The house that should have been empty was bustling with activity, as Ha Jun and Bok Seon were at the postpartum care center. Heo Yeon A, who had been playing with balloons while sitting with Hyun Ju and her two daughters, suddenly looked at the clock on the wall.

“Ah~ Why isn’t our niece here yet?”

“They left a while ago, so they should be here soon. Come here and hold this.”

“Okay!”

At Hyun Ju’s gesture, Yeon A quickly ran over and grabbed the banner that read [Thank you for being born! We love you, Yoon Woo♡].

“Girls, how is it? Is it crooked?”

“No! It’s pretty!”

“That’s right! It’s pretty! I can’t wait to see Yoon Woo!”

Hyun Ju’s children, Jae Ah and Jae Kyung, who had been playing with balloons and eating snacks, clapped their hands in approval.

The 5 and 7-year-old sisters had been eagerly anticipating the birth of their baby brother, the bundle of joy in their pretty aunt’s belly.

“Great! Then I’ll fix it like this.”

“Okay!”

Hyun Ju and Yeon A smiled brightly at the children’s enthusiastic response. Following the banner, the balloons they had blown up together were also placed here and there on the walls.

Before they knew it, Bok Seon’s small house had become cluttered with banners and balloons.

Hyun Ju and Yeon A, who had been extremely busy filling in for Se Ra’s earlier than expected delivery, finally visited this place to coincide with Ha Jun’s discharge from the postpartum care center.

And before the homeowner arrived, they were preparing for the party and waiting for the newborn baby, Yoon Woo, along with Ha Jun and Bok Seon.

Needless to say, Hyun Ju and her children, and Yeon A had squealed with delight when they received a message with a photo of the beautiful baby named Yoon Woo, a name chosen from Gunsan’s best naming shop.

“Ugh~ I can’t take it anymore! I’m going outside. I’ll wait in front of the house!”

Unable to contain her excitement, Yeon A finally stood up, and 7-year-old Jae Kyung followed suit.

“Oh! Me too! I want to go too, aunt!”

“Alright! Let’s go!”

Hyun Ju burst into laughter as she watched the two quickly put on their shoes and cross the yard.

Yeon A and Jae Kyung, who had opened the gate and gone outside, stretched their necks to look down the alley where the car would come in.

“Wow~ Aunt! That car is so shiny!”

Jae Kyung’s finger pointed at a black car parked in front of the house. Yeon A’s gaze also turned in that direction.

It was an ordinary domestic car, neither cheap nor expensive, but as Jae Kyung said, it was incredibly shiny.

The owner must be really serious about car washing.

“You’re right. They must be a very clean person. They did a great job washing it.”

At that moment, the black car quietly moved away from the front of the house. As the black car left, a taxi appeared, and Yeon A’s face lit up.

“They’re here! Jae Kyung, Yoon Woo is here!”

“Wow!”

While Jae Kyung was jumping up and down with excitement, the taxi stopped in front of the house, and Bok Seon holding the baby and Ha Jun got out of the back seat.

“Aunt!! Great-grandmother!! Wow~ The baby is so small!”

Jae Kyung shouted excitedly, and Bok Seon smiled contentedly.

“Oh my~ Our pretty puppy is here, Yoon Woo shouldn’t be exposed to the wind, so let’s hurry inside! Okay?”

Bok Seon, tightly holding Yoon Woo wrapped in a blanket, quickly went into the house, followed by the excited Jae Kyung. Meanwhile, Yeon A, who had taken out the luggage from the taxi trunk, hugged Ha Jun tightly with one arm.

“Elder sister! You’ve been through a lot! How are you feeling? Are you okay? You look like you haven’t even given birth. Can a new mother really be this pretty?”

Ha Jun smiled brightly at Yeon A’s playful words. She hadn’t quite managed to burst into laughter yet, but she had succeeded in smiling as brightly as a flower.

“Yes. I’m fine. Thank you for coming.”

“Of course I had to come! Ah~ I was so busy with work, but I missed Yoon Woo and you so much! I thought I was going to die wanting to come here quickly!”

While the two women were talking in front of the house, the taxi turned around and disappeared down the narrow road. And a moment later, the black car that had been parked in front of the house earlier was slowly coming back along the road.

However, Ha Jun and Yeon A, distracted by each other, didn’t notice it and went into the house hand in hand.

“What? You’re all going somewhere together? The West Coast Expressway?”

On the weekend, Han Ji Won, who was struggling with oversleeping, suddenly sat up in bed after receiving a phone call while still half-asleep.

He had boasted that he would find Ha Jun himself, but Hyun Ju and Yeon A had been quiet all this time. So he had been feeling increasingly guilty about facing Yi Hyun…

Suddenly, the two of them are going to the countryside together on a weekend morning? This is it. He had a hunch.

“I’ll go myself. Send me the address and follow closely!”

Ji Won hurriedly wiped the sleep from his eyes, threw on some clothes, and rushed out. He drove like mad and arrived at a small coastal village at the edge of South Chungcheong Province.

Two employees waiting for him saw Ji Won’s car coming in and got out of their car to greet him.

“Where is it?”

“It’s that house with the blue gate, sir. The owner is Choi Hyun Ju’s maternal grandmother. Four people went in, including two girls. They haven’t come out since.”

