Rain hammered against the apartment windows.
The room had gone deathly silent.
Ji-an stood frozen beside his desk, unable to tear his eyes away from the figure outside.
Haon.
He stood on the narrow fire escape as though balancing there required no effort at all. Rain soaked his ash-gray hair, causing damp strands to cling to his forehead, but he didn't seem bothered. His amber eyes—usually calm and unreadable—were sharp, focused on Ji-an with unmistakable urgency.
He slowly raised one finger to his lips.
Haon (mouthing): "Don't. Speak."
Ji-an's throat tightened.
Why?
His breathing grew shallow.
Then...
A second shadow rose behind Haon.
It unfolded from the darkness like smoke taking shape.
Long black robes dragged across the metal grating of the fire escape.
Scrrrraape...
The sound made Ji-an's stomach twist.
The creature's body was impossibly tall, nearly twice Haon's height. The black cloth covering it rippled as though something beneath it kept shifting, never settling into a human form.
Then...
Its enormous white eye opened.
It stared directly through the window.
At Ji-an.
Ji-an instinctively took a step backward.
The floor creaked.
The creature's eye widened.
It had heard him.
Haon: "...Don't move."
His voice was barely louder than the rain.
Calm.
Steady.
Yet Ji-an noticed something unusual.
Haon's right hand was trembling.
He was afraid.
The creature slowly lifted one impossibly long hand.
Its fingers touched the glass.
Instead of fingerprints...
Dark frost spread across the window.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Thin fractures raced through the glass.
Ji-an's heart pounded.
"Mom..."
His mother was still in the apartment.
If that thing got inside—
Without warning—
Haon stepped between Ji-an and the creature.
He pressed his own palm against the window.
For a brief moment...
Silver light bloomed beneath his hand.
Thin glowing lines spread across the glass like roots growing beneath ice.
The cracks stopped.
The creature hissed.
Not loudly.
Almost...
Annoyed.
For the first time...
It spoke.
Its voice sounded like dozens of whispers layered together.
Young.
Old.
Male.
Female.
All at once.
Creature: "Give him back."
Ji-an frowned.
"...Give who back?"
The creature ignored him.
Its eye never left Haon.
Creature: "He belongs to us."
Haon's jaw clenched.
Haon: "No."
One word.
Quiet.
Certain.
The creature laughed.
The sound echoed inside Ji-an's head instead of the room.
Creature: "You already failed once."
Ji-an looked at Haon.
His expression changed.
For just a heartbeat...
Pain crossed his face.
Real pain.
As though those words had cut deeper than any knife.
Then...
Haon looked directly at Ji-an.
Haon: "Open your bedroom door."
Ji-an blinked.
"...What?"
Haon: "Trust me."
There was no hesitation in Haon's voice.
Only certainty.
Ji-an ran.
He threw open his bedroom door.
The hallway outside was empty.
When he turned back...
The fire escape was gone.
No rain.
No broken glass.
No monster.
No Haon.
Only his own reflection staring back at him through the window.
"...Was I hallucinating?"
His phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
«Rule One. Never answer when they call your name after sunset.»
Another message appeared.
«Rule Two. Never invite a stranger into your home after dark.»
Ji-an frowned.
"What...?"
A third message arrived.
«Rule Three. If Seo Haon ever tells you to run... don't ask why.»
His eyes widened.
Whoever was sending these messages...
Knew Haon.
The apartment suddenly went dark.
The power had gone out.
Every room disappeared into blackness.
Somewhere in the living room...
A floorboard creaked.
His mother called out.
Mother: "Ji-an?"
Her voice sounded strangely distant.
Too distant.
The living room was only a few steps away.
Why did she sound...
So far?
Another voice answered.
From the darkness.
In the exact same tone.
"Ji-an?"
His blood froze.
There were two voices.
One belonged to his mother.
The other...
Was pretending to be her.
His phone lit up one final time.
«Don't answer the second voice.»
Ji-an held his breath.
Outside his bedroom...
Footsteps slowly approached his door.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Then...
A gentle knock.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A warm, familiar voice spoke through the wood.
"Ji-an... it's Mom. Open the door."
Before Ji-an could move...
A second voice whispered from directly behind him.
Close enough for icy breath to brush against his ear.
Haon: "...Don't open it."
Ji-an spun around.
Haon was standing inside his bedroom.
The window behind him was still closed.
There was no way he could have entered.
Yet there he was.
His clothes were still soaked from the rain.
His expression was calm once again.
But his amber eyes never left the bedroom door.
Outside...
The knocking continued.
Slowly.
Patiently.
Waiting.
To Be Continued...
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