The market was closing when Ha-ein and Ji-na walked back, their bags heavy with vegetables and doubts.
Ji-na kept glancing sideways.
— "You haven't said a word since we left the clinic," she finally said.
Ha-ein didn't respond right away.
Instead, she looked up at the darkening sky.
— "Ji-na… what if I've met him before?"
— "You said you didn't know him."
— "Not in this life."
---
That night, Ha-ein sat by the window. Her canvas remained untouched.
Below, a man crossed the street. Tall. Calm. Confident. His figure disappeared into the shadows like a memory vanishing at dawn.
She stood abruptly and went downstairs.
The street was empty.
But something was written on the door of the building — in chalk. In elegant, curved letters:
> "We meet again, even if you forget me."
---
The next day, Ji-na was busy setting up her restaurant.
While she argued with a supplier on the phone, Ha-ein wandered through the neighborhood and found herself in front of a small bookstore. A sign read:
> "Destiny never dies. It just waits."
Inside, the store was quiet. Books about reincarnation, old lives, and souls marked by time filled the shelves.
Ha-ein picked up a book that fell open on a page about soul ties.
> "When souls are bound across lives, they always find each other. But sometimes, their reunion brings pain instead of peace."
She closed the book quickly, her fingers trembling.
Someone was watching her.
She turned.
The same man from the clinic stood at the door.
Not smiling. Not approaching. Just… watching.
This time, he spoke.
— "You look exactly like someone I once lost."
---
Ji-na nearly dropped a pan when Ha-ein returned.
— "You went out alone? Without telling me? I thought you were kidnapped by your dream guy!"
Ha-ein didn't laugh.
— "I saw him again. He said I looked like someone he lost."
— "Girl, you are officially in a dorama."
But Ha-ein's eyes were serious.
— "Ji-na, I think… this isn't the first time I've met him."
---
That night, Ha-ein had a different dream.
There was fire.
Screams.
A sword.
A betrayal.
A man holding her hand. Another man taking it away. And a child, crying in a forest — calling for someone who didn't return.
She woke up with tears in her eyes and a name on her lips:
Ji-woon.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 3]