The nineteen-year-old girl stepped out of the university building, her eyes scanning the crowd of students as she searched for her roommate. She glanced over her shoulder a few times, but there was still no sign of the platinum-blond head she had lost in the shuffle after leaving the lecture hall.
The late afternoon air carried a chill, sharp enough to slip under her skin. Pulling her thick, unbuttoned sweater more tightly around herself, Hannah leaned against the cold stone wall, exhaustion weighing down her body. Her eyelids felt heavy, her thoughts sluggish—she wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and sleep off the lingering haze of fatigue.
Her wandering gaze froze when it landed on Bella's friend. He seemed to circle the area cautiously, checking his surroundings as though to make sure no predator—or perhaps the person he dreaded most—was nearby. When he finally seemed convinced that the coast was clear, he strode toward her with far too much confidence.
"I haven't seen you in a long time, princess." His grin was smug, his tone laced with affected charm. Hannah rolled her eyes, her patience thinning by the second. His lines had grown increasingly insufferable. "Did you miss me?"
"Do I look like someone who's happy to see you, Max?" she shot back, her words sharper than she intended. But she was tired, drained of humor, and not in the mood for games. "You want something from me? Because in a moment Joseph will join me."
The lie slipped from her tongue with surprising ease, but it served its purpose. The name alone was enough to make Max falter, his bravado cracking. Without another word, he disappeared from her sight, retreating with all the grace of a startled ostrich—his long neck and lanky frame making the comparison almost comical.
"You're not going home this weekend!"
Startled, Hannah looked up from her shoes to see her roommate standing before her, excitement bright in her eyes.
"Tom and I came up with the idea of going camping."
"You've got to be kidding." Hannah's frown deepened. The enthusiasm bubbling from Bella was almost contagious, but Hannah wasn't about to catch it. Still, she knew herself well enough to understand that, for the sake of sanity, she would go. Someone had to balance Bella's recklessness—and besides, she was certain the gloomy prince of their group would hate the idea. Camping didn't suit him in the slightest.
"So, are you in favor of this or not?" Bella pressed, bouncing on her heels.
Hannah exhaled heavily. "Well, I won't leave you alone…"
"Great! Jin already agreed, so the only one left is Joseph. Do you think he'll come with us?"
"No chance," Hannah muttered with conviction. "That's not his kind of place. I'm one hundred percent sure he won't agree."
*
For Hannah, Joseph's refusal came as no surprise. He had dismissed the idea almost instantly, stating with disdain that sleeping in box-shaped, grandfatherly trailers was not for him.
The nineteen-year-old only shrugged when Bella repeated his words, though the weight behind them stung more than she cared to admit.
"That's exactly what he told Tom," Bella went on, a trace of disappointment in her voice. "But honestly, I thought he might change his mind once he heard you were going."
"That only discouraged him further," Hannah replied dryly. "We haven't been on good terms for days now. We can't seem to get along."
"You're not going to reconcile quickly, are you?" Bella's gaze softened, though her expression carried a touch of worry. "He's fierce, you're stubborn… do you really want to keep it this way?"
"In high school, we weren't fond of each other either, and I managed to survive. Moving away from him now won't be difficult." Hannah's words fell with a sharp edge, though her eyes betrayed something softer—something she tried to conceal.
Bella sighed deeply. "You only say that, but your voice gives you away. I think moving away from someone you actually care about is far harder than anything you endured in high school. Don't deceive yourself."
"I'm just angry at him all the time," Hannah admitted, her tone quieter now, as though confessing against her will. "What he said to me that day… it hurt more than I want to admit. I don't know when—if ever—I'll be able to forget it. If he doesn't apologize first—and I know he won't—things between us will only get worse."
Bella's hands twitched at her sides. Sometimes she wanted to grab her roommate and shake her until she stopped hiding behind excuses. It was infuriating, watching her dance around what was so painfully obvious. To Bella, it was incomprehensible. Hannah was in love with Joseph. And Joseph, whether he admitted it or not, carried feelings for Hannah.
"Exactly!" Bella burst out suddenly, her voice startlingly loud.
Hannah's eyes widened in surprise.
Bella clapped her hands over her mouth, as though afraid she had spoken too much. But the memory of that drunken night returned with sharp clarity, and she could not dismiss it. She had heard his words. She was certain.
