Chapter 3

The Red Notebook — Episode 3: (The Knock)

Yuri stared at the door.
She didn't breathe.
She didn't move.
She simply listened.

Nothing.

The hallway had gone completely silent.

Then, slowly—

Knock.

Yuri's eyes widened.

A second knock followed.

Knock.

She took a step backward.

Then came the third.

Knock.

Three knocks.

Exactly three.

Yuri's fingers tightened around the blanket.

Yuri: “Mom…?”

Silence.

Then a voice came from the other side.

So quiet that Yuri almost thought she had imagined it.

“Yuri…”

Her heart dropped.

She knew that voice.

Or at least… she thought she did.

Yuri slowly approached the door.

One step.

Then another.

Her hand hovered over the handle.

She was about to open it when she noticed something underneath the door.

A shadow.

Someone was standing outside.

But the shadow wasn't moving.

Yuri stopped.

Then the shadow suddenly disappeared.

Yuri's eyes widened.

She pulled the door open.

Nobody.

The hallway was empty.

But something was lying on the floor.

A small red notebook.

Yuri stared at it.

She hadn't seen it there before.

Slowly, she bent down and picked it up.

There was no name.

No title.

Only a strange black symbol on the cover.

She turned it over.

Three words were written on the back.

“DON'T TRUST THEM.”

Yuri's stomach twisted.

She looked toward her parents' room.

The door was slightly open.

Yuri: “Mom?”

No answer.

She pushed the door open.

The room was empty.

Her parents were gone.

But their phones were still on the table.

Their bags were still there.

And on the bed was a single piece of paper.

Yuri picked it up.

Her hands began to shake.

It contained only one sentence:

“If you're reading this, Yuri… they found you.”

She looked at the red notebook in her hand.

For the first time, Yuri wondered if coming to Seoul had ever been her parents' idea at all.

Maybe they hadn't brought her here.

Maybe—

someone had brought them here.

To be continued…

“I could tell you more, but I value the mystery. 🤓”