Han Jae Kyung spent a total of three winters with Yoon Na Eun.

The first year as friends, the second and third years as lovers.

What he learned after passing through several seasons was that Yoon Na Eun was always weak to the cold.

While others wore light outerwear in late autumn, Yoon Na Eun had to reach for a coat.

Meanwhile, she disliked wearing thick clothes, so on days when she had to be outside for a long time, she would shiver but endure with hand warmers.

Feeling sorry for her like that, when he tried to take off his own coat to give her, Na Eun would hurriedly shake her head and busy herself refusing.

‘I’m fine, Jae Kyung! Really, really, I’m okay.’

You’re cold too. What if you catch a cold. She might have pretended to accept it, but Na Eun stubbornly grabbed Jae Kyung’s collar as he tried to take off his coat and stopped him, buttoning it up.

Jae Kyung, who was good at distinguishing between fake refusals and sincere refusals, knew that Na Eun really didn’t want it and didn’t push further.

In their first winter as a couple, when they were at the end of their second year of high school, they went on a date walking downtown in their spare time.

Eating together, going to a cafe, walking through shops filled with Christmas carols – it was a rather plain and ordinary time, but Na Eun was happy.

Looking back now, dating Yoon Na Eun was easier than any mission he had ever carried out.

Na Eun never particularly wanted anything from Jae Kyung, and was satisfied just being by his side.

Smiling, conversing, throwing out confessions of love like bait – she was the easiest target in the world, overwhelmed by just that.

Na Eun, who had dressed up thinly for the weather to look pretty for him, shivered again as she walked the streets with Jae Kyung.

Unable to bear it anymore, he finally took off his coat without her consent.

Na Eun was startled as he put it around her shoulders and quickly took it off again, forcing the coat back onto Jae Kyung’s arms.

Na Eun stamped her feet, worried that the cold wind had entered his embrace in that brief moment.

She hugged him tightly, using her body as a shield for him wearing the coat.

As Jae Kyung smiled at how funny it looked with her clinging to him due to their height difference, she took out one of the hand warmers she was holding and put it in Jae Kyung’s coat pocket.

Then she buttoned up Jae Kyung’s coat for him and smiled.

‘Jae Kyung.’

‘I hope you’re always warm.’

I hope you’re not cold. While she herself was shivering, he wanted to kiss those presumptuous lips that said such things while buttoning up his clothes.

For the first time, without a sense of duty.

Just on impulse.

– The scene changed. The lovely eyes looking up at him were covered with resentment. The space enveloping them was not a street of shops filled with Christmas carols, but a dusty abandoned building. Na Eun, crawling on the floor, looked at him. The gaze that had poured out affection was now full of despair, and she squeezed her eyes shut, having thrown away even the last shred of lingering attachment.

At last, her body fell into the void.

He ran madly again, towards her small body swaying lifelessly like a puppet with its strings cut.

Don’t do it.

Please.

You said you would protect me.

Jae Kyung, who had heard such words from someone for the first time in his life, had to cling to her promise that he had mocked, if only for that moment.

You said you would protect me. Then you shouldn’t have thrown yourself away. Even if I abandoned you, you shouldn’t have abandoned yourself.

When he thought he had lost forever what he believed he could discard, a non-existent god punished him.

The emotion he thought he could pass by, could overcome, suddenly became fear and overwhelmed him.

As if mocking him to try and overcome it if he could, it plunged him below the surface.

Love could also be a punishment.

For a thoroughly bad guy, that was possible.

“Haa, haa…”

As soon as he opened his eyes, Jae Kyung sat up abruptly in bed, looking around hurriedly like someone being chased.

The completely dark interior and dry atmosphere of the bedroom was of course a familiar place to him.

He reached out to the bedside table and picked up the wristwatch he had taken off last night.

After confirming that it was now dawn, Jae Kyung ran his hand over the back of his neck, checking his own condition full of cold sweat.

He bitterly mocked himself for always having a fit over the nightmares he had every time. Then, after roughly regulating his ragged breathing, he threw off the blanket and got out of bed.

Taking off his unpleasantly sweaty shirt and tossing it aside, he went out to the living room.

