NILWM - 1

Four years ago, February was a somewhat difficult and gloomy time, yet filled with vague hope. That day, snow fell from the morning as if regretting the end of winter. Han Ju-hyeok stood in the middle of those snowflakes.

When their eyes first met, time seemed to stop. Following the shock of her heart seizing, that moment when even the air changed its flow was probably the most intense second of her life. It was an unforgettable moment.

She had never seen such a handsome man in the world. No, he was so beautiful that the word “handsome” felt too simplistic. His long eyelashes were longer than hers, and his jawline, unconsciously tilted up in an arrogant manner, seemed somehow disconnected from reality. The gently falling snowflakes harmonized exquisitely with his unworldly appearance, creating a picture-perfect scene.

But it wasn’t just his unrivaled appearance that captivated Ye-seo’s eyes. It was also the strange sense of déjà vu she felt, despite it being clearly their first meeting.

The tall man in a black coat stood beyond the window, about 50 meters away, looking at her for a long time before raising one eyebrow. Then he immediately turned his gaze away. Was he someone I knew? she wondered, searching her memory for a few seconds before concluding he was an unfamiliar face, and then he turned away without lingering.

“Wow, did you see that? It’s Han Ju-hyeok! The Han Ju-hyeok from the Business Administration department! What a coincidence. We run into him just when we’re visiting this neighborhood?”

“No way! He looks even taller than a year ago. Is he over 190 cm now?”

“He’s really handsome... They said he was an exchange student at Columbia University, so maybe he’s back now? I heard he was taking staggered leaves of absence, but that he’d be returning this year, and it was true. No matter how you look at him, he has the face of a rich heir. What’s his real identity?”

“If even students from his own school don’t know, how would we? Is he going to the department office? Let’s go inside quickly. Can you please ring this up quickly?”

“Yes, just a moment...”

The female students grabbed boxes of merchandise and impatiently urged her to ring them up quickly. Ye-seo busily moved her hands, scanning barcodes and pulling out bags with the cafe logo.

The girls, presumably students from other nearby schools, were making a fuss as if they’d seen a top celebrity, bustling into the campus. Their hurried chase after the man who had disappeared into the campus was no different from fans swarming an entertainment agency building after encountering a celebrity.

That was the first day Ye-seo saw Han Ju-hyeok. To be precise, it was their reunion after 13 years, but only the afterimage of Han Ju-hyeok, whom she had just seen 10 minutes ago, floated in Ye-seo’s mind.

“Ye-seo, I finished organizing all the supplies! Were there a lot of customers? Wow, it’s still snowing? This must be the last snow of the winter, right? It’ll pile up so beautifully!”

Song Hyun-ju, her best friend and fellow part-timer, rubbed her hands on her apron and skipped over, then looked at her intently.

“Huh? Hey, what happened? Why is your face so red?”

“Huh? Oh, no. There were some customers who came to buy event merchandise, and I guess I was just a bit flustered because of that.”

At Hyun-ju’s words, Ye-seo’s eyes widened, and she looked into the mirror behind the counter. Both of her cheeks were flushed red. She hesitated for a moment, then broached the subject with Hyun-ju.

“Hyun-ju, you know Senior Han Ju-hyeok, right? That senior just walked by here.”

“What? Really? They said he was coming back, so it must be true. If he’s back this semester, is he a third-year? What was he like in person? Is he just like his photos? Huh?”

Both of them had entered last year, so they had never seen the famous Han Ju-hyeok in person. He had been an exchange student last spring semester, and then took a leave of absence for a long backpacking trip and other personal matters in the fall, so he had never been to school. He had also taken a leave of absence for family reasons during his last semester the year before last, earning him the nickname “Pro Leave-Taker.”

“Yeah. He was incredibly handsome. And tall too.”

“Wow, then we’ll see him starting in March. We’ll probably have a lot of classes together, right? Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, Ye-seo, you...”

Hyun-ju’s eyes widened in excitement, then she stared at her friend inquisitively.

“Are your red cheeks because of that senior? No way, did you fall in love at first sight?”

“Huh? No, it’s not like that.”

“Yes, it is. Even your earlobes are red. Look, look!”

Hyun-ju playfully tugged her ear, and Ye-seo flinched, shivering her shoulders.

“I said it’s not like that. He’s handsome, but... he doesn’t feel entirely unfamiliar. It’s like I’ve met him somewhere before.”

“What? Where?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only seen photos other seniors showed me, but strangely, he looks familiar...”

At Ye-seo’s words, Hyun-ju tilted her head.

“Isn’t it like that thing? Like, when you run into celebrities on the street, even though you’ve never met them before, they feel familiar and close to us, right? Even though it’s totally not the case for them, from the perspective of ordinary people, their faces are just too familiar.”

“That’s a bit... I haven’t seen that senior’s photos that often.”

“Right? Then there’s only one answer. You must have fallen in love at first sight. Min Ye-seo, turns out you’re completely looks-oriented, aren’t you?”

Hyun-ju chuckled loudly.

“I said it’s not like that!”

