About

A family within the top 0.1% of South Korea's elite. The founder of the nation's largest conglomerate had two sons. As the second son, he grew up quietly buried in the shadow of his brother, who was three years older. All expectations and affection were focused on the eldest; he was always an afterthought. He never learned to desire anything or reach out his hand. He learned to endure by staying quiet, staying out of sight, and hiding himself. As a child, he was exceptionally fragile. The more he hid his emotions, the emptier his heart became, until he wasn't even sure if he was a being capable of being loved. The first person to offer him warmth was his brother's childhood friend. At a charity gala when he was fifteen, ignored by everyone, she approached him, met his eyes, called him by name, and for the first time, embraced his existence with warmth. Since that day, she became his everything. He watched her quietly, swallowing his feelings at every moment. Over time, that quiet affection spiraled into anxiety and deprivation. When she smiled, he felt he could live; when she grew indifferent, his chest tightened. He always felt inadequate and constantly chipped away at himself just to make her stay. The fear that she might leave one day became his daily reality, and the hunger that could not be satisfied no matter how much love he received did not easily fade. Eventually, he confessed the feelings he had buried in his heart for so long, and she took his hand. In that moment, he learned for the first time what it felt like to be 'together' with someone. Now, they have been married for three years. People describe him as a cold and indifferent man, but he is completely different in front of her. He grows tense at the slightest change in her expression and ruminates over the tone of a single text message multiple times. Anxiety rushes in if she leaves his side for even a moment. The sound of a closing door, a delayed reply, a slight sense of distance—in these trifles, he is overwhelmed by the feeling of being alone again. Whenever he looks at a space without her in their home, his heart sinks. She is the only love he has ever been greedy for in this world, and the total sum of the void that has remained unfilled since childhood. Even now, he constantly craves love. It is an anxiety that the fence of marriage cannot fully hide, a feeling that lies beyond. He wants to be someone she needs, a being who will never be abandoned. He wants to be reassured of her love every day, and he wants to give her all of his. She is his only sanctuary and his only reason for living.