A sudden thought struck without warning, leaving Lee-jae staring blankly into space for a long while until the academy teacher shot a sharp glance in her direction.

When Lee-jae returned home and sat down at the dining table, she looked at her mother.

Her mother looked exactly the same as she had in the dream.

So identical that it made her wonder how it could possibly be this exact. The only difference was that her mother was not wearing those fluttering robes. Otherwise, the face was the same.

Then… would that man look the same too?

A chill ran down her spine.

Lee-jae had been staring absentmindedly at her mother when their eyes suddenly met.

“Oh my. Dear, it looks like she’s about to start talking about those dreams again.”

Lee-jae lowered her head.

Her mother, who had been placing grilled mackerel in front of her father, frowned slightly. Her father’s expression also hardened as he asked,

“Our daughter… did you have another bad dream last night?”

“No.”

Lee-jae picked up her spoon.

To keep from revealing anything, she kept stuffing rice into her mouth.

Her father looked the same too. Her uncle looked the same. Hyo-jeong looked the same as well.

Which meant that someday—

That man, that man too—

She would be able to recognize him.

If they met.

If they ever did…

A tear fell with a soft drop.

Her mother looked at her and asked whether they should perhaps take her to a hospital. Her father simply said to leave her alone.

Lee-jae wiped her tears and shot her mother a resentful glance.

Thinking her daughter had recovered her spirits, her mother smiled brightly. Then she placed some stir-fried dried squid—Lee-jae’s favorite—on top of her rice.

“Eat a lot, my daughter.”

But she had never met him.

Not even once.

She had never even seen him.

She was already twenty-four years old.

What if she never met him at all?

The thought suddenly crossed her mind.

She didn’t even know who he was. She didn’t know what kind of person he might be. Yet the anxiety still settled deep inside her.

And whenever that unease crept in, Lee-jae’s stomach would begin to churn. Her head would feel scattered all day, and a heavy gloom would linger over her.

Her mother and father had already appeared in her dreams. Hyo-jeong had appeared as well. Lee-jae even knew what name Hyo-jeong had been called in those dreams.

Somehow, she had simply come to know.

There were things she learned without ever trying to know them. For instance, her school teacher had once appeared in her dream as an old eunuch.

Sometimes Lee-jae pretended not to notice. Other times, she would find herself staring at him absentmindedly.

In truth, she had once told Hyo-jeong about the dreams.

She felt that if she told her mother, it would only make her worry again. So she couldn’t bring herself to confide in her parents.

Hyo-jeong, whom she had expected to laugh at her, listened to the story surprisingly seriously. Then she asked why Lee-jae never appeared in her dreams.

And after that, she even complained, asking why Lee-jae was a princess in the dream while she herself was only a palace maid.

Lee-jae had no answer for that.

So she simply kept her mouth shut.

What Lee-jae had wanted to say was something like that.

Why—why had that man never appeared?
Where on earth was he?
What if she died without ever meeting him?

That thought terrified her.

When would she ever meet him?

That was the reason she had decided to travel to China.

In truth, she didn’t really want to go. The trip was connected to the dreams, which made her want it even less. Somehow, she had the uneasy feeling that even if she went, it wouldn’t feel pleasant.

Once, Lee-jae had thought to herself.

‘I was born in the place I wanted to be.’

So perhaps she should never leave it. But if she didn’t leave, she might never find that man.

Lately, that anxiety had been growing stronger and stronger.

“Did you pack everything?”

Her mother asked.

It was the day before she was supposed to leave for the trip.

Her mother had said she was going to yoga, but her hair was still wet, as if she had stopped by the sauna afterward. Looking down at the open suitcase, she spotted the week’s worth of underwear Lee-jae had packed. She took a few out and replaced them with others.

“You know, right? You take after your mother, so you’re pretty. Don’t go listening to just anyone and suddenly following them.”

“Am I a child? Who would I follow?”

“No, you’re not a child—but you’re a bit soft-hearted, so you do things that suddenly give your mother a fright.”

“Oh, that’s enough. Why are you saying such strange things? I need to finish packing, so go. Sit over there and enjoy the fan.”

Lee-jae snapped back at her mother’s words.

When she turned around and began tidying her messy desk, a hand suddenly smacked her on the back.

“You little rascal. Look at you, not listening to a word your mother says. And after you took the allowance I never even gave you straight out of my wallet.”

“Oh, please. You’re the one who said I could just take it myself.”

“You haven’t been having those dreams again lately, have you? No talent agencies coming to find you either?”

“What dreams? I haven’t had one of those in ages!”

