---
"
Darkness swallows the abandoned building.
Inside, Do Hwan and Jihu lie tied to rusted chairs, unconscious… breathing weakly.
A door creaks open.
Footsteps.
Slow. Calm. Familiar.
A shadow enters the room.
And when the light flickers—
Ahn Min-ji stands there.
Jaeahn's mother.
Before anything else is revealed,
the scene cuts to black.
---
At Home — Midnight Silence
Jaeahn sits at the dinner table, silent.
Jongsuk tries to focus on the meal,
"Big sis… we saved today's victim but… how do we find Jihu and Do Hwan? Where do we even start?" ask eunwoo
Jaeahn doesn't answer.
She simply whispers:
"Eat first. We'll think tomorrow.
Tomorrow… will be hard for all of us. Sleep."
Later that night, Jaeahn wakes from another nightmare—
sweat running down her face, chest tight.
She can't sleep.
She wanders into the living room and turns on the TV, eyes empty.
---
Morning — Rush for Life
Jongsuk wakes and finds her asleep on the sofa.
He tries to place a blanket on her, but she opens her eyes.
"Hey… why are you waking me so early?"
"Early? Big sis… it's already late!
Wake up and run for your life!"
They rush out, grabbing the files.
Seven victims.
Seven locations.
No time.
In the car, Eunwoo asks:
"Should we go together or split up?"
"Split," Jaeahn says. "Me and Eunwoo will take the west side. Jongsuk, you take the rest. I'll send you the list."
Jongsuk frowns. "Why are you taking him?"
"I'm not taking him. He's choosing."
Eunwoo nods.
"I'm going with big sis."
They split and drive opposite directions.
---
Saving Lives — One by One
Location 1
At the Tayung Group Hospital, Jaeahn runs inside searching for Dr. Charlie.
They burst into a room—
Dr. Charlie is about to inject a pregnant woman.
Jaeahn grabs his wrist and snatches the syringe.
Eunwoo pulls the woman to safety.
The woman panics.
Eunwoo calms her gently.
Dr. Charlie tries to escape—
jaeahn punches him hard and drags him outside.
"Sorry," he tells the woman,
"But we had to save your life."
---
Location 2
Meanwhile, Jongsuk sneaks past staff blocking his entry.
He storms into a room where a one-month-old baby lies ready for the injection.
He grabs the syringe, throws it aside, and knocks the doctor out in one hit.
---
Location 3, 4, 5
Jaeahn and Eunwoo save another victim.
Jongsuk saves two more.
They gather three doctors each—
all tied, all terrified.
---
Final Location — Too Late
Jaeahn calls Jongsuk.
"After this… say goodbye for now.
This might get messy."
She arrives at the hospital—
but too late.
The doctor has already injected the pregnant woman.
Jaeahn