I woke in the middle of the night to a throbbing headache. Not in my entire head—only the left side. My left eye throbbed with it, as though a thorn had been lodged behind it. I couldn't go back to sleep.
So it had begun. The withdrawal.
I reached for my phone to check the time, but the moment I unlocked it, the light stabbed deeper into my skull. It was 1:00 a.m. I shut it off quickly. I couldn't endure that light driving the thorn further into my eye.
I lowered my heavy head onto the pillow—my body begging for sleep, but the pulsing ache inside it refusing mercy. My thoughts poured through me like a flood, relentless. As I tried to drift off, my eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. They wandered across the room, inspecting its familiar outlines, restoring everything to its rightful place in my mind.
Until they stopped.
Slowly.
At the clothes hanger behind the door.
I remembered every piece hanging there, one by one. But—
There was something that did not belong.
'It's just shadows. Just the dark. Sleep.'
It seemed to shift slightly.
Perhaps my eyes were failing to adapt. Perhaps they were inventing shapes to fill the void.
I squinted, studying it more closely.
I don't own anything like that.
My body stiffened. Every muscle tightened like a string pulled to its limit.
It moved.
And this time—
It truly moved.
With each subtle motion, its outline sharpened.
It was not clothing.
It was a person.
Faceless.
And it was approaching.
Without a sound.
'Oh God… I saw nothing. I saw nothing. I saw nothing. .'
With every desperate repetition, it stepped closer.
Like a machine with rusted joints, I forced my head to turn toward the wall.
'These are hallucinations. Neurotransmitters. Yes—neurotransmitters! That's all!'
I pressed my face toward the wall, attempting to calm my mind.
Slowly… slowly…
My rigid body began to loosen as I convinced myself that darkness had deceived me—that this was nothing but hallucination.
'Haaah… haaah…'
I placed my hand over my chest, directly above my heart. I could feel its frantic pounding—each beat a scream. With every pulse, I tried to quiet it. My breathing, once ragged, gradually steadied.
'It's just impaired vision. Just hallucinations.'
I convinced myself again.
And as my mind slowly recovered from its primitive terror and began to think clearly, it argued with me—
'Look back.'
'If it was truly the dark… prove it.'
I knew I would not sleep unless I checked.
So I turned my head back—
Slowly—
!!!!!
My chest nearly split open. My body froze entirely. My breath stopped.
A white head.
Featureless.
Completely erased.
Hovering directly before my nose.
'I saw nothing. I saw nothing. I saw nothing.'
My wide, petrified eyes did not dare blink.
The head tilted slightly.
And I felt—
It was smiling.
'The bastard is smiling.'
Mocking me.
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"Have you found it?"
The square-faced supervisor asked the figure seated in the dark.
"Not yet."
The supervisor's expression twisted.
"What do you mean, not yet? Do you realize the magnitude of the disaster if something like that is left roaming free?"
His voice lashed out in anger.
"The contamination committed suicide right in front of you. Why didn't you stop it?"
The man in the shadows lowered his tone—quiet, but edged with danger.
The square-faced supervisor tensed. His anger shrank slightly.
"I was observing a potential contamination. I didn't have the space to intervene."
Realizing he stood on weaker ground in the argument, he adjusted his glasses, attempting to justify himself.
"So do not place your failures upon us."
The voice from the darkness was decisive.
*Beep. Beep.*
The ringing of a phone sliced through the charged air between them.
The man concealed in shadow glanced at the caller ID and answered immediately. The call seemed more important than their dispute.
"Yes."
—"Boss! We've found it."
If he had stepped into the light, one would have seen the displeasure etched across his face—whether at the news… or at the title.
"Where?" His tone sharpened.
—"At the residence of the suspected contamination."
"Do not intervene. This has moved beyond our jurisdiction."
He ended the call with finality.
"You heard, didn't you?"
"Yes. We'll handle the rest from here."
The square-faced supervisor adjusted his glasses again and dialed several numbers into his phone.
"What do you intend to do next?" the man in the dark asked.
"We will eliminate the potential contamination, of course."
The answer came firm. Unwavering.
Silence followed.
The man in the shadows remained still for several seconds after the square-faced supervisor finished dialing.
Then—
He disappeared into the darkness as though he had always been part of it.
The other man did not even sense his departure.
Once outside, the man—whose neatly combed hair had not dared defy its perfect arrangement—lifted his phone and dialed swiftly.
"Hello. Sir… I'd like to request a favor…"
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