There were chapters in every story that belonged not to the main characters, but to the ones who lingered in the background, steady, loyal, almost forgotten until the light finally found them.
This chapter was for the readers who remembered Kim Ara and Detective Choi from my book "When the Sky Forgets the Dawn", who carried their quiet tension like a bookmark pressed between pages.
It was for those who always knew something lived between them, something unnamed, something sharp.
Kim Ara's office looked nothing like a typical lawyer's workspace. No cold metal shelves or scattered documents. Her space was warm, dark wooden furniture, a small jade plant thriving beside the window, a framed picture of her and Seo-rin from law school days, and a stack of neatly arranged case files on her desk. The nameplate on the door read:
Partner Manager — Barrister Kim Ara
Detective Choi stood outside the glass door for a moment, staring at the name as if trying to decide whether stepping in meant crossing a line he had drawn for himself years ago. Then he knocked.
"Come in," Ara called.
He pushed the door open.
She looked up, and the surprise on her face softened instantly into something like relief.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, unable to hide the small smile tugging at her mouth.
He shrugged lightly. "Can't I come to see the queen?"
Ara rolled her eyes but the smile bloomed anyway. "And yet you always know exactly what to say to make the queen smile."
He sat down across from her, his playful expression slipping away almost immediately.
"Why did you let her marry him?" he asked, voice low. "Seo-rin deserved better."
Ara sighed and rose from her chair, the weight of the last few days settling on her shoulders. She crossed to the coffee machine.
"Because he's the only bait strong enough to pull out the people who destroyed her father," she said quietly. "You know that."
"But still_"
"Choi." She cut him off gently. "We're not doing this alone. If things go wrong, we still have Double J backing us. President Areum is ready to move." [And if you read my novel, "when the sky forgets the dawn" you will know about Han Areum, and double J, I can say they are the pillar of that novel.]
At that name, something flickered in his eyes, recognition, trust.
"Tea or coffee?" she asked, turning slightly toward him.
He smiled. "Do you really need to ask?"
Of course she didn't. She brewed his green tea exactly how he liked it. Not too hot. Not too strong. She brought the cup to him where he sat on the sofa. Their fingers brushed briefly as he took it.
Time slowed for a second.
"What about our promise?" he asked suddenly.
Ara blinked. "Promise?"
"That we'd get married if we turned thirty without partners." He held her gaze. "Did you forget?"
She didn't forget. That promise was one of those strange things that stayed lodged in the heart, made half as a joke, half as something else entirely.
[And if you read my novel "when the sky forgets the dawn" you will understand, what promise they are talking about, it's in that novel that they make the promise.]
Ara laughed softly. "Then should we go to the civil bureau today?"
Her tone was teasing, light, but the air didn't feel light anymore.
Choi stood up.
He walked toward her, stopping just inches away. Close enough that she felt the warmth of him, close enough that every breath became sharper and more aware. He leaned down, lips almost brushing her ear.
"Shall we?" he whispered.
Her heart, usually composed, guarded, wrapped in logic, stumbled.
"Then pick the date," she whispered back.
He stepped back, but only slightly, still close enough that she felt the shift in the air between them. His eyes held hers, steady, unguarded for once. One hand slipped to her waist, pulling her gently closer, almost instinctively. She did not step away.
Something had changed.
Something had begun.
Flashback - The night before
The wedding night.
Not the romantic sort people dream about, but the kind that belonged in a different kind of story, one tangled with power, silence, and too many secrets.
The mansion Jae-min brought her to was more fortress than home. Guards moved in quiet patterns, servants rushed through corridors without raising their heads. Everything was precise, rehearsed, disciplined.
Seo-rin stood beside him in the elevator, still wrapped in the remnants of her wedding gown. He didn't speak. He didn't look at her. The numbers on the elevator panel glowed softly as they ascended.
The fourth floor hallway stretched before them, polished and silent.
He opened a door and stepped aside so she could enter. The room was warm, soft, tastefully arranged. It looked nothing like his world.
It looked like hers.
She turned slowly. "How did you…?"
"I asked your sister," he said simply.
Seo-rin sat on the edge of the bed, exhausted from the weight of the day. Jae-min knelt, actually knelt and removed her heels carefully, almost tenderly. His touch was gentle, not possessive. He removed the pins from her veil, setting them aside with unsettling precision. Then he handed her a pack of makeup wipes.
"This is your room," he said, standing again. "Mine is on the fifth floor. If you need anything…"
He paused, as if debating whether to add something else, but he didn't.
"I'll ask the maid to bring pajamas and food."
And then he walked out.
No demands.
No cold remarks.
Just… distance.
Seo-rin waited, half expecting him to return. He didn't.
The next morning
She woke to the quiet hum of the mansion coming alive, distant footsteps, clinking dishes, the faint scent of roasted coffee drifting through the air.
She washed up, dressed in clean clothes the maids had left neatly folded, and walked down the grand staircase to the first floor.
Jae-min sat at the long dining table, sleeves rolled slightly, reading a morning report. The sunlight filtered through the tall windows, catching on his untouched cup of coffee.
He looked up as she approached.
"Morning," he said, his tone calm, unreadable.
"Good morning," she replied softly, and sat across from him.
For a moment, the world felt strangely still, two people who had married not out of love, but necessity, sitting together at a table too big for the silence between them.
He gestured toward the food. "Eat. You have a meeting with the K Group board at ten."
She nodded, and he returned to his documents.
But she kept her eyes on him a moment longer.
There was something about him she hadn't understood yet.
Something she wasn't sure she wanted to.