“Yumi, I’m really sorry, but it’s urgent.”
“Can you lend me two million won?”
“I’ll pay you back next month, I promise.”
Love can pull you into a place so dark and deep, you don’t even realize how far you’ve fallen.
For him, I was willing to give up everything. My feelings grew so strong that I couldn’t say no, even to things that were far beyond what I could handle. I did everything I could to help him, no matter what he asked.
It all started with something small. He got into a car accident and said he needed money for repairs.
“Of course. You’re like family to me.”
“Where should I send it?”
“I love you too. I hope it all works out.”
Looking back now, I want to go back and shake some sense into myself. I lent him the two million won without hesitation. I trusted him with everything and loved him without doubt.
After receiving the money, he told me no one in the world was as sweet and loving as I was. He whispered such kind words, and I, like a fool, believed every one of them. I thought that was love, and I kept pushing myself deeper into the pit.
The second request came even faster than the first. He said his mother needed surgery and didn’t have enough money. Again, I opened my banking app without a second thought.
“My mom is really sick. She needs surgery.”
“We’re going to be family someday. Please help me just this once.”
“I really love you, Yumi. You’re all I have.”
At the time, I truly believed that was love. The warmth I felt, the comfort of my daily life, the way I felt like I was floating on air every day.
It took me a whole year to realize that what I thought was love was actually manipulation. In the end, I finally understood.
His love wasn’t for me. It was for my bank account.
“Oppa, about the money I lent you before. I’m really struggling right now. When do you think you can pay me back?”
There’s a saying that you lend money standing up but have to beg to get it back. That couldn’t be more true. I was so scared that he would leave me if I upset him. Even saying this much made me sick with worry.
Bills kept piling up. Late phone payments, unpaid rent eating away at the deposit, text reminders about loan payments. Every morning, I woke up, went to work, came home, and somehow ended up deeper in debt. Just trying to keep up with his requests made me take out even more loans.
Eventually, my entire paycheck wasn’t even enough to cover the interest on my loans.
So I finally told him. I couldn’t do it on my own anymore. He was my boyfriend. We were supposed to become family.
I wanted someone to lean on. I didn’t expect him to give back everything I had given him. I just wanted a little space to breathe.
“Lend? Yumi, we’re going to be family. What’s this talk about lending?”
“Don’t you understand my situation? I’m the one who’s struggling. And now you’re asking about money?”
“You only ever think about yourself. Is that all you are? Just that shallow?”
His warm and gentle eyes turned cold. That sudden change made me feel like the world had collapsed around me.
That’s when I finally realized it had never been love.
By the time I knew the truth, it was far too late. He left without a second thought, and all I had left was a mountain of debt and an empty heart.
In the end, I forced myself up the stairs, holding back the sick feeling in my stomach. I wanted to end this miserable, foolish life.
When I reached the rooftop, a strange sadness came over me. All I had done was fall in love. I just wanted a normal life, like anyone else. Why did my story have to end this way? I laughed.
Where did that girl go, the one who used to say looks were everything?
What are you talking about? My oppa looks like he could be an actor.
As I stood there at the edge, I suddenly remembered my friend’s face when she first met him. She looked at me like I had lost my mind. I used to say that a good-looking man was all I needed. And yet I fell for someone who wasn’t even my type. Not in looks, not in personality.
If I really die today, then in my next life, please don’t let me fall in love. Let me be selfish. Let me believe that I am the most important person. Let me become someone who never cares about others.
Let me be born rich, smart, beautiful, successful, and with better taste in men. Anything but the foolish, naive girl named Kim Yumi.
“Count, why are you doing this to me”
Her voice was barely audible as she reached out, stopping Count Pyro just before he could walk away.
Her beige hair used to shine like a halo, soft and full of life. But now it was dry and unkempt from long neglect. Her once-bright green eyes had lost their glow and turned dull.
Tears filled her unfocused eyes.
“What did I do wrong”
Feeling annoyed, Kellen turned sharply and looked at her.
His hair was slicked back perfectly, and he had a decent face. Not the kind of beauty that would steal the spotlight at social gatherings, but attractive enough that some noble ladies secretly admired him.
His lips twisted into a cruel smile.
“Serna, if you want my love, bring me what I asked for.”
His cold words took the breath right out of her.
“But”
“Can’t your proud family even spare a single trade ship”
“That’s not something I can decide on my own”
Her voice grew so soft it could barely be heard.
Serna’s body had grown thin and frail. Even the little softness in her face was gone. Her deep love for Kellen had worn her down completely.
“Until you bring me the trade ship, you won’t see my face again, Lady Serna”
She couldn’t stop him from walking away. She had already given him everything. Her body, her heart, her jewelry, her money, her buildings, her shops. Almost everything she once owned was now his.
Kellen had promised they would get engaged once his business was stable. He spoke sweet lies, and Serna, like a fool, believed they were true.
She gave him things she couldn’t afford to give. But she smiled whenever he accepted them, because his smile made her feel high. It was like a drug that blinded her to everything else.
Her mother had died before she could remember her face. Her father had always been ill. Though the wealth of the Troid family gave her comfort for a time, Serna’s foolish love slowly consumed it all.
Now, aside from one trade ship and a small estate, everything had fallen into Kellen’s hands.
If she lost the trade ship too
She thought of her father, bedridden and unable to move, living in a small country villa.
Serna tried to stay strong. Several servants had already left because she couldn’t pay them. Her father’s medication cost a fortune each month. The trade ship was the last thing she could rely on.
And yet, right now, she was more afraid of never seeing Kellen again. That fear was stronger than reason. She covered her face with her thin hands and collapsed to the floor. The nobles had already started calling her the Skeleton Lady. That was how foolish her love had become.
