1^st February 2017, 8.30 PM

There was no moon on that night. Instead, it was raining cats and dogs. Pulling her sweater tighter around her, Sunny continued to hum a song under her breath while taking off the bed sheets. A patient had just been discharged just now and it was her duty to wash the bed sheets. She shivered involuntarily.

She placed the bed sheets into the basket before rubbing her arms to produce heat to keep her warm. Then, she carried the basket and walked towards the nurse station. The hospital was very quiet. Everyone was doing their own job just like her but somehow, the silence was too eerie.

Sunny entered the nurse station and put the basket on the floor. She yawned. Oh God, how sleepy she was.

“Sunny-ah,” a familiar voice uttered her name.

She jumped in surprise before whirling around to find that Sungmin was standing beside the door to the nurse station. “Oh my God, oppa, you totally scared me!” she exclaimed, her voice an octave higher than usual. “Shouldn’t you have knocked or something?”

Sungmin chortled slightly in amusement. “I didn’t know that you’re scared of ghosts,” he teased, smiling playfully.

Sunny snorted. “Who says that I’m afraid of ghosts?” she denied it. “I’m a very brave and courageous person, you know?”

The doctor laughed loudly before scoffing. “As if,” he said. “If you’re so brave and courageous, I have a job for you.”

The nurse raised her eyebrows questioningly. “What is it?” she asked inquisitively.

“The police want to do an autopsy on Kim Hyoyeon’s body later. Can you please go to the mortuary and bring her body to the lobby? Make sure that her body is in good condition,” he told her.

The young nurse’s face went pale. “I must do that right now?” she asked. The doctor nodded. “Fine,” she huffed.

“Why, Sunny-ah?” he asked. “Are you scared?” He grinned teasingly.

“Of course not!” she retorted. “I’m going now.” She quickly left the nurse station in order to avoid getting teased by her colleague. She shivered. Why, out of all times, did the police want to do an autopsy now? Why couldn’t they do it later, when the sun had risen?

Even though she acted as though she was brave enough to go into the mortuary alone at night when it was raining, it was a total lie. She was actually very afraid. She had heard stories from the other nurses that the mortuary was really haunted. Sunny, no doubt, believed them. Hey, it was a place filled with dead bodies after all. You couldn’t really blame her, could you?

Cursing herself for acting brave in front of Sungmin, Sunny pressed the button to the elevator. She waited impatiently for the elevator to stop at the third level – where she was at, currently. She wanted to get her job over and done with as soon as possible. She did not want to waste time, feeling scared.

Soon, the door to the elevator opened. Sunny entered it before the door went close. She pressed the button that had ‘B1’ carved on top of it. The basement was where the mortuary was. As the elevator began to go down to the basement, she instinctively pulled the sweater tighter around her. She just hoped that the ghosts of the mortuary would not be there that night.

After a few moments, the door opened again. Sunny slowly walked out of the elevator. Her legs were shaking. For the thousandth time, she regretted acting brave in front of Sungmin. Serve you right, Lee Sunny, she mocked herself. That’s what you get for acting like you’re so god-damn brave when you’re just a pathetic coward!

But it was no use lamenting about it.

Letting out a sigh, Sunny mustered up her courage to enter the mortuary. She pushed the door to the mortuary open before letting herself in. She looked around, searching for Kim Hyoyeon’s body. At last she spotted her name that was hung on the wall. She approached the bed carefully.

A thousand wild imaginations ran through her head. She imagined Kim Hyoyeon suddenly sat up and looked at her before smiling in such a creepy way. She imagined all the other dead bodies suddenly became a zombie. Stop thinking about those kinds of things! You will just jinx yourself, she scolded herself.

At last, she reached Kim Hyoyeon’s bed that contained her dead body. She shuddered involuntarily. Slowly, her hand reached out to remove the sheet that was covering the dead body. She just had to see if the body was in good condition or not. That was all. It was nothing difficult.

As soon as she uncovered the sheet, she let out a high-pitched scream that echoed throughout Seoul Hospital.

1^st February 2017, 9.00 PM

The young policewoman observed her surroundings. The playground was quite big. Kim Taeyeon knew that she would love to go there if she was still a kid. She, along with her team members, had just arrived at the place where Kim Hyoyeon’s body had been found. There was a drawing of the shape of a body on the ground. It was where Kim Hyoyeon’s body was first found.

“Who would be cruel enough to do this to someone else?” she murmured to her team leader, Tiffany Hwang.

“A heartless person,” the young woman replied simply. “That’s the only explanation. Someone who is heartless will be the only person who has the heart to do this to someone else.”

Taeyeon involuntarily trembled at Tiffany’s words. Those words rang of something familiar. She was sure that she had heard those same words in another time, at another place…

23^rd July 2007, 10.00 PM

“Oh my God, someone had cut out his heart! Kim Suho is dead!”

