Dae Un had a restless night. Having the second floor to himself, it wasn’t due to sleep disturbance or lack of personal space.

The surroundings were quiet. It was even quieter than his living space above the office, where car noises and drunk people’s quarrels could be heard in the middle of the night. It was so quiet that one might think it was too quiet to sleep.

But that wasn’t the reason. Dae Un knew why he couldn’t sleep. It was because his father’s shadow was looming. He had taken one step closer to his father’s death.

Late last night, Dae Un received a phone call from America. It was the detective who had investigated his father’s case. He had been adamantly against concluding the father’s death as suicide.

He said he had heard an interesting story from a drug dealer and detective. They recently raided the house of a mid-level drug dealer, and one of the fingerprints found there matched a fingerprint from the car Ki Dae Un’s father was in when he died.

The American police couldn’t identify the owner of the fingerprint. That’s why they asked Dae Un for help. Dae Un said he would do whatever he could and hung up.

If they could find the owner of the fingerprint, it could lead to a reinvestigation of his father’s death case, which had been concluded as suicide. Dae Un’s blood boiled.

His father, who lived a tragic life and met a tragic death. His father was weak. Too weak to protect what was precious. If he hadn’t been born into a chaebol family, his father might have lived a much happier life.

Tired of trying to sleep, Dae Un got out of bed. He thought jogging might help calm his nerves.

Once outside, Dae Un started running slowly, regulating his breathing.

As he ran down the path leading to the beach, he noticed two women leaving the resort in ridiculous outfits. Even with hats covering their faces, Dae Un immediately recognized who they were. Han Ga Eul and her grandmother.

He remembered Ga Eul saying she would go clam digging early this morning. Ga Eul had been excited, saying she had already checked the tide times and where to rent equipment.

Seeing the two walking, a smile appeared on Dae Un’s face. He recalled Ga Eul’s greedy look. Knowing how enthusiastic Ga Eul was about everything, he could easily imagine how eagerly she would dig for clams.

Dae Un started running on the beach. There were already many people out on the mudflats. All were similarly dressed people digging for clams. Dae Un ran past them. He didn’t slow down even when the beach ended and the uphill path began.

Deciding to jog was a good choice. Soon after he started running, his body began to sweat. His tense nerves gradually calmed down. Later, he ran almost in a trance.

Lost track of time while running, he suddenly came to his senses and checked his watch, realizing it was already breakfast time. He thought his group might be looking for him. He decided to head back. On the way back, there were hardly any people on the beach. It was time for the tide to come in.

Dae Un slowed down and scanned the beach. He couldn’t see Ga Eul and her grandmother.

Thinking they must have already gone back, he started to speed up again when he saw Ga Eul’s grandmother sitting at the entrance of the path leading up to the resort. She was alone.

“Grandmother, did you dig up a lot?”

Dae Un greeted the grandmother.

“Ah, young sir. Not really. Other people were digging well, but I couldn’t see any clams at all.”

“What about Ga Eul? Didn’t you come with her?”

“Ga Eul said she wouldn’t come up until she filled a whole bucket. She told me to go up first if I got tired, so I’m waiting for her here.”

He knew this would happen. Always so greedy. Dae Un’s eyes turned towards the mudflats. Ga Eul was nowhere to be seen.

“There aren’t many clams here. Ga Eul went to the southern end because she heard there were lots of clams there.”

Dae Un glanced at the grandmother’s bucket and saw only a few clams at the bottom. It was obvious. Ga Eul must have greedily decided to catch the grandmother’s share too.

“I’ll go and bring her back.”

Dae Un stepped down to the beach to fetch the greedy Han Ga Eul. After just a few steps, his white sneakers turned into unrecognizable mud clumps.

Dae Un found a plank someone had left behind and picked it up. He had seen people riding planks like sleds on the mudflats before.

Water was rising from afar. Where was Ga Eul? He began to feel anxious.

* * *

Lost in thought while digging for clams, Ga Eul suddenly came to her senses and looked around. Everyone who had been digging clams with her had gone back, leaving no one around.

When her grandmother said it was time to go back, Ga Eul had said she would dig a little more. She needed time alone to organize her thoughts.

Just what she had learned yesterday was enough to make her head spin.

That Ki Dae Un’s father had committed suicide or been murdered. That Chairman Oh Kyu Baek considered her father a terrible person. That Pyeong An Group’s hotel was being built on the land her father had bought.

These were all things Ga Eul couldn’t digest. They had completely jumbled her thoughts.

Before going to bed last night, Ga Eul had called Jung Mi O. She wanted to know more details about how her father and Ki Dae Un’s father had become entangled.

− You know that Dae Un’s father was expelled from Shinhwa Group, right? Dae Un’s mother made a big mistake and fell out of favor with the chairman. So the chairman sent the son and daughter-in-law to America. Dae Un’s father thought if he achieved something, the chairman would take him back. That’s why he pursued the collaboration with Myeong Tech.

But that turned out to be a mistake. After that, Ki Dae Un’s father died in a car accident, and people suspect that death wasn’t due to a simple accident.

