A Stranger in the Rain

Her breath caught in her throat and tears welled up. She cursed herself for staying late at the library under the pretext of studying, when she could have been safe at home.

Her legs trembled so badly she felt ready to collapse at any moment — and just then, a small light flickered in the darkness. A faint wisp of smoke rising from around the corner of the building. Someone was smoking a cigarette.

As she drew closer, the silhouette of a man emerged. Broad, solid shoulders and a back as hard as a wall. His face was hidden in shadow, but to Minju he was the only lifeline in sight.

A fleeting hesitation — what if he's dangerous too? — was swept away by the sound of her pursuer's footsteps closing in behind her.

Minju threw herself desperately toward the man. In place of the umbrella she must have dropped somewhere, the downpour hammered against her face.

"P-please help me! Some man keeps following me!"

Her voice shook like a leaf in the wind. Even at this sudden intrusion, the man didn't so much as flinch. He simply took a long drag on his cigarette and let the smoke out slowly. A bitter, acrid scent cut through the smell of rain.

"Please……"

Just as the cold silence threatened to suffocate her, the pursuer's footsteps came to an abrupt halt behind her. When she flinched at the feel of his ragged breathing scraping against the back of her neck, the man in front of her seized her arm and pulled her behind him.

"Who are you?"

The man spoke slowly. It was a low, dry voice, but it carried an chill that brooked no defiance.

The pursuer froze in place, staring up at the man. He was visibly a head taller, and the sharp, predatory energy radiating from him — as if he might lunge at any moment and snatch the man's throat — made the pursuer's composure visibly crumble. The arrogance with which he had cornered Minju just moments before had vanished without a trace.

"I-I was just passing through……"

"Then keep passing. Get lost."

Crushed by the threatening aura pouring off the man, the pursuer fled into the rain without even managing a proper glance back.

Only then did the taut tension snap, and Minju swayed on her feet. The man tightened his grip on her arm to steady her.

"Th-thank you for helping me……"

When she lifted her head, the distant glow of a streetlamp faintly lit the man's face. Sharp features emerging between strands of wet hair, and eyes so deep she couldn't read them at all. It was Kwon Seokjun — the man who, ten years ago, had twisted her peaceful life beyond recognition in a single day.

In a cozy café where the rain drummed down in a soothing rhythm, Hayun sat across from Seokjun, her face bright with excitement. Seokjun, however, remained as unreadable as ever, idly fiddling with his teacup.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, Hayun spoke first.

"I really was surprised. I never expected you to choose me, Seokjun."

Even after naming her, he hadn't spared her a single glance, and Hayun's eyes wavered with bewilderment. At last, Seokjun slowly raised his head and met her gaze.

"And who did you expect me to choose?"

"I hate to say it myself, but…… I thought it would be Seon-young."

"I have no interest whatsoever in Na Seon-young."

Color bloomed across Hayun's face at once. It was the moment she truly believed her little fox act had finally worked on this stone wall of a man. But Seokjun's next words shattered her expectations to pieces.

"The person I'm interested in is Seo Minju."

"I'm sorry — Seo Minju?"

The color drained from Hayun's face in an instant. She had been so busy waging a war of nerves with Seon-young over the top pick, Seokjun, that she had never once considered Minju a rival. Hearing her name now left her dumbfounded.

"I—I never saw that coming. You two don't have a single thing in common."

"We're about to."

"Wait — is this some kind of joke? Are you making a fool of me?"

Hayun's lips trembled with wounded pride as she snapped at him.

Then Seokjun lowered his voice and cut to the point.

"Calm down. I'm not bored enough to play games with you, Hayun."

"Then what's the real reason you chose me?"

"You're keeping Sangho as your insurance while you weigh him against me. I know."

Hayun's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. For a woman who ranked conditions and financial power above everything else in a man, Seokjun was a blue-chip stock she absolutely had to land, while Sangho was a safe asset she'd hate to let go.

As if laying her transparent motives bare one by one, Seokjun didn't miss the flicker in her eyes and drove the wedge in deeper.

You've been exhausting yourself fighting a mudslinging war with Seon-young while holding onto an uncertain card like me. Why not choose a path with guaranteed returns instead?"

"……What do you mean?"

Hayun's voice trembled faintly. Instead of answering, Seokjun leaned slightly across the table. His low voice, close enough to graze her ear, bored into her — secret and cold, like a devil's whisper.

With the hiss of rain-slicked tires on asphalt, the date car pulled up in front of the resort. The eyes of the female contestants gathered in the living room all turned to the window.

Seokjun stepped out from the driver's seat first, then walked around to open the passenger door himself so Hayun could step out comfortably. As the women watched that air of effortless courtesy, a chorus of exclamations burst out among them.

"Oh my, look at Seokjun's manners. So sweet."

"Right? I wish someone would open a car door for me like that."

"I'm so jealous of Hayun. The whole vibe was probably incredible."

Listening quietly to all of this, Seon-young's face twisted as though she'd bitten into an unripe persimmon.

Seokjun gave Hayun a brief nod and headed straight for his room, while Hayun beamed as she entered the shared living room where the women had gathered.

"I'm back!"

She greeted them with a sunny smile, practically humming a tune.

"Sounds like the date went well? Your smile's stretched ear to ear."

"It did. With the rain, the café atmosphere was so lovely I lost all track of time."

At Hayun's cheerful reply, Seon-young sniffed and threw out a barb.

"Really? Well, I doubt Seokjun would tell you anything interesting about himself. Didn't you just come back talking to yourself?"

A tense chill settled over the living room at Seon-young's thorned words. In the corner, the fingertips of Minju — quietly sipping her tea — trembled almost imperceptibly. But Hayun didn't blink, smiling sweetly as she answered.

"Oh my, you must not know Seokjun very well. I thought he was the quiet type too, but one-on-one, he's completely different."

"Different how? Don't tell me he actually confessed?"

Seon-young probed with a sneer, as if there were no chance of it. Hayun swept her hair back behind her ear with easy grace.

"Not a confession, exactly — but we agreed to go on separate dates whenever we have time, outside of the missions."

She saw no need to add that the real purpose of those dates was sharing intelligence about each other's targets. At that, another contestant nearby cut in, startled.

"Wait, so Seokjun's going all-in on you, Hayun?"

Questions came flying from every direction, but Hayun just gave a light shrug, radiating composure.

"Who knows? We'll have to wait and see."

This was Love Camp, after all — the one place where no one could promise anything until the final choice was made. Hayun's evasive answer contorted Seon-young's brow in a most satisfying way.

"What about you, Hayun? You're interested in Sangho too, aren't you?"

Worried that Hayun might actually go all-in on Seokjun, Seon-young hurriedly pulled Sangho into the conversation as a shield.

"There's still time, so I'd like to keep talking with Sangho as well."

At Hayun's implied intent to weigh two men against each other, Seon-young's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Hayun, keep that up and you might lose both rabbits. Aren't you being a little too greedy?"

At Seon-young's barbed advice, Hayun smiled sweetly and drove her point home.

"We're choosing someone to spend a lifetime with — of course I should be careful. Don't you think?"

Faced with Hayun's unshakable poise, Seon-young seemed at a loss for words, biting down hard on her lower lip. The mere fact that Seokjun had chosen her was already tilting the atmosphere in Hayun's favor.

Minju could no longer bear to sit in the living room. Listening to the victory report pouring from Hayun's lips was beginning to suffocate her.