“Who the hell had done this to him? He was such a kind guy!”

“He was practically an angel! He didn’t deserve to die this way.”

Kim Taeyeon made her way through the crowd of students that were gathered right in front of the school. There was a police car at the driveway. No, it could not be…

Her younger brother could not be dead. No… Never…

She pushed through the crowd, trying to get a glimpse of her own brother. At last she managed to get in front of the crowd. dropped open in a mute scream. Everything was going dark for her.

Her precious younger brother…

She would trade her life for Suho if she could…

Kim Suho’s body was sprawled out at the lawn of Seoul Boarding School. There was a huge gaping hole right at where his heart was. And the hole was empty. His heart was gone. There was so much blood everywhere. His eyes were looking up at the sky, lifeless. His mouth was formed in an ‘O’ shape as though he had been screaming. His face looked terrified.

His last moments were plain torture…

At last, Kim Taeyeon let out a scream that was mixed with sobs.

“Who would do this to him? What had he ever done to deserve this?!” she yelled.

“A heartless person, obviously,” Kwon Yuri, her classmate that had never been nice to her, replied. “Only a heartless person has the heart to do this to someone else.”

Taeyeon looked at Yuri, horrified.

She remembered Mirror’s words from a week ago.

“There would be a price to pay when you activate this curse, dear students. Are you sure you want to pay that price?”

“Of course,” the students had replied.

And now, her own younger brother had paid the price for her.

His death was her fault.

1^st February 2017, 9.10 PM

“Fany-ah,” she called out, “do you remember that ten years ago, the same case had happened in our school? There were three victims. My younger brother, Suho, Huang Zitao and Kim Heechul, our substitute teacher, were all the victims. Their hearts were cut out and had never been found.”

Tiffany nodded. “Yes, I remember,” she replied. “The police concluded it as serial murder. Now, the same thing is happening again. It could not be the same perpetrator as the killer had received a death sentence. There are two possibilities. It’s either this is a copycat or this has nothing to do with the case ten years ago. But just in case, I’ll ask Siwon oppa to look into the case from ten years ago.”

“In a serial murder, there will always be a pattern,” Taeyeon said. “So if Kim Hyoyeon’s case is a serial murder just like ten years ago, there will be another victim.”

“But if this is not a serial murder, then someone who had done this to Kim Hyoyeon definitely holds a very great grudge against her,” Tiffany replied.

Taeyeon nodded. Just as she was about to open to reply, her other team member, Chen, called out to her and Tiffany. “Team Leader, Taeyeon-sshi, there is an emergency. Kim Hyoyeon’s dead body is missing. A nurse, Lee Sunny, was ordered to bring her dead body to give it to us so that we can perform an autopsy but then, she found that Kim Hyoyeon’s body was missing.”

1^st February 2017, 10.00 PM

“I’ve already told you what had happened! It was around eight forty-five at night when I entered the mortuary. Sungmin oppa told me to make sure that Kim Hyoyeon’s body is in good condition and so I uncovered the sheet and I found that her body was gone. There were only pillows to disguise as her body!” Sunny exclaimed. “Why are you still questioning me?”

Tiffany Hwang and Kim Taeyeon were at Sunny’s house to get her testimony and also, to question her. They were really appalled when they found out that the dead body was missing. How were they going to get a clue if they could not conduct an autopsy?

Taeyeon just nodded, bored. “Well, you let out a quite loud scream, Sunny-sshi. May I ask why?” she asked, writing down notes on her notebook.

The young nurse took in a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Well, I was shocked. You see, I’m someone who panics at the littlest thing so how could I not let out a scream of panic when something big happened? It was a natural reaction,” she explained as patiently as possible.

Taeyeon raised her eyebrows but did not say anything. Her instincts told her that the nurse in front of her was hiding something. Just as she was about to press the nurse about the whole thing again, Tiffany put her hand on Taeyeon’s shoulder.

“I’ll handle this,” the team leader assured her. “Why don’t you go and look around the house?”

“Why would you want to search my house?” Sunny asked defensively. “You have no right to! I didn’t do anything wrong!” But Taeyeon ignored the nurse's protests.

Tiffany glared at the young nurse in front of her. “Sunny-sshi, I would appreciate it if you cooperate with us,” she said strictly, her lips pursed into a straight line. “Tell me what truly happened.”

“I already did,” the nurse replied stubbornly.

“You were lying,” the policewoman pointed out. “Tell me the truth, Lee Sunny-sshi, or I’ll have to bring you to the police station with us.”

Sunny let out a sigh. “Even if I tell you the truth, you won’t believe me, Miss Hwang,” she replied. “Nobody would. That’s why I lied. It’s better to lie than say a truth that is unbelievable. I suggest that you go back to your police station and just report what I had told you.”

