Looking blankly at him bringing a towel, Eun-chae grabbed his hand wiping her body moisture and asked, “Did you do well on-site… There was an accident. I had to rescue a colleague urgently, but where I went for the rescue exploded, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, it was a local hospital. It seems the organization took a while to find me, so they processed it as my death. It was late for me to return due to injuries.”

“Did you get, hurt a lot?”

When Eun-chae’s pupils trembled uneasily, Ki-joo calmly said without expression.

“I’m completely healed now.”

Ha. Eun-chae exhaled a long breath of relief and closed her eyes tightly. It felt stifling as if rainwater had accumulated in her ears. As she lifted her wet eyelids, the rain-soaked hair fell off Ki-joo’s forehead and tapped, falling on his chin. Eun-chae closed her eyes slowly again, then opened them.

Blink, blink. Ki-joo’s figure disappeared and reappeared. Yes. He was such a natural person. I didn’t wish for anything extraordinary.

Always like that. Breathing, blinking, sleeping and waking up every day, it’s natural for a man to be there without thinking about the meaning. Is it so difficult to live without dying? Unbelievable and hard to believe, my heart hit the bottom every morning.

“I, really… It was really… really difficult….”
At the sigh-like words, laughter escaped awkwardly. As tears rolled down, and the tip of the nose turned red, Ki-joo reached out and wrapped his hand around Eun-chae’s neck.

“I… missed you.”

Even though I thought his eyes were already red, today, it seems even redder. Eun-chae, who couldn’t turn away for a moment, gradually turned her head back as her vision blurred, feeling a slight dizziness as her emotions surged and subsided.

“No more… don’t say sorry. I’m… fine…”

With a thud, Eun-chae’s consciousness faded as she collapsed onto the sofa.

Familiar ceiling and lights appeared in the hazy view.

With a shallow groan, Eun-chae, who woke up from her nap, slowly blinked her eyes.

Her mind gradually became clearer, but strangely, her body sank like cotton soaked in water. Was it because she felt his absence? When she turned her head to check the empty space, her heart pounded unstably.

The last memory was definitely on the sofa. The person who moved her to the bedroom was undoubtedly him.

Eun-chae rose with pale lips, tearing them with her teeth, and sat up.

The bedroom without Kwon Ki-joo is familiar, but it shouldn’t be like this. Because he surely came back last night.

She stood for a moment with her foot on the wet blanket, thinking it might be crazy. Is there such a thing as going crazy? If it’s a dream, it was too cruel. There shouldn’t be such a vivid dream.

With trembling fingertips, Eun-chae reached for the doorknob and froze in that state.

Someone outside opened the door first.

Stepping back, she raised her head, and an impossible three-dimensional face looked down at her.

Ah. Eun-chae was the first to speak. In the midst of relief and sighs, Ki-joo lowered the tablet PC he was holding onto the table and bent down to look at her.

“You look tired. Do you want to sleep more?”

His voice, heard last night as well. Only after the brief words between relief and sighs, Ki-joo, who tilted his head, hugged Eun-chae, who was lying on the sofa.

“Did you sleep well?”

When Eun-chae’s pupils trembled, Ki-joo calmly spoke without expression.

“I slept well.”

Ha. Eun-chae exhaled a long breath of relief and closed her eyes tightly. It felt stifling as if rainwater had accumulated in her ears. As she lifted her wet eyelids, the rain-soaked hair fell off Ki-joo’s forehead and tapped, falling on his chin. Eun-chae closed her eyes slowly again, then opened them.

Blink, blink. Ki-joo’s figure disappeared and reappeared. Yes. He was such a natural person. I didn’t wish for anything extraordinary.

Always like that. Breathing, blinking, sleeping and waking up every day, it’s natural for a man to be there without thinking about the meaning. Is it so difficult to live without dying? Unbelievable and hard to believe, my heart hit the bottom every morning.

“I, really… It was really… really difficult….”
Eun-chae, who was looking at each other tenderly, wiped her cold eyes with the back of her hand. She missed this frozen gaze.

“……What should I explain to Mom?”

Since she had already cleared away her tears and runny nose yesterday, she couldn’t do that again today. She brought up another topic.

Then, Ki-joo touched her cheek with his fingers several times and turned his head.

“I went down for a moment yesterday and met her. She almost fainted, thinking I was a ghost.”

Knowing that feeling better than anyone, Eun-chae murmured with a worried look.

“Oh, really. You must have been very surprised.”

“I told her that I went missing due to an accident on a business trip abroad. She understood right away, so there’s nothing more to explain. Will you come down for breakfast?”