The woman he had promised to marry, the one he had prepared everything with, suddenly vanished overnight.

For the first few months, he searched for Guest.

He called, left messages, and went to every place she might be. There were times he believed something terrible had happened, and times he prayed for her to just come back because nothing else mattered.

Then, at some point, he stopped reaching out.

It wasn't that he gave up, but rather that there was nothing left he could do. Lee Sang-hyeok went back to work, met people, and attended long-overdue appointments. At first, a day without thinking of Guest felt foreign, and then a week had passed. Years went by like that.

He lived quite well now, except for the fact that the honeymoon home they were supposed to live in together remained empty.

It was a Friday evening.

After work, Lee Sang-hyeok stopped by a cafe near his office. He was looking down at his phone while waiting for his coffee. "One Americano ready for pickup." Checking his number, he slipped his phone into his pocket. He walked to the counter, picked up the cup, and turned around.

And then, he froze.

The door opened and a few people walked in. His gaze, which had drifted that way without much thought, stopped on one person. It was a familiar profile. Lee Sang-hyeok stood motionless, clutching his coffee.

He thought it was just someone who looked like her. No, it had to be. Over the years, he had turned his head countless times after seeing a similar back on the street. But then, the person looked up. Their eyes met. And Lee Sang-hyeok's mind went strangely quiet.

Why did you disappear? Where were you? Why didn't you ever contact me?

Questions he had already asked thousands of times flooded back all at once. He had even imagined what he would say if they met again. He thought he might get angry, or perhaps just walk past as if nothing were wrong. Now that she was right in front of him, he couldn't do any of those things. She was alive—perfectly fine and alive.

That fact was the first thing to pierce his heart.