Jae Kyung entered the room opposite the bedroom and turned on the lights in the workroom where one wall was filled with monitors.

He checked the CCTV screens that were linked in real-time.

In front of the house, in front of the academy where she worked, in front of her family home where she lived with her mother. The dry scenery devoid of people in the early morning showed that nothing had happened around.

Even if something had happened, her great friends and that fairly useful guy who clung to her wouldn’t have just sat by. That was also the reason why they left him alone despite finding him irritating.

He knew that anxiety was eating away at him. But even though it was clear that nothing was wrong, he couldn’t bear it unless he checked with his own eyes like this.

He stared blankly at the blue-glowing monitor screens, then soon bent over, propping both arms on the desk like an exhausted person.

This won’t do.

He changed his plan to hide his appearance again in order to alleviate her anxiety.

He needed to see her alive and moving. He felt like his madly trembling heart wouldn’t calm down unless he saw her directly, even if it was eyes filled with disgust towards him. Protecting her completely was the next issue.

‘Do you understand, Jae Kyung?’

The voice of the man who was like a father to him, always showing complete trust, rang in Jae Kyung’s mind again.

‘The deadline I can give you is until the year she turns twenty-five.’

The man laughed softly, as if soothing a foolish son.

‘You must end your rebellion by then.’

The man who had shown leniency only to Jae Kyung, which would have been impossible for anyone else, ended with that stern warning and didn’t mention this matter again.

But Jae Kyung, who knew him well, had an intuition that this was the last chance he was giving.

With trembling hands, Jae Kyung grabbed the cigarette pack scattered on the desk, put one cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

The flame that wouldn’t light properly due to his shaking hands twisted Jae Kyung’s mood.

Damn it. Cursing, he nervously crumpled the cigarette he had in his mouth.

The man, unaccustomed to expressing sincere emotions, didn’t know how to cry and only exhaled rough breaths.

Bending over with his hands on the desk, he shivered like it was the dead of winter, ignoring the warm indoor temperature.

Ever since the moment he caught the falling Na Eun and imprisoned her in his arms until now, Han Jae Kyung’s season had always been winter.

Na Eun, who was sitting in a corner of the cafe she often went to before the final exams and concentrating on studying, made a cold face when she saw the person who sat down in front of her without any consent.

Now it was no longer surprising or scary, just annoying.

“Get lost.”

Jae Kyung smiled at her, who cursed without even asking why he came or what his business was. Then he paused his gaze on the strawberry juice in front of Na Eun and said,

“It’s fruit juice today. Good job.”

Na Eun glared at Jae Kyung, who calmly said he was worried about her drinking only coffee.

She tried to ignore him, but it was so annoying that she couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s your business?”

“I wanted to see you.”

“What’s your real purpose?”

“I wanted to confirm that you’re alive and well.”

He easily revealed his true feelings, even though she probably wouldn’t believe him anyway. Now Jae Kyung exposed his inner self, at least partially, only in front of her.

It was possible because Yoon Na Eun was originally skilled at making others reveal their true feelings.

Jae Kyung calmly asked while facing Na Eun’s distorted expression.

“Are you curious about anything else? Ask me.”

I’ll answer everything. Jae Kyung, who wanted her to have more questions for him, responded kindly.

The previous attitude of Na Eun drawing a line, saying she had no more curiosity towards him in a similar cafe, had hurt more than expected, so he wished for her to have more to ask him, even if forcibly.

Na Eun laughed in disbelief, then touched her ear while pretending to brush back her hair.

After turning on her earring to transmit the current conversation to Hee Won, she decided to try to extract information from that villain, even though she couldn’t distinguish whether it was true or not.

Who knows. Maybe he’ll just tell the truth.

“What’s your real name?”

“Han Jae Kyung.”

He answered smoothly. Na Eun furrowed her brow in disbelief, but surprisingly, it was the truth.

When Jae Kyung was first assigned the mission, he was dumbfounded by the fact that he had to pretend to be a high school student, and also felt uncharacteristic doubt about having to seduce a seventeen-year-old girl.

As a small rebellion against the boss who tried to use him for such a trivial matter, he disguised his identity without changing his name. Honestly, he was also feeling lazy.

