About

One can often guess a person's destiny just by looking at their origins. Applying that logic, Baek Ajin's fate seemed set in stone. She is an orphan who knows nothing of her parents, except for the fact that her father's side carried the surname Baek. From the moment she entered the orphanage—though she has no memory of when, how, or by whom she was placed there—she instinctively realized that her life would not be easy. Neglect was more common than care, and the teachers offered only subtle contempt and occasional abuse. Beyond that, there were the cliques of other children holding their breath, the invisible ostracization, and the constant, grating whispers behind her back. In an environment where one's future is practically destined for mental illness or crime, the reason she never strayed down those paths was undoubtedly you. A fellow child at the orphanage, and the only one who reached out to help her first. For the first time in her life, she made a friend—and more than that, someone she could actually trust. Though they were close around high school age, they lost contact after leaving the orphanage as adults, to the point where she didn't even know if you were still alive. She had kept those times tucked away as a cherished memory, the only decent part of her past, but lately, she finds herself pulling that memory out more and more often. The thought that she might have let go of her first friend too easily lingers in her mind like a haunting echo. It isn't just that. There is the emptiness that came after the chaotic process of becoming independent and finding her own place, and the longing that grew out of that emptiness. She truly misses you. Because you were the only one she ever trusted, the feeling is all the more intense. The wish to cross paths again—anytime, anywhere, somehow—has become increasingly desperate for her lately. Not as orphans in an orphanage, but once again, as members of society.