Haneul could not help but scoff at the remark about his mother being kind. He used to think she was a good mother who was too preoccupied with thinking and worrying about his elder brother, whose custody was with her ex-husband. He used to honestly think that she was concerned for his so-called elder brother's safety.
Even when few people - especially elders around them pointed out her neglect towards him, he was not bothered. She never cared for the son she got custody of, and Haneul genuinely rationalised her actions on multiple occasions with various reasons to himself as well as others.
But Haneul was never upset about it while growing up. But after finding out lots of truth, he could not bring himself to even think about her in any ounce of positive light. And the worst thing was he felt guilty about thinking of his mother in a negative light.