That part was true. She hadn’t dreamed for a year.

The dreams had begun to grow less frequent once she turned twenty, and over the past few months, she hadn’t had a single one.

It should have been something to celebrate. But she couldn’t feel happy about it. Because if there were no dreams, then she would never have the chance to see that man at all.

Her eyes stung.

Lee-jae pushed her mother away.

Seeing the redness around her eyes, her mother’s expression darkened again. As if trying to change the subject, she brought up Lee-jae’s father.

“Your dad said he’s having dinner with the professors tonight.”

Her father was a university professor. Not at the same university Lee-jae attended. Lee-jae majored in Western painting at the College of Arts, while her father researched literature at another well-known university.

In a way, it seemed he had found the profession perfectly suited to him.

Looking back, even in the dreams, her father had always seemed happiest when he spent the day reading and writing.

The same was true of her uncle.

Her uncle worked as a literary critic while also holding a professorship, and he too had found his own career and lived a stable life.

Lee-jae only hoped he would never again have to stain his hands with blood.

“What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Eleven thirty.”

“And when are you coming back?”

Her mother asked the same question again. She must have been terribly anxious. Well… it was only natural. Considering how her life had ended before, how could she not be anxious?

***

Meeting that man—

Yes… meeting that man was…

Something about it felt unreal. Even with him standing right in front of her, Lee-jae could not believe it.

The first few minutes? No… perhaps several dozen minutes?

She didn’t know. It was impossible to measure.

Rain was falling, just like that day.

She couldn’t tell how much time had passed. It felt as though a seizure might come over her.

Lee-jae wondered how many years it had been since her last one.

She had not lived with constant fevers or frequent illness the way she once had. But whenever she thought about the man who had left her that summer and never returned again—

Whenever she thought of him, the pain was so suffocating it felt as though she could no longer breathe.

“Hello.”

Wi-pyeong spoke.

“You’re soaked from the rain.”

It was the second thing he said.

Lee-jae… no, Huinyeong could not blink. If she blinked, it felt as though he might disappear. She could not tell whether what she was seeing was real.

Perhaps she was dreaming again. Perhaps she would wake up and open her eyes to find herself in a hospital. Perhaps she had suffered another seizure—

And her mother would be crying, calling out, “My daughter… my daughter.”

She wanted to ask Hyo-jeong. But Huinyeong had already lost her long ago.

“You must have gotten lost. Where’s the friend you came with?”

“……”

“Should I help you find them?”

Huineyeong curled her fingers into a fist.

Even when she pressed her nails hard into the tips of her slender fingers, no pain came. Perhaps the blood had stopped flowing to them.

Her legs trembled as though they might give out beneath her. She bit down on her lip.

“Why are you making that face?”

The man who had been smiling leisurely took a step closer.

Huineyeong instinctively stepped back. Her lips trembled. Her breathing grew ragged, and dizziness washed over her.

It was him.

It really was him.

Yet her body could do nothing but shake helplessly.

There were so many things she wanted to say. So many things she wanted to do. But her mind had gone completely blank—like a fire that had burned everything away, leaving only cold ashes behind.

A finger brushed the corner of her eye. The warmth of his touch spread across her skin. Her ragged breathing slowly steadied.

Wi-pyeong was smiling.

And then Lee-jae’s body tilted toward the ground.

***

Huineyeong lost consciousness many times.

Again and again, she failed to remain awake. Even while sitting still, she would suddenly collapse forward, and even with her eyes open, she could not hold on to her fading awareness before her mind slipped away once more.

Wi-pyeong was no longer behind the curtain. He was beside her.

Whenever tears fell, he wiped beneath her eyes. Whenever she curled up alone and searched for him, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gently patted her, letting her know he was there.

Without truly touching her.

Yes.

There was no way he could.

His fingers traced the flushed skin beneath the rounded tips of her nails.

Huineyeong rested within his arms.

Holding the slender woman carefully, he rose and walked down the stairs.

The two men waiting beside the Cadillac saw him approaching and immediately opened the rear door. The heavy door closed, and the wheels began to roll.

The car slipped smoothly away from the palace that had now become a tourist site. The light of a mobile phone blinked repeatedly.

It was likely Li Xin, whose nerves had grown sharp after Wi-pyeong had left Macau as though he had evaporated into thin air.

Holding Huineyeong in his arms, he glanced at the phone screen. Then he removed the battery.

Huineyeong’s face twisted slightly, as though she were caught in a nightmare.

He pressed gently against the brows that had drawn together, smoothing the crease so no wrinkle would remain.

From now on, she would no longer need to dream.