Mariah smiled faintly at her friend, who had been sitting by her side for what felt like hours, clearly with no intention of leaving the bed. He remained there, watchful and tense, as if he feared that at any moment her condition might worsen. Though she had repeatedly assured him it was nothing more than a concussion and a few bruised ribs, Nick stubbornly insisted he wouldn't leave her alone.
The teenager kept urging him to return to the boarding school. She wanted him to help Hannah recover her phone, since she still hadn't taken the opportunity to reveal to the younger student who the real perpetrator was. Nick already knew, and every nerve in him was fixed on one thought — destroying the monster responsible for putting his friend in such a state. Letting it go was not an option. He had decided, with a quiet and dangerous certainty, that he would make that person pay for their sins.
He glanced over his shoulder as the sliding door creaked open. A grimace of displeasure crossed his face when he saw Jimmy step inside.
Nick caught Mariah's subtle look — she wanted to speak with Jimmy alone. He told her he would go buy something to drink and that he'd be back soon. His tone was steady, but his eyes lingered on her a moment longer before he finally left.
Jimmy took the chair beside her bed, leaning forward slightly, his gaze sweeping over her with uncharacteristic concern. There was a tension in his features she had never seen before; this was the first time his face betrayed such emotion. Normally, his expressions were unreadable, a mask she had never been able to pierce.
"What happened?" he asked quietly. "Why are you lying here in such a state?"
"I was sleepy and fell down the stairs," she lied, refusing to meet his eyes. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the sterile ceiling, ignoring the weight of his sorrow-filled stare.
Jimmy's shoulders sank as he lowered his head, eyes shifting to his shoes."You mean to tell me you left your room in the middle of the night to wander the building… and just happened to fall down the stairs?" She stayed silent."I know we're not close anymore, and maybe you'd rather keep the truth from me… but I can't believe that you simply tripped. It could have ended far worse, Mariah. You could have died." His voice carried pain, each word tight with emotion.
Her eyes flickered toward him, and tears welled up."Tell me," he urged softly, "is there someone at the boarding school who did this to you? If so… I promise I'll deal with her."
"Why the sudden concern for me?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"You've always been important to me," he replied, his tone steady but low. "Our separation didn't change that."
The words caught her off guard. Jimmy was not the type to speak so openly — or so gently.
"Do you think you can do something about it? Your best friend is involved in this."
Shock rippled across his face, deeper than anything she had seen since the early days of their relationship."You're telling me he did this to you?"
"No!" she denied quickly, panic flickering in her eyes. The last thing she wanted was to ignite a storm between them. Still, she noticed the way Jimmy's fists clenched in anger. Her accident had shifted something in him — she could sense his urge to confront his best friend, to seek some form of retribution for her.
"The two of you are close," she continued, "and you don't even know he has a girlfriend, do you?"
The revelation hit him hard, his face tightening."I know about their relationship," she went on, "but I stayed out of it. Since he didn't tell you, I figured I shouldn't either."
"What are you talking about?" Jimmy demanded, his voice low and sharp. "There's another girl? Someone replacing Halsey for him?"
"Yes. I found out by accident. She's the one who helped him pull himself together after Halsey left the school." Mariah's gaze sharpened with restrained anger. "From the beginning, I've been sure she was just waiting to take Halsey's place."
"You mean… she's the one who ruined Halsey and drove Joseph's ex to leave?" His voice carried disbelief.
"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes — she attacked Halsey one evening in front of the boarding school. She threatened her, told her she'd destroy her if she didn't leave. Halsey had enough. That's why she cut Joseph off completely. She guessed that girl was obsessed with him and wanted no part of it."
Jimmy exhaled heavily, his shock clear."So all those rumors about Halsey going crazy… were just lies? She left on her own?"
"Yes. And when I tried to tell Joseph, he refused to believe me. He accused me of making it all up… and he hated me for it."
Unbeknownst to them, someone else had been listening. The boy who had been standing silently near the door for some time now took three slow steps backward. His expression was unreadable, though tension clung to him like a shadow. At that moment, Nick returned, coffee cup in hand, and noticed Joseph in the hallway. Surprise flashed in his eyes — Joseph, visiting the hospital despite his resentment toward Mariah?
