When I open my eyes, Kim Yong-beom is standing in front of me.

He’s already awake and quietly cooking.

As before, we sit opposite each other at the neatly laid table and eat together.

The meal is far better than anything we used to get in the factory dorm cafeteria. However, compared to the noisy, bustling meals I once shared with others, this feels too quiet… almost unfamiliar.

“Want more soup?”

“Yeah. It’s good.”

Kim Yong-beom ladles me another bowl of spicy soybean sprout soup, simmered with chopped kimchi, and adds another scoop of rice.

“Eat more.”

“You too.”

I scooped a spoonful of rice into my mouth and chewed, stealing a glance at him as I did so.

Watching the way he held his chopsticks, I quietly picked mine up too.

Mornings like this had been happening for exactly one week.

When I heard that Kim Yong-beom was being released early, I gathered all the money I had saved and left the factory dorm.

I searched carefully for a place to live.

Since we would be living together, it couldn’t be too small.

It couldn’t have a shared bathroom.

And it couldn’t be too far from the card factory.

There was a lot to consider, but thankfully, I had saved enough to avoid those no-deposit rentals with high monthly fees — even if it was just a modest place.

Of course, none of this took Kim Yong-beom’s opinion into account.

While I was still in the dorm, I saved every penny I could.

I stopped running errands at the gambling tables – no more chasing small change or buying cigarettes for others.

I didn’t spend money on snacks or cosmetics either.

My wages increased, albeit only slightly.

Whenever I thought about living with Kim Yong-beom, saving money came easily.

After a full year, I finally had enough for a deposit.

Once we had finished eating, I got ready for work while Kim Yong-beom cleared the table and got ready to leave too.

He said he was looking for a job.

It took about fifteen minutes to walk to the card factory.

Now, I walked that road with him.

I used to keep my eyes fixed on the ground, watching my steps along the uneven path.

But now, I looked ahead.

And sometimes, I glanced at him.

When our eyes met, we smiled.

Walking with Kim Yong-beom made the distance feel short.

“Kim Yong-beom.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t rush to find a job. You still have your money.”

The money he left me was more than enough.

I could have used it to move to a nicer area, but I didn’t spend any of it.

Simply knowing that he had provided for me made me feel secure.

“I thought you spent it on proper meals.”

“No! I didn’t touch a single bit of it!”

Each time I was paid, I put some money aside for him.

I transferred money to his account and bought clothes for when he was released.

Although I never received a reply, and it hurt, I was still happy.

At least I could do something for him.

I let out a sharp shout, stung by disappointment, but Kim Yong-beom only looked down at me quietly. A faint smile lingered at the corners of his long, narrow eyes.

“I know. Me too.”

I turned my face away, feeling embarrassed at being teased. It was just a joke, nothing serious, but tears threatened to spill anyway. I bit my lip to stop them.

Then, I felt a large hand gently brush the back of my head.

The hand that had been smoothing my hair cupped my face, turning it towards him. When our eyes met, he smiled.

Just like that, the bitterness melted away.

“Why didn’t you spend it? I left it so you could live a little easier.”

“I eat a lot, don’t I? I thought if I didn’t have money when I wanted something, I’d feel miserable.”

Chuckling, Kim Yong-beom placed a small lunchbox in my hands. It was filled with side dishes for my midday meal.

“Go on.”

He caught my wrist and asked why I’d gotten so thin. I told him it was because after eating the meals he made, it was hard to stomach factory food.

I’d meant it half as a joke—but from that very day on, he started packing me all kinds of side dishes.

“Thanks. See you tonight.”

“Yeah.”

With my back to him, I headed towards the factory.

But every time I looked back, Kim Yong-beom was still there.

Even when I looked again, he hadn’t moved.

It made it hard to walk away.

Working at the factory had long since become second nature.

I went to my station, checked the day’s quota, brought over the hwatu cards, and distributed them among the workers.

Gyeong-seok sat at the table beside mine.

We no longer worked at the same station.

She was a supervisor now, and I had my own team.

If you could call it that, it was a kind of promotion.

After the morning shift, I had lunch with Gyeong-seok and a few of her other close colleagues.

“Hey, Lee Chun-hee—what’s with you lately? Got yourself a husband or something?”

One of the supervisors called out as I opened my lunchbox.

I didn’t bother replying.

Gyeong-seok mouthed something to me.

-“You look happy.”

I nodded.

Kim Yong-beom was struggling to sleep.

At first, I thought it was because he was uncomfortable sleeping next to me, so I laid out a separate blanket for him.

But even after a few days, he kept waking up as if he were only half asleep, and once he was awake, he couldn’t get back to sleep.

Some nights, he would sit next to me for hours, gently stroking my face and hair.

Was he anxious?

Was he feeling the same way as I had on that island when we were on the run? Did it feel like a dream to him, too?

As if, when he woke up, he would be alone again?

The thought made my chest ache.

Why won’t you say anything?

The night before my day off from the factory, I forced myself to stay awake.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw Kim Yong-beom leaning against the wall and staring out of the dimly lit window.

In the darkness, I couldn’t read his expression.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Did I wake you?”

He asked in surprise. I shook my head.

“No. I wasn’t asleep either.”

I pushed myself up and sat facing him. Wanting to see him more clearly, I turned on the small lamp.

“Can’t you sleep either?”

“Yeah.”

Even that short answer had a weight to it that gave him away.

Kim Yong-beom stepped out for a moment, then returned and handed me a glass of water.

After I had drunk about half of it and handed the glass back to him, he drank the rest in one go and patted the spot beside him.

I quickly moved over and sat close to him.

Through the slightly open window, warm air drifted in, carrying the scent of flowers blooming in the garden.

It was spring.

Our first spring together.

“Lee Chun-hee.”

“Yeah?”

“Show me that.”

As he spoke, he lightly brushed his fingers over the notebook on the table.

I still wrote poetry.

About the flowers blooming along the road to the factory, the scent of rain on damp days, the red hwatu cards scattered across a blue blanket, the empty, cloudless sky, and the days without you – the days I longed for.

I hesitated for a moment. I still wasn’t confident.

But you said you wanted to see it, and I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

“Promise me one thing. Don’t laugh. If you do, I’ll never show you again.”

“Okay.”

“I’m really bad at writing.”

Kim Yong-beom smiled at my words.

This time, it was a gentler expression that seemed to melt away, rather than the short, mocking scoff from before.

It was a face I had never seen before.

I liked it. I wanted to see it again.

Instead of asking about it, however, I gave him a light scolding.

“I told you not to laugh. What if you can’t even hold it in now?”

“I won’t laugh.”

True to his word, Kim Yong-beom read the notebook without smiling.

I watched him.

My gaze kept drifting to his face.

His long, sharp eyes beneath his thick eyebrows were the same as always — no, they seemed even deeper.

Perhaps he had lost more weight, or maybe it was just that his nose and jaw seemed sharper.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Just… because I like it.”

“……”

“What do you like best? Out of everything I wrote?”