The soft sound of the wind and the light of the moon accompanied the young man's steps as he walked alone through the darkness of the night.
He played with his phone to keep himself from feeling too lonely, but it still couldn't block his sense of hearing, which clearly caught the sound of footsteps behind him.
Drap. Drap. Drap.
The young man stopped and quickly turned around, but all he saw was emptiness. There was no one there at all.
"Must be just my imagination."
He shook his head, making sure he really was alone on that road.
"Am I just being paranoid?"
It seemed so. He was probably just scared because the atmosphere felt extremely quiet and unsettling.
Convincing himself it was nothing, he continued walking—unaware of the danger that had been stalking him all along.
********
Jake stretched his arms, feeling exhausted after working on so many assignments. With relief, he closed his laptop.
"Time to lie down."
Without wasting a second, Jake got up from his desk and threw himself onto the bed.
"Mmm, this feels so good."
His moment of rest was suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his phone. Jake immediately grabbed it from the bedside table.
A new message had come in, and without hesitation, he read it.
—Yang Jeongin, a young man found dead under unnatural circumstances in his own home. The police stated that his death was the result of an accident caused by his own carelessness. But I know it wasn't an accident—this was murder. What do you know? Tell me before I expose everything myself—
Jake clenched his phone tightly after reading the message, his eyes fixed on the screen, filled with anger.
"Damn it! Who dares to threaten me?!"
Not long after, another message came in. It showed the front of a café with several people inside.
Jake frowned. "Is he giving me a clue?"
Knock knock knock.
The sound made Jake flinch slightly.
"Jake, you in there?"
"Yeah, Hoon. Come in, it's not locked."
His friend opened the door and stepped inside, startled by how pale Jake looked.
"Are you sick?" he asked.
Without any explanation, Jake immediately showed the strange messages to his friend.
"Tch, you really believe this?" Sunghoon said dismissively.
"It's clearly a threat," Jake replied.
"You know that means we shouldn't take the bait. That's how they take advantage of us," Sunghoon said.
Jake showed him the latest message—the photo of the café.
"What do you think about this one?" Jake asked.
Sunghoon examined the photo carefully. "A clue. Maybe he wants to meet you there."
"But my gut feeling says otherwise. This feels like a warning," Jake said.
"Your indigo instincts," Sunghoon chuckled teasingly.
"Oh, shut up," Jake replied flatly.
"I'm here. If anything happens, I'll help you," Sunghoon said, patting Jake's shoulder.
"The others are already waiting at the dining table."
They both headed to the dining room.
Before pulling out a chair, Jake paused, sensing something was off.
He lived in this house with six friends—but someone was missing.
"Where are Sunoo and Jungwon?"
"Probably still at school," Niki answered.
"School's already closed at this hour," Heeseung said.
"They're at a café. Jungwon texted me," Jay said casually.
A café?
Hearing that word immediately reminded Jake of the photo sent by the unknown sender. He turned to Sunghoon beside him, whose face had also gone slightly pale.
"N-no, this is just a coincidence," Sunghoon whispered.
"This isn't a coincidence anymore. We need to find them," Jake said.
"What's wrong with you guys? Why not just sit down?" Jay asked, confused.
"Your little brother is in danger," Jake said quickly as he unlocked his phone to call Jungwon.
"What do you mean? How do you know my brother's in danger?" Jay asked.
Ignoring Jay's question, Jake kept calling Jungwon, but there was no answer. Finally, he called Sunoo.
Tut—
"Hey Jake, you don't usually call," Sunoo said from the other end.
"Where are you?" Jake asked.
"I'm on the road, heading home," Sunoo replied.
"You're still with Jungwon, right?" Jake asked.
"Jungwon's still at the café. I left first," Sunoo said.
"You left him there?!" Jake snapped.
"Why are you yelling at me? He's the one who wanted to stay and told me to go home first," Sunoo replied.
"Okay, sorry for that. Listen carefully—since you're already on your way home, go straight back. Don't stop anywhere," Jake ordered before ending the call.
"Calm down," Sunghoon tried to pull Jake into a chair, but Jake brushed his hand away.
"Our friend is in danger! How am I supposed to stay calm?!" Jake shouted.
"Who's in danger? Jungwon?" Heeseung asked.
"What did Sunoo say?" Jay asked.
"He went home first. Jungwon's still at the café," Jake replied.
"So my brother's still there. But where did you get this idea that he's in danger? Did Sunoo say something happened to him?" Jay asked.
Jake shook his head.
"Is the info you got even reliable? You're panicking over this," Niki said.
It was true—Jake didn't know the unknown sender at all. The information was uncertain. But the sense of dread wouldn't leave him.
He quickly headed back to his room to grab his jacket and rushed out to look for his friend. But after only a few steps, his phone rang.
Another message from the unknown sender.
A photo.
A photo showing Jungwon lying on the floor, blood spread around him, with visible bruises on his body.
Crash—
Jake's phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor, still displaying that horrifying image.