Lee-Oh's pulse pounded in his ears.
The pale hand trembled as it pushed the closet door wider — creaking open inch by inch.
He stepped back instinctively.
Then the full figure emerged: a girl, no older than ten, barefoot, wrapped in a tattered gray blanket. Her eyes were sunken but alert, sharp even in fear. Her hair hung in knotted strands, and her face was smudged with soot and old tears.
She looked up at Lee-Oh, not speaking, not blinking.
"…You okay?" he asked softly.
She nodded once. Then her eyes darted to the briefcase still open on the table.
"You took it," she said.
Lee-Oh frowned. "The money? I—found it."
"No one ever finds anything in here," she whispered. "Unless it wants to be found."
He tried to offer her a warm smile. "What's your name?"
She didn't answer at first.
Then, hesitantly, she said, "Mina."
Lee-Oh crouched, setting the case gently aside. "Mina, are you alone?"
She gave the smallest nod.
"How long have you been hiding here?"
Her voice was barely audible. "Three days. Since the man left the case."
Lee-Oh stiffened. "What man?"
Mina hugged the blanket tighter around herself. "He wore gloves. His face was covered. He came in, left the case on the table, and said, 'Let's see who finds it first.' Then he laughed and disappeared."
Lee-Oh swallowed hard. He looked at the money again — now heavier than it had been a moment ago.
"So why didn't you take it?"
Mina looked at him, dead serious.
"Because I'm not the one being tested."
The air in the room shifted — colder somehow.
Lee-Oh stood slowly, suddenly feeling exposed. Watched.
The coins had led him here.
The voice in the alley had warned him.
And now… this girl spoke as if this was all part of some design.
"Come with me," Lee-Oh said gently. "It's not safe here."
She looked unsure, but after a long pause, she stepped forward and took his hand.
They slipped out through the back of the orphanage, avoiding the front where the rain still fell steadily. The briefcase was zipped shut and clutched tight in Lee-Oh's arm.
By the time they reached the apartment, Alex was still resting, her breathing shallow.
Lee-Oh warmed some water and bread for Mina, then sat beside Alex and quietly held her hand. His heart was full of questions, but they all circled back to the same truth:
He made a wish.
And now the world was moving.
That night, Lee-Oh barely slept. Mina was curled up in a blanket near the door. The briefcase sat in the closet, untouched.
Sometime past midnight, he rose to get water.
Then froze.
There, on the living room wall — carved with something sharp — was a symbol:
A spiral with a single eye in the center.
He stepped closer. The carving was fresh.
Beneath it, a single word:
"Awakened."
From outside the apartment, footsteps echo down the hallway… and stop directly at Lee-Oh's door.
Then—three soft knocks.