Episode 38 – Gone
Rain hadn't stopped in two days. By dawn, the city felt washed raw, as if something vital had been scrubbed away.
Inside CHIPER's HQ, Kevin's phone buzzed relentlessly — updates, alerts, police chatter. None of it mattered compared to the one message that still hadn't come.
> "Miran: on my way."
It had been twelve hours.
---
Kevin paced the briefing room, steps sharp on concrete. His mind worked methodically — victim, suspect, timeline — but his chest felt as if it were caving in.
Guen stood beside the whiteboard, hands trembling. "Maybe she's stuck somewhere? Lost her phone?"
"No," Kevin said, voice low. "Miran always texts. Even if she was late, even if she was scared of Minjae… she'd text."
Dohee bit her lip. "Then it's ZeroFace."
"Or worse," Kevin whispered.
---
Alex burst in, face pale, hair damp from rain. "I've scanned traffic cameras — last sighting near a subway exit at 9:42 PM. After that, nothing."
"Nothing?" Dohee echoed, horror creeping into her tone.
"Not a shadow," Alex rasped. "It's like she vanished."
Guen's eyes glistened. "What if she's… already—"
"No," Kevin snapped, harsher than he meant. "She's not."
The room fell silent. Rain tapped against the high windows like impatient fingers.
---
Then the door slammed open.
Minjae strode in, drenched, hair dripping down his forehead. His shirt clung to rain-soaked skin, but his eyes were drier than bone — and twice as cold.
"Where is she?" he demanded.
No one answered.
Minjae stalked to Alex, grabbing his collar. "Where the fuck is she?"
Alex flinched. "I… I don't know! Cameras lost her—"
Minjae's hand tightened, knuckles whitening. "You lose your code. You lose her. What else do you plan to lose, huh?"
"Let him go," Kevin barked.
Minjae's stare didn't move from Alex's shaking face. "I warned her to stay close," he hissed. "She fucking promised."
---
Guen stepped forward, voice quivering. "She didn't want this, Minjae."
Minjae's laugh was hollow, edged in iron. "And you think I did? I told her. I told her."
He shoved Alex away, turning to the wall of CCTV monitors. His breath came harsh and ragged.
"Pull every feed," he ordered. "Every camera within two miles."
Alex wiped blood from his split lip. "Already done."
"Then do it again," Minjae snarled. "This time, look for anyone with a mask. Anything out of place."
His rage was so sharp it felt alive — a heat that dared no one to speak.
---
Dohee swallowed, voice cracking. "Minjae… we'll find her."
Minjae shot her a glare so dark she stepped back. "You don't get it," he rasped. "If ZeroFace took her… she won't last a day."
Guen's voice broke. "Why her?"
"Because she's the softest," Minjae spat. "Because monsters don't waste bullets when tears will do."
---
Hours crawled by.
Alex sat hunched over screens, eyes bloodshot, breath shallow. Kevin paced, barking orders to unseen contacts. Guen and Dohee clung to each other, whispering half-prayers.
And Minjae — Minjae didn't sit.
He stood in the center of the room, dripping rain onto cold concrete, fury radiating like poison.
---
At 2 AM, Alex's hand trembled over the mouse. "Wait. Stop. Go back."
A frame — grainy, flickering — showed Miran on a narrow street, umbrella limp at her side.
Behind her, a figure in a black hoodie. Then: nothing.
"That's him," Alex whispered. "ZeroFace."
Kevin leaned in, voice rough. "Can we track where he took her?"
Alex shook his head, despair bleeding into every syllable. "No traffic cameras. No ATMs. It's like he planned every step."
---
Minjae stepped closer to the screen. His eyes were empty pits.
"Play it again," he ordered.
They watched it twenty times.
Each time, Miran walked a little slower. Each time, the figure followed a little closer.
Minjae's hand clenched until blood welled under his nails. "When I find him," he whispered, so quietly they barely heard, "I'll do worse than kill him."
---
Elsewhere, underground.
Miran stirred awake on cold stone. Her wrists burned — tied tight behind her. A plastic mask lay discarded beside her head.
Drip. Drip. Water echoed off unseen walls.
She gasped, breath ragged, chest tight with terror.
> "Face the Zero."
The voice came from darkness, calm and lilting. The mask slid across the floor, stopping inches from her cheek.
"I've been waiting for you," the voice whispered.
Miran's heart hammered so loud it hurt.
---
Back at HQ, Guen wiped her eyes, voice shaking. "Why her? Why always her?"
Kevin's jaw tightened. "Because ZeroFace knows she's our weakest link."
"She's not weak," Minjae spat. "She's kind. That's rarer than strength."
Dohee whispered, "And that's why he chose her."
---
Alex rose, hand trembling. "There's something I didn't tell you," he confessed, voice cracking.
Everyone turned.
"My code… it wasn't just stolen. It was sold."
Silence dropped heavy as iron.
"By who?" Kevin demanded.
Alex swallowed. "Years ago. I was broke. Angry. I sold an early version on the darknet. Just to feel powerful."
Dohee's eyes widened, betrayal cutting deep. "And you didn't tell us?"
"I thought it was gone," Alex whispered, guilt choking him. "But ZeroFace… he has it."
---
Minjae stepped forward. "You gave him the knife he's using on her."
Alex's knees almost buckled. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't pull her out of that hole," Minjae snarled.
Kevin interceded, voice raw. "Enough! We don't have time."
Minjae's chest heaved, every breath a fight. "Then move," he growled.
---
Morning came, bleak and gray.
Minjae hadn't slept. He stood by the window, rain streaking glass, face stone still.
Kevin approached, voice gentler now. "We'll find her. But not if we turn on each other."
Minjae didn't look away. "If she dies, Kevin… I won't stop at ZeroFace."
Kevin's throat tightened. "What do you mean?"
Minjae's voice was flat as death. "I mean anyone who failed her. Including us."
---
In the dark, Miran's tears ran salt over cracked lips.
The voice came again: "Tell me, pretty thing — why should you live?"
She whimpered, "Please… let me go."
Fingers brushed her hair, gentle as a lover's. "Wrong answer," the voice purred. "You're not ready to face the zero yet."
---
Back at HQ, Dohee's phone buzzed. A single message:
> "She'll wear the face of zero next."
She showed Kevin, hands trembling. "What does it mean?"
Minjae's fists clenched so tight his bones creaked. "It means he's telling us where," he rasped.
Kevin met his eyes. "And?"
Minjae's voice dropped to something broken, something feral:
> "And we're going to bury him alive."
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