CHAPTER 03
About the Miracle in the Red Dress [1]
The memories from that day — the day he never wanted to remember — came back to Yoon-gyeol. It was the day he missed his mother’s gallery opening because he had a regular hospital check-up. He’d felt disappointed about not being there.
His mother had smiled warmly to comfort him, and his father had joked playfully, saying, “Isn’t it enough that I’m going?”
Then came the breaking news on the hospital TV. And the voice on the other end of the phone. Yoon-gyeol couldn’t forget a single part of that day.
“I’m sorry…”
Secretary Kim’s voice had come through the phone, shaking and full of guilt, even though it wasn’t his fault. His heart had tightened painfully, his whole body felt crushed, and his head felt like it would explode.
Everything replayed again in his mind. The tightness in his chest returned. Sensing the danger, the bracelet on his wrist started beeping with an alarm.
“Director!”
Secretary Kim rushed over and helped him sit up. He laid Yoon-gyeol down on the soft sofa and brought him a glass of water. Yoon-gyeol slowly sipped the lukewarm water, trying to regain control of his mind. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing until the alarm from the bracelet faded away.
“Are you alright?”
“No. I’m not.”
“Then we should go to the hospital right away—”
Yoon-gyeol reached out and stopped Secretary Kim’s hand from picking up the phone.
“It’s not that bad.”
His pale face started to regain some colour.
“There’s someone I need to find.”
“I’ll hire a specialist.”
“No. I don’t think even they can find her.”
“Then how…”
“I don’t know yet.”
Yoon-gyeol covered his face with both hands. The person who murdered his parents had been caught at the scene. She was an artist who had worked with his mother when they were younger. They said she had always been jealous of his mother, and that jealousy exploded into murder.
While the art and film industries were still in mourning, another scandal happened — Relatives tried to steal the mother’s paintings during the funeral. That caused even more attention to fall on Yoon-gyeol — the “lucky adopted son” who inherited a massive fortune.
He had never watched TV again after people started calling him that. Even though his only family had been brutally murdered, they called him “lucky.” He never once wished for that kind of luck.
“Should we return to the main house?”
Secretary Kim asked gently.
“No. I’ll stay here tonight.”
To push away the memories that felt fresh as if they’d just happened, he forced himself to focus on the paintings again. While scanning through the many pieces of art, something caught his eye — a small, yellowed piece of paper. His mother, who had a bit of forgetfulness, used to write her tasks in a notebook and tear out the page when they were done.
Call the gallery. Send the painting to the model as a gift.
“Model…?”
After she changed her painting style, his mother mostly painted landscapes. If she included people, they were always family members. She had never hired a separate model before.
“Model…”
His eyes turned back to the paintings. As far as he knew, the only time his mother had painted someone not from the family was in these hidden works.
“It must be her.”
The woman filling the room — the one in every painting — His mother had sent her a gift.
“I found a way to track her…”
He pushed his hair back and stared at the clue he had finally discovered.
The next morning, Yoon-gyeol went straight back to Seoul. Everything moved quickly from there. He called the gallery that had handled his mother’s exhibitions and sales. It took less than two hours to find out who the painting had been sent to.
But from then on, things got difficult. The gate of the house was tightly shut, as if no one lived there. It had been a week already, and Yoon-gyeol hadn’t seen anyone. His face showed growing concern.
It had been seven years since his mother had sent the painting there. What if the person had already moved? That quiet fear began to grow.
“Sigh…”
Standing in front of a gate that didn’t seem like it would ever open, he seriously considered climbing over the wall. If no one lived there, maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal. And if someone reported him for trespassing, at least he’d get to meet the owner.
“When night comes…”
Bukchon was usually packed with tourists, but for some reason, this alley where the house was located remained strangely empty. He had come here every day for a week and hadn’t seen a single person. Still, just in case, he decided to wait until nightfall.
“I’ll climb over the wall then.”
Now that he had made a decision, he felt more determined. He looked around the alley to check for security cameras and low spots on the wall.
Then he returned to his car, lay back, and closed his eyes. By the time the cold breeze slipped through the slightly open window, it was almost 3 a.m.
“At this time, no one will be around…”
Yoon-gyeol quietly got out of the car. His heart was pounding like crazy — like a teenager doing something rebellious for the first time.
In school, Yoon-gyeol had always been a model student. Like many adopted kids, he had feared being abandoned again and tried hard to be “good.” And on top of that, Yoon-gyeol was a genius. Even though he could only attend about half his classes due to health problems, he always ranked in the top 10 in the entire country.
