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# Chapter 65: The Hand of False Salvation
Kang Ri-woo’s call came one hour before Sea closed the convenience store. 4:47 AM. The screen flashed his name. Sea let it ring six times before answering.
“Yes?”
A voice came through. Sea’s own voice. Small, careful, a voice that didn’t want to hurt anyone.
“Where are you?”
Kang Ri-woo’s voice was urgent. An urgency at 4:47 AM wasn’t ordinary urgency. It was the sound of something bursting open.
“At the convenience store. I’m closing up now.”
“Don’t go home. I’m coming to get you.”
“What’s—”
But Kang Ri-woo had already hung up. Sea set down her phone. The black screen reflected her own face back at her. That face was startled. Or terrified. It was hard to tell the difference.
She switched off the fluorescent lights one by one. Each beep sounded like a life disappearing. The store went dark. Only the register light remained. Sea turned that off too. Complete darkness.
The street was still awake. Seoul at dawn was always awake. Taxis passed by. Street cleaners swept. Somewhere, someone was still working. Sea was one of them. Always. Forever.
Kang Ri-woo’s car arrived ten minutes later. Black. The same car she’d seen in front of Hapjeong Station. Sea got in. Without a word.
“You see the news?”
Kang Ri-woo spoke first. The car was already moving. Sea had no idea where they were headed.
“Yes.”
“Park So-jin. Plagiarism scandal.”
“Yes.”
Sea looked out the window. Dawn Seoul rushed past. Neon signs. Convenience stores still lit up. Morning would come soon.
“That song is yours.”
It was a statement, not a question. Kang Ri-woo already knew. Or rather, he’d confirmed it. When Sea’s silence became her answer.
“Yes.”
“When did you find out?”
“Yesterday.”
“Yesterday? Did Haeul tell you?”
“Yes.”
Kang Ri-woo’s hands tightened. His fingers on the steering wheel. They were trembling. Sea saw it. She always sees it. Even when Kang Ri-woo tries to hide it, his hands betray him.
“Didn’t I tell you last night?”
“You did.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything? Last night?”
The car stopped at a red light. His face flushed red.
“I had nothing to say.”
“Nothing to say?”
Kang Ri-woo looked at Sea. His eyes were wounded. Or rather, he wanted them to look wounded. Sea caught the distinction. Real pain versus performed pain. He was mixing in a bit of performance.
“Do you think I saved you?”
“No.”
“Then what do you think?”
Sea didn’t answer. The light turned green. The car moved again.
“I figured it out. Last night. Who Park So-jin is. Whose song that is. And what I—”
Kang Ri-woo stopped. His voice trembled. Sea heard it. Emotion seeps into voices. Music seeps into voices.
“What I did. Isn’t that what you’re asking? What did I do?”
“…”
“I wanted to save you. I really did. But you already knew, didn’t you? That Park So-jin stole your song? And you were waiting? For me to do something for you?”
“No.”
Sea spoke. For the first time. In a small voice.
“No what?”
“I didn’t expect anything from you.”
“Then what? What did you say to me last night? ‘Thank you for telling me about Junho’? What was that? Gratitude? What did you think I did that deserved thanks?”
The car stopped at another red light. His face turned red again.
“I took you to the villa. Told you about Junho. And you listened. And you thanked me. Why? What did I do for you? Give back your song? Give back your name? No. I did nothing. I just pretended to comfort you.”
The light turned green. The car moved. Kang Ri-woo’s shoulders trembled. Not with anger. With despair.
“I can’t save you. I realized that now. You already know what you’ve lost. And to get it back, you need someone else. Or you need yourself. So what can I do? Call my father and publicly attack Park So-jin? Protect you? So you’ll be grateful?”
“No.”
Sea spoke again.
“Then what? What do I have to do?”
Kang Ri-woo’s voice was breaking. Like glass. There was no real anger in it. Only despair. The despair of not being enough. The despair of not being a savior.
“I’ll tell you.”
Sea said it. For the first time with confidence.
“Tell me what?”
“What I want.”
The car stopped at another light. This time it was a long red. Kang Ri-woo turned to face her completely.
“You want something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Sea looked out the window. Dawn Seoul was still sleeping. Pretending it was still night. Not knowing morning was coming.
“I want to report Park So-jin. Officially.”
“Report?”
“Yes. I want to prove my song is mine. And—”
Sea stopped.
“And?”
“I want to get my name back.”
The light turned green. Kang Ri-woo faced forward again. Drove. Without speaking.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you doing right now? What are you asking me to do? Attack my father’s company? Damage his business?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I’m just telling you what I want.”
Kang Ri-woo laughed. It wasn’t a laugh. It was a scream taking the shape of laughter.
“What are you doing? Really. You’re employed by my father’s company. You signed a contract. You want to break it? And you think I’ll help you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then?”
