Episode 3
No sooner had Lee Seo pressed the reject button than the phone rang again. It quickly switched to a text message, and as she read it, her face turned pale.
“We’re contacting you regarding a financial issue related to Mr. Choi Byung-tae. You should know well enough that ignoring calls doesn’t make it go away. Let’s not make things unnecessarily difficult for both of us.”
Her hands trembled.
A wave of anxiety swept through her body.
A trauma-like trauma—
A shackle of debt that still bound her from the past to the present.
Her breath quickened, as if something were tightening around her throat.
Barely able to exhale through parted lips, Lee Seo began walking away, trying to avoid the eyes of passersby with a face that looked as if she might collapse at any moment.
Inside the lavishly decorated hotel, all eyes turned to Tae-seok as he entered.
Clad in a classic suit, the so-called Crown Prince of Kanghwa Group exuded perfection and an unapproachable aura.
This hotel had been built under his direction from design to completion—
Every inch of the space was a result of more than three years of work, and he was deeply attached to the building.
As his gaze briefly swept across the hotel’s interior, a swirl of emotions rose in Tae-seok’s mind.
Among Kanghwa Group’s many subsidiaries, construction was where Tae-seok’s talents shone brightest. Thanks to continuous success, he had risen to become a representative figure in Korea’s architectural scene.
But the more he became known and acknowledged as an architect, the more his mother Pil-soon obsessed over his marriage.
She wanted him to succeed not only in his career but also in life—as a husband, as a father. Her fixation had now extended to him producing a second generation.
He was attending this wedding on Pil-soon’s behalf, due to her ties with the bride’s family.
Gleaming chandeliers under a canopy, flower-lined ice sculptures—
All of it had been decorated extravagantly at the bride’s request.
The scent of fresh flowers wafted through the air as Tae-seok passed the entrance.
Photos of the happy couple were displayed for all to see.
Today, which was the happiest day for someone else, felt no different from any other day for Tae-seok. He looked at the photos with a blank expression, a short sigh escaping his lips.
He walked toward a lounge tucked into one corner of the hotel lobby—
The only space that had remained unchanged since the hotel first opened.
It had been designed to offer a brief moment of rest for people overwhelmed with work. Tae-seok had paid special attention to it, hoping it could become a peaceful retreat for someone amid the chaos.
Just as he ran his long fingers along the edge of the table—
The lounge door burst open, and someone rushed inside.
Tae-seok’s gaze focused.
A woman stumbled in, breathless and pale.
It was Lee Seo.
Without noticing Tae-seok, she collapsed on the floor as if her legs had given out.
Her belongings spilled out of her handbag with a crash.
Tae-seok slowly stepped toward her, his eyes fixed on the woman trembling beneath slumped shoulders.
She wore jeans and a white T-shirt—
So different from the well-dressed woman earlier, almost like a completely different person.
Yet Tae-seok instantly recognized her.
“Are you all right?”
Her face was pale, and her breath was ragged.
Her body trembled violently, her expression riddled with anxiety.
“Haah…”
Classic signs of hyperventilation.
“Can you hear me?”
As her face grew even paler, Tae-seok placed a steady hand on her shoulder.
“I know it’s hard, but focus on my voice.”
He spoke slowly, trying to help her regain control of her breathing.
“Inhale through your nose… hold… now exhale slowly.”
His low, calming voice reached her ears.
“You’re going to be fine. Just do as I say. Inhale… now exhale… again.”
Following Tae-seok’s steady instructions, Lee Seo began to inhale and exhale, slowly but surely.
“One more time—deep breath in, and breathe out gradually, controlling your breath.”
As warm air moved between her lips, her rough breathing began to calm.
“Good. Keep breathing just like that. One more time—slowly.”
Warmth spread from the hand on her back, and after a few minutes, color began to return to Lee Seo’s face.
“Are you okay now?”
“I… I think so.”
“Good to hear.”
Tae-seok finally withdrew his hand and took a step back. Regaining her senses, Lee Seo began hurriedly gathering her spilled belongings.
“Thank you.”
She added a quick apology for the trouble before hurrying away without giving him a chance to stop her.
Tae-seok’s gaze lingered briefly on her retreating figure.
That overwhelming fear in her eyes and the way her body trembled stayed etched in his mind.
Just as he turned to leave the lounge, something caught his eye.
A small, worn wallet lay on the floor.
He picked it up and opened it with long fingers.
His gaze stopped at the ID photo and name inside.
Pale skin, red lips, delicate features, long hair cascading down a slender neck—
Her image imprinted itself on Tae-seok’s mind like a tattoo.
He remembered her face from the previous night in front of the department store.
The image of her arguing with a man who tried to cut in line flashed in his mind.
An unreadable expression formed on Tae-seok’s face.
“Choi Lee Seo…”
He whispered her name under his breath, the three syllables lingering on his lips.
Outside the lounge, Lee Seo rushed toward the restroom.
Her face was drenched in cold sweat, and her outfit was in disarray.
Avoiding people’s stares, she finally reached the restroom, where she let out a long, hot sigh.
Leaning against the wall, her furrowed brow twitched again.
“We’re contacting you regarding a financial issue related to Mr. Choi Byung-tae…”
That name—Choi Byung-tae—
Her lips turned red as she bit down hard.
Blue veins bulged from her clenched fists, rage bubbling up in her trembling body.
A name that followed her like a curse.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape his shadow.
Her blood felt like it was boiling in reverse.
How much longer will this go on?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and closed her eyes.
Marriage had never been part of her life plan.
Choi Byung-tae—a man who had once been her father.
After his sudden disappearance, all the debt he left behind fell on Lee Seo and her mother, Soon-young.
So much time had passed she could barely remember when the hyperventilation began.
Yet she still couldn’t break free from the chains of debt.
The past she wished to erase only left deeper scars and pain.
After he vanished with his gambling debt, loan sharks and creditors hounded her and her mother.
Dozens of moves, constant school transfers, and even after joining the workforce, the threats didn’t stop.
Working more than 20 hours a day still wasn’t enough.
The more they paid, the more the debt grew, soul-crushing interest drying them out.
Even the sound of a phone ringing or the doorbell was enough to make her heart drop.
She could barely breathe.
Calls and messages came at all hours, in every place, without warning.
Reading the text, her breath caught from reflex, a response carved into her body.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Sunlight seeped through the restroom window.
Looking at the light, a faint, bitter smile escaped her lips.
Staring into the mirror, she fixed her messy clothes and touched up her ruined makeup.
Her reflection, surrounded by luxury, felt utterly foreign.
She bit her lip hard to keep the tears at bay.
A sharp metallic taste filled her mouth.
And suddenly, the image of the man flashed in her mind.
A tall man in a suit.
Once the moment of suffocation had passed and she could breathe again, the soft, heavy musk of his cologne lingered at the edge of her nose.
That unfamiliar voice that broke into her panic—
Strangely enough, it had helped her breathe.
