chapter 3

The command was sharp, allowing no room for argument. And just like that, he turned, his back rigid as he walked away, leaving her standing in the suffocating silence, the weight of his words pressing down on her like an iron cage.

Ha-Yoon’s body trembled, her hands clammy and cold as she glanced at Jinju. Her best friend. The only person in this entire damn restaurant who actually believed in her. Jinju’s eyes, wide with worry, met hers, and for a second, Ha-Yoon felt like she was about to collapse.

“I—” Her voice cracked, the sheer injustice of the situation suffocating her.

Jinju didn’t speak. She just gave a small, silent push forward, urging her to go.

Swallowing hard, Ha-Yoon bit her lip, forcing the stinging tears back. No. She wouldn’t cry. Not here. Not in front of these people.

She followed him. Each step toward the office felt like a march to her own execution. The walls, once familiar and comforting, now seemed to close in on her, suffocating her. The moment the door shut behind her with an ominous thud, the air inside thickened, heavy with unspoken accusations.

She stood before his desk, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

“Sir, I am not the one who put that money there.” Her voice was steady, but beneath the surface, a storm raged. “You’ve known me for years. You know I would never steal. You know me.”

A long silence stretched between them, suffocating and final.

Then, he sighed, running a tired hand down his face. His expression remained unreadable, but his silence spoke louder than words.

“I guess people change for certain reasons.”

Ha-Yoon flinched as if he had physically struck her.

No. No, this wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. He couldn’t possibly believe this. He couldn’t possibly think that she—of all people—would betray the very place she had given her soul to.

But his next words shattered everything.

“I can’t have you working here anymore, Ha-Yoon. You’re fired.”

The world tilted.

Her ears started ringing. Her lungs seized. Her heart stopped.

What?

“What?!” The word ripped from her throat, raw and high-pitched. “Sir, I didn’t do anything! Sir, I’m your best chef! If you fire me, this restaurant will go down the drain!”

His silence was worse than the accusations. Worse than the betrayal. Worse than the humiliation.

It meant he had already made up his mind.

It meant he didn’t care.

It meant she was nothing to him anymore.

Her fists shook, nails digging into her palms.

“Sir—please, you can’t do this. I didn’t do anything!”

He wasn’t listening.

“Take her away,” he said simply, waving a dismissive hand.

And just like that, it was over.

Before she could process the words, before she could fight back, two bodyguards grabbed her by the arms, their grip like iron.

“SIR! You can’t do this!” she shrieked, twisting, struggling against them, but they didn’t budge. “You—let me go! LET ME GO!”

She kicked, wiggling her small frame as wildly as she could, but it was no use. Her feet barely touched the floor as they dragged her through the restaurant.

Then—

THUD!

They threw her.

Like garbage.

Like she was nothing.

Her body hit the pavement, her belongings scattering in all directions. The cold air burned her skin, but nothing hurt more than the humiliation.

A sharp, boiling rage shot through her veins.

“AISH!!! SSIBAL!” she spat, slamming her fists onto the ground.

People were staring.

Oh, they loved this, didn’t they? Watching her downfall like it was some prime-time drama.

Ha-Yoon snapped her head up, eyes burning, vision blurred.

“MWO?! SSIBAL MWOL CHYEODABWA, I GAESEKKIYA?!” she roared. “WHAT?! THE FUCK IS YOU LOOKING AT, YOU SON OF A BITCH?!”

Some flinched. Others pretended to mind their own business. Cowards.

Her hands shook as she gathered her scattered belongings. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening.

Jinju rushed out, dropping to her knees beside her, helping her gather her things.

“Are you okay?” Jinju asked softly.

Ha-Yoon bit her lip hard, trying to hold it in. But then—

It hit her all at once.

The betrayal. The injustice. The humiliation.

Her shoulders shook. Her chest tightened.

And then—

She burst into tears.

Hot, angry, frustrated tears.

“I—I didn’t do it, Jinju…” she sobbed, voice barely above a whisper.

Jinju placed a gentle hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles.

