Three Years Later – The Present
Without a hint of fatigue, Jae-in walked briskly through the arrival gates of Incheon Airport.
A sense of relief washed over her shoulders—she had successfully completed an 8-week-long mission.
It was a moment she’d been waiting for since boarding the plane.
Now, she could finally go on that trip to Jeju Island she’d promised her brother.
Finally, some rest.
Just thinking about spending time with her brother after so long brought a smile to her face.
Now that I think about it… he seemed a little off before I left for this mission.
He hadn’t been his usual cheerful self, almost like he was holding something back.
A memory of their phone call the night before she left surfaced in her mind.
“Jae-in, how long do you think this one will take?”
“About eight weeks? I’ll be back soon, oppa.”
“Right… When you return, want to go to Jeju Island? There are some things I need to talk to you about.”
“Really? You’re actually making time for me? You’ve been so busy with work we haven’t gone on a real trip in forever.”
“Yeah. This time, for sure. There’s something I need to tell you.”
Now that she thought about it, something had definitely felt strange.
His voice had been unusually somber, his breathing hurried—like he was anxious.
A strange sense of unease rose in her chest, but Jae-in shook it off.
I’m going to see him soon. It’s fine.
I’ll just ask him when we meet. We can talk in Jeju and catch up properly.
Trying to shake off the bad feeling, she took another step forward—
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Her phone vibrated violently with incoming alerts.
As soon as airplane mode was turned off, her screen was flooded with notifications.
“What the…”
Missed calls and text messages—dozens of them—all from her friend Do-hee.
A cold chill ran up her spine. Do-hee wasn’t the type to panic.
Her heart began to race.
Did something happen? No way…
Bzzz. Bzzz.
Another call—from Do-hee.
“Do-hee, what’s going on? You’ve been blowing up my phone.”
—“Jae-in… It’s your brother, junho…”
Jae-in’s expression froze at the trembling voice on the other end of the line.
Hearing her brother’s name sent her heart plummeting.
“What about him? What happened? Just tell me!”
Her voice shook as panic gripped her.
—“He… he passed away.”
“…What?”
The world went silent. Her ears rang. Her breath caught in her throat.
She couldn’t believe it. Just moments ago, she had been thinking about their trip.
“Don’t joke about stuff like that. I hate that kind of joke.”
But she knew.
Do-hee, who understood how close they were, would never joke about something like this.
Which only made it worse—because it meant it was real.
“Should we go to Jeju when you’re back?”
“Let’s go for sure this time.”
He had said that.
With such sincerity in his voice. He said “for sure.” And now… he was dead?
“No… No way…”
Her breath became ragged. Words wouldn’t form.
—“It happened just after you left for your mission. We couldn’t reach you.”
“How… How did he…”
A sob escaped from deep in her throat. Her vision blurred. The sounds around her faded.
—“Jae-in, are you okay? Jae-in!”
Do-hee’s worried voice echoed faintly in her ears.
Thud.
Her phone slipped from her numb hands and hit the ground.
She couldn’t even pick it up.
She couldn’t even stand.
“Miss, are you alright?”
Someone asked, but she couldn’t answer.
No… This can’t be real. Junho can’t be…
The world spun.
It took a while before she realized it wasn’t the world—it was her who was crumbling.
“Miss! Please, stay with me!”
A stranger’s voice. And then, everything faded into darkness.
✦✦✦
With a dazed expression, Jae-in stood at the front desk of the police station.
She didn’t even remember how she got there.
“I’d like to speak with the officer in charge of Seo Jun ho’s case. I’m… his sister.”
Soon after, a middle-aged detective led her into an interview room.
“So you’re Mr. Seo Jun ho’s sister. My condolences for your loss.”
The formality in his voice made Jae-in bite her lip to keep from crying.
The officer opened a case file on the desk.
“Let’s go over the report together.”
Seeing her brother’s photo made her heart drop again.
“Let me start with the discovery details.”
“…”
“Mr. Seo was found at an abandoned building on the outskirts of Seoul. CCTV footage shows he went to the rooftop alone…”
“Wait.”
Jae-in shook her head in disbelief.
“There’s no way he would do that to himself.”
“No suicide note was found, but all evidence suggests it was self-inflicted.”
“No. He told me we were going to jaein when I came back. He said he had something to tell me. He wouldn’t just leave me like this.”
She thought she was just saying it. But she was crying—loudly now.
The detective’s expression turned grim, sympathetic.
“We interviewed his coworkers. They said he’d been looking exhausted lately.”
“That doesn’t mean anything! He would never—!”
The file crumpled in her shaking hands.
“I understand how you feel, but without new evidence, reopening the case will be difficult.”
She barely heard him.
The only thing she could focus on was the unbearable truth—her brother was gone. And he wasn’t coming back.
✦✦✦
Beep.
Jae-in’s weak fingers tapped in the code to open the door to her home.
The first thing she saw were her brother’s sneakers sitting neatly in their usual spot.
“Ugh…”
A wave of grief hit her like a freight train. Her chest felt like it was being ripped apart.
She still couldn’t believe it.
It felt like Jun ho would walk in any moment, wearing his usual warm smile—
“Jae-in, you’re back?”
But the apartment was filled with heavy silence.
This had to be a dream. A nightmare.
Stumbling, she made her way to her brother’s room. Everything was still as he’d left it.
His desk, scattered with work documents. A coffee cup, half-full.
As if he had just stepped out for a moment.
Even his favorite fountain pen was in its usual spot.
“Happy birthday, oppa!”
She had gifted it to him last year. He’d said it was too nice to use and kept it on display.
“You should’ve used it. I would’ve bought you another…”
Now, she never could.
Her gaze fell on his desk calendar.
It was full of plans for the following week—project meetings, product launches.
Classic Jun ho—so meticulous, always planning ahead.
Even the jaein trip with her was written there.
And they think it was suicide?
Would someone planning to end their life write out their schedule like this?
Her hands trembling, she began combing through his desk drawers, searching for anything.
Clues. Secrets. A reason.
Nothing seemed out of place.
“Maybe it’s in here…”
She turned to a box of his personal belongings the police had given her.
She opened it gently.
Inside were pieces of his daily life: a pen, a tie, his employee ID card.
Each item brought back an image of her brother.
She’d hoped for some kind of clue—but there was nothing unusual.
And then she saw it.
A framed photo at the bottom of the box.
Her brother, smiling brightly.
And in that moment, everything she had been trying to deny came crashing down.
No matter what she did, he was gone.
“Oppa… Oppa…”
No matter how many times she called him, there was no answer.
She collapsed to the floor, hugging the photo to her chest.
The cold glass of the frame pressed against her, in place of his warmth.
And one thought consumed her:
“Oppa… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
All the time she’d been away on missions, all the moments she wasn’t there.
She’d sworn to protect her country—but she hadn’t protected the one who mattered most.
How much pain had he been in? How scared had he been?
Had he reached out for her, in his final moments?
Guilt and regret surged through her like a tidal wave.
Her first day alone passed… like a cruel dream.
