(Play Background Music)   The two girls felt their legs weaken, their eyes rapidly blinking, and their mouth falling agape with their breathing caught in their throat. Multiple questions were roaming in their mind, but mainly one question was all they cared about:   Am I going to die?   Dong Woo was dressed in a black blazer with a white blouse underneath that presented a very business-like attire. He suddenly looked more dangerous compared to his previous outfit. They couldn’t exactly remember what he wore aside of that green cardigan with those frills at the bottom.   “H- How?” Sohee finally stuttered, finding her voice in the midst of her fear. She kept her eyes on him, seeing that friendly look on his face. She had known it all along and should’ve stuck to her theories. The fake death was real, but how?   “I’m glad you asked.” Dong Woo leisurely removed Kris’ dead body from the chair, carefully setting it on the ground before he dusted the chair. “Care to take a seat?”   The two girls were weirded out by his behavior. Mira was completely frozen, and Sohee slightly shook her head to reject his offer.   “Very well.” Dong Woo proceeded to sit on it. He stared at the girls with a bright smile - so friendly and seemingly innocent. “I never actually died.”   “But we saw your corpse! Your sister even identified it as you,” Mira began speaking up.   “Ah, Kim Suho does have the same measurements as I did,” Dong Woo spoke, pursing his lips and nodding his head, understanding how the misunderstanding could’ve been made. “That’s why I chose him on purpose.”   “Kim Suho? So the dead body we saw was really him?” Mira asked, once again in disbelief at the entire revelation.   “Yup,” Dong Woo nodded, crossing his legs over the other as he stared at the two girls who looked at him like he was some sort of monster.   “So the person that Sung Yeol saw... He said he saw Suho kill Jimin,” Sohee began, feeling her lips tremble from .   “That was me. I did what had to be done,” Dong Woo spoke, swaying his hands mid air in surrender.   The girls flinched a little at his movement, thinking he’d have a weapon hidden to attack them with. They exchanged looks with each other, wondering if there was anything of use in the cockpit.   “That’s why you all shouldn’t be so quick to judge or believe only what is seen on the surface. A lot of things are going on behind the scenes. But you girls would know about that.” He then continued staring at the two girls as if they were the suspects. There was barely any hint of a psychotic murderer on his face. He still resembled the carefree person he had always presented himself as.   But that was the scariest thing about psychopaths - they seemed normal on the outside, but bore deep dark secrets on the inside.   “I feel a little sorry for you two, so I’m gonna give one of you a chance to escape,” Dong Woo suddenly said.   “One of us?” Mira flinched.   “What’s gonna happen to the other one?” Sohee questioned, though she did not exactly wanted to know the answer for.   “She’ll stay with me,” Dong Woo answered, and both girls knew at once what it meant.   They exchanged a look with each other, both trying to formulate a plan in their head. In the end, they could only communicate using their eyes, in the hope they had the same thing in mind.   If he was willing to let them go, they might as well go and run for their lives. They could get to the elevator and hope they made it in time to go down. Though the slow speed of the elevator would ruin any escape plan.   Sohee’s hands was already on the door handle, unlocking it as her eyes continued to give code signals to the other girl.   But before she knew it, she felt a sharp gush of wind passing by right in front of her eyes, followed by a thud. Her vision was now blocked by a paring knife with a straight back that managed to penetrate through the steel door. She felt a sudden sting on her cheek. From the way Mira looked so horrified at her, Sohee knew the paring knife had cut open a part of her skin.   “Nuh-uh, don’t even think of escaping,” Dong Woo warned them. “I was trying to give you a less painful death, so don’t make me change my mind.”   Reality hit them both, realizing their situation was truly a survival game. They were grabbing each others’ hands, lips trembling and eyes filled with tears. They didn’t think Dong Woo would be this heartless, but judging on the way he threw the knife with such great precision, accuracy, and strength to even surpass the steel door, they understood how dangerous he was.   “I’m so sorry…” Mira spoke, squeezing her eyes shut momentarily before taking a deep breath. The moment she opened her eyes was the moment she pushed the cockpit door open, threw Sohee back into the cockpit and made her escape. The other fell on the ground, but Mira no longer looked back. She had to run.   