Unfortunately, the small, shabby farmhouse had opaque old-fashioned glass windows instead of transparent ones, and they were covered with what looked like tacky curtains or blinds, making it impossible to see inside.

“Maternal grandmother… They wouldn’t bring subordinates when visiting their grandmother’s house with kids. I’ll keep watch here from now until Sunday evening, so rest and standby nearby.”

“You… personally, sir?”

“Yes. I have a hunch about this. I’m going to confirm it with my own eyes.”

“Understood.”

The two men bowed to Ji Won and immediately got into their car and left. Ji Won also got back into his car and started watching the house in front of him.

A little while later, Yeon A and Jae Kyung appeared, opening the blue gate. When the two, who seemed to be looking for something, pointed at his car, Ji Won startled and quietly moved the car.

As the car came out onto the road towards the beach, a taxi entered the alley he had just left. Ji Won, who had been parked on the shoulder for a moment, carefully drove back to the front of Bok Seon’s house after seeing the taxi that had entered earlier come back out.

“Huh?”

The child was gone, and there were two adult women in front of the house. Heo Yeon A, whom they had been following all this time, and…

“Lee Ha Jun…!”

The woman standing in front of Yeon A, wearing a baggy long dress, was undoubtedly Ha Jun. Ji Won hurriedly took out his phone and took a picture.

“Oh my god! She was really here!”

Ji Won headed straight back to Seoul. Not knowing how he managed to drive, he went directly to the officetel where Yi Hyun would be.

As soon as he unlocked the door and it opened, Ji Won shouted loudly.

“Hyung! Hyung!”

The officetel, darkened by drawn curtains, was silent. Han Sil Jang, who quickly turned on the lights, hurriedly opened the bedroom door to find Yi Hyun lying motionless on the bed.

“What time do you think it is! Hyung! Wake up! I found her. I said I found her!”

Ji Won shook Yi Hyun’s limp body. However, Yi Hyun couldn’t easily regain consciousness.

“What’s wrong? Why are you like this? Hyung, hyung!”

As Ji Won’s hand shaking Yi Hyun’s body became stronger and the body was shaken more violently, Yi Hyun’s heavy eyelids finally twitched.

“Hyung! Wake up! I found Lee Ha Jun! I said I found her!”

“…What?”

“I found her! Me! I saw her with my own eyes. I said I found Lee Ha Jun!”

Hearing the unbelievable words, Yi Hyun tried to get up quickly. However, his body, still under the influence of medication, wouldn’t listen.

“What’s really going on? Are you sick? No, more than that…”

Ji Won’s eyes caught sight of a medicine bottle rolling on the floor. He picked up the empty bottle and sighed deeply after looking at the label attached to it.

Did he fall asleep after taking sleeping pills? When and how much did he take…

He was pretending to be fine, but he was rotting inside alone…

Meanwhile, Yi Hyun struggled to sit up.

“Ha Jun…, you found her? Really?”

“Yes. I found her. So pull yourself together. What would your wife say if she saw you like this?”

Ji Won took out his phone from his pocket.

“Here, look at this. It’s a side view, but it’s her, right? Lee Ha Jun. My sister-in-law!”

“Ha…”

The woman in the picture Ji Won showed was indeed Ha Jun. Although she looked a bit different from before, it was definitely her.

Yi Hyun’s eyes instantly heated up. However, his vision, still affected by the medication, was distorted and out of focus.

Yi Hyun pressed his throbbing head, trying to regain his senses.

“I need to go.”

Yi Hyun tried to get up but staggered. Ji Won quickly supported him and sat him back down on the bed.

“Wait. I’ll get you some water.”

After drinking the water Ji Won brought and taking deep breaths, Yi Hyun, having regained some of his senses, got up from the bed again.

His legs, almost back to normal, could move without crutches. However, there was still a subtle unnatural movement remaining.

Yi Hyun’s heart was pounding wildly. He had finally found Ha Jun. Finally…, his lost love had reappeared before his eyes.

Washing his face with cold water seemed to clear his mind. Yi Hyun, who had quickly changed his clothes, looked around for his car keys.

Then Ji Won, who had been watching Yi Hyun’s movements, waved the car keys in his hand.

“Looking for these, Director? Are you planning to drive alone with your two perfectly healthy legs here? Do you even know where it is?”

“Let’s go.”

“Alright, let’s go! To bring back your wife!”

This time, Yi Hyun’s newly purchased SUV was speeding down the West Coast Expressway.

Although he was traveling the same road he had already gone back and forth on once, Ji Won silently accelerated without a single complaint.

Yi Hyun, sitting in the passenger seat, said nothing and just stared intently at Ji Won’s phone containing Ha Jun’s image.

To Yi Hyun’s eyes, who hadn’t even thought that she might have given birth, Ha Jun, wearing a comfortable-looking baggy long dress, just seemed to have gained a little weight compared to before. And… she was smiling brightly.

“Without me…, was she at ease?”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“How much further do we have to go?”

“About an hour more? It’s a coastal village with absolutely nothing there. There is a small beach, but it’s quite far from there, so there’s almost nothing nearby.”

“I see…”

Yi Hyun’s gaze returned to Ji Won’s phone.

Finally, he would meet Ha Jun.