Fifteen years slipped away like pages torn by the wind.
The busy capital buzzed beneath the morning sun, cars weaving between glass towers, people hurrying through crowded sidewalks. And above them, stretching across the entire façade of the Azure Horizon Hotel, a massive LED billboard lit up the district—
"Dahlia Choi — Homecoming Concert."
Her face, elegant and serene, smiled above the city she once left behind.
The world now knew her name.
The nation's beloved violinist.
A star whose music crossed oceans.
But the red scarf in her luggage remained untouched.
A quiet promise from a past no one else remembered.
---
At the airport…
The arrival gates opened.
Dahlia stepped out, suitcase in hand, wearing a long beige coat that flowed like the soft winter wind. People recognized her instantly—murmurs, gasps, phones rising for photos—but she moved with quiet grace.
"Noona!"
A tall young man in a police jacket waved at her with a bright grin. Dojoon, now a police detective, rushed forward and pulled her into a warm embrace.
"You're finally back," he said. "Judge Choi is waiting at home. Come, the car's outside."
Dahlia smiled softly. "You grew up so well, Dojoon."
"You too, noona. Still pretty, still famous, still ignoring my calls."
She laughed for the first time that day.
Before going home, Dahlia asked:
"Can we stop somewhere?"
They drove to that coastal mountain.
When they reached the place, Dahlia asked Dojoon to walk with her through the forest.
They were silent while tracing the trails… As they walked, all the memories of that night—the escape in the forest—flashed back. Her hand held a bundle of white chrysanthemums, while Dojoon quietly followed behind.
Until they reached the cliff.
The same place she last saw him.
She remembered his hand slipping from hers as the sea swallowed him whole.
Dojoon waited at a distance, giving her space—a lone moment.
The wind whipped her hair, the sea far below roaring as if it still remembered.
She knelt at the edge and placed fresh flowers gently on the rocks, then took some and threw them into the ocean.
She touched her bag and pulled out the red scarf, neatly folded, still warm with memory.
"I'm home," she whispered into the wind.
"If you're out there somewhere… I'm home."
Behind her smile, however… the city air felt heavier than she expected.
---
( Concert D-day )
The city was alive below her, a river of headlights, sirens, and neon flowing across the capital. On the rooftop of the concert hall, Dahlia Choi stood alone, a cigarette trembling between her fingers. In one hour, she would walk onto the stage as one of the most celebrated violinists of her generation.
But right now?
She just needed to breathe.
The wind brushed her hair as she exhaled a cloud of smoke, staring at the glittering skyline.
Then…
a sound.
A sharp, metallic clatter from the far end of the rooftop.
Dahlia froze.
No one else was supposed to be up here.
She stepped closer, cautious… and that was when she saw it:
A man — the governor — lying lifeless on the ground.
And surrounding him,
three figures dressed entirely in black, faces hidden behind masks that only revealed their eyes.
Her heart pounded. She backed away—
but then one of them made a mistake.
He removed his mask.
Dahlia saw his face.
Clearly.
Fully.
Before she could stop herself, she gasped.
A small metal pipe beside her foot slipped and rolled, hitting the floor with a loud clang.
All three assassins snapped their heads up.
Culprit 1:
"Idiot! Someone's here—she must've seen your face!"
Culprit 2 yanked his mask back down.
"Shit. Go. Get. Her."
They split up, sprinting across the rooftop.
Dahlia ran, her breath breaking, her footsteps echoing, her mind screaming. She ducked behind a concrete pillar, trying not to sob.
But Culprit 3 found her.
He cornered her, blade raised—
and then their eyes met.
He stopped.
Completely.
Her eyes widened… trembling… pleading.
"I… I didn't see anything… please… don't kill me…"
Culprit 1's voice echoed from a distance:
"Lee! Did you find her?!"
A beat.
Culprit 3 — Lee — didn't look away from her terrified face.
His grip on the knife shook.
Then, loud enough for the others to hear:
Lee:
"…Nothing. She's not here."
He lowered his hand.
Turned his back.
And walked away.
Footsteps approached—the governor's bodyguards rushing up the stairs.
The assassins exchanged quick signals, then hurried to the edge of the rooftop and disappeared into the night, rappelling down the building walls.
Leaving Dahlia alone, shaking, alive only because one assassin chose to spare her.
The chaos that followed forced the concert to be postponed.
--
Later at the Police Station…
Dahlia sat calmly in the questioning room.
Judge Choi paced outside, furious and worried.
Detective Dojoon sat across from her.
"Noona… did you see the face of the culprit?"
A long moment of silence.
She remembered it clearly—
the face of the man who took off his mask,
and the other culprit who chose to spare her life.
She tried to remember… but she didn't get to see his face clearly because she was terrified.
She lowered her gaze and whispered:
"…No. I saw nothing."
Dojoon studied her expression.
He knew she was hiding something.
But he gently closed his notebook.
"Alright. When you're ready to talk…
I'll be here. What matters is you're safe."
---
At her apartment that night
Dahlia slipped inside, exhausted.
She paused.
The glass balcony door was slightly open—
curtains fluttering like pale ghosts in the cold wind.
A strange chill crawled up her spine.
"…Did I leave this open?"
She closed and locked it.
But her unease lingered long after she went to bed.
She eventually fell asleep—
not knowing that a shadow stood just beyond the glass.
A tall man in black.
Hood over his head.
Face hidden by a dark mask.
He watched her sleep… silent and unmoving.
---
The next day
Her concert resumed and ended in triumph.
Fans cheered, flowers filled the stage, and gifts piled in boxes.
Her assistant Yujin brought everything to her apartment late at night.
"Miss Choi, I'll just set these here—ah!"
The box slipped from Yujin's arms, items scattering across the floor.
"Oh no, I'm sorry! I'll pick them up—"
She reached for a fallen velvet case that had popped open.
"Miss Choi, look at this. This one is beautiful."
Dahlia turned, smiling politely—
then froze.
Inside the case lay a white-gold necklace with a glowing pendant.
Her pendant.
The Fate Pendant.
Her breath left her.
"This… can't be…"
With trembling fingers, she lifted it and turned it over—
looking for the tiny engraved initials.
C.G.W.
Choi Gun-Woo.
Her great-grandfather's mark.
Confirmed.
She staggered, knees weakening,
tears filling her eyes.
This pendant was lost… fifteen years ago…
in Seo Gwan's hands during her kidnapping.
"This can't be… How did…
Who sent this…?
Seo Gwan is still in prison…"
Dahlia asked Yujin to request a CCTV review at the Azure Hotel. She wanted to know who gave this.
Behind her apartment balcony, just out of sight,
a man in a black hood leaned against the shadowed wall.
Moonlight caught his green eyes.
Watching, listening, silently.
Alive.