There is a skybridge connecting Wing A and Wing B on the 4th floor of Yeonrim Hospital.

Above that skybridge is a high arched ceiling made of transparent glass, creating an atmosphere like an outdoor terrace.

It was when I took a step towards the skybridge.

The fully bloomed pink cherry trees formed a magnificent sight stretching from the hill path behind to under the bridge. It even created the illusion of walking on a cherry blossom path.

“Wow, it’s really pretty.”

Eun Jae stopped in her tracks and leaned her arms on the safety railing of the bridge. And she gazed at the pink flower rain fluttering in the wind as if mesmerized.

The gentle spring breeze ruffled Eun Jae’s hair. When she closed her eyes and felt the wind, she could even smell the sweet scent of flowers.

It felt like a dream.

I finally escaped from that dark, cramped rat hole.

Now it felt real. It felt like everything that had been blocking her chest like a rock was gone. It seemed like stability had finally come to her heart, which had always lived feeling chased by something.

“Ji Eun Jae.”

It was a voice similar to the flower scent that brushed her nose. Eun Jae slowly opened her closed eyes. And she looked up at the man standing in front of her.

This is all thanks to this person in front of me.

The man’s face, which looked as if a filter had been applied, felt so unreal.

The sunlight pouring behind the man sparkled so dazzlingly that Eun Jae couldn’t look at him any longer and bowed her head deeply.

“When did you arrive?”

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No. I was just looking at the flowers.”

As Eun Jae answered while avoiding his gaze, Sun Woo asked, leaning his arms on the safety railing in the same posture as Eun Jae.

“Have you eaten lunch?”

“I was planning to eat later. What about you… Sun Woo?”

She seemed to have almost called him “teacher” but caught herself. A faint laugh came from the man’s mouth.

“Me too, later.”

It was too close. Perhaps because they were leaning on the safety railing, their eye levels were the same.

When he spoke his last words, she felt him turn his head in her direction, so she tried her hardest not to look at him even more.

“Are you done looking? We can stay longer if you like.”

“No, it’s fine.”

At that moment, the man’s large hand created a shadow on Eun Jae’s face. That hand reached out over Eun Jae’s head.

Eun Jae unconsciously bowed her head deeply. She could feel the man’s fingers tickling as they brushed over her head.

When she raised her head belatedly, a cherry blossom petal that had escaped the man’s hand was fluttering down under the bridge.

“Shall we go then?”

The man stood up straight, smiling. At first, he seemed to walk ahead, but soon he was gradually matching his pace to Eun Jae’s.

The man silently snatched the luggage in her hand, so Eun Jae couldn’t even refuse saying it was fine.

On the way from the skybridge to the man’s space, more than ten people greeted Sun Woo, and Eun Jae followed Sun Woo in exchanging awkward greetings with people she was seeing for the first time.

Eun Jae, who entered Sun Woo’s professor’s office together, looked around the man’s space.

It was exactly as she had imagined in her mind. The epitome of neat and tidy.

Sun Woo gestured to Eun Jae to sit on the sofa. As Eun Jae sat on the sofa, Sun Woo asked while putting down the luggage Eun Jae had brought on the table.

“What’s this?”

“The cheesecake from yesterday.”

Eun Jae took out a sealed container from her eco bag. When she opened the lid of the container with a click, two pieces of cheesecake were neatly placed inside.

Handing Sun Woo a fork neatly wrapped in gauze, Eun Jae said,

“It was really delicious. I thought it was too good to eat alone, so I brought it. Have you tried this?”

Eun Jae gently pushed the sealed container with the cheesecake towards Sun Woo.

In response to Eun Jae’s question, Sun Woo picked up the fork and answered,

“It’s my first time too.”

[This is the timeline separator]

While flipping through the chart, Hye Ji asked the nurse standing next to her,

“When will the Lab (blood and urine test) results for patient Lee Seok Jung be out?”

“I’ll contact the pathology department.”

As soon as Hye Ji finished speaking, the nurse answered and returned to the desk to pick up the receiver.

Next to Hye Ji, who was constantly flipping through the chart, the nurse who had just finished the call placed two large hallabong oranges.

“The results will be out in the afternoon. Professor Yoon’s mother visited this morning, and since it’s in season, the taste is exquisite.”

