As he was about to descend the stairs, Liam's body suddenly stiffened. In the middle of the staircase, that nightmare abruptly resurfaced in his mind.
"What actually happened to me?" he whispered softly, confused as he searched for a way to rid himself of the nightmare's lingering influence.
He let out a quiet laugh, trying to calm himself, then continued down the stairs and left the apartment. Five minutes later, his steps led him to the back gate of the park.
As he turned a corner, he accidentally bumped into a man wearing glasses, dressed in a white shirt beneath a neatly tailored black suit. Liam stepped back instinctively, froze, and his mind went blank for a moment.
"Are you alright, sir?" the man asked, waving his hand in front of Liam's face.
Liam startled, then quickly waved his hands. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I'm sorry," he said hurriedly before walking past him.
The man only laughed, straightened his suit and glasses, then walked away from the park, blending into the crowd.
Meanwhile, Liam continued along the pathway. Far ahead, the path split into two directions, right and left. He chose the right, thinking it would lead him faster to the shady tree where they usually met.
After that, from a distance, Liam saw two people sitting on a long bench under a shady tree, one of them was none other than Forn, along with a handsome man with brown eyes, and wearing a white shirt over a black suit and a round hat on his head.
Liam kept walking and was about to greet them. But Forn quickly noticed his presence. He stopped his conversation with the man beside him and stood up to welcome him.
"You're here."
Liam laughed softly. "Yeah... sorry I'm late," he replied, his sharp gaze fixed on the man who had been observing him.
Forn turned and pointed toward the man. "This is Mr Albert, the person I mentioned before. Coincidentally, he isn't busy today."
Albert gave a faint smile and stood up. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Albert Hammond," he said politely, bowing slightly and placing his round hat against his chest.
Liam nodded after Albert gestured for him to sit beside him. Liam sat on the left, while Forn took the right.
"So... are you curious about the black mark on the corpse's neck, Mr Zavi?" Albert asked, placing the round hat on his lap.
Forn immediately pinched Albert's thigh, making him jump.
"What is it?" he whispered softly, staring intensely at Forn's face.
"It's nothing," Forn replied with a small smile.
Albert frowned, then turned back, waiting for an answer to his earlier question. Meanwhile, Liam was confused after seeing their exchange.
He let out a breath, not to answer, but to ask another question. "So, were there any other marks, like on the wrists?" Liam reflexively glanced at his own wrist afterward.
Albert's eyes widened, memories from two years ago flooding back. He turned his head, his expression suddenly changing, his pupils dilating, making Liam feel frightened as Albert abruptly turned and stared at him.
"Sir, why are you looking at me like that?" he asked fearfully, holding his breath.
Ignoring Liam's words, Albert continued staring, restraining his anger. Meanwhile, behind them, Forn, who had just snapped out of his daze, did not know what had happened between the two, so he immediately stood up to ease the tense atmosphere.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked in surprise. Earlier, he had been lost in thought, staring at the road and only vaguely hearing their conversation.
Albert's pupils, which had widened earlier, returned to normal. He exhaled, and the anger he had been holding back slowly faded.
"It's nothing, I just remembered something," he said, covering his face with both hands.
Forn did not understand what he meant. He shook his head and sat back down. Meanwhile, Liam's eyes widened, realizing that his question had triggered a painful memory for Albert.
He stood up, looked at Albert, then quickly lowered his head. "I'm sorry if my words made you angry," he said anxiously, closing his eyes.
Albert lowered his hands from his face.
"It's alright," he said as he stood, then continued, "I've been searching for that mystery for two years." Albert sat back down and gestured for Liam to sit beside him.
Liam quickly sat down. After that, Albert asked both of them to listen carefully to what he was about to say. The information he would share was important, dangerous, and terrifying for those afraid of blood.
Both swallowed and nodded at the same time. Albert put his hat back on before recounting the horrific incident that occurred two years ago.
"It happened on a Saturday morning. Around nine o'clock, I saw my older sister looking sad for no clear reason. She cut her right wrist with a kitchen knife, and blood splattered everywhere, turning the living room tense."
"Huh, Saturday? There's no way this is just a coincidence?"
Zavi's heart felt strange.
Albert exhaled before continuing his story.
"And strangely, the wound closed again. The cycle repeated, closing and reopening. Seeing that, I couldn't do anything, not because I was afraid, but because there was a strange barrier protecting my sister. And at the climax, she herself directed the knife to her heart, killed herself, and that invisible barrier disappeared."
"A horrifying sight... that's all I can tell," he said as he stood up.
He looked upward, thinking back to the moment he first saw Liam. Albert pondered one thing, about the sense of comfort he had been waiting for all this time.
Was it merely luck? That question kept spinning in his mind.
Albert turned, placing his round hat against his chest. "I'm sorry for staring at you earlier. Every time I hear the word wrist, I remember that incident," he said, bowing his head in guilt.
Liam responded by standing and placing his left hand on Albert's shoulder. "Don't worry," he said gently, even though he was still afraid of him.
Hearing that, Albert felt relieved. He put his hat back on and handed Liam a piece of paper without Forn noticing.
Liam's eyes widened. He knew there was another meaning behind that piece of paper. He chuckled softly and slipped it into his pants pocket.
Albert turned and glanced at Liam. He said goodbye to both of them, walked away, and returned to his home.
Meanwhile, Forn suspected nothing between the two of them. "Are you satisfied with your curiosity now?"
"No," Liam answered briefly, staring blankly ahead.
Hearing that, Forn was immediately startled and asked again to be sure. "What do you mean? I don't understand the way you're thinking right now, Zavi."
Liam laughed softly. The information was enough. He understood Albert's sister's death, just like the death Zavi had experienced a few days ago. After thinking it over briefly, Liam realized that the matching time of death seemed to indicate that someone had orchestrated all of this.
"Don't worry, I'll head home first." Liam spoke tiredly about the earlier incident. At that moment, he still felt a lingering ache throughout his body.
He had come here to seek information, forcing his body to move. And now, he had reached his limit, his body stiff and frozen in place.
Seeing this, Forn had no choice but to take Liam to his home for treatment, unaware that the night before, Liam had been staying at Leo's apartment.
They walked slowly out of the park, Forn supporting Liam's fragile body, heading toward his home not far from the park.