Yuri, who had made up her mind, abruptly stood up from her seat.

Though it was shameless to ask him to stay away after begging him to, he clearly said he would wait. There might still be a chance to undo the mistake.

As Yuri looked for her phone to call Jeho, she realized she had left it at home in her haste to leave. She couldn’t just wait indefinitely for Kim Bojwagwan, who might not return anytime soon, and she didn’t want to borrow a phone from the security guard.

But this was inside a large hospital, so there must be a public phone somewhere, right?

She asked the security guard waiting outside to watch Chae Uiwon for a moment and set out to find a public phone. Shortly after, she was able to find a public phone installed in a corner at the end of the hallway.

Yuri dialed Jeho’s number with trembling hands.

Ring―. Ring―.

Unlike usual, the ringtone continued for a long time.

Is he not answering because it’s an unknown number?

Yuri anxiously waited for the call to connect. But in the end, Jeho didn’t pick up and it went to voicemail. Yuri, who was about to leave a voice message, changed her mind and tried calling once more.

Ring―. Ring―.

Again, only the ringtone stretched on.

Please pick up the phone.

Yuri clutched the receiver tightly with a feeling like she might cry.

[Hello?]

Just before it went to voicemail, a low voice flowed through the receiver. For a moment, overcome with emotion, Yuri bit her lip, unable to say anything.

[Hello?]

Just as she finally suppressed her emotions and was about to call out to him…

“Mmph.”

Suddenly, a hand from behind covered her mouth.

Startled, Yuri twisted her body and resisted, but as the strong smell of chemicals seeped into her nostrils, all strength drained from her body.

A moment later, her vision shook and everything became blurry.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Who was that call from?”

As Jeho looked at the disconnected phone screen, Woo Gyeol beside him asked casually. Jeho shook his head and put the phone in his jacket pocket.

“I don’t know. It disconnected without saying anything. It was an unknown number…”

“Must have been a wrong number.”

“Yeah.”

It might sound foolish, but for a brief moment he had hoped it might be a call from Yuri. Even though it was a completely unknown number.

It would be more normal to suspect it might be Minwoo rather than Yuri…

As the saying goes, if the tail is long it gets stepped on, they found someone who was helping Minwoo domestically.

Surprisingly, it was President Park of Moa Development Industries. Though their relationship had soured after turning over evidence of illegal activities to the prosecution, it seems there was some other kind of agreement.

If President Park was helping Minwoo, the gangsters must be involved as well. If so, they should inform Chae Uiwon and increase Yuri’s security.

Jeho called Chae Uiwon but couldn’t connect, so he called Kim Bojwagwan. And he heard completely unexpected news.

“Chae Uiwon collapsed?”

[Yes, fortunately we quickly took him to the hospital so there’s no major issue. But…]

Kim Bojwagwan paused briefly as if moving locations, then continued speaking.

[Yuri also came to the hospital with the assemblyman, but she hasn’t been seen for several hours now. Hyunkyung says she doesn’t know either. We even contacted Yuri’s aunt who returned to Korea today, but she said she doesn’t know. So I was about to call you in case she might be with you.]

“What did you say?”

Jeho doubted his own ears for a moment. Yuri disappeared?

[We haven’t told the assemblyman yet. He just woke up. It could shock him and worsen his condition again.]

“Have you tried calling her?”

[Yuri doesn’t have her phone with her right now. She didn’t bring it when she left home in a hurry.]

“What about the security guard? There should be a guard with Yuri, right?”

[Yuri asked him to watch the assemblyman for a moment. She probably thought it was safe since it’s inside the hospital.]

That could be the case.

Is she perhaps walking the streets to clear her head as usual? Though I warned her to be careful, she might have thought it would be fine since it’s daytime and there are many people on the streets.

The problem is that she doesn’t have her phone so we can’t contact her.

“Which hospital is it?”

After finding out which hospital Chae Uiwon was admitted to from Kim Bojwagwan, Jeho ended the call and rushed there immediately.

“Have you filed a missing person report?”

To Jeho’s question, Kim Bojwagwan shook his head.

“It’s too early to file a missing person report. Only about 3-4 hours have passed.”

“Are you sure Yuri is not in the hospital now?”

“We thoroughly searched but she wasn’t here. So we were just about to review the CCTV footage.”

With help from the hospital, Kim Bojwagwan checked the internal CCTV footage. And they found Yuri wandering the hallway after leaving the hospital room.

She was looking around as if searching for something. And soon she disappeared quickly off screen as if she had found what she was looking for.

“This is the end.”

The staff member showing the CCTV footage said as he pressed the stop button.

“The cameras don’t cover all the way to the end of the hallway. It’s not considered an important area.”

“What’s over there?”

Jeho asked, pointing to the screen.

“There’s a public phone and a door leading to the emergency stairwell.”

A public phone? She didn’t have her cell phone, so did she need to make an urgent call somewhere?

Suddenly something occurred to Jeho.

“Can we see the last scene of the CCTV again?”

“Yes.”

Jeho’s eyes lit up as he peered at the screen.

On screen, Yuri was brushing her hair back with her hand while looking around. A moment later, she quickly turned as if finding something.

“Wait, stop there please.”

Jeho took out his phone and checked the time of the unknown call. It was around the same time as on the CCTV footage. Only about a 1 minute difference?

“Can we find out the public phone number?”

“Yes, just a moment please.”

The staff quickly connected to the internal system and confirmed the phone number. As expected, it was the same number that had called Jeho.

Then it was certain that Yuri had called him from the public phone. But when he answered the call, he hadn’t heard anything. It had just suddenly disconnected.

