Saturday afternoon, a brunch cafe in Hannam-dong, Seoul.

The late spring sunlight pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows painted soft textures onto the wooden tables.

The light was warm, and the air was lightly buoyant. The typical bustle of the weekend filled the space.

The sound of clinking glasses, low bursts of laughter, and the occasional click of a camera shutter. Someone was recording this time, and someone else was already living a sufficiently satisfying moment.

In a corner of the cafe, at a seat by the window, Shim Jin-ah sat slightly off-center from the middle of it all.

An iced americano in her hand. With the straw lightly between her lips, she tilted her head down slightly to look at her phone screen.

For a moment, the corners of her mouth twitched upward ever so slightly.

Notifications popping up at the top of the screen. Instagram DMs. One, then another.

They were the kind of messages she was already used to. As if there were no need to even check the content, her finger indifferently swiped across the screen. Leaving them unread, as if erasing their very existence.

"Ah, seriously. Again."

A small mutter escaped her. There was annoyance in those words, but it wasn't a entirely new emotion.

Just then, the sound of the door opening came from the cafe entrance.

Tinkle.

With the small chime of a bell, a draft of outside air seeped in. A late spring breeze. Light, but with a distinctly different temperature.

That breeze very lightly brushed against the tips of Jin-ah's hair.