A smile that hides the knife

------

The hospital room was eerily quiet, the steady beep of the heart monitor the only sound cutting through the silence. Jae Ahn lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, his body still weak from the poison. The pain had dulled, but the words Young Chul had left him with kept echoing in his head.

"You killed your own brother."

He gritted his teeth. It couldn't be true. It wasn't true. His brother had died protecting him—hadn't he?

Jongsuk sat beside him, his eyes dark with concern. Do Hwan stood by the window, arms crossed, deep in thought.

"You're still thinking about what he said, aren't you?" Jongsuk's voice broke the silence.

Jae Ahn turned his head slightly, locking eyes with him. He didn't have to answer. His expression said it all.

Do Hwan sighed, walking closer. "We can't trust a word that bastard says. He wanted to mess with your head, that's all."

"But what if he wasn't lying?" Jae Ahn's voice was barely above a whisper.

Jongsuk frowned. "Jae Ahn, don't—"

"I need to know," Jae Ahn interrupted, his voice stronger this time. "If there's even a chance that I was somehow responsible for my brother's death… I need to find out the truth."

A heavy silence filled the room.

Do Hwan and Jongsuk exchanged glances before Do Hwan finally spoke. "Then we start digging. We'll find out what really happened."

Jae Ahn nodded. "I need to go to my brother's old apartment. There might be something there."

Jongsuk scoffed. "Yeah, except you can barely stand."

Jae Ahn pushed himself up, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. "I'll be fine."

Jongsuk sighed in frustration. "Fine, but we're coming with you."

Jae Ahn smirked weakly. "I never expected otherwise."

The apartment had been abandoned for years, the air thick with dust and memories. Jae Ahn stood in the doorway, taking in the sight of the place his brother had once called home. Everything was just as he remembered—yet different, like a frozen moment in time.

They stepped inside cautiously, the floorboards creaking under their weight.

Jongsuk ran his fingers over the old bookshelf. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Anything that could tell us more about what my brother was involved in before he died," Jae Ahn murmured, his eyes scanning the room.

Do Hwan sat down in front of an old laptop on the desk. "If we're lucky, this still has some files left on it." He started typing, his fingers moving quickly across the keyboard.

Meanwhile, Jae Ahn opened a drawer in the bedside table. Inside, he found an old notebook. His hands trembled slightly as he picked it up.

The pages were filled with scribbled notes, but one sentence stood out.

"They are watching. If something happens to me, Jae Ahn must never find out the truth."

Jae Ahn's heart pounded.

"Guys… look at this."

Jongsuk and Do Hwan moved closer, reading the words over his shoulder.

"What the hell does that mean?" Jongsuk asked.

Before Jae Ahn could respond, Do Hwan's laptop screen flickered to life. "I found an old video file."

They gathered around the screen as the video played.

It was footage from a hidden camera.

In the video, Jae Ahn's brother was talking to someone, his face tense.

"You need to stop digging," the other person said, their voice distorted.

"I can't," his brother responded. "They killed him. And they'll kill my brother next if I don't do something."

Jae Ahn's breath hitched.

The video cut off abruptly.

Do Hwan cursed under his breath. "It's corrupted—I can't get the rest."

Jae Ahn's grip on the notebook tightened. His brother knew something.

And he had been trying to protect Jae Ahn from it.

Jongsuk exhaled sharply. "This means Young Chul wasn't lying. There's more to this than we thought."

Jae Ahn closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He felt like he was on the edge of something huge—something that had been hidden from him for years.

And now, he had no choice but to uncover it.

No matter what.

---

The Call – A Warning from the Shadows

As they left the apartment, Jae Ahn's phone vibrated in his pocket.

An unknown number.

He hesitated before answering. "Who is this?"

A deep, distorted voice spoke.

"You were warned not to go deeper. But now, it's too late."

The line went dead.

Jae Ahn's blood ran cold.

Jongsuk grabbed his arm. "Who was that?"

Jae Ahn looked at them, his expression unreadable.

"…We're being watched."

The three of them stood there, the weight of those words sinking in.

And for the first time, Jae Ahn realized—

This wasn't just about revenge anymore.

This was about survival.

Chapter Eight – The Web of Deception

Jae Ahn hesitated for a moment before picking up the documents. The words "Bone Marrow Transplantation Experiment" were printed in bold letters, followed by a series of complex medical terms he couldn't fully comprehend. But what caught his attention the most was the address listed at the bottom—

"The same clinic where we were supposed to ask about the bracelet."

Jae Ahn's grip on the paper tightened. It wasn't a coincidence. Everything was connected.

Just as he was about to show the documents to Jongsuk and Do Hwan, Jongsuk's phone rang.

An unknown number.

Jongsuk frowned before answering. "Who is this?"

A firm voice spoke on the other end. "This is Officer Kang from the Seoul Police Department. We have an urgent report regarding Young Chul."

Jae Ahn and Do Hwan immediately turned to Jongsuk, watching his reaction.

"What happened?" Jongsuk asked cautiously.

"Young Chul has been in an accident. We recovered his passport, driver's license, and personal belongings from the crash site."

Jae Ahn's heart skipped a beat. Young Chul was dead?

Do Hwan furrowed his brows. "Wait… Did they identify the body?"

There was a pause on the line. Then the officer spoke again, his tone laced with uncertainty.

"That's the problem. The body was completely unrecognizable due to the crash and the fire. But based on the recovered items, it belongs to Young Chul."

Jae Ahn exchanged glances with Do Hwan and Jongsuk. Something didn't feel right.

Jae Ahn clenched his fists. "No. This isn't over. This isn't how it ends."

Jongsuk nodded. "Yeah, Young Chul wouldn't die that easily."

Do Hwan pulled out his phone, quickly typing something. "I'll try tracking his last known location before the 'accident.'"

As the call ended, a sharp realization settled in.

This was a trick. A carefully planned deception to make them lower their guard.

---

The Escape – Young Chul's Next Move

Elsewhere, at a quiet airport terminal, a man walked through security, dressed in a completely different outfit, his posture and mannerisms unrecognizable. He handed over his passport—one that now bore a different name, though the photograph still matched his old self.

Young Chul smirked.

The accident had been staged perfectly. While the police were busy identifying a body that wasn't his, he had already changed his identity and was about to disappear.

As he boarded the plane, he checked his phone one last time.

A message flashed on the screen:

"Everything is in place. They'll chase shadows while we move forward."

Young Chul turned off his phone, leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.

"Enjoy your little victory, Jae Ahn. The real game is just beginning."

---

The Arrival – A Mysterious Girl

Meanwhile, at another airport, a young woman stepped off a flight, her phone buzzing with a notification. She glanced down, her breath hitching as she saw the message.

"Video received from: Jae Ahn."

Her fingers trembled as she tapped the screen. The video loaded, showing the moment of Jae Ahn's brother's death—the same video Jae Ahn had desperately been searching for answers in.

Her grip on the phone tightened.

"Jae Ahn… You finally found it."

She exhaled slowly, her expression unreadable.

"I wanted to help you back then, but I was too late. This time… I won't be."

She pocketed her phone and walked toward the exit, her determination clear.

Something big was coming.

And Jae Ahn wasn't going to face it alone.