"You've found the perfect spot."

He sat directly across from her.

"I used to love looking out this window. Do you know why?"

His indifferent gaze, fixed beyond the glass, held her attention captive.

The elegant contours of his profile were almost sculptural. That graceful curve seemed to hold a past she could only guess at—one entirely beyond her understanding.

"Whenever I woke up from the recurring dream of drowning in the river, there you'd be. Moving your hands in that little room across the way. A bratty kid who stayed up until dawn instead of sleeping."

"...!"

"But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make sense of what you were saying. It felt like I was still underwater. Like I was trapped in an aquarium—or maybe I really hadn’t escaped the river yet."

It was the first time she'd heard him speak of this.

"But watching your hand movements always calmed me down."

"...."

"They reminded me that the dream was over. That this was reality."

His hand, large and warm, covered hers as he continued, "Your small, maple-leaf-like hand gave me that signal."

Heeju’s heart thudded at the sudden warmth enveloping her.

"Teach me a sign," he said.

"...!"

Startled, she looked up at him. He tilted his head slightly.

"I'm curious about Hong Heeju's language."

What an absolute bastard...

Now, of all times?

"When you were young, you kept doing this one thing."

With his pinky finger, he tapped his chin lightly.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek. The words of a woman she'd overheard earlier echoed in her mind—something about cheating husbands who bought their wives flowers and gifts afterward.

He really is a bastard...

The very first sign language she'd learned, the one she'd used the most, was to pretend everything was fine.

It meant "I'm okay."

"I'm still waiting," he said, his gaze locking with hers in the darkness.

"For you to say it first."

As she pressed her lips together tightly, his eyes bore into her, fierce and unyielding.

It was a night of two completely different dreams.

***

"Baek Seo-bang—!"

Her mother stood at the entrance, dressed in a velvet gown.

It all started with the gift set her mother-in-law handed over like an assignment.

After the ancestral rites, just as Baek Sa-eon was about to leave without delay, his mother stopped him, saying, "It’s not polite to come all this way and leave empty-handed." She packed food for him, leading them to make an unplanned stop at her family home.

“You must be tired. What brings you here?” Her mother’s almond-shaped eyes curved warmly as if proud of him.

Heeju, however, hesitated awkwardly as she stepped out of her shoes, clearly uneasy with her mother’s welcoming attitude.

Kim Yeon-hee, ever exuberant, eagerly accepted the gifts and guided them to the living room.

“Where is Father-in-law?”

“Oh, him….”

For a brief moment, her mother glanced at her. Their eyes met, and something about her gaze seemed peculiar.

Those elegant dark eyes—they looked amused, yet at the same time uneasy. Her mother, usually so transparent with her emotions, was hard to read at this moment.

But an ominous sense trickled down Heeju’s spine.

Only a daughter like her, trained over years to attune herself to her mother’s moods, could pick up on the subtle shift.

Her throat felt dry, and a sense of unease settled deep within her.

Kim Yeon-hee quickly masked her expression with a smile and changed the subject. “Let’s have some tea first.”

Kim poured tea with a soothing tone and seated the two of them. After serving refreshments, she perched gracefully on the expensive sofa, her gaze flickering back and forth between the couple.

“It’s been over three years since you got married, and this is the first time the three of us are sitting together.”

As Heeju reached for her teacup, her wrist was suddenly caught.

“Drink mine.”

Baek Sa-eon gestured toward the cup he’d already opened and cooled for her.

“You’ll just burn your mouth if you drink in a hurry.”

Indeed, his tea emitted less steam. Taken aback, she hesitated briefly before bringing the cup to her lips.

Kim Yeon-hee’s eyes sparkled as she quietly observed the two of them.

“Baek Seo-bang, let’s be honest now. Isn’t life boring with Heeju?”

“…!”

Heeju froze but pretended not to hear, continuing to sip her tea as if unaffected.

“She can’t talk, can’t do much—she must not have been a suitable choice to bring home.”

The tea tasted like nothing. It was just hot water sliding down her throat, but her face burned nonetheless.

Criticism from her mother in front of others wasn’t new. She’d endured it countless times, but today, it stung differently.

“That’s not true.”

“Hmm?”

The sound of Baek Sa-eon setting his cup down firmly broke the tension.

“Just watching Heeju is entertaining. And—”

He leaned forward, resting his clasped hands near his knees. Even though his posture lowered his line of sight, the weight of his presence remained oppressive.

His sharp, frosty gaze locked onto his mother-in-law.

“This kind of self-deprecation is uncomfortable.”

“What did you just say?”

“Don’t disparage Heeju in front of me again. It doesn’t elevate my status, nor does it serve any purpose. In fact, it’s no different from insulting me. I don’t appreciate it, so don’t do it again.”

