Minjae sat at his desk, fingers curled tightly around the cracked mirror. His heartbeat hadn't slowed since waking up, and the red writing across the glass pulsed like it was alive.
Room 504 is opening again.
The seal is thinning.
And this time, you're the one she'll use.
He traced the words once more. They hadn't faded.
But something in him had changed.
The fear was still there—but under it, a sense of familiarity. Like his body remembered what his mind refused to.
Something had been buried deep.
And it was clawing its way up.
⸻
He didn't go to class. Not today.
Instead, he went back to the old records office, a nearly abandoned wing near the administrative building, where the university stored past student files and incident reports.
The door wasn't locked.
Inside, dust-coated shelves lined the walls. Dozens of cardboard boxes, some untouched for years.
He searched the archives—year by year.
Then he found it.
Incident Report – Winter 2018
Title: Psychological Break – Room 504 Occupant
Name: Kang Minjae
Status: Cleared for memory intervention
Reason: Entity Interaction / Voluntary Pact Terminated
His hands trembled as he turned the page.
Next to the official report was a handwritten note:
💭 "Minjae chose to forget her. But the mirror never forgets what was promised." 💭
And attached to the report—a sealed envelope.
His name was written in red ink.
He opened it.
Inside:
A single photo.
A younger version of himself… holding hands with a woman whose face was scratched out.
Behind them stood a mirror.
And written at the bottom in elegant handwriting:
"You promised to remember me in every lifetime."
⸻
As he stepped outside, the world felt… off.
Shadows stretched too long. Sounds warped at the edges.
He blinked—and for a split second—everyone around him had the same face.
His.
Then it was gone.
A hallucination?
Or a warning?
⸻
Back in his room, he found another note.
This one wasn't hidden.
It was sitting neatly on his bed, folded in black parchment.
On the outside:
"Final Warning."
Inside:
A promise made beneath the mirror holds longer than life itself.
You unmade the girl who loved you once.
But now, she wears the silence you left behind.
The pact was broken, but the price was not.
Room 504 remembers.
And under that—another line, written in crimson:
"At midnight, return. Or she'll come instead."
⸻
He checked the clock.
11:24 PM.
The sky outside had turned ink-black. Not dark—unnatural.
No stars. No moon.
As if the heavens were holding their breath.
⸻
📲💬
From Unknown
You promised you'd never leave me again.
But if you're too afraid to come… I'll make sure you never forget again.
💬
⸻
At 11:59, Minjae stood outside Room 504.
His hand hovered over the doorknob.
His breath fogged the air even though it wasn't cold.
He pushed the door open.
Inside—silence.
But not emptiness.
It was the same as the dream.
Mirrors lined the walls.
And in the center—an old vanity, candlelit.
He stepped inside.
And every mirror blinked at once.
⸻
Then she appeared.
Not from the shadows.
From the mirror.
Stepping through like it was water.
She wore a black dress that flowed like smoke, her silver eyes piercing through the gloom.
Her voice… like a song half-forgotten:
"You look the same. But something's missing."
Minjae stepped back.
"You… you're not real."
Her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"You said that last time too. Right before you begged me to take the memories."
She circled him slowly, gaze predatory.
"I gave you everything. I took your pain, your regret, your guilt. And you paid me with silence."
She stopped, inches away.
"But silence never satisfies."
⸻
He swallowed.
"What did I… give up?"
Her eyes gleamed.
"Me."
⸻
The mirror behind her flashed.
A memory.
Minjae, kneeling, clutching her hands, tears in his eyes.
"I can't carry it. Please… make it stop."
She whispered, "If you give me your love, your grief, and your name… I'll take the burden."
He agreed.
She kissed him.
And the moment shattered.
⸻
Back in the present, Minjae collapsed.
Tears streamed down his face.
"I remember…"
The woman stepped back into the mirror.
But before vanishing, she whispered:
"This is the last time I'll let you forget."
Then she was gone.
⸻
All the mirrors cracked.
Room 504—empty again.
Except for the vanity.
And on it—a new note.
The next door won't open with forgetting.
The next door needs blood.
Yours, or hers.
⸻
📲💬
From Unknown
Tell me, Minjae… do you still believe you deserve peace?
💬
⸻
[End Of Chapter 15]
⸻
📒 A/N:
Chapter 15 answers some lingering questions… and opens many more. Minjae once made a pact with something—or someone—that promised to ease his pain in exchange for something priceless. Love. Identity. Memory. Now that the memories are returning, so is the one he left behind in the mirror.