‘You miss me? Did you just say you miss me now?’

She was angry and resentful. As much as she had loved him, as much as she couldn’t forget him, she hated Jae Hyuk.

Arin pushed Jae Hyuk’s chest with all her might. The scent of white musk that had lingered at the tip of her nose faded away.

Arin roughly wiped her eyes and glared at Jae Hyuk with all her strength. Her voice, cracked and broken, leaked from her lips.

“Don’t ever come back.”

“Arin.”

“Don’t come. Just seeing your face is torture for me. If you come one more time, I’ll run away to a place where Ban Jae Hyuk can’t find me.”

Arin passed by Jae Hyuk and opened the store door.

“Please leave.”

“…”

He stood motionless, staring at her wistfully.

Arin spoke in a louder voice.

“Shall I call the police? Is that what it will take for you to leave?”

“…I’ll go.”

Arin turned her head away, not wanting to see Jae Hyuk slowly walking towards her.

‘This isn’t right. Choi A Rin. Get a grip. You should only hate that man.’

Lingering feelings? Love?

The emotions swirling inside her were difficult to define as just one thing.

Jae Hyuk, standing in front of Arin, spoke in a desperate voice as if grasping at his last chance.

“I’m sorry. I know I’m being selfish. But I can’t give you a divorce. And I can’t promise not to come see you.”

“Do as you please. If Ban Jae Hyuk is going to do as he pleases, then I’ll do as I please too.”

At Arin’s sharp words, Jae Hyuk clenched his fists so tightly they turned white. His broad shoulders trembled.

“As you said, I’ll follow you wherever you try to run away to. Call me selfish, call me whatever you want. I know I’m too late. I know that no matter what efforts I make, it might be hard to win you back. Even so.”

“Really…”

As she raised her head, their eyes met.

Arin couldn’t continue speaking when she saw Jae Hyuk’s expression, one she had never seen before.

Just looking at his expression now, it seemed like he sincerely regretted the past.

‘Get a grip, Choi A Rin.’

Arin clenched her fist tightly.

“…I’ll go.”

Leaving those final words, Jae Hyuk passed by Arin and left the store.

Arin turned around. Through the window, she could see Jae Hyuk walking lifelessly towards the car parked on the road in front of the cafe.

Jae Hyuk turned around before opening the back seat door. Startled, Arin quickly hid her body behind the door.

His gaze remained fixed for a while. After a moment, he got into the car.

Vroom. Soon, the sound of the engine roared.

At that sound, Arin hastily went outside.

She didn’t know why her feet were moving. Without realizing it, she opened the door and went out.

But Jae Hyuk’s car was already gone. Arin dazedly chased after the afterimage of Jae Hyuk, who was no longer there.

“Haa…”

She sank down weakly in her spot.

“You’re crazy, Choi A Rin. You still haven’t come to your senses.”

She buried her face. Hot tears flowed ceaselessly down her pale cheeks.

Why did you appear?

Why! Why on earth!

“You bastard.”

Ignoring her when she gave love, why shake her now?

“You should have treated me well when I was by your side.”

If you had, maybe it wouldn’t hurt this much…

Maybe the child would be living healthily like other children…

Useless regrets that couldn’t change anything washed over her.

Arin wrapped her arms around her flat stomach, which had already lost its owner.

‘I wouldn’t have had to send you away like this.’

She realized too late.

Her stomach hadn’t shown at all, and she was told natural pregnancy was nearly impossible.

Her periods had always been irregular. So she thought not having her period was simply due to stress.

Then one day.

[It’s a miscarriage.]

At the doctor’s words, Arin felt like she had fallen into the abyss.

She wanted to believe the test results were wrong, that this was a dream. But the doctor’s voice was firm.

[A woman’s body considers miscarriage and childbirth the same. So I recommend you stay in the hospital for a few days to check your condition before being discharged.]

That all this was an inescapable reality.

After that, living was hell.

She was consumed by guilt over the child who left without even seeing the light.

She hated Jae Hyuk, hated Lady Jung, and despised herself incomparably more.

[I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry for being such an unworthy mother.]

It was on a day when she was gradually being consumed by unstoppable waves of regret.

The day she lost consciousness and collapsed.

When Arin opened her eyes in the hospital, Ji Yun and her mother, Lady Seo, were by her side, holding her hand and sobbing loudly.

They said someone had jumped in when they saw Arin walking towards the water in the pitch-black darkness. And they brought her collapsed form to the emergency room.

Lady Seo added that the person disappeared without leaving a phone number or anything.

The thought that came to mind as soon as she opened her eyes was despair.

‘I survived. Me, who doesn’t deserve to.’

But soon, Arin regretted her thoughts.

[Arin, please live. Won’t you live with me and mom forever? Can’t you cherish your life for our sake, if nothing else?]

Ji Yun had said, sobbing as if she would choke. At that moment, Arin came to her senses.

Was it because of the thought that there were people crying for her?

Strangely, from that day on, her mindset gradually changed.

‘Mom will live harder for your share too.’

Live on. More diligently. Not lazily.

Arin decided to live with the guilt towards her child deeply etched in her heart. But it was still not easy. It was three years of enduring, collapsing and collapsing again thousands of times whenever she thought of the child.

His appearance once again broke down the dam she had barely built.

