“This is really unbelievable.”

Staring at the card she picked up with a dejected expression, Se Hee sighed.

She thought she had thrown it away, but why was Hyo Jun’s wedding invitation in her travel bag?

Did it get mixed in while hastily packing?

If so, then that too?

Se Hee held the invitation envelope upside down and shook it.

Then, a thin shiny ring fell out as well.

“Hah.”

It was the couple ring she had planned to throw away with the invitation.

At that moment, the loud horn of the Decona cruise ship sounded, announcing its first departure.

As the ship started moving, the sea breeze blew into the cabin through the open balcony.

Wanting to purify her stuffy mind with that fresh energy, Se Hee headed to the balcony.

The port of Venice was getting farther away before her eyes, and soon they were sailing in the middle of the blue sea.

The Mediterranean Sea, which had been dyed red by the setting sun, turned into a dark night sea as time passed.

As Se Hee took in that scenery, a thought suddenly occurred to her.

Her meaningful gaze turned to Hyo Jun’s wedding invitation that she had failed to dispose of.

Se Hee found a black pouch with a heavy weight attached from her travel bag and emptied its contents.

Then she put Hyo Jun’s wedding invitation and her couple ring into the pouch.

“What is the fate of you unauthorized stowaways?”

Se Hee stood up, roughly closing the pouch’s zipper.

“It’s burial at sea.”

Se Hee glared at the pouch with a fishy smile.

Se Hee left her cabin wearing a black dress that matched well with that black pouch.

Though there was a balcony in her own cabin, to throw it as far as possible into the farthest sea, she chose the highest place.

That place was the rooftop, the very top floor of the cruise ship.

As she climbed up high, the moon floating in the sky seemed so close as if she could grab it.

Despite the unusually bright moon, maybe due to her mood, Se Hee now saw its appearance as gloomy.

Looking around, fortunately or not, there were no travelers or crew members in sight.

Se Hee moved to a spot where the sea was directly visible, then checked below to accurately measure the angle and direction to properly sink the pouch in one go.

The seawater hitting the fast-moving cruise ship was creating white splashes.

“Farewell. Forever. To the deep depths of the sea.”

Se Hee quietly recited towards the black pouch in her hand as if giving last words, then extended her hand holding the pouch over the railing with a serious expression.

Just at that moment, the ship’s movement suddenly grew larger as it hit a big swell.

Se Hee lost her balance and her body tilted outwards over the railing along with the pouch.

“Kyaaak!”

Seeing the churning black sea right in front of her, Se Hee screamed and closed her eyes.

At that moment when Se Hee was about to fall into the sea.

Someone’s strong arm quickly snatched Se Hee.

Se Hee, who had been screaming, opened her eyes wide when she felt that what was touching her skin was not the expected cold seawater but a hard floor.

And she was startled.

My goodness, was this heaven?

The stranger who had saved her was a man with perfect visuals rarely seen in this world.

The man’s eyes looking at Se Hee were a deep sea blue color, with unfathomable depth.

“Would you get off me first?”

The man’s cold voice flew towards Se Hee, who was staring blankly into his eyes as if entranced.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Se Hee finally realized she was sitting on top of the man and quickly got up.

As soon as Se Hee got off, the man stood up slowly with a furrowed brow.

“…What were you doing? What on earth were you thinking, doing such a thing in the middle of the Mediterranean…”

Though it was an extremely restrained low voice, Se Hee could feel from his chilly expression that she had done something terribly wrong.

The man glaring at her with a cold gaze didn’t seem to have intended to save her from danger.

So to find out the real reason he had grabbed her, Se Hee quickly retraced the words he had said.

What was I doing?

In the middle of the Mediterranean… such a thing?

Oh no!

Was it because of this pouch?

Se Hee finally realized.

The true reason this man had thrown himself at her.

To sum it up, since this is the pristine Mediterranean Sea, it seems he was stopping her from throwing away trash.

A bit extreme, but!

