I stood there for a long time with the hotel key card in my hand.
The suite across from mine, where Yeoheon Jin was staying.
It was something that had never existed in my past life.
More precisely, it was possible that I simply hadn't known about it.
Even after living together for seven years, ours had been the kind of relationship where I had to hear about my husband's business trips from his secretary. I couldn't be sure that I had known where he was the night before our wedding, either.
But at the very least, he had never come looking for me in my room the night before the wedding.
He had never even checked on my health first.
He had never quietly backed down after hearing me say that I was breaking off the engagement.
Above all else.
He had certainly never told me that I didn't have to get married if I didn't want to.
I turned the key card over again.
It was directly across from my room.
It was far too close to be called a coincidence.
I stared at the door for a moment before finally taking hold of the handle.
The hallway was quiet.
The thick carpet swallowed my footsteps.
It was only six steps to the door across the hall.
I stopped in front of it.
The hand I had raised to knock froze in midair.
What was I doing?
A woman going back to find the groom who had left after declaring that she was breaking off the engagement.
It was ridiculous.
But I couldn't pretend I hadn't noticed and simply return to my room, either.
I wanted to know why Yeoheon Jin was here.
That was all.
Knock, knock.
I knocked twice.
The response was quick.
The door opened within seconds.
And this time, I was the one who froze.
Yeoheon Jin had taken off his suit jacket.
His tie was loosened, too.
The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up below his elbows.
It was the first time I had ever seen him like this, including in my past life.
Even during the seven years he lived with me, he went straight to his own room as soon as he came home.
Whenever we ran into each other at the breakfast table, he was already dressed to perfection.
I had always seen only the finished version of Yeoheon Jin.
I had never once seen him before or after he came undone.
Yeoheon lowered his gaze first.
The moment he noticed the key card in my hand, his expression changed ever so slightly.
"You left this behind."
"You didn't leave it behind on purpose, did you?"
His eyes returned to me.
"Would I have a reason to?"
"Who knows? You've been acting strange all day, Mr. Jin."
"I have?"
I held out the key card.
"Were you here originally?"
Yeoheon took it and examined it for a moment.
"Since dinner."
"I heard you were overseas."
He didn't answer right away.
I didn't miss that brief pause.
"My schedule changed."
"When?"
"Today."
"So why? What happened?"
This time, Yeoheon stared directly at me.
"Ms. Ki."
"Yes."
"Do I have to report my schedule to someone who says she isn't getting married?"
I was at a loss for words.
He was right.
And yet, it left me feeling strange.
"I'm not asking you to report it."
"Then?"
"I'm asking because it's strange."
I didn't move an inch.
"The person I was supposed to meet at the wedding venue tomorrow was staying on the same floor the night before without warning me. Then you suddenly came to my room and asked if I was all right."
Yeoheon's gaze turned slightly colder.
"Is that so strange?"
"Between us, it is."
This time, his expression froze completely.
I realized it myself only after saying it.
Between us.
It was a strange thing for someone who wasn't even married yet to say.
At present, we were engaged.
The seven years I remembered didn't exist.
Not for this man.
At least, they shouldn't have.
I hurriedly added, "We weren't exactly close during our engagement."
"Close."
He repeated the word under his breath.
I furrowed my brow.
"What's strange about that?"
"Nothing."
He had that look again.
The face of someone who had heard one word wrong and was looking elsewhere for a moment.
The Yeoheon Jin I knew had never turned someone's words over in his mind like that.
He always gave the necessary answer immediately.
His silence had always been closer to disinterest than hesitation.
"If you're not going to answer, I'll go."
I was just about to turn around.
"Wait."
His low voice caught me from behind.
I turned my head.
Yeoheon stood inside the doorway.
"I returned from overseas this afternoon."
"Why?"
"There was something I needed to confirm."
"Is that something me?"
The silence fell like an answer.
Something cold stirred inside my chest.
Yeoheon didn't look away.