"Tell me," Bella began again, her voice trembling but steady in determination, "what did he mean? When he said it would be better if you were his sister?"
Hannah blinked, her confusion raw and unfeigned. "I don't know. That idiot always calls me that when he's drunk."
"No, Hannah. It wasn't just some drunken nonsense." Bella cut her off, her voice hushed but urgent, her eyes clouded with concern. "I'm certain of what I heard. He revealed to us that your biological mother… is the same woman who adopted him."
The nineteen-year-old's face drained of color. Her lips parted, but no words emerged. The silence stretched unbearably long.
"You were drunk, Bella," she said at last, forcing a nervous smile that didn't reach her eyes. "And he was probably talking out of his mind. That's nonsense."
But even as she spoke, doubt carved itself into her chest like a knife. Deep down, she didn't know what to think anymore. Joseph's behavior—his contradictions, his slip of the tongue, the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn't paying attention—had been betraying something for a long time now.
There might truly be a hidden truth behind it all.
Why, then, was everyone she cared about still hiding things from her?
*
Hannah remained silent for most of the drive. She sat beside Jin, who gripped the steering wheel with quiet focus, while in the backseat Tom and Bella took turns teasing each other until their playful jabs turned into full-blown arguments. Their chatter spiraled so nonsensically that Hannah found herself tuning it out, unable to grasp half of what they were even talking about.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth earlier," Jin said at last, his voice low, carrying more weight than the noise behind them. Hannah turned her head toward him, watching his tense profile in the glow of the dashboard lights. "I just didn't want you to talk to Andy about anything. Like I told you before… he has a nasty past. He's messed up a lot in his life. The only reason he's still walking free is because his father's the attorney general. Being around him is dangerous."
"What does that have to do with my sister's death?" Hannah asked sharply, her words slicing through the air. Her chest tightened as the memory of that night stirred inside her, fractured and incomplete. "I know he knows the truth."
Neither Tom nor Bella seemed to notice her words; their laughter drowned them out. The only thing that cut through was Tom's bizarre question to Bella—
"And what does a duck have to do with your leg?"
The absurdity of it clashed with the heaviness of her own conversation, and Hannah almost wished she could escape into their nonsense. Instead, her eyes remained on Jin. She noticed how his jaw clenched, how the muscles in his neck tightened. He was nervous.
"For now," he said after a long pause, "I can only tell you that my uncle helped us a lot. It's because of him that we're safe. And that's why Andy is involved in all of this."
Hannah didn't answer. She didn't need to. She understood more than his words revealed, and yet… the missing pieces tormented her. She still couldn't remember what exactly had happened that day. What had truly caused her sister's death? And why did it feel as though she and Jin were tied to it in ways she couldn't yet see?
She looked ahead just as the car turned onto a forest road. The shadows grew heavier, branches stretching like skeletal arms across the headlights. They were almost there.
"Peace and quiet, kids," she said suddenly, her voice carrying an almost maternal authority. She glanced over her shoulder at their puzzled faces. "What? You've been acting like kindergarteners the whole way."
"The mother is younger than I am," Tom quipped, grinning. "Now I'll spend the whole weekend trying to figure out how you gave birth to me."
"Good luck with that, son."
Bella burst into laughter. "Wait—did you two just switch from husband and wife to mother and son?"
"Yes," they answered in perfect unison, which made the whole car laugh.
*
The caravan greeted them with its cramped coziness. Two bunk beds stood against the wall. Bella, without hesitation, claimed the top bunk—only because Tom had chosen it first. Hannah preferred the lower bed, as did Jin.
"I'm hungry as a wolf," Tom declared, clapping his hands together. "Should we fire up the barbecue?"
Jin nodded, and the two of them disappeared outside, assuring the girls they would take care of everything.
"I'm so happy," Bella chirped as soon as the door closed behind them. Her face glowed as though the night itself had conspired to make her dreams bloom. "I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to his heart."
Hannah rolled her eyes. "Good thing it's his heart you're getting close to and not something else."
"You pervert!" Bella squealed, pointing a dramatic finger at her. "Don't put such thoughts in my head, or you'll make me miserable."
"Excuse me, but who's been talking my ear off all evening about the crotches of students?"
Bella froze, panic flashing across her face as she realized Hannah had spoken too loudly. "You can't say that!" she squealed again. "Not when Tom's around. I have to remain the most polite, virginal student in the whole dormitory!"
