??? ?. ???.

  ?? ?? ?? ???? ????, ???? ?? ???? ???? ???? ??? ?? ???.

  ?? ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??. ??? ??? ??? ??? ?? ?? ???? ????. ??? ?? ?? ????? ??? ??? ?? ????? ??? ?? ??.

  ??? ???? ?? ? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???????.

  ??? ?? ?? ??? ????.

  '??'? ?? ?? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??? ???.

  [??? ??.]

  [?? ?.]

  [????? ????.]

  ??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ? ???.

  "?, ??… ?? ??? ???? ???? ????. ?? ?? ?????."

  ??? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ???.

  "'?? ????' ? ? ??? ????. ?? ?? ????."

  ??? ??? ???.

  ??? ?? ??.

  ??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ? ??? ?? ?? ? ?? ?? ??? ????.

  ???? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ??? ????. ???? ??? ??? ??? ???.

  ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ??? ???.

  ??? ???? ?? ????.

  "? ??."

  ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ???? ??? ?? ?????.

  "? ?. ? ?? ?? ? ?."

  ??? ??? ?? ??? ?????. ?? ??? ??? ??? ????.

  "???. ???? '????? ????'? ?? ???."

  "?? ?? ?? ???? ? ??? ?????, ???? ???? ??? ??? ? ?? ?? ??."

  ???? ???? ???.

  "?, ???... ? ?? ???—"

  ??? ?? ?? ???? ???.

  "?? ? ?? ??? ?? ??."

  ??? ?? ???, ? ??? ??? ? ?? ?? ???.

  "?? ? ???? ??? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ???"

  "? ?? ?? ?? ???? ? ??? ? ? ?? ?? ? ???"

  ??? ??? ?? ?????.

  ???? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???.

  "Da-yeon. I'm asking you."

  "You need to stick to her. You are the safety lock."

  Min-su froze.

  For Tae-yoon, the name 'Da-yeon' wasn't just a word; it was a command code that overrode all logic. It was his ultimate vulnerability.

  Min-su let out a breath that was half-sigh, half-curse.

  "...F*ck. Fine. I got it."

  Tae-yoon gave a short, curt nod.

  He began to dress. He didn't put on a tactical vest or hide a weapon. He dressed like a salaryman. Nondescript. Forgettable. A face that would dissolve in a crowd.

  He left his smartphone on the desk.

  In his inner pocket, he placed only a burner phone that was turned off.

  As he closed the heavy iron door and ascended the stairs to the surface, Tae-yoon made a promise to himself.

  ‘I will confirm who this Ghost is. That is all.’

  ‘If they are someone capable of reason, I will make sure they can never move behind my back again.’

  It was a resolution, and at the same time, a warning.

  Downtown Seoul. 11:20 PM.

  A crowded place.

  A place not to hide, but to blend.

  Tae-yoon was familiar with this method.

  Back in the days when Yuri was still alive.

  And in the dark days that followed.

  Tae-yoon walked into the heart of the district.

  Neon lights from restaurants and bars spilled onto the streets like spilled paint. Laughter erupted from open doorways, and the screech of taxi brakes created the city's chaotic rhythm.

  Inside this cacophony, it was difficult to find someone. But it was equally difficult to be found.

  Tae-yoon stopped at a crosswalk, waiting for the light.

  He used the reflection in a shop window to check his six.

  He felt a gaze—a prickly sensation on the back of his neck—but there was no certainty. To turn his head and look around would be to admit he was spooked. That in itself would be a tell.

  So, Tae-yoon simply stood there. Like an ordinary, tired office worker waiting to go home.

  Only the razor-sharp tension was hidden deep within his chest.

  Then, it happened.

  "Kang... Jin-woo Oppa?"

  The voice cut through the noise.

  It was short. It was low. But the name pierced Tae-yoon’s spine like an ice pick.

  Kang. Jin. Woo.

  Tae-yoon’s body froze before his mind could process it.

  That name was dead. It was a name that no longer existed in this world. He had buried it deep, beneath layers of code and lies.

  But someone had just called it out. And they had done so with a terrifying casualness.

  Tae-yoon turned his head slowly, fighting the urge to run.

  There, amidst the flowing river of people, under the harsh glow of a streetlight.

  No hat. No mask. No hood.

  She wasn't hiding.

  In fact, her refusal to hide made her presence infinitely more terrifying.

  Hwang Seo-hui stood there.

  Her hair was cut short, sharp as a blade. Her face was pale, devoid of blood or warmth.

