Thump, thump. Her heart pounded fast and fiercely as if it would jump out of her chest.

The high waves of tension and fear she had tried hard to endure crashed over A Rin the moment she walked out the door.

She couldn’t breathe, and her body felt difficult to move as if it wasn’t her own.

A Rin quickly headed towards the elevator.

‘There’s no time to be like this. I need to get out quickly.’

Afraid that Lady Jung might chase after her, A Rin gritted her teeth and forcibly moved her trembling legs.

Ding.

The elevator that arrived just in time had quite a few people in it.

‘It’s okay now.’

Lady Jung was someone who was extremely conscious of others’ reputations and gazes. Unless there was no one around, as long as there were many people, there would be no chance of being in the same space as Lady Jung unless she walked on her own feet like earlier.

Her stiffened body seemed to slowly relax.

After that, only after reminding herself several times that it was okay did A Rin finally manage to breathe.

‘You decided to become strong, didn’t you? You decided to show them that you’re no longer the Choi A Rin of the past, didn’t you?’

In fact, she couldn’t remember what she had said to Lady Jung. She had only been anxious to somehow find a gap in Lady Jung’s armor, with the thought that she didn’t want to be foolishly taken advantage of, that she didn’t want to be trampled on like in the past.

‘…I did the right thing, right?’

A Rin thought, looking at her trembling fingers. But she was still anxious.

‘This time, I used my elder brother as an excuse to somehow escape the situation today, but there’s no guarantee it will be like this next time.’

A Rin thought she knew Lady Jung better than anyone. Lady Jung would not give up easily. The thought that it would be a difficult fight from now on made A Rin sigh.

“Haa.”

She turned her hand over and looked down at the deep nail marks on her palm. It was evidence of her fear and terror towards Lady Jung, and her own desperate struggle to overcome it.

‘Why won’t you leave me alone now after all this time? I’ve… only just barely been able to live. Please leave me be.’

It was a life that had finally stabilized after three years of terrible effort.

She hated the people who were irresponsibly shaking up her life now.

‘My elder brother who suddenly clings to me asking me to come back when he never paid attention to me before, and the lady who threatens me because my elder brother won’t listen – they’re all selfish.’

Because it was an old love, it was true that she hadn’t been able to completely push out her feelings for Jae Hyuk from her heart yet, but that didn’t lead to wanting to stand by his side again.

She didn’t want to get entangled.

‘Never again… I don’t want to cry.’

Swallowing the emotions welling up in her throat, A Rin stepped out of the elevator.

[This is the timeline separator]

A few days later on Saturday.

Before leaving to catch an evening flight, A Rin called Kyung Sook.

[The number you have dialed is not in service…]

“What the…”

The phone number was no longer in service. The number that had a dial tone until a few days ago was now saying it was not a valid number.

She had left a voice message and even a text message…

A Rin was dumbfounded.

“Why is it saying it’s not a valid number…”

Baffled, she checked the number and called again.

[The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check the number and call again.]

But the words she heard were the same.

A Rin’s heart sank.

Bad thoughts scrambled through her mind. The sprout of anxiety that had begun to grow deep in her heart quickly took root.

“What’s going on?”

A Rin stared blankly at the cell phone in her hand for a long time, the situation having slipped out of her grasp.

How long had she been like that?

As if she had thought of something, she clapped her palms together.

“Aunt Ju Young.”

She had thought of someone who might know Kyung Sook’s whereabouts.

Ju Young was Kyung Sook’s close friend and the only person who could tell her about Kyung Sook.

“I think I wrote down Aunt’s phone number somewhere.”

A Rin rummaged through the diary in her bag.

“Here it is.”

Saturn.

00-0000-0000

It was the store Ju Young had run for a long time.

“She’s probably still running it, right?”

Suppressing the anxious thought that Ju Young might have closed the store, A Rin pressed the call button.

The dial tone rang. Along with it, A Rin’s heart also pounded rapidly.

After a while.

[Yes, this is Saturn.]

The familiar voice came through the speaker.

Only then did A Rin feel relieved.

“Auntie, it’s me, A Rin! How have you been?”

A Rin raised her voice in joy.

[Oh, A Rin.]

But Ju Young’s reaction, which A Rin had expected to welcome her gladly, was a little strange.

Since they lived close by, they used to visit each other often. They were close enough for A Rin to call her auntie when she was young, and Ju Young even gave her pocket money before her marriage, pitying her.

[Oh, Auntie has been doing well.]

A Rin was taken aback by Ju Young’s reaction, which was different from what she expected.

But she had to ask about Kyung Sook, so she continued as if nothing was wrong.

[How have you been, A Rin?]

“I’ve been doing well. Are you in good health?”

[Yes, I’m healthy.]

“Auntie, by the way, do you happen to know where my mother is?”

Ju Young, who had been speaking softly and quietly the whole time, raised her voice.

[Huh? Your mom?]

“Yes, I came to Seoul, but the place my mother told me about…”

[What? Seoul? Why? Didn’t you go to Jeju Island?]

A Rin noticed Ju Young’s voice tremble slightly.

She instinctively sensed that there was something she didn’t know in her mind.

“I’m here for an unnie friend’s wedding.”

