Kang Ta aka An Chil Hyun

�I love you��

�Please don�t leave me, Hyunie!�

�She�ll die if you stay with her��

�I can�t stay Rina, I�m sorry��

�But you said you love me! You promise you�ll never leave me!�

�You don�t deserve her, ChilHyun. Someone like you should never know what love is��

�Heh�They�re only words, Rina. I can say it easily, I love you, Rina, I love you, Hana�Words that mean nothing to me��

�No, you don�t mean that��

�You�re so na�ve. You should have known that I never did love you. Our marriage was a sham and I want a divorce. There�s someone new in my life now.�

�I love you, An ChilHyun. Unlike you, I can�t walk away from someone that I love without saying �I love you� one last time. Maybe you�ve said those words before and didn�t mean them but I never have...�

KangTa�s eyes flew open, blank at first, then slowly gaining understanding. He was having that same recurring dream again. No, more like that same nightmare.

�Sir, we�re here. This is 4515 Dobyuk Drive, your destination.�

KangTa�s heart swelled with so much joy that he could hardly breathe. He paid the taxi driver with the remaining money he had left in his pocket and headed towards his home.

After 6 long years, the master of the house finally made his way back home. KangTa, formerly known as An ChilHyun, was crawling back to his wife. Great�

But it was nothing less than he deserved. KangTa clutched his swollen ribs cause it ached him to walk. But he needed to see her. Through all those years, it had been Rina�s presence that kept him sane.

He promised that if he made it home, he would change and become the most devoted husband to Rina so she wouldn�t regret that she married him. KangTa took a deep breath but then gave pause when the gate to his house swung open easily.

His grand house, it looked�different.

He ventured further in and saw that all the windows have been shuttered, as if no one lived there at all. The thought frightened him and he kicked the door open, for he had no key.

�Rina?� KangTa called out for his beloved wife but no one greeted him. His estate echoed with emptiness. �Rina!�

He searched around the house frantically but no sign of life was found. He walked towards one of the window and pulled open the curtains. Standing outside in the middle of his garden was a girl kneeling in front of a tree.

�Rina!�

KangTa ran outside with lightning speed and halted abruptly when he realized that the girl was praying. Her voice was shaking and she was trembling, oddly enough, since the weather was warm.

��.didn�t want it to be this way, please forgive me��

�Rina?�

The girl�s back stiffened when she heard his voice. She turned around slowly and stared at him wide-eyed as if she�d seen a ghost. It was no wonder, thought KangTa. He really felt as though he came back from hell.

But when KangTa got a good look at her face, it was he who lost his breath first. The vision of this girl was simply breathtaking. �Is she Rina?� he wondered.

Rina�s hair had been lighter by the sun and far shorter than hers. Another trait was his wife would outweigh this girl by at least thirty pounds but there was something about her that resembled Rina.

�Rina?� he asked again.

The beautiful stranger before him shook her head slowly in denial and slowly backed away from him. KangTa was losing his patience. He gazed at her, his eyes deploring.

�Please, can you tell me where she is?�

Instead of speaking, the girl just pointed her finger to the area in front of her. KangTa saw nothing except for an erected stone lying in the middle of the garden near his white blossom tree. He turned back to look at the girl once again and she just nodded.

KangTa came closer and realized that the rock was a gravestone. His fear gave him pause but he continued on.

The name on the gravestone was chiseled awkwardly but KangTa was able to make out the inscription. His heart plummeted when the words came clear.