Arkhan stared at the window beside him, which showed a gray sky. It was already late afternoon, and it looked like it might rain soon.
He picked up his phone, about to call his senior, but before he could, the person he was waiting for had already arrived.
"Khan, sorry if I'm a bit late."
"It's fine," Arkha replied.
"Actually, I didn't just ask you to hang out for no reason," Hesa said.
"I figured. Feels like our discussion yesterday wasn't enough," Arkha replied.
"But before that, I think I should apologize to you first," Hesa said.
Arkha tilted his head in confusion. "Apologize?"
"I heard something from Joan. He said the day before camp, Heeseung almost threw you off the rooftop," Hesa said.
"Just forget about it. You're not Heeseung," Arkha replied.
"I just didn't expect him to dare hurt you too," Hesa said.
"Well, he's basically a demon, right? And I helped you. Of course he'd be pissed," Arkha said.
"You still want to help me after he hurt you like that?" Hesa asked.
"I'm not the type of person who abandons a friend easily," Arkha replied.
"Alright then, let's get back to the main topic."
Hesa didn't answer immediately. He glanced at the window beside him, then looked back at the young man in front of him.
"Satya, Jio, and Niki were kidnapped the same way. Their heads were covered with cloth that made it hard for them to breathe. It was different from what happened to you two," Hesa said.
"You mean… Joan was given some kind of drug too?" Arkha asked.
Hesa nodded. "Joan told me himself."
Arkha fell silent for a moment after hearing that.
"That means there's a possibility they know Joan already knows quite a lot about this terror."
Hesa sighed and leaned back in his chair. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of. If that's true, we'll get a penalty."
"But I think we're already too involved to stop now. We should make a plan in case something happens," Arkha said.
"We can't plan anything yet. They have to make the first move," Hesa replied.
The next few minutes passed in silence.
Arkha looked around the restaurant. His attention was drawn to a bag charm belonging to a girl who seemed to be a student.
"Dreamcatcher."
Hesa instinctively followed Arkha's gaze.
"That's some kind of ritual item too, right?"
"No, dude," Hesa said flatly.
"A dreamcatcher is just a decorative item. It's usually hung near a bedroom or window because some people believe it can ward off nightmares," Hesa explained.
"Talking about stuff like that reminds me of that shaman kid," Arkha said.
"Oh right, I remember. I talked to him yesterday," Hesa said.
"What did you talk about?" Arkha asked.
"About something he told you before—that we're reincarnations of Heeseung and the others. Turns out their group were kids from an orphanage who died in a fire in their own home," Hesa said.
"And then?" Arkha asked.
"Kala doesn't seem to know much. He said the one who's curious and investigating the copies is actually his alter ego," Hesa said.
"Oh, so your guess was right," Arkha said.
"Yeah. Honestly, I'm still curious about Heeseung's past," Hesa said.
"But you can't ask Kala. You have to wait for his alter ego," Arkha replied.
"Exactly," Hesa said.
~~~~~
Hesa closed the curtain near his apartment door since it was already night. He felt bored and had tried calling Jaehyuk, but his friend was out.
So Hesa decided to relax in the living room and watch a movie.
Just watching a movie didn't feel complete, so he went to the kitchen to grab some snacks.
Opening the cabinet, he saw there were still plenty of snacks left. He grabbed one, but suddenly something strange happened.
"What did he threaten you with?" Heeseung asked.
"He said he'd lock me in the bathroom," Riki answered honestly.
"Oh my God, Jake. What were you thinking threatening Riki like that?" Jay said.
"He actually wanted to cry but was too embarrassed," Riki teased.
"Shut up!" Jake snapped.
"What happened?" Heeseung asked Jake.
"It's about the girl who tried to kidnap Yoon. Turns out it was Haewon," Jake said.
"How's that possible? Didn't the other say she was sick?" Sunghoon asked.
"How would I know? The point is she's already dead, and I feel like crying because the other kids still believe she's alive and waiting to come back to the orphanage," Jake said.
