MCFDS CH 01

Chapter 1

“Please, please, pleaseㅠㅠㅠ. I’m begging you, okay? Let’s go on a dating show together. We’ll go as friends.

You and me would be perfect for it, right? Please??? If I don’t do this, I’m going to have to close my bakery.

Pleeease, my friend. Think of it as saving my life, and at least look at the link I sent you.”

Ye-in replied without even reading all the messages that had come in.

No.

You didn’t even read all my messages, did you?

Are you ChatGPT or something? How can you reply that fast?

At least think about it for a little while.

No.

You’re even colder and more heartless than ChatGPT, Seon Ye-in. You seriously are…

Ye-in shook her head as she looked at the long string of messages continuing down her phone screen.

She shoved the constantly vibrating phone into her bag and looked up at the elevator display.

The number had stopped at the 11th floor and wasn’t changing.

Of course this happens on a day when nothing is going right.

Ye-bom must be waiting desperately for me.

After thinking for a moment, Ye-in headed toward the emergency stairs.

“Ye-bom, Mommy’s home.”

Ye-in entered the brightly lit apartment, panting heavily. As she took off her shoes, however, something felt strange.

Normally, Ye-bom would have run out to greet her as soon as she came home.

But there was no sound of footsteps.

Not even a single breath could be heard.

The entire apartment was completely silent.

A cold sense of anxiety washed over Ye-in.

“Seon Ye-bom? Are you hiding?”

Ye-in walked quickly into the apartment. It wasn’t very large. It was just the right size for a mother and daughter living together.

Which also meant there weren’t many places where Ye-bom could hide.

“Seon Ye-bom? Come out quickly. You shouldn’t play tricks on Mommy.”

She deliberately lowered her voice to sound scary.

Whenever Ye-in used that voice, Ye-bom would usually give up her little bits of stubbornness and become as obedient as a lamb.

But Ye-bom didn’t come out.

The apartment was brightly lit, yet there was no one inside.

Ye-in’s heart sank.

Ye-bom, who had promised to stay quietly at home and wait for her, was gone.

“Ye-bom!”

Ye-in immediately ran back outside.

Her hurried steps quickly turned into a full sprint.

Where could a six-year-old child have gone at this hour?

“Joo-mi.”

Ye-in called Joo-mi while running frantically.

“Why? Did you change your mind? Are you going on the show?”

Joo-mi answered brightly, completely unaware of what was happening.

But Ye-in couldn’t even hear her properly.

“Did your mother come and take Ye-bom?”

“Huh? No. Didn’t she say she had to leave work early today? Ye-bom should be at home. You talked to her earlier, remember?”

“She’s not there.”

“Wait… what? Ye-bom?”

Joo-mi was shocked and began asking question after question.

“Where could she have gone? Maybe she’s hiding behind the curtains? Look carefully. She likes playing hide-and-seek, remember—”

Ye-in was in no state to answer.

She simply hung up.

Then she ran even faster.

Ye-bom must be at the playground.

Ye-bom loved going there.

Maybe she was disappointed because she couldn’t go there because Mommy is always late, so she went by herself.

“Ye-bom! Seon Ye-bom!”

When Ye-in reached the playground, several middle school students were riding bicycles around it.

Amid all the laughter and noise, Ye-bom was nowhere to be seen.

Ye-in asked the people nearby, but no one had seen a little girl.

If she isn’t at the playground, where else could she have gone…?

There weren’t many places she could go.

Ye-in hurried off again, checking every place in order of how likely it was that Ye-bom would be there.

By the time she was completely drenched in sweat from searching everywhere, Joo-mi arrived.

“Ye-in! You still haven’t found her?”

“No. I checked the playground, the convenience store, the nearby park, and even the other apartment complex, but she isn’t there. There aren’t many other places she could have gone. Unless someone took her or she got into a car…”

Ye-in saw Joo-mi bite her lip.

“She’ll be okay. Nothing happened to her. I’m sure she’s fine. For now, go home, change your shoes, and drink some water.”

“I’m fine. I’m going to check behind the apartment building next door again. I haven’t looked there yet. She’s scared of that place because it’s dark, but I have to check anyway.”

Ye-in’s normally calm voice was trembling.

Joo-mi grabbed Ye-in firmly by the shoulders, looking worried.

“No. You go home. Ye-bom might have already gone back. Just look at yourself. If Ye-bom sees you looking like this, she’ll probably faint from shock.”

Joo-mi glanced down at Ye-in’s feet.

