The house was dark when Rin stepped inside. Even with the early morning sunlight, the curtains thrown over the windows did everything they could to mute it. As he padded into the living room, his mother's turned back greeted him.

"Kaasan," he rushed over to where she sat on the couch and took hold of her shoulders. Slowly, her cloudy eyes glazed towards his. "How long have you been here? Where's Hye-jin? What happened to Kaito?"

His mother looked at him with a stare as flat as the floor covered by the rug. "A while," she answered. And that's it. His other two questions were ignored. He'd find out for himself then.

He gave his mother a light squeeze on the shoulder and glanced at the kitchen counter. A couple of food containers sat on the surface with a plastic lid thrown over them. There's no note or anything, but he knew. It's from Hye-jin. But...where was she? Why didn't she tell him where she was going?

Who's taking care of his brother throughout the night?

His breath hitched. He glanced at his mother, how her fingers twiddled each other, staring unblinking into the windows hindered by the curtains. She wasn't seeing anything of significance and she seemed fine with that.

The door to his brother's room slammed open. A series of gurgling noises emanated from the crib, short and stubby fingers reaching past the balustrades. He rushed over to the baby, checking him for everything. Kaito needed cleaning up, starting from his diaper. And what's that rancid smell in the air?

After he finished all of his errands on the baby, he checked the supplies to see if he had been fed. This time, there was a note in Hye-jin's handwriting. Beside it were a couple of oral hydration packets. Was Kaito throwing up last night?

He read the note again and set it down. That's all Hye-jin had to say to him—don't let his brother be dehydrated and take him to the doctor if the vomiting continued until morning. He went back to the living room and searched for his phone. Then, the memories of last night flooded into his mind.

Right. He left his phone in Ashley's house. He froze. Hye-jin was calling that night. Did she ever call after he ran off the house? And worse, did Ashley answer? His heartbeat hitched. It's within the realm of what's possible. Hye-jin then heard his boss' voice on his phone. There's no denying what she must have thought.

It occurred to him then. She's not in this house.

Not anymore.

Then, where was she?

He dashed towards the guest room and snatched his mother's phone. They bought it for her to let her call them over when there's an emergency but she never used it. His slippers scratched against the dusty floor on his way back to the living room. With shaking fingers, he scrolled through the saved contacts and tapped Hye-jin's number. He slammed his pointer finger on the call button and placed the phone near his ear.

Come on. Come on. Pick up. He started pacing in the living room, the rug muffling his steps but not the raging fear at the back of his head. Where would Hye-jin run off? The library? No. She wasn't fond of reading with a ton of people in a place she's not comfortable in. The grocery? She would have been thrown out after closing.

The ringing flattened into a series of dull beeps. Voicemail. What's going on? Come on, Hye-jin. Pick up. Was this revenge for last night? Was this what it was?

He tried again. Ringing evened into beeps. Voicemail.

Again.

Voicemail.

"Dear God, Hye-jin," he cursed, rubbing his face with both his hands. He pushed his messy strands off his face but they just flopped back, stinging his eyes in the process. The tears that came after, he'd attribute to them poking his eyes. Not because of anything else.

He sniffed and searched his mother's phone for anyone who might have seen her. The neighbors? He tried one. A grandfather living three doors down from their unit. It connected after the first ring. "Hello?" a garbled voice grouched from the speakers.

Rin perked up. "Did you see Hye-jin go out last night?" he asked. "Did you see where she went?"

The old man hummed as he thought. "I heard some commotion around seven in the evening. Something about a baby crying. I hear Felice called the mother and she came running home not soon after," he recounted. "I think I saw an old lady get out of your unit and head down. That's about everything I recall last night."

He said his thanks and hung up. He tried the ones adjacent to their room. Same answer, at least in the upper half. Kaito wouldn't stop crying so Felice the neighbor called Hye-jin from outside. After some time, his mother went out and disappeared into the streets. Then, Felice, the one who answered the second call, said something more. "Around eight in the evening, I heard pained gasps, like someone was crying. Not the baby," she said. "Around eleven, I heard consecutive thuds from the other side of the wall, as if someone's packing in a hurry. Pretty sure I heard suitcase wheels turning too. Around twelve, the door opened and I heard footsteps down the hall. That's all I can tell you."

"It's very helpful, thank you," Rin said and hung up. Something happened that made her get out of the house in the middle of the night. At twelve, he was probably wasting away in the pub, too drunk to stagger home. He woke up at around five in the morning reeking of alcohol and made it back at around six. Hye-jin was long gone by then.

Was she alright? What if she got in an accident on her way somewhere? Just where did she go?

He ground his teeth until his jaw hurt. He tried her number again. Voicemail. Shit.

There was no other choice. He needed to know if she was okay. Maybe he'd apologize too for not going home early last night. She needed it. And maybe he needed to explain why his boss had his phone too. He had a lot to make up for.