But a warm touch entangled itself around her ankle, and Mira found herself tripping forward after Sohee had grabbed her foot.   Sohee quickly got up, dragging Mira back into the cockpit. When Mira tried to get up, Sohee mercilessly kicked her by the chest, making sure she’d fall over and be too weak to move.   “Don’t go…” Mira cried out pathetically, holding on to Sohee’s foot this time.   “I’m sorry,” Sohee spoke with the guilt in her face. This was a matter of survival, and she had to do whatever it took in order to live. So she scraped out of Mira’s grip with her shoes, stomping on Mira’s fingers as the cry of agony filled her ears. It was deafening and traumatizing, but Sohee had to endure it.   She shared a small eye contact with Dong Woo who looked rather saddened; not satisfied or diabolical in any way. She had no time to analyze that peculiar look on his face. All she had to do was run away. Her feet took small baby steps at first, watching Dong Woo sitting there so harmlessly. After confirming he wasn’t going to chase her, she sprinted forward to the kitchen, to the elevator, to the other remaining survivors.   “Sohee, don’t go…” Mira’s voice trailed off weakly, finding the strength disappearing. She shuddered in fear when Dong Woo grabbed hold of her shoulders; his fingertips so warm it almost burnt her up. He aided her to sit on the pilot chair that once belonged to Kris, seeing her shudder in fear. His movements were too kind.   “You see Mira, this is human nature. In the end, they all choose to save themselves,” Dong Woo spoke as he stepped over to the steel door, sliding his hand against the cold handle and closing the door with some strength exerted in it. The door clicked in place, and he made sure to turn the lock.   “Please let me go,” Mira whispered, curling her body into a ball as Dong Woo approached her. With every step he took, her heartbeat kept exploding in her ears and pumping painfully against her chest. Her breathing was an irregular rhythm right now, and the sound of her short gasps frightened herself.   “I can’t, because you’re no different from the others. You’d only think of yourself,” Dong Woo spoke as he leaned in to her and grinned. “If you don’t do anything stupid, I’ll promise to make this as quick and less painful as possible.”   “N… No... I have a boyfriend... H... He’s waiting for me… Please... I care about him… Don’t kill me,” Mira tried to negotiate for her life, feeling her body trembling terribly. She had never pleaded like this her entire life. Cold sweat was forming on her forehead, and it dripped down her face to mix together with her falling tears.   “Aw man, maybe I should’ve taken the other girl instead.” Dong Woo snapped his finger and scratched the back of his head at his small mistake. “Fine, since you have Mark waiting for you, I’ll give you the chance to bring Sohee here.”   Mira couldn’t believe her ears, but when Dong Woo actually stepped back to let her go, she found herself trusting his words. Her feet reached the floor, and she had nearly forgotten how to walk again as she stumbled her way over to the door. That was when her eyes encountered the paring knife still stuck against the door.   “I am probably gonna get scolded for letting you go like this. But what can I do? I am still human and I still sympathize with others…” Dong Woo was rambling to himself out loud as he kept facing the other side. He was not paying attention.   In that short moment of time, Mira gathered all her strength to take the paring knife from the wall as silent as possible. She her heel and began to charge at him.   “I don’t even know how I ended up doing th-”   His words were cut short when he quickly spun around, stretching his arm out to stab a smaller pocket knife into her chest. He saw the girl gasping for air, as she held onto his arm for support. The paring knife fell out of her grip unto the floor.   Dong Woo retracted his hand away, pulling the small knife along with him. He watched Mira fall down on her knees, blood flowing out of her chest in an endless pool after the small but fatal attack. The solemn look appeared on his face again.   “I told you not to do anything stupid,” he sighed, as if he had personally preferred to go down the quicker and less painful route. He squatted down, figuring she was trying to tell him something.   “Why…” The girl’s voice cracked as she reached a hand out to him, unsure what to expect. The color had started to leave her skin and her pupils were starting to dilate.   “Why am I doing this?” Dong Woo guessed her entire question. He watched her arms losing strength and finding rest as it plopped to the floor. He got back up on his feet, watching the girl take her final breath, unable to hear his reply.   “To rid the world from parasites like you.”   The look in his eyes became darker and the smile faltered from his lips. He stepped around Mira’s dead body and unlocked the door of the cockpit, ready for the next hunt.  

