Chapter 18. Premonition

The once-pristine sheets were now tangled with creases. Yooa had to beg repeatedly for Lee Jun to stop before the windows finally fogged up with condensation.

“Maybe you should work on your stamina?”
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit obsessive, Executive Director?”
“Am I?”

As Yooa turned away and pulled the blanket up to her neck, Lee Jun gently stroked her pale arm with regret. She swatted his hand away with a sharp slap, making him raise one knee and murmur:

“About the camper van…”

His low voice, meant to steady his breath, sounded like a lullaby to Yooa’s ears.

“It’s cozier and nicer than I expected. What if we create a space not just for camping, but for couples or married people to relax and refresh? Like a pop-up store in the middle of the city. People can apply, and we’ll draw lots to let them stay overnight.”

Where on earth did this energy and enthusiasm come from?

Lee Jun’s ideas flowed out like a fountain, endlessly. As he continued to flesh out his plans in detail, Yooa drifted off to sleep, unable to lift even a finger.

She kept thinking she should sleep with clothes on, but her blinking eyelids eventually just shut.

“…Yes, yes. Reserve the meeting room. Let’s have everyone from manager level and up attend.”

Yooa awoke from a dream to the sound of Kang Lee Jun’s voice. In the dream, it had been her, Lee Jun, and Sejin all sitting under the shade of a jujube tree.

A gentle breeze had tickled her hair, and the child’s voice calling for “Mom” had sounded just like Lee Jun. Sejin had gotten spaghetti all over his mouth, and as Yooa smiled and leaned forward to wipe him gently, her hand touched Sejin and—

She snapped awake.

“It’s just a plan for now, but we’ll have to discuss whether it’s feasible. Use the email I sent yesterday as the base for the agenda. Yes.”

She opened her eyes, drenched in sweat, already dressed in pajamas. She hadn’t known he could be so thoughtful.

Yooa rolled over with a rustle. He hadn’t left—he was still there. It was still before dawn.

“Let’s head out now.”

Through the softly lit mood lighting that spilled through the window, she could see him sliding his arm into his jacket.

Maybe it was because Sejin had appeared in her dream, but her eyes stung. As Lee Jun fastened his cufflinks, he paused before descending the stairs. Watching him from the corner of her eye, Yooa shut her eyes tight.

She knew she shouldn’t hold on.

She knew she shouldn’t let him know she was awake.

They had satisfied a desire born of fleeting curiosity about their differences. By now, he had likely lost both interest and curiosity.

Once he left like this, he wouldn’t return. She should feel relieved and refreshed.

Trying to calm her aching chest, Yooa told herself again and again: her mood was only sinking because Sejin had appeared in her dream.

Thud.

The small sound of the door closing rang loudly in her ears. It was the kind of dawn that made it hard to fall back asleep.

Yooa’s premonition was correct.

Lee Jun didn’t return after that. And surprisingly, even Chairman Kang’s walks stopped.

“So that was all our relationship really was.”

Get what you want, then leave without looking back.

That was the only way to describe her and Lee Jun’s relationship.

With peace settling in, Yooa began planting flowering trees around the camper van and even moved a small jujube tree nearby.

She found joy in tending to her space—making it feel like her own home. When it was time to leave, she would take some of the soil Sejin had played in, and bring the not-yet-grown jujube tree with her.

She played soft music and reminisced about her time with Sejin. Life felt peaceful—at least, for a week.

Rustle.

It was an ordinary day. Yooa was busy opening a newly delivered package.

It had started with small containers for salt and pepper. Before she realized it, she’d ended up buying everything from a palm-sized Bluetooth speaker to a mini space heater.

“I’ll just give it all away when I leave.”

Had her resolution to leave no trace weakened?

Yooa sighed deeply, warning herself to be careful at times like this.

Rustle.

At that unsettling sound, her hands froze mid-motion while stacking boxes. She’d assumed the earlier rustling had come from her own movements, but this noise—of something shifting—wasn’t her doing.

“Eeek!”

The heater she’d left beneath the bed slid out on its own.

Yooa screamed and stamped her feet in place, unsure what to do.

“A rat? No, maybe a bir—”

Had a pigeon or sparrow flown in when she aired the place out?

Her mind raced. She hated bugs and rodents—anything with too many legs or beady eyes.

“How stupid… I bought so much useless stuff but forgot insect spray.”

Disaster always strikes unannounced. And she felt utterly unprepared.

“This is… this is all Kang Lee Jun’s fault!”

She knew it didn’t make sense, but she wanted someone to blame.

Fear of fighting something invisible surged in, along with the hopeless thought that maybe she’d never find out who killed Sejin.

“That bastard…”

When you weren’t purely happy about someone’s return, life’s trials became all the more bitter.

Yooa decided to lay blame on Lee Jun, her ex-husband who’d come and gone without a word. Otherwise, she felt like she’d fall apart. After all, people curse kings when they’re not around.

“He was always like that—never around when I needed him most. Not even a strand of hair.”

Just then, a black lump rolled straight from under the bed to the kitchen.

Startled, Yooa leapt onto the bed, thudding as she scrambled up without even removing her shoes. She was trembling in fear.

Then, the tightly shut door creaked open—and Lee Jun’s face appeared through the gap.

“I’m touched, Yoon Yooa.”
“E-Executive Director…”
“You were thinking of me that much?”

He leaned against the door with a slanted shoulder, his voice dry and teasing. The black three-button jacket suited him well, and he ruffled his slicked-back hair with one hand.

He looked tired—perhaps on his way home from work.

“I was passing by, but the camper van was shaking up and down. If you had a guest over, I figured I’d at least say hello.”

His cold eyes swept through the camper’s interior. Looking at pale-faced Yooa, awkwardly perched on the bed, he asked with a smirk whether she’d been talking about him when she said “bastard.”

“Calling me that doesn’t really make me want to help you, you know?”

As he nonchalantly joked about checking on the shaking camper, Yooa bit her lip hard.

She had no bug spray. And now that she’d seen something moving inside the camper, she had no other options.

“Since you’re already here… can you catch it for me? I think something came in.”

Only then did Lee Jun seem to grasp the situation. A smirk tugged at his lips.

The idea that he could just turn around and pretend he’d seen nothing made Yooa’s breath quicken.

“What should I do…” he muttered to himself, as if pondering.

Tears welled up in Yooa’s eyes at his indecisive mumbling.

“Ask nicely.”

“…”

He tilted his head, arms crossed. His words—saying she should set aside her pride when asking for help—made Yooa’s cheeks burn hot.

“Please help me.”