Only then did Ye-in realize that she had run outside wearing her house slippers.

Her feet were already covered in cuts.

She had thought she was staying calm, but apparently she wasn’t.

“I’ll report it to the police and keep looking around here. You go home and check again.”

Right. Ye-bom might have come back home.

Ye-in turned and ran home, leaving Joo-mi behind.

But the apartment was exactly as silent as it had been when she left.

I think I’m going crazy.

What if I lose Ye-bom?

Why did I have to be late today of all days? Why did the traffic have to be so bad?

She had gotten home forty minutes later than the time she had promised Ye-bom.

Bad luck always comes like this.

It always piles up one thing after another.

That had been the story of Ye-in’s entire life.

On the day a cold wave warning had been issued, the heating in their home had broken down.

On the first day of a long holiday, when the hospitals were closed, she had badly injured herself while trying to cook ramen alone.

On a day when she had gone to school without having time to wash the dishes, her father had come home after being gone for several months. He couldn’t stand seeing even a speck of dust or a single dirty thing in the house, so Ye-in had been severely scolded.

And then, on the day she fractured her ankle, Ye-in had been abandoned in front of an orphanage.

She had been nine years old.

Already old enough to understand what was happening.

But she wasn’t sad about it.

Living in an orphanage was better than living with her father.

She could eat three meals a day without going hungry, and she no longer had to tremble alone in fear and cold when the heating and electricity were cut off at home.

Still, nine-year-old Ye-in had wondered what she would do with her life from then on.

“Teacher, what kind of job makes a lot of money?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. Maybe a doctor?”

After that, Ye-in’s dream became becoming a doctor.

She thought that was the only thing that could save her life, which was constantly shaken by even the smallest misfortune.

So she studied desperately and got into medical school.

She was even guaranteed a scholarship.

Once she graduated, she would be able to earn her own money and live a stable life.

Then Ye-bom came into her life.

Ye-in’s life had always been unlucky, so having a child had never been part of her plans.

Especially not at twenty-three, while she was still a university student.

Ye-in took a leave of absence before her pregnancy became obvious, and the scholarship she had been guaranteed disappeared.

From that point until now, she had gone from one tutoring job to another to cover her living expenses and the cost of raising her child.

Fortunately, there were plenty of people willing to hire her because she was a medical student.

And so, six years passed.

If she saved just a little more money, she would finally be able to return to school next semester.

Ye-in still hadn’t given up on her dream of becoming a doctor.

More than anything else, she hoped that becoming a doctor would allow her to become an even stronger shield protecting Ye-bom.

But in the end, that had all been her own selfish desire.

Her own ambition had come back as a knife pointed at Ye-bom.

Money for school? Was it really that important?

A sudden request from a tutoring student who wanted to go on a trip had made them insist that Ye-in give an extra lesson that day.

Since she had thought Ye-bom would be fine alone, she should have refused.

The moment she stepped outside again, Ye-in started running.

She couldn’t stop.

It felt as though if she just passed through that alley, Ye-bom would suddenly appear, crying and running toward her.

But Ye-bom was nowhere to be found.

Where do I go now?

She had already checked every place that could be reached on foot.

Could the police still be searching? Why haven’t they contacted me yet?

Then she heard Joo-mi’s voice from somewhere in the distance.

“Seon Ye-in! Ye-in! I found Ye-bom!”

Ye-in spun around.

Joo-mi was walking toward her while holding the hand of a small child.

“Seon Ye-bom!”

Ye-in ran toward them in one breath and immediately examined Ye-bom’s face and body from head to toe.

Her heart was pounding violently.

She had found Ye-bom.

Relief rushed over her like a wave.

“Where did you go?!”

“Mommy, I’m sorry…”

Tears filled Ye-bom’s eyes.

“I told you never to leave the house by yourself! I told you that if you got lost, you might never see Mommy again! Don’t you want to see Mommy? Do you want to live by yourself?!”

Words she normally would never say poured out of her.

Ye-in knew it was wrong to dump all the fear and worry she had been holding inside onto a child.

But she couldn’t stop herself.

Then Ye-bom suddenly threw herself into her arms.

The child’s thin body was trembling.

She must have been terrified, wandering around alone for so long.

She was scared.

I shouldn’t have yelled.

She must have been even more frightened than I was.

“I’m sorry Mommy yelled at you.”

Ye-in hugged Ye-bom tightly.

As she gently stroked her daughter’s hair, little hiccupping sounds escaped her.