The air around me flickered like cracked glass, bending light until the world reshaped itself. My chest tightened the second I saw the scene forming in front of me.
This day… I remember it all too well.
The memory sharpened, and there I was again—back in that suffocating haze of uncertainty.
The day Han Ji-a was supposed to leave for Seoul City.
For weeks before this, I had kept my distance.
After the kidnapping incident, she hadn't been the same—her hands trembled at sudden sounds, her eyes flinched when shadows passed too close.
I thought… no, I convinced myself that giving her space was the right thing. My silence, my absence—it was meant to protect her. At least that's what I told myself to sleep at night.
But on this day, guilt gnawed at me. I wanted to be the one to see her off. I wanted her to know I hadn't abandoned her, even if my cowardice had made it seem so.
