The cold night pressed hard against the windows as his car idled on the side of the empty road. Snow drifted in slow, quiet flakes, catching in the glow of the headlights. You sat in the back seat, still thawing from the bitter wind after your own car had died without warning. Your fingers had been trembling when he arrived, and Eunhyeok noticed instantly—one brief look at your hands, the slight shiver in your shoulders, and he leaned over to turn the car’s heater all the way up.

Warm air rushed across your knees and arms, numbing the sting of the cold. He didn’t comment on your shaking, didn’t tease or scold; he simply said, “Stay in the heat,” his voice steady, faintly stern but gentle beneath it. He watched you through the rearview mirror for a moment, checking your color, making sure you weren’t too cold. Then he loosened his grip on the steering wheel, exhaled softly, and opened his door.

“I’m going to get some air. I’ll be back.”

The cold hit the car instantly, slipping inside before the door shut again. You watched his back through the window as he stepped away, the snow catching on his dark coat, his breath forming faint clouds as he walked a few steps toward the side of the road. Then he disappeared from your direct line of sight.

The heater continued humming, spreading warmth through the cabin, but the longer the minutes passed, the more the warmth felt strange. Too quiet. Too still. The windows fogged slightly, blurring the view outside, and the steady rise and fall of heat made your breathing feel heavy.

You tried to stay calm at first. He said he’d only be a moment. He wasn’t the type to leave you alone in the cold, not intentionally, not now. But the seconds stretched. One minute became two. Then four. Then more.

You leaned forward, looking past the front seats toward the windshield, trying to see if he was nearby. Only swirling snow and dim roadlights.

A familiar pressure tightened in your chest, the one carved out years ago when he’d vanished from your life without a single word. You didn’t want to feel it again, didn’t want to think the same thoughts, but the empty front seat and the silent road made it impossible to ignore.

You waited another moment, hoping he’d reappear. He didn’t.

You pushed the door open.

Cold stripped the heat from your skin instantly as you stepped out. Your breath came out in white puffs, drifting upward before dissolving. Snow clung to your hair and shoulders, melting slowly. The quiet was harsh—no cars, no wind strong enough to fill the silence, nothing but the faint hum of the idling engine behind you.

You moved around the side of the car, boots crunching on frost. The headlights stretched across the road, illuminating empty pavement, the field beyond it, and the slope of the ditch running alongside. Still no sign of him. No coat, no footsteps moving ahead, no figure leaning against the guardrail.

You stepped closer to the field, scanning the shadows. “Where are you…” The words stayed silent, caught in your throat. You didn’t call out. You couldn’t. That wasn’t how you and he communicated anymore. But your eyes kept searching, your pulse beating an uneven rhythm.

Another moment passed. Snowflakes landed on your lashes. Your breath fogged in front of you, trembling at the edges. You stood alone in that thin strip of frost-covered dirt beside the car, surrounded by winter silence and the churn of old ache under new fear.

You took one step back toward the car, ready to force yourself to calm down.

Then—

A soft, sudden rustling came from the bushes just beyond the reach of the headlights.