Ji Yeon Woo’s mother, Lady Shin Soon Mi, slipped on the stairs and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Startled, Yeon Woo rushed to the hospital in one breath and encountered her mother lying in a hospital room with a full cast.

Her left leg was broken and her wrist had a crack, they said.

“Are you alright, mother?”

As Yeon Woo pulled up a chair and examined her, Lady Shin nodded with a gloomy expression.

“This is fortunate enough. I thought I was going straight to my grave, you know?”

“You should be more careful. How did this happen?”

“Well, I was coming down the stairs when someone called urgently from above, so I turned my head while distracted and missed a step. I almost checked the water temperature of the Samdo River.”

Her mother tossed and turned, groaning in pain intermittently.

Yeon Woo looked at her mother with a helpless expression.

“But why did you suddenly come home? What wind blew you here?”

“Huh? Me? Oh, nothing.”

“What about work?”

“Oh. Work? I’m on vacation.”

“Ah, vacation? You should have let me know in advance.”

“I suddenly got time off, so that’s how it happened. I came because I missed you, mother.”

Lady Shin, who didn’t pay much attention to Yeon Woo’s words, looked up at the ceiling with a groan.

It seemed she was worried about the work she had left behind, as it was an especially busy time for receiving guests.

“This is maddening. I can’t be lying here like this now.”

“What are you saying, mother? The doctor said you need to be very careful for a few months. He said you especially need to be cautious if you don’t want to suffer later.”

Lady Shin shook her head, telling her not to say such ignorant things.

“Even if I need to be careful, I have to go to Domyeongjae. I’ll have crutches, right? I need to go there even if I have to hold onto those.”

“Now?”

Yeon Woo opened her eyes wide. Her mother looked impatient.

“I said no, mother. Didn’t you hear the doctor say to lie still? They said they need to examine your back too.”

“I’m telling you I have to go. If I take an unplanned break like this at Domyeongjae, I’ll soon be retired. They don’t wait for people to recover, I tell you.”

Lady Shin lamented as if she had seen the future. Unable to move as she wanted, wrinkles formed between her brows from frustration.

Domyeongjae had many long-time employees. Even Lady Shin, who had worked there for 25 years, wasn’t the longest-serving employee.

There were quite a few who had worked as long as her, and since there wasn’t a set retirement age, an unspoken rule had developed.

For whatever reason, if you left your position, you couldn’t return.

“If I rest like this, they’ll have to hire someone else to fill my position, and then I won’t be able to go back.”

“Come on, surely not. Even though you were injured while working?”

“It doesn’t matter. Either I find a substitute worker to pass approval, or I have to give up my position. If they put someone new in my place, there won’t be a spot for me to return to, so it’s over.”

Ah. Lady Shin sighed. Then, as if seized by impatience, she waved her hand.

“No. This isn’t the time to be lying here. I have to go. Even if I die going there, I’m going to Domyeongjae.”

As her mother tried to get up again, Yeon Woo forcibly made her lie down.

While barely managing to stop her mother, who kept repeating that she had to go, Yeon Woo added:

“How can you keep saying you’ll go when you can’t even get up properly, mother? Stay still. I’m telling you, something really bad will happen if you do this.”

“Ugh, ugh. I’m telling you I have to go. How many years have I devoted to Domyeongjae, and now I’m laid up like this? No, I’m going. Even if it’s not my leg but my back that’s broken, I have to go…”

Watching her mother, who was even shedding tears out of urgency and anxiety, Yeon Woo suddenly let out a short breath.

Her mother’s concern about losing her job, which was greater than her worry about her broken leg, suddenly came to her as a kind of ‘opportunity’.

Domyeongjae. Domyeongjae.

The word that suddenly stuck in her head: Domyeongjae.

“Mother.”

Yeon Woo grabbed her mother’s hand.

“Mother. You said it would be okay if a substitute worker is approved, right? Then I’ll go.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

“I can become your substitute worker, can’t I?”

…Found it.

“Domyeongjae, I’ll go.”

A place to hide.

*

Domyeongjae was a famous site registered as a tangible cultural property in 1987.

During the turbulent times of Joseon, it served as a study room for scholars, and during the Japanese colonial period, as a school where students learned Hangul.

The belief passed down through generations was to lower the threshold of the house and not block the steps of those who wished to learn.

Although Sung Hun’s great-grandfather had donated most of the land of Domyeongjae to the country, the people of Moksan County still considered it the Nam family’s land and regarded the Nam family as the pride of the region.

Considering the employees and their families, it was no exaggeration to say that a significant portion of Moksan County was intertwined with Domyeongjae.

The people of Moksan County thought that you could meet someone related to Domyeongjae just by going one step further, and it wasn’t far from the truth.

Domyeongjae was the symbol and vast kingdom of Moksan County.

“Domyeongjae…”

Yeon Woo, who had come to her mother’s workplace, looked up at the signboard, unconsciously muttering the Chinese characters neatly written in semi-cursive script.

