Summer in Florence was cruel.

People called this city the city of romance and art, but to me, a street orphan, Florence was just a place where I had to struggle to survive.

I stole bread when I was hungry and slept under eaves when it rained.

That day was no different.

The moment I stole a loaf of bread from a bakery and ran, a black van stopped in front of me.

There wasn't even time to scream.

I was blindfolded and gagged.

When I came to, I had been thrown into a strange warehouse.

There were dozens of children my age locked inside.

Some were alive, and some were dead.

It was a human trafficking ring.

I waited for death in terror, starving for days.

There was no such thing as hope.

At least, not until that day.

Gunshots and explosions rang out.

The tightly closed door was smashed open, and armed men stormed in.

They cut the ropes binding us and took the collapsed children into their arms.

And at the center of it all stood a man.

Cha Sinu.

Field Commander of the European Union (EU) Special Operations Tactical Group (SOTG).

He wiped out the trafficking ring and saved us.

Most of the children returned to their families.

But I had nowhere to go.

Because I was an orphan.

So Cha Sinu took me in.

From that moment on, my world began to revolve around him.

Cha Sinu fed me my first warm meal, gave me a safe place to sleep, and bestowed affection upon me without asking for anything in return.

For the first time, I learned what it felt like to be loved.

And that began to ruin my life.

At first, it was respect.

Next, it was admiration.

But as time passed, those feelings transformed into something deeper and more peculiar.

Cha Sinu was my savior, my guardian, and my family.

And at some point, that was no longer enough.

The problem was that Cha Sinu already had someone he loved.

Yu Iseo.

Cha Sinu loved her.

Living in the same house, I saw the way they looked at each other, saw them hold hands, and even saw them sharing love.

Every time, a corner of my heart ached strangely.

I didn't know why.

Whether it was jealousy, a sense of loss, or an even uglier emotion.

Only one thing was clear.

I felt suffocated every time I saw Yu Iseo.

And then, on the day I became an adult.

Cha Sinu left without a word.

No goodbye.

No final hug.

Not even a word of celebration delivered in person.

All that was left for me was a short letter.

Words of congratulations.

Words telling me to be well.

And the news that he was leaving for South Korea to marry Yu Iseo.

That was all.

As if it were nothing.

As if leaving me behind was the natural thing to do.

He left Italy and went to Korea.

That day, I realized for the first time.

To Cha Sinu, I was just family.

A child he saved.

An orphan he had to take responsibility for.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And so, Cha Sinu was gone.

And on that day.

My world began to crumble for the first time.