Chapter 2
Breaking the Engagement, Not the Marriage
“Yeoul, wake up.”
A voice she had missed so dearly reached her ears.
At that moment, her stopped breath caught again, and her eyes flew open.
“Ahhhh!”
She shot up like a spring.
Die already.
The whisper that had once brushed against her ear—so quiet, yet filled with malice—flashed across her mind.
Her body trembled violently from the chill running down her spine.
“Wh-what’s wrong?”
At her scream, Song Jeong-hye burst into the room, still holding a spatula, her apron tied around her waist.
Behind her appeared Kang Dong-gyu, frozen mid-step, holding a newspaper in both hands.
Seeing her parents—whom she had missed so painfully—made tears spill down Yeoul’s cheeks.
“Mom…”
She rushed forward and threw herself into Jeong-hye’s arms.
She hadn’t seen her since about a year after the wedding.
Her in-laws had claimed she was no longer their daughter but a member of the Kim family and had forbidden her from visiting.
A flood of emotions surged through her, and the tears wouldn’t stop.
Even the familiar comforting scent of Jeong-hye made her cry harder.
“My sweet girl, did you have a bad dream?”
“Mom…”
When Jeong-hye gently stroked her hair, Yeoul broke down completely.
If not now, she might never again be able to hold her mother like this.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I wanted to live well… I really tried to live a good life, but it didn’t work. Mom, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”
She truly had tried.
She had tried to be a good wife.
She had tried to be a good daughter-in-law.
But all of her efforts had been in vain—because she had died.
“I didn’t know I’d die like that. I just wanted to do my best, but I didn’t know he hated me that much. If only he’d told me… I would’ve left. If I had known he hated me enough to kill me, I would’ve walked out of that house myself…”
Seung-tae had changed right after their wedding.
The way he looked at her was always cold, and his voice was laced with irritation.
He constantly said he regretted marrying her.
And every time he did, she prayed.
She prayed she would get pregnant, just so she could escape her mother-in-law’s scolding and her husband’s temper.
“I prayed so hard… and still, I ended up dying like this…”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Jeong-hye, unable to listen any longer, cut her off.
Yeoul blinked, startled not by the interruption but by her mother’s reaction.
“M-Mom…?”
“Are you still half-asleep? What nonsense are you spouting the moment you wake up?”
“…What?”
What was happening?
What was this situation?
But I died…
Everything felt so real, as if she had gone back to before her marriage—back to when her mother would scold her for being lazy.
Even her tears, which had been flowing endlessly, stopped.
“Stop talking nonsense and get washed up. Don’t be late, okay? It’s rude to be late for your first meeting.”
“…Huh?”
The more her mother spoke, the more confused Yeoul became.
“Kang Yeoul, are you out of your mind? You’re not going to the family meeting? We have to stop by the salon before we go pick up the gifts. Hurry up and get ready.”
Jeong-hye’s voice poured out rapidly, leaving Yeoul no room to react. She released Yeoul’s hands and turned to leave the room—but then paused to glare at her husband.
“You too. Stop reading the newspaper and get ready. That’s your last warning.”
“Ah, okay.”
Dong-gyu’s eyes darted nervously under Jeong-hye’s sharp tone.
“Good grief… both father and daughter, driving me crazy even on a day like this…”
Jeong-hye clicked her tongue in exasperation and left the room.
“Yeoul, you’d better hurry. Your mom’s about to blow up,” Dong-gyu said quickly before following his wife.
Yeoul stared blankly at her father’s retreating back.
“What on earth…”
Why did this feel so real?
Maybe… maybe Mom and Dad are still alive even though I’m dead?
It sounded ridiculous, but since this was her first time dying, she truly didn’t know how to make sense of it.
This feels too real…
Forcing her scattered thoughts into order, she tried to recall what had happened just before this.
I was walking aimlessly after leaving the hospital…
Then she was hit by a truck.
At first, she thought it was just an accident—but then the middle-aged driver whispered something before she lost consciousness.
That’s when she realized it had been a planned murder disguised as a traffic accident.
And she died.
Before she could even live out her final month.
“It was a man I’d never seen before,” she murmured.
A man who’d said, Don’t ruin my son’s life, before crashing into her—clearly sent by someone.
It must’ve been my mother-in-law.
Song Hwa had always wanted her dead. Who else could it have been?
“That crash was so bad… there’s no way I survived. Even if I did, I wouldn’t look this fine. So I must be dead. But this place…”
She turned her head slowly and looked around.
“My room…?”
It was her room.
Even the cello in the corner was exactly where she used to keep it.
It was definitely her room from before the wedding.
“Is this… showing me the time I missed?”
Yes, that must be it.
Before she died, she had wished desperately—enough to sell her soul—to return to the time before her marriage.
She walked to her cello and picked up the bow.
“This feeling…”
It fit perfectly in her hand, as if she had never stopped playing.
After marriage, she had never touched her cello again—hadn’t even dared to open the case.
So why didn’t it feel foreign at all?
Her eyes widened as she stared at the instrument, then turned toward the desk.
If this was truly her old room, there should be a calendar sitting there.
“N-no way…”
And there it was.
She saw the year marked on it—and a little star beside one particular date, labeled Family Meeting.
Kang Yeoul, are you out of your mind? You’re not going to the family meeting? We have to stop by the salon before we go pick up the gifts. Hurry up and get ready.
Her mother’s earlier words echoed in her head.
“Huh? She didn’t say that before…”
In her memory, her mother had never scolded her that morning.
In fact, Yeoul had been the one nagging her parents to hurry.
“C-could it be…!”
An impossible thought struck her.
Even knowing miracles didn’t exist, her heart began pounding wildly.
Yeoul pinched her cheek—hard.
“Ow!”
It hurt.
It hurt enough to make her eyes water.
“Kang Yeoul! Are you going to keep doing weird things?”
Her mother’s sharp voice rang out from the kitchen.
“Wow… it’s real…”
Yeoul laughed softly.
Even her mother’s scolding—something she used to dread—sounded sweet now.
“I’m alive…”
She hadn’t died.
No—she had gone back in time.
“Kang Yeoul! Are you still dawdling in there?”
Her mother’s voice came again, louder this time.
“You’ll be late for the meeting!”
“It’s fine.”
“What do you mean, fine? Come out and eat breakfast!”
“You go ahead!”
Yeoul raised her voice in reply and sat down.
She needed to think.
“Oh, right.”
Then her eyes landed on a small ring case in the middle of the desk.
She opened it carefully. Inside was a diamond ring—five carats. The very same one Seung-tae had given her during his proposal.
“It’s been a while.”
The sunlight streaming through the window made it gleam beautifully.
“I lost this too…”
About two years into the marriage, Song Hwa had barged into her room and taken all her jewelry, including this ring.
She said she’d return it once Yeoul bore a son.
The memory made Yeoul’s blood boil.
“Ahhh!”
She yelped and jumped up, clutching her back where pain had suddenly flared.
Then she froze—seeing her mother standing there with a fearsome expression.
“Ow…”
Yeoul looked away, guilty.
“I told you to get ready! I know you like Seung-tae and you’re happy about his proposal, but you can be happy after you get your things done!”
“Who said I liked it?”
“Then you don’t? You’ve been sitting there staring at that ring without eating or washing up.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“I was just thinking how to return it properly.”
Jeong-hye blinked in disbelief.
“Return it? What are you talking about?”
“Mom.”
“Answer me. Right now, that sounds like you’re saying you won’t marry him.”
“That’s right.”
“W-what? Did you just say yes?”
“Mom.”
Yeoul smiled faintly as she looked at her shocked mother.
Jeong-hye’s eyes narrowed.
“Explain.”
“There’s a saying,” Yeoul replied softly.
“What saying?”
“It’s better to break an engagement… than to end a marriage.”