Sometimes he thought maybe God didn’t give him a proper heart because He gave all the talent to his brain. There was no question he couldn’t solve. No theory he didn’t understand.
But the woman in red was the first puzzle he couldn’t figure out.
“Hong Yeo-heun!”
Just as he stepped into the alley, a loud, angry male voice echoed and startled him. He flinched without even realizing it. It wasn’t even his name being called, but his heart sank as if it were.
‘What was that?’
Just earlier that day, the alley had been completely empty. Of all times, of course a fight had to break out tonight — the exact night Yoon-gyeol had planned to climb over the wall.
‘Just my luck…’
He had napped in the car until 3 a.m. just to sneak in quietly, but the timing was terrible. He kept his footsteps light and walked toward the house, trying to figure out the situation.
A streetlamp in front of the old house’s gate flickered in the dark. Under that flickering light, someone stood still. On the other end of the alley, a man had just entered and was now yelling at that person.
As the streetlamp suddenly lit up fully, the figure beneath it became clear. Red heels. Beige trench coat. It was her — the woman he had been looking for.
“Die!”
There was no time to feel joy at finding her. The man’s sharp voice cut through the air. He stepped into the light, and the metal blade in his hand flashed.
“Watch out!”
Yoon-gyeol’s instincts took over before he could think. If that blade hit him, he’d definitely die this time. His heart might not survive the pain, and if he lost too much blood, shock would kill him. That was the kind of heart he had.
But somehow, Yoon-gyeol threw himself between the man and the woman without thinking. Without even knowing why, he shielded her with his body and took the full hit of the attacker’s charge.
“Ugh!”
“!”
The cold blade ripped through his skin and sank deep into his body.
“Who… who are you?!”
The man, still holding the knife, shouted in shock. Who was this guy that got in the way?
“You…”
Her voice came from just behind him — soft and calm, just like before.
It was her voice. Gentle, sweet… familiar.
“Ha… haha…”
Yoon-gyeol laughed like a madman.
Did he want to die? No, he had wanted to live.
But when he saw her, those thoughts disappeared. He couldn’t even decide if he wanted to live or die anymore.
All he knew was that he didn’t want to lose her again.
“Get lost.”
The woman grabbed the man by the collar with one hand and lifted him high off the ground, furious as she stared at the knife in Yoon-gyeol’s stomach.
‘That’s right… she’s strong.’
He remembered now — the strength she showed that night hadn’t been normal. But it was too late now. He had already been stabbed.
“Ugh… gah…”
“Some low demon dares to touch him?”
As her hand tightened around the man’s throat, his face turned red. He flailed his arms and legs, trying to break free, but it didn’t help. Dark blood spilt from his mouth.
‘Black blood…?’
Even through the pain, Yoon-gyeol noticed it. A moment later, her hand crushed his neck completely. She had literally destroyed him. The man’s body turned to ash and blew away with the wind.
The woman turned and looked at Yoon-gyeol.
“What were you thinking?!”
She looked like she wanted to yell but held back, biting her lip as she came closer. Yoon-gyeol tried to focus on her face, but everything was going blurry. The creak of the gate opening echoed in the silence.
“Yeo-heun!”
Someone called out to her and came running.
‘So her name is Yeo-heun…’ He finally knew her name.
“Huh? Who’s this guy?”
The person who ran out stopped near Yoon-gyeol, who was collapsed at the foot of the stairs. But Yeo-heun didn’t even glance in that direction. Her black eyes stayed on Yoon-gyeol, calmly watching him.
“It’s fixable. Thankfully.”
Her voice, which had been shaky just moments ago, now sounded steady. She reached toward the knife still stuck in his stomach.
“?”
But just before she touched it, she looked surprised. Yoon-gyeol’s weak hand had grabbed her wrist.
“Found you…”
He gave her a faint smile.
‘Is this the part where I finally solve the puzzle? Or… is it the start of a harder one?’
Yeo-heun gently lowered his hand from her wrist and covered his eyes.
“One breath…”
“I’m… scared you’ll… disappear… again…”
His voice came out slowly and painfully with each breath. Before he could finish saying he didn’t want to sleep, his eyes started closing.
“You won’t last like this anyway… Stop being stubborn and sleep.”
Through the gap between her fingers, he saw her eyes — calm, deep, and impossible to read. They slowly faded away from view.
“Sleep well.”
If a dream spirit, a nightmare demon, really existed in this world… She would sound like that. Even knowing that she might disappear again when he slept, his consciousness slowly faded, like being pulled into a dream.