[…Oh.]

“Auntie, actually, I contacted you because I have something to ask.”

‘I’m glad I contacted Aunt Ju Young. She might know. About what’s going on with my mother.’

Convinced, A Rin asked straightforwardly without beating around the bush.

[…Okay, what is it?]

“To be honest, I went to the address my mother gave me yesterday, but someone else was living there. You know, don’t you? Where she is.”

[…A Rin.]

“My mother and father are hiding something from me, aren’t they?”

A Rin felt strange asking an outsider about her family’s business.

“The person living there said they had been there for a long time. That means my mother never lived in that house. Auntie.”

Ju Young kept her mouth firmly shut at A Rin’s question.

“You’re the only one I can ask, Auntie. Yesterday when I called my mother and father, even though they didn’t pick up, it still rang. But when I called today, it said the number doesn’t exist.”

[What? The number doesn’t exist?]

“…Yes.”

Ju Young, who had only been listening to A Rin’s words, raised her voice. But that was it. The silence continued for a long time. A Rin waited patiently for Ju Young to open her mouth.

[I don’t know.]

But A Rin felt disappointment bloom in her heart at the answer.

“Auntie.”

Still, she couldn’t give up.

It was clear there was something. And the fastest and most accurate way to find out was through Ju Young.

[…I don’t know. And even if I did, I can’t tell you. I’m sorry, A Rin.]

Because she was sure there was something she didn’t know.

“Auntie, it’s been over five years since I last saw my father. If you know, please help me. You’re the only one I can ask.”

Ju Young let out a deep sigh. As the thought that she was the only one who could tell her where her family was grew stronger, she clung to her even more.

‘If I go back to Jeju Island like this, I think it will be even harder to find where my family is. Auntie might not pick up the phone.’

“Auntie, I’m scared and afraid like back then, thinking my mother abandoned me.”

[…A Rin.]

Ju Young had helped her in the past too.

‘That incident still remains as a trauma. And the one who knows that best is Aunt Ju Young…’

She knew it was cowardly. But she thought this was the only way to get Ju Young to open her tightly shut mouth. A Rin put the past wounds she had tried not to think about into her own words.

“Back then too, you held my hand and took me there, didn’t you?”

[Haa.]

A shallow sigh from Ju Young came through the speaker.

“If it weren’t for you, Auntie, I would have kept crying there.”

[I’m sorry. Even if I want to tell you, your mom…]

“Please, Auntie. Can’t you think about how I feel asking you about my family’s business? I went to see my family, but they said someone else was living there. I couldn’t think of anything. Where did they go without telling me anything? Am I not family?”

She felt cowardly and miserable, wielding the other person’s emotions as a weapon.

[I don’t know either.]

“At first, I tried to think positively, that my mother didn’t tell me because I was in a difficult situation and she was thinking of me. But even now, she’s not telling me anything. I’m sorry for asking too much, Auntie. But you’re really the only one I can ask.”

And that method was very effective.

Ju Young, who had cherished A Rin since she was young, softened at her persistent request. After another long silence, Ju Young opened her mouth.

[Okay. What wrong have you done? Why are they hiding it like that?]

“Is there something I’m not supposed to know?”

[I might get scolded by Kyung Sook, but I can’t help it. Even a daughter you brought is still a daughter.]

“…”

It was something Ju Young had blurted out unconsciously. She didn’t correct her action, as if she didn’t know what she had let slip.

Of course, as Kyung Sook’s closest friend, it was natural for Ju Young to know about ‘that fact’.

However, the words ‘a daughter you brought’ still pierced her heart like a dagger.

‘No. I don’t have time to be sad about this right now. First, I need to find out where my mother and father are.’

A Rin shook her head vigorously from side to side to shake off the distracting thoughts.

She tried not to be swallowed up by the darkness that had long taken root deep in her heart and ate away at her whenever she was weak.

A moment later, at the words that came out of Ju Young’s mouth, A Rin couldn’t think of anything else even if she tried.

[Your father… has pancreatic cancer.]

“…Pancreatic cancer?”

[Yes.]

A Rin couldn’t think at all.

Her heart pounded irregularly like crazy with anxiety.

“What, cancer?”

Her father had cancer?

A Rin couldn’t shut her mouth from the shock.

On top of that, she felt both disappointed and an indescribable emotion at why they didn’t contact her when such a big thing happened.

“How is my father now? Is he very unwell? Why didn’t you contact me when such a thing happened…”

[He’s okay now. I think they were in a state of panic back then. Don’t misunderstand thinking Kyung Sook intentionally didn’t contact you. At that time, he was in a pretty serious condition that threatened his life.]

“He’s okay now?”

[I visited not long ago, and his face looked better.]

“…That’s a relief.”

She was shocked by the fact that it was cancer, and a small sense of relief washed over her that he was okay now.

But it wasn’t the end.

[If it weren’t for your husband, it could have been really bad.]

“…My husband, you say?”

[At first, he said he was going to find your mother-in-law, but something must have come up in the middle, so he asked your husband for help.]

“…What?”

[In a way, going to your husband was a godsend.]

Husband…?

The moment she heard those words, A Rin’s mind went blank.