“My lady, may I have the honor of this dance”
Serna Troid, daughter of a count, had once been beautiful. She was just too innocent and too naive to understand how the world worked.
At her first ball, she stood awkwardly, holding a glass of champagne like a lifeline. But even then, she caught the attention of many noblemen.
Her beige hair was styled in soft waves. Her green eyes sparkled like summer. Her skin was fair, and her violet dress suited her perfectly.
With wide, innocent eyes, she looked at Kellen and blushed as he offered his hand.
That was the beginning of her first love.
Serna waited every day for Kellen’s messages, her heart fluttering with anticipation. The longing she felt couldn’t be compared to the thirst one feels from dryness. It was a burning hunger that left her aching.
It had been a long time ago now, but the day she fell for Kellen flashed through her mind like a reel of film. If only she hadn’t taken his hand back then. If only she hadn’t become a woman who clung to love.
Even though she knew there was no way to undo it, regret surged through her like a wave. A sudden, sharp pain struck her head, and Serna let out a painful groan.
“Aaah!”
Through the blurred and fading vision, her childhood maid Anna burst into the room, pushing the door open.
“My lady!”
That was the last thing Serna heard before her eyes closed. Her consciousness slipped into complete darkness.
Rebirth?
The soft scent of floral oils tickled her nose. Warm sunlight, like a gentle spring day, touched her face. It felt like she had simply woken from a good, deep sleep. She blinked several times until her vision slowly came back into focus.
The first thing she saw was a canopy, old but elegant. The light ivory fabric swayed gently in the breeze coming through the open window.
Gold-embroidered patterns decorated the white blanket covering her. They were symbols she didn’t recognize. But it wasn’t just the embroidery that felt unfamiliar.
The tea table in the distance was unlike anything she had ever seen in Kim Yumi’s room. The beige rug underfoot and the bright white décor all gave the room a luxurious feel. But everything had a slightly aged, worn quality that made it feel strangely off.
She slowly raised her hand to touch her face. She had wished for a new life, an escape from Kim Yumi’s miserable end, but she hadn’t expected to be reborn like this—in a stranger’s adult body, in an unfamiliar place.
Still dazed, she forced her weak body to sit up and move toward the vanity by the window. She looked into the mirror.
Her breath caught.
She had wished to be reborn as a successful, beautiful woman. But the reflection staring back at her was far from that.
Her hair, no longer black, was a dull beige, more brittle than straw. Her green eyes, though once likely vibrant, had lost all life. What shocked her most were her cheeks—sunken and hollow.
“Is this a person or a skeleton?”
A heavy feeling sank into her. This life wasn’t going to be easy either.
Right before she died or at least, what felt like seconds before, she remembered being surrounded by a brilliant light. She had thought it was the afterlife, her soul lifting from her broken body.
That light had spoken to her.
“How foolish. There is no greater sin than ending one’s own life.”
She had tried to protest, her heart full of resentment, but her mouth couldn’t form any words.
“You shall be punished.”
I’m the victim. I didn’t deserve this.
“In the life given to you, you will no longer be able to end your own.”
What does that even mean?
“Within loneliness and deep isolation, may you find the true meaning of life.”
The radiant light slowly faded, and with it, the last of Kim Yumi’s consciousness vanished. In its place, a new life began.
As she stared at the mirror, lost in thought, a slight headache began to build.
Serna.
The name entered her mind. As soon as it did, memories came flooding in—memories that weren’t hers. The foolish love Serna had for Count Kellen Pyro, the crumbling state of the Troid family, and the nickname society had given her: the Skeleton Lady, used and taken advantage of until nothing was left.
She had died trying to escape her miserable life, only to end up reborn as another foolish woman in a place called the Aether Empire.
She pinched her cheek with her thin, bony fingers. It hurt. So this wasn’t a dream.
Whether Kim Yumi or Serna, she had lived a pitiful life.
Before she could finish her thoughts, the door swung open. Anna, the red-haired maid, came in holding a tray with a steaming towel. As soon as she saw her, she cried out.
“My lady!”
Anna rushed over and grabbed her frail hand, tears brimming in her eyes.
“Are you all, right? Do you know how worried I was?”
“I, uh…”
“I really thought you were going to die. I was so scared.”
Yumi awkwardly raised her hand and patted Anna’s shoulder as the girl cried.
She now remembered who Anna was. A maid who had been with Serna since childhood. A girl who had offered to stay even without a proper salary.
At least Serna had someone like her. Better off than Kim Yumi, who had no one.
“Are you feeling dizzy? You’ve barely eaten lately, and that’s why you’ve gotten so weak.”
“How long are you going to keep being so foolish? Don’t you care how much I worry?”
“I really hate Count Pyro. If it weren’t for him…”
“I’m sorry. I just said too much because I’m so worried.”
Anna’s chatter stopped the moment she mentioned Kellen. She lowered her head, her face pale.
From the look of fear on her face, it seemed Serna had been strict when it came to anything about Kellen. But what was there to like about that scumbag? It’s not like he was particularly handsome or had a great body. If you’re born a count’s daughter with a pretty face, at least fall in love with someone worth it.
While she was silently judging, she noticed Anna still apologizing with her head down.
“Anna, it’s all right.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
She had decided to live Serna’s life now. After all, she had been told she couldn’t even die alone anymore.
“But if it’s about Count Pyro, then you might…”
“Oh, that bastard?”
“What?”
Anna’s eyes widened, her brown irises trembling.
“I’m done with him.”
From now on, Serna would be a woman who chose money over love.
