Youngi came to see Summer only after she was discharged. She hadn’t called because she thought it might be uncomfortable with Taeseok and his parents always in the hospital room.

“Thank you. It’s really delicious.”

“It’s expensive. I bought it at the department store. It’s from Kakku, not Unni.”

“How have you been during this time?”

“I’ve always been the same. Preparing for the album, playing with the kids.”

Youngi picked up a mango and put it in Summer’s mouth.

“By the way, every time I come, I feel it, but your brother’s house is really spacious. Isn’t there an apartment in downtown Seoul more expensive than this?”

After being discharged, Summer came to Taeseok’s house. Not only Taeseok but also his parents wanted that. It wasn’t possible for Summer, who was pregnant and even had a cast, to live alone.

Combining households before marriage was not considered taboo these days, and adults encouraged it even more. This time, Summer didn’t insist.

She wanted to be by the side of the baby’s father.
Summer’s rented apartment, where she used to live, was cleared out by Jeong-suk, who took care of it. She called a moving company to bring all the belongings at once and placed them in a small room. The belongings also needed organizing, but as she was still a patient, she couldn’t touch them yet.

Youngi happily chattered while taking out baby items she had bought as gifts.

Now, she knew she purposely made it sound worse so that Summer would think only positive thoughts. Even though they still didn’t know the gender, based on Taeseok’s dream of a bouquet of pink flowers, she had bought a lot of pink items.

“Unni, this is a bonding doll. It’s so cute.”

“Why are you so sure it’s a daughter? It could be a son!”

Summer, too, had met a hill covered with countless flowers in her dreams, but she tried not to assert that it must be a daughter.

Just in case. But except for Summer, everyone else said it was a princess. The one she liked the most was, of course, Taeseok. She spent the whole day staring at ultrasound pictures. Even though nothing was really visible.

“Trust my intuition.”

“Your intuition isn’t that great.”

Youngi ignored that comment.

“What if we just have the wedding on that date? Is it possible?”

“I suggested that. I consulted with the teacher, and he said that around that time would be a stable week, so we just need to be careful.”

Although Summer could have postponed the wedding as Taeseok suggested, there was too much already prepared, and she didn’t want to delay it.

The cost of renting a wedding venue alone was a huge amount, and even if it wasn’t just about money, she had already mentally married Taeseok, so she didn’t want to postpone it further.

She felt a little greedy because the baby endured it well.

“I chose a dress that is comfortable and has a loose design. The rest is already prepared.”

“It will be so beautiful, no matter what you wear. So don’t worry too much.”

“I’m not worrying too much. And almost everything is healed. They’ll remove the cast tomorrow.”

There were many things she wanted to do once the cast was removed. She wanted to knit for prenatal education, write prenatal diaries, things she hadn’t thought about before, but it was amazing how she adapted steadily to pregnancy.

“Sister, are you having any morning sickness?”

“It was severe at first, but now it’s okay.”

“You’re such a filial daughter.”

Youngi had completely taken Summer as her daughter. Summer just smiled.

“But you really won’t act?”

She finally asked what she had been worried about. Because there were so many things going on, it was now at the point where she felt sorry for asking.

Youngi replied calmly.

“I will. I will, but something a bit different.”

“What’s different?”

“It’s not that I didn’t like acting; it’s just that I didn’t like it because it was the path my mom set for me.”

After careful consideration, she thought acting was interesting and didn’t flatly refuse to cover it up. Young’s answer was a musical.

“I want to learn musicals. Starting slowly from supporting roles. I want to become an actor who accumulates skills step by step.”

Summer patted Youngi’s head.

“You’ve grown up.”

Shin Min-chul came to find Ji Hyeon-jeong.

Although his face was still smiling, there was no more of his usual ease and playfulness. Ji Hyeon-jeong noticed that change in an instant.

‘I’ll wait for you.’ That word might have been the last chance.
Regretting cursing her out and turning away, he came back. He still hoped for a chance. Now, there was truly not a single hill left to climb.

Contact with some executives, who sporadically shared news, was also cut off. Even the connection with family was severed.

The letter from her younger sister was filled with unbearable curses. It labeled Ji Hyeon-jeong and Kim Go-eun as nonexistent family. She spread malicious gossip, saying not to pretend to know each other if they meet on the street.

It was absurd. This time, luck was truly not on her side. There were plenty of people doing worse things, but most of them shamelessly hid and lived well.

Being in custody, she couldn’t properly cooperate with Secretary Kim, and because of that, she couldn’t double-check the person she recommended.

“If I knew it would end up like this, I should have just had a clear miscarriage. That woman is just lucky to the end.”

Ji Hyeon-jeong smiled with cracked lips.

“Hello, Min-chol. It’s been a while. I’ve been waiting.”

Shin Min-chul said disappointedly.

“You’re the worst until the end.”

A pathetic smile woke up Shin Min-chul’s mind. This was the end.

‘This woman is just a criminal.’

What he had waited for was Ji Hyeon-jeong in her twenties, who might have a handful left.

The lover at that time, who overflowed with more passion than anyone. Even without money, she knew how to be courageous and wasn’t afraid of failure. He had loved that aspect of her. And now, she was no longer in this world.

He should have admitted it sooner, but shaking off the lingering feelings, he had ended up here, so there was no one to blame.

“I came to say our last goodbye.”

“What, what did you say?”

Rolling her eyes, Ji Hyeon-jeong said that desperately.

“You said you’d wait.”

Shin Min-chul couldn’t even force a bitter laugh.

“You shouldn’t have done the actions that make you lose your humanity. I can concede a hundred times, saying that everything you’ve done is because of that. But causing a traffic accident? Do you have no idea what kind of act that is? Now, you’re worse than trash.”

“Hey, what are you saying so harshly?”

“Harsh? Ha. Do you know famous figures on TV? The dismemberment murderer in Majang-dong, the serial killer in Incheon, the reservoir murder case. What’s the difference between you and them? A person almost died because of you. You’re a murderer.”