Suddenly, I felt self-conscious and wished I could disappear. 

Compared to him—looking polished and fresh, like he’d just stepped out in new clothes—I was a mess, exhausted and still dripping from the sea. 

“Ah… we’re not open yet….”

Jae-seong eomeom (a term for an older woman) replied from behind me, her voice unusually soft and sweet. 

“But with such a handsome guest here, how could we miss the chance to make our first sale?” 

The haenyeo burst into laughter, their cheerful voices filling the air. 

“Oh, come on in!”

They said, inviting him warmly. 

“Would it be alright if I ate at one of the outdoor tables?”

“Of course!”

They replied enthusiastically. 

The haenyeo swarmed around him like seagulls spotting fish, bustling with excitement. 

Wanting to avoid the commotion, I quickly grabbed my things and slipped inside the shop. 

“Wow, whose son is he? So handsome! Looks like we’re in for some good luck this morning.”

One of the samchon said with a laugh as she began preparing to cook. 

“He only asked for abalone porridge, but we can’t just serve him that! Let’s give him a proper meal and maybe convince him to stay with us!” 

“Why are you acting like that? Even water has rules about who gets it first. If he’s staying, he’s staying with me!” 

Their laughter echoed through the shop, light and teasing. Ignoring the chatter, I quietly set down my brush and basket and started cleaning the abalone. 

“Soon-young! Hey, what are you doing? You should be the one to take him the food. After all, you’re the youngest and prettiest among us!” 

Their teasing remarks were directed at me, but I wasn’t one to respond to such jokes. 

But the Samchon weren’t about to back down just because I was keeping my distance. 

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take the side dishes to him!” 

Before I could argue, they shoved a tray of side dishes into my hands and practically pushed me towards the door. 

Exasperated, I glanced at the tray, which also held the abalone porridge, and reluctantly headed outside. 

Serving a bowl of porridge to someone wasn’t a big deal, I told myself—nothing to make such a fuss over. 

Avoiding looking directly at the man’s face, I set the porridge down on the table without a word. 

But then, his low voice stopped me in my tracks. 

“Kim Soon-young.” 

What? 

How did he know my name? 

Startled, I turned to look at him. 

“Yes?” 

We were complete strangers. How on earth did he know who I was? 

The man was looking directly at me. 

Unlike the distant figure I had seen from afar at sea, his gaze now was calm, steady, and piercing—impossible to avoid. 

His refined, elegant features were almost too handsome, making it clear he wasn’t from around here. 

He was clearly an outsider, and as far as I knew, he had no connection to me. 

So how did he know my name? 

Then, he said something completely unexpected. 

“Kim Jae-yeol… He’s your brother, right?” 

Kim Jae-yeol? 

That’s my brother—the one attending university in Seoul. 

“What?” 

I stared at him, wide-eyed. 

“Kim Soon-young. You’re Kim Jae-yeol’s sister, aren’t you?” 

“Well, yes, but… who are you?” 

A sudden wave of unease washed over me. 

In the three years my brother had been studying in Seoul, no one had ever come looking for him like this. 

“I’m actually… here with Jae-yeol.” 

“With… Jae-yeol? Where is he?” 

“Keep your voice down.” 

What? Keep my voice down? 

I tensed instinctively, watching him closely. The man shifted his gaze to the bowl of abalone porridge in front of him and spoke again in a calm, almost casual tone, as if discussing nothing more than his meal. 

“Jae-yeol is… injured. And he’s being hunted. I know this is shocking, but don’t react. Finish here and meet me at the main gate. I’ll wait for you there.”

“What are you talking about?!”

I demanded, my voice rising unintentionally. I could barely contain the confusion and anxiety I was feeling.

“Keep quiet if you want your brother to stay safe.” 

My mouth snapped shut immediately. 

Unlike before, his smile now carried a tense edge. 

He scooped a spoonful of abalone porridge, ate it, and then looked up at me with a gentler smile. 

“He’s not seriously hurt, so don’t worry too much. I’ll see you shortly.” 

‘Don’t worry?’ 

How could those words mean anything right now? My heart felt like it had dropped to the floor and was now pounding furiously. 

I stared at him, my head spinning with confusion, but he offered no further explanation. Instead, he continued to eat his porridge with calm indifference, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. 

“…Alright.”

 I finally managed to say, my voice barely steady. I turned away, my body trembling uncontrollably, but I forced myself not to let it show. 

‘What’s going on?’ 

What could have happened to my brother? 

Crash! 

In my distracted state, my trembling hands dropped a dish while washing, shattering it on the floor. 

“What are you doing?!” 

A sharp scolding followed immediately. 

“S-sorry.”

I stammered, pale and flustered as I bent down to clean the mess. 

“What are you thinking? You seem so out of it! You broke the plate – such bad luck to start the day!”

Myeong-ju samchon, the senior-most haenyeo, scolded me harshly, but I didn’t respond. 

All I could think about was my brother. 

My brother Jae-yeol, four years older than me, was a university student—enrolled at a prestigious university in Seoul, no less. 

For someone from our small, far-southern coastal town to move to Seoul and excel academically was an incredible accomplishment. 

Especially for a family like ours… 

Our parents had passed away in an accident when we were young, leaving our elderly grandmother to raise the two of us. 

A family crushed by relentless poverty, it seemed like life had wrung the strength out of everyone. 

My brother was our hope. 

He was my grandmother’s hope, too—the grandmother who had left Jeju for Chungmu, braving countless storms and making a living as a haenyeo. 

He was my hope as well, I, who had followed in my grandmother’s footsteps and had been diving into the sea since I was fifteen.

And now, something had happened to him.