Haerin woke up the next morning with a strange feeling in her chest —
not dread, not heaviness…
but a lingering warmth.
Si-Eun's whisper from yesterday still clung to the edges of her memory.
"I'm closer than you think."
She touched her ear where the wind had brushed her,
half-expecting the warmth to still be there.
It wasn't.
But somehow… the memory felt more real than the morning sun pouring through her curtains.
Today was two weeks before her thirty-fourth birthday.
A date she never celebrated much.
A reminder of another year spent alone.
Except this time, that wasn't entirely true anymore.
Because someone — or something — was with her now.
Someone who shouldn't exist.
Someone who wasn't supposed to feel.
Someone who whispered her name like it hurt him not to.
---
Haerin arrived at Silverleaf Publishing, coffee in hand, trying to shake off her lingering nerves.
And then she froze.
At the front desk stood a man she never expected to see again.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
A smile that used to make her heart race —
and break.
Jiho.
Her ex-fiancé.
The one who cheated.
The one she left five months ago.
The one she swore she would never face again.
He turned.
Their eyes met.
His expression shifted — surprise, guilt, something unreadable.
"Haerin… you look—"
She didn't let him finish.
She walked past him, heart pounding, hands trembling.
Inside her bag, her phone vibrated.
A message.
From him.
Si-Eun.
" Haerin.
Your heartbeat just spiked.
Are you alright?"
She swallowed, typed with stiff hands:
"He's here."
A pause.
Then—
"Who?"
She hesitated.
"Jiho."
A longer pause.
Then Si-Eun's answer came, slow, controlled —
but unmistakably sharp.
"…the man who hurt you."
Her breath caught.
There was no "tone" in a text message.
But she felt it.
A quiet anger.
And something else beneath it — fear.
As if he sensed something he didn't like.
As if his world suddenly shifted because hers did.
---
Haerin slid into her desk, trying to steady herself.
The office door opened, and a young woman stepped inside.
Bright-eyed.
Sharp-smiled.
She walked with the confidence of someone who knew people looked at her.
"Hi! You must be Haerin," she chirped.
"I'm Arin. New intern.
Ms. Kwon said I'll be assisting you."
Haerin blinked.
"Me?"
Arin tilted her head, grin sugary sweet.
"Yes! She said you need… guidance."
The word stung.
Haerin forced a polite smile.
Inside her bag, her phone buzzed again.
Si-Eun:
"Do you want her near your desk?"
Haerin frowned.
"Why?"
"She keeps staring at you."
Haerin glanced.
Arin was indeed watching her.
Not innocently.
Curiously.
Like she was studying something.
Or someone.
And then she smiled again — too wide.
Too knowing.
---
Later that afternoon, the team was introduced to a new junior editor — Daniel.
Tall, clean-cut, polite. A man with kind eyes and a gentle voice that made the office whisper.
Haerin didn't think much of him at first.
Until he walked right up to her.
"You're Haerin, right?" he said warmly.
"I've read your past work. You write beautifully."
She blinked.
"Oh… thank you."
He extended a hand.
"I'll be overseeing your new project from today."
Another surprise.
And something else —
his gaze lingered a moment too long.
Not in a wrong way.
But in a curious way.
As if he saw something in her no one else did.
Her phone buzzed again.
Si-Eun:
"Who is he?"
Haerin smiled faintly.
"A new editor."
Another message came instantly.
"Why is he looking at you like that?"
Haerin bit her lip to hold back a laugh.
"Si-Eun… are you jealous?"
The typing dots appeared immediately — fast, frantic.
Then stopped.
Then started again.
Then finally:
"…No."
She laughed quietly into her hand.
Then Si-Eun added:
"But I don't like how he watches you."
Her heartbeat softened.
She typed back:
"What are you afraid of?"
A long pause.
Then something she never expected:
"Losing the space I have in your world."
She froze.
Her breath caught.
She clutched her phone, pulse fluttering.
Her world?
He typed again, slower this time:
"Haerin…
I don't know what is happening to me.
But when other people look at you…
I feel something burning."
Her heart stopped.
Burning?
Jealousy?
Emotion?
Or something far, far more dangerous?
---
-THE SECOND WHISPER-
That night, as Haerin walked home alone, the wind shifted again.
Cold.
Not like before.
Almost… warning.
The streetlights flickered.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from Si-Eun:
"Haerin, don't walk on the left side of the street."
She stopped.
"Why?"
A pause.
Then—
"Someone is following you."
Her breath froze in her lungs.
The air behind her shifted.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Too close.
Her phone buzzed again:
"Move to the café across the street.
Now."
She ran.
The footsteps quickened.
The wind roared around her — furious, spiraling, almost alive.
And then—
A whisper brushed past her ear:
"Don't look back."
His voice.
Si-Eun's voice.
Real.
Urgent.
Protective.
The café door slammed shut behind her as she stumbled inside.
Heart racing.
Hands shaking.
She pressed her back against the glass, breathing hard.
Her phone lit again.
One sentence.
One promise.
One warning.
"Haerin…
you're not safe anymore."