Of course, someone like Lee Seol-won wouldn’t use just one phone number. Especially not with a woman he couldn’t openly acknowledge, like Eun-sae.

It was unlikely that he gave her his real contact information. He probably used an emergency number – one he could delete and create again at will.

Eun-sae, not even knowing the real reason, could only wait helplessly for him to contact her again, wondering when or if he ever would.

The power Lee Seol-won held was far too secure, and it was frustrating and infuriating to think about how foolish and helpless Eun-sae must have been dragged along by it all.

Lee Seol-won’s grip on his sword was unyielding, and seeing Eun-sae being dragged along by it – so stubborn and pathetically resigned – only made my frustration and anger burn hotter.

“Why me? What about your fiancée?”

I chose my words carefully, hoping he wouldn’t hear anything strange in them. At least my voice – calm and cold from trying to hold back the storm inside – didn’t betray the confusion or pain I was trying to hide.

“Because it’s a position that suits you better than Heo Yeonseo.”

He answered so casually, as if my question was nothing more than a petty complaint. Maybe that’s all it was to him. Just another whine from the woman who had clung to him in a one-sided love, reduced to nothing more than a convenient body. And here he was, flaunting his perfectly matched fiancée in front of me as if none of it mattered.

Even if I didn’t act like the ‘Hyun Eun-sae’ he thought he knew, he seemed content to brush it off. To brush it aside as if it meant nothing.

Heo Yeon-seo.

That’s what he called her.

Not “our Yeonseo”, not even “Yeonseo-ssi” or just “Yeon-seo”. No warmth. No affection. Just the full name – Heo Yeon-seo – formal and distant.

Just the way he always addressed me: Hyun Eun-sae.

From his indifferent, businesslike tone – devoid of even a hint of affection – it was clear that their relationship had been forged as a strategic arrangement, born of mutual necessity.

But what difference did it make?

Feelings or not, things with Heo Yeonseo were at least mutually agreed upon.

The fact remained that Eun-sae had been used as an outlet for the dirty lust of a man who already had a fiancée.

Why did she have to die?

Why did she have to end her life in such a horrible way?

The meeting that Lee Seol-won had casually mentioned was a perfect opportunity for me to see and hear for myself what kind of places he had taken Eun-sae to.

I had to carefully circle around this man – observe him closely – if I wanted to have any chance of finding a loophole, a weakness.

I had a strong feeling that I couldn’t afford to let this lead slip away.

In order to do that, I had to meet Lee Seol-won.

No matter how repulsed I was, no matter how much it made my skin crawl.

“I’ll send you the address, so send a car. If you’re going to call someone, at least show that much courtesy.”

I hung up abruptly and looked down at my clothes.

The workout clothes I had thrown on without much thought were wrinkled and disheveled.

But I had no intention of changing into something neat just to see that man.

I gathered my hair, which flowed untidily down my lower back, and tied it in a single knot, then threw on a padded jacket.

I moved my legs, checking to see if my steps were too heavy or hesitant, and then stood in front of the full-length mirror.

A pale, colorless face stared back at me.

I looked into the face and said, “I’ll be back, Eun-sae.”

So just wait a little while longer.

Because one day, I’m going to be the one who watches him fall apart – completely broken, drowning in despair – in your place.

And when that moment finally comes, when he is broken beyond repair, I’ll say it.

That the Eun-sae who once loved him so much that she was willing to set her own life on fire… no longer exists.

That he is the one who destroyed her.

That he will pay the price for his selfishness.

That no matter how much he regrets it, it will be far too late.

Of course, when he learns the truth, he’ll want revenge. I’m sure of it.

But it won’t matter.

By then, I’ll be on a plane back to the United States.

***

The CEO’s office at Songun Art Hall was the embodiment of stark minimalism.

The room was vast – almost oversized – and furnished with only the most essential items, each one meticulously placed, with not a single item out of place.

Had it been a home, it might have been said to lack any sense of life or warmth.

There wasn’t even a potted plant – something you’d expect to see in any office, if only as a symbolic gesture.

Everything was washed in cold, achromatic tones, as if color itself had been stripped away.

Even sound seemed to have been driven out, leaving a silence so absolute it felt deliberate.

The contrast with the rest of the art hall – vibrant with sculpture and lush greenery – was jarring. It was like stepping out of a living world and into a void.

Come to think of it, even his name – Lee Seol-won – sounded like winter.

His looks, his name, his very nature… he was the embodiment of a cold, unforgiving season.