“What are you going to do by showing up? Regret? Mistake? Don’t make me laugh.”

Memories of the child she lost three years ago and Lady Jung who didn’t even consider her human.

And memories of Jae Hyuk who always coldly ignored her rampaged through Arin’s mind.

[This is the timeline separator]

‘I already knew. That you wouldn’t welcome me. I should be grateful just for you listening to me. Arin has no choice but to hate me.’

As soon as Jae Hyuk got in the car after parting with Arin, he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. With his eyes closed, somehow Arin’s face became even clearer.

Being hated was much more painful and agonizing than he had thought. Still, he couldn’t resent her because the wounds he had inflicted on her were even greater.

Overcome with piercing regret, Jae Hyuk felt his emotions surge up.

‘I shouldn’t say it hurts this much. No. Even feeling this way is selfish, Ban Jae Hyuk. What have you done? It was barely ten minutes for you. Arin suffered for a long time because of me. So this much…’

I have to endure it.

Jae Hyuk bit his lower lip hard as he recalled that night three years ago.

Not long after finding out where she was, on that day.

When he saw Arin walking into the pitch-black darkness, he ran without realizing it.

If he hadn’t been there that day… It was horrifying just to imagine.

When he saw Arin unsteadily walking towards the night sea with its high waves, his body moved first.

He wanted to fly if he could. The only thought was that he had to save Arin even if it meant his own death.

‘Only after losing her did I realize it was love.’

It was a common cliche in dramas and novels.

The same was true for Jae Hyuk. Only after losing her did he realize his feelings for her.

But Jae Hyuk realized when he pulled the unconscious Arin out of the water and embraced her cold body.

Along with a sigh of relief came a much heavier and deeper feeling.

‘That Ban Jae Hyuk loves Choi A Rin much more than his own life. That Ban Jae Hyuk can’t live without Choi A Rin.’

It was a realization he gained only after everything he had held in his hands had disappeared.

For the brief time Arin slept in the hospital, he was able to protect her. With a cowardly heart, he held Arin’s hand and whispered for a long time.

[Arin, I really love you so much.] [I’m sorry for throwing tantrums and acting like a child. I’m sorry I couldn’t love you when you loved me.]

They were words he dared not say to her. He thought it was an eternal sin he would have to bear for life.

Why do humans do things they will regret so much?

After that, he always headed to Jeju Island whenever his schedule allowed. But not once did he appear before Arin.

The first year after Arin left him was a period when he just hovered around her. Seeing her crumble so miserably, he couldn’t bring himself to approach her.

Knowing his presence would only make things harder for her.

While doing very small things to seek forgiveness, like helping Arin’s store, Jae Hyuk felt disgust at his own cowardice but alleviated his guilt.

And gradually, he grew greedy.

If he had one more chance, even if it meant using up all the luck in his life, just once would be enough.

He wanted to stand by Arin’s side.

That’s why he appeared before Arin today.

Her reaction wasn’t much different from what he expected.

It was good. Just seeing Arin up close filled his empty heart with warmth.

‘She seems to have gained a little weight since I saw her recently. I’m glad she seems to be eating well these days.’

Arin said seeing him made it hard to breathe, but for Jae Hyuk, seeing her made it possible to breathe.

As the scent lingering at the tip of his nose made his frozen heart start beating rapidly. It was a faint floral scent. It wasn’t perfume, but her own scent.

As he inhaled that scent, warmth spread through his body that had been as good as dead all this time. He felt alive.

His dead heart stirred.

It was natural for Arin to dislike him.

It was the price for his sin of not being grateful and acting selfishly when she gave him infinite love.

‘Even so, I…’

“Arin…”

Just as he exhaled her name with a sigh, the name that made his heart feel like it would burst just thinking about it, his carelessly tossed phone vibrated.

“Ha.”

It was noisy.

Jae Hyuk turned off the power without checking the caller. Then the next to ring was Director Han’s phone in the driver’s seat. The moving car stopped at the roadside.

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

And soon, Director Han’s troubled voice reached Jae Hyuk’s ears.

When Jae Hyuk opened his eyes, his gaze met Director Han’s, who was looking at him. Director Han was looking at him with a troubled expression.

“What’s the matter?”

At Jae Hyuk’s question, Director Han slightly removed the phone from his ear and said in a very small voice.

“…It’s the elder madam.”

Jae Hyuk stared at Director Han with wide eyes as if to ask what that meant.

A woman’s sharp voice flowed through the speaker.

“Tell him I know he’s in Jeju Island and to put me on.”

“Ha.”

The only people who knew he had come to Jeju Island today were his secretaries, including Director Han. His trip to Jeju was top secret among secrets.

The fact that she knew his whereabouts meant that the possibility that someone among his close associates had leaked information could not be ruled out. Jae Hyuk bit his lip in anger.

‘Was there someone loose-lipped around me? Surely they wouldn’t go so far as to check flight records.’

But Jae Hyuk didn’t want to doubt the secretaries he had trusted and worked with. Moreover, he knew best that his mother would stop at nothing, even illegal means, if it was to monitor him.

‘No, if it’s mother, she’s more than capable of investigating thoroughly.’

Jae Hyuk let out a hollow laugh at Lady Jung, who still couldn’t break her habits even after that incident.

“Mother truly is an amazing person.”