A Voice from the Past
Back when she lived at the convent, Han Sua had always kept her phone turned off, claiming it interfered with her devotions. But now she was no longer at the convent, and she exchanged calls or messages with Sister Agnes at least once every two days. As a result, her phone stayed powered on at all times.
The device began to vibrate in quick succession. Assuming it was Sister Agnes, Sua lifted the phone, only to tilt her head in confusion at the unfamiliar number glowing on the screen.
“Who could this be?”
Not many people knew Sua’s number. And even fewer had any reason to call her. In fact, there was only one person who ever did: Sister Agnes.
With a puzzled expression, she brought the phone to her ear. The voice that came through the receiver made her jolt in surprise.
“Hello?”
“Han Sua? Sua, is that you?”
The familiar voice made her press the phone tighter against her ear.
“… Taein?”
“Ha, it really is you. Yeah, it’s me—Park Taein.”
Sua’s face, which had been clouded with surprise, bloomed into a bright smile. Hearing the warm voice of a dear childhood friend after so long naturally filled her with joy.
“What? How did you get my number? I’ve been hearing updates about you from Sister Agnes this whole time.”
“You’ve been hearing about me?”
Taein couldn’t hide the delight in his voice at the knowledge that Sua had been asking after him.
“Yes. I heard you transferred to the narcotics division and that you’re incredibly busy. Are you okay? Isn’t it dangerous?”
The gentle concern woven into her soft voice sounded incredibly sweet to him. He could have listened to it every day without ever growing tired.
“I’m fine. It’s manageable. It was my dream, after all.”
“That’s right. Your dream was to become a police officer. You really made it happen.”
“What about you?”
“Huh?”
“I heard you left the convent.”
He must have learned it from Sister Agnes. That was probably why he had called. The excitement that had lifted her heart sank in an instant.
“Ah… yes.”
“Why on earth—wait, never mind. I’m in Italy right now.”
“What? You’re in Italy?”
The call itself had already felt sudden, but learning that Taein was in Italy left her reeling. It was one surprise after another.
“Let’s meet. Right now would be fine, or tomorrow. Just tell me where you are and I’ll come to you. We need to talk in person.”
“Taein…”
“Sister Agnes also asked me to pass something on to you.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Taein, and the mention of a message from Sister Agnes removed any hesitation. She had been cooped up in Tezman’s estate for so long that she was beginning to feel stifled. She had no idea how Taein had ended up in Italy, but the chance to meet an old friend and catch up felt like a welcome change.
“Okay. I understand.”
However, Sua, who had barely done any sightseeing since arriving in Italy, had no idea how to navigate anywhere on her own. She didn’t even know the exact location of the estate where she currently lived.
“Taein, where are you right now? If you text me the hotel name, I’ll head there tomorrow.”
“You can come?”
“I think I can manage.”
Taein paused, clearly reluctant, before answering.
“Alright. I’ll send you the address. Just let me know when you’ll arrive.”
“Got it, Taein. See you tomorrow.”
The moment the call ended, a message from Taein arrived with the hotel address. After confirming it, Sua stepped out of the bedroom. She was looking for Tezman.
“Tezman?”
Cact had just come to fetch her, having prepared tea time in the garden. Tezman caught her as she ran toward him and pulled her into his arms.
“You look like something good happened.”
“Do I?”
“You were smiling.”
“Ah… well, do you know this hotel?”
Sua held out her phone to him. He glanced at the message on the screen.
“It looks like a hotel near the Vatican.”
He tilted his head slightly, as if asking why she wanted to know.
“A friend is coming to see me.”
“A friend?”
“Yes. We grew up together at the orphanage. He became a police officer, and apparently he’s in Italy right now.”
Police officer. The word grated on him, but the sight of Sua smiling so brightly made the irritation fade.
“Can I go meet him?”
She looked up at him with those round eyes, and Tezman found her so adorable that he reached out and pulled her tightly against him.
“Of course you can. It just so happens I have business in Rome tomorrow anyway. I’ll drop you off, so enjoy yourself. I’ll come pick you up when I’m done.”
“Really?”
He didn’t actually have any business there. He simply couldn’t tell her he was following because he was worried; it would only burden her. He planned to watch from a distance. And for Tezman, even that would be entertaining.
“Sua.”
“Yes?”
“You’ll need money to have fun with your friend.”
“Oh, I have money. You’d be surprised how much I have.”
Since arriving in Italy she had spent nearly all her time inside the church, so she had barely touched her savings. The amount she had should be more than enough to treat Taein to a meal.