"Of course you are," Hannah replied dryly. "Especially after last time, when you drank like a piglet and ended up sleeping in the same bed with him."
Color flooded Bella's cheeks. "I think our love began to blossom that night," she confessed in a small, embarrassed voice.
Hannah only shook her head, refusing to comment further.
When they finally joined the boys outside, the girls were impressed at how quickly the grill was blazing. They settled into the chairs, watching families and couples around the campground. Even in autumn, when the air carried a sharp chill, there were still people who sought the quiet escape of nature.
Dinner filled the air with smoke and laughter. Tom, however, could not keep his mouth shut. He spilled out nonsense after nonsense, the kind of absurd humor that made no sense but was contagious nonetheless. The breaking point came when Hannah burst out laughing so hard that she spat her food, doubling over with tears in her eyes.
"What a shame," she muttered between gasps, wiping her mouth and cheeks. "Tom, please, for the love of everything, wait until I've finished chewing."
"And what kind of cow are you," Tom shot back without missing a beat, "to need to chew your food?"
The group erupted into laughter again, the night echoing with their voices, warm and bright against the cool forest air.
*
Bella was shivering from the cold, wrapped in two blankets as though she were staging a theatrical performance. She cast meaningful glances at Tom, clearly hoping to draw his attention.
Hannah, of course, was not blind to the act. She raised a brow as the blonde exaggeratedly pulled at her nose and made a strange squeaking sound, a pitiful attempt at feigned suffering. Yet Tom remained oblivious, too absorbed in his lively conversation with Jin. The two boys had found common ground in automobiles and spoke with such passion that they seemed to forget the girls even existed.
With a sigh that carried both pity and amusement, Hannah decided to intervene.
"Bella, did you catch a cold? Should I keep you warm?" she asked, her voice teasing.
Bella shot her a glare sharp enough to slice through the blankets. "No. I'm not used to being embraced by a girl," she replied in a tone far too deliberate, clearly hoping Tom would overhear and rush gallantly to her rescue.
But Tom, instead of noticing her plight, sprang up with sudden enthusiasm. "My beauties, how about we have a little fun? We didn't come here just to sit in a trailer and talk, did we?"
Bella's hopeful expression collapsed instantly. She had expected tenderness; instead, she got Tom's latest crazy idea.
"We chose this place for a reason," he continued, his eyes sparkling. "This campground is famous. People come here because of the popular game in the woods."
The words struck Hannah like a chill wind. Her stomach tightened as images of dark trees and unseen shadows flooded her mind. Jin's silence told her he wasn't much more enthusiastic, though he remained measured, as always. Bella, on the other hand, lit up with the excitement of a child offered candy.
"We'll split into two groups," Tom announced decisively. "I'll go with Bella, and Hannah will team up with Jin."
Bella clapped her hands together in delight. "Yes, let's do it!"
Hannah frowned. "Do you even know what this game is about?"
"It's just for fun," Tom explained. "Everyone takes a flashlight and a phone. You go into the woods, find the sign carved into a tree—people say it's ghostly—and capture it in a photo. Whoever sends it to the other group first wins."
"And you think that's exciting?" Hannah's voice trembled as much from unease as from the chill in the air. The thought of wandering the forest at dusk, of being swallowed by shadows, made her shiver.
"Hannah, you won't spoil the game for us, will you?" Bella's smile carried a pointed meaning. This was more than a game for her—it was a perfect excuse to stay close to Tom.
"Be that as it may," Hannah murmured, her gaze flicking briefly toward Jin, "I don't know what might happen to me out there." Her words carried an edge of warning, directed at him more than anyone else. He knew her condition; he understood her fears. Still, she forced a wry smile. "But with me, you're guaranteed a good time."
Jin met her eyes, steady and calm, his voice a quiet reassurance. "Don't worry. We've gone through worse together."
The night outside seemed to press harder against the caravan windows, as though the forest itself had been listening, waiting.
*
The nineteen-year-old tried to be brave as she walked along the narrow forest path at Jin's side, but her cowardly nature betrayed her the moment something shifted in the darkness. The sharp crack of breaking branches echoed through the trees, and she instinctively clutched his arm, her nails digging into his sleeve as if she would never let go.
