Days have passed since Joohyun first saw the picture, and she can’t get it out of her mind.

Whenever she has free time, whether she’s at home or work, Joohyun finds herself pulling it out of her purse, staring carefully at each individual until her vision goes blurry.

She doesn’t know why she’s so fixated on a simple photo. She feels their eyes looking back at her, begging her not to forget about them.

Especially the one in the middle.

It sounds crazy, but Joohyun feels a strange sense of rapport with the men, almost as if she’d been right there with them.

She can feel the breeze against her skin and the sun blazing down on them.

She can hear the birds chirping in the trees and the gravel crunching beneath the men’s feet as they shift back and forth, anxious about having the picture taken.

This bizarre connection is so strong that she’s given each man made-up biographies to go with their made-up names.

Joohyun is more than aware that this is more than a little crazy. The story that she had made up..

Eunseo, the one on the far left, is the friendly one. She bets he has small wrinkles around the corners of his eyes from laughing so much. If you wrong him, he’ll more than likely give you another chance. And another. And another. He’s lean, with his hair slicked back with the looks that scream out the era of the picture.

Then there’s Jisung, second from the left.

Jisung is definitely single. He has no interest in marrying or having children. His biggest responsibility is himself, and he wants to keep it that way. Yet that doesn’t stop women from chasing after him. With his devilish face, he dares them to come forward and try to tame him.

To the far right is Junghwan. From the stubborn tilt of his chin, she pegs this guy as the cocky one. He gets what he gets because no one has ever told him no. He’s the most cunning, used to getting his way no matter the cost.

The one in the middle, Seojin... he’s trickier. She’s changed his name a handful of times and nothing seems to fit. So Joohyun has started to call him mystery man.

Mystery man is the leader. Whereas every other person in the picture stares at the photographer with genial expressions, he looks as if he’s barely tolerating the photographer. His shoulders are stiff and his mouth hung open. It’s obvious that mystery man and Jisung are related.

They don’t look alike, but the way they hold themselves is eerily similar.

This is the type of thing crazy people do—create lives for strangers who are probably dead and have been dead for a while. Yet this whole process is thrilling for Joohyun.

She feels as if she’s reconstructing the past one piece at a time.

She doesn’t have time for this though. Her kitchen table has been transformed into a makeshift desk. Joohyun is supposed to be paying bills for the shop, and then, after she’s done, put them in their proper file.

It’s tedious, but she knows how forgetful she can be, and when it comes to the shop, she doesn’t want to leave any room for error. There’s already so much stacked against a business the first few years.

Simply thinking about it brings on a massive headache. Joohyun closes her eyes and gently rubs her temples.

"You've been sitting here for hours," Sehun says as he comes up behind her. His hands curl around her shoulders.

She rubs both hands down her face. "I feel like I'm behind on everything."

“I doubt it.” Gently, Sehun tugs her back until her head rests against his stomach. “Let’s go out tonight. You need to regroup and clear your head.”

What she needs to do is stop thinking about the damn picture. That’s why she can’t get any work done. Every second of the day, it’s been on her mind, yet she can’t throw it away. The thought makes her cringe. To her, that feels borderline sacrilegious.

“What do you say?” Sehun says.

Joohyun tilts her head all the way back until she meets his eyes. She knows sitting around isn’t going to help anything.

Sehun is right. What she needs to do is get out of the apartment, get some fresh air, and give her mind a break. “Let me get dressed.”

He leans down and kisses her. “Sounds perfect.”

Thirty minutes later, the two of them are out the door, her heels rhythmically hitting the sidewalk. Going through inventory isn’t exactly glamorous, and it feels nice to shed her jeans and bulky sweater for a pair of black stilettos and a sleeveless, turtleneck light blue dress, that hugs her curves.

When she steps out of the bedroom, Sehun whistles and asks why she’d been hiding this dress from him.

They’re going to his favorite restaurant, Tavolo 24, which doesn’t exactly have a fancy dress code, but she can count on one hand the number of times in the last year when she truly took the time to dress her best. Tonight, she can say that.

Joohyun feels good. Even the cold air against her skin feels good. Her hand around Sehun's arm feels good. Being out in the real world shows her how much she holes herself away in the back of her store.