Ha-Yoon wept into her hands.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair.

Then Min-Jae came out clapping her hands, the sound slow and mocking, echoing off the cold pavement like the final nail in a coffin.

"Oh wow... Ha-Yoon," Min-Jae sneered, crossing her arms as she tilted her head, her expression the perfect mask of feigned sympathy. "You should hurry up and leave the premises. You’re fired, don’t you understand?"

Her voice dripped with fake pity, her lips curling into a smirk that made Ha-Yoon’s blood boil. That smirk. That unbearable smirk—

Ha-Yoon’s chest rose and fell rapidly, her breath uneven and ragged. Her vision blurred with unshed tears, but she didn’t care. The pain of betrayal sat in her chest like a burning coal, scorching her from the inside out. She had worked here for years. Given her sweat, her effort, her passion—

Only to be thrown away like garbage.

She clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the gaping wound inside her chest. How could this happen? How could they believe Min-Jae over her? She had poured her soul into this job, given up nights of sleep, endured the harsh demands of the kitchen, suffered burns, cuts, exhaustion—and for what?

So she could be humiliated? Treated like a common thief?

And now this? This smug brat standing there, acting innocent, pretending she wasn’t the one who orchestrated everything?

Her fingers twitched. Rage, hot and searing, bubbled up from the pit of her stomach, spreading through her veins like wildfire, burning away the last shred of rationality she had left.

She wiped her tears harshly with the back of her sleeve and took a step forward, fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. She was going to wipe that damn smirk off Min-Jae’s face—

"No."

A hand grabbed her arm just in time, stopping her dead in her tracks.

“Don’t, Ha-Yoon,” Jinju said, her voice low but firm, a quiet warning in the storm of chaos swirling around them.

Ha-Yoon gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling with fury. Her breath was shaky, her heart pounding violently against her ribs like a war drum. She could feel the tremors of anger vibrating through her, so consuming, so overwhelming—

But Jinju wasn’t done.

She turned her sharp, furious gaze toward Min-Jae, her eyes burning with barely contained rage.

"I know it was you who planted that money there, Min-Jae." Her voice was ice-cold, steady despite the storm beneath it. "And I swear, I will find a way to get you fired for this."

Min-Jae scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Keep on blabbing,” she said dismissively, her smirk never wavering, as if none of this mattered, as if she had already won.

Something inside Ha-Yoon snapped.

Like a bullet being fired from a gun, she lunged forward before Jinju could stop her. Her feet slammed against the pavement as she closed the distance between her and Min-Jae.

And then—

BAM!

A sickening crack echoed through the air as Ha-Yoon’s fist connected squarely with Min-Jae’s face.

The force of the punch sent Min-Jae stumbling backward, her hand flying to her cheek, her eyes wide with pure shock. She had never expected it—never thought Ha-Yoon had it in her.

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Min-Jae shrieked, her voice high and shrill, shaking with anger and disbelief.

And then she lunged.

They crashed into each other like a storm meeting the sea, a violent clash of fury and chaos. Hair was pulled, clothes yanked, nails scratched, fists swung. The air filled with the sound of their curses, their snarls of rage. Jinju desperately tried to pull Ha-Yoon back, her hands gripping her waist, but Ha-Yoon was too far gone, too consumed by the need to make Min-Jae suffer the way she had suffered.

She wanted to ruin Min-Jae.

The way Min-Jae had ruined her.

“You BITCH—!” Ha-Yoon hissed, grabbing a fistful of Min-Jae’s hair, yanking it with all her might.

“LET GO OF ME, YOU PSYCHO!” Min-Jae shrieked, struggling against her grip, her face twisted with fury and pain.

The world blurred around them. Nothing else existed in that moment except their rage, their hatred, their unyielding battle for vengeance.

Until—

Min-Jae shoved Ha-Yoon.

Hard.

Ha-Yoon staggered backward—

Her foot slipped off the curb.

Her stomach dropped.

Time slowed.

A deafening honk.

Bright headlights.

The screeching of tires.

