Friday – 11:52 PM
Abandoned East Daejin Gymnasium
The air reeked of old sweat, burned rubber, and silence. Moonlight filtered through shattered glass above the broken bleachers. Dust hung in the air like ash.
Dae-hyun, Sun-woo, and Min-ji stepped quietly through the warped doors. No uniforms tonight. Just black clothes, hoods, gloves.
Each carried something different:
Sun-woo: a metal baton.
Min-ji: a shock dagger scavenged from the AV room's props.
Dae-hyun: nothing. Just his fists and a single playing card in his back pocket.
Queen of Hearts.
His sister's favorite card.
---
Scene 1: The Chessboard is Set
They moved slowly.
The gym was wide, once used for tournaments. Now just decay.
Then they saw it—a chair, center of the court, under a dangling work lamp.
And on it: Chan-mi.
Tied. Eyes uncovered. Duct tape across her mouth.
Still alive.
A camera was set up in front of her. Recording. Broadcasting, maybe.
> "I don't like this," Min-ji whispered. "Too exposed."
"They want us boxed in," Sun-woo muttered.
"Let's spring it," Dae-hyun said.
---
Scene 2: Ambush
As soon as they stepped into the court's center, lights slammed on from the rafters.
A slow clap echoed through the gym.
From behind a half-burned scoreboard stepped a figure in a grey hoodie. Slim. Calm. Unarmed.
They removed the hood.
And Dae-hyun froze.
> "You've got to be kidding me."
It wasn't a student.
It was Ji-woo.
His younger sister.
---
Scene 3: The Bishop Revealed
> "Hello, oppa," she said quietly.
Min-ji's mouth opened.
Sun-woo took a step forward, stunned.
> "That's… Bishop 4?"
> "That's my sister," Dae-hyun said slowly.
> "I go by something else now," Ji-woo said. "The faculty calls me 'Grey Bishop'. The ghost calls me 'Echo'. But you? You just call me disappointment."
> "What is this?" Dae-hyun's voice cracked. "Why—why would you do this?"
> "Because I believed in you."
She pointed at him.
> "I believed in your vision. In your stupid speeches about balance and fairness. And I watched you get crushed. Again and again. And I realized—"
Her voice dropped to a whisper:
> "Change only happens when the weak burn."
---
Scene 4: A Family Fractured
> "You sent the rumors?" Min-ji asked.
Ji-woo nodded.
> "I tested your emotional ceilings. Your paranoia. How far you'd go to protect someone you didn't fully trust."
She gestured at Chan-mi, who sat breathing heavily.
> "And I learned everything I needed."
> "You're the one who sent the red chess pieces," Dae-hyun said.
> "Each one meant a phase. Rook: Defend. Knight: Confuse. Queen…" She smiled. "Sacrifice."
> "You used Chan-mi as bait," Sun-woo snarled.
> "No," Ji-woo said. "I used her as proof. She didn't break. That makes her an ally. A promotion candidate."
She looked at Chan-mi.
> "Would you like to join the real Crimson?"
Chan-mi didn't reply.
---
Scene 5: The Test
> "So this is it?" Dae-hyun asked. "You lure us here. Reveal yourself. What now? A fight?"
> "No, oppa," Ji-woo said. "A choice."
She pulled out a second chair. Sat down across from him. The distance between them: three meters.
Between them: nothing but dust and decades of weight.
> "If you walk away now, I'll give you the files. The keys. Even Chan-mi. You'll never see me again."
> "And if I stay?"
> "Then you fight me."
Min-ji stepped forward.
> "You're bluffing."
Ji-woo reached into her pocket and pulled out an armband.
Not grey. Not crimson.
White.
> "This was designed for Phase 5 operatives. Students who complete Bishop-grade evaluations. I earned it before any of you even knew the name of the game."
Sun-woo growled.
> "Then you're not just Bishop 4."
> "No," she said, standing. "I'm the architect of Bishop 5."
---
Scene 6: The Fight Begins
Dae-hyun stepped forward.
> "Then we end this here."
He removed his jacket. Tossed it aside.
Ji-woo smirked—
And attacked first.
---
Scene 7: Mirror Match
She moved like him.
Same stances. Same weight shifts. Same elbow feints.
She'd studied him.
Sparred with him.
Grown up copying him.
She dropped low, swept his ankle, elbowed his collarbone, and spun out before he could recover.
> "I learned from your wins," she said. "But more from your failures."
He launched a palm strike.
She caught it, turned his wrist, and ducked under to land a shoulder blow into his ribs.
He staggered—
But grinned.
> "Then let me teach you something new."
He twisted, grabbed her shoulder as she turned, and slammed her sideways into the gym mat.
---
Scene 8: Emotional Warfare
They clashed for two minutes straight.
No weapons. Just precision. Grit. Memory.
Min-ji and Sun-woo stood frozen—watching a brother and sister tear each other apart, both emotionally and physically.
> "She doesn't want to win," Min-ji whispered.
"She wants to prove something," Sun-woo replied.
Ji-woo landed a hook to Dae-hyun's jaw.
> "Do you know how many nights I listened to you cry when Dad left? How many times I wanted to fight but had to stay hidden?"
Dae-hyun retaliated with a sweep kick.
> "You think I didn't see you hiding under the stairs with your fists clenched?"
They broke apart. Breathing heavily.
> "You left me behind," Ji-woo said. "Now I leave you behind."
She ran forward.
He didn't dodge.
He caught her—
And hugged her.
---
Scene 9: The Collapse
> "You don't have to be this," Dae-hyun whispered. "You don't have to keep proving you're strong. You always were."
Her arms trembled.
> "They'll erase me if I defect," she whispered.
> "Then we'll rebuild you."
> "They'll say I was weak."
> "Then we show them your strength isn't theirs to define."
For the first time since she'd revealed herself—
She hesitated.
And then—
She dropped the armband.
---
Scene 10: Aftermath
They untied Chan-mi.
No traps. No explosions. Just silence—
And a single sentence left on the camera screen:
> "Checkmate."
Ji-woo deleted her Bishop credentials that night.
But she didn't return to class. Not right away.
She stayed hidden.
A ghost on their side now.
Chan-mi spoke for the first time since her capture on the walk home.
> "She didn't break me."
> "I know," Min-ji said. "That's why she let you live."
---
End of Chapter 13