After repeatedly savoring the name on the signboard that exuded the grandeur of a masterful calligraphy, Yeon Woo slowly lowered her gaze.

She stepped inside, past the entrance of Domyeongjae where anyone could enter for tourism purposes.

Then, red plum blossoms using Yeosong Mountain as their canvas hung drooping, dotting it with red spots.

Suddenly, a south wind blew, causing thousands of flower petals to scatter like bursting fireworks, and the 500-year-old pine tree designated as a natural monument at the center wore the petals on its body like epaulettes.

Passing between the fewer-than-usual tourists due to the rain, Yeon Woo continued to move further inside.

Following the signposts for quite a while, and then the path as her mother had told her, a door separating the inside and outside came into view.

“No Entry for Outsiders”

No entry for outsiders. Yeon Woo read the warning notice and reached out to press the bell.

After the annoyingly loud bell rang repeatedly, a man’s voice was heard.

─Who is it?

“Hello. I have an appointment with Director Moon Ok Rye. My name is Ji Yeon Woo.”

─Ji Yeon Woo?

“Yes. I’m the daughter of Shin Soon Mi who works here.”

─Ah, Shin Soon Mi. Yes, yes. Just a moment.

The man’s voice on the intercom cut off, and after a while, there was a clicking sound and the door opened.

Yeon Woo stepped inside the iron gate and walked for quite some time.

Halfway through, her identity was verified, and only after walking as much as she had already walked did she finally reach her destination.

There was a division between the Domyeongjae open to all outsiders and the Domyeongjae closed to all outsiders.

Yeon Woo looked back at the path she had walked and bit her lip firmly.

Yes. This place is suitable for hiding. A place where no one can find me unless I leave on my own feet.

As if strengthening her resolve, Yeon Woo entered the building.

Into the bosom of Domyeongjae, the secret kingdom of Moksan County, a closed space where she could hide without a single hair showing.

*

─The power is off, connecting to voicemail…

Cha Yun Seok, who had been informed that Yeon Woo hadn’t come to work, pressed the end call button and immediately pressed the call button again.

─The power is off, connecting to voicemail…

Gritting his teeth, he pressed the end button. He tried calling again, but the same guidance message saying he couldn’t connect kept playing.

He had already called nearly a hundred times, but Cha Yun Seok didn’t give up and called again.

─The power is off, connecting to voicemail…

“Damn it!”

Cha Yun Seok, who had honked loudly at the car in front, turned into an alley and soon parked in front of Yeon Woo’s house.

Roughly closing the car door, he headed straight for her house. He kicked the entrance as if to break it down and rang the bell noisily.

“Ji Yeon Woo! Hey! Come out! I said come out!”

Even though he shouted while banging on the door, it remained quiet. Cha Yun Seok briefly scanned the surroundings and then placed his hand on the entrance keypad.

Cha Yun Seok knew the password to Yeon Woo’s house.

He had obtained the password illegally by repeatedly installing and removing cameras in front of her house countless times.

When he pressed the keypad and twisted the doorknob, the door opened. Cha Yun Seok entered the interior with his shoes on, breathing roughly.

“Ji Yeon Woo! Ji Yeon Woo! Hey, where are you!”

Yeon Woo wasn’t anywhere in the two-room space.

Cha Yun Seok pulled out various drawers with angry hands and started calling Yeon Woo again.

During the brief time it took to connect to voicemail, Cha Yun Seok swept everything in sight onto the floor.

Beep─ Connected to voice mailbox.

“Hey, you end up betraying me like this? How dare you run away from me!”

Cha Yun Seok shouted in a high-pitched voice filled with anger.

Hoo, hoo, he straightened his back and exhaled deeply, his chest heaving.

After staring at himself in the mirror of the vanity she would have used every morning, Cha Yun Seok let out a sinister laugh.

Then, in a suddenly softened tone, he continued speaking.

“Yeon Woo. Did you go out for some air? Where did you go? Tell me, and I’ll come get you right away. It’s dangerous to go around alone.”

A flash of madness gleamed in his eyes.

“Call me right now. It would be better for your well-being if you come to find me, rather than me finding you.”

Quickly changing his expression, this time he spoke in a voice with a hint of laughter, as if coaxing:

“Yeon Woo, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, unconditionally. I’m sorry for hurting your feelings and making things difficult for you. I’ll apologize. Let’s talk face to face. Face to face. Okay? Call me. I feel like I’ll go crazy if I don’t see you, so call me. Understand?”

He seemed to be gently coaxing, but then Cha Yun Seok’s expression in the mirror became hideously distorted.

“I warned you, didn’t I? That you can’t escape from me. It seems you took my words lightly.”

Even during the short voice message, Cha Yun Seok’s personality and tone changed several times.

That gaze─

That made Yeon Woo tremble in fear and devastated her life─

That face.

“Fine. Okay. Go ahead and hide like a little mouse, just try it. Hide properly so that not even a strand of your hair can be seen.”

With that face.

“I will definitely find you.”

Cha Yun Seok left the message.