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chapter 56
It had felt strange from the beginning.
Everything felt strange, without needing to point to anything specific.
[Listen carefully. You probably won’t believe it, and you might think it’s impossible. You might even be shocked, and honestly, I also think this is impossible.]
[I’m not… I’m not your wife.]
It was like she had suddenly developed amnesia.
He expected confusion. After all, the relationship had started with lies; Gowoo had left Korea, and fragile Joo Aejeong would naturally struggle.
He thought the guilt had briefly unhinged his mind. No, he didn’t think too deeply. It was simply easier to think that way.
But the changed her never returned.
[Ha Yoonjae, do you know me?]
There was no trace of the Joo Aejeong he knew—she had gone beyond just being “different.”
Her way of interacting with people, her tone, her behavior—everything visible about her was different.
What confused Yoonjae the most were her eyes.
Insanely clear, black eyes that seemed to swallow people whole.
A woman who had become so completely different shook him daily with her sharp gaze.
Eventually, suspicion turned into doubt.
[Who… are you?]
He couldn’t help but ask, and she answered.
[I’m Gowoo, the one who died on the plane yesterday.]
Time he had brushed off passed like a rapid film reel.
[Father?]
The words he had said to Go Kyungchul at the mausoleum where Gowoo had slept. Moments he had tried to dismiss as mistakes or mishearings.
Familiar unease.
Strange déjà vu.
And the period to this chaos began with a single piece of paper.
[One name could not be definitively confirmed. It seems to be Madam, but the name differs, so we brought the guestbook along.]
From the awkward, carefully written contract clauses, to the pen-erased names, to the name on the certificate from the Eunyang Foundation charity event—they placed the three side by side.
They all told the same truth:
[I’m not Joo Aejeong.]
She was not his wife, Joo Aejeong.
Thud.
Suddenly, she struck Yoonjae’s chest like lightning. The force was so strong that his body shook slightly.
Their faces had already gone pale.
“Are you drunk?”
She forced a laugh, pretending to act normal.
“How much did you drink to say something like that? You must be really crazy. Why… why is this happening?”
“Something impossible did happen.”
“…….”
“To you.”
Because Yoonjae did not falter, she became even more shaken.
She brushed her messy hair back and let out another forced laugh.
‘Just testing. That’s all… He’s just strange sometimes. He says things that make no sense and surprises people.’
Confronted with a situation she had never imagined, she was desperately trying to escape.
She didn’t even know why she was running, but she felt she had to deny it.
“I don’t know why this is happening, but don’t tease me.”
“You must have struggled alone.”
“Why are you like this? How much did you drink? Fine. I admit you drank. I won’t say anything more.”
“You couldn’t have told anyone.”
“Ah, are you sick? Shall I contact Dr. Jang? Get some counseling?”
She turned and picked up her phone, trembling as she searched for Juho’s number.
The impossible had happened.
Even the confession of a man who loved her barely reached her ears. But he, in his own way, grasped her pent-up anguish and pulled it out.
“You must have survived somehow.”
“Wait. I’ll contact him right now.”
“You have to live.”
“…….”
“Because you’re alive now.”
Crash.
At that moment, something in their hearts completely collapsed.
With eyes trembling so much she could barely see, she looked back at him.
Because she had to live.
Despite everything, despite the chaos, they didn’t give up the time they had.
All the things she could never say, the things she couldn’t, began to spill out uncontrollably.
“How… all of a sudden.”
Her uncontrolled voice trembled, unable to accept this unexpected moment, fading into a whisper.
Suddenly.
How… in the world.
Sure, there had been a few slips of the tongue, but no one could have deduced this from just that.
“How…”
Did he even recognize her correctly? As she looked at the incomprehensible Yoonjae, she remembered his words.
[You struggled with people.]
[You were always tired.]
[Life felt like labor.]
They had assumed he was just speaking about himself, naively asking:
[Was today difficult?]
Yoonjae gave a faint smile.
[Lucky. It wasn’t you.]
Her hand, still holding her phone, fell with a soft thud.