 

Sohee surprised even herself at how composed she remained in the midst of the death or alive situation. She knew trembling in fear would only get in the way of her survival. Giving in to those fears would have been advantageous for Dong Woo. She could not let that happen. She had to remain strong even when her legs were weakening.   After the elevator arrived, she quickly walked inside, not even bothering to close the fence door. What was the use for it anyway? Her fingers pressed the ‘down’ button and she soon enveloped herself in her own embrace. There were no sounds from Mira or Dong Woo, and she assumed the cockpit must’ve been soundproof as well. They never heard Kris or Nam Joon’s cry of pleas. When were they even murdered?   “Sohee!” Ho Seok’s voice interrupted her mind. She hadn’t realized the elevator had reached ground floor.   “Hyerim already passed away. We don’t need the first aid kit.”   “Oh right! First aid kit!” Sohee gasped, completely forgetting about it. Maybe fear had affected her a little.   “Where’s Mira?” Ho Seok questioned, eyes scanning the empty elevator once more.   At this point, Sohee bit her lips, unable to tell the truth. She couldn’t tell him she had kicked the girl like she was some sort of animal just so she could save herself. It may have been selfish, but it was a natural human instinct to do so.   “Where’s Mira?” He asked her again, knowing something was wrong. He looked to his side, seeing the others circle around them, watching as Sohee began to break down.   “She’s dead…” The girl spoke, clasping her hands in front of . She knew it was partially her fault. Her survival was aided by Mira’s sacrifice.   “What do you mean dead?” Chan Yeol questioned, eyebrows frowning.   “We saw the killer.” Sohee gasped in between her irregular breathing. She watched the others looking indignantly horrified. “The killer got Mira, but I managed to escape.”   She covered up the partial truth from the others. Besides, there was no reason for her to even feel so guilty. Anyone would've done the same thing.   “You’re hurt,” Ho Seok pointed out, pointing his finger towards her cheek without touching it. There was a crimson red scar from the knife cut earlier.   “The killer did it.” Sohee quickly brushed his hand away from her, unwilling to draw more attention on her.   “You saw the killer?” Hyun Mi interrupted Sohee’s guilt tripping. “Who is it?”   Sohee noticed that look in her eyes that was still filled with vengeance. Seong Yeon’s tortured death was not going to make up for Woo Hyun’s absence. She knew that a mentally unstable person like Hyun Mi could pose as one of the biggest threats to the killer himself. If only they weren’t blood related.   “It’s your brother,” she uttered the words slowly.   Sohee studied the look on the girl’s face. It was different from her expectation. She had thought Hyun Mi would break out in an emotional dramatic cry, but she was rather quiet. There was that gaze in her eyes as if she wanted to let the tears fall, but holding on to every inch not to. There was a part of her that seemed to believe the words, but another part that still attempted to deny the truth. It was very unreadable, even for a psychologist like Sohee.   “That can’t be true. My cousin passed away,” Hee-Jin broke the silence. She was frowning at Sohee for coming up with such a ridiculous lie.   “No. The dead body we saw was actually Kim Suho,” Sohee explained.   “But Hyun Mi and Hee-Jin confirmed it was Dong Woo,” Min Seok uttered, confused at what to believe.   “Dong Woo was aware of that. He said he chose to kill Suho on purpose because of their similar features and attributes. He switched their clothes to make it seem like he was dead. But he is still alive!” Sohee began raising her voice a little. Finally she saw Hyun Mi flinch a little at her words - the only proper reaction she had seen so far.   “But if Dong Woo is the killer, why didn’t he kill you?” Baek Hyun posed a good question.   “He gave one of us the chance to escape,” Sohee answered, noticing the frowns on their faces. They were doubting her.   “Why?” Baek Hyun kept questioning.   “I have no idea. Why don’t you go up there and ask him yourself?” Sohee squinted her eyes at him, and this made him lose his guard.   “But if there’s a killer, I might become the next victim,” he slightly whimpered, suddenly believing her words now.   “Wait,” Ho Seok interrupted them and gave a stern look to Sohee. “So Dong Woo gave one of you the chance to escape and Mira just let you?”   