I turned to the other side of the bed and noticed Jan snoring softly. For a moment I didn't realize she'd come in; her breathing was the steady, small sound of someone who was finally at ease. I moved carefully so as not to wake her, and slid off the mattress, feeling the familiar ache in my joints from another restless night.
As I reached for the bathroom door, a sleepy voice floated across the room. "I don't like her," Jan mumbled, eyes half-closed.
I stopped dead and turned. "You don't like who?" I asked, blinking against the dim light.
Jan sat up, hair tousled, face still blotched with sleep. "Yoon," she said. "What does she want? Why is she doing everything possible to push you away from everyone?"
"No, Jan," I said quickly, the water catching in my throat. "Yesterday was a mistake. I'm sorry. Everything was my fault. I didn't go out with Yoon. Raven begged me for a favour and I had to help him."
Jan watched me for a breath, searching my face. "You were with Raven throughout yesterday," she said slowly, like a thought unfolded.
"Oh no, Jan—not that. I was helping with a note," I explained, shoulders tightening. "That's why I forgot your birthday."
Jan's expression sharpened. "And that's why?" She sounded wounded. "Jan, I would make it up to you."
"You have to. And it's today," she said, her voice firm. "How?"
"First," she continued, pivoting to another subject, "today is Sunday. How come you stopped your investigation?"
"I didn't stop," I told her, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I told You. So many things came up and I had to put my mom somewhere safe."
"Your mother? Was she attacked?" Jan asked, concern suddenly more real than the sleepiness she'd had a moment before.
"Yes— she was attacked, but now she's in a safe town," I answered. Saying it aloud made the memory sharper, as if the words could stitch a distance around what had happened.
Jan looked at me for a long time. "Where is she now? I hope she's really safe," she said, her voice quiet.
"She's very far away," I said. "I'm happy with the decision."
Jan sat back, folding her arms. "And you can't say the place?" she asked, a small trace of hurt in her tone. "Oh. I forgot. You don't trust me again."
"No! Not that," I protested. "But for now, I can't say it here—maybe somewhere I feel safe."
Jan studied me for a second, as if weighing the truth in my face. "So what about Yen?" she asked finally. "How did you move on so quickly? Did your friend tell you to do so?"
"Jan, I didn't move on," I said. "So many things happened. For now I can't do anything — I have to keep myself safe until I'm fully prepared."
Jan straightened and leaned forward. "What do you mean, prepared?"
There was something in me that hesitated; the words wanted to stay buried. I fought the urge to swallow them back.
"Jan," I said, and my voice went small. "There's a whole lot about me I don't want to say because I think you'd be scared."
"Jina?" Jan called softly, alarmed.
"I have a superpower," I said, the confession dropping like a stone. "Once it wakes, whatever is happening here will be visible to me. The people involved — I could see them. I could see the things that hide in plain sight."
Jan sat frozen. For a few seconds she said nothing; I watched her face shift through disbelief, concern, and something like the beginning of belief.
"Then what's keeping it from waking?" she asked finally. Her voice was gentle, earnest.
"I need…" I started, and the words thinned and broke. For a moment I didn't know why I stopped. My throat closed on the rest of the sentence.
"Don't worry, Jan," I managed, forcing a small laugh that did not reach my eyes. "When the time comes, I will tell you everything."
Jan regarded me for another long heartbeat, then nodded without speaking.
"Well," she said, a sudden cheerfulness forcing its way in, "
"First," she said, shifting in her seat. "I know where Eunwoo's mother is. Second, I can lead you to yen relatives."
My head snapped up so fast it startled me. "Eunwoo's mother?" I repeated. "Isn't she dead?"
"That's what everyone says," Jan said, alarm and confusion mixing in her voice as she looked at me. "Is that what your friend told you?"
"I am free today; we can go and see her later in the day," Jan said abruptly, standing. She moved with that impatient determination she always had — the kind that forced things into motion. "Come on. Let's go."
I watched her leave the room, the door closing behind her with a soft click. Alone, I let out a long breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Yoon had lied — or maybe she had lied to protect herself. Who was the woman they had killed?
My hands shook slightly as I began to tidy the room, folding the dress I'd planned to wear and stacking things neatly like a ritual. The questions ran in circles in my head. I tried to push them aside. I needed the routine of a shower — the ordinary motion of warm water washing away the night.
I stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, and for a moment the sound of the running water filled the room and erased the other noises: my conscience, Jan's impatient footsteps, the ghostly image of the dead woman. I let the heat of the shower press against my skin and tried, uselessly, to make everything simple again.