WHOAMI?

The spotlight blazed down on Nari as she stood at the center of the grand auditorium. Applause roared from the packed crowd a standing ovation for America’s Brilliant Scientist. Hailed as a pioneer, a visionary, she was the woman who had changed everything with her latest groundbreaking discovery. Yet, amid the clamor of recognition, Nari felt strangely detached as though she was watching herself from a distance.

“Thank you for your support,” Nari began, her voice calm yet mechanical, as if on autopilot. “This journey has been incredible, and I couldn’t have done it without the team behind me.”

Her words drew more applause, but the smile on her face felt artificial. Behind the scenes, her colleagues were already buzzing about their upcoming vacation, eager to escape the sterile walls of their lab.

“We deserve this break, don’t we?” Jina, her closest friend and colleague, slung her bag over her shoulder as they gathered their things backstage. “A summer to relax and forget about equations and experiments for once.”

Nari nodded absently. “Yeah, it’ll be nice,” she replied, her voice hollow. Her mind, however, was light-years away.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jina asked, concern lacing her tone. “You’ve seemed... off lately.”

Nari forced another smile, dismissing the question. “Just tired,” she lied.

The truth was more than just fatigue. Flashing, blurred images swirled in Nari’s mind fragments of a life she tried to forget. A shaking, crumbling cityscape, the harsh scream of collapsing buildings, her breath stolen by dust. A hospital room, sterile and cold, her body lying still while the world moved on without her. Faces—her family’s—blurred and distant, slipping away as the years passed. Abandoned. Alone. Forgotten.

The images hit her like waves, too fast, too overwhelming—each one piercing deeper, pushing her closer to the truth she wasn’t ready to face.

“Why did they leave me?” she had asked herself countless times, but the answer never came.

“We need this vacation,” Jina’s voice broke through Nari’s spiraling thoughts, firm and insistent. “You especially. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard. Minho can take care of everything while we’re away.”

Nari glanced at Minho, her diligent assistant. He smiled reassuringly, as if sensing her unease. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve got everything covered.”

Nari sighed, a tension settling deep in her chest. “Alright, I’ll try to relax.”

With that, they left the lab behind and stepped out into the sunlit streets. But even as the warmth of summer kissed her skin, Nari couldn’t shake the sense of unease that clung to her.

As they weaved through the bustling crowds, a figure appeared from nowhere—an elderly man, frail and weathered, his eyes cloudy with age but burning with intensity. He stopped directly in front of Nari, locking eyes with her as though seeing someone he had known all his life.

“Honey,” he rasped, his voice hoarse yet filled with emotion, “Don’t you remember me?”

Nari froze, her breath catching in her throat. Time seemed to warp around her as the world tilted on its axis. There was something about his voice, his gaze, that stirred a long-buried memory—something faint, elusive, like a dream she had forgotten upon waking.

Before she could speak, security guards appeared, swiftly moving to pull the old man away. “Come with us, sir,” one of them said, escorting him from the area.

Nari remained rooted to the spot, her mind racing.

Minho, watching the unsettling scene unfold, murmured under his breath, barely audible. “What’s he doing here?”

Nari’s heart pounded in her chest.

End of Chapter 1