Arkhan was in the living room, waiting for Sandy to come home—who had said he was going out to buy food, but now couldn't be reached at all.
"Why are we starting to disappear one by one like this?" said Jio, frustrated.
"Unknown keeps bringing up Jeongin's death. Are you guys sure there's no connection?" asked Sena.
"I've already checked all your backgrounds, and there's no link. That's why I'm still confused. They're among us, but no one knows who they are," replied Arkhan.
Silence fell again.
Arkhan glanced out the window at the sky, now tinged orange. "Guys, I'm gonna go charge my phone in the room."
He had barely taken a few steps when his phone suddenly rang.
Ting!
Arkhan looked at the notification—it was a message from Unknown. He turned to glance back at his two friends still in the room: Jio sat silently, deep in thought, while Sena was reading a book.
With trembling hands, Arkhan opened the message from Unknown:
– Too bad, one less already. Want me to reduce it again? –
Not long after, Unknown sent a photo—Sandy, tied to a chair and unconscious.
Arkhan clenched his phone in anger.
– Who the hell are you?
– I'll find you, soon enough –
Arkhan lowered his head, trying to calm himself so his friends wouldn't notice.
Soon after, a reply from Unknown appeared:
– No need to find me, because I'll find you first –
Arkhan placed his phone on the nightstand and sat on his bed, trying to steady his breathing.
One thing he now realized: it was very possible that one of their friends, who was said to have gone missing, hadn't really disappeared at all.
*****
Sandy slowly opened his eyes. Though still dizzy, he tried to figure out where he was.
Some kind of storage room in a house?
"I tracked Levan's phone earlier, and I found it by the river, then—"
Sandy began to remember everything that had happened. Not far from where he was, he saw a figure in a black cloak standing with their back to him.
The figure was talking on the phone, discussing something about an extracurricular club.
"Okay, I'll let you know later." The figure turned around, facing Sandy who still sat in confusion. The figure then walked toward him.
"So this is the mark Nero saw back then? I was impressed that you figured it out so quickly," said the figure, bending down to examine the taser mark on Sandy's neck.
"S-Sena?" Sandy looked up, realizing that the person behind the cloak was Sena.
"Wow, you recognized my voice. Yesterday, Levan didn't catch on at all." Sena took off the cloak, no longer needing to hide since he had been found out.
"Y-you killed Levan?" said Sandy.
"Yeah. I helped you get rid of him, because he accidentally let something slip that might have exposed your work," Sena replied.
"You're insane, Sena," Sandy muttered, stunned.
"Hey, I'm just cleaning up pests. What's wrong with that?"
Sena picked up a glass that was half-filled with water.
"Levan already told the whole story of my cousin's death. Hm... made me think, maybe it's not just Jio's and Arkhan's dads that I should get rid of—but all of you too."
He twirled the glass in his hand.
"You can't recover the evidence you deleted, can you?"
"I-I just need time to restore the data," said Sandy.
"No need to lie just to save your life," Sena said sharply.
"You're on my target list now too. I won't let you go."
Sandy gasped as Sena forced him to drink the water he brought.
"W-what is this water?" Sandy's throat began to burn, though he couldn't tell if it was from choking or from the drink itself.
"It's just regular water." Sena laughed. "Well... regular water mixed with cyanide."
He walked away casually, leaving Sandy slumped and weak.
Creeeak...
Joan entered the room to carry out his task—dealing with someone who had already been tortured by Sena.
Holding back tears, Joan slowly loosened the ropes around Sandy's body.
"W-who are you?"
Sandy was still barely conscious, his eyes half-closed.
"I heard other footsteps last time Sena was in here. I knew it couldn't be her who untied this."
"I-it's me... Joan."
Sandy was stunned. He struggled to open his eyes.
"You helped Sena?" Sandy whispered.
"I'm sorry…" Joan cried.
"W-why?" Sandy couldn't believe it.
"I wanted revenge... on my dad and Jio," said Joan.
"You were jealous of Jio because your dad wanted to pass the company to him?" asked Sandy.
Joan fell silent—a clear sign that what Sandy said was true.
"Joan… Jio was furious when he found out his dad didn't care about your death. He never even wanted to take over his dad's company," said Sandy.
Those words struck Joan's chest with guilt.
Had he misdirected anger toward Jio all along?