The moon was already shining brightly, illuminating the streets that night as it accompanied Jihan's steps through the park near her house. Her feet kept moving, carrying her toward another area of the park where several benches were arranged.
After noticing someone sitting on one of the benches, she approached and sat beside the young man.
"How are you, Kal?" Jihan asked.
"Not good. I still can't believe Kyungmin would sacrifice himself."
"It's not a sacrifice. It's help. As a friend, he wants to help us," Jihan replied.
"But I'm scared, Han," he said, worry thick in his voice.
"Whatever it is, we both know this is the path he chose," Jihan said.
"I feel like something's wrong… and I'm scared it'll turn into a disaster."
Jihan looked at the young man across from her with concern. Honestly, she also felt uneasy now, but everything had already happened.
"Calm yourself down, Kal. Just trust this path for now," Jihan said, gently brushing his shoulder to ease him.
~~~~~~~~
That morning, Jio took the initiative to wake up early. Very early. He was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast; luckily, he was pretty good at cooking. Not long after, he heard the sound of a door opening, followed by footsteps, making him glance back briefly.
"Who's awake?" he asked, still focused on his cooking.
Feeling he wasn't alone, Jio turned around—and there was Arkha already sitting on one of the dining chairs. Jio flinched in surprise and rubbed his chest.
"Damn, you scared me," he said, then placed his freshly made food in front of Arkha.
"Wow, nice. Just woke up and already got breakfast. By the way, can I get some milk?" Arkha asked.
"I'm a guy, not a girl," Jio answered flatly.
"Bro, your brain needs washing. Seriously," Arkha snapped.
"I'm kidding," Jio chuckled awkwardly.
"Whatever." Arkha took a bite of the toast served to him.
Jio walked to the pantry—luckily, there was coffee mix, sugar, and milk powder there, so he didn't need to walk far into the kitchen. A moment later, he approached Arkha with a glass of milk in his hand.
"Thanks, Ji," Arkha said while chewing.
"If it's not sweet enough, just add sugar. It's in the pantry too," Jio said.
"Yeah, yeah, chill. Feels like a café in here." Arkha glanced around—the kitchen and pantry side by side did resemble a café layout.
Jio didn't care and continued grilling his toast. As he was focused, his eyes accidentally caught the reflection on the glass wall separating the garden from the dining area. In the reflection, he saw only himself cooking. Reflexively, Jio turned around—and saw no one at the dining table. The table was empty except for a fruit arrangement and flowers placed in the center.
How was that possible?
Just seconds ago, Arkha had been sitting there talking to him, eating breakfast, even asking for milk. Jio rubbed his eyes several times to check his vision, but still—he was completely alone in the room.
~~~~~~
"You're awake, right?" Arkha asked as he knocked on Hesa's bedroom door.
"No? Not awake yet?"
He turned the doorknob, and the door opened but got stuck on something. Arkha peeked through the small gap to see what was blocking it.
"Hesa. Hey, wake up," he said while nudging the door.
Hesa slowly opened his eyes and turned toward Arkha.
"Khan… finally someone's here," he said as he sat up.
"Why were you sleeping on the floor like that?" Arkha asked, confused.
"I fell asleep. Last night, I tried to get out because I heard someone running, but the door was locked," Hesa explained.
"Locked? But you didn't lock it. That's why I could open it," Arkha said.
"It was locked last night. I even tried to force it open, but it wouldn't budge," Hesa insisted.
"W-well… whatever, it's fine. Maybe the door is just stuck or breaking. Let's just go eat breakfast," Arkha said, quickly changing the topic.
He walked ahead, leaving Hesa still staring at his door in silence.
~~~~~~
"Jio."
Jio turned around in shock. Joan, who had just called him, flinched at his overreaction.
"What's wrong, Ji?" Joan asked.
"Weird, man. You look like you just saw a ghost," Niki chimed in.
"N-no, there was a cockroach near my foot," Jio lied, choosing to hide the truth so he wouldn't ruin the atmosphere or scare everyone.
"Oh, I thought something happened," Satya said casually.
They all sat down at the dining table.
"Oh right, I made breakfast," Jio said, placing the dishes on the table.
"Need help, Ji?" Setta offered.
"I didn't cook much, so no need."
When Jio placed a plate near Joan, he noticed the friend looked… off.
"You okay, Jo? You look like you've been thinking too much," he asked.
"Yeah, your face has looked confused since earlier," Satya added.
"I'm just thinking about what I saw yesterday during hide and seek— that TV showing our location," Joan said.
"You mean CCTV?" Niki asked.
"No, just one screen. And it was showing us standing in front of the villa door."
"So where was the camera?" Hesa asked, newly arrived and joining the conversation.
"There wasn't any. I checked everywhere, didn't find a single camera," Joan said.
"I already told you it doesn't make sense. And the TV wasn't plugged in yesterday. How could it even turn on?" Hesa said.
"So it was just my imagination?" Joan doubted himself now.
"Idk," Hesa replied shortly.
They pushed their conversation aside to focus on eating. When the food was almost gone, Hesa looked at Setta across from him.
His friend looked completely normal, happily enjoying his meal.
"Setta," Hesa called.
"Yeah?" Setta replied, setting down his spoon—his plate already empty.
"Last night, why were you running like something was chasing you?"
"Huh?" Setta looked genuinely confused. "When? I went straight to sleep after we finished playing Hitori Kakurenbo."
"Really?" Hesa asked. Setta nodded.
"You heard him running. In the middle of the night," Joan added.
"I heard it… b-but maybe it wasn't from us. Maybe someone outside," Hesa said nervously.
"But this villa is isolated. No one passes by," Niki said.
They all instinctively exchanged looks.
~~~~~
Hesa wandered around the villa. They planned to go home that night, and since it was only ten in the morning, they still had plenty of free time.
After some wandering, Hesa finally found who he was looking for—Arkhan.
The boy was sitting in the dry backyard pool, sketching something on a sheet of paper.
"Should I go to him?" Hesa hesitated, standing still for a moment.
"I'm not sure. Looks like he's not being followed by that Lavender ghost like I assumed."
Hesa turned around and headed back to the villa, deciding to keep his questions for another time.