Seol Jihu couldn't remember how he got back to his room. He staggered up the stairs and opened the front door with an emotionless face.

Underneath the window dyed in an orangey hue, the light of dusk drew a lengthy shadow and cast a shadow over his aged laptop.

Seol Jihu leaned against the wall and closed his laptop shut. He suddenly felt like a fool, thinking back to when he was busy calculating all those sums.

‘…Just a little bit.’

It'd be a lie if he wasn't just a tiny little bit expectant. However, the gap between reality and his imaginations proved to be too wide for him to bridge. The reality was cold and harsh as if it occupied the opposite end of the scale from his imagination.

His old habit reared its head; he pulled out a cigarette and began puffing out blue smoke.

Cough, cough.

His throat felt scratchy. His eyes stung. Maybe because of that, the tears he'd been holding back began streaming down.

[You think I'll fall for your lies again?]

How could he resent anyone….

[….Horse racing? Or sports betting?]

Or, how could he blame anyone?

[Please take it, if you are truly being honest.]

The view of the entire world seemed to have turned 90 degrees. His temple hit the floor, and Seol Jihu stared at the tilted room in a silent daze.

His head was too chaotic to feel the pain. His breathing too was unsteady.

Everything felt wrong. It was as if everything was telling him that he shouldn't be here.

'I have no place left here.'

The moment this thought entered his head, his fuzzy, unfocused eyes regained some of the lost clarity.

He did find a place he could go not too long ago, didn't he?

'Paradise.'

Indeed, if it was that place….

His hand rummaged through his pockets until he found a small slip of paper.

For a while, he fidgeted around with it. He wanted to rip it up right away, but… he was still waiting for a certain woman to give him a call first.

Now that he took a look at himself, his condition wasn't so good as well. Seol Jihu's body shuddered from the sudden coldness rushing into his bones. He figured that he'd feel better after getting some sleep.

Sniff. He sniffed slightly as he crawled on the floor and dug underneath the worn blankets.

Within this cold room, only the deathly stillness kept him company.

'….I'm…. lonely.'

He pulled the blanket over his head and quietly closed his eyes.

On the other hand….

—The number you have dialed is not available at present. Please leave your message after the beep….

“And why is this guy not picking up his phone?!”

Kim Hannah angrily switched her phone off and frowned in unhappine...