Jake was in the living room, waiting for Sunghoon to return – he'd said he'd gone out to buy some food, but his mobile was now completely unreachable.
"Why are we starting to disappear one by one like this?" said Jay, frustrated.
"Unknown keeps mentioning Jeongin's death. Are you sure none of you are connected to that?" asked Sunoo.
"I've checked your backgrounds and none of you are connected. That's why I'm still baffled. He's amongst us, but nobody knows where he is," replied Jake.
Silence fell once more.
Jake looked out of the window at the sky, which was tinged with orange. "Guys, I'm going to my room to charge my mobile."
Jake hadn't gone far when his mobile suddenly rang.
Ting!
Jake looked at the notification, which turned out to be a message from Unknown. He turned around to see his two friends still there – Jay, lost in thought, and Sunoo, reading a book.
With trembling hands, Jake opened the message from 'Unknown':
- Poor thing, it's already gone down. Do you want me to reduce it some more? -
Shortly afterwards, 'Unknown' sent a photo of Sunghoon, tied to a chair and unconscious.
Jake clenched his phone, holding back his anger.
- Who the hell are you, you bastard!
- I'll find you as soon as possible—
Jake walked with his head down, trying to calm himself so his friends wouldn't notice.
Before long, a reply came from 'Unknown':
- No need to look for me, because I'll find you first—
Jake placed his mobile on the bedside table, then sat on his bed, trying to steady his breathing.
One thing he now realised: it was highly likely that one of his friends, who had reportedly gone missing, hadn't actually… gone missing at all.
*****
Sunghoon began to open his eyes. Although he still felt dizzy, he tried to figure out where he was.
Like a storeroom inside a house?
"I was tracking Heeseung's mobile earlier, and I found it by the river, then–"
Sunghoon began to recall everything that had happened before. Not far away, he saw a figure in a black cloak standing with their back to him.
The figure was talking on the phone. They were discussing extracurricular activities with the person on the other end.
"Right, I'll let you know later." The figure turned, glancing at Sunghoon who still stood there silently, looking confused. He then walked towards Sunghoon.
"So, is this the mark Niki saw back then? I'm impressed—you recognised it straight away." The figure bent down, examining the taser mark on Sunghoon's neck.
"S-Sunoo?" Sunghoon looked up, realising that the person behind the cloak was Sunoo.
"Wow, you recognised my voice. Even though yesterday, Heeseung didn't realise it at all." Sunoo opened his cloak. He felt there was no need to use it anymore now that he'd been found out.
"D-Did you kill Heeseung?" said Sunghoon.
"Yes. I helped you get rid of him, because yesterday he let slip something that might have exposed your work," replied Sunoo.
"You're insane, Sunoo," said Sunghoon, trembling in disbelief.
"Hey, I was just getting rid of a pest. What's wrong with that?"
Sunoo picked up a glass half-filled with water.
"Heeseung had already told me the chronology of my cousin's death. Hm… It's got me thinking—maybe it's not just Jay and Jake's father I need to deal with, but you lot as well."
He played with the glass in his hand, swirling it back and forth.
"You won't be able to restore all the evidence you've deleted, will you?"
"I-I just need time to recover the data," said Sunghoon.
"There's no need to lie just so I'll spare your life," said Sunoo, staring intently.
"You've become my target too. So, I won't let you go."
Sunghoon flinched as Sunoo forced him to drink the water he'd brought.
"Y-you… What exactly is that water?" Sunghoon's throat now felt raw, whether from choking or from the drink itself.
"It's just plain water," Sunoo laughed. "Well… plain water that I've mixed with cyanide."
Casually, Sunoo walked out, leaving Sunghoon slumped weakly with his head bowed.
Krieettt…
Jungwon entered the room to carry out his duty: dealing with someone Sunoo had already tortured.
Fighting back tears, Jungwon slowly untied the ropes binding Sunghoon's body.
"W-who are you?" Sunghoon was apparently still conscious, even though his eyes appeared to be closed.
"I heard another set of footsteps when Sunoo was here. I'm also sure he wouldn't have untied these."
"I-it's… Jungwon."
Sunghoon was taken aback. With great effort, he opened his eyes.
"Did you help Sunoo?" Sunghoon whispered.
"I'm sorry…" Jungwon cried.
"W-why?" Sunghoon couldn't believe it.
"I wanted to take revenge on my father and Jay," said Jungwon.
"Are you jealous of Jay because your father wants to hand the company over to him?" asked Sunghoon.
Jungwon fell silent, indicating that what Sunghoon had said was indeed true.
"Jay was furious when he found out his father didn't care about the news of your death. Jay also has absolutely no intention of taking over his father's company," said Sunghoon.
Those words instantly made Jungwon's chest ache. Had he been directing his resentment at Jay all this time for the wrong reasons?