Su-yeon, with eyes soaked in anxiety, tried hard to calm herself while looking out the window.

However, no matter how hard she tried, it was not working.

The memories of losing friends when she first met them kept coming back, and the past days that were like hell resurfaced.

With just that, every moment of the past Su-yeon who always wanted to escape from Taeshin became vivid.

The past Su-yeon was extremely incapable and powerless.

In the mind that thought she had become a bit stronger, cracks gradually formed, and soon fear began to erode.
Every time, Su-yeon would clench her hands neatly on her knees and resist fiercely as if possessed by evil, putting all her strength into it.

In the meantime, the taxi, running fast, arrived at the newlyweds’ home.

Su-yeon, who paid the taxi fare, promptly entered the building without delay.

In-ho, who was lying lazily on the sofa with a dull expression, suddenly stood up at the unexpected sound of the door lock.

“Already here?”

In-ho squinted his eyes, hurriedly stepping toward the entrance.

It hadn’t been even an hour since Su-yeon hung up the phone and she was already back.

Moreover, Su-yeon had promised to contact him on the way home.

It was entirely perplexing, but anyway, Su-yeon’s return was a heartwarming event.

In-ho stood in front of the main gate with a bright smile.

Then, Su-yeon, who was taking off her shoes, appeared.

“You came so quickly. Did you start right after hanging up the phone?”

A voice that couldn’t hide the joy wrapped around Su-yeon’s whole body.

Su-yeon, without taking off her shoes, slowly raised her head.

In-ho’s lips, smoothly drawn, and his affectionate eyes that never seemed to leave her sight were visible.

At that moment, when she met his gaze, her heart tightened with a tremor.

“Haah…”

The breath, forcibly stopped to hold back tears, burst out, filling the small entrance.

Only then did In-ho, who sensed an unusual atmosphere, quickly put on a smile.

“… Su-yeon.”

He called her name with a worried voice.

But Su-yeon couldn’t respond.

She couldn’t say a word, and even if she opened her stubbornly sealed lips a little, it seemed like the suppressed emotions would burst out all at once.

She would pour out tears and plead with In-ho.

To help her. To save her.

But she couldn’t shamelessly do that.

If In-ho knew her, with just one word of help or one word of begging for salvation, he would undoubtedly stand in front of her, blocking her way, ready to confront Hye-kyung.

Behind In-ho, TK was blatantly standing his ground, so it wouldn’t be easy for Hye-kyung to overcome him easily.

In the end, he might be the one who would grasp victory.

But he couldn’t win over Hye-kyung without a single scar.

Eventually, he would get hurt, and perhaps that would become a fatal flaw in his acting career.

She couldn’t bear to watch him become like that.

Starting from the strategic marriage, In-ho and TK had already been deceived countless times.

Yet, in the end, they warmly embraced her.

So, Su-yeon couldn’t ask In-ho for help, nor could she hide behind In-ho.

Even if Taeshin eventually deceived both TK and Seo In-ho, Choi Su-yeon couldn’t deceive both TK and Seo In-ho.

Out of fear, she couldn’t just stand by and watch them fall apart.

“…Mr. In-ho.”

Su-yeon, who organized her thoughts, looked at In-ho, suppressing her emotions as much as possible.
Just by calling his name, In-ho couldn’t hide the uneasy expression.

Su-yeon tightened her lips and asked, putting force into the corners of her mouth.

“Mr. In-ho, you know, right?”

“…What?”

In-ho looked at Su-yeon with trembling eyes.

Just from that, Su-yeon could be sure.

In-ho knew how to return their bodies to their original positions.

So now, all she had to do was ask him to return things to the way they were, but her lips wouldn’t part easily.

Her eyes gradually filled with tears, losing strength and becoming downturned.

It didn’t bode well.

If she went to meet Hye-kyung with their bodies switched, she would likely face a situation where she couldn’t turn back.

But even as she hesitated like this, time passed steadily, and Hye-kyung’s patience was likely drying up.

Su-yeon bit her lower lip.

Then she forcefully gathered her resolve.

“I have a favor, will you listen?”

“…Su-yeon.”

“I really hope you’ll listen. Just this once, please.”

Su-yeon looked at In-ho with a bright smile.

Tears streamed down her face following her eye lines.

Surprised, In-ho urgently took a step closer to Su-yeon.

And just that much, Su-yeon stepped back.

It seemed like she would collapse if his fingertips touched her, unable to endure any longer.

So Su-yeon quickly removed her lips.

“Please return it to the way it was.”

“…What?”

“Our words. Mr. In-ho, you can do it. So… please return it to the way it was, please.”

Then… I can protect Mr. In-ho.

Su-yeon bit her lower lip hard.

It seemed like sobs might break through, along with the surging sorrow.

‘I shouldn’t do this. If I do this, Mr. In-ho will worry…’

But the tears that had already escaped beyond her control continued to flow incessantly.

“Su-yeon, why… what’s wrong? Tell me what happened. Whatever happened, if you tell me, I’ll do anything, everything…”

In-ho looked anxiously at Su-yeon, unable to find a place to fix his unsettled gaze.

Although it was clear that something had happened, Su-yeon’s crying appearance was so overwhelming for him, who was used to her being calm, that he couldn’t calm down.

In his mind, there was only the thought that he should embrace Su-yeon.

But he couldn’t approach her easily.

Even reaching out with his hand felt like it might make Su-yeon crumble.

“Please, I’m begging you. Return it to the way it was…”

“…What?”

“…Return it to the way it was.”

Su-yeon earnestly pleaded with In-ho again.

With an even brighter smile than before, and shedding even more tears.

As if she could reach him by just extending her hand to where he was, but at this moment, In-ho felt that Su-yeon was infinitely far away.

So it was.

His heart, which had been beating steadily, started to sway with emotions.

In-ho was afraid.

Afraid of what might happen to Su-yeon.

Seeing her so vividly before his eyes, he feared that she might disappear like a lie between blinks of his eyelids.
While wandering through the vague fear, suddenly everything before In-ho turned white, and an unbearable dizziness swept over him.

In that moment, In-ho could be certain.

The way to return their swapped bodies to normal was not merely related to Su-yeon’s ’emotions’ but rather to the ‘fear’ caused by Su-yeon.

When the vision that had turned white subsided, and he opened his eyes again, as expected, he saw Su-yeon’s real face.

She, who was still trembling pitifully without opening her eyes, slowly lifted her eyelids.

Her hidden pupils were revealed.

Looking at him with eyes that seemed like she could cry at any moment, she gently smiled.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“Really, thank you, Mr. In-ho.”

As she expressed her gratitude with such a beautiful smile, In-ho couldn’t escape from the fear.

Instinctively, he cast his gaze downward.

The entrance tiles of his own house filled his pupils.

This was his own house, but In-ho still felt like he was sinking into a swamp.

It felt like a thick pile of mud had engulfed his ankles and soon reached up to his waist.

In the meantime, Su-yeon, who had been heading somewhere, revealed herself again in an outfit with a coat.

In-ho, who had been absent-minded, hurriedly grabbed Su-yeon.