Nari unlocked the front door and stepped inside.
"I'm back."
The familiar warmth of home greeted her immediately.
Her father looked up from the television.
"Welcome back."
Her younger brother raised a hand in greeting before returning to his game.
From the kitchen came her mother's voice.
"Dinner is ready!"
Nari smiled.
"I already ate."
"Again?" her mother complained. "You'll get sick if you keep skipping meals at home."
"I won't."
She laughed lightly and slipped off her shoes.
After exchanging a few more words with her family, she excused herself and headed upstairs.
The moment she entered her room, the smile faded.
The room was neat.
Quiet.
Stacks of manuscript pages sat on her desk.
A half-finished novel waited on her laptop screen.
And above everything else,
A deadline.
She dropped onto her bed with a sigh.
For a long moment she simply stared at the ceiling.
Then she picked up her phone.
Notifications flooded the screen.
Messages.
Comments.
Direct messages.
Most from men.
She opened one.
A compliment.
Another.
An invitation.
Another.
A flirtatious message.
She exited all of them.
None of them were what she wanted.
Some wanted attention.
Some wanted beauty.
Some wanted company until something better came along.
But none of them wanted to know who she really was.
Nari tossed her phone beside her.
"Is it really that hard?" she murmured.
The question disappeared into the empty room.
Is it really that hard to find someone who stays?
Someone who sees you?
Someone who chooses you?
A bitter smile appeared on her lips.
For someone who wrote about love for a living, she knew remarkably little about it.
Her phone buzzed again.
She picked it up absentmindedly.
A new notification appeared.
The group chat she had shared with several old friends was gone.
Someone had created a new one.
Without her.
Nari stared at the screen.
No surprise.
No anger.
Just a familiar ache.
She had always been the odd one out.
The dreamer.
The writer.
The one whose success never seemed impressive enough.
After a moment she locked her phone and placed it face down.
The ceiling greeted her once more.
The room was silent.
Yet somehow she had never felt lonelier.
Across the city, another home was beginning to change.
After days of arguing, refusing, hesitating, and overthinking, Seo-ah finally agreed.
She would move into Kang Ji-hoon's penthouse.
Only temporarily.
At least that was what she kept telling herself.
The move itself was simple.
A few boxes.
Some clothes.
A handful of personal belongings.
Nothing that truly felt like a home.
The first night passed quietly.
Neither of them knew how to act.
They were comfortable with each other.
Yet awkward at the same time.
Two people trying to share a space while pretending it wasn't a big deal.
The next morning, the smell of breakfast pulled Seo-ah from sleep.
She blinked slowly.
For a moment she forgot where she was.
Then she remembered.
Ji-hoon's penthouse.
The realization made her sit up.
After washing up, she walked into the dining area.
Ji-hoon was already there.
A simple breakfast was arranged neatly on the table.
Eggs.
Toast.
Fruit.
And warm soup.
The sight alone surprised her.
"Good morning."
Ji-hoon looked up.
"Morning."
He pulled out a chair for her without thinking.
The gesture was so natural that it caught her off guard.
"Sit."
Seo-ah hesitated before taking the seat.
For a brief moment, neither spoke.
The morning sunlight poured through the windows.
The city stretched endlessly below them.
And somehow,
For the first time in a very long time,
The silence didn't feel lonely.