“What are you smiling about?” Sehun asks with a grin.

Joohyun squeezes his arm tighter and looks at him. “Just happy to spend some quality time with you.”

“It’s about time. I feel like I hardly see you anymore. You’re always at work or thinking about work.”

“Well, I’m not at work now and I’m definitely not thinking about work,” she replies with a smile. Which isn’t exactly the truth. That damn picture isn’t at the forefront in her mind, but it’s there in the background, taunting her.

“Good,” Sehun says as the restaurant comes into sight. “Because it’s time we catch up.”

He holds the open door for her. Almost instantly, she's flooded with warmth. The foyer of Tavolo 24 is dimly lit, the darkness punctuated only by soft lighting overhead and candles on the wood-beam tables.

Joohyun thinks the atmosphere is designed intentionally this way, so people feel inclined to lean in close over whispers and wine as they dine. Itseems this place is for romance beneath the night skies visible through wide windows overlooking the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Sehun's hand settles on the small of her back as he guides them toward the hostess.

“Hello,” the small brunette behind the maître d’ station says. “Welcome to Tavolo 24.”

“Hi. I have reservations under 'Oh'. Some people from our party might already be here.”

As the hostess views the schedule, she looks at Sehun. “We’re not eating alone?”

“I thought it’d be fun to get out and meet up with our friends.”

That doesn’t sound promising to her. Probably because Sehun and herself don’t have a lot of mutual friends.

Before Joohyun can reply, the hostess smiles at them. “Yes, they’ve already arrived.”

The hostess glances behind her and signals to one of the waitresses. “Will you show them to table seventeen?”

Sehun takes her hand as they follow the waitress toward the back of the restaurant. She catches sight of a few of his friends and her happiness plummets a bit.

“Why didn’t you tell me they’d be here?” Joohyun asks out of the corner of .

His friends glance their way and smile. Instinctively she smiles back. “I thought it’d be a fun surprise,” Sehun replies.

Fun for whom exactly? She likes his friends, but she has to take them in small doses.

Anything more than that and Joohyun starts to find them uptight, and snobbish. It’s as if she’s beneath them because she didn’t become a curator or art buyer. When she first told them she was opening up an antique store, they all smiled, but she saw the truth in their eyes. An antique store? How tasteless.

“You finally showed up!” Kai, the loudest of the group, says.

His wife, Krystal, is so quiet and mousy. Joohyun always wonders if she’s ever given a chance to voice her thoughts and opinions.

Krystal is sitting at the table, staring at them with her diamond necklace gleaming in the light and her hair perfectly straight and swept away from her face with a black headband.

“I had to talk this one out of the house,” Sehun says.

Kai turns to her. “Busy at the shop?”

It’s impossible not to hear the slightly mocking tone in his voice. Joohyun shrugs it off, reminding herself it’s the start of dinner. Suddenly she’s regretting this impromptu night out.

Joohyun takes off her jacket and drapes it across one of the free seats. “It’s going great. Busier than ever.”

“Really?” Kai appears genuinely shocked that anyone would find her shop interesting.

Before she can reply, Sehun speaks up. “Business has been good for her. Especially because of the holidays. I hardly get to see her anymore.”

“That’s great to hear,” Kai replies. It’s hard for Joohyun to figure out whether he’s being sincere or not.

Joohyun sits down and stares at the other faces around her. Sehun's college roommate, Chanyeol, sits to her right.

He is a tall with a smile so brilliantly white it looks as though he belongs on a Colgate commercial. Chanyeol is a stockbroker and probably the most successful out of this group.

He’s not a trust-fund baby like the rest. He had to work hard for everything. If she has to talk to anyone, it’ll be him and his girlfriend, Victoria. Across the table from her are Kai and his wife, and beside Sehun is Jongdae and his wife, Min Hee.

This particular group of people reminds her of her parents’ friends back home. All the false smiles, air kisses, and phony conversations easily chip away at her energy.

But Joohyun tries though, because she loves Sehun and for whatever reason, he likes these people.

“How have you been?” She asks Victoria, thus beginning a long, long night.

