Just Breathe

Yun-seul's head snapped up, and her eyes locked with Lee-gun's.

At some point, his large frame had turned fully toward her.

"Oh—hello."

She was more than a little startled that he'd recognized her.

It had been three years since they'd made a short film together for a group project, and he had graduated that same year. They hadn't crossed paths once since then. The only reason she remembered him so vividly was that he was the kind of man who drew every eye in any room he walked into.

"It's been a while."

After that brief exchange there was nothing left to say, and a suffocating silence settled between them.

And why, of all days, was the elevator so slow…….

Only then did she recall the humanities building elevator's infamous reputation—it was slow, and every ride came with a bone-rattling jolt. Please, just get there faster, she prayed over and over inside her head.

The elevator lurched with a heavy clunk.

In that instant, the sound of a thick iron door slamming shut on a locked psychiatric ward layered itself over the noise in her ears.

Her blood ran cold in a heartbeat.

It was as if the oxygen around her had suddenly evaporated—she couldn't breathe.

"Haah…. Haah…. Ha…."

Gasping raggedly, Yun-seul crumpled to the floor.

"Ms. Min Yun-seul? Are you all right?"

Lee-gun had come to her side and lowered himself to her level. Realizing she was in no state to answer, he steadied her by the arm and guided her out of the elevator.

He seated her on a bench by the window, then, making do with what he had, pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and spread it wide. He laid it lightly over her nose and mouth, placed her hand over it, and then carefully folded his own hands on top of hers.

Medically, it wouldn't do much—but it would give her something steady to hold onto.

Lifting her trembling chin, Lee-gun caught her eyes and spoke in a low, deliberate voice.

"Head up, breathe in through your nose. Head down, breathe out slowly through your mouth."

Checking the time on his wristwatch, he nodded up and down in a slow, even rhythm, and Yun-seul matched her breathing to it.

"You're doing great."

At the gentle voice pouring over her like encouragement, her anxiety began to ebb. The terror of suffocating thinned out, and only then did she register the feel of fine fabric against her skin and the warmth of his hands seeping into hers.

Head bowed, Yun-seul lowered her hand from the handkerchief, and his slipped away naturally with it.

"I think I'm okay now. Thank you."

The moment she offered her thanks and moved to stand, he draped his suit jacket over her shoulders.

"Just stay like this a moment. You've had quite a shock."

At his consideration, Yun-seul gave a small nod. The warmth that had soaked into the back of her hand hadn't faded—it was still there.

"I really am fine now."

"You don't think you need a hospital?"

"It's not that serious."

"Good. The color's coming back to your face."

As their conversation continued, she found herself thinking what a gentle man he was, and she rose naturally from the bench.

"Thank you for your help today."

She handed back the jacket with a small bow and was hurrying off when Lee-gun's voice came from behind her.

"Ms. Min Yun-seul."

When she turned, he closed the distance in a few long strides. She was thinking, all over again, how truly big he was—when a question she never could have predicted came flying at her.

"Are you still writing?"

"Yes……."

"Take this."

She accepted the business card in a daze. She never imagined he would ask about her writing.

"I really loved your writing back then. Did you know that?"

Yun-seul's eyes trembled violently.

In her entire life, no one had ever come right out and told her they loved her writing. And that wasn't the end of it.

"Anything at all—just send it to me."

An opportunity to submit her work to Diflix, the world's largest OTT platform, the one that would one day hold hundreds of millions of subscribers, had just fallen into her lap.

I can't believe this.

Even walking toward the lecture hall, she kept her fist clenched tight around the card, terrified of dropping it.

Lee-gun stared after Yun-seul's retreating figure for a long moment before the sounds of approaching people finally drew his gaze away.

Min Yun-seul.

A single woman he'd met during his fourth year of law school had turned his entire life upside down. Because of her, he'd boarded a plane to America after graduation instead of entering the Judicial Research and Training Institute. She had made him kick away the guaranteed fast track of passing the bar exam—without a single regret.