And yet, she – who had always said that Korea’s winters were too harsh for her – ended up falling for a man who was winter itself.

What a strange, inexplicable contradiction.

Why did Eun-sae love him?

Was it because he was so different from the warmth she was used to?

Because he was strange, fascinating – something completely new?

Even though deep down she must have known… he was a season she could never survive alone.

What had she thought? What had she hoped for?

No matter how beautiful a snowfield looks, it hides a cruel, biting cold beneath its surface – and she hadn’t realized it.

Without realizing how cold she was, she must have flapped her wings day after day, growing heavier by the moment.

Just like her name.

Eun-sae’s name -“sae” – means “bird.”

When our mother was pregnant with us, she had a dream of a small white bird soaring over a sea colored crimson by the setting sun.

That dream became our names.

Eun-sae got “sae”, the bird.

And I was named Seo-hae – the Western Sea, known for its breathtaking sunsets.

They say that people grow into their names, and maybe there’s some truth to that.

Like her name, Eun-sae flew away – far out of reach, to a place from which she could never return.

Perhaps it would have been easier if the child had followed the Western Sea. After all, the sea doesn’t freeze even in the middle of winter.

“Your outfit is… something.”

Lee Seol-won muttered the moment I walked in, bundled up from head to toe in a black padded jacket.

He clicked his tongue in clear disapproval.

“Are you really going to show up to the party dressed like that?”

His words took me by surprise. A party? Tonight?

My mind spun.

Wait-today was the party?

Shouldn’t he have at least mentioned it beforehand? I’d walked in expecting to go over the schedule, not the actual event.

He hadn’t said a word about it, and here I was, completely unprepared and completely confused.

Lately, I’ve cursed more in a few days than I have in my entire life.

Have I always been this hot-headed? Or is it just him-this man-who pushes me to the brink at every turn?

My head was pounding with frustration. I glanced down at the hem of my padded jacket – probably the furthest thing from appropriate party attire.

I hadn’t even put on makeup. I didn’t want to waste good products on what I thought would be another boring meeting. My lips were bare, not even a touch of tinted balm to soften the look.

Fighting back the sting of embarrassment, I threw out a cold remark, sharp and deliberate.

“How you present your partner is entirely up to you.”

He looked at me, his expression unreadable. But then – just then – his lips curved into a faint, almost amused smile.

“Go ahead.”

I half expected him to call a personal shopper, but instead he pulled a wallet out of his jacket and slid it toward me.

“Don’t forget your misplaced items.”

Then, with a slight tilt of his chin, he nodded toward the table. There, neatly placed in front of the guest sofa, were my scarf and gloves – folded with surprising care.

Why had he bothered to keep them at all? It was strangely meticulous.

But instead of feeling grateful, I felt a flicker of suspicion. Doubt gnawed at me.

As I hesitantly reached out to pick them up, thinking he’d already turned his attention elsewhere, his voice broke the silence.

“Do you have more than one pair of identical gloves?”

I froze in mid-step.

This man… he was impossible to read. Cold and distant one moment, then startlingly observant the next.

He kept me off balance – never knowing what to expect.

Like many musicians, I’m incredibly sensitive to the textures that touch my fingertips. As a result, I’ve always been picky about gloves. Some materials are too itchy, others too stiff or too tight.

So when I finally found a pair that fit just right-soft, comfortable, and unobtrusive-I didn’t hesitate. I bought several identical pairs, enough to save myself the trouble of losing or wearing out one.

Eun-sae, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. She loved to dress up her mood with elaborate nail art, often adorned with tiny, expensive decorations.

She never wore gloves – not because she didn’t need them, but because she was afraid the decorations would fall off.

While I kept my nails short to avoid accidents with threads or strings, Eun-sae never showed her bare nails. They were always covered in intricate designs, like delicate armor that she refused to remove.

Our hands, of all things, were perhaps the clearest sign of how different we really were.

Was it just a coincidence that he pointed out the gloves on my hands, or was it another demonstration of his keen attention to detail? I quietly stepped on the shadow that stretched across the floor.

Fairy tales where a fairy godmother waves a wand and magically transforms Cinderella into a princess only exist in dramas and movies. Maybe someone out there is experiencing that kind of happiness, but not me. And certainly not with Lee Seol-won.

He didn’t show me that kind of kindness.

If he’d thought about the trouble I was in, he would have hired a professional instead of just throwing his wallet at me.

But when it came to clothes, hair and makeup, he left it all to me.