"Because he's lying! Someone told him to say those things!"
"Who?"
"The Serpent! It has to be!"
"The Serpent you can't identify. Can't prove exists."
"They do exist! I met them!"
Manager Park sat back. "Everything I just asked you. Every detail. That's what Jihoon told me. Weeks ago. Before you disappeared."
Yura went pale. "What?"
"He came to me. Confessed everything. Said you orchestrated it all. That you were the mastermind."
"He's lying!"
"He had messages. Screenshots. Payments. All from you."
"They're fake!"
"The dates matched. The timing was perfect. Everything lined up."
Yura looked around wildly. At Ethan. At Nari. At the LUMEN members. "You can't believe this. You can't believe I'd do all that."
"I don't know what to believe," Ethan said quietly.
"But I just told you about the Serpent! About the café! About being manipulated!"
"Or," Taekyung said, "you're deflecting. Creating a phantom enemy to hide behind."
"No!"
