Yerin's breath stopped.
Not because she didn't recognize him—but because she had spent years trying to forget him.
Standing there, tall and cruelly familiar, was DO-YUN.
Her high-school crush.Her first love.Her first heartbreak.
The boy who once made her believe she was special—and then destroyed her with a smile.
He looked nothing like the boy she remembered.
The school uniform was gone.In its place—an expensive black coat, sharp features, cold eyes that carried no trace of guilt.
Still handsome.Still unreachable.Still terrifying.
"Still crying like this?" he said flatly, glancing at her tear-soaked face."Some things never change."
Her fingers curled into fists.
Moon hid behind Yerin's back, whispering softly,"Unnie… who is he?"
Yerin swallowed hard.Her throat burned.
"No one," she said quickly."Moonie, stay close to me."
But Do - yun smirked.
"No one?"He laughed quietly."That's funny. You used to look at me like I was your whole world."
Her chest tightened painfully.
Memories she never wanted back but her mind betrayed her—dragging her back to high school.
Back when she waited outside the classroom for him.Back when she saved lunch money just to buy him snacks.Back when she thought love meant enduring pain silently.
Yerin had loved him quietly, the kind of love that grows in the shadows and never asks to be seen, the kind that waits after school with cold fingers wrapped around a cheap lunchbox, hoping he might smile at her just once; she loved DO Yun when she was sixteen, when she didn't know that love could be cruel, when she believed kindness would someday be enough. She remembered how she used to walk three steps behind him in the corridor, afraid of being too obvious, how she saved her allowance for weeks just to buy him a simple drink, how her heart raced every time he said her name as if it meant something special. And then came the day that shattered her completely—
she found him—
Laughing.Holding hands.Kissing the most beautiful girl in school.
A girl everyone admired.A girl who wore confidence like a crown.
And then his voice—still sharp even now—echoed in her head:
"Did you really think I'd date you seriously?"
"You're not beautiful, Yerin. You're fragile. Weak."
"And honestly?""You dress like you don't even know you're a girl."
His friends laughed.The girl laughed.
And he had added, cruel and careless—
"You're a coward with no sense of style. Don't get the wrong idea again."
That day, something inside her died.
She didn't cry that day—not in front of them—but she cried alone in her room until her pillow was soaked and her chest ached as if her heart had been ripped out and stepped on. From that moment, she learned to lower her gaze, to speak less, to believe that love was something meant for people who were confident, pretty, and brave—never for someone like her. And even years later, long after the school bell stopped ringing and life moved on, the scars he left behind still whispered to her in moments of weakness, reminding her that the first boy she ever loved was also the one who taught her how deeply words can wound, and how heartbreak can turn a soft girl into someone who survives by pretending she feels nothing at all.
Back to the Present
Yerin stood up slowly, shielding Moon behind her.
Her voice trembled—but she didn't back away.
"What do you want?" she asked."This is a hospital. Don't bring your poison here."
DO-Yun glanced toward the emergency room casually."Your father, right?""Drunk driving accident."
Her eyes widened.
"How do you—"
"I own half this hospital," he said calmly.Then, cruelly—"And unfortunately for you… I heard the bill hasn't been paid."
Her blood ran cold.
Moon clutched her arm harder."Unnie… I'm scared…"
Yerin felt the walls closing in.
She bowed her head slightly—not to him, but to fate.
"…If you're here to humiliate me again," she whispered, voice breaking,"do it later. My father could die."
For a split second—something flickered in DO-Yun's eyes.
But it vanished just as fast.
He leaned closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear.
"You still look the same when you beg," he said."Pathetic. Soft. Crying."
Her tears fell again—but this time, they burned with anger.
"I'm not begging you," she snapped."I'm begging life."
Silence stretched between them.
Monitors beeped loudly from inside the ER.
Time was running out.
Then—
DO-Yun straightened.Pulled out his phone.
"I'll pay the ₩10,00,000," he said flatly.
Yerin froze.
Moon gasped."Unnie…?"
"But," he added, eyes locking onto Yerin's trembling face,"this doesn't come for free."
Her heart sank.
"What… do you want?" she whispered.
A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips.
"You'll know it soon," he said before leaving.
Her past had returned.Her nightmare stood breathing in front of her.
And this time—
she couldn't run away.