Sohee knew her friend would notice something wrong. Of course he would notice the monster within her. As much as he was her patient, they had formed a bond allowing him to know when something was off with her.   “Let’s focus on the killer.” Sohee cleared , trying to avert the attention away from her. Ho Seok’s eyes continued to follow her, but by this time, he knew not to make his friend seem like the bad person in public.   “But if what you’re saying is true, and it is Dong Woo, how are we going to...” Min Seok trailed off, throwing a hasty look at Hee-Jin. He couldn’t possibly suggest killing off the cousin of, presumably, his girlfriend.   “No, we can’t!” Hee-Jin continued the sentence for him.   And Min Seok already knew by then that there was going to be a bigger probability of him defending Dong Woo rather than go against him. He had to defend Hee-Jin’s family.   “But why is he doing all of this?” Yerin questioned, trying to think of a possible motive. “Why would he kill anyone?”   “Does he hate us all?” Kyung Soo also guessed.   “I don’t know, I didn’t get a chance to ask him,” Sohee answered, still giving occasional glances at the killer’s sister who remained awfully quiet.   “Where did you see him?” Yerin now asked.   “At the cockpit. Apparently he had killed the pilots already, and none of us knew,” Sohee answered.   Hee-Jin gasped out loud, quickly turning around to be captured by Min Seok in his arms. She couldn’t believe more friends slash coworkers passed away. Nam Joon and Kris were both gone now. The tears were already forming in her eyes and she wondered how long she had to keep shedding tears for her loved ones.   “For how long?” Kyung Soo gritted his teeth, and they saw some emotion on his face. The thought of having to carry the corpses of his friends to let them rest in peace in the frozen room was aching his heart. There was a clear attempt to hold back his tears. “How long have they been gone?”   “I didn’t ask,” Sohee stated regretfully.   “But wait.” Yerin held a finger to her chin as she started thinking of some missing link. “What about the time when Sung Yeol claimed he saw Suho killing Jimin?”   Sohee couldn’t help but scoff a little, hearing Yerin ask the exact same question as she did. “That was also Dong Woo. Sung Yeol was mistaken.”   “In that case, how did Dong Woo manage to go from here to the cockpit without being noticed by any of us?” Yerin questioned.   The others gave her their undivided attention, knowing she was on to something.   “The only entrance to get to the cockpit from here is by taking the elevator and passing the entire row of seats where we were at. There is no way he could’ve gone unnoticed,” Yerin explained.   “Meaning that there must be another way to go up,” Kyung Soo identified the meaning behind her words.   “Like a secret passageway?” Baek Hyun questioned the unlikely possibility, but the others were seemingly so excited about this new theory.   “We should go and find it,” Yerin said.   “No, that doesn’t matter!” Baek Hyun suddenly interrupted. “What matters is figuring out what we should do to face the killer, even if it is Dong Woo.”   “I’ll talk to him,” Hyun Mi spoke up.   The others abruptly turned their head to her. After her long silence, she finally spoke up, saying something potentially dangerous.   “You can’t,” Baek Hyun immediately told her.   “He’s right. It’s too dangerous,” Hee-Jin agreed, although she didn’t completely believe her own words. Dong Woo wouldn’t possibly hurt his own family members, would he?   Hyun Mi wasn’t listening to any of them; her eyes were just blankly staring in front of her. At this point, she was just going along with the rest, taking in some things and muting out the others. Whatever was the faster route to end everything.   “If my brother is the killer, he wouldn’t kill me,” Hyun Mi told them with barely any emotion in her voice.   “Unless he is a psychopath,” Sohee added, though she was pretty certain that wasn’t the case. Dong Woo was way too cautious even as a killer. The way he talked and behaved did not seem like someone with vengeance. There weren’t any diabolical signs as if he enjoyed taking their lives. In fact, she thought she had seen some regret in his eyes.   “Don’t talk like that about my brother,” Hyun Mi’s stern voice interrupted her thoughts. The look in her eyes was menacing. Though Dong Woo was a killer, there was a possibility for Hyun Mi to side with her brother.   “It’s still dangerous. If you wanna go up, I’ll come with you,” Baek Hyun insisted, grabbing her shoulder as a final attempt at stopping her.   Hyun Mi glanced at his arm resting on her, and then shifted her eyes to him. Honestly, she had no idea why or how Baek Hyun became this protective of her. They weren’t related in any way and he had zero reasons to go to this extent. He had gotten too attached.   “You don’t have to. There is a bigger chance for you to get killed,” she then spoke, removing his hand from herself.   “I won’t get killed!” Baek Hyun said confidently. “Someone else will get hurt before I do. I have my hapkido skills. The killer can’t get to me!”   Hee-Jin stayed silent, but continued to observe his behavior. She had also felt something weird was going on with Baek Hyun. Ever since his confession of attending the same high school with Hyun Mi, which she didn’t even attend, he became much more questionable.   “Regardless, I’m going up,” Baek Hyun stated.   Hyun Mi barely had any energy left to convince him otherwise, so she let him happily trail after her as they headed to the elevator that was no longer placed at their floor.   “Are we really going to let this happen?” Hee-Jin asked, staring at the others for help.   “Well, sending Hyun Mi to face her killer brother might be the smartest thing we have done so far,” Sohee said with a casual shrug. Sacrifices had to be made to continue living. She had done it once with Mira’s soul, and adding another one to the stack wouldn't hurt.   They continued watching as the two stood in front of the elevator. Before Hyun Mi had the chance to lift her finger, there was a creaking sound from above. They heard more rustling noises, along with a casual whistle tune coming from someone.   Hyun Mi recognized that voice. She knew that tune. It was the one her brother had made up for her when they were still kids. But this couldn't be true. He was dead. She saw his dead body. But the tune was so vivid she was certain it only belonged to Dong Woo.   “Oppa?” Her voice cracked a little, filled with fear and anticipation at the same time as she called out to him. Her breathing was coming to a halt, not willing to miss his reply if she had breathed too loud.   The others kept watching, wondering what to do now. They were already nudging to each other to leave before the killer had a massacre buffet, finding all his victim gathered in one place.   “We better get going, guys.” Min Seok was already feeling uneasy as he nudged the others to come along with him. He wrapped his hand around Hee-Jin’s and guided her to come with him, to which she thankfully obeyed to.   “Go where? There’s nowhere to go,” Yerin hissed, continuing to hide behind the cargo box. “The only exit we know of is through that elevator, and the killer is on it now!”   “We need to fight him,” Chan Yeol concluded, to which Yerin nodded at.   “No, you can’t hurt my cousin!” Hee-Jin insisted.   “He is a killer, Hee-Jin. Once you aid a killer, it makes you an accomplice. You are equally guilty and can be put in jail. Isn’t that right, Min Seok?” Ho Seok looked at Min Seok who was a lawyer by profession.   Min Seok gave her a hesitant look, feeling her about to retract her hand from his touch if he gave the wrong answer. “There are some exceptions,” he said. It was a lie. The only exception was to go against the legalities and not report her as a criminal. He noted the baffled look on Ho Seok’s face, but he only cared for Hee-Jin who now smiled at him for siding with her.   “Anyway, we need to decide now real fast,” Yerin prompted. “Either we fight or we try to find the hidden passageway.”   “I prefer the second option so that no one gets hurt,” Hee-Jin answered, and the others nodded. It had come to a point where they’d willingly comply to whatever was said as long as they stuck together.   Baek Hyun watched the others leave together from behind the big cargo boxes, chaotically spreading out around the area in search for something. He quickly nudged the girl who never moved an inch. “We need to go.”   “It could be my brother,” Hyun Mi insisted. “Oppa!”   She tried shouting to him again for the nth time, and every time, the rustling sound of the elevator descending was the only reply they got. She tried again and again until finally…   “Hi sis,” Dong Woo’s voice replied.   The others were in so much shock when they noticed the elevator arriving at their floor. And just as they were warned