This year

Prologue

It was dying. A process she was going through that stopped years ago. She couldn't go back, she didn't want to go any further. She was scared. She waited silently, sipping her tea. This was the fifth time she'd gone out with her friend's friend - and it was also the first time she'd come over at all. She didn't have time to prepare any suitable clothes. She didn't improve once, didn't even glance at her own reflection in the spoon floating in the drink. She couldn't see her tired and discouraged face, her hair slipping out of her loose bun, her blank gaze. Though she was sitting at a table in a small coffee shop near her office, her mind was years away. Beside her sat someone she didn't want to remember. Light curls, warm brown eyes and a gentle smile. A chain sticking out from under his shirt, small hands and that expression on his face that he only had when she was next to him. She didn't want to remember it - she always remembered. She didn't have to close her eyes to see him. Especially now that she was waiting for someone else. Even though she shouldn't have, she still felt guilty, like a traitor, like a liar, like a runaway. She knew that a new relationship would eventually end a phase in her life. As if she hadn't told him five years ago that she was abandoning him. As if she wasn't the end and as if it wasn't the end for her. Ever since she died that day, she's been looking for a way to get her life back, something to make her heart beat again. Yeon-soo wanted to forget.She was pulled out of her thoughts by the footsteps of the man she was supposed to meet today. Average in appearance, but tall, he sat across from her with a smile. Closing the umbrella, he leaned towards her, forcing her to sniff his cologne. He smelled like all those men's fragrances that filled store shelves. Sensible from afar, the thought crossed her mind, completely unimportant and unnecessary. She smiled. She was supposed to act nice and happy, she could do that." I'm sorry for the fact that...""Wait!" he interrupted her. "I'd like to make something clear. I always get straight to the point, so I'll say it right away. You stood me up many times, but I waited patiently for you because I believed you could be special.""But...""No" he interrupted her again  "I mean that ... I was wrong, Yeon-soo. You are by no means unique"She felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over her. She really didn't stand a chance. She would never break out of this trance she had been in for so long, so long. Tired, she said nothing more. She silently watched the departing man in her mind. He was cruel as she was cruel. He was also bad, but not that bad. The one sitting next to her was much worse. The one next to her burst out laughing.***Her daily routine was as follows. He was always there. As she chose clothes, she would see him nod enthusiastically or frown in annoyance (he always did this when the skirt she was wearing that day was too short). As she cooked, she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, making her body tremble slightly. As she read, she silently waited for him to finish the page as well. She knew she had to get out of the state she was in. It wasn't healthy. That's why she didn't tell anyone about it. If her best friend Sol-i knew anything about her invisible boyfriend, she would probably send her to the hospital. In the trap she set for herself, Yeon-soo promised herself two things. She will never tell anyone about HIM and will never meet HIM. It was absolutely forbidden. But today she was going to do it. She was so stupid.Fixing her hair in a ponytail, she looked at herself disgusted. She was very tired of her life. She slowly walked towards the place where her team was working. Her desk was laden with documents, presentations, and spreadsheets, all related to a new event her company had prepared. It was then that Yeon-soo imprudently proposed that she would recruit the popular artist Goo to cooperate and, unstoppable by anyone, began her argument about some live painting show. To her horror, the bosses accepted her proposal with great interest - and so Yeon-soo had to work a miracle - find the mysterious painter and force him to reveal his identity at the opening of a new shopping mall. The mission was impossible, but nevertheless Yeon-soo was very meticulous. She'd been reading interviews, looking at pictures, and calling Goo's manager for days. There was only one person on her mind, as always. But it couldn't be a coincidence. So many details matched!"You can break the rule and keep your job or give up. Am I so important to you that you can't decide?" he asked in his usual mocking voice. He's always been like that. He never let her pretend he didn't know what she had done."I forgot about you," she lied."Maybe you're afraid," he continued, "that I'll be someone completely different from what you have in your head?" She swallowed loudly. How is she supposed to meet him live if she can't even sound convincing in her mind? "Ahh! I will never go there!" She squeaked, drawing everyone's eyes to her.

 In the evening she was standing outside his house.