And yet, ironically enough, Min Yun-seul knew nothing about any of it.

"Good to see you again."

Handing over his card had been an impulsive act. But he felt no regret. His only thought was that he wanted to see her writing again as soon as possible—or perhaps, simply, to see her again.

After her encounter with Lee-gun, Yun-seul headed straight for a café the moment her lecture ended. She needed to write the piece she would send him.

She claimed a laptop seat by the window and threw herself into work. When a short vibration broke her concentration, she checked her phone with a flat expression.

Too disgusted by the hearts to waste even a second on them, Yun-seul fired off a reply in one second flat and went back to typing.

About two hours later, she saved her screenplay to both a USB drive and the cloud. Then she left early—deliberately early—so that Sa-ra could take her laptop tonight and smash it to pieces.

Yun-seul left the laptop sitting on her desk, just like always, and headed for the bathroom. When she came out of her shower, the laptop was gone—exactly as predicted.

About an hour later, Sa-ra appeared, carrying a laptop mangled so badly it was barely recognizable as one.

"What am I supposed to do about this? I took it out because I needed it for a bit, and it got broken. There was this minor fender-bender."

When Yun-seul simply stared back with chilly eyes and no reaction at all, Sa-ra lashed out instead, indignant as only a guilty party can be.

"I just told you I got in an accident and you're not even going to ask if I'm hurt?"

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No. I'm perfectly fine. But your laptop is totally smashed—what are we gonna do?"

When Yun-seul asked so meekly, Sa-ra took it as proof her lie had landed, and her tone softened considerably. Yun-seul seemed to be swallowing every word whole, and that put her at ease.

Staring straight into those detestable eyes, Yun-seul spoke.

"What do you mean, what are we gonna do? You have to buy me a new one, unnie."

"What? Why me?"

Yun-seul was certain Sa-ra had made this move entirely on her own. It didn't fit Jung-hee's meticulous nature at all. No—the correct read was that Jung-hee had merely smoothed things over after the fact, sweet-talking her daughter into it. So Yun-seul decided to probe, ever so casually.

"You broke it, unnie. It's only fair, isn't it? If you don't like that, I'll go tell Mom right now."

"Fine! I'll buy it! Happy now?"

Sa-ra shrieked. Just as expected. The way she'd flared up confirmed it—she absolutely did not want this getting back to Jung-hee's ears.

Then I'll bleed you dry, properly.

"Give me your card. I have a script to work on, so I'll go out right now and pick one up."

Sa-ra had said she'd buy it, but the moment an actual card was demanded, her face twisted into an ugly scowl of irritation. After graduating from her theater program, she'd failed audition after audition and was scraping by on bit-part gigs and modeling jobs.

Being asked to buy me a laptop with that hard-won, blood-and-sweat money must be making her stomach turn.

"Get something reasonable."

Her fingertips trembled as she held out the card. Yun-seul snatched it away, walked straight out of the house, and headed for the dealership.

"The highest-spec 14-inch model you have, please."

The moment the clerk handed her the receipt, her phone started buzzing like mad.

Yun-seul ignored it breezily. Instead of heading home, she strolled into a nearby café and leisurely finished a cup of tea before finally picking up Sa-ra's relentless calls.

"Hey?! Are you insane? It came out to almost two million won!"

"Expensive? The staff recommended it as their best model, so that's the one I bought."

"You dumb idiot, getting swindled like some sucker—"

"The clerk said if you want it to last, you should buy good quality."

"Ugh, forget it—go back and refund it right now and swap it for the cheapest one."

"Huh? I already opened the box, though."

"What?! Aaagh! This is SO annoying!"

Click.

The line went dead.

"I'll put it to good use, unnie."

The corners of Yun-seul's mouth curled up into a long, deeply satisfying arc.

One month later.

The winning entries of the competitions co-hosted by DBS Broadcasting Station and Hansan Media were announced in quick succession, two days apart, and the whole industry was watching.

When two works bearing the exact same title surfaced as winners of two separate competitions at the same time, the industry began to stir, quietly at first.