Yura hadn't slept.
Not a second.
Even in her own room, away from the cold shadows of Seonghwa Middle School, she couldn't forget the smile in the mirror—the face that wasn't hers.
It stared at her every time she closed her eyes.
She sat hunched over her laptop, headphones on, scrubbing through the corrupted video footage. Minji had refused to look at it. She'd left in a panic last night and hadn't answered any of Yura's messages since.
At exactly 13:04 in the footage, the mirror flickered.
Yura paused the video, heart pounding. On the frame, there it was—the reflection with her face, but twisted. The lips curled too high. The eyes were just... wrong. Hollow and dark, like they had seen something they could never unsee. Yura leaned closer.
And then the reflection blinked.
She hadn't pressed play.
Yura yelped and slammed her laptop shut, her breath catching. The screen had blinked at her. The video blinked back.
Her phone buzzed suddenly, making her jump.
📩 Unknown Number:"Come back. You left me behind."
Yura's blood ran cold. She stared at the message, then at the time—3:03 AM.
She didn't reply.
But the message didn't stop.
"You opened the door."
"Now it's open forever."
"I see you, Yura."
She threw the phone onto her bed and backed away like it had turned into a snake. No. It had to be a prank. Someone hacked her number. Maybe Minji?
She texted Minji in a panic:
Yura: Are you messing with me?? Please just tell me it's a joke.
No reply.
She tried calling—voicemail.
The silence screamed louder than any words.
The next morning, Yura couldn't reach Minji. Worried, she skipped class and biked straight to her apartment. When she knocked, no one answered.
But her neighbor, an older woman in curlers, peeked through her door.
"She left last night," the woman said. "In a hurry. Looked like she'd seen a ghost."
Yura's heart sank.
Maybe she had.
At school, whispers followed her.
Kids had seen her video—the uploaded teaser from Chapter 1. It was going viral. Everyone talked about the school, the mirror, the mysterious door.
But Yura couldn't feel proud. Not anymore.
Because something had come back with her.
In the bathroom mirror, during lunch break, she saw it again—that face. Just for a flash. A grin on her reflection while her real face remained still.
She splashed water on her face.
It didn't help.
The lights above the mirror flickered. The faucet squeaked by itself. Then, faintly, she heard the whisper again.
"Don't leave me... here."
Yura backed away. She didn't scream. She didn't run.
But she made a decision.
That evening, she returned to Seonghwa Middle School.
Alone.
The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the courtyard. The building looked even worse in the light—burned, broken, like it had died and never been allowed to rest.
Yura stood in front of the west hallway, holding her camera with trembling fingers. Her breath came in sharp clouds. The air around her seemed heavier, charged with something wrong.
"I just want answers," she whispered to herself.
She stepped inside.
The floor creaked beneath her feet. The door at the end of the hallway was open.
It had been locked yesterday.
Yura walked toward it, slowly, cautiously. Inside, the mirror still sat on the desk.
Waiting.
But something else was different now.
There were footprints on the dusty floor. Bare feet. Small. Leading out of the room.
Her hands trembled.
Suddenly, the mirror pulsed—just once—like it was breathing. A cold wind rushed past her even though the windows were boarded. The door slammed shut behind her.
She turned—but there was no handle on the inside.
Trapped.
And then, from within the mirror, a voice echoed—clearer this time.
"Find me… before it's too late."
And just for a moment, the mirror didn't show her reflection at all.
It showed a dark room. A single bed. A child sitting in the corner.
Crying.
Yura screamed and backed away, clutching her camera like a weapon.
When she turned to run, the door behind her had vanished.
There was only a wall.