  Her expression was blank, yet her eyes... those eyes were impossibly vivid.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  They were eyes Tae-yoon knew too well.

  The death of Yuri.

  The death of Seo-hui’s own brother.

  The scene of the tragedy, and the brutal cleanup that followed.

  Seo-hui had always been there.

  They had endured together. They had crumbled together. And unable to pull each other out of the abyss, they had scattered into the darkness.

  Tae-yoon couldn't open his mouth.

  Breath caught in his throat, choking him.

  Seo-hui took a step closer.

  "It really is... you, Oppa."

  Tae-yoon finally found his voice. It sounded like scraping sandpaper.

  "...Seo-hui?"

  As soon as that name left his lips,

  Seo-hui’s mask cracked. Just a fraction of a millimeter.

  But that tiny fissure was more shocking than if she had screamed.

  It was proof that this cold, ghost-like woman was still human.

  "Oppa... You were alive."

  Tae-yoon let out a sound that wasn't quite a laugh.

  "I want to say the same thing."

  "Why... why are you here?"

  Seo-hui’s eyes narrowed.

  "Why do you think?"

  "Because Sungjin is still breathing."

  Tae-yoon’s heart plummeted.

  "Don't tell me... are you moving alone?"

  Instead of answering, Seo-hui scanned Tae-yoon’s face, reading the lines of time and pain etched there.

  "You're the same, aren't you?"

  "Throwing away your name. Living in the shadows."

  Tae-yoon took a step forward.

  Seo-hui didn't retreat.

  The distance between them closed, becoming as intimate and painful as it was in the 'old days'.

  Tae-yoon’s gaze turned sharp.

  "Then... were you the 'Ghost'?"

  "At the hideout? And the message to Da-yeon—"

  Seo-hui’s pupils trembled minutely.

  That tremor was enough.

  Tae-yoon was certain.

  It was her.

  Tae-yoon’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper.

  "Are you crazy?"

  "Why did you touch my sister?"

  Seo-hui replied coldly, her voice devoid of apology.

  "I didn't touch her."

  "They were the ones who shook her first."

  "And... I warned you."

  "If you aimed in the wrong direction, I told you I would stop you."

  Tae-yoon’s jaw clenched.

  "Then the homework assignment."

  "The Sungjin Headquarters Central Control?"

  "Was that you, too?"

  Seo-hui averted her gaze for a split second, then locked eyes with him again.

  "Yes."

  "I needed to check if you were still the 'Oppa' I knew."

  "Or if, after surviving... you had just become a monster consumed by revenge."

  Tae-yoon exhaled a long breath.

  Then, he smiled.

  But this time, it wasn't a cynical sneer. It was the smile of a deeply exhausted man.

  "Seo-hui-ah..."

  "Are you still using that method?"

  "Shouldering everything alone? Trying to die alone?"

  Seo-hui shot back, her words sharp as daggers.

  "Someone has to do it alone."

  "Who else will?"

  "Who takes responsibility for Yuri's death?"

  "Who takes responsibility for my brother's death?"

  "You... You disappeared."

  Tae-yoon’s face hardened.

  The words were blades.

  They struck the most painful, festering wound in his soul with surgical precision.

  "...I'm sorry."

  For the first time, Tae-yoon spoke directly, without deflection.

  "It took me too long to come back."

  "I wandered. I broke. I hid."

  "But now... I am done hiding."

  Seo-hui scoffed.

  "Done hiding?"

  "You're wearing a mask right now."

  Tae-yoon nodded.

  "You're right."

  "But... I can take it off in front of you."

  "Because you already know exactly what kind of bastard I am."

  Seo-hui’s gaze wavered.

  Tae-yoon didn't miss the opening.

  "Seo-hui."

  "If you fight alone, you will die."

  "You were always like that."

  "You got hurt before anyone else could. You broke yourself before anyone else could break."

  Seo-hui bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

  "So what?"

  "What do you want me to do?"

  "Cry together?"

  Tae-yoon spoke firmly.

  "Stay by my side."

  Seo-hui’s eyes widened.

  Tae-yoon said it again, clearer this time.

  "Stay by my side."

  "Don't fight alone."

  "That... I cannot allow."

  Seo-hui laughed, a low, hollow sound.

  "...Are you ordering me now, Oppa?"

  Tae-yoon shook his head.

  "Not an order."

  "A request."

  "And... a warning."

