2:45 PM. NAIA Terminal 1.
The airport was chaos. Luggage. Shouting. Sweat.
Jae-Min leaned against the GT-R. Arms crossed.
In twenty-four days, this place would be a morgue.
The sliding doors opened.
Ji-Yoo walked out.
Black hair in a ponytail. Dark eyes. Band shirt. Guitar case on her back.
She looked exactly like him.
And Jae-Min's throat closed up.
She's alive.
"Oppa!"
She threw her arms around him.
He didn't hug back. Just stood there. Stiff.
She pulled back. Frowned.
"You look like shit."
"I haven't slept."
4:30 PM. Shore Residence 3. 14th Floor.
Ji-Yoo stopped in the hallway. Stared at the apartment door.
Steel bulkhead. Three deadbolts. Camera lens.
"What the hell is this?"
Jae-Min swiped the keycard. The lock thunked open.
"A fortress."
Inside, the apartment was gutted. Polycarbonate panels over the windows. Steel blast plates on tracks. Workers welding in the storage room. The walls were eight inches thicker.
Ji-Yoo turned in a slow circle. Mouth open.
Jae-Min walked to the table. Picked up a bottle of water.
"Sit."
She sat.
He dropped the bottle.
It vanished.
Ji-Yoo screamed. Chair clattered to the floor.
Jae-Min reached up. A black crack split the air. He pulled the bottle out. Set it on the table. Water sloshed.
Ji-Yoo stared. Breathing hard.
"Oppa... what did you see?"
"Everyone die."
The smile left her face.
"Mom. Dad. You. The plane crash. The mountain." Jae-Min's voice was flat. "I survived forty-three days. Then the neighbors ate me."
Silence.
"The plane is April twelfth," he said. "Incheon to Manila. It goes down over the Alishan Mountains. No survivors."
"Then we stop them."
"We can't."
"We call them. We drag them off—"
"They won't listen, Ji-Yoo. I already tried."
Ji-Yoo's hands clenched.
"Then what do we do? Just sit here?"
Jae-Min didn't answer.
He walked to the window. Looked out at the Manila skyline. The sunset painted everything in red and gold.
"The flight is April twelfth," he said quietly. "You were supposed to be on it. You were supposed to fly back with them."
Ji-Yoo went still.
"But you came home early. You faked a gig." Jae-Min turned to look at her. "You're not on the passenger list anymore."
The realization hit her like a physical blow.
"I'm... not on the plane."
"No."
"But Mom and Dad are."
"Yes."
Ji-Yoo's face crumbled. "Oppa... no. No, we have to stop them. We have to—"
"How? They think I'm crazy. If we push harder, they'll lock me up. We lose days. We lose everything."
"Then we tell them the truth! We show them your power! We show them the money, the guns, the—"
"They won't believe it." Jae-Min's voice was hollow. "I watched the news report, Ji-Yoo. I stared at my phone for three days praying for a survivor. There weren't any."
Ji-Yoo was crying now. Silent tears streaming down her face.
"So I just... do nothing? I let them get on that plane?"
Jae-Min walked back to the table. Sat across from her.
"You make sure you're not on it."
Ji-Yoo stared at him.
"What?"
"You tell them you're sick. Really sick. You tell them you need surgery. You tell them whatever it takes to make them leave you behind."
Ji-Yoo shook her head. "No. No, I can't do that."
"If you go back to Incheon, you die with them."
"Then maybe I should!"
"Ji-Yoo—"
"They're my parents, Jae-min!" She stood up. Voice breaking. "I can't just... I can't sit here and wait for them to die!"
"I waited. For forty-three days. I know exactly how it feels."
Ji-Yoo stared at him. Her chest heaving. Sobs choking her throat.
"They'll be so scared," she whispered. "On that plane. When it goes down. They'll be so scared and I won't be there."
"I know."
"They'll call for me."
"I know."
"And I'll be here. Safe. In a bunker. While they freeze to death on a mountain."
Jae-Min didn't answer.
Ji-Yoo sank to her knees. Put her face in her hands. Sobbed. Loud. Ugly. The sound of a daughter losing her parents twice.
Jae-Min sat motionless.
He couldn't comfort her. He couldn't lie to her. All he could do was sit there and let her break.
Ten minutes. Twenty.
Finally, Ji-Yoo lifted her head. Her face was swollen. Eyes red. But her jaw was set.
"Give me my phone."
Jae-Min handed it to her.
Ji-Yoo wiped her face. Took a breath. Pressed call.
It rang three times.
"Ji-Yoo-ah?" Mom's voice. Warm. Happy. "How was your flight? Are you back in Manila?"
"Mom." Ji-Yoo's voice was steady. Barely. "I'm at St. Luke's. The doctors think it's my appendix. They want to keep me overnight for tests."
"Oh my god. Ji-Yoo, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Please don't worry. It's probably nothing."
"Your father and I can cancel the trip. We'll come home right now—"
"No." The word came out fast. Desperate. "Please. You've been planning this for months. Dad was so excited to see his army friends. Don't let me ruin it."
"Baby, you're more important than a trip—"
"I know. But oppa is here. He's taking care of me. I'll be out of the hospital before you even land." Ji-Yoo's voice cracked. "I just... I want you to have fun. Okay? Promise me you'll have fun."
A pause. Mom was crying. Jae-Min could hear it.
"I promise, baby. We'll see you in a few days. I love you."
"I love you too, Mom. So much."
The line went dead.
Ji-Yoo lowered the phone. Stared at the black screen.
"I told them to have fun," she whispered. "I told them to have fun on their last trip."
She curled into a ball on the floor.
Jae-Min stood up. Took off his jacket. Draped it over her shoulders.
He didn't say anything.
There was nothing to say.
11:00 PM. Ji-Yoo's room.
Jae-Min stood in the doorway. Ji-Yoo lay on the bed. Staring at the ceiling. Guitar case in the corner. Her eyes were empty. Red. Exhausted.
"We save Alessia this time," Ji-Yoo said quietly. "Not a request."
"Okay."
"Good. Get out."
Jae-Min turned.
"Oppa."
He stopped.
"I'm glad you're here."
He didn't turn around.
"Me too."
The door closed.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
"Candidate Han Jae-Min Del Rosario. Your movement has been noted. Do not deviate from your current trajectory. Observation continues. - N"
Jae-Min stared at the screen.
N.
Naraka.
Let them watch.