Jeho frowned deeply, lost in thought.

If something bad had happened right when she called… The fact that there was a door to the emergency stairwell next to the public phone also bothered him.

“Can we zoom in on that scene?”

“Yes.”

Jeho stared intently at the zoomed-in footage of Yuri.

[This is the timeline separator]

“…Mmm.”

Her whole body ached as if she had been beaten, and her head felt heavy as if trapped in fog. Along with that, a chill came over her that made her teeth chatter. Yuri hugged herself tightly and curled up into a ball. But the shivering didn’t stop.

“What? Cold?”

Just then a familiar voice was heard from above, followed by a rustling sound as something wrapped around her body.

It felt like a blanket… But there was a damp, moldy smell. Yuri furrowed her brow without opening her eyes at the unbearable musty odor. The familiar voice from above then came very close to her ear.

“What? Don’t like it? Then should I hold you instead?”

The unpleasant yet ominous tone made her shudder, and her closed eyes flew open.

“…Ah.”

At the same time, a splitting headache struck her. Yuri clutched her head with both hands and slowly blinked. As her blurry focus sharpened, Minwoo’s face looking down at her came into view.

“…Minwoo?”

As Yuri regained consciousness, Minwoo grinned broadly and sat her up on the bed where she lay weakly.

“You’re finally awake? You were sleeping so deeply like Sleeping Beauty in the forest, I couldn’t bear to wake you.”

Minwoo spoke as if Yuri had simply fallen asleep and woken up. Yuri blinked her eyes blankly. Her head still wasn’t working properly. She felt like she was floating in the air.

“Our Yuri, you’re so beautiful. You really are my bride.”

Only then did Yuri realize she was wearing a wedding dress.

A wedding dress out of nowhere?

She was definitely at the hospital just a moment ago…

Yuri looked around anxiously.

It was an unfamiliar place she had never been before. Except for the bed, the room was empty without a single piece of furniture, not even a window.

The musty smell wasn’t just coming from the blanket, but from the entire room. Black mold covering the damp walls here and there caught her eye.

Is this a basement?

“…Where is this?”

Yuri’s eyes trembled unsteadily as she looked at Minwoo. The last memory of someone covering her mouth and smelling a pungent chemical before fainting came back to her.

“…Did you kidnap me?”

“What are you talking about? Kidnap? I politely escorted the bride to the wedding venue…”

“Wedding venue?”

Come to think of it, Minwoo was also wearing a groom’s attire just like her.

“We’ll hold our wedding ceremony here soon. There are no guests or officiant, but we only need the two of us.”

“Wedding ceremony?”

“Yes, a soul wedding.”

Not just an ordinary wedding, but a soul wedding.

“You and I, together forever.”

As Yuri’s eyes widened in shock, Minwoo smiled contentedly.

“At first I was going to kill myself in front of you. But when I saw you with another man, I suddenly lost my mind. Even though it wasn’t Jeho hyung. I thought I’d be okay with anyone but Jeho hyung. But I wasn’t.”

Minwoo’s expression turned vicious, as if the mere thought was unpleasant.

“I can’t tolerate any man. So I realized I couldn’t just die alone. How could I watch some bastard approach you? Right?”

When Yuri didn’t say anything, Minwoo shrugged and continued speaking.

“Now I understand the custom of burying the wife along with her dead husband. Not just until my eyes are covered with dirt, but even after my eyes are covered with dirt, I can never hand my woman over to another man.”

The man in front of her seemed like a completely different person from the Minwoo she had known.

“How dare he flirt with my woman. I should have killed that bastard…”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Who else? The bastard who ate with you. He rolled down the stairs so nicely.”

Yuri recalled the news of Hyun Jo’s accident that she had heard from Chae Uiwon.

To think that Minwoo was the one who pushed Hyun Jo down the stairs.

“Minwoo, you… You’ve really gone completely insane.”

At those words, Minwoo didn’t get angry, but smiled brightly as if pleased.

“Yes, of course. I’m crazy about you. I’ve been crazy since the moment I first saw you. I love you, Yuri.”

Minwoo said as he cupped her cheek. She wanted to harshly brush his hand away, but she couldn’t provoke him.

Yuri had received training with Chae Uiwon on how to deal with kidnapping and abduction. The most emphasized guideline was to never resist the kidnapper. Maintaining an amicable relationship was most important.

When she didn’t resist and remained still, Minwoo looked satisfied.

“Rest comfortably. The wedding will start soon.”

Minwoo grinned and left the room. Then the sound of the door being locked from the outside was heard. After waiting until he had gone far away, Yuri carefully got up from the bed and began to examine the room.

From the structure, it was clearly a basement. The fact that he boldly kidnapped her while on the run meant that someone was helping Minwoo.

Then someone might be guarding outside.

It seemed impossible for her to escape on her own. It would be better to try persuading Minwoo instead. He may be raging about dying together now, but he’ll soon realize the reality.

Don’t be afraid. I can’t be afraid.

Yuri took slow deep breaths and clenched her fists. But her rapidly increasing heartbeat wasn’t easily calmed.

How much time had passed?

Clank, the door opened and Minwoo entered. He wasn’t alone.

Following Minwoo, burly men dragged in a man with his face covered. The man being dragged was unconscious. The men sat the unconscious man in a chair, tied his hands and feet so he couldn’t move, and left the room.

“I thought we should have at least one guest, so I brought him.”

Minwoo said as he reached for the cover hiding the face.

A moment later, as the cover was removed, the face was revealed.

“Gasp!”

Yuri inhaled in disbelief.

Why are you here?

Jeho, tied to the chair, had his head lowered with his eyes closed.