But he had to find her first.

He dialed the local police's emergency number. Within a few minutes, a single police car pulled up in their apartment's parking lot. He opened the door to find Ryon, looking like he just stepped out of the bathroom. "Yo, Rin," his nose scrunched up. "Damn, did you bathe in liquor?"

Rin stepped aside and shoved his friend into the unit, shutting the door behind him. "Instructions on how to take care of Kaito are written on the pad in his room. There's food in the fridge. Make sure kaasan eats. She'd resist but shove food into her mouth if you have to. Just...don't let them both die while I'm gone."

Ryon frowned. "Bro, I'm not some house-sitter," he said. "I thought you just needed me to fix stuff like last time."

"Thanks for agreeing to this. I owe you a lot," Rin gave his friend a light pat on the arm and burst out of the door before Ryon could say anything.

Ryon scoffed. "Well, you better treat me to something high-end and fancy and I'll order the most expensive in the menu—"

The door's lock clicked shut as Rin slammed it in Ryon's face. Worry about that later. He had to get to Hye-jin first.

He tackled the flights of stairs leading to the lobby. His work shoes weren't suited for running but he did anyway. The officers who stepped out of the car the moment Rin reached them gave him a quick look-over, as if he looked more like a lost person than the one making the request to find one.

"Mr. Nagara Rin?" said the taller officer. "Did you file a missing person report for...Joon Hye-jin?"

Rin nodded. After exchanging a few more confirmatory words and other necessary evidence and information, they were off. The two cops sat in the front seats while Rin occupied the back. His heartbeat pounded in his ears as the familiar alleys they passed turned foreign.

The cop on the passenger's seat glanced towards him. It's a man with a bushy mustache and wide, green eyes. "Mrs. Joon had her phone turned off so it's harder to track her through that route," he explained. "We'll be looking at traffic cams and eyewitnesses."

Rin could only bob his head as the officers talked him through the live data being fed off from their headquarters. Hye-jin passed the expressway, which meant she had somehow crossed borders. Where would she go that wasn't in Whiteridge? Her parents' house?

"Excuse me," Rin said. "Can you run this address to see if it matches with her whereabouts last night?"

He handed the officer his phone with Hye-jin's ancestral home's address pinned. The cop in the passenger seat took it and made a quick call through his radio. After a series of crackles, the officer on the other side of the line confirmed Hye-jin was seen in one of the road cams getting off from the bus and tackling the winding alleys leading to her parents' house.

So, she made it. But...why would she suddenly go back home at such a perilous hour? What's gotten into her?

After a few hours, the police car, with its red and blue light flashing on its hood, rounded the last corner leading to Hye-jin's house. It's been a while since Rin had been here but he could still remember the houses, the general curve of the road, and the posters and shop signages. Some things changed, but this was still the same neighborhood.

The police car dropped him in front of the house's gates which were miraculously propped open. Jangin hated doing that because the rusty hinges made it so much of a pain to put back. He ducked out of the car and hurried straight into the yard. What he saw didn't quite make sense.

Several people milled out in the yard, talking to each other in low voices. Some laughed but most possessed downcast looks. The moment his soles crunched against the gravel, heads swiveled to him. Eyes studied him from head to toe as he swallowed what's left of his dignity and forged deeper into the house. The whispers intensified when they saw the officers loitering on the street outside and the red-and-blue lights flashing.

Rin glanced at a circle of women dressed in black dresses. The smell of flowers and incense wafting in the air was also unmistakable. "Where's Hye-jin?" he asked. Their eyes darted from his face before flitting to somewhere inside the house elevated a few inches off the ground.

A series of scuffles resounded from the house's interior. Not long after, the familiar footfalls thudded against the floorboards. Hye-jin appeared, dressed not even in a black dress. Her hair was scattered behind her head, held only by a plastic hair clamp. Her face was gaunt, like she spent hours crying.

When her eyes landed on him, she froze. It's like she couldn't believe he found her even when she didn't want to be found. Instead of screaming at him, she pursed her lips and jerked her chin in some vague direction. Go inside. That's what she seemed to be saying. She cast one glance at the police lights flashing in the distance but didn't say anything else.

After sorting it through with the officers and sending them away, huffing, Rin stalked in the direction Hye-jin had disappeared to. He found her waiting for him by the arc leading to the kitchen. On the way, he passed an altar filled with white chrysanthemums. The framed picture of her mother was propped in the middle.

Rin glanced at Hye-jin, then, seeing the reason behind her appearance and her actions. Of course, he would throw everything he was doing at the news of his mother passing too. He opened his mouth to say something—anything—to alleviate the weight of the situation but Hye-jin stopped him by starting to walk deeper into the corridor peppered with different doors. The rooms.

"Not here," was all she said. Rin clenched his jaw and followed her into the first room to the left. The door shut behind them, trapping them in the room where their fates would have been decided.