Her closed eyelids fluttered slightly before slowly lifting. A dim red dawn peeked shyly through the window. She had no idea when the torrential rain from the night before had stopped.
Ah, last night…
Like a lantern flickering in her mind, the events of the previous night flashed through Bom’s memory as she turned her head. There, she saw Jung-hoo asleep, his head resting on one arm. As her eyes drifted to the sheet hanging precariously low on his hips, a sense of reality washed over her.
“…Ha. This is crazy.”
Her voice, filled with regret, spilled out quietly. Covering her face with both hands, Bom squeezed her eyes shut. Was it the sudden rush of intoxication that caused this? Or was it Seo Jung-hoo himself, as dashing and unchanged as ever?
It was she who had stopped him when he tried to lay her down on the bed. There was no excuse.
There probably won’t… be a second time.
A bitter feeling crept up on her, but she forced it away. She carefully climbed out of bed so as not to wake him and picked up her underwear from the floor. That’s when she noticed her freshly laundered clothes hanging in a plastic cover on the doorknob. Jung-hoo must have brought them in while she was asleep.
Peeling off the plastic, she found her clothes neatly washed and soft. She quickly changed and grabbed her bag. Just before leaving the room, she stopped and quietly took in the sight of Jung-hoo one more time.
Leaving without a word didn’t sit well with her. But waking the man she’d just spent the night with seemed equally wrong. She feared that if he woke up, she’d just want to run away.
As she hesitated, her eyes landed on the table. More precisely, on the notepad sitting on top of it. Bom walked over, picked up the pen beside it.
“Yeah. This should be enough.”
Setting the pen down, Bom finally left the room with a relaxed expression.
A coincidence like this… isn’t so bad.
Even if it was nothing more than a fleeting dream of a night.
Jung-hoo flinched at the sound of the alarm and reached out from under the covers. Eyes still closed, he fumbled around for his phone and turned off the alarm. Something felt off. He opened his eyes.
The moment he saw the empty space next to him, sleep vanished instantly. The woman who should have been there was gone. Instead, his clothes were neatly folded where she should have been.
“She ran off.”
He let out a baffled chuckle through his dry lips. He hadn’t expected her to disappear like this after a one-night stand. Now he found himself growing curious about Bom. What had she been thinking, sleeping with him?
Then her bold voice echoed in his ears.
‘It’s not like we’ll ever see each other again.’
Scratching his slightly furrowed brow, Jung-hoo smirked.
Even if she’d been drunk and lost her sense of judgment in the heat of the moment—
“If that’s all it took to sleep with me, that’s a problem.”
His eyes, tinged with a hint of emptiness, drifted toward the window. The clear sky was a stark contrast to the torrential downpour of the night before.
It was just like Han Bom.
The same woman who clung to him so desperately now vanished as if she had no further use for him. She had looked at him with such longing, only to push him away with a coldness that was chilling.
He rose from the bed and planted his feet on the floor. That’s when a notepad came into view.
“Thanks for last night. I had a good time.”
Jung-hoo’s narrowed eyes were fixed on the note for a long moment.
“You had a good time?”
His voice dropped, laced with disbelief and irony.
Was that supposed to mean last night wasn’t so bad she’d want to erase it?
That it was… fairly satisfying?
“How do you plan on facing me from now on?”
She made bold claims about handling things, then left a note saying it was “fun,” casually provoking him.
His dark, amused eyes landed back on the note.
Han Bom, the freshman known for topping her department without fail—even the most demanding professors praised her diligence. But it wasn’t just her grades that made her stand out. Even while juggling two or three part-time jobs, she never slipped from the top ranks.
Her name naturally engraved itself into his mind. The girl who always sat at the front during lectures would bolt from the classroom the moment they ended.
T-shirts, jeans, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail—despite her modest appearance, she had a striking presence. But Bom seemed completely uninterested in the attention. She focused solely on her studies.
Their paths, running in parallel, began to intersect when they were assigned to the same group for a team project.
With Bom working late nights, they often ended up doing assignments at cafes. During those times, Jung-hoo found himself helplessly drawn to her.
At first, it was curiosity. He found her inspiring—someone overcoming hardships, balancing work and study with relentless effort. But the more time they spent together, curiosity bloomed into affection.
Before he even realized it, he started looking forward to their project sessions.
His eyes unknowingly stayed fixed in one place.
On Han Bom.
When their eyes met, she would quickly look away. Occasionally, when they took the same class, he would feel her longing gaze. The flushed cheeks, trembling pupils, and shy smile.
He was sure she felt the same.
It was the first snowfall.
He had just arrived at the bar, only to learn that the end-of-semester gathering had been canceled. As he was about to leave, he spotted Bom sitting alone inside.
‘Wanna grab a beer? I’m off work tonight.’
They ended up drinking together. Sweet alcohol buzzed in his veins, and the atmosphere felt intoxicating. That night, they kissed. She didn’t push him away. He greedily claimed her lips. Outside, white snow piled up softly.
But after that night, she disappeared from campus. He couldn’t get in touch. And when he finally saw her again after some time, she didn’t even give him a chance to speak.
‘That night was a mistake. I think I was really drunk. I don’t want things to get awkward between us. So… let’s just pretend it didn’t happen. I already like someone else.’
Without even meeting his eyes, she said her piece and walked away. Shock froze him in place.
He had been about to ask her out. He had planned to tell her they should go study abroad in the U.S. together.
But Bom didn’t give him the chance. She just vanished.
That was why Seo Jung-hoo had been trapped in winter for the past eight years.
Lost in thought, his phone rang. He grabbed it from where it had been tossed on the bed.
[Lee Jin-woo]
Staring at the screen, Jung-hoo picked up.
“Yeah.”
— You’re up early. Want to grab breakfast?
It was Jin-woo, Jung-hoo’s secretary. They had graduated from the same university in the U.S., and now Jin-woo worked under him.
“See you in the lobby in 30.”
— Got it. Oh, and you’re reviewing the contract, right?
“Of course.”
Seongho Group’s roots were in construction and hotels. After graduating from university, Jung-hoo managed European hotel operations at the Paris branch of Paramount Hotel. Two days ago, he had flown to New York for a major deal involving the new “Paramount Stay.”
— You’re so diligent for someone about to move back to the main office in Korea.
As Jin-woo grumbled over the phone, Jung-hoo threw on his robe. Crossing the suite, he made his way to the study. Amid the mess of documents on the desk, he reached out.
— Oh right, I emailed the personnel records the other day.
“Yeah. Looking at them now.”
His gaze fell on the employee list.
[Seongho Group Overseas Business Division Team 1 – Han Bom]
The Bom he saw again wasn’t the girl he remembered—she was now a mature woman. Her once-tied-back hair now cascaded down her chest, and she wore a subtle perfume.
Gone was the familiar shampoo scent, replaced by the fragrance of a grown woman.
‘Can I stay with you?’
Though he knew he shouldn’t have, Jung-hoo had spent the night with her. He thought he had buried his feelings long ago. But the moment their bodies touched, he fell—completely.
— Don’t work so hard. You’re making things difficult for me.
Jin-woo’s voice came through the phone, half-joking.
Preparing for his transfer back to the headquarters in Korea, Jung-hoo had asked Jin-woo for the personnel files in advance. He hadn’t expected to see such a familiar name on the list.
Bom was at the headquarters. He was at the Paris branch.
So far, yet so near.
After hanging up, Jung-hoo placed the personnel file back on the desk. Then, shrugging off his robe, he headed toward the bathroom.