  "If you move alone, I will stop you."

  "Before Sungjin does."

  Seo-hui’s eyes went cold.

  But behind the ice, a crack appeared.

  It wasn't fear. It was shaking.

  She asked.

  "Why?"

  "Why now?"

  "Because you have someone to protect now?"

  "Because of your sister?"

  Tae-yoon exhaled deeply.

  "Yes. I have to protect Da-yeon."

  "But that's not all."

  He paused, letting the weight of the names hang in the air.

  "Yuri."

  "Your brother."

  "The things we couldn't protect back then."

  "That debt... I'm going to pay it back now."

  Seo-hui’s eyes glistened. Just for a moment.

  Tae-yoon caught it.

  "If you take revenge alone, it's not the end."

  "Even after revenge, you will be left alone."

  "That is the cruelest ending of all."

  Seo-hui remained silent.

  Tae-yoon pulled the burner phone from his pocket and held it up.

  "You called me."

  "Now, I'm calling you."

  He put the device away and took a step closer.

  "Seo-hui."

  "Let's do it together."

  "And... live."

  Seo-hui looked at Tae-yoon.

  Just like that day, long ago, when they wept in front of Yuri, unable to save her.

  But this time, her eyes weren't running away.

  She spoke slowly.

  "...I have a condition."

  "Name it."

  Seo-hui spoke coldly, though her voice trembled.

  "If I stand by your side..."

  "Do not interfere with my methods."

  "Sometimes... I have to play dirty. I have to be the knife in the mud."

  Tae-yoon shook his head immediately.

  "I will interfere."

  "If you play dirty, you fall into hell alone again."

  "I won't let that happen."

  Seo-hui’s eyes sharpened.

  "Then what about you?"

  "Are you going to pretend to be clean?"

  Tae-yoon chuckled briefly.

  "Me?"

  "I was never clean."

  "But... I don't cross the line."

  "Civilians. Especially people like Da-yeon."

  "I never drag them in."

  Seo-hui’s expression softened slightly.

  It was unclear if she agreed, but at least, it wasn't a rejection.

  She turned her gaze toward the dark river flowing nearby.

  "When I called you... honestly, I didn't think you would come."

  "Because you... were always late."

  Tae-yoon spoke low.

  "I won't be late this time."

  Seo-hui looked back at him.

  And said, very briefly.

  "...Fine."

  Tae-yoon’s heart skipped a beat.

  "Fine?"

  Seo-hui nodded.

  "Together."

  "But."

  "If I save you, you have to survive with me."

  "If you wear a mask and start suffocating again... I will grab you by the neck and drag you out myself."

  Tae-yoon smirked.

  "That... is your specialty."

  Seo-hui smiled. A tiny, almost imperceptible smile.

  "It is."

  That smile belonged to the 'Seo-hui' of the past.

  Tae-yoon spoke his final piece.

  "The homework for Monday."

  "Sungjin Headquarters Central Control."

  "We prepare for it together."

  "Not you alone. Not me alone."

  "Three of us."

  "With Min-su and Ha-jun."

  Seo-hui’s eyes hardened again.

  "Those two as well?"

  Tae-yoon was firm.

  "Yes."

  "It's a team."

  "From now on."

  Seo-hui hesitated.

  Then she spoke low.

  "...Okay."

  "But tell me first."

  "If you really are the Phantom."

  "Your weakness."

  "I need to know it to stand by your side."

  Tae-yoon didn't hesitate.

  The answer was already decided.

  "...Da-yeon."

  Seo-hui’s eyes narrowed.

  "I knew it."

  Tae-yoon added quietly.

  "And you."

  "You are also a weakness now."

  "If I lose you too... I will truly become a monster."

  Seo-hui couldn't say anything.

  The wind blew harder, ruffling her short hair. The river ripples shifted heavily.

  Seo-hui spoke one last time.

  "Then."

  "I'll throw the proof back to you."

  "But this time... together."

  Tae-yoon nodded.

  "Together."

  ??? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????.

  ???? ?? ???.

  ?? ??? ??? ??? ? ?? ???? ????? ??? ?? ?????.

  ??? ??? ???? ?? ?? ?????.

  ??? ????

  ?, ???? ????.

  ??? ??? ? ??? ?? ???.

  ? ????, ? ??? ? ?? '?? ???? ??'? ????.

  '?? ???? ?? ??'???.

  ??? ? ????.

  ??? ?? ? ??? ?? ? ????.