"Where's Joan?"
Setta looked around the classroom, which was still fairly crowded, yet none of his friends were there.
"Niki must still be practicing. Joan? No way he's still in the bathroom—I've already finished eating at the cafeteria."
Setta glanced at both of his friends' bags, which were still there.
"Hey… they didn't plan to ditch class together, did they?"
Kring!
A message came in on his phone. Setta reflexively opened it.
"Niki? Why did he send an empty message? It's just a space. Is he messing with me?"
Confused, Setta closed the message and switched to another app.
"Setta."
Setta turned when someone called out to him and rushed over.
"Taeyoung? What's wrong?" Setta asked.
"Your friend," Taeyoung said, panting.
"My friend what? Catch your breath first."
"Y–Your friend, Joan. He was taken to the infirmary earlier. He fainted in the bathroom," Taeyoung explained.
Without wasting another second, Setta immediately ran out of the classroom.
~~~~~~
"Why does this hallway feel like a maze? There's no exit at all—I've just been going in circles."
Hesa stopped running and collapsed to his knees on the corridor floor. He knew he was pathetic for giving up, but his mind was in chaos. Was negotiating with his twin really the only way out?
"Damn it!"
All Hesa could do was stare hopelessly at the empty surroundings. Then, slowly, he heard footsteps approaching.
"Already tired of playing?"
Heeseung sat down beside him.
"I give up," Hesa said quietly.
"That fast? Come on. Why are you disappointing me like this? I know you're not a coward," Heeseung said.
Hesa let out a weak laugh. "Sorry to disappoint you. But I know that everything—the terror now and the terror to come—is your doing. And I want you to leave my friends out of this."
Heeseung frowned, clearly displeased by Hesa's pitiful expression.
"So this is you sacrificing yourself for your friends?"
"Call it whatever you want. If I'm your target, then focus on me alone," Hesa replied.
"It's not fun without involving the others," Heeseung said casually.
"No! Don't involve anyone else!" Hesa shouted.
"Oh… so you really are sacrificing yourself."
Heeseung smiled and pressed the muzzle of his gun against Hesa's head.
"I still wanted to play with you longer. I hoped this game would last."
Hesa met his gaze. "Just me."
"I don't want to. You don't get to tell me what to do," Heeseung said as his finger swiftly pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Hesa clearly heard the sound before a split second later an unbearable pain exploded in his head. He couldn't move at all—only felt his body collapse onto the cold floor.
"I'll finally meet Mom and Dad…"
His eyelids grew heavy and slowly closed. Faintly, he saw his twin staring down at him with an expression of sorrow, as if he disliked the choice Hesa had made.
It was tragic—Hesa had chosen a terrible path just to reunite with his parents.
Thud!
Pain surged through Hesa's body as he fell, but strangely, his head didn't hurt—as if a hand had cushioned it from hitting the ground.
"Hesa."
That voice made Hesa slowly open his eyes.
A vast blue sky was the first thing he saw. He sat up and touched his body—it was solid.
He whispered a quiet prayer of thanks, then turned around.
"Jihan…"
She smiled back at him, seeing his confused expression.
"Are you okay?" Jihan asked.
Hesa nodded, then looked around, realizing they were on the rooftop.
"I–I'm still alive, right? You can see me?" Hesa asked.
Jihan chuckled softly. Hesa noticed a wound on her hand as she covered her mouth while laughing.
"You got hurt because of me," Hesa said.
"You're hurt too—you fell earlier," Jihan replied, pointing to a scrape on Hesa's arm.
Hesa examined the wound, then turned toward Jihan, who was now sitting on one of the rooftop benches.
"Heeseung…"
What did his twin really want? Hesa had already surrendered, yet Heeseung hadn't killed him. Was it intentional?
Hesa glanced at the rooftop railing—he had fallen right in front of it earlier.
"Even if you give up, he won't let you go that easily," Jihan said while finishing taping a bandage on the back of her hand.
"You know about my twin?" Hesa asked.
Jihan nodded and handed Hesa a bandage as he sat beside her.
"I heard people say you're cursed. Is that connected too? I mean… were you also terrorized by a twin?" Hesa asked.
"I had a motorcycle accident with my friend. He died, but I survived without a single injury. People who hated me spread rumors that I bring bad luck—but that's not true," Jihan said.
"Oh…" Hesa nodded in understanding. "Then how do you know about my twin?"
"Melvin. He was my friend," Jihan answered.
Hesa remembered the incident the day before, when he met Jihan near the dance club room.
"Your friend… don't tell me he—"
Jihan nodded. "He passed away. Melvin was terrorized just like you. That's why I was shocked when I saw him behind you yesterday."
Hesa froze. "So what I saw in the dance room… that actually happened to Melvin?"
"He wanted to warn you. That's why he showed you that vision," Jihan explained.
"How do you know all this? You even said you saw your deceased friend before," Hesa asked.
Jihan looked at him tiredly. "Do I really need to explain that too?"
Hesa laughed lightly. "Yeah, yeah. I get it."
"Did your twin kill you earlier?" Jihan asked.
"…Do you know something about that?" Hesa replied.
Jihan shook her head. "All I know is that there's no way to stop the terror yet. But one thing's certain—one of your friends has already changed."
"Yeah. I realized that too. Yesterday I got a sticky note from the 'ghost' saying one of my friends was taken. But there's no trace at all. I still can't tell who it is," Hesa said.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out," Jihan encouraged him.
"But … the friends who were terrorized—none of them survived, right?" Hesa asked cautiously.
"Yeah. They all died," Jihan answered.
"When I shifted dimensions earlier, I saw two guys enter a classroom. One of them took a strange watch, and I saw the other one's name," Hesa said.
"Who?" Jihan asked.
"Agantha," Hesa replied.
"Oh. He was Melvin's friend too," Jihan said.
"There was another one who held the watch—he had lavender-colored hair. I also saw him at the villa when I was on vacation with my friends. Do you know him?" Hesa asked.
"I don't really know Melvin's friends that well. Why are you curious about him?" Jihan asked.
"I know he's dead, but what bothers me is this—my mom saw him when he was about to jump off his school's rooftop. She said he was still conscious and handed her the watch, saying, 'Give this to Hesa.' There has to be a reason," Hesa said.
"You saw him at the villa, right? Did he mention the watch?" Jihan asked.
"No. He never talked about it. He only gave me that sticky note," Hesa replied.
"Then that watch really was meant for you. And there's a chance he's still watching over you—to help you," Jihan said softly, rubbing Hesa's back.
Kringgg.
Hesa lifted the incoming call.