The doorbell rang
His mother opened the door.
— "How did it go?"
Ji Han didn't answer.
— "It's okay," she said gently. "There are still many places you can apply to. Sit down, I'll bring you something to drink."
— "Thanks, Mom."
As soon as she entered the kitchen, she heard the door shut behind her.
She knew then that her son wasn't okay. She decided to leave him alone so he could process his emotions.
Ji Han wandered the streets of Seoul for hours, walking aimlessly.
Eventually, exhausted, he sat at a small eatery for a meal.
It was the same place that held the memory of someone who had once stolen his soul.
Five years had passed, yet the memory was alive, raw, breathing.
He missed him.
He missed him deeply.
From the moment he saw him step out of that luxurious car, he knew.
It wasn't confusion, nor curiosity. It was love — immediate, undeniable.
He had waited for hours outside the hotel that night, hoping the man would come back, would miss him the way he missed him. But he never did.
He left behind nothing but a name. An incomplete one.
Tan.
— "Ahjumeoni, what would you like to eat?"
— "Sundubu-jjigae… and some soju."
— "Right away."
Ji Han ate silently, drinking the soju until his mind floated.
He found himself walking back to the very first place they had spoken — a place where words strange and reckless had passed between them.
He cursed himself.
Why hadn't he begged Tan to stay?
Why hadn't he asked him to be his, forever?
Tears streamed down his face.
Then, without much thought, he hailed a taxi.
— "Where to?" asked the driver.
— "The Grand Theater."
— "We'll be there in five minutes."
He arrived just as the crowd was spilling out after a performance.
It was late, but Ji Han wanted to see the spot where he had asked for his first kiss.
Then suddenly, everything shattered.
A sleek, familiar car stopped by the curb.
Tan stepped in… beside a beautiful young woman.
Ji Han froze.
His vision was blurred by alcohol and disbelief.
He couldn't tell if it was real… or a hallucination.
But it didn't matter.
He wanted to run to him.
To scream.
But as he tried to move, dizziness overwhelmed him.
The engine roared, the car disappeared, and Ji Han collapsed on the pavement.
He didn't wake until the next morning, aching and disoriented in his bed.
He stepped out of his room, groggy.
— "Who brought me home?"
His mother looked at him sternly.
— "Shouldn't you be apologizing first?"
— "Sorry, Mom… But who brought me back?"
She sighed.
— "Someone found you lying near the theater and used your phone to call your sister.
She called me right after that.
I took a taxi and brought you home.
You have no idea how hard it was."
— "I'm sorry… I just… I was overwhelmed last night."
His grandmother gently added:
— "It's alright, but don't let it happen again."