Suho opened the email, and for a brief second, his breathing faltered.
"Annyeong, Suho. This is Kang Hyunwoo."
The moment the name appeared on the screen, both Suho and Hauen froze, their eyes moving instinctively to each other.
"Hyunwoo sent this?" Hauen whispered, her voice trembling.
They continued reading.
"I am writing this email to confess everything I have done wrong to you and to my sister, Hauen. First and foremost, Hauen is innocent. She has done nothing to harm you. Every allegation made against her was fabricated by me. She had no involvement in any of the incidents that destroyed your life. In fact, she is a victim too."
Suho's jaw tightened.
"I betrayed my own sister out of greed, blinded by money and revenge. Please believe me when I say this, Suho. Hauen had nothing to do with any of it. This entire plan was Yerin's. She could not accept that you had moved on from her. Her anger turned into obsession, and she wanted to remove Hauen from your life completely."
Hauen's eyes welled up, the words blurring as she read on.
"She approached me and asked me to join hands with her. In exchange, she offered me five billion won and promised to help me settle in America. I was foolish. I was greedy. I chose money over blood. I agreed to frame my own sister and dragged her into something unimaginably cruel."
Suho's hands clenched into fists, his blood boiling with every sentence.
Beside him, Hauen's tears finally slipped free, silent but devastating.
"I kept failing again and again because of my own foolish decisions. Desperate to make more money, I tried to use Hauen. When she refused to help me, my frustration turned into anger. I was helpless, drowning in debt, and blinded by desperation. That night on Gangnam Street, I planned the attack on you. I wanted to extend the contract for a little longer, squeeze out more money, buy more time. But nothing went the way I expected… and Hauen ended up getting hurt."
Suho's chest tightened as the memory surfaced uninvited. Every word on the screen tasted like poison. A confession soaked in shame.
"I didn't stop even after that failed. I crossed every remaining line. I planned the water bottle attack. When I heard you were recovering, I panicked. I was terrified that you would end the contract and leave Hauen behind. So I tried to harm you again… I tried to paralyze you."
Suho's hand trembled as that day replayed itself in cruel clarity. Hauen is running toward him. Her scream. The way she knocked the bottle away, saving him without hesitation.
Beside him, Hauen's vision blurred, tears spilling freely now. Reading those words written by her own brother felt like a wound tearing open. She had never imagined he was capable of something so monstrous. Never once had she doubted him.
And now, the truth sat between them, heavy and irreversible.
"But that failed, too. And then… You and Hauen turned the marriage into something real."
The words sat heavily on the screen.
"I felt left out. Useless. Appa treated me like I was nothing. Like trash. I felt humiliated, disrespected, and invisible. That day at your anniversary party, the argument between you and me only fed the anger I was already carrying."
Suho's jaw tightened.
"Ever since childhood, Hauen had been the one saving me from every stupid choice I made. Every mess, every fall. But when you claimed her as your wife… I felt abandoned. As if I no longer had anyone to protect me, defend me, or stand up for me."
Hauen's breath shook.
"And that's when Yerin approached me. Her words pushed me into making the worst mistake of my life. I destroyed my own sister's life. I betrayed her… the same sister who had saved me over and over again."
The confession turned darker, heavier.
"When I almost ruined Appa's business, Hauen didn't hesitate even once. She agreed to that contract marriage, even though it could have destroyed her entire life. She sacrificed everything for me."
Suho's eyes burned.
"My sister was my angel. My saviour. And in return… I betrayed her."
Hauen's tears fell freely now.
"I don't know where my sister is. I don't know how she's living… or even if she's alive. And I feel like I'm dying every day with that thought. I'm ashamed of my own existence."
Suho's fingers curled around the phone.
"I betrayed you, too, Suho. I knowingly destroyed your life. I don't deserve peace. Ever since I came out of jail and heard how you saved my family… saved Appa… I haven't slept. When your marriage to Yerin was announced, whatever was left of me broke completely."
Silence swallowed them.
"I can't let Yerin ruin your life anymore. I can't let this continue."
A pause. Then the final truth.
"So I came to your house to confess everything. But you weren't there. That's why I'm sending this email. I hope you read it… wherever you are."
The last lines blurred through Hauen's tears.
"I'm saying this again. Hauen is innocent. The Gangnam Street attack was done by me. As for the other allegations, I had nothing to do with them. But I confessed anyway… because Yerin forced me to."
"I don't know who is behind that accident. But Hauen and I… we are not related to those allegations."
The last lines appeared on the screen.
"I'm waiting for you to come and meet me. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me. I won't run. I won't deny anything."
Then the words that drowned everything else.
"But please… please try to find my sister. Please find her."
Each sentence felt soaked in guilt, as if written with shaking hands.
Suho's breath hitched.
Hauen sat frozen, her chest tight, her mind refusing to accept what it had just read. Her own brother… trying to harm Suho. The thought felt unreal, cruel, almost grotesque.
Suho's chest heaved. His vision blurred. He locked his phone and, without a word, pulled Hauen into his arms, crushing her against him as the world had suddenly turned unsafe.
Too many betrayals. Too many lies. Too many humans who had failed them.
He held her so tightly his arms ached, breath uneven, heart pounding like it was trying to escape his ribs.
Hauen stayed still in his hold, letting him cling, letting him ground himself against her heartbeat.
Minutes passed in silence.
Slowly, she steadied her breath. The shock settled into something dull and aching. Painful, yes. But clear.
She lifted her face slightly and looked at him.
"Suho…" she called softly.
He looked down at her, eyes restless, haunted.
"Come," she said gently. "Let's go. It's cold here."
He exhaled, as if he'd been holding his breath for too long, and nodded. No words. Just surrender.
Their fingers intertwined, his grip tight, almost desperate, Fearful.
They walked toward the hotel together, slow steps, shoulder to shoulder.
All the way to the room, he never let go.
He led her as if she were something precious, something fragile, something the world had already tried to steal once. As if one moment of distraction, one loosened grip, could make her disappear again.
And tonight, he wasn't willing to risk that.