“I’m just telling you what I want. Whether you help or not.”
Red light. Green light. Red light. Green light.
“What are you doing, really?”
Kang Ri-woo asked again. This time in a different tone. Not anger. Curiosity. Or rather, terror.
“I want my music back. That’s all.”
“That’s all? That’s all? What are you saying?”
Kang Ri-woo pulled over. Not into traffic, but into an alley. The car stopped. The engine stopped. Only the silence of dawn remained.
“What are you doing, really?”
Kang Ri-woo looked at Sea again. But not with the eyes of their first meeting. Then, his eyes had seen her as something to be saved. Now his eyes saw her as something incomprehensible.
“I…”
Sea started to speak. But the words wouldn’t come. Her lips trembled. Not her own lips, but they felt like Kang Ri-woo’s. Emotion is contagious. Despair is contagious.
“What?”
“I don’t want to become you.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to be a replacement for a dead person. I don’t want to be something you’re trying to save. I just…”
Sea looked out at the alley. Empty streets. A world with no one in it.
“I just want to be Sea.”
Kang Ri-woo’s hands trembled. This time they weren’t holding the wheel, so the trembling was unmistakable. It was uncontrollable.
“What are you doing? What are you doing in front of me?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re leaving me, aren’t you?”
Sea didn’t answer.
“Answer me. You’re leaving me, aren’t you?”
“No.”
It was a lie. Sea knew it. She had lied. But the truth was bigger, deeper, more destructive. The truth was: Yes, I want to leave. But she couldn’t say it.
Kang Ri-woo drove again. Sea still didn’t know where. The car was heading toward the Han River. The dawn Han River. The empty Han River.
When the car stopped, Sea knew where they were. This bench. This riverbank. Where they’d come before. Where she’d sat with Kang Ri-woo.
Kang Ri-woo got out. Sea followed. The dawn air of the Han River touched her face. Cold, sharp, like something cutting.
“Do you know what I thought?”
Kang Ri-woo spoke. He didn’t sit on the bench. He stood. As if preparing to run.
“What?”
“That you loved me. And that I could save you. And that it would become love.”
“…”
“But you realized, didn’t you? That I was trying to save a dead friend through you?”
Sea didn’t answer. No answer was needed. Kang Ri-woo already knew.
“Yeah. That’s right. I didn’t see you as you. I saw you as Junho. And by saving you, I was trying to save him. I thought that was love. But…”
Kang Ri-woo laughed. Again, that scream-like laugh.
“But you refused. You said you wanted to be Sea. And that means to me…”
Kang Ri-woo stopped.
“Means what?”
“That you abandoned me.”
Sea’s chest collapsed. It could have been true. Or rather, it was true. But calling it “abandonment” was cruel. As if Sea had deliberately hurt him.
“I…”
“What? What will you say? Sorry? Don’t. I’m the one who should be sorry. I didn’t see you as a person. I saw you as a shadow. Junho’s shadow. And I tried to light that shadow. But shadows don’t light up. They can’t. Shadows are darkness.”
Kang Ri-woo looked at the Han River. The dawn Han River was a mirror. A mirror that reflected nothing. Only darkness.
“You want to report Park So-jin. And get your name back. That’s good. That’s your choice. But you need to know something. In that process of getting your name back, I won’t be there. My father won’t help you. And I can’t help you. Because…”
Kang Ri-woo looked at Sea. His eyes were no longer warm.
“Because I couldn’t save myself. How can I save you? How can I save a dead friend?”
“You…”
“What?”
Sea started to speak, then stopped. There was nothing to say. Kang Ri-woo was right. He was already a lost person. In Berlin. In the trembling of his fingers. In death. And now, in Sea’s rejection.
“Go.”
Kang Ri-woo said it.
“What?”
“Go. Go home. I’ll take you. Or call a taxi. Either way, go.”
“Kang Ri-woo…”
“Don’t say my name. Not now.”
Sea stopped. Kang Ri-woo sat on the bench. As if Sea didn’t exist. As if she’d already left.
The car was filled with silence. Kang Ri-woo focused only on driving. Sea looked out the window. Dawn was breaking. Morning would come soon. Night would end. But something felt like it would never end.
When the car arrived in Hapjeong-dong, Kang Ri-woo spoke.
“You can report Park So-jin alone. Don’t contact me.”
“…”
“And the JYA contract is void. I won’t promote you anymore. But I won’t claim damages. That’s the last thing I can do.”
“Thank you.”
Sea said it.
“Don’t thank me. And…”
Kang Ri-woo looked at Sea one last time.
“Don’t make music anymore. After this. You’re not good enough. And when someone who isn’t good enough makes music, it only wounds.”
Sea got out. She closed the car door. It sounded like closing a coffin lid.
The car left. Sea remained. In Hapjeong-dong at dawn. Alone. Forever.