Ha-Yoon’s blood turned ice-cold as she saw it.

A car.

Speeding toward her.

She tried to move. Tried to jump back onto the sidewalk.

Too late.

BANG.

A searing pain exploded through her entire body as the car slammed into her, the force sending her flying through the air. Her limbs flailed helplessly before she crashed onto the hard pavement with a sickening thud.

Pain.

Unbearable pain.

Her vision swam.

Her chest felt tight, her ribs screaming in agony with every shallow breath. Her head pounded, her ears rang so loudly she could barely hear anything else. It was all too much.

The taste of iron filled her mouth. Blood. Hers.

Screams echoed somewhere in the distance. Jinju’s voice. The horrified gasps of bystanders. A flurry of movement. But it all felt so far away, so distant, as if she were sinking into something dark and endless.

Jinju was suddenly there, her face a blur of panic and tears as she crouched beside her, gripping her shoulders, shaking her desperately.

“HA-YOON! Ha-Yoon, wake up!” Jinju sobbed, her voice cracking as she desperately patted Ha-Yoon’s face. “SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!”

Min-Jae stood frozen a few feet away, her face pale as a ghost, her hands trembling. She was shaking her head, her lips forming words Ha-Yoon couldn’t hear.

Ha-Yoon barely registered anything.

Her thoughts were messy, scattered, slipping through her fingers like grains of sand.

So this is how it ends?

Her eyelids felt heavy.

Her body was shutting down, sinking, drowning.

Her fingers twitched weakly, reaching for Jinju’s wrist. She had to say something. She didn’t have much time left.

With great effort, she parted her cracked lips and whispered:

“P-please... k-keep my phone or a-any gadgets... away from my… parents...”

“What??”

She didn’t know why she said it. But it was important. It was the only thing she could think of.

Her grip on Jinju’s wrist loosened.

Her arm fell limply to the ground.

The world blurred, darkening around the edges.

Jinju’s voice broke through the haze, screaming, desperate.

“HA-YOON! Wake up! THE AMBULANCE IS ALMOST HERE! STAY WITH ME!”

Ha-Yoon wanted to respond.

Wanted to say something.

But she was too tired.

Her vision blurred.

Then—

Darkness.

Ha-Yoon jolted upright from the bed as if someone had just electrocuted her soul straight out of her body. Her chest heaved, rising and falling like she had run a marathon—no, scratch that, like she had been chased by a pack of rabid wolves through a scorching desert in the middle of July while carrying a fifty-kilogram rice sack on her back.

Her lungs burned. Her body was drenched in sweat. Her fingers, slick and trembling, clutched desperately at the silk sheets beneath her, as if the fabric was the only thing anchoring her to reality.

Her heartbeat? Oh, that thing wasn’t beating. It was THUNDERING. BOOMING. PULSATING so violently against her ribs that she was pretty sure her internal organs were throwing a protest against her sudden resurrection. The sound filled her ears, deafening, suffocating, like an entire drumline had moved into her chest and decided to practice for the grand orchestra of What the Fuck is Happening.

For a long, breathless moment, she just SAT there, sucking in air like a vacuum cleaner on overdrive, her wide, disoriented eyes darting around the unfamiliar room.

Something was wrong.

No.

EVERYTHINGwas wrong.

"Oh my god…" she croaked, her voice hoarse like she had swallowed a cactus. "I'm alive?"

Wait.

Her fingers scrambled against the sheets, gripping at the impossibly soft silk beneath her.

Wait.

What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?!

The restaurant. The accusation. The yelling. The honking. The crash—

Then.

Darkness.

She had died.

She was sure she had died.

Right?!

So why the HELL was she lying in a bed that looked like it belonged in a luxury historical drama set?!

Her mind was lagging. HARD. Like a cheap laptop running too many tabs at once. She could practically hear the dial-up noises inside her skull as her neurons struggled to process the absurdity of the situation.

She pressed a trembling hand against her chest, feeling the wild THUMP-THUMP-THUMP of her heart hammering against her palm.

It was real.

She was real.

But—something was off.

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