A year later…

 

“Hey, Mino.” Jimin says while buttoning her blouse.

“What?” Mino replied, finishing his eyeliner and combing his hair before heading out.

 

It took her quite some time before knocking on Mino’s room. He opened the door and greeted her with a smile, but not before seeing her expression.

“Hey.” He lifts her chin up, and stares at her. “What’s wrong?”

 

She sighs before removing his hand from her face. “Are you sure about moving to those co-ed dorms?” He beams at her before ruffling her hair. “I’m sure.”

 

“I—” She stops herself midway, but suddenly pulls at Mino’s jacket.

 

Maybe no one really thinks she exists. Maybe she doesn’t even exist.

 

“What is it? You’re starting to worry me.” Mino faces her now, and she looks down on the floor.

 

“Do you know those rumors about the co-ed dorms? How people disappear, and that they say something appears from the dark when you’re alone?” She looks at him, her eyes staring, hoping for something, something he couldn’t understand.

 

“Well, yeah, why? I’ve been warned countless times.” Mino says, and then it clicks. “Are you worried I’ll disappear without a trace as well? Do you think those people who disappeared really existed?”

She breaks her gaze from him and looks away. “I’ve heard the relatives and friends of those who disappeared were sent into mental hospitals because they think the person who disappeared existed, when in fact there wasn’t even a birth certificate and no one, aside from those families and friends, believed they exist.”

Mino smiles at her. “What’s wrong? Jae told me it’s fine there. I’ve got a lot of friends, a nice family, and it’s impossible to just erase me as if I didn’t exist. I won’t disappear—”

 

“I had a friend who disappeared after staying in those co-ed dorms.” She cut him off before he could continue his train of thought. “And Jae, no matter how long I’ve known him, he’s suspicious. He seems dangerous.”

 

He was speechless, and simply pulled her in for a hug. “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t know.”

 

She breaks away from the hug first. “If you really are gonna go there, I want you to talk to Jae, just the two of you, and ask, as innocently as you can, if Im Jaeyeon has ever stayed in those dorms.” Mino simply nods, and he smoothens out her hair.

A phone notification was heard.

 

“It’s Brian Kang. The guy I know from the co-ed dorms.” Mino says, picking up his phone and opening the message.

Her eyes grew wide.

 

She was about to snatch his phone away when he raised his arm, phone in hand, up in the air, out of Jimin’s reach.

 

“Relax. If you wanna know about your friend’s whereabouts, I’ll infiltrate from the inside. Besides,” he throws his phone casually on his bed and plopped himself down, “I have a feeling Brian’s on our side.”