A few days had passed since the suicide of White's mother. Since then, he had shut himself away entirely, refusing to answer calls or meet anyone.
Someone knocked gently on his bedroom door.
"White… I'm putting your lunch in front of the door, okay? Please eat it all," Elsa said, her soft voice lingering as she waited for an answer. When none came, she sighed. "Please open the door later so we can talk. I don't know what happened, but if you talk about it, maybe it will bring you some relief."
Receiving only silence, she left in disappointment.
***
Meanwhile, inside the Paranormal Club room, a heavy silence hung in the air. Aris, Zen, and Luna sat across the table from one another, their eyes downcast in desperation.
Though Luna appeared calm on the outside, White's situation was deeply bothering her. Breaking the ice, she looked over at Zen.
"Any updates…?"
"Nothing," Zen replied heavily. "He's completely cut himself off from everything. I've tried reaching out multiple times, but it feels like he's entirely broken."
"President… isn't there anything we can do?" Aris pressed, desperate to find a way to help White recover. "I can't stand seeing him like this."
Luna took a calm sip of her tea before answering. "We can't do anything about White's situation right now. Just as he planned, we must focus our attention on Shu instead."
Zen slammed his hands onto the desk, his voice rising in anger. "What do you mean by that?! We're just supposed to leave him alone at a time like this?"
"Zen…" Aris murmured, trying to quiet him.
"Raising your voice won't change anything," Luna replied coolly. "More than White, Shu needs our immediate attention. And don't forget, before he shut himself away, he explicitly said, *'Don't worry about me, but could you all please look out for the Shu matter from now on?'*"
"I understand, but… can we really do nothing for him?" Aris asked again, her voice pleading.
"We cannot bring back someone who has lost themselves in their own inner guilt," Luna explained. "We can guide them, but it is useless if the person stops time around themselves and simply surrenders to their circumstances. However, even if it wasn't in the way he intended, White did succeed in saving Shu before he went into hiding."
"What do you mean?" Zen asked, frowning.
"Now that his mother is out of the picture, Miku has only one person left to rely on—and that person is Shu. This means that whether Shu wants to or not, she has to stay strong for Miku's sake. She can't allow herself to break down any further."
Neither Zen nor Aris could argue with that logic; what Luna said was a bitter truth. Miku only had her sister to rely on now. And while Shu's guilt had undoubtedly intensified, she had become strong enough to endure it for her sibling.
Yet, a troubling thought remained.
'How much time do they really have? If Miku passes away too, what will happen to Shu? If White stays broken like this, they won't stand a chance of saving her from her written fate.'
***
A few days prior...
The moment White received the news of his mother's suicide from Zen, he and Luna had rushed straight back to the apartment building.
Taking the elevator up, they reached the floor to find the apartment door wide open. Neighbors lingered in the hallway, whispering among themselves as the police instructed them to step back. From inside the room, Shu's heartbreaking cries echoed down the corridor.
White managed to catch a glimpse inside while the police were still examining the scene. His eyes widened in horror. His mother's motionless body hung from a rope, and there, on her knees beneath her, was Shu. She was weeping with all her might, as if convincing herself that the tragedy was entirely her fault. Aris was kneeling beside her, desperately trying to calm her down.
When Zen noticed White and Luna standing at the threshold, he began walking toward them.
But before Zen could speak, White turned and bolted. Zen and Luna immediately gave chase.
White ran until he reached the riverbank, just as the evening sun was setting. They finally caught up to him, but before they could reach out, White began to speak, his voice trembling.
"This is my fault," White muttered.
"White…" Luna stepped forward, trying to soothe him, but he snapped.
"Mom died because I forced her to talk to me!"
"Calm down, White. This is—" Luna reached out to comfort him, but he stepped back, violently shaking his head.
"Don't tell me this isn't my fault!"
"Hey, bro… this is something none of us could have expected," Zen interrupted, trying to reason with him.
"Wrong!" White shouted, cutting him off. "If I had just remained quiet, if I hadn't dragged up my past to her, she would still be alive. I drove her to the edge of giving up, and then I pushed her over. That's why she took her own life!"
They fell silent, completely at a loss for words.
White took a ragged, deep breath, forcing a fragile composure over himself. "Shu… I thought I was trying to save her from breaking. But I ended up becoming the very reason she broke. I'm the one who ruined her. Not her mother, not her sister… but me."
His head dropped as he walked past both of them, his shoulders hunched.
"Don't worry about me," White whispered, his voice completely hollow. "But could you please give me some time… and keep an eye on Shu."
With his spirit utterly shattered, White walked away slowly, disappearing into the fading light of the dusk. ```