Days passed as usual, and soon it became April.

It was a spring day when the warm wind carried the full breath of spring, and the campus was filled with lush green leaves and pale pink cherry blossoms beginning to bloom in full.

Couples crowded under the pretty cherry trees for dates, and groups of people gathered to enjoy flower viewing, everyone busy chasing spring, but Yoo In remained aloof as if detached from their world.

Cherry blossoms bloom every year anyway. What’s the big deal about something invisible like love? She only had such cynical thoughts.

“Yoo In. Didn’t you say you had plans today?”

Walking together along the campus path where pink petals fluttered in the gentle breeze, Jae Hee, who had dozed off throughout the liberal arts class and still seemed sleepy, asked while letting out an audible yawn.

“Yeah. With Nam Yoo Jin.”

As Yoo In answered while removing an annoying petal that had clung to her long hair after fluttering about chaotically, Jae Hee’s half-closed cat-like eyes instantly sparkled as she exclaimed.

“Oh. I want to go too!”

“You can’t. You have a photoshoot today.”

“Ah, right. I wanted to see elder sister Yoo Jin after so long.”

Muttering quietly that she hated the photoshoot, Jae Hee deflated like cabbage pickled in a short time.

One day last year, Jae Hee, a theater and film student, declared that acting wasn’t her path and started modeling.

At first, it was for small shopping malls, but now Jae Hee was often the main model for famous brands on social media and was currently quite popular in the industry.

Having heard that today’s job was also an important shoot, Yoo In patted Jae Hee’s shoulder, who had her head bowed low, with a playful smile.

“Watch it on TV.”

“Is that the same? Ugh, should I just ditch the shoot?”

“Nam Yoo Jin wouldn’t want you to go that far either.”

“Hmm, maybe she would. I think it’s been about half a year since I saw elder sister.”

“Well…”

Yoo In couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Jae Hee furrowing her nose bridge as if in deep contemplation, resting her chin on thin air.

Jae Hee, who had been serious alone, heard the laughter and burst out yelling.

“Ah, I want to eat the food elder sister buys too!”

“Then I’ll go and video call you. At least you can see that.”

“What? Hey, Nam Yoo In. You’re teasing me, aren’t you!”

Jae Hee, who was taller than Yoo In, quickly wrapped her arm around Yoo In’s neck and squeezed gently.

At Jae Hee’s voice shouting not to tease her, Yoo In burst out laughing like a child, her eyes crinkling.

The two made quite a commotion, laughing for a long time on the street where cherry blossoms fluttered.

Besides family, there were only two people who could make the pessimistic Yoo In laugh so brightly.

Yoo In, who didn’t care whether spring came or not, didn’t need anything else.

As long as she had her two friends who had steadfastly stood by her side since high school, she really didn’t need anything else.

****

“Thank you.”

Yoo In got out of the taxi almost rolling after softly saying thanks.

Without even looking around, she ran up the stairs at the entrance, cursing Han Jae Hee.

After shoving the whining Jae Hee, who had no real intention of ditching but complained until the end, into a taxi, she was already close to the appointment time with her elder sister.

Resigned to the scolding that was already anticipated, Yoo In sent a message in the taxi on the way to the restaurant her elder sister had reserved saying she might be a little late, but there was no reply, perhaps because she was angry.

“Welcome. Do you have a reservation?”

“Huff… Nam, Yoo In.”

Unable to fully catch her breath, she gave her name, and after checking the list, the staff guided her this way.

The interior with soft music playing was quiet and peaceful.

Walking down a long warm wood-colored path, she saw a neat courtyard with bamboo standing tall among white pebbles.

Yoo In, who had calmed her breathing, looked around at the doors lined up on both sides of the garden, but it wasn’t the destination as they walked a bit further along the path.

The staff knocked gently on the door located in a deep part and softly pushed it open.

Inside, Nam Yoo Jin was sitting at a round table that could easily seat 10 people, resting her chin on her hand with a bored and irritated expression.

“What time is it now?”

“Sorry. Didn’t you see my message?”

Yoo In, who had exhaled the remaining oxygen, sat down, roughly throwing her bag on the chair next to her.

Yoo Jin, frowning deeply, snapped irritably.

“Does sending a message mean you can be late?”

“Jae Hee clung to me, I couldn’t help it.”

“Han Jae Hee? Why didn’t you bring her then?”

“Ugh. Next time, you two meet without me.”

Already exhausted, Yoo In waved her hand in annoyance at hearing again what she had heard until her ears were numb just moments ago.

Then, a face similar to hers frowned and complained.

“How dare the late one get angry. But… why are your clothes like that?”

“Clothes? What’s wrong with my clothes?”

As Yoo Jin squinted one eye as if looking at something strange, Yoo In, who had been fixing her hair disheveled from rushing, looked down at her clothes.

The cotton skirt she had put on in the morning was a bit wrinkled, but other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly wrong.

“It looks like… clothes bought on the street. Don’t you wear what I bought you?”

“It’s enough for a college student to dress like this, what more do you want? I’m not a celebrity like you, elder sister.”

“Don’t be so shabby and wear what I bought you diligently. Change your bag too.”

“I’ll do it my way.”

“I’m saying this because you don’t. What’s with that watch?”

Here we go again.

The luxury goods that her elder sister piled on her every time were just burdensomely flashy and not Yoo In’s style at all.

It’s natural for people to have different tastes, but her elder sister, who couldn’t accept differences, always interfered and nagged every time she saw Yoo In unchanged.

Yoo In had tried getting angry, saying she didn’t have a job where she needed to be seen like her elder sister, so leave her alone, but that human called elder sister didn’t budge an inch and was always like this.

Tilting her head askew, Yoo In said with a disgruntled face.