Kim Yeon-hee stared at him, momentarily speechless, her composure shaken by his firm rebuke.

“Baek Seo-bang, have you met someone else?”

“Pfft—! Cough, cough!”

Startled, Heeju choked on her tea. At the same moment, Baek Sa-eon’s hand shot out instinctively, cupping her chin to wipe away the tea dripping from her jaw with his bare fingers.

Her face turned crimson, and she coughed repeatedly as her mother squinted at the pair with suspicion.

“…This is strange.”

It was as if she were questioning why he was acting so unlike himself.

“Heeju.”

The sound of a teacup being set down sharply cut through the air as her mother spoke.

She curled one side of her lips into a sly smile.

“Did you know In-ah is coming back?”

“…!”

For a moment, her mind couldn’t process the words, as if her mother had spoken in a foreign language. Her heart began to pound uncontrollably.

She knew her mother had said something, but the words slipped past her, leaving no imprint. It felt like a distorted hallucination.

But then she felt it—Baek Sa-eon’s fingers gripping her chin stiffen. The moment was too vivid to dismiss.

It wasn’t a hallucination.

Finally, the realization hit her.

Her sister… is coming back?

She turned her stiff neck slowly to look at her mother.

“I didn’t know where she was or what she was doing all this time. But it seems Chairman Hong did,” her mother said casually, her voice tinged with a trace of sarcasm.

“Apparently, she’s been in Germany for some surgery that took a long time.”

Kim tapped her ear lightly and added, “I hear she can hear well now.”

“…!”

Heeju’s throat bobbed roughly as she swallowed.

Her mother shrugged, glancing at her daughter.

“Looks like your job is done now.”

Her mother’s light-hearted words and smile lingered like an afterimage.

Baek Sa-eon’s true fiancée is returning.

Her sister is coming back.

A flood of longing and anxiety, joy and inferiority, surged within her, dragging her spirit down into a deep abyss.

***

Baek Sa-eon dropped her off at the front of her house and returned to his office.

When Heeju arrived home, she felt like she was crouched at the bottom of a broken jar, her heart hollow and empty.

She sat in her unlit room, clutching her phone tightly in both hands.

“My sister is coming back…”

She swept her pale face with trembling hands.

Perhaps she should have stayed in the hospital longer.

The deep-seated fear she had buried at the bottom of her heart was now clawing its way to the surface, stirring her restlessness. A primal unease gnawed at her.

Had she been deluding herself all this time?

Even if she didn’t push for a divorce herself—

“What if my sister…”

If her sister stepped in, everything could change.

The mere thought of Hong In-ah’s presence shattered something inside her, leaving her in disarray.

She couldn’t focus on anything.

Even as the clock ticked past 10 p.m., the mere thought of making a phone call felt exhausting. Moving even a finger seemed like an overwhelming task. The lethargy she thought she’d escaped had crept back, tightening its grip around her ankles.

“Is there even a point in calling?”

Her darkened eyes sank deeper into shadow.

Ten minutes passed. Thirty minutes. Forty. Over an hour…

She lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Suddenly, her phone buzzed.

“…!”

Was it the hostage-taker?

She sprang up and flipped her bag inside out to find her phone.

But her hope quickly faded as she glanced at the screen.

“Why…”

The name displayed read “Business Husband.” She hesitated, holding the phone limply as if it were a tissue she’d blown her nose into.

Unsure whether to answer or not, her finger hovered before eventually sliding to accept the call.

“—Hong Heeju.”

The moment she answered, his voice washed over her, unyielding.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just relax and listen.”

“…!”

It was as if Baek Sa-eon had read her mind.

“—Were you sleeping? If you were, tap your phone twice.”

“…”

When she didn’t respond, he let out a low hum.

What is this?

“—Han Joon, the center director.”

Her eyes widened in surprise, unable to follow the abrupt shift in topic.

Why is he bringing up Han Joon out of nowhere?

“—You weren’t having a private conversation with Center Director Han Joon, were you?”

What in the world…!

Irritated, she tapped the screen of her phone rapidly in protest.

Silence fell on the line, as if he’d been waiting for her reaction.

“—So, you’re neither asleep nor talking to some other guy. Then, why…”

His slow, musing tone trailed off.

Heeju ignored his words, staring blankly at the ceiling as they sank into another prolonged silence.

Finally, breaking the quiet, he muttered, “—I’ll come over soon.”

The call ended abruptly.

Does that mean he’s coming home early because his playmate is unavailable?

In her already fragile state, the thought left her feeling even more wretched.

Her face twisted with frustration as she grabbed the negotiation phone.

People who grow up twisted often find a dark thrill in spiraling further into their own flaws.

Right now, she was no exception.

Brrrrring, brrrrring.

The unresolved emotions swirling within her began to pool like water in a deep, dark well.