"Partly."
The same answer as before.
I hated those words.
In my past life, he had always said only as much as necessary.
Whenever I asked about something, he told me only what I needed to know for business.
If I pressed further, he would cut me off by saying it wasn't something I needed to concern myself with.
It was similar now.
The only difference was that this time, it was painfully clear there was something in his silence that I didn't know.
"Forget it."
I decided not to ask anything else.
It would all be over in a few hours anyway.
Why this man had returned early.
Why he was staying on the same floor.
Why he had checked on my health.
There was no reason for me to know.
The moment I took an interest, it felt as though I would become connected to the past again.
I didn't want that.
"I returned your key card, so I'll go."
"Would you come in for a moment?"
"Why?"
"I don't think this is something we should discuss in the hallway."
"I don't have anything else to say."
"I do."
For a moment, I was about to refuse.
But I stopped when I saw his face.
He looked as though he had firmly made up his mind about something.
In the end, I stepped into the room.
The layout was similar to that of my suite, but the atmosphere was completely different.
One suitcase.
A jacket.
A laptop and documents on the table.
Beside them sat an untouched bottle of water.
The room was unnaturally neat, as if he hadn't even considered unpacking.
Then I saw a familiar envelope on one side of the table.
It was an envelope from the Hyeonrok Group Legal Affairs Department.
Part of the document title was visible above it.
[Marriage-related...]
I looked away.
So it was about the marriage after all.
Yeoheon indicated a chair, but I didn't sit.
"Go ahead."
He didn't insist that I sit, either.
"You said earlier that you weren't getting married."
"Yes."
"Will you change your mind?"
"No."
This time, I answered without the slightest hesitation.
Yeoheon looked at me for a long while.
His eyes were impossible to read.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't trying to stop me.
But neither was he indifferent.
"I'll take care of the issue on Hyeonrok's end."
"Please do."
"And the media response."
"Take care of that yourself, too."
"Haedam won't sit back and do nothing."
That made me laugh.
"I know."
My father's face came vividly to mind.
He would come up to this room first thing in the morning.
He would say that the marriage wasn't just my personal matter.
He would ask if I knew what kind of situation Haedam was in.
He would ask if I intended to think only of my own feelings while thousands of company employees depended on me.
If I had been my past self, that would have been the end of it.
I would have apologized.
In the end, I would have put on the dress.
And stood beside Yeoheon Jin again.
But not this time.
"I'm still not doing it."
My voice was calmer than I expected.
"The company being in trouble doesn't mean I have to get married."
Yeoheon listened without saying a word.
"If Haedam has a problem, the company needs to solve it. It's something my father or my brother should handle. If necessary, I'll do whatever I can from the position I hold."
"Without getting married."
"Yes."
"Even if that makes things more difficult for Haedam?"
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
He had struck the exact place that hurt.
But I didn't avoid it.
"If Haedam is a company that can be saved only by my getting married, then it wasn't a proper company to begin with."
Yeoheon's pupils trembled.
Just slightly.
"Who taught you to say things like that?"
"What?"
"How to talk like that."
It was an unexpected question.
I let out a hollow laugh.
"I always knew how."
"You didn't before."
My heart dropped hard.
Yeoheon stopped speaking, too.
The room fell silent in an instant.
I slowly asked, "What did you say?"
"I meant that you didn't seem that way during our engagement."
His answer was smoothly corrected.
But it was already too late.
You didn't before.
Those brief words clung to my ears.
They sounded as though he was comparing who I was now with who I had been in the past.
It was an absurd thought.
The very fact that I had died and returned was absurd.
But did that mean something like this couldn't happen to someone else?
A chill ran down my spine.
I stared intently at Yeoheon's face.
I couldn't read a thing.
His expression was composed as always.
I had been deceived by that face for seven years.
No.
I couldn't even call it deception.
He had never once told me he loved me.
I had always been the one expecting something.
Not this time.