Could it be that curiosity had brought him here?
Joseph turned sharply, pulling a black hood over his head. His presence was already drawing attention; the nurses exchanged knowing glances and soft giggles. It was no secret that Joseph had a certain reputation — one that seemed to charm older women with alarming ease.
*
Tom had knocked on Hannah's door several times, trying to get her to open up and talk to her friend. He was fed up with the constant grimness on her face and the way her mind seemed to wander off into some distant place whenever he asked her a question. It had become impossible to hold a normal conversation with her. Jin had been behaving as though his thoughts were trapped in a completely different world for some time now, and the change was unbearable.
With a heavy sigh of resignation, Tom decided to return to his own floor. But halfway through the corridor, he froze. From the bathroom ahead came the faint sound of Hannah's voice. The door stood slightly ajar, and through the narrow gap he caught sight of her. She was speaking to someone — though from his angle, he could not see who stood with her. The door blocked his view.
Curiosity won out over propriety. He took a cautious step closer, tilting his head to listen.
"You're angry with me, aren't you?" Her voice was laced with such raw sadness and quiet anguish that Tom almost doubted whether the words had truly come from her lips. "So angry that you… tease me. Is this revenge because I've been unable to fulfill my task?"
Tom's brow furrowed. His curiosity deepened.
"I can see it in your face," Hannah continued, her tone shaking. "You want to punish me because I can't be like you. I can't get close to him… and yet you still believe I can do it."
"Is she… a spy?" Tom muttered under his breath, narrowing his eyes.
He had seen enough videos online of Russian operatives impersonating others to carry out secret missions. The idea was ridiculous — and yet, could Hannah be one of them? Could she have stolen Danielle's face? A shiver crept up his spine. Jin was certain his girlfriend had died, so how was it possible that she was now walking the halls of their school as if nothing had happened?
"If I fail," Hannah whispered, her words chilling in the quiet space, "will you take me with you? Will you… kill me?"
Tom's stomach twisted, his blood running cold. That was it — she was a spy. And if she failed in her mission, they would kill her. He couldn't let that happen. Not to her. This was the girl who, in some future he could already picture, would become his wife.
Without thinking, he pushed the door wide and stepped into the bathroom, prepared to confront whoever had been threatening her. But apart from Hannah, there was no one there. His eyes darted to the wide-open window, where the curtain fluttered in the night air.
Someone must have escaped that way. It was the only explanation.
"Tom, what are you doing here?" Hannah's voice held surprise as she turned toward him. "Did you get the floors mixed up?"
He crossed the small space in two strides and gripped her shoulders, his expression grave.
"Tell me… someone is threatening you, right? Will you die if you don't complete your task?"
Her eyes widened, confusion clouding her face. "What are you talking about?"
"Just now, you were speaking to someone," he pressed, his voice rising. "I heard you — talking about death, about failing a mission. If you don't do it, they'll drag you back to their country and kill you, won't they?"
Hannah blinked rapidly, her composure faltering at his intensity. "I still don't know what you're talking about, Tom."
"Let me help you," he urged. "Just tell me the truth, and I'll do everything I can to get you free from those people."
"The truth?" she echoed softly. Then, her face shifted — a faint, unreadable shadow passing over it. "Do you really want to know the truth?"
He hesitated but nodded.
Hannah raised a finger to her lips. "Then it must stay between us."
Tom's breath caught in his throat as, before his eyes, nine long, ghostly tails unfurled from her back like silver wisps of moonlight.
"Gumiho!" he shouted, his breathing erratic. He spun toward the mirror — but his reflection was gone.
His scream blurred into reality as he thrashed on his bed, the images still vivid in his mind.
Jimmy groaned, fed up with the noise, and grabbed the nearest pillow, smacking him square in the face.
Tom shot upright, clutching his chest.
"Stop watching that dumb anime," Jimmy muttered. "Your brain's already scrambled."
The other two boys in the room barely looked up, lost in their own thoughts.
"Ass, not Gumiho," Jimmy added under his breath.