“Ah…”
A sound that could not be formed into words slipped out.
When had it started?
That he hadn’t called her ‘Joo Aejeong.’
Now, speechless, Yoonjae approached her. He didn’t impulsively express his emotions.
Instead, he waited for himself to be reflected in her clouded eyes.
Finally, when her trembling ceased, he spoke.
“You didn’t notice.”
“…….”
“You realized.”
About Gowoo.
“I don’t know how this happened. I can’t explain how it’s possible. I know it’s impossible to accept.”
And you probably feel the same.
Something beyond simple acceptance or understanding.
So unreal that it’s easier to just swallow it.
Their hands intertwined like threads in a needle, tying knots stitch by stitch.
“Wait… wait a second. This is strange. No, this makes no sense. How can I understand this? This is…”
A chill ran down her spine, invisible wind brushing her sweaty forehead.
Her eyes, dilated, captured Yoonjae.
“…Don’t you think it’s crazy? It’s strange, isn’t it? This makes no sense. Right now… our conversation…”
How could a man, not even involved, accept such an unbelievable reality?
As if understanding the chaos he couldn’t contain, he did not deny it.
“That’s right. Think that. At first, and even now.”
She could mock it as impossible, call herself insane, but even now, when all pieces fit and the puzzle completes, he didn’t reject reality.
He tried to deny the unbelievable truth before him, but one certainty calmed Yoonjae’s confusion.
[Then it’s only me for you too, Ha Yoonjae?]
Because he had clearly realized who he loved.
Because he understood the reason for this sudden, insane attraction.
“So no more alone.”
“…….”
“Let’s be crazy together.”
They no longer withdrew from him, who had come completely into their presence.
Their minds and hearts twisted together in such complexity it made them dizzy.
They could not explain the emotions surging within.
‘But…’
It was clear she no longer had to act or lie for him.
Her small lips spoke the truth she had never dared to admit to herself.
“I was scared. So, so scared.”
Afraid it would crumble the moment she spoke.
Afraid it would break the moment she admitted it.
“If it’s a dream, it’s a nightmare that won’t end. A dream where I die but don’t die. I can’t explain it to anyone, to anything. Even now, it’s the same. I know nothing. Just… this is… just…”
“Don’t explain.”
“…….”
“Don’t try to understand.”
“Ah…”
“Just stay here.”
Yoonjae said what she had most wanted to hear, what she couldn’t say to herself.
As if accepting the ‘me’ she couldn’t recognize, he looked into Gowoo’s eyes—not Joo Aejeong’s.
Tears, unable to be held back, began to form.
Though embarrassed by the sight, she clenched her fists tightly.
“Can I… live?”
Still looking at Yoonjae, she earnestly hoped.
“Can I really live like this?”
The guilt and fear she had pushed away surged like a tidal wave, threatening to sweep her away, but she had to hear it.
The words she needed most for her precarious self.
“Live.”
Without hesitation, Yoonjae brought her hand into his.
He held her hand gently, no longer resisting, and corrected the ring with his thumb and index finger.
Then he brought it to the tip of her delicate left ring finger and said:
“Live. For me.”
The ring slipped onto her finger.
Somehow, the scene seemed to move slowly in her eyes.
Past the first joint, the moment she awoke from death.
Past the second joint, the time she began to love Ha Yoonjae.
Finally, placed perfectly, she couldn’t hold back her laughter.
“What… really?”
With teary eyes, embarrassed, she playfully tapped his chest.
“Even at a time like this, you live for yourself. How can someone be so consistent?”
Her hand remained on his chest, then moved to wrap around his neck, while Yoonjae’s large hands circled her waist.
Their eyes reflected each other with transparent sincerity, nothing to hide.
He whispered with all his heart:
“I love you.”
Even now, the events that had unfolded could not be explained. Perhaps, no one ever will be able to explain them.
But one thing could be said for sure:
This trembling, this excitement, this warmth.
“Gowoo.”
Like the teeth of a spring meshing, the beating of this heart synchronized with Ha Yoonjae’s.
‘It’s mine.’
