Chapter 9

Chapter 9 — (The Second Message)

Saturday — 1:00 p.m. — Seo-jun's House

The rain had stopped.

But the sky was still dark.

Seo-jun sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his phone.

He couldn't stop thinking about Soo-ah's sister.

Her hesitation.

Her tears.

And the way she had refused to let them see Soo-ah's room.

Something wasn't right.

His phone suddenly buzzed.

MIHO: Did you guys notice something?

Seo-jun replied immediately.

SEO-JUN: What?

A few seconds later, Han-seok joined the conversation.

HAN-SEOK: If this is another argument, I'm leaving.

MIHO: I'm serious.

She sent a screenshot.

It was Soo-ah's chat.

Seo-jun stared at it.

There was a message from Soo-ah that he hadn't seen before.

SOO-AH: I think someone knows.

Seo-jun's expression changed.

“When did she send this?”

Miho replied:

MIHO: I don't know. It wasn't there earlier.

Han-seok called immediately.

“What do you mean it wasn't there?”

Miho answered,

“I checked her conversation this morning. That message wasn't there.”

Seo-jun frowned.

“Maybe you missed it.”

“No,” Miho said. “I checked everything.”

Me-yongi quietly asked,

“Who does she mean by ‘someone’?”

Nobody answered.

Then another message appeared.

SOO-AH: Don't tell anyone yet.

The room went silent.

Han-seok spoke first.

“Okay…”

Seo-jun looked at the screen.

“She knew something.”

Miho nodded.

“And she was scared someone would find out.”

Me-yongi looked worried.

“Could it be related to the party?”

Seo-jun thought for a moment.

“Maybe.”

Han-seok suddenly sat up.

“Wait.”

Everyone looked at him.

“What?”

He pointed at the screen.

“Look at the time.”

The message had been sent at 8:17 p.m.

Seo-jun's eyes widened.

“That was before the party started.”

Miho nodded slowly.

“So whatever she was talking about…”

She stopped.

“It happened before she even got there.”

1:30 p.m. — Seo-jun's House

The four friends sat around Seo-jun's desk.

Miho opened her phone again.

“I checked the messages carefully.”

She showed them the conversation.

“There was something else.”

Seo-jun leaned closer.

“What?”

Miho pointed at the screen.

“Look at this.”

A deleted-message notification appeared between two of Soo-ah's messages.

This message was deleted.

Han-seok frowned.

“Can you recover it?”

“No.”

Seo-jun stared at the screen.

“When was it deleted?”

Miho checked.

“Yesterday.”

“After Soo-ah…”

She nodded.

Nobody spoke.

Me-yongi looked at Seo-jun.

“Who could have access to her phone?”

Seo-jun's expression hardened.

“I don't know.”

Han-seok stood up.

“Then we find out.”

Seo-jun looked at him.

“How?”

Han-seok picked up his jacket.

“We start with the party.”

Miho frowned.

“The party?”

“Someone there might have seen Soo-ah before she disappeared.”

Seo-jun stood.

“Then let's ask everyone.”

He reached for his phone.

But before he could unlock it—

BUZZ.

An unknown number.

One message.

Seo-jun opened it.

UNKNOWN:
Stop asking questions.

His face went pale.

Another message appeared.

UNKNOWN:
You don't know what you're looking for.

Han-seok stepped closer.

“Who is it?”

Seo-jun didn't answer.

A final message appeared.

UNKNOWN:
And don't go back to Soo-ah's house.

Seo-jun slowly lowered his phone.

Miho stared at him.

“What did they say?”

He looked at the three of them.

For the first time, none of them had anything to say.

Because now they knew one thing for certain.

Someone was watching them.

To be continued…