This time, I wouldn't expect anything.
"In any case, my decision is the same."
I made my words deliberately clearer.
"I am not getting married."
His jaw tightened ever so slightly.
"Whether it's Hyeonrok or Haedam, whatever problems arise, I'll take responsibility for my decision."
"Responsibility."
"Yes."
"By yourself?"
"It's my choice."
Yeoheon let out a short breath.
It wasn't a laugh.
It was closer to bitterness.
"Don't say that so lightly."
"Why not?"
He took one step closer.
My body tensed before I knew it.
But I didn't retreat.
Yeoheon stopped while leaving a measured distance between us.
"People who say they'll take responsibility alone..."
His voice was low.
"don't ask for help even when things become more than they can handle."
It felt as though I had been struck directly in the chest.
He had no way of knowing what he was saying.
Yeoheon Jin didn't know how I had died.
It hadn't happened yet.
I looked at him.
"What you just said..."
"Tomorrow morning."
Yeoheon cut me off.
"Before you speak directly to Chairman Junmuk Ki, give me just one hour."
"Why?"
"I'll see if there's a way to minimize the damage to Haedam without you getting married."
"You don't have to go that far."
"I need to."
For the first time, his tone was firm.
"This marriage concerns Hyeonrok, too."
It was a plausible reason.
Too plausible, which made it suspicious.
"By what time?"
"Seven a.m."
That was also when my makeup was scheduled to begin.
"What if you don't have an answer by then?"
"Do as you wish."
"You mean it's okay if I cancel the wedding?"
"Yes."
Yeoheon said it without the slightest hesitation.
"I won't stop you."
The moment I heard those words, a strange chill settled in one corner of my heart.
In my past life, I had wanted him to stop me at least once.
Don't go.
Don't leave.
I need you.
Just once.
But when I was actually trying to leave, he was making way for me far too easily.
Ridiculously, hurt feelings tried to rise first.
I was sick of myself.
What was I still expecting?
My fingernails dug into my palm.
"Fine."
I nodded.
"I'll wait until seven a.m."
I turned and headed for the door.
The moment my hand touched the handle, his low voice came from behind me.
"Ms. Ki."
I stopped.
This time, I didn't turn around.
"Don't be alone tonight."
My fingertips tightened.
"What does that mean?"
His answer came after a brief delay.
"It means there are a lot of people in the hotel, so call a staff member if you need anything."
"Why do you care whether I'm alone?"
Silence.
In the end, I turned around.
Yeoheon was still standing where he had been.
But there was something strange about his face.
He looked like a man who was afraid.
It was the least fitting expression imaginable for Yeoheon Jin.
"Mr. Jin."
I turned one step back toward him.
"Are you hiding something from me?"
Our eyes met.
Several seconds passed.
He lowered his gaze first.
"No."
A lie.
I couldn't explain why, but I knew it.
I didn't ask anything else.
If he had no intention of talking, there was no need for me to struggle to pry it out of him.
I had no intention of taking responsibility for Yeoheon Jin's secrets in this life, either.
I opened the door.
Then, just before leaving, I said one last thing.
"I'll see you at seven a.m."
I paused to catch my breath before adding, "My answer won't change, though."
I looked straight at Yeoheon Jin's face.
This time, I was certain.
It was a choice I had only been able to finally say out loud after dying once.
"I am not marrying you today, Mr. Jin."
I closed the door.
I didn't look back as I walked to my room across the hall.
I went inside, locked the door, and sat down again in front of the Declaration of Intent to Break Off the Engagement on the table.
I wrote the date in the blank space beneath my name.
October 18.
This time, no one would decide for me.
Not my marriage.
Not my divorce.
Not my life.
I set down the pen.
There were only about six hours left until seven a.m.
I thought it didn't matter what Yeoheon Jin brought me then.
At least, I thought that until that moment.
I had no idea he would come back with conditions that had never existed in my past life in order to preserve the marriage.