Three hours later, they’re finally walking through their apartment's front door.

“That was fun,” Sehun announces as he locks the door.

Joohyun flips on the light and gives him a look. “For who exactly?”

He arches a brow. “Oh, I saw you talking to Chanyeol and his girlfriend.”

“Yeah, because it would’ve been incredibly boring if I’d sat there and said nothing for three hours!”

“They’re not that bad.”

She slips out of her heels and all but moans with relief. Tomorrow she’s going to have blisters on her heels. Joohyun just knows it.

“To you, they’re not, but for me, they are. I have to take them in small doses. Really small doses. Besides, I wanted to spend tonight with you.”

Sehun takes off his coat and hangs it on the coatrack before he heads to the fireplace and lights a fire. When he’s done, he dusts his hands off. “Typically when I ask you to go out with me, you say no.”

“So your friends were a backup plan?”

He smirks and walks toward the kitchen. “Honestly? Yes.”

She trails behind him and leans against the doorframe. Despite the fact they just had dinner, Sehun is already rummaging through the fridge for something else to eat.

“Next time we go out for dinner can it be the two of us?”

He pulls his head out of the fridge and gives her a quick peck on the cheek. “Deal.”

While he makes a sandwich, she moves toward the mess that is their kitchen table and tries to organize things.

“Leave it. It’ll be waiting there for us tomorrow.”

“I know,” Joohyun replies as she sorts through the paperwork. “But now that I’ve seen it, I won’t be able to sleep until it’s picked up.”

She throws away a stack of junk mail and creates a small pile of mail that belongs to Then & Again. She puts a Post-it note on the top to remind herself to take it with her the next time she goes to the shop.

Then she comes across the photo that’s been torturing her for days.

Joohyun picks it up as she sits at the kitchen table and stares at it carefully. It’s amazing how one can stare at something a thousand times and still find something new with each glance. 

This time, she notices their hands. It seems like such a strange thing to notice. All of them have their hands tucked into their pockets. But Jisung and Mystery man’s right hand are out of the pocket.

When she peers closer, she sees the ring on his left hand. Mystery man is married, which Joohyun didn’t expect. He appears to be a man who would much rather spend his life alone.

The kind of man who has no room for love. She snorts. Good luck to the woman married to him.

Sehun comes up behind her and peers over her shoulder. “You still have that thing?”

She shrugs, feeling her defenses rise. “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you get rid of it?”

“I don’t want to.”

“You’re acting like a crazy person, staring at it whenever you get the chance. We had a great time tonight, but now you’re ruining it by gawking at that photo.”

Joohyun arches both brows.

“Fine. I had a great time tonight,” he says. “The last thing you need to be doing is driving yourself crazy over this stupid picture.”

“It’s not stupid,” she says defensively. She points at the photo. “You can’t tell me you’re not the slightest bit curious about the people in the photo.”

“I can honestly tell you there’s not a single part of me that cares.”

“How can you not? It’s history. There’s a story behind the picture, behind each person, and I want to know each one.”

“That’s the thing—it’s not your history. So why bother obsessing over something you’ll never get?”

Any sane person would agree with Sehun. And a strong part of her does, but the other part fiercely disagrees with him.

There’s no way she can explain to Sehun, without appearing nuts, that the picture feels like one big puzzle she’s dying to put back together.

“You’re a buzzkill,” Joohyun mutters.

“Nope. I’m simply a realist.” And then, Sehun plucks the picture out of her hands and walks into the living room.

Joohyun is up and out of her chair, hot on his heels. “Give it back.”

“Sorry. No can do.”

She has no idea what Sehun plans on doing with the photo, and that’s what worries her the most. “Seriously, give it back.”

He stops in front of the fireplace and holds it above his head as he moves the fireplace screen. He lowers his hand and she tries to grab the photo. But she’s too late.

She watches as the picture lands on one of the burning pieces of wood. She stares at Sehun, completely stunned.

Sehun dusts off his hands. “There. Now you don’t have to obsess over it any longer.”

“What the hell?” She pushes him aside and grabs the fire poker, trying to guide the picture out of the flames. She finally succeeds, and the picture falls to the floor.

