Arkha lazily walked over to close his bedroom window. The sky was already turning into dusk, and the air coming in felt slightly uncomfortable.
"Did Hesa really go to that school alone earlier?"
He sat down in front of his desk.
"But it doesn't seem like it… the student council members and teachers looked busy handling the festival incident."
He recalled their conversation on the rooftop. For a moment, Hesa had looked surprised when Arkha said he wanted to go with him to Sunshower School.
Then, when Arkha confronted him outside the student council room and shared his uneasy feeling, Hesa had brushed it off—saying it was just an accident and telling him not to think negatively.
Arkha didn't realize that this very attitude only made him more suspicious.
"Am I just overthinking?"
He replayed everything that happened that day, until his mind returned to the moment Hesa shouted and ran toward the stage.
"Am I overthinking… or maybe… he doesn't trust me anymore?"
Thinking about it again, it was true—working together hadn't stopped the terror. It still happened, even if there were slight changes.
But still… if Hesa talked to him—or the others—the burden would at least feel lighter. They could share ideas, even if it didn't change much.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of knocking pulled Arkha out of his thoughts.
"Just come in, it's not locked," he said.
The door opened, revealing his older sibling.
"I'm bored. Let's go out," they said.
"Where?" Arkha asked.
"Anywhere. Up to you."
"Game center. My head's a mess right now," Arkha said as he grabbed his jacket.
"Got problems, huh?" his sibling asked.
"None of your business," Arkha replied coldly.
"Alright, alright. I get it," they said.
The two of them left soon after.
~~~~~~~
Jake was sitting on the terrace, enjoying the strong night breeze.
Not long after, he heard footsteps and instinctively turned his head.
"Oh, Jay. Why are you all dressed up? Where are you going?" he asked.
"Going out for a bit," Jay replied.
"Where, man?"
"Got a call. Gotta fix a car."
"Since when do we fix cars? We don't even have one," Jake said.
"There is one. My double's," Jay answered.
"Oh right, I forgot," Jake said.
~~~~~
It was already seven in the evening, but Hesa was still sitting at his desk, staring at his laptop screen.
"Why can't I find that suicide article? Was the victim really Sakala?"
If that was true, then why did that ghost lie? And why did the name feel like it had been swapped…?
Wait—
The lavender-haired ghost had never actually said his name directly.
The name was written on a sticky note.
On the day the ghost pulled him into the past, Hesa found that sticky note in his hand. At the same time, Kala and Winter were in his room—Winter had asked Kala to help move Hesa, who had collapsed on the floor.
So all this time… Hesa had misunderstood.
But he had also met the lavender ghost in another dimension—and the ghost responded when Hesa called him Kyungmin.
"What does all of this even mean… this is so confusing," he muttered.
Hesa closed his laptop, realizing it was pointless.
"Who should I even believe?"
He looked at the mysterious sticky note again and picked it up.
Then he casually walked out of his dorm toward another building and knocked on one of the units.
Knock, knock, knock.
The door opened.
"Oh, Hesa. What's up?" the boy greeted him warmly.
"S-sorry, Kala. My stove suddenly broke, so I can't use it. I tried going to Jae's place, but he didn't open the door," Hesa lied.
"I-I see. That's fine, you can use my kitchen," Kala said, letting him in.
"Thanks," Hesa replied, stepping inside and briefly observing the room.
"I just want to cook instant noodles, something simple," Hesa said as he grabbed a pot and filled it with tap water.
"Why tap water? It's better to use the gallon water," Kala said.
"It's fine," Hesa replied.
Kala glanced at the water gallon and realized it was almost empty. "Oh, I didn't notice… I haven't been around much lately."
"Actually, I just remembered I didn't bring any noodles. Luckily Jae replied to my message, so I'm going to his place to stole some," Hesa said.
"Oh, right. I also need to go to the market to buy water," Kala replied.
"O-okay."
Hesa slipped something into his pocket, then walked out first. As he headed toward Jaehyuk's unit, he discreetly watched Kala leave his room. He even smiled back at him before pretending to knock on the door ahead.
Once Kala was far enough, Hesa quickly returned to his unit.
Earlier, he had deliberately left the sticky note wedged in the door so it wouldn't fully lock—since he didn't know the passcode.
The note was thin enough that Kala didn't notice the door wasn't completely shut.
Click.
Just as he thought—the door wasn't locked.
Hesa went straight to Kala's room.
He found a board filled with papers—records of mysterious death cases involving seven victims.
His gaze shifted to the study desk, covered with books. Among them was a plain black notebook.
He picked it up and opened it. The paper inside was exactly the same as the sticky note he had.
The notebook contained short entries—like someone's personal thoughts. It seemed Kala used it to communicate with someone.
But who? His alter ego? But weren't they supposed to communicate through thoughts?
Hesa flipped through a few pages before the book suddenly slipped from his hands. When he picked it up again, it opened to the last page.
Seven names were written there:
Dion Biantara.
Melvin Anggara.
Hasta Alkana.
Agantha Gheovano.
Difta Prayoga.
Yoanero Dewangga.
Sakala Astanika.
Hesa froze.
One name triggered something in his memory.
"Y-yeah, I'll go there now."
He ended the call and looked at Jihan, who was standing beside him, looking confused—perhaps deep in thought.
"Hasta Alkana…" he murmured.
Hesa tapped her shoulder, snapping her out of it.
"You okay?" he asked.
Jihan nodded. "I just suddenly remembered one of Aganta's friends… he was always with him. His name was Asta."
"Oh… so that's why you looked distracted. I thought you were possessed or something," Hesa said with relief.
"Asta? Why does that sound like the alter ego's name…"
On the wall, Hesa noticed several photo frames. He quickly took pictures of them with his phone, but one frame made him freeze.
Without thinking, he grabbed it.
He quickly turned to leave, reaching for the door handle—but something else caught his attention.
Several uniforms were hanging behind the door.
Hesa took the blazer hanging at the very front.
His hand slowly moved to the name tag attached to it.
Kyungmin Athala.