However, she knew that her dad, Jang Hye Yoon, would often visit his parents’ tomb and hometown, meeting Jong Goo from time to time.

Knowing who Jong Goo was, Ji An responded politely.

“Yes, Uncle.”

She faintly heard a voice over the phone saying, ‘Ji An has picked up.’ It was not spoken to her but to someone else.

Since the voice answering wasn’t Jang Hye Yoon’s, Ji An felt an eerie chill down her spine.

“Is something wrong with my dad?”

Her mind hoped otherwise, but her heart sensed something first. A hot surge circled up to Ji An’s nape as her heart beat erratically.

The words that came through the phone confirmed her worst fears.

[Dash] Can you come to the National Cancer Center now? Jang Hye Yoon collapsed. He’s unconscious but still alive. Bring your mother and come quickly. You should be here for his last moments.

“Excuse me? What are you saying?”

[Dash] That’s exactly what I’m saying. Ah, I never thought I’d say this. When your dad came down here, he was in the final stages of pancreatic cancer. Apparently, surgery wasn’t an option.

Although she understood all the words, Ji An couldn’t comprehend what Jong Goo was saying.

My dad has cancer?

Hoping it wasn’t true, she asked again.

“Pardon?”

[Dash] Tomorrow, all the family was supposed to visit, right? If things hadn’t turned out this way, Jang Hye Yoon would have told you honestly. We checked on him because he hadn’t woken up by evening. We thought he was tired and sleeping, but…how did things get this twisted?

Ji An didn’t want to believe what she was hearing.

My dad had cancer? How could something like this happen?

It was the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard in her life. Her dad was dying. That was something that shouldn’t happen to her.

Her hand trembling, Ji An clenched her phone with her other hand. But her strength waned, and the phone dropped to the ground.

Her unsteady eyes stared blankly into the void, and her mind went black in an instant.
From Ji An’s lips, a short, impassioned word flowed out.

“…Dad!”

She wanted to ask again, as if it couldn’t be true, but her body wouldn’t move as if it were paralyzed.

Startled, Dan Woo quickly turned the steering wheel and parked the car near the roadside block.

“Ji An, what’s wrong? Did something happen to your father?”

As Dan Woo turned her shoulders toward him with both hands, Ji An spoke in a trembling voice, as if she were in a trance.

“Dad is … critically ill in the hospital.”

Dan Woo couldn’t reply right away, and let out a low sigh.

He knew better than anyone the moment when no words could provide comfort.

However, the only one who could calm the distraught Ji An and bring her back to her senses was him.

“Let’s go see your father right now. He’ll be okay.”

“He has cancer. They say we should prepare for the end.”

Ji An couldn’t believe the words that came out of her mouth, so she covered her lips and shook her head.

She wished this moment were a dream.

Facing this harsh reality, Ji An began to tremble. Despite biting her teeth, her body continued to shake like a trembling poplar tree.

Dan Woo took off his coat and wrapped it around Ji An, then turned up the car’s heater. Seeing it wasn’t enough, he fetched a knee blanket from the trunk and wrapped her in it.

Dan Woo, who turned Ji An’s shoulders toward him and met her eyes, opened his mouth.

“Ji An, listen carefully. I need you to calm down so I can drive. Follow my breathing. Take a deep breath in, and slowly let it out. Can you do that?”

Following Dan Woo, Ji An opened her mouth with difficulty.

“Can you please call the number that just called? They said my dad is critically ill.”

“Sure.”

Ji An, who had been anxiously pulling on her lips, spoke again in a trembling voice.

“They said to come down this weekend, but that can’t be right, can it?”

“Yes.”

Why didn’t Dad tell me about all this in advance?

‘Ji An, there are times when people have to cross the line regardless of their will. Life and death are like that.’

Could my dad have been talking about this moment?

A few days ago, during a call, Jae Yoon had said those words out of the blue.

I thought he was talking about my late grandmother at the time, but now it seemed like he was hinting at death.

Despite the overwhelming ‘why’ questions in her head, Ji An didn’t want to believe what she couldn’t see.

“Dan Woo, maybe I heard wrong. That’s possible, right?”

“I’ll call.”

Dan Woo opened his phone and pressed the call button. The call connected, and an older man’s voice came through.

[Dash] Hello, Ji An. Have you left?

“Hello, I am Ji An’s boyfriend, Woo Dan Woo.”

[Dash] Ah! …Is that so?

“May I ask what happened? Ji An seems quite shocked.”

[Dash] I am Jae Yoon’s 8th cousin, something like an uncle to Ji An. …Seems she was shocked. Of course, she would be.

Jong Goo introduced himself and worriedly mumbled about Ji An before explaining Jae Yoon’s situation.

Dan Woo answered with short ‘Yes. Yes,’ and hung up the phone, saying he would leave soon.

Dan Woo, who looked back at Ji An, shook his head sorrowfully.

What Ji An faced was the death of her dearly loved father, Jae Yoon. The words she had hoped were mistaken were cruelly true.

Jae Yoon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and had missed the timing for surgery, so he had gone to his hometown.

‘Jae Yoon was in a hurry to repair the house. He hired workers day and night. The plan was to frankly discuss it with his wife and daughters when they came down this weekend, then go to the hospital. …A person who was just fine yesterday… Ji An, hurry and bring her.’
Dan Woo pulled Ji An towards him instead of conveying Jong Gu’s words, and ran his hand down her back.

Ji An pushed away from Dan Woo’s chest and nodded her head, signaling that they could go.

As her trembling body like a sasina tree stabilized, she closed her lips while focusing on the face of the manager.

Hot energy flowed down her spine, making her heart feel as if it was constricting. Sweat rose in her palm, so cold it was tingling.