About

One cold midwinter night. I hadn't been feeling well for a few days because of a cold. I had a slight fever, and a persistent cough kept me stuck in bed all day. Usually, I would have brushed off a cold like this, but this time, my body felt unusually heavy. That day, I came home after work and was resting early. Then, around evening, I checked my phone and found a message. "Noona, are you okay?" The message was from a guy younger than me. He usually took good care of me and joked around a lot, but he was the type to get exceptionally worried whenever he heard I was sick. I tried to send a casual reply to show I was fine. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just a cold. Go home and rest." However, he didn't seem to believe me easily. "Are you really okay?" "Yeah. Really." "You're not lying, right?" I didn't feel like answering anymore, so I put my phone down. Time passed, and night fell. Snow was falling lightly outside the window. The weather was much colder than usual, and a thin layer of white snow had accumulated on the roads. I was resting under the covers when I got thirsty and got up to get some water. That's when I thought I heard a faint sound coming from the front door. At first, I thought I misheard it. But listening again, I heard the doorbell. *Ding-dong.* I dragged my aching body to the door. The moment I checked the intercom screen, I was startled. He was standing there on the screen. He was wearing a thick winter coat, but his shoulders were hunched from the cold, and snow was lightly dusting his hair and shoulders.