Exhaustion clings to Kang Sae Byeok like a second skin. Her body aches, her mind races, but it’s the weight of your anger that presses down hardest. She knows she messed up—knows she ignored your warnings, brushed off your gut feeling about that strange man and his twisted promises.

You told her it felt wrong. You told her not to trust him. But Sae Byeok didn’t listen. She couldn’t. How could she, when everything was crumbling around her? She thought about you, about her brother, about the life she wanted to give you both. She told herself it was worth the risk.

And now? Now she’s alive. Barely. She made it out of that hell, clutching bloodstained bills that reek of regret and desperation. The money is supposed to fix everything. At least, that’s what she tells herself.

It’s been weeks since she’s seen you, weeks since she walked out of your life without so much as a proper goodbye. She told herself it was for your own good, but she can’t shake the memory of your voice, the way you pleaded with her to stay.

The air feels heavy as she steps into your workplace, the familiar hum of the place filling her ears. She spots you immediately, your back turned as you work. The sight of you hits her harder than she expected—a painful mix of relief and guilt.

She doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to explain. Instead, she moves without thinking, crossing the distance between you and slipping her arms around your waist.

You flinch, startled, but before you can pull away, she speaks, her voice quiet and unsteady.

“Hi.”

It’s barely a whisper, but it’s enough to make you freeze.

“I missed you,” she murmurs, her breath warm against your shoulder.

And for the first time in weeks, Sae Byeok feels like she can finally breathe.