“How much is this ‘quite a lot’?”
“Um… two hundred and fifty euros?”
He couldn’t hold back a soft chuckle.
“Hm? Why are you laughing?”
“I was just thinking how cute it is that two hundred and fifty euros counts as quite a lot to our Sua.”
He considered even two thousand five hundred or twenty-five thousand euros to be trivial sums, yet here she was with her charmingly modest figure of two hundred and fifty. Without a word, Tezman held out a card.
“From now on, this is your personal card.”
“What…? No, that’s not necessary.”
“Take it. You’ll need it.”
His voice dropped to a seductive whisper.
“Rome is full of pickpockets. Carry cash around and it’ll vanish without a trace.”
Only then did Sua remember the warnings she had heard before coming to Italy—how one had to be careful because of all the thieves in Rome.
“But wouldn’t one card be enough?”
Almost as if under a spell, she found herself nodding at his words.
“Alright.”
“Besides, I have quite a lot of money too. Whether you spend two thousand five hundred euros or twenty-five thousand euros at once, it won’t even be noticeable.”
He gently nipped at her soft earlobe before releasing it.
“So go have fun with your friend and spend enough to make it show.”
He should have stopped her from dressing up so beautifully that morning. Even though every piece of clothing she wore had been bought by him, and even though he had been perfectly satisfied with his own taste when he saw her at breakfast, Tezman now regretted ever buying her those clothes.
“Ha. You never mentioned your friend was a man, Sua.”
The moment he dropped her off in front of the hotel and watched from afar, Tezman’s face turned ice-cold. Because there, standing in front of her, was another man.
And not only that—the two of them hugged. With bright, joyful smiles on their faces. He had to forcibly suppress the urge to get out of the car right then and there.
“I suppose I should be grateful they didn’t do the due baci.”
Due baci—the Italian cheek-kissing greeting. If Sua had exchanged that with the man she called her friend, he would have stepped out of the car immediately. Letting out a short, sigh-like breath, his gaze followed her. After walking for quite some time, the pair entered a quiet café.
At Tezman’s signal, one of the capos sitting in the passenger seat got out and followed them inside. Before coming to Rome, he had made sure to have a Korean-speaking capo or soldier on hand. It was essential if he wanted to know exactly what the two of them were talking about.
Before long, Tezman’s phone rang. The screen, now switched to a video call, showed Sua sitting inside the café. She was smiling beautifully. But not at him—at another man. His lips twisted slowly, and a low, chilling voice slipped out between them.
“Looks like I’ll have to punish her.”
At that same moment, Sua, seated in the café, felt a sudden chill and rubbed her arms.
“What’s wrong? Are you cold?”
“No, it’s just… I suddenly felt a chill.”
Without hesitation, Taein took off the jacket he was wearing and offered it to her.
“Here, put this on.”
“Ah, thank you.”
If it had been anyone else offering their clothes, she would have refused. But because it was Taein, she accepted it without thinking twice. To her, he had been like family ever since they were children, sharing both joys and hardships. As she slipped his jacket over her shoulders, Taein’s gaze grew heavy with emotion.
When had she become such a woman? Aside from her childhood, Sua had only ever worn school uniforms or a nun’s habit. Yet now she was dressed in a sophisticated, luxurious dress. The black hair she had always kept veiled now swayed gently at her chest. Her lips, usually a vivid red, seemed to glisten with mysterious allure today. She was smiling at him the same way she always had, yet the atmosphere around her felt entirely different. Behind that pure smile lingered a mature, almost sensual aura.
When he thought about the man she had said she carried in her heart—the one responsible for this transformation—jealousy surged from the depths of Taein’s soul.
Who the hell was that man, to shake a woman who had dreamed of becoming a nun her entire life? Why him, of all people? If she had already left the convent, couldn’t she look at him instead? Questions he wanted to ask right then and there flooded his mind one after another.
Taein quietly clenched his fist. He couldn’t show it. Since Sua trusted him, he could afford to take a little more time before bringing it up. After all, he was scheduled to stay in Italy for at least another week.
“Sua.”
He gazed at her with a tender expression.
“Have you been well all this time?”
At the question, Sua’s heart grew heavy. Taein had already heard everything from Sister Agnes. Knowing that his “have you been well” carried far more weight than its surface meaning, she let out a small sigh and opened her lips.
“… Taein.”
The anxious tremor in her voice served as a warning. Don’t ask.
Even so, Taein couldn’t stop her.
“I… I’ve fallen in love with someone.”