Darkness swallowed the corridor—not the quiet darkness of power loss,but the alive darkness of something hunting.
Ha-rin clung to Jae-hyun's arm, her pulse racing.
"Jae-hyun… she said someone is coming—"
"I know," he whispered, pulling her close. "Stay behind me."
Echo flickered overhead like a failing star.
"Warning… anomaly approaching… identity conflict detected…"
Then the floor beneath them dropped,and they fell—
Not down,but sideways,like gravity shifted directions in the middle of a nightmare.
When they landed—
Ha-rin gasped.
They were standing in a room with no walls.Only floating pieces of furniture, fragments of shattered memory,and mirrors suspended in the air like shards of thought.
Each mirror showed something different:
Ha-rin crying in a hospital
Jae-hyun searching for someone
A girl with Ha-rin's eyes sitting alone in a burning room
A version of Ha-rin smiling with a man who wasn't Jae-hyun
Ha-rin stepped back, shaken.
"What… is this?"
Echo's voice trembled.
"The memory war zone.The place where versions collide."
Jae-hyun scanned the endless horizon.
"We need to get out—"
A laugh echoed through the void.
Soft.Dangerous.Too familiar.
Ha-rin froze.Her breath hitched.
"No…" she whispered."No, no—"
From the darkness, a figure walked forward.
And Ha-rin saw —
herself.
But not the sweet teenager from the gardenor the child from the stairsor the girl who died in the fire.
No.
This Ha-rin was… older.Sharper.Eyes like broken glass.Hair half-burned.Clothes torn from a fire that never touched this timeline.
A version shaped entirely by bitterness.
A version built on loss.
A version Echo couldn't bury.
She smirked.
"So," she said, voice cold,"You're the Ha-rin who lived."
Ha-rin trembled.
Jae-hyun stepped in front of her instantly.
"Who are you?"
The echo-Ha-rin smiled cruelly.
"I'm the Ha-rin who died…but didn't stay dead."
Ha-rin choked.
"You're—You're from the timeline where Haneul didn't save me."
She nodded.
"When the fire took me… my consciousness didn't dissolve."She tilted her head."It latched onto Echo.I became a ghost in the machine."
Jae-hyun's eyes hardened.
"You're hurting her. Stealing her memories."
The broken Ha-rin laughed.
"I'm taking back what was MINE."
Ha-rin's fingers slipped into Jae-hyun's sleeve, trembling.
"Why do you hate me?" she whispered.
Broken Ha-rin's face twisted.
"I don't hate YOU," she said slowly."I hate the world that let you live."She pointed a shaking, furious finger."And let me die."
Ha-rin stepped back like she had been slapped.
Jae-hyun stepped forward.
"You want revenge on the wrong person."
Broken Ha-rin tilted her head.
"Do I?"
Her eyes locked onto Jae-hyun.
"I remember you."
Jae-hyun froze.Ha-rin stiffened.
Broken Ha-rin smiled wider.
"In my timeline, you were the boy who found my body."
Ha-rin's breath caught.
Jae-hyun's voice cracked.
"…What?"
"You looked for me every day in the ruins.Called my name."She stepped closer, barefoot on the void."You cried when you couldn't find me."
Jae-hyun swallowed hard, his voice rough.
"I didn't know it was you."
But broken Ha-rin ignored Ha-rin entirely.
She walked toward Jae-hyun.
Slow.Purposeful.Terrifying.
"You grieved me," she whispered."You loved me first."
Ha-rin's hand flew to her chest.
Jae-hyun stepped back, shaking his head.
"No. I didn't love you. I didn't even—"
"You did," she murmured."And you don't even remember."
Silence slammed into the space.
Ha-rin stared at Jae-hyun—eyes wide, full of hurt she didn't want to feel.
"Is… that true?" she whispered.
"No," Jae-hyun said instantly."Ha-rin—NO. I didn't know it was you. I didn't know anything."
Broken Ha-rin smiled cruelly.
"But you cried harder for me than you ever did for her."
"THAT'S A LIE!" Jae-hyun shouted.
His voice shook the loop.
Broken Ha-rin didn't flinch.
"You're not angry at me," she whispered."You're angry because for one moment…you feel guilty."
Ha-rin shook her head furiously.
"No! Jae-hyun saved me— he anchored me— he chose me—"
Broken Ha-rin sneered.
"Then why does your heart drop every time I speak?"
Ha-rin froze.
Her heart had dropped.
Not because she doubted Jae-hyun—but because she felt the grief of the girl who died.
But broken Ha-rin twisted it.
"You're scared he would've loved me more," she whispered.
Ha-rin's breath stuttered.
Jae-hyun turned to her immediately.
"Ha-rin. NO."He cupped her face."Look at me. Look at only me."
She did.
His voice cracked.
"I didn't even know you existed.But I knew YOU.I chose YOU.I always choose YOU."
Broken Ha-rin's expression darkened with jealousy.
"That's enough," she hissed.
And the mirrors shattered—glass flying like razors.
Broken Ha-rin raised a hand—
and aimed it directly at Jae-hyun.
Ha-rin screamed.
"NO!!"
She lunged—
but the void ripped apart around them.
Broken Ha-rin's whisper echoed through the collapsing space:
"If you stole my life…I'll steal your love."
Jae-hyun reached for Ha-rin's handas everything turned to darkness.