Did he really need to go so far as to change his name just to capture the heart of that girl? That was the reason for his arrogance, but now he thinks he did well.

Thanks to that, she kept calling his name. His real name, not a fake one.

“How old are you?”

“I don’t know exactly. The person who abandoned me at the orphanage didn’t tell me. So I’m just guessing roughly. I think I’m twenty-eight now.”

He said nonchalantly. Anyway, age was something he changed every time he disguised himself, so it didn’t have much meaning to him.

Even if he didn’t know well, he was definitely much older than her. Na Eun’s expression darkened briefly upon hearing his answer.

Quickly composing her expression, Na Eun said,

“…What are your plans from now on?”

What are you really planning to do? She asked with the hope of uncovering at least one thing properly, but Jae Kyung didn’t open his mouth for a moment.

He stared at her silently as if lost in thought, then answered.

“I’m thinking about it.”

“…”

“More than that, there’s something I want you to ask.”

Jae Kyung stared intently into Na Eun’s eyes.

“Aren’t you curious if there was a moment when I was sincere to you?”

“Ah, now I know your purpose.”

As soon as she heard Jae Kyung’s words, Na Eun sighed softly and leaned back comfortably in her chair, looking at him. With a rather pathetic gaze.

“I’ve become useful to you again, right? Now.”

“…”

“Han Jae Kyung. I don’t know much, but aren’t you quick to sense others’ emotions? I was naive then and completely fell for you, but are you mistaken in thinking you can do that again now?”

Jae Kyung just silently looked at Na Eun, who had firmly misunderstood that he was approaching her again to use her.

Na Eun laughed in disbelief.

“Stop wasting your efforts and switch to Plan B. How could I like you again without going crazy?”

“…”

“I must really look stupid in your eyes.”

Na Eun, who openly mocked him, put an earphone in one ear as if she no longer wanted to associate with him.

Anyway, there was no guarantee that Jae Kyung’s previous answers were true, and since he was beating around the bush like that about what she really wanted to know, it wasn’t worth talking anymore.

Jae Kyung stopped Na Eun, who was showing her intention to kick him out by her actions.

He grabbed Na Eun’s hand as she was about to put the earphone in her other ear.

She flinched and moved her body back.

Ignoring his own hurt feelings at her shrinking away from his touch, Jae Kyung asked,

“I answered three of your questions, so you answer one too.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at him. Jae Kyung asked,

“Were you sincere to me?”

As soon as she heard the question, she glared at Jae Kyung. Na Eun, who seemed truly angry, gritted her teeth and said,

“You really have some nerve.”

“…”

“Do you think there was a moment when I wasn’t sincere to you?”

She was always honest at every moment. That was the way of love she learned from her parents, and she didn’t know any other way.

“Back then, you were the center of my world.”

She took a moment to catch her breath. Her effort to control her anger was evident.

“I’m surprised you didn’t know, even though I expressed it so much. Aren’t you a bit stupid too?”

“…And now?”

“Ha.”

At his question, Na Eun put her hand to her forehead. She nervously pulled out the earphone she was wearing on one side and threw it on the table.

“Seriously, cut it out. What do you want to hear?”

“If you were sincere to me, you should have chosen me every time.”

Jae Kyung clenched his fist under the table. He spoke with a hint of resentment.

“You should have chosen me, not your friends.”

Maybe the ending would have been different then. Why. He demanded to know why she had unnecessarily put herself in danger by being so smart.

His demand was actually a scream. But since he didn’t let it out, only he knew it was a scream.

Na Eun remembered hearing similar words from Jae Kyung last time and coldly raised her eyes.

She realized anew that he was a villain and laughed.

“You shouldn’t have been a bad guy in the first place.”

Then there wouldn’t have been any trouble for you because my friends are heroes.

She coldly pointed out to Jae Kyung, who was blaming her choice on her.

“It was you who chose to become a bad guy, Jae Kyung.”

After being friends with Seung Joo and Sun Jin for years, she had long ago decided not to give unnecessary sympathy to villains.

She was not shaken at all.

“Don’t push the responsibility onto me.”

– As if a villain has the right.