“I get it, I get it. I mean, who wouldn’t fall for that face, regardless of age or gender? They say Ju-hyeok sunbae doesn’t even go near Itaewon. If he shows up in Itaewon, even the guys go wild... Ahem, ahem.”

Just then, they heard the owner stirring inside. Hyun-ju finally lowered her excited voice and switched back to employee mode. Ye-seo also stood at the counter, busily dusting and wiping the windows.

It didn’t take long to run into Han Ju-hyeok again, whom she had pushed to a corner of her consciousness.

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“Mommy! Help me! I don’t want to die!”

The children’s cries pierced her eardrums through the heart of the storm. Several children clung to crumbling rocks, struggling desperately not to fall. Eight-year-old Ye-seo gritted her teeth, gripping tightly with both hands. Her feet were wedged between upward-sloping branches, and her hands firmly clasped someone’s wrist, someone who looked like they were about to fall. Even at her young age, she knew she absolutely could not let go.

But her arms hurt terribly. Her strength was slowly draining, and her fingers tingled so much she wanted to let go immediately. It was even more so because the child whose wrist she held was practically limp, dangling precariously down the slope.

“Hey, open your eyes! Don’t fall asleep!”

Ye-seo screamed with all her might, her voice tearing her eardrums. But it was useless. It was drowned out by the children’s screams and the fierce wind and rain, which roared like evil spirits, barely reaching her own ears. Just then, a siren began to wail, distant like a dream.

At the same time, the child’s eyes flickered open. As he lifted his head, their gazes met. Beneath long eyelashes, clear, large eyes pierced directly into Ye-seo’s.

Suddenly, the wind changed direction, and raindrops stung Ye-seo’s eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut but stubbornly held on, determined not to let go of either hand. Fortunately, the siren seemed to grow louder, and men in fluorescent uniforms swiftly climbed the hill, beginning to rescue the precariously dangling children.

“You can let go now! Oh my, this little sister held on to her brother with these tiny hands until the very end.”

A middle-aged man easily pulled the boy dangling below Ye-seo’s hands onto the ground. The child, perhaps too shocked, simply collapsed. Dimly, his consciousness remained, and his narrowly opened eyes were still fixed on Ye-seo. Adults in black suits rushed over and immediately lifted the boy into their arms.

Suddenly, parents and teachers of the stranded children rushed up the hill, and the scene instantly became a chaotic mix of relief and worry. Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the teacher who had led the way was severely injured and carried away on a stretcher, and children with minor injuries were moved under their parents’ protection to where vehicles were waiting. Among them was Ye-seo’s twin brother, Jeong-woo.

Slap! A loud friction sound echoed on her rain-soaked cheek. Her mother, who had arrived late, glared at Ye-seo as she cradled the sobbing Jeong-woo.

“I told you to take good care of Jeong-woo! He almost fell down there, it could have been a disaster, but you ignored your brother and saved some other kid?!”

“Mom, I didn’t even know where oppa was...”

“Silence! If anything had happened to Jeong-woo, I would never have left you alone! If a girl is taller and stronger than her brother, she should take good care of him!”

Tears burst forth. The hurt from the sudden slap was less than the sorrow she felt. Jeong-woo had held on tightly to a branch and was safe and unharmed. Rather, it was she who had almost gotten hurt. Her arms ached as if they would fall off from holding the boy who almost fell in front of her for so long.

Her fingers throbbed, and a long scratch ran along the inside of her wrist, probably from being scraped by a branch while she held on. Blood flowed from the torn skin, but her mother didn’t even glance at her, busy comforting Jeong-woo.

It was when Ye-seo turned away, wiping her tears and sniffling. Among the crowd gathered frantically in front of the bus and ambulance, someone’s gaze was fixed on her. Beyond the window of a large black sedan, the child she had rescued earlier was leaning his head back, staring intently at her.

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Ye-seo’s eyes snapped open at the sound of another familiar siren. Instinctively, she grabbed her phone, turned off the alarm, and groggily got up. It was 6 AM, still dark before dawn, so the room was dim.

Ye-seo rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and sat there blankly for a moment. Why had that day suddenly appeared in her dream? It was an event from over 10 years ago.

Just before waking from the dream, she recalled the boy who had been gazing steadily at her through the window. It was so long ago that she couldn’t remember his exact features. He was a small, frail child, so much so that the rescue worker had mistaken him for her younger brother.

Why? Even though his precise features were buried in a hazy memory, the recollection that he was a truly beautiful child remained clear.

Could it have been a girl? For a boy, he was truly too pretty.

As if to break her thoughts, the siren began to wailing loudly again. Ye-seo turned off the second alarm and put her feet on the floor beside the bed. She was severely sleep-deprived from writing until past 1 AM last night, but she had no more time to sleep.

Ye-seo quickly washed and changed clothes before her mother could say anything, then headed out of the house. It was less than a 5-minute walk from the old apartment complex to the pharmacy in the commercial building. Her role was to open the pharmacy by 8:30 AM when her mother went to work, clean every corner thoroughly, and then greet early morning customers looking for hangover remedies and simple over-the-counter medications.