− Dae Un thinks there are suspicions surrounding his father’s death. That’s why he came back to Korea, to uncover the truth.

Ga Eul knew that too. After all, the young sir had pushed her into her maternal family for that reason.

Did her father do something he shouldn’t have? Or did he not do something he should have? Ga Eul thought as she struck the mudflat floor with her hoe. The mudflats held no answers.

Still, Ga Eul kept striking the same spot with her hoe. Her thoughts kept circling the same place too.

The young sir’s father and her father. And herself, liking the young sir.

If only the fathers’ issues could be resolved, she might at least try confessing her feelings for the young sir. But it’s laughable to confess her feelings when her father might have harmed the young sir’s father. From the young sir’s perspective, it would be more than just laughable.

That’s why she had called Chairman Oh yesterday. But instead of learning the truth, she only irritated the chairman.

Lost in these thoughts, she suddenly realized she was alone on the mudflats.

The distant sea seemed to have swollen a bit. It was time to go back. Ga Eul stood up. Although the bucket wasn’t even half full, she had no lingering attachment to the clams.

Ga Eul slowly started walking. Walking wasn’t easy. She hadn’t noticed while frantically digging for clams, but her feet kept sinking in. She remembered reading online to be careful around the tidal creeks. They said feet tend to sink easily around there.

As she struggled to move one foot at a time, suddenly her foot sank in deeply. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pull it out. What were you supposed to do in this situation? She tried to recall what she had read in the mudflat experience precautions.

But she could already see the water coming in from a distance. It happened in an instant.

She started to panic.

The article she read online said when your foot gets stuck in the mudflat, ‘Create space by moving your leg back and forth, then pull out your foot’, ‘Pull out your foot while kicking your legs as if riding a bicycle’. Whatever method you use, you had to sit down on the ground first.

The thought of sitting down scared her. With the water coming in so fast. But having no other choice, Ga Eul sat down on the ground.

She tried moving her leg back and forth. Her leg didn’t move easily. Like all things, it was different from reading about it. It had seemed easy when reading.

The water had come up to where she could see it. Now she could see the water approaching. Ga Eul was terrified. She frantically dug at the surrounding mud while moving her leg.

She thought she might die. Could it be this easy? This meaningless? Just days after becoming a building owner in Gangnam? She felt wronged. Too wronged to die like this.

Still, her leg wouldn’t come free. Water came up under her buttocks.

“Han Ga Eul!”

Ga Eul whipped her head around at the call. The young sir was approaching. Just seeing the young sir approach made her think, I’m saved. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Ga Eul blankly stared at the young sir. After ‘I’m saved,’ her next thought was ‘Why of all people is it the young sir coming to rescue me in this crisis?’ When her father might have driven the young sir’s father to his death. Why did the young sir have to appear so dashing at a time like this!

Dae Un threw the plank on the ground and knelt on it. Then he used it like a sled to move forward. Ga Eul was looking at him. Strength entered Dae Un’s arms.

Water had already reached where Ga Eul was. Dae Un knelt on the plank and quickly dug out the mud around Ga Eul’s legs.

When her legs were somewhat exposed, he pressed down on the plank with his knees and pulled Ga Eul’s legs. Her legs came out with a pop.

“Try standing up.”

Dae Un placed Ga Eul’s legs on the plank and helped her up. As Ga Eul stood, Dae Un picked up the plank. With his free hand, he grabbed Ga Eul’s hand. Then he quickly made his way out of the mudflats.

Ga Eul felt the young sir’s hand gripping hers tighter and tighter. The young sir seemed unaware of how tightly he was holding her hand. Ga Eul gripped the bucket in her other hand even tighter.

Finally, they reached solid ground. As the ground beneath her feet became firm, a sigh of relief escaped Ga Eul’s lips. At the same time, all strength left her body. Ga Eul’s legs wobbled.

“Get on my back!”

Without waiting for an answer, Dae Un turned and piggybacked Ga Eul.

“Han Ga Eul, stop being so greedy.”

Only then did Dae Un express his irritation.

Hearing the young sir’s irritated voice, tears welled up in Ga Eul’s eyes.

She had nearly died. She thought her life was going to end without even confessing to the person she liked.

Trying to hide her tears, Ga Eul buried her face in the young sir’s back.

“You’re not wiping your nose on my clothes, are you?”

The young sir asked in a prickly voice. Ga Eul shook her head while keeping her face buried in the young sir’s back. The mudflat mud that had been on her face transferred onto the young sir’s clothes.

Even in this state, Ga Eul wanted to tell the young sir she liked him.

She knew that considering the complicated history between the young sir and herself, her confession would only make things more complex. Still.

It seemed too unfair to die without saying a word of liking to the person she liked. Especially if she couldn’t confess due to something that wasn’t even her fault.

So she had to confess. Ga Eul firmed her resolve.

Ga Eul wiped her tears with her hand, then rubbed her hand on the young sir’s back.

“Han Ga Eul, this is an expensive outfit. You can’t afford it with your salary.”

The young sir’s prickly voice flew at her again.