SL Prologue

“Is it the hobby of the rich to hold a desperate person’s future in their hands and wield it like a god?”
“Go Naeun.”
“You should’ve said it earlier. That you’re the second son of First Group. I knew you were rich, but I didn’t know you were this rich.”
“And if I am the second son of First Group, what changes?”
“It changes everything. While I was dreaming of a forever with you, you never had any intention of that. You must have known from the beginning. That I was just someone you’d have a brief fling with during your lonely time in the countryside. That’s why I wouldn’t have believed your sweet words and confessions.”

When she was younger, Naeun had felt shy, but still imagined a future where she married him and lived a sweet, ordinary life like everyone else. She thought that this fluttering feeling would last until they both grew old and wrinkled.

That’s how precious Seungjun was to her. Even if she learned something new about him, even if her parents disapproved, she believed she had the courage to overcome it all.

Though their time together was short, he had acted as if she was his only woman, and she had treated him as her only man.
She was sure they were standing in the same place, whispering love to one another.
She believed they were working hard to build an unstable forever into something steady.

But Seungjun had never intended that from the beginning.
A man from such an extraordinary family was never going to dream of marriage with someone as ordinary as her.
Eventually, he was always going to find someone on his level.

“Maybe from the very beginning, we were running toward different destinations. So it’s only natural we ended up missing each other. In a way, maybe it’s a relief we broke up before too long. Even with just these few memories, I felt like I was dying. If it had gone on any longer, I might not be standing here now.”

Naeun could understand it in her head, but her heart just couldn’t forgive him.
Maybe it was the shock of realizing that what tormented her for so long was so insignificant to him.
Maybe it was the fact that, in the end, she simply couldn’t accept the reality that he had abandoned her.

“I really did like you.”
“No. You never truly liked me. Who leaves someone they love without a word? Isn’t that right?”
“That’s…”
“I don’t want to hear it. Let’s just… leave it at being a brief fling. Like one of those ordinary, forgettable romances. We just brushed past each other during a time when I was struggling and you were lonely. It was the kind of relationship meant to end with summer — not one meant to last into winter.”

Naeun wiped away her now-cold tears with the back of her hand.

“If you’re putting on this ridiculous show because you feel guilty, then fine—I’ll accept your apology. But I have no intention of doing a solo recital you’re offering. I won’t let my piano performance become your tool for easing guilt.”
She was clearly the one cutting things off coldly, yet strangely, it felt like her own heart was the one being torn apart.

It felt like one of the countless glass shards from some fairy tale had flown into her chest and lodged itself in her heart.
Because of that, she would slowly grow cold—and eventually freeze stiff.

“I hope you marry someone amazing who suits you well, and I hope you’re happy. Do Seungjun, you’re the richest man in the country now, after all.”

White snowflakes clung thickly to Seungjun’s black hair. Naeun looked at him with aching eyes.

“The break is over.”

At last, a taxi—which had been so hard to catch—finally stopped.

“Along with the summer.”

With that, Naeun got into the car. The moment the door closed, the tears she had held back burst out in loud sobs.
The taxi driver was so startled, he even handed her tissues.

Seungjun remained standing there, all alone, until Naeun’s taxi disappeared from view.

The countryside and summer—the moment we faced each other.
Seoul and winter—the moment we must turn away.