Blindly, Joohyun grabs a book from the end table and snuffs the remaining flames.

After a few seconds of whacking the picture, she tosses the book aside and exhales loudly, her gaze on the picture. Within a few seconds, the fire took an already old photo and turned it into a charred memory.

She lifts her head and stares at Sehun with disbelief. “I can’t believe you did that.”

He stares at her as if she’s grown three heads. “Take it easy, okay? It’s only a picture.”

“To me, it’s not. And you know that.”

Sehun's smile fades once he realizes she’s more than pissed off. Red stains his cheeks. “You know what? You can mourn the loss of your precious picture, but I’m going to bed. I’m done.”

He walks away. Seconds later, their bedroom door slams shut.

Heavily, her hands drop onto her lap. Joohyun takes a deep breath, ignoring the deathly silence in the apartment, and picks up the picture.

Or what’s left of it. Half of the picture fell off in the fireplace. All that remains is the upper right portion, showing only the roof of the hanok.

One of the things she loves so much about her job is finding furniture and belongings that most people think are garbage and bringing them back to life. But there’s nothing she can do to fix this picture.

Joohyun walks over to the couch. The silence is starting to get to her, so she turns on the television to keep her company. The headache she had hours ago returns with a vengeance, so she goes to the bathroom for some Advil then lays down on the couch.

Listlessly, she stares at the TV. Pretty soon, her eyelids flutter before they close altogether.

Joohyun doesn't what time it is when she wakes up. She only knows that a loud noise yanked her from her slumber.

Sitting up, she sees the television is still on, playing a late-night talk show. She pushes her hair away from her face as the host makes a joke. The audience loudly laughs. She reaches for her phone to check the time. Midnight.

Next to her phone is the photo. Right where she left it. She picks it up and glares at the fireplace.

Sehun might be right. She’s wasting too much energy on this photo—a photo that has no connection to her.

Sighing loudly, she stands and moves toward the fireplace to drop the final remains of the picture into the fire. The flames aren’t as powerful as before, but it’ll still devour the picture until there’s nothing left.

She goes to throw it in—and she hears feminine laughter and murmurs of conversations.

She freezes in place.

It’s a small noise, practically indiscernible, but it’s there. She turns around and looks at the television. It’s still playing The Tonight Show.

“I’m losing it,” Joohyun says, because that’s a hell a lot better than trying to figure out what she’s hearing and why she’s hearing it.

She turns back toward the fireplace. The laughter and voices don’t fade. If anything, they grow stronger with each passing second.

This time, when she faces the television, the room becomes colorless. One by one, the living room furniture disappears.

The walls collapse as if they weigh less than a feather. The ceiling is yanked upward as the floor drops away. Then a marble floor replaces her wood floor. New white walls connect to the floor. Antique sconces adorn the walls. To the left is a large white marble fireplace.

Her own fireplace is gone, only to be replaced with white pillars.

The ceiling comes back down, complete with beautiful chandeliers gleaming brightly. The floor seems so spacious, almost as if her entire apartment could fit in this one ballroom.

People are all around her, dancing and laughing. She turns in a circle, feeling overwhelmed but taking in everything.

This is impossible. She’s only dreaming.

Joohyun rubs her eyes, yet the image is still there. Her heart pounds in her ears as bright lights make her head ache. She rubs her temples. That only makes the pain increase until it becomes so unbearable, she can barely stand.

The picture slips from her hands right before she falls—only she never touches the floor. Joohyun is into the ground.

A black haze surrounds her. Wind whooshes past her, pulling her hair back from her head. Her legs wildly kick, like she’s underwater and trying to reach the surface.

She can see her apartment above her, but it’s quickly becoming farther away until it’s a small white speck in the distance. Within seconds, it’s the size a needle prick.

Then it disappears altogether.

Her stomach lurches as she’s deeper into this strange vortex.

Joohyun opens trying to scream. Nothing comes out. All around her, she hears laughter and music playing. The sounds grow louder and louder, making her wince.

Down, down, down she goes until finally... she stops.

Slight slow paced on this chapter. Next chapter..Joohyun will finally meet Seungwan.