Tiffany stared at her, raising her eyebrow. “I’ll believe you, Sunny-sshi,” she coaxed as gently as possible. “I will. Just tell me the truth.”

Sunny looked at the woman doubtfully. Then, she let out a sigh before saying, “What truly happened was…”

1^st February 2017, 11.30 PM

Kim Jongin, who liked to be called as Kai, and his co-worker, Oh Sehun, were cleaning the café that they were working at. They had wanted to continue their studies in order to get their masters but in the meantime, they were working at Da Vinci Café to earn money.

Even though the café was owned by a strange woman named Song Qian who liked to be called as Victoria, they accepted the job offer. Victoria was a strange lady that was in her early thirties. She claimed that she was able to see things that normal people could not see. Even though Kai and Sehun did not believe in those things, they respected the woman’s belief.

Victoria was a gorgeous lady and rumors had it that she already had a fiancé. The two workers of Da Vinci Café had never seen her fiancé before and so, they did not know whether it was true or not. It seemed like they were the only ones that were working in the café. Victoria came down, sometimes, to help them during the busy hours.

The one who made the drinks was usually Sehun but the one who made the croissants and other food was Victoria.

The café was a small sweet café that office people occasionally hung out at during the night. Upstairs, Victoria had her own business that involved fortune-telling and all those other supernatural stuff that Kai did not believe in.

The bells at the entrance of the café jingled, signaling that someone had entered the café. Kai looked up and found that a young lady that was around his and Sehun’s age was standing at the entrance.

She looked innocent but of course, looks could be deceiving. She was quite tall for a Korean lady. The young lady looked around in awe, observing every single detail in the café.

“We’re closing soon,” Kai stated, snapping the lady back to reality.

“I know,” she replied. “I’m here to see Miss Song Victoria.”

“You may go upstairs and meet her. Don’t forget to knock the door. Vic noona doesn’t like it when someone barges into her room just like that,” he said as he continued to clean.

“Okay, then,” the young lady replied, smiling brightly. Behind her smile, Kai could see that she was distraught and worried about something. “Thanks, by the way.”

“You’re welcome,” he muttered but the young lady had already rushed upstairs.

1^st February 2017, 11.35 PM

The innocent-looking young lady raised her hand in order to knock on Victoria’s door. Before she could knock, the woman had already opened the door for her. Victoria smiled at her and ushered her in.

“Choi Jinri, right?” Victoria asked for confirmation.

“Just call me Sulli,” she replied politely. “How do you know my name?” She shivered slightly as soon as she entered Victoria’s room. The room was dark and was only lit by the candles that were placed at each corner of the room. There were shelves placed right next to the walls and the shelves contained strange things.

There were two cushions on the floor and Victoria asked her to sit on one of the cushions while the older woman sat on the other one. “Sometimes I’m able to see who will be my next customer, Sulli-sshi,” Victoria explained briefly. “Why don’t you tell me your problem?”

Sulli gulped. “I don’t know where to start,” she replied. She took in a deep breath. “Well, you see, I’ve been having strange dreams lately. Every night it was the same dream again and again.”

“Can you please tell me the details of the dream?” the older woman requested.

Sulli nodded. She closed her eyes for a moment and the dream came back to her. “I could hear footsteps running. There were twelve people in cloaks chasing a girl with black hair. I could not see her face. Then, the scene changed. One of the twelve people in cloaks was digging a hole that was big enough for a treasure box to fit in. Then, I saw three dead bodies. All of them were in the same condition. Their hearts had been cut out and their faces looked terrified,” she described her dream. “Then, I would wake up, screaming like a crazy woman.”

Victoria looked thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, let’s analyze each scene one by one. First, you said that you could hear footsteps running. That means you’re either the chaser or the one that has been chased. Next, you saw twelve people in cloaks chasing a girl with black hair. Are you one of the people in the cloak or are you the girl with black hair?”

Sulli looked at Victoria for a moment. “I’m one of the people in the cloak,” she replied.

Victoria gasped slightly. “Have you ever been involved in a ritual before?” she asked, horrified.

“Why do you ask?” the young lady asked almost defensively.

“Because when twelve people in cloaks gather together, they are usually going to perform a deadly ritual,” the woman replied.

Sulli looked at the woman, shocked. “But I… I don’t remember performing any rituals before,” she stammered. “Ever since that accident I don’t remember anything about my past.” She clutched the older woman’s hand tightly. “Please, tell me. What will happen to me in the future?”

“I don’t know, Sulli-sshi. I really don’t,” Victoria replied regrettably. “I wish I do. But there’s one thing that I’m sure of, Sulli-sshi.”

“What is it?” the young lady replied hoarsely, obviously terrified.

“There’s great danger ahead of you. You have to be careful, Sulli-sshi. Try to remember everything you can about the past. Your past is the key to everything.”

Those words haunted her ever since.