The hospital corridor was silent when Hyejin stepped inside, heading straight toward Jongsuk's room.
But before she could enter, her phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
She hesitated.
Then answered.
"It's me. Come to 42 Hongyeong Road at 6:30 PM. Near the streetlight."
Hyejin froze.
"…Is that you?" she whispered, breath shaking.
The line went dead.
---
Inside Jongsuk's room, Jaeahn, Jongsuk, and Dohwan gathered.
"It's time," Hyejin told them. "We need to figure this out."
"I already have a plan," Jaeahn said.
But she didn't share it. Not yet.
"Do whatever you want… just be careful," Dohwan warned.
"I will," Jaeahn replied.
But Jongsuk shook his head.
"No. Not until I'm discharged. I won't let you take risks."
Jaeahn clicked her tongue. "Fine, fine. I'll wait. I don't want you back in the hospital again anyway."
She turned to Dohwan.
"Come with me. I need you."
---
Hyejin's Scene
The sky darkened when Hyejin reached Hongyeong Road.
6:55 PM.
No one.
Her phone rang again — the same unknown number.
"Walk straight for two minutes. Turn left. There's a graveyard. Come."
Hyejin swallowed.
"…Is this… you?"
The call cut again.
She followed the instructions.
But at the graveyard — silence.
Then—footsteps.
She turned—
A cloth pressed over her mouth.
Darkness swallowed her.
---
Jaeahn's Apartment Scene
Meanwhile, Jaeahn told Dohwan, "Jongsuk is safe. He's home now."
But when she opened her apartment door—
A masked man lunged at her.
Dohwan's eyes widened, frozen at the brutality of the fight.
He had never seen Jaeahn like this.
Jaeahn grabbed the man by the hair, slammed him to the floor, twisted his arm, pinned him down.
When he tried to stab her—
She dragged him to the balcony, hanging him over the edge.
"Talk," she hissed. "Or I drop you."
"O-OKAY! I'll talk!" the man cried. "I—I received money… an address… they told me to kill the girl living here… I don't know who they are!"
"Show me."
He handed her the phone.
Jaeahn froze.
It was her address.
And the payment—
4 million won.
"Who sent the money?" she asked.
"I don't know… I swear…"
Jaeahn exhaled slowly. Then:
"Fine. Go. But tell them the girl is dead.
And if you speak a word about this—
Next time I won't pull you up. I'll drop you."
The man ran, terrified.
---
Hyejin's TRUE Face Revealed
Hyejin hung upside-down in an abandoned building, rope cutting into her wrists.
Shadowy figures surrounded her.
"You're useless now," their leader said.
"We don't need you."
"Please, boss," Hyejin begged. "I didn't mean to help her! Give me another chance— I'll finish her. The man you sent just made one mistake— he stabbed Jongsuk instead of Jaeahn— but I—"
A gun cocked.
"One last chance?" she whispered.
A gunshot echoed.
Scene cuts.
---
Dohwan's Scene
Dohwan lay in bed but couldn't sleep.
His head replayed the fight.
Jaeahn's strength.
Her anger.
Her fear.
He remembered overhearing Hyejin at the hospital. Something felt wrong.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown message:
"Don't trust Hyejin."
Dohwan frowned.
"Who are you?"
Immediately, his phone rang.
He answered.
A soft voice whispered:
"Nippo."
Dohwan's blood ran cold.
Only one person had ever called him that.
"…Jihu?"
Before he could react—
Hyejin entered his room.
Her clothes slightly dusty.
Hair messed.
Eyes strange.
Dohwan stared at her, heart pounding.
The gunshot echoed again in Hyejin's mind.
But in the flashback, the truth twisted itself—
The leader never aimed at her.
His gun was pointed at the sky, the bullet slicing the air, not her flesh.
Hyejin stood frozen in the memory, her younger self trembling as she hid behind a broken pillar.
Her voice cracked as she whispered into the phone:
"Jaeahn… come quickly… I-I'm scared…"
But it wasn't fear.
It was a trap.
Her trembling fingers sent the location to Jaeahn.
And then—
She turned to Jihu.
His expression was calm, almost heartbreakingly gentle as he pressed a USB and a small evidence file into her hands.
"Hyejin… take care of this. If something happens to me… don't let her get hurt."
Hyejin shook her head, terrified.
"But— Jihu— why are you going in alone?!"
Jihu gave a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Because if Jaeahn enters, she won't come back alive. I need to clear her path… even if it means disappearing."
And before she could answer, he was gone—running straight into the darkness Jaeahn was being lured to.
The memory snapped.
Hyejin gasped, eyes wide, as the present returned. Her leader's voice thundered behind her
"Bring that girl to me."
Her blood froze.
Her flashback ended
but her nightmare didn't.
Hyejin whispered under her breath, almost trembling
"Where is Jaeah.? I need to take over before everything burns down."
Do Hwan stared at her, completely stunned.
For the first time, he didn't know whom to trust-
Hyejin?
Jaeahn?
The ghost of Jihu?
Or the voice on the phone?
The phone in his hand lit up again.
A distorted voice hissed through the speaker:
Nippo… don't believe him.
Static.
Silence.
Do Hwan's breath halted.
And Chapter 11 ends in fractures of fear—
with everyone doubting everyone.