The insult lit a spark of irritation in Tom. Without warning, he lunged, pinning Jimmy to his bed and shoving a pillow over his face. Jimmy yelped, threatening murder, but Tom didn't relent. A chaotic scuffle erupted between them, ending with one boy hanging half-off the bed while the other sat triumphantly on his stomach.
"Jimmy, let him go," Joseph groaned from across the room, massaging his temple. "My head's pounding from your constant bickering. You're like children."
Joseph rose from his bed, glaring sideways at them. He had woken up on the wrong side of it, and that never boded well.
"Just don't take it out on the students," he warned Jimmy darkly. "You know exactly where to go to vent that kind of anger."
Black met his gaze with an intense, unsettling calm. "This isn't confirmed yet. Your idiot friend just likes to make things up," he said sharply before storming out, slamming the door behind him.
"Today's going to be hell for everyone," Tom muttered, hanging his head upside down from the bed frame. "The devil's in a bad mood."
He glanced toward Jin. "Looks like Joseph's after Mariah again. Think it's about her accident?"
Jimmy almost told him the truth — that Hannah was in far greater danger, and that Tom needed to keep an eye on her. But the words stayed lodged in his throat. The fewer people who knew, the better.
*
Nick sat hunched over at a table in the cafeteria with Hannah. He noticed how the girl's eyes kept darting around the room, sharp and searching, as if she could pierce through people's thoughts and unmask the one responsible for Mariah's accident. Her gaze was so dark, so cutting, that most students instinctively looked away, pretending not to notice her. Whether it was her own presence or Joseph's shadow looming over her, the result was the same — no one dared cross the sixteen-year-old.
Hannah seemed so absorbed in her silent hunt that she didn't even register Nick's presence at first.
"Mariah's recovering," he said quietly, leaning forward. "She's gone home to rest."
Her eyes shifted to him, and his friendly smile softened the sharpness in her expression — but only for a moment.
"She asked you to get her phone back, didn't she? Don't bother. Whoever took it got rid of it long ago. She's not stupid enough to leave a trace."
"You're her friend," she countered gently. "You should know… everything. Did she tell you anything more? Maybe who did it?"
Nick shook his head. It was a lie, and he knew it — but the less Hannah knew, the safer she'd be. She was already in the crosshairs of that person. Dragging her in deeper would only make things worse.
"We might be close," he added, "but there are some things… even the closest friends keep to themselves."
Hannah's gaze wandered to the table where the so-called divine four sat. Her eyes lingered on Tom, and a faint smile touched her lips as she recalled their last conversation. He had a warmth about him, a personality that stood out in a place where most wore masks. There was no one quite like him.
But when he caught her looking, he didn't smile back, didn't even nod as he usually did. Instead, his eyes widened briefly, as if fear had gripped him, before he dropped his gaze and focused nervously on his breakfast.
Jin didn't look at her once, his cold detachment biting deeper than she'd expected. Only Joseph seemed to pay her any attention. From beneath half-lidded eyes, he studied her, not with amusement or malice, but with the quiet patience of someone waiting for the perfect moment to strike. For once, however, she didn't seem to be his target.
"Why are you looking at Hannah like that?" Jimmy asked him, his voice a low murmur. "Trying to figure out why she might be the chosen one? It's simple — you've been interested from the start."
Joseph's expression didn't change. "End the subject."
"You shouldn't get involved in this," he — or perhaps Jimmy meant himself — warned. "I'll figure it out on my own."
"You're finally making sense…"
But one sharp glance from Joseph was enough to silence Jimmy mid-sentence.
"I'm looking at her," Joseph said at last, his gaze still locked on Hannah, "because from the very beginning, I thought she resembled Halsey. But that's not it. She reminds me — in the way she moves, the way she carries herself — of someone else entirely. Someone I once held in equally high regard."
"You?" Jimmy's skeptical tone caught Jin's attention, drawing him into the conversation at last.
"Her behavior," Joseph continued slowly, "is exactly like hers."
Jin frowned. "Like who?"
When Joseph's eyes met his, something in that stare made the blood drain from Jin's face.
"I didn't call her a demon for nothing," Joseph said, leaning back with his arms crossed. "You'd better keep an eye on her."
Jin understood it was more than advice — it was a warning. And the real question was… what exactly had Joseph seen?