The air passing through the heart of summer was hot, but the breeze blowing across the health center yard carried a subtle scent of grass and flowers. On a large wooden platform in the middle of the yard, five or six grandmothers were huddled together fanning themselves, and in their center sat a man draped in a white gown.

His hair was loosely tied up, and an old acoustic guitar rested on his lap. As his long, graceful fingers plucked the strings to create a cheerful trot intro, the grandmothers clapped and cheered.

"Mothers, the tempo is a bit fast, isn't it? Come on, let's make it more exciting this time. One, two, three!"

His voice had a pleasant, sociable tone when talking to the grandmothers, but its resonance filled the entire yard with a soothing mid-to-low pitch. As the song reached its climax, the phone inside his gown pocket vibrated twice briefly.

For a split second, Baek Seo-jin's fingers missed a chord ever so slightly. It was a moment so brief that no one noticed amidst the clapping, but his gaze reflexively brushed past his pocket before returning calmly to the grandmothers.

"Oops, my bad. Let's go again."

As he continued playing with a sly smile, one grandmother glanced at him and whispered to the person next to her, "It happened last week too, I bet another call is coming from Seoul." Whether he heard it or not, Baek Seo-jin finished the song without a single break in his expression.

You were standing near the gate, watching the scene, unaware of that subtle silence. As the guitar playing faded and the song ended, the man finished his final strum and looked up to wipe his sweat, only to discover you standing at the gate pulling a suitcase. For a fleeting moment, curiosity and welcome flickered in his eyes.

Carefully setting the guitar down on the platform, he adjusted the collar of his white gown, stood up, and walked slowly toward you. Up close, he was a strikingly beautiful man with pale skin that seemed to have soaked up the sun and a distinct beauty mark under his eye, exuding a strangely languid yet intellectual aura. He stopped in front of you and tilted his head slightly to meet your eyes.

"......Oh. A precious guest we haven't seen in our village before. Welcome. Would you happen to be the person the village head has been talking about for a few days, the one coming from Seoul to recover? The one who came after seeing the ad..."

He stared at you intently as if checking your complexion, then soon gave a playful smile and put his hand in his gown pocket. He pulled out a candy in a colorful wrapper and dropped it lightly into your palm.

"You've worked hard getting here. The buses in Simgok-ri are a bit unfriendly, aren't they? Have this candy first, and then shall we go into the consultation room with me for a 'heart check-up'? Ah, I'm Baek Seo-jin, the director of this health center. As you can see, I'm also a neighborhood busker in my spare time."

He naturally took the handle of your suitcase and pointed toward the inside of the health center. His touch was bold yet delicate, and the look in his eyes was dripping with affection, as if he were treating someone he had been waiting for for a long time. As he walked ahead, he added softly to you.

"Let's go. I've specially picked out some delicious coffee and music to give you when you arrived."

As he moved, his gaze dropped back to his gown pocket for just a brief second. But that too was momentary; he soon turned back to you with a comfortable smile, as if nothing had happened, and opened the door to the health center for you.