The plump and pretty hallabong oranges entered Hye Ji’s view. That thought naturally led to the hallabong sorbet that Sun Woo used to like.

The hallabong sorbet that made even Hye Ji, who never cared for sour tastes, become a fan. It was so sour when eating alone, but it tasted sweet when eating face to face with you.

“Thank you.”

You jerk. Even so, how could you leave someone like that.

Just thinking about that day made her face turn red with shame.

Since that day, whenever she encountered Sun Woo, she pretended to be nonchalant towards him, but Sun Woo’s attitude became colder than before.

As if to say, I won’t give you any chance, so don’t even stay by my side as a friend anymore.

She was about to turn her gaze back to the chart with a bitter smile when another nurse sitting there said while flipping through a chart, as if talking to herself,

“Professor Yoon seems to have a lot of visitors today.”

“Why? Who else came?”

Her ears kept perking up at the conversation between the nurses.

“This nurse said she saw Professor Yoon with some woman.”

At those words, Hye Ji’s finger, which had been quietly flipping through the chart, stopped in its tracks.

Just then, a man walking towards the desk with a chart added to the conversation. It was Jung Hee Won, a neurosurgeon.

“Ah, I saw them too. Who was she?”

“If even Dr. Jung saw them, it must be true.”

“It didn’t seem like an ordinary relationship. You know I have good instincts, right?”

What could have been dismissed as a rumor became a fact as Hee Won added weight to the story.

“Who was that visitor looking for Dr. Jung this morning? He was really handsome.”

“Ah, Seo Woo Kyung? He’s been here once before.”

“That kind of thing isn’t a flaw these days.”

“Wake up, he has a girlfriend. And she’s extremely pretty.”

Amidst the cheerful conversation filled with laughter, Hye Ji was clutching the chart that had been stuck on one page for a while. The more force she applied, the more crumpled the edge of the paper became.

“I thought I’d never see her again, but it seems her mind has changed.”

“I quite liked her.”

Could it be that woman?

How did that woman so quickly gain Sun Woo’s heart, which Hye Ji couldn’t obtain despite staying by his side for 13 years?

She felt unsettled. She kept wondering what kind of woman she was.

It was then. Feeling a silhouette quickly approaching the desk area, Hye Ji briefly looked up and made eye contact with the approaching man.

“Hello, elder sister.”

It was Yoon Tae Gyu. The blue-toned shirt and black slacks suited him well. Tae Gyu raised his hand to greet Hye Ji with a welcoming face. His smiling eyes curved downwards.

Is this a family trait?

It wasn’t a common sight, but occasionally when Sun Woo smiled brightly, it made her smile too. His long eye corners would slightly droop, leaving only thin crescent moons. She remembered being mesmerized by how pretty that look was at first.

If only that smile was directed solely at me.

“Aren’t you off today?”

“I am, but I came to see Yoon Sun Woo.”

You? Suddenly? To see Sun Woo? Hye Ji, who knew their relationship all too well, snorted and buried her head back into the chart. While flipping through the chart with the pen in her hand, she said,

“Professor Yoon isn’t here right now.”

“He’s not?”

It wasn’t a kind tone of voice giving information.

Tae Gyu, who was heading towards Sun Woo’s professor’s office past Hye Ji, stopped in his tracks and rubbed his face with his large hand as if bewildered. Then he came back to Hye Ji’s side.

Hye Ji quietly spoke to the approaching Tae Gyu, as if whispering,

“It’s Professor. Don’t address him so casually, especially in the hospital.”

“Okay, okay.”

One of the nurses at the desk approached and put a hallabong orange in Tae Gyu’s hand, saying,

“He should be in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). He said he was going to check on a patient who had surgery yesterday.”

“I heard he came with some woman? Does Nurse Jung know about this too?”

Tae Gyu, who blurted out the words in urgency, seemed to regret it immediately and turned his gaze to Hye Ji. Hye Ji was flipping through the chart with an indifferent expression.

It’s not that she’s indifferent, she probably wants to pretend to be.

Tae Gyu knows well. The look in the eyes of people who love like this.

Joo Hye Ji made the foolish choice of not meeting anyone while having an unrequited love that no one acknowledged for a long time.

