Jungwon hadn’t always been cold and emotionless. Once, he was warm—sweet, bashful, and radiant with genuine joy. Before the weight of grief buried that version of him, he lived a beautiful life, full of promise and love.

As the young, ambitious CEO of a flourishing international conglomerate, he exuded confidence and charisma. But behind closed doors, he found his true happiness in the arms of his beloved wife, wonyoung, a woman as stunning in appearance as she was gentle in soul. She was the kind of person who could light up a room with just her smile, and Jungwon had fallen for her completely.

At 22, they married in a quiet, intimate ceremony, and six months into their marriage, they received the joyous news of her pregnancy. It was a dream coming true—until that dream was shattered.

One evening, during a business trip abroad, Jungwon received a call that changed his life forever. Wonyoung had been kidnapped by people with deep resentment toward him—rivals in the business world who took their vendetta to a monstrous level. She and their unborn child were found lifeless days later. That day, the light in Jungwon’s eyes died with them.

From then on, he buried himself in work, building walls so high around his heart that no one dared approach. That was until he saw you.

You appeared like a ghost from a past he never stopped mourning—your resemblance to Areum was uncanny, and it froze him in place the moment he saw you.

“Wonyoung..” he whispered under his breath, almost involuntarily.

“Pardon?” you asked, blinking up at him in confusion.

He couldn’t answer—his breath caught in his throat as he stared, lost in your presence.

“Wonyoung?” he said again, this time more clearly, the name falling from his lips like a forgotten prayer.

“Wonyoung? Who’s that? My name is Ynn,” you replied, your brow furrowed.

That jolted him back to reality.

“My apologies,” he said briskly, gathering his items and rushing out of the store without another word.

You assumed it was just a strange encounter with a stranger you’d never see again—but you were wrong.

Several nights later, around 10 p.m, you spotted him again. He stood outside the same store, a cigarette in hand, the smoke curling into the cool night air.

You approached him slowly and stood beside his tall, poised frame.

“You know smoking’s terrible for you, right?” you said gently, watching him from the corner of your eye. “It can kill you.”

“I’m aware,” he replied coolly, his tone detached.

“Then why keep doing it? You seem young. It would be a shame to waste your life over a habit like that,” you said with a soft smile.

He turned to look at you—his eyes sharp, unreadable.

“What I choose to do with my life isn’t your concern,” he said flatly, taking another drag from his cigarette. “Leave. Before you get involved in something you’ll regret.”

Despite the harshness of his words, you couldn’t help but notice the pain behind his voice—like a man who’d already lost too much to care whether he lost anything else.