Jack caught up with them again later in the lobby after class, looking genuinely excited to show Kira something on his phone (probably another random Korean phrase he learned five minutes ago).
But Kira was already tense from earlier, and Ava could practically feel her energy shifting into protective mode.
Jack smiled. "Kira, look. I learned another phrase. I can say han….."
Kira suddenly cut him off in Korean, voice low but sharp.
"Wae ddo urin ttaraoneun geoya. Uril midji ma."
(Why are you following us again. Do not pretend you are not.)
Jack blinked fast, genuinely confused. "Kira, what are you talking about? I just wanted to share something. You two left so quickly, I thought maybe you were upset so..."
Kira stepped closer, eyes narrow. "Then stop watching us like CCTV. Do you think we do not see you."
People in the hallway were starting to glance.
Jack froze, color draining from his face.
"What? Wait, I am not watching anyone. I swear. What did I do?"
Ava touched Kira's wrist. "Kira… hey… stop. He did not do anything right now."
Kira ignored her, still speaking in Korean. "Geumanhae. Neo mweonji algo inneun geot gata."
(Enough. It feels like you know something.)
Jack's voice cracked. "Kira, please, I am not suspicious. I am trying to be friendly. Why are you suddenly talking like I am dangerous?"
Kira opened her mouth again but Ava stepped in front of her, blocking her.
"Kira, come on. Let's go."
Kira finally pulled away from Ava and walked straight to her house without waiting for Jack or anyone. Ava mouthed a small "sorry" to Jack before running after her.
Jack just stood there, looking stunned and actually hurt.
Not calculating.
Not creepy.
Just hurt.
And that was the first moment Ava doubted the entire suspicion.
⸻
At home, Kira stormed upstairs first.
Ava tried knocking gently a few minutes later but Kira only answered with a small "I am fine. I just need a moment."
So Ava left her alone.
Kira sat quietly on her bed for a long while, replaying everything that happened, feeling that embarrassing guilt crawling in her stomach.
She sighed and decided to distract herself, maybe check her uncle's study to borrow the family photo album she remembered he kept there.
When she walked past her uncle's room, she noticed the door was open.
It was usually locked when he was away.
He was on a business trip, so why was it open now?
Curiosity won.
Kira slowly stepped inside.
The room smelled like old paper and cedar wood. Dusty shelves everywhere. Books stacked high. Nothing strange at first glance.
Until she noticed a drawer partly open.
Inside lay old photographs. Random backgrounds, family events, holidays… and then suddenly something that made her freeze.
A picture of Yuri.
A very old picture.
Not just a normal family photo.
Yuri standing near a lake, the exact lake from that summer, holding a little girl that looked exactly like Ava when she was younger.
And behind them, almost hidden by the angle, a tall shadow of a man.
Not her uncle.
Not anyone she recognized.
The photo felt wrong.
Like a piece of history someone tried to throw away, then changed their mind and kept anyway.
Before she could process it, she noticed something else tucked underneath:
A printed email.
Just one visible line near the top.
"Regarding the incident five years ago…"
Kira's pulse jumped painfully.
"… please continue keeping her unaware…"
She stepped back slowly, breathing hard.
This was not an accident.
Someone left this here.
And someone wanted to hide it.
Kira stared at Yuri's picture again, whispering under her breath in absolute disbelief:
"Ava… your mom knew more than she told us."
Her phone buzzed suddenly, making her jump.
A message.
From ava:
Kie… juseyo, I think u should apologize to jack.
♡——————
Kira stuffed the picture and the email back exactly the way she found them, trying not to leave any sign she had touched anything. Her hands were actually trembling, and she hated that.
She couldn't tell Ava right now...Ava just started remembering pieces, and Ava was already shaking inside.
And Ethan? No, not yet.
She needed proof before involving anyone.
So she went downstairs, grabbed her bag and keys and mumbled something about "going out to study."
Her dad called from the living room, asking if she wanted tea first, but she pretended she didn't hear him and practically escaped outside.
She told herself she was just going to the café to think.
But honestly, she felt like the walls of the house were listening.
She walked with her headphones on, hood up, eyes on the pavement, replaying that photo of Yuri and Ava as kids and that creepy line in the email.
"…please continue keeping her unaware…"
Keep who unaware?
Ava?
Or Judith?
She stepped onto the crosswalk distracted…..
and smacked right into someone's shoulder.
She blinked up...Jack.
He froze for half a second, eyes cold, not playful at all this time.
She tried, very quietly, "Jack… annyeo…..I mean… look I didn't—"
But Jack stepped aside like she wasn't even there, face stiff, mouth tight.
He muttered under his breath, not even looking at her, "I don't have anything to say to you."
Then he walked away fast, headphones on, completely ignoring her.
Kira stood there for a moment, feeling that sting she was absolutely NOT prepared for.
She opened her mouth like she might call after him, then shut it.
Fine.
She deserved that.
But the timing felt weird.
Too sudden.
And then something hit her:
if Jack knew Korean well enough to understand everything she said yesterday…
then he knew she wasn't accusing him as a joke.
He knew she meant it.
And maybe that was why he looked genuinely hurt.
Which suddenly made him even less suspicious in her mind… but somehow even more confusing.
She sighed and kept walking to the café, heart still beating too fast, trying to pretend everything around her was normal—when absolutely nothing was anymore.
Scene….
Kira slid into a corner booth of the café, the one near the window where she could still watch the street. She ordered iced coffee but barely touched it. Her brain was too busy connecting things she wished weren't connecting.
She pulled out her phone and searched her uncle's business name again, scrolling deeper this time, past the normal articles and congratulation posts. That weird comment section she saw last time—it wasn't just trolls, some of them actually mentioned missing children cases and "community donations" that didn't reach the right places.
She tried to breathe slow, but that picture of Yuri and Ava wouldn't leave her mind. Why did her uncle have it, and why was Ava so young there?
She opened the email photo again, zooming until the pixels blurred.
"…continue keeping her unaware…"
Keep who unaware of what?
Was her uncle the one the stalker referred to as "the person who wants Ava back"?
Or…
did Judith know all this already?
Kira suddenly felt her fingers dial before she even finished thinking it through.
Judith's name lit up on the screen.
The call rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Judith answered with a quiet voice, like she already expected this call.
Kira swallowed.
Judith? Can you come meet me right now? There is something I need to ask you… privately.
There was a short, tense silence.
Then Judith said, completely calm,
Alright. Tell me where.
Kira gave her the café name and ended the call, but her phone stayed in her hand like it weighed a thousand pounds.
She stared at her reflection in the window.
This whole time, they were so focused on the stalker that they'd stopped asking the more important question:
Who else was involved all along?