The air had smelled of charcoal and sweet soy marinade.
Doyun and Chae-won walked out of the barbecue restaurant, their shoulders brushing in the cool night air. He was laughing—a warm, effortless sound he hadn't made in a lifetime. The world was simple then, a series of bright moments and shared dreams. He opened the passenger door of his car with a protective hand, watching her slide inside with a playful grin.
"Wait!" Chae-won laughed, patting her empty pockets. "Doyun, I think I left my phone on the table. Could you go back and get it?"
"Again?" he teased, shaking his head with a fond smile. "Stay put. I'll be thirty seconds."
He turned back toward the restaurant. He had only just stepped onto the curb, his foot barely touching the threshold of the entrance, when his world exploded.
The sound was what haunted him most—the agonizing screech of locked tires and the sickening, metallic crunch of folding steel. A massive truck, drifting out of control, had plowed directly into the passenger side of the car.
"Chae-won!"
He ran. He didn't feel his legs moving; he was suddenly just there, his fingers tearing at the shattered glass and twisted door. He pulled her out, her body limp and weightless, her dress soaked in a deep, terrifying crimson. He gathered her into his arms, her blood staining his white shirt, his hands, and his very soul. He screamed her name into the night air—a raw, jagged sound of a man watching his universe end in a gutter.
The Present
"Director Nam?
"
Min-joon's voice acted like an anchor, dragging Doyun back to the cold, sterile reality of the boardroom.
Doyun's hands were shaking beneath the table. He gripped his knees, his knuckles white and bloodless, forcing the image of the crimson dress out of his mind. He looked up at the woman standing before him—the woman who had just claimed that same name.
The executives were watching him, their faces a blur of confusion at his sudden, haunting silence. Doyun swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. When he finally spoke, his voice was a strange, fragile mix—thin and trembling with the ghost of a sob, yet wrapped in the icy armor he wore every day.
"Ok," he whispered, the word barely
catching. Then, more firmly, he repeated it with a cold finality. "Ok. The meeting is adjourned."
He didn't wait for a response. He stood up, his eyes strictly avoiding Lee Chae-won as if she were a spirit that might vanish—or kill him—if he looked too closely.
The Sanctuary
Doyun didn't stop until he reached the sanctuary of his office. He collapsed into his chair, the leather cool against his back, but his skin felt like it was still burning from the memory of that night. He stared at his palms, almost expecting to see the red stains from two years ago.
The door creaked open. Min-joon walked in slowly, closing it behind him with a quiet click. He didn't sit at the desk; he sat on the edge of the sofa, looking at his friend with a heavy, weary sigh.
"Don't think too much," Min-joon said softly. "Take a break, Doyun. Just breathe."
Doyun didn't answer. He just stared into the empty space of the room.
"How long are you going to stay stuck in the past?" Min-joon's voice grew firmer, the tone of a brother rather than an assistant. "You have your whole future left. You can't keep living as a ghost. Just because that woman's name was the same as hers... you let it break you. But it's just a name, Doyun. It's all in the past."
Doyun finally looked up, his eyes bloodshot and hollow.
"She wouldn't want this," Min-joon continued, his voice softening again. "Chae-won... she would never want to see you in this state. She'd be heartbroken seeing you like this from wherever she is now."
A long silence stretched between them. Doyun's throat tightened. He thought of her smile—the real one, the one that used to light up his entire world. Min-joon was right. He was living a half-life, a shadow of the man she had loved.
"You're right," Doyun whispered, his voice cracking slightly before he pulled his cold mask back on. "She would be sad. I... I will improve. I'll get it together."
The Parking Lot
The rest of the day was a blur of paperwork that meant nothing. By 7:00 PM, the office was quiet, the glass building reflecting the bruised orange and purple hues of the sunset.
Doyun took the private elevator down to the underground parking garage. The air was cool and smelled of concrete and exhaust. His footsteps echoed in the vast, dim space as he headed toward his car, the sound sharp and lonely.
He stopped mid-stride.
There, standing near the exit ramp, bathed in the flickering overhead light, was Lee Chae-won.
She wasn't the girl from the barbecue place, yet as she turned to look at him, the way the shadows fell across her face made his heart stop all over again. She looked like she had been waiting for him.