My head felt like something inside it had just cracked open.
Not painfully.
But suddenly.
Like a door had been pushed slightly open… and something from the other side was trying to look through.
Across the table, Hae-in was still staring at me.
Not aggressively.
Not suspiciously.
Just… carefully.
Like someone listening to a faint sound only they could hear.
Seo-yeon noticed it immediately.
"Okay," she said slowly, pointing between us.
"That look means something just happened."
I rubbed my temple.
"Just a headache."
Seo-yeon frowned.
"You've said that three times today."
"Because it's true."
Tae-jun leaned forward slightly.
"What did you see?"
I blinked.
"I didn't say I saw anything."
"You didn't need to."
Seo-yeon looked between us again.
"I swear I'm sitting in the middle of a secret meeting I was never invited to."
Hae-in finally looked away from me.
Her green ring stopped glowing.
For now.
She spoke quietly.
"You're remembering fragments."
I exhaled slowly.
"Fragments of what?"
Hae-in tilted her head slightly.
"That's the interesting question."
Seo-yeon leaned forward.
"Okay, I need someone to start explaining things in normal human language."
She pointed at Hae-in.
"You have a glowing green ring."
Then she pointed at Tae-jun.
"You have a blue one."
Then she lifted her own hand.
"And apparently this gold ring my grandmother gave me when I was ten years old is suddenly important."
She paused.
"And now somehow Ji-hoon is the center of all this."
Tae-jun answered quietly.
"Yes."
Seo-yeon groaned.
"I knew it."
I leaned back slightly.
"Can someone explain why?"
Tae-jun didn't answer.
Instead he reached into his coat pocket.
Then he placed something on the table.
A small folded paper.
Seo-yeon frowned.
"What's that?"
Tae-jun looked at me.
"You should open it."
I hesitated.
Something about the paper felt… familiar.
Which didn't make sense.
I had never seen it before.
But my hand moved anyway.
I unfolded it slowly.
Inside was a photograph.
Old.
Faded.
Taken somewhere outdoors.
Three soldiers stood in the picture.
Young.
Covered in mud.
Smiling like they had just finished a brutal training session.
I recognized one of them immediately.
Me.
My chest tightened.
Because the other two faces…
One of them was Tae-jun.
Seo-yeon leaned closer.
"Wait…"
She pointed.
"That's you."
"Yes."
"And that's him."
She pointed at Tae-jun.
He nodded.
Then her finger moved to the third person.
"Who's that?"
For a moment, nobody answered.
Then Tae-jun said quietly,
"That's the problem."
I stared at the third soldier.
Something about his face felt… strange.
Not unfamiliar.
Just out of reach.
Seo-yeon tilted her head.
"He looks familiar."
Tae-jun looked at her.
"You've seen him before?"
She hesitated.
"I think… maybe?"
Hae-in leaned slightly closer to the photo.
Her green ring flickered faintly.
Then she whispered,
"That man…"
She pointed to the third soldier.
"…has a ring."
Seo-yeon blinked.
"What?"
Hae-in pointed at the soldier's hand in the photo.
It was subtle.
Almost impossible to notice.
But there it was.
A ring.
Dark.
Almost black in the faded picture.
Seo-yeon frowned.
"Wait… so this guy also had one?"
Tae-jun nodded slowly.
"Yes."
I stared at the face again.
Trying to force my memory to respond.
Rain.
Gunfire.
A voice shouting my name.
Then the image vanished.
I clenched my jaw.
"I know him."
Seo-yeon turned immediately.
"You do?"
"I think so."
Tae-jun's eyes sharpened.
"What's his name?"
I tried to answer.
But the name wouldn't come.
Just as I was about to give up—
Hae-in's ring glowed brighter.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Then she said something that made the entire table fall silent.
"That man is still alive."
Seo-yeon blinked.
"What?"
Tae-jun shook his head slowly.
"That's impossible."
Hae-in looked at him.
"Why?"
Tae-jun's voice became quiet.
"Because he disappeared."
Seo-yeon leaned closer.
"Disappeared how?"
Tae-jun hesitated.
Then he answered.
"During a classified operation."
My chest tightened again.
Fragments of memory pushed against the walls of my mind.
Night.
A forest.
Gunshots.
Someone shouting—
"Run!"
I inhaled sharply.
Seo-yeon noticed.
"Ji-hoon?"
But I was still staring at the photograph.
Because something else suddenly caught my attention.
The back of the photo had writing.
I flipped it over.
Three words were written in black ink.
"Find the fifth."
Seo-yeon frowned.
"Fifth what?"
Nobody answered.
Then Hae-in's ring pulsed again.
Once.
Twice.
She looked slowly toward the café door.
Someone else had just entered.
Seo-yeon followed her gaze.
"…Are you serious?"
Standing near the entrance…
A tall man in a dark coat had just walked in.
He wasn't looking at the counter.
Or the menu.
He was looking directly at me.
And on his hand—
A ring flashed briefly.
Not blue.
Not green.
Not gold.
Not violet.
Something darker.
Something deeper.
And for the first time…
The name in my memory finally surfaced.
I whispered it without thinking.
"…Dae-hyun."
The man smiled.