"It's not just you. Do you think I can stay calm when they talk about Kangmin? I really want to scream and tell them the truth," Jungwon said.
"Wait… have you guys realized something?" Jay said.
"What is it," Riki asked.
"Whether they're sick or adopted, orphanage kids are always taken to the hospital. Jungwon saw Kangmin there as a patient, and Haewon too…" Jay said.
"And Heeseung said he once had a dream, right?" Riki added.
Heeseung nodded. "Yeah. I dreamed about being operated on. When I looked it up, the operation in my dream was a lobotomy. That practice has already been banned by the government because it's considered dangerous," he said while showing a book containing that information.
"They used the orphanage kids for that?" Jungwon asked.
"I don't think that's the only thing. I'm sure there were other experiments too," Jay said.
"I think so too. Too many kids from this orphanage have disappeared. There must be a lot of experiments behind it," Jake said.
"The question is, this happened in a hospital, and we need to find out about that hospital," Heeseung said.
The snack in Hesa's hand suddenly fell, and he quickly picked it up again.
"D-Did I just see Heeseung's past?"
Knock knock knock.
Hesa walked to the door to see who it was. When he opened it, it turned out to be his neighbor.
"Jae texted me earlier and told me to come here to keep your unit. He said I could do whatever, as long as I came," Kala said.
"I'm actually fine being alone," Hesa replied.
"You're alone. Don't you get bored without someone to talk to? Jae is so nice, asking someone to accompany his bestie," Kala said.
"I'm fine being alone because I'm not a coward. I'm just a bit surprised because Jae doesn't usually tell someone to come here," Hesa said.
"Alright, alright, I lied. I just came here because I was bored since Jae isn't around," Kala admitted.
"Fine, come in," Hesa said, letting his neighbor inside.
"If you want to visit, just come. You don't need an excuse," Hesa added.
"Yeah," Kala replied.
"Oh right, Kal— I mean Asta. Since you're here now, I'm still curious about that orphanage," Hesa said.
"So Kala already told you? Guess I failed pretending to be him," Asta said.
"I could tell just by your eyes," Hesa said.
"We have the same eyes. What's the difference?" Asta asked.
"Kala's gaze looks more melancholic," Hesa replied.
"And mine?" Asta asked.
"Villain," Hesa answered shortly.
"You think I'm a bad person?" Asta protested.
"I'm joking. You actually look like a kid even though you're already around sixteen," Hesa said.
"Hehe, you noticed," Asta said.
"I'm not going to waste time with small talk. Tell me what else you know about the orphanage," Hesa said.
Asta crossed his arms over his stomach while returning the serious gaze of the young man sitting across from him.
"I can. But maybe you should take the phone out of your pocket so Arkha can hear more clearly," Asta said with a mischievous expression.
Hesa sighed, remembering Arkha's words that this kid was indeed unusual. He then placed his phone on the table.
"The Skyline Orphanage burned down in 1921. The fire killed seven orphanage children and injured dozens of others.
Kala must have mentioned this already," Asta said.
"Yes. The seven children who died were Heeseung's group," Hesa replied.
"That's right. That's why they can only terrorize people within groups of seven friends. The victims you might know—Kyungmin and Jihan—their groups also had seven members," Asta said while showing several mysterious death cases on his phone.
"And actually… the seven children who died had strong energy. They still can't accept their own deaths. They hate their reincarnations—your group," Asta said.
"What made them unable to accept it?" Hesa asked.
Asta shook his head. "I can't access their past memories. But from what I know, there's always a game involving seven people, with different roles, and one of them is an indigo. Well… except for you now."
"The exception might be a clue that I, as their reincarnation, am the one who can break this demon game cycle," Hesa said.
"You have a big chance to do that," Asta replied.
"Their past is the real answer," Hesa said while looking down thoughtfully.
"From the fragments of the past I saw, their orphanage was connected to a hospital that carried out cruel experiments. The last thing they did was decide to investigate that hospital…"