felt a crushing weight in her chest, but it wasn't from the cancer. It was the thought of the life she would leave behind—a life filled with pain and abuse.

Seulgi's parents had been out of the picture for years, leaving her to bear the brunt of her mother-in-law's cruelty alone. The old woman never missed an opportunity to remind Seulgi of her worthlessness, and her husband, Park Min-hwan, was no better. A mama's boy through and through, Min-hwan expected Seulgi to serve him hand and foot, and his reaction to her diagnosis was to whine about who would cook his meals if she was sick.

As if that weren't enough, her best friend, Jung Somi, whom Seulgi had always considered a pillar of support, turned out to be another betrayal in disguise. While Somi was sweet and supportive to Seulgi's face, she was having an affair with Min-hwan behind her back, indulging in steamy sessions whenever they had the chance.

After an exhausting day at the hospital, Seulgi was forced to take a taxi home, unable to afford the bills that had piled up due to her illness and her two freeloading family members. She opened up to the taxi driver about her life, her suffering, and her hopelessness. Instead of taking her home directly, the driver veered off course and drove down a beautiful cherry blossom road. "Only when you follow a road to its end can you know its outcome for sure," he said. "There are other paths, and maybe even better ones."

Seulgi tried to pay for the ride, but the driver refused her money, telling her to think of it as an allowance from her father. As she stepped out of the taxi, she felt a strange sense of comfort and a glimmer of hope.

But that hope was short-lived. Upon arriving home, Seulgi was met with the heart-wrenching sight of her husband and her best friend cuddling in bed, laughing about Min-hwan's foresight to take out cancer insurance on her. They were already planning what they would do with the money once she was gone.

Heartbroken and furious, Seulgi confronted the cheating pair. The confrontation escalated quickly, and in the heat of the moment, Min-hwan shoved her away from Somi. Seulgi stumbled backward and crashed into their glass table, which shattered under her frail body. As she lay bleeding out, her life slipping away, she felt a profound sense of despair and betrayal.

Seulgi: (entering the room, voice shaking) What is going on here?

Min-Hwan: (pulling away from Somi, startled) Seulgi, it's not what it looks like.

Somi: (nervously) Seulgi, please, let us explain...

Seulgi: (voice rising with anger) Explain? I just heard you two laughing about how you planned to cash in on my cancer insurance!

Min-Hwan: (defensive) Seulgi, it's not that simple. You don't understand...

Seulgi: (furious) Oh, I understand perfectly! My husband and my best friend, plotting my death for money! How could you do this to me?

Somi: (crying) Seulgi, I never wanted this to happen. It just... it just happened.

Seulgi: (bitterly) "It just happened"? Betraying me just happened? Laughing about my death just happened?

Min-Hwan: (angry now) Stop being so dramatic, Seulgi. You're always playing the victim. We were just talking, nothing more.

Seulgi: (tears streaming down her face) Talking? About how to spend the money once I'm gone? You disgust me, Min-Hwan. Both of you!

Min-Hwan: (shouting) Enough, Seulgi! You're being unreasonable!

Seulgi: (steps closer, pointing a finger) Unreasonable? You shoved me aside like I was nothing. You think I'll let you get away with this?

Min-Hwan: (losing control, shoves Seulgi away from Somi) Just leave us alone, Seulgi!

Seulgi: (stumbling backward, crashing into the glass table, gasping in pain) Ahh!

Somi: (screaming) Seulgi!

Min-Hwan: (panicked) Oh my god, Seulgi!

Seulgi: (lying on the floor, voice weak) How... how could you...?

Somi: (crying hysterically) We need to call an ambulance!

Min-Hwan: (frantic) Seulgi, hang on. Don't... don't die on us.

Seulgi: (whispering, tears in her eyes) You already... killed me... when you betrayed me...

The next thing Seulgi knew, she was back in her office, staring at her cheating husband. His betrayal still fresh in her mind, she lashed out at Min-hwan in a fit of rage. Her fury was interrupted by the general manager, Park Minho, who intervened and saved her from herself. Minho seemed to be everywhere, always appearing at the right moment to save her from various mishaps, whether it was pushing away a falling jug or pulling her back from tripping down the stairs. He even retrieved her lost shoes like her very own Prince Charming.

Minho was a mystery—likable and intriguing. He always had an inscrutable look on his face as he watched over Seulgi, almost as if he knew all her troubles. Could he be a time traveler too?

Thoughtful and considerate, Minho was already miles apart from anyone else in Seulgi's life. He constantly reaffirmed her capabilities and reassured her in times of need, nudging her towards rebuilding her self-esteem. And in 2022, he would become the CEO of his father's company.

Seulgi quickly realized that she had been given a second chance. She had time-slipped back to 2015, giving her a decade to change her awful fate. She decided to use her knowledge from the future to invest wisely and grow her meager savings. She hadn't yet married Min-hwan, and a hospital checkup revealed that she was still cancer-free. She had a chance to avoid the chains that had bound her in her previous life.

But one burning question remained—how had she resurrected in the first place? Digging through her pocket, she found a note with a heart drawn on it. It was the bill the taxi driver had given her, sparking a memory of her late father doodling on a note in the exact same way. She recalled the taxi scene again, and this time, she saw her father in the driver's seat, as if he was giving her one last gift—a new beginning.