Jin only smiled, calm and unbothered, sweeping his flashlight across the towering trunks, carefully illuminating every shadow they passed.
Hannah, however, could not shake the unease gnawing at her. She buried the feeling deep inside, unwilling to appear panicky, though her heart hammered mercilessly.
"What if this game was invented by some psychopath who preys on the participants?" she whispered, the words trembling out of her. The thought of Bella and Tom sent a sharp pang through her chest. "Are you sure everyone went home safely after playing it?"
"If something had happened here, they would have shut the place down long ago," Jin replied, his tone steady.
But his calm logic did little to soothe her. The dread still pulsed within her, heavy and suffocating. When another noise rattled through the trees, she dug her nails deeper into his arm. She no longer knew if what she saw—flickers of movement between the branches—was real, or if it was another cruel trick of her mind. She almost hoped it was real, because illusions meant her illness was tightening its grip again.
"Do you hear it too?" she pressed, pointing toward the shifting shadows.
Jin narrowed his eyes and lifted the beam of his flashlight, but there was nothing there. His brow furrowed as he glanced back at her. "I don't," he admitted softly. Concern crept into his voice. "Maybe we should turn back. This was a stupid idea. I should tell Tom—"
"Come on," she interrupted, forcing a weak smile. "I won't spoil your fun. My condition's improved. I'm just… panicking unnecessarily."
"Hannah…" His voice held a quiet warning. "I wouldn't want something to happen to you because of this game."
She flashed him a teasing grin that didn't reach her eyes. "Wandering in the woods won't destroy my psyche. It's nothing compared to what happened that day."
The words landed like stones, and she saw his face pale.
"Hannah… are you starting to remember?"
"Yes," she whispered, her throat tightening. "I remember the truck slamming into Danielle's car… and your face. You smiled, Jin. That diabolical smile. It looked as if you were relieved."
His grip on the flashlight faltered. The beam dropped, falling uselessly onto the ground, leaving most of the path swallowed in darkness. He looked only at her, his expression unreadable.
"I was just… relieved," he murmured.
Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Relieved that my sister died?!" Her voice cracked. "I know Danielle could be cruel, even to you, but—"
"You didn't know her," Jin cut in, sharp and cold. "Not truly. She was pretending in front of you all the time. Do you know why she told you to call her Hannah? It wasn't affection. She was mocking you. She had another reason."
"What are you talking about?"
"She lied to you constantly. She never treated me badly—she treated you badly. I was the only person she trusted. I was the only one she cared about."
"That's not true!" Hannah cried. "Danielle told me everything. She never loved you. That's why she wanted you with her parents, not her. She wasn't going to fight for you!"
A twisted smile tugged at Jin's lips. "That wasn't the real reason. She wanted to break away for something deeper. You shouldn't remember her fondly. She was never honest with you. Family meant nothing to her."
"Why are you telling me this now?" Tears welled in Hannah's eyes, burning hot against the cold night air.
"Because I can't stand watching you suffer because of her anymore. You got sick because of her. You erased the accident from your memory because, in that moment, you realized what kind of person she truly was."
A violent shudder ran through Hannah as the image of Jin's eerie smile returned, burned into her memory. She was certain there was more behind it, but the truth refused to surface. She shook her head, rejecting his words, her chest tightening with exhaustion.
"I can't stand this lie any longer," she choked out, stepping back, tears spilling freely. "I need to breathe. I need it!"
Spinning on her heel, she bolted down the path, branches clawing at her jacket as she ran blindly. The darkness pressed in, but she didn't care. She just wanted to escape—to return to the trailer, bury her face in a pillow, and release the storm of emotions tearing her apart.
Jin's voice called after her, warning her of danger, begging her to stop. But she only ran faster. She wanted to be free—free from his words, free from the past, free from all of it.
Her breath came ragged as she wiped her tears with her sleeve. Then, ahead, a silhouette appeared. A figure stood at the entrance of the caravan, arms folded across his chest. She slowed, blinking through the blur of tears.
When he lifted his phone and its light revealed his face, warmth surged through her. Relief spread through her trembling body. With a strangled sob, she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around his waist. She pressed her cheek into his chest, clinging to the steady rhythm of his heart.
The embrace tightened, strong and protective, and she felt safe for the first time that night.
"I will never let you go alone again," his voice murmured above her, thick with emotion. "I was going out of my mind, little girl."