“If you say one more word, I’m just going to leave.”

“What?”

“Are you going to say more? Should I go?”

“…You’re probably the only one who hates it no matter how many good things I buy you. My little sister, you’re really peculiar, peculiar.”

“As if you’re not.”

The sisters, who had almost nothing in common except their faces, ended their bickering by shaking their heads at each other.

A moment later, as if the order had been placed in advance, dishes of various kinds on large plates fully occupied the round table, and the meal began.

Her elder sister, who had ordered an endless amount for just two people, hadn’t even given a hint that the meeting place was such a high-end Chinese restaurant.

She had just sent the address saying let’s go eat jjamppong, so Yoo In thought they were going to an ordinary Chinese restaurant.

While Yoo In nibbled on chili shrimp, Yoo Jin was talking about the drama she had just finished filming recently and her agency director who was always involved in the gossip.

“A while ago I thought I was going into a new drama, but the director arbitrarily rejected it first.”

“Really? Did you want to do it?”

“It wasn’t something I desperately wanted to do, but the story wasn’t bad. So when I asked why he rejected it, you know what the director said?”

“What did he say?”

“He said it wasn’t my place. That the drama would fail.”

Yoo In put down the chopsticks she was holding and rested her chin on her hand with an indifferent expression.

“Is that director moonlighting as a prophet?”

Yoo Jin laughed loudly, opening her mouth so wide her uvula was visible, and said.

“No. I told you before, right? He may have a terrible personality, but he really has good instincts. But even so, he had never definitively said something would fail before?”

“Hmm.”

“When he said it like that, I felt uneasy too. What actor wants to be in a drama that’s going to fail?”

“That’s true.”

“So after deciding not to do that, I had some free time. Then this time he tells me to try doing variety shows? That bastard. He knows I absolutely hate that.”

Yoo In, who had been listening to her elder sister’s story that was hard to tell whether it was praise or criticism, just nodded vaguely.

The aforementioned director’s story, which had continued for a full hour like this, finally began to see an end as it went back to three years ago when he had entered the company through connections.

Yoo In, who had been patiently listening to her elder sister’s complaints while biding her time, stood up from her seat and said.

“I need to use the restroom.”

“Oh. Let’s go eat ice cream now.”

“Again?”

Yoo In frowned and retorted, wondering why they were going to eat ice cream again when they hadn’t even eaten what was ordered, and Yoo Jin waved her thin arm as if to say don’t argue.

It was obvious she was going to drag her to some hotel and order a bunch of expensive gelato that they couldn’t even finish, like last time.

Sighing and wondering when she had become so obsessed with spending money extravagantly, Yoo In opened the sliding door.

The room they had been in was so deep inside that after walking down the hallway for a bit, she saw a bathroom that was decorated as nicely as the interior.

After washing her hands, Yoo In looked in the mirror again at the clothes her elder sister had said were strange.

“It’s perfectly fine. Just making a fuss for nothing.”

As Yoo In was pouting and patting her wrinkled skirt, just as she was about to exit the bathroom, her shoulder lightly bumped into a man who was entering.

“Ah. I’m sorry.”

“Yes, yes. It’s alright. Yes.”

When she apologized, the man replied clumsily as if drunk.

Yoo In, who had been avoiding anything related to alcohol since Jae Hee’s birthday, didn’t look at him properly and quickly turned her back.

“Oh? Wait, excuse me!”

Yoo In’s brow furrowed involuntarily as she was stopped after taking three or four steps.

As she slowly turned her head back, eyes steeped in alcohol were staring at her intently.

“Let me see your face for a moment.”

“…Pardon?”

“Let me see your face. Your face.”

The man who had been mumbling strangely slowly approached.

As he got closer, the strong smell of alcohol wafted over, sending an unpleasant chill through her whole body.

Yoo In’s voice came out trembling faintly.

“What are you doing?”

“No. Haven’t you been told you look a lot like Nam Yoo Jin?”

“No. I haven’t.”

“Oh, no. You really do look alike! Are you perhaps a celebrity?”

“Ha, sir. If you’re drunk, please go home quietly.”

“That’s not it. Wait, just a moment!”

Why did I respond? I should have just ignored him.

Yoo In, who had been slowly backing away, finished her brief regret and turned around, but she didn’t get far before her wrist was firmly grabbed.

The body temperature of the drunk person was unpleasantly hot, and the skin touched by the clammy palm that was even sweaty felt as if it was dying disgustingly.

A startled scream burst from her mouth.

“Wh-what! Why are you doing this? Really!”

“Just a moment!”

There was a struggle between the person trying to pull their arm free and the force trying to hold on.

Those few seconds felt really long to Yoo In as her toes curled up. Fear that suddenly overwhelmed her struck her brain.

What should I do? What to do? Of all places, this quiet corridor had no people.

As she was pulling her arm with all her might, suddenly the back of her head touched something as hard as a wall.

What is this? Surely the space behind her had been wide open with not even an ant in the empty corridor.

Yoo In, startled, quickly turned her head.

“What is all this about?”

An icy low voice was heard above her head.

Yoo In, having confirmed the identity of what had touched her head, forgot even what situation she had just been in and covered her mouth that had inhaled oxygen with her palm, gasping.

The man in a well-fitted suit on his slender body, with his chin slightly raised arrogantly, smiled faintly only with his eyes, visible only to Yoo In who was leaning against his chest, unable to take her eyes off him.

Ah.

How could such nightmarish events happen one after another?

Her mouth fell open in dismay and wouldn’t close.

She thought it had been completely sorted out and disappeared from her mind over the weeks that had passed, but it wasn’t so at all.

Yoo In could recognize him immediately upon seeing him.

It was that strange and suspicious man she had met at the club.