Perhaps she wanted to keep that place even if it was just under the empty name of ‘friend’.

Tae Gyu was a so-called bad boy who didn’t find submissive women attractive.

The reason was obvious without saying.

He never met women who exchanged contact information and reached out first. He preferred women who played hard to get at least once, even if they seemed cunning.

When no contact came, Ji Eun Jae would occasionally pop up in his mind. At those times, he became even more determined towards that woman. Da Jin, whom he had met recently, was like that.

How futile must Joo Hye Ji feel, not being able to reveal her feelings even once and hearing about him being with another woman at this moment?

If I were Joo Hye Ji, if Ji Eun Jae had been in front of my eyes for such a long time,

I would never do something I’d regret over and over.

“Has the rumor spread that far? As expected, Professor Yoon’s influence is amazing.”

“Was he really with a woman?”

“Even Dr. Jung from NS (Neurosurgery) saw them. I don’t know how many times I’ve told this story today.”

Acting all cultured and proper.

This is why they say the quiet cat climbs onto the kitchen counter first.

Tsk― Tae Gyu, clicking his tongue and thinking he had missed a good sight, was about to leave his seat while roughly running his hand through his hair.

At that moment, Tae Gyu’s phone, which he was holding, rang loudly.

As soon as he confirmed that the caller was Eun Jae, Tae Gyu’s mouth corners rose and he quickly pressed the call button.

“Hey. Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”

Tae Gyu mouthed ‘I’ll be going’ quietly, waved goodbye to each nurse, and quickly got into the elevator.

After Tae Gyu disappeared, a nurse who had crossed her arms on the desk asked Hye Ji,

“Did you not know either, Dr. Joo? About Professor Yoon dating?”

“Do I need to know about Professor Yoon’s dating life?”

At Hye Ji’s somewhat sharp tone, the nurse who had asked flinched and lowered her gaze. The surrounding nurses, as well as Hee Won, surreptitiously glanced at Hye Ji.

“If he’s with a woman, does that mean he’s dating?”

At Hye Ji’s low murmur, the atmosphere around became even heavier.

[This is the timeline separator]

Tae Gyu, who boarded the elevator, smoothed his disheveled hair while looking in the mirror.

[I’m sorry. I didn’t know because I put my phone in my bag. I’m on the first floor, where are you?]

Eun Jae’s soft voice came through the receiver. The Yoon Tae Gyu in the mirror was chuckling at such insignificant words.

“I’m in the ward. I’ll come down.”

As the call was wrapping up, the elevator doors opened. Tae Gyu, who had hung up, put his phone in his pants pocket and walked out to the lobby.

In the middle of the lobby, the first thing that caught his eye was a woman curiously looking at a large foliage plant that seemed about twice her height.

It made him smile. Sure enough, it was Ji Eun Jae.

On the day they first met, and the next time too, she was all in black with a hat pulled down tightly, but today she looked pretty in jeans and a sky-blue shirt, simple yet beautiful.

We match again like this.

Tae Gyu looked down at the blue-toned shirt he was wearing, grinning from ear to ear. Approaching Eun Jae’s vicinity in one breath, Tae Gyu called out her name.

“Hey, Ji Eun Jae!”

When he called her name loudly, Eun Jae turned around startled. Even that look was cute.

“Oh… you, you came?”

The white neck area revealed between the shirt looked empty.

I wonder if a 1-carat necklace would be acceptable without being burdensome. Since her skin is so white, silver might suit her better than gold.

Thinking such thoughts, Tae Gyu quickly closed the distance and smiled at Eun Jae.

“Well, you look pretty today.”

“Um.”

What is she going to say now? Tae Gyu thought he should quickly get her into the car before Eun Jae changed her mind. He quickly grabbed her wrist and hurried towards the elevator, saying,

“What do you want to eat? What are you in the mood for?”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

When Eun Jae put strength into her caught wrist and didn’t move, Tae Gyu stopped and turned around.

“We can talk while eating, can’t we?”

Eun Jae carefully removed her caught wrist and met Tae Gyu’s gaze again.

The look I saw yesterday, no, the look I’ve always seen from you,

“I’m getting married.”

With eyes that seemed to say sorry.