Return to You

The sea hadn't changed.

Im Hae-jin stood at the edge of the dock, watching the morning catch come in with the same rhythm it had followed for generations. His father's boat—his boat now—rocked gently against the wooden posts, nets heavy with silvery fish that would feed half the village.

The salt wind carried the scent of brine and seaweed, familiar as his own heartbeat.

Ten years.

Ten years since he'd stood in this exact spot and watched someone walk away.

Ten years since he'd stopped waiting.

"Hae-jin-ah!" His mother's voice carried across the dock. "The mayor called! The architect from Seoul is arriving today—he wants you at the town hall meeting this afternoon!"

Hae-jin's jaw tightened.

The new community center. The village's pride and joy project, funded by some government grant and designed by some hotshot Seoul architect who'd apparently grown up here.

He hadn't asked for details.

He didn't want to know.

"I have fish to sell, eomma."

"The fish can wait." His mother appeared beside him, her weathered face creased with excitement. "This is important! The whole village will be there. And besides—" Her eyes sparkled. "—I heard the architect is an alpha. Unmated. Very successful."

Of course.

His mother never stopped hoping.

Twenty-nine years old, unmated, unbonded—Hae-jin was practically a scandal in a village this traditional. Omegas his age should have pups by now. Should have an alpha's mark on their neck and a nest full of warmth.

Instead, he had a fishing boat and a heart full of salt.

"I'm not interested."

"You haven't even met him yet!"

"I don't need to." Hae-jin turned away from the water. "I'll go to the meeting, but only because the community center matters. Not because of some alpha."

His mother sighed. That particular sigh she'd perfected over a decade of watching her son refuse every matchmaking attempt, every alpha introduction, every chance at the life she thought he deserved.

She didn't understand.

How could she?

She didn't know that Hae-jin's heart had been claimed long before any alpha could try—claimed by a boy with sharp eyes and gentle hands who'd promised to come back.

Who'd lied.

---

The town hall was packed.

Hae-jin slipped in through the side door, hoping to avoid the cluster of aunties who would inevitably try to push him toward whatever eligible alpha had wandered into their orbit. He found a spot near the back, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

The mayor was already at the podium, beaming with the particular pride of a man about to unveil something impressive.

"—and so it is my great honor to introduce t...