Hana stared at the closed door.
"Min-jae…"
"I know."
He tried the handle.
Locked.
He knocked hard.
"Open the door!"
There was no answer.
Hana looked down at the photograph still in her hand.
"Who was that person?"
Min-jae turned toward her.
"I don't know."
"But you recognized them."
"I recognized the face."
He paused.
"But I don't understand why they were there."
Hana looked at the photograph again.
Four people stood together.
Ji-ah.
Joon-ho.
Mr. Kang.
And someone whose identity still made no sense.
"We need to get out first," Min-jae said.
He checked the windows.
One of them opened.
"It's not that high."
Hana looked outside.
"We can climb down?"
"There's a fire escape."
They hurried toward the window.
Just as Min-jae opened it, the classroom door unlocked.
Both of them froze.
The door slowly opened.
No one was there.
Hana stepped closer.
"Did they leave?"
Min-jae looked into the hallway.
"Apparently."
A folded piece of paper lay on the floor.
Hana picked it up.
Her eyes widened.
You have until tomorrow.
Underneath was another sentence.
After that, the truth belongs to everyone.
Min-jae took the paper from her.
"We're running out of time."
Hana nodded.
"But there's still something we can do."
"What?"
"The missing page."
Min-jae looked at her.
"If the page was removed from your sister's notebook, someone probably kept it."
"Who?"
Hana thought about everything they'd discovered.
"Joon-ho."
---
They found him after school.
He was standing alone near the basketball court.
When he saw them approaching, his expression immediately changed.
"You found the notebook."
Hana stopped.
"You knew?"
Joon-ho sighed.
"I knew you'd eventually find it."
Min-jae stepped forward.
"Where's the missing page?"
Joon-ho looked away.
"I don't have it."
"Then who does?"
Silence.
"Joon-ho."
He finally looked at Min-jae.
"You're asking the wrong question."
"What should I ask?"
Joon-ho's eyes moved toward Hana.
"You should ask why your sister never told you the truth."
Hana frowned.
"What truth?"
Joon-ho swallowed.
"She wasn't trying to expose someone."
Min-jae's face tightened.
"Then what was she doing?"
"She was protecting them."
Hana's heart skipped.
"Protecting who?"
Joon-ho didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into his bag and pulled out a small envelope.
He handed it to Hana.
"This belonged to Ji-ah."
Hana looked at it.
There was a single name written on the front.
Min-jae.
Her eyes widened.
"Why would she write his name?"
Joon-ho looked at Min-jae.
"Because she knew you would need to know eventually."
Min-jae took the envelope with trembling fingers.
He opened it.
Inside was a short letter.
He read the first line.
Then stopped.
Hana watched his expression change.
"What does it say?"
He didn't answer.
"Min-jae?"
He slowly looked at her.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"She knew about you."
Hana's heart dropped.
"About me?"
He nodded.
"And she specifically told me…"
He looked down at the letter again.
"…not to let you find out the truth alone."
Hana stared at him.
"What truth?"
Min-jae opened his mouth.
But before he could speak, his phone rang.
The caller's name appeared on the screen.
Ji-ah.
Both of them froze.
Min-jae stared at the phone as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The call continued ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then the screen went dark.
A message appeared.
I think it's time we finally talk.