CH 2

As she frantically looked around, she felt a shiver run down her spine. She recognized the space before her eyes all too well. Countless wedding photos on a long table, and wedding flowers lined up in a row.

“No way…”

“Bride! Don’t stand up suddenly. You might fall.”

She almost tripped over her high heels as she stood up in a hurry. A helper auntie rushed over and caught her staggering form.

Pushing the auntie’s hands away, she picked up a frame on the table. There were numerous wedding photos of her and Ji-han, smiling brightly.

“Why are these photos here?”

She felt as if she had been struck from behind. Then, she turned to the photographer, feeling a sudden sense of unease.

“What day is it today, not now, what day is it?”

“Today? It’s May 28th. It’s your wedding day, bride.”

No way. Hearing that her wedding day was today, five years after the wedding she had had, made her body tremble. In a state of disbelief, she turned her head towards the mirror.

In the full-length mirror, she saw a woman in a pure white wedding dress. When she met the woman’s gaze, who had neatly tied up her hair, she was startled and had to cover her mouth.

“Ha!”

A groan escaped her lips. The dazzling pure white wedding dress and the Swarovski jewels that adorned her amidst the billowing tulle. The dress that covered her neck was, irritatingly, the same one she wore at her wedding with Ji-han.

“What is this… How is this possible?”

She vividly remembered the car that rushed towards her. Unless this was a delusion, there was no way to explain her unscathed appearance.

“Bride?”

A voice calling her snapped her back to reality. 

Right, let’s go out and see for myself what’s going on.

“Where are you going, bride?”

Ignoring the two people calling out to her, she ran out of the bride’s waiting room. Outside, she saw a vast hall filled with numerous crowds and journalists.

“Am I dreaming?”

While gazing around absent-mindedly, she felt eyes gradually gathering on her. Her tense throat breathed out a sigh. If this is really my wedding, Ji-han should be here.

Ji-han, who had killed me and taken away everything. 

All she could think of was grabbing him by the throat and asking him why he did it.

As she looked around for him, she heard the murmurs of the guests around her.

“Where did the groom go?”

“Maybe he went to the restroom?”

Come to think of it, she couldn’t see Ji-han, who should be standing where he was supposed to be. As she looked around, her eyes fell on the elevator, which was just opening.

The moment she saw Ji-han walking out from inside, she held her breath. The image of him staring at her while she was dying came to her mind, sending shivers down her body.

“Where were you just now?”

Ji-han’s eyes widened as he looked at her blocking his path.

“I went to the car for a moment. But why are you here?”

Instead of welcoming the honored guest, did he go out in a car, dressed like that? For a moment, the thought was strange, and he gradually lowered his gaze to the tuxedo he was wearing.

The end of his suit jacket, which should have been straight, looked crumpled. Not only that, a faint red mark on the edge of his white shirt collar caught his eye.

“Lipstick?”

It was a very small smudge, but strangely his heart raced.

“No way.”

Please, say it isn’t so.

“What’s this?”

Approaching him, she pointed to the collar of his shirt.

Ji-han seemed to be looking down where she was pointing and had an embarra*sed expression.

“Oh. I bumped into a woman in the elevator and got it on me.”

“That’s not a place where you would get it by just bumping into someone.”

At that moment, another elevator door opened. And the moment she spotted Seo-rin descending from the elevator, her heart sank.

“Really… You were with her?”

She walked out and stopped, looking at Ji-han. Seo-rin’s expression was surprised when she saw me standing in the hall instead of the bride’s waiting room.

“Unnie?”

I clearly saw it on her face as she approached me with a pleasant expression. The same colored lipstick was smeared on her lips.

“You look so pretty, unnie. By the way, I was surprised to see the bride in the hall.”

“….”

“What are you doing here?”

Her teeth chattered as Seo-rin spoke to me with a calm face. The image of the two people tangled impurely above her face came to mind.

Ha. How could they be in my wedding hall…?

She chewed on her trembling lips.

They were whispering love to each other in the deserted parking lot after throwing me into hell.

And you call yourselves human?

Her heart pounded as if it would burst at any moment.

How…?

As she tried to unleash her uncontrollable anger, she shut her lips tightly. It wasn’t the time for that. She couldn’t just end up cursing at them here. They had taken everything away from her and betrayed her trust, causing her to feel like she was being killed. They should feel the same pain.

“Why did the two of you come up together?”

Her voice, which she had managed to bring out with difficulty, trembled slightly as she looked at Ji-han and Seo-rin. Their awkward gaze lingered in the air for a moment.

“What are you talking about? You should go back to the waiting room instead.”

“That’s right. Let’s go in together, unnie. We should take a picture with you.”

Seo-rin smiled brightly, linking her arm with hers. They had shared so much in their past lives, even though Seo-rin didn’t know that she was with her husband now.

How ridiculous I must have looked.

She had hoped it was a dream, but her mind was becoming clearer. It felt like a delusion, but she had no choice but to believe it. If this wasn’t a dream, if this was really happening…

I didn’t die.

She had returned, with all the memories of her past life intact. It was another chance at life. The painful betrayal of being stripped to the bone was enough for once.

It wasn’t going to be her who would fall into hell this time. She was willing to do anything for revenge. She would change everything this time.

“Everyone is gathering for the honored guests. What’s all the commotion about?”

She turned her body in the direction of the familiar voice. The elders of the household who had been chatting with the guests were coming towards them. It was Ji-han’s father, Vice Chairman Seo Min-kuk, and his grandfather, Chairman Seo Mu-jin.

“I left my seat and this person came looking for me. It’s nothing.”

As Ji-han tried to dismiss the situation as trivial, she suppressed a snicker.

“No, something happened.”

Her voice echoed through the hall, drawing the attention of those around her.

“What happened?”

Ji-han asked with a furrowed brow, not understanding the meaning behind her words.

“Something is about to happen now.”

She was going to give you the gift of a broken engagement.

“Dad, and Grandpa.”

She looked at the two with a sly smile on her face, making them feel uneasy.

“I’m not getting married.”