For a long moment after Evan's answer, Rhea did not speak.
The small interrogation room felt suffocatingly quiet. The fluorescent light hummed faintly above them, and somewhere beyond the walls a distant door slammed shut in the police station corridor. But inside this room, time seemed to slow.
Evan's words lingered in the air, "I don't know."
Rhea studied him carefully. His shoulders trembled slightly, as if the weight of the past few days had finally crushed whatever strength he had left. Dark circles surrounded his eyes, deep and hollow, and his face carried the pale exhaustion of someone who had not slept, had not eaten, had not stopped reliving the same nightmare again and again.
There was no calculation in his expression. No hidden intent. Only confusion. And pain. Rhea inhaled slowly.Then she asked quietly, her voice steady but soft.
"Do you think you could kill Noah?"
For a second, Evan didn't react.His gaze remained fixed somewhere near the floor, as if the question had not yet reached him. Then the meaning struck.Suddenly he shook his head violently.
"No...never!"
The words burst out of him like something tearing free. His voice cracked painfully as tears spilled from his eyes. His breathing became erratic, almost desperate.
"How could I kill Noah?" he cried. The grief in his voice filled the room.
"He was my everything… he believed me… he loved me…" His chest heaved as if each breath hurt. "He is my family." His voice broke completely. "I could never hurt him… never…"
Evan covered his face with his hands as his body folded forward. The sobs came uncontrollably now, shaking him from head to toe. Raw. Helpless. The sound echoed in the small room.
Rhea felt something inside her settle firmly into place. She stepped closer. For a moment she simply looked at him, the broken boy sitting in front of her, drowning in guilt that clearly did not belong to him.
Then she spoke. "You did nothing." Her voice was calm. Certain.
"You are not wrong."
Evan slowly lifted his head. His eyes were red, wet, filled with disbelief.
"I believe you." The words were simple. But to Evan, they felt like light breaking through a suffocating darkness. For the first time since his arrest, something inside him loosened. Not hope. But something close.
Behind the dark glass of the observation room, Detective Kolon had watched every second. The glow of the CCTV monitor reflected faintly in his eyes. He leaned slightly forward in his chair, elbows resting on the desk, studying Evan's reactions carefully. Years of experience had taught him how to recognize lies. People rehearsed emotions. They hesitated. Their words slipped at the edges. But Evan showed none of it. No calculation. No manipulation. Only exhaustion and grief.
Kolon's eyes narrowed slightly as he replayed the boy's reactions in his mind. Still… something about the case bothered him. It had been too clean. Too perfect. An anonymous tip. A weapon. A suspect arriving exactly at the crime scene. Everything aligned as if someone had arranged it. Kolon exhaled slowly. Then he leaned toward the microphone connected to the interrogation room.
"Time's up." The sharp sound of his voice echoed through the speaker.
Inside the room, Rhea nodded slightly. She turned back to Evan. "You'll be fine," she said softly. Her voice carried quiet determination.
"I will help you in every way possible."
For a brief second their eyes met. Then she walked toward the door.
Outside the room, Rhea passed Detective Kolon. Their gazes met. Neither of them spoke. But Rhea gave a small nod before leaving the corridor. Kolon watched her disappear down the hallway. Then his eyes shifted back toward the observation glass. Evan sat exactly where he had been. Motionless. Drained. Kolon waited. Sometimes suspects revealed their true selves after the act was over after the audience had left. But Evan didn't move.
Minutes passed. Nothing. Kolon stepped in and told Evan to confess now before Noah wakes up, because after that it would be very difficult for Evan to even see the sunrise outside the prison cell.
"I want him to wake up detective, it would be better for him to cuff me up and put me in prison himself", Evan said.
Kolon finally sighed and rushed out. Something about this case was wrong. He could feel it.
Across the city, inside a quiet hospital room, machines hummed softly. Noah lay on the bed, pale and unmoving. Clear tubes ran across his body, feeding oxygen and medicine into veins that barely responded. The heart monitor beside him beeped steadily, its rhythm slow but stable. A fragile life hanging by a thin thread.
Kai sat beside the bed. For a long time, he said nothing. He simply watched Noah. Then, slowly, he spoke.
"You know… I actually liked you." His fingers tapped lightly against the metal railing of the hospital bed.
"You were a good friend." His voice carried a strange calmness. But then it changed. Colder.
"But you shouldn't have come between me and Evan." Kai leaned slightly closer to Noah's motionless face.
"If you had just stayed away…" His eyes darkened.
"…none of this would have happened to you." At that exact moment...
The heart monitor suddenly spiked...Beep...Beep...Beep...
The rhythm became erratic. Noah's body jerked slightly. Kai's eyes widened. Then slowly… A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Is it time for you to go?" he whispered.
Suddenly alarms exploded through the room. Doctors rushed in immediately.
"Sir, please wait outside!"
Kai stepped back as nurses pushed him toward the door. The ICU doors shut firmly behind him. Inside the room chaos erupted.
"His BP is crashing!"
"Start compressions!"
"Prepare adrenaline!"
Machines screamed warnings as the monitor lines flickered dangerously.
At that exact moment, Rhea entered the hospital building. Her footsteps echoed as she hurried down the corridor toward the ICU. From a distance she saw Kai standing outside the room. He looked shattered. The moment he noticed her, tears filled his eyes. He rushed toward her and wrapped his arms tightly around her.
"Please… Noah can't leave me," Kai said, his voice trembling.
"Please… he needs to come back." Rhea froze for a second. Then instinctively she hugged him back.
"Nothing will happen," she said quickly. Though her own voice trembled. The ICU doors suddenly burst open. A nurse rushed out.
"His blood pressure has dropped to the lowest level," she said urgently.
"We could lose him any minute." Rhea felt her hands begin to shake.
Inside her mind, a desperate prayer formed. Noah… You have to stay. You cannot die. For Evan… You have to save him. Come back.
Seconds passed. Then suddenly...Everything went silent.
Inside the ICU, the heart monitor emitted one long, unbroken sound. BEEEEEEEEEEP.
Rhea froze. Kai stared through the glass window. Inside, a doctor slowly removed his gloves. He opened his mouth.
"Time of death—"
Beep.