Se Hee, now wide awake, immediately bowed her head 90 degrees.

“Ah… that. You mean… throwing marine litter, right? I’m truly sorry. I didn’t think of that. I’m so, so sorry.”

Embarrassment suddenly rushed in.

The fact that marine litter is becoming a global problem these days is something even elementary school students know, and she felt ashamed of her own rashness in choosing to sink it at sea.

How dare she attempt to throw trash here of all places.

“What?”

The man’s expression suddenly turned ambiguous as he looked at Se Hee, who was deeply repenting and apologizing for her heinous act.

“Marine… litter?”

The man furrowed his brow as if unable to understand Se Hee’s words, repeating them back to her.

He also looked somewhat dejected.

“…I’m sorry. I’ll just throw it in the trash can.”

Se Hee thought the reason for his incomprehensible expression was because of the trash, so she firmly promised to throw it in the trash can.

Of course, that wouldn’t be entirely satisfactory, but she couldn’t pollute the beautiful Mediterranean with this nuclear waste-level trash.

But the man’s expression was still strangely crumpled.

By now, crew members had gathered all around.

“Are you alright?”

A female crew member hurriedly approached Se Hee.

“Ah… yes. I’m fine.”

Se Hee, who had been naturally answering in English, belatedly noticed something.

Wait a minute… come to think of it, this man?

He clearly doesn’t seem to be Korean, but…

How have we been conversing in Korean until now?

The man’s unusually pale skin, deep blue eyes, and large build of what looked to be 190cm tall made it difficult to say he was Asian.

“I’ll escort you to your cabin.”

The crew member who had checked that Se Hee was unharmed said kindly.

“Ah… um. Just a moment please.”

The pouch had long since flown far from Se Hee’s hand due to the strong force of the reaction earlier.

Se Hee turned around to look for the pouch that had rolled to the opposite side of the deck, messily spilling out its embarrassing contents.

But a foreign man in a neat suit was already handing the tidied-up pouch to Se Hee.

“Th-thank you. Ah… thank you.”

Se Hee, who had received it reflexively, gave her thanks.

Afterwards, guided by the female crew member, she safely returned to her cabin.

Left alone in her room, Se Hee looked down at the unresolved pouch in her hand and sighed.

What an international embarrassment this was.

When going abroad, one should never bring shame to their country, but she must have been perceived as a Korean woman who committed the terrible act of throwing marine litter.

It seems the problem was that she had thought to grandly carry out the sinking.

The execution of the stowaways, which she had intended to carry out solemnly, was completely ruined by the international issue of Earth’s environmental problems.

Se Hee let out a low sigh and shoved the pouch deep into the safe.

Feeling exhausted, Se Hee lay down on the bed haphazardly.

But suddenly that man came to mind.

That man who cared so much for the Mediterranean that he bodily blocked the throwing of trash.

He had intentionally turned his body towards the floor while protecting Se Hee as she fell.

Otherwise, in a situation where he was pushing Se Hee towards the inside of the ship, the man’s body couldn’t have ended up on the floor.

Thanks to that, Se Hee hardly felt any pain when she fell.

‘Who was that man?’

That man who perfectly ruined the sinking ceremony.

That man with exotic looks who spoke Korean like his native language.

Who are you.

As thoughts of the man gradually filled her mind, Se Hee’s heavy eyelids closed.

* * *

“Throwing marine litter, she says.”

Kyle’s gaze towards Captain Marcus was cold.

“But it was a situation that could easily be misunderstood.”

Marcus couldn’t accept the recent situation as just an ordinary happening.

When Marcus received a report that there was an Asian woman in a black dress climbing to the rooftop deck with a serious face, he was shocked.

On the first night of departure, it was a situation eerily similar to the ‘Curse of the Jeina’.

While ordering all crew members to gather on the upper deck, he ran out to the deck himself.

But by the time Captain Marcus arrived, the situation had already ended.

Kyle, who had been personally inspecting the Decona’s facilities with his secretary Dave, happened to be there at that time.

After rushing up there in such a frenzy, Marcus was left speechless as he watched the situation unfold.

“The first day of departure will be over in 1 hour.”

Kyle’s expression as he calmly faced Captain Marcus was close to a threat to obey orders from now on.

“…I apologize.”

The captain meekly bowed his head and retreated.

He had thought he had never lost a battle of wills to anyone, but he simply couldn’t do it in front of this young representative.

As the captain left and the door to Kyle’s office closed, Secretary Dave approached.

“There’s something you need to check, sir.”

Dave showed Kyle the screen of the phone he had taken pictures with earlier.

“What is it?”

“These are the contents that came out of that black pouch.”

As expected of a capable secretary, Dave seemed to have gathered a lot of information in a short time.

“A wedding invitation and a ring… So?”

Kyle’s voice rose sharply at the end, as if displeased.

“Since the date written on that wedding invitation is during our cruise schedule… it might be better to keep an eye on it a bit more.”

“Dave. You don’t actually believe in the Curse of the Jeina, do you?”

“Of course, I share the same thoughts as you regarding superstitions, sir. It’s just… that date is still…”

“Stop worrying about useless things and just make sure the food and beverage warehouse inspection goes smoothly tomorrow.”

Kyle coldly cut him off, as if telling him not to talk nonsense.

“…Yes. I’ll prepare for it.”

Dave promptly closed his mouth at Kyle’s sharp tone and left the office.

Left alone, Kyle quietly headed to the balcony.

The night sea, as dark as pitch, would have been indistinguishable if not for the moonlight.

“The Curse of the Jeina…”

Kyle also knew why Captain Marcus was unable to hide his anxiety.

The ‘Curse of the Jeina’, passed down like a legend.

There wasn’t a single crew member in the cruise line who didn’t know the contents of that curse.

Sailors like Captain Marcus tended to fervently believe in things passed down related to ships.

They were even more sensitive about things that get bound by the name of ‘curse’, like the Jeina which was permanently docked in port due to an unfortunate incident during its first voyage.

About 50 years ago from now,

The cruise ship Jeina, boasting its splendor as it prepared for its maiden voyage, was fully booked for all cabins.

However, just days before departure, one cabin was suddenly canceled.

The cabin remained empty until right before departure, when a female passenger made a reservation on the last day.

Sudden reservation cancellations and last-minute bookings were common occurrences for travel agencies, so no one anticipated that this would lead to a tremendous incident later.

Therefore, the Jeina, with all cabins filled, began its maiden voyage amidst enthusiastic cheers.

But on the night of departure.

The woman who had boarded the last cabin jumped into the sea.

Several crew members desperately tried to rescue the passenger who had jumped into the water, but rescue operations in the dark sea were not easy.

The rescue was delayed, and in the end, the woman was found dead.

After that, every time the Jeina set sail, there would be incidents of female passengers jumping overboard.

Moreover, all those who jumped were found dead.

As these incidents repeated, unsavory rumors began to circulate.

Rumors were spreading by word of mouth.

‘The cursed Jeina.’

‘A ship that takes human lives as sacrifices every time it sails.’

The rumors spread in an instant, and soon neither passengers nor crew members wanted to board the Jeina.

The cruise ship Jeina, which no one visited anymore, was permanently docked at the port where it had its first departure, bearing the dishonor of being cursed.

From that incident on, it became an unwritten rule to never accept guests for cabins canceled right before the first departure.

To avoid the curse of the Jeina.

But as fate would have it, the same situation occurred on the Decona, which was about to have its maiden voyage.

Room 1305, suddenly canceled.

And a female passenger who booked a cabin alone just before departure.

Captain Marcus protested, demanding immediate cancellation.

But Kyle did not comply.

Fortunately, unlike the worries of Captain Marcus and all the Decona’s crew, today’s incident ended as just a mishap.

Kyle’s gaze turned towards empty space.

“…A curse in this day and age. I don’t believe in such superstitions. Don’t you agree?”