The Time of Destruction

At twenty, studying abroad was Heeju’s escape. Except for the moments she had to face him—Ryu Iseok. Every two weeks, when she visited the Paris villa, he would sit there, silently watching her with a cigarette in hand. For an entire year, that bizarre ritual continued—until he vanished without a trace. Then, at twenty-five, he reappeared. As her fiancé. “I let you live however you wanted until twenty-five, didn’t I? Even if you ended up pregnant, I was prepared to take responsibility for that much.” Muttering incomprehensible words. “Why are you doing this to me?” “Because it’s amusing. Like watching someone who’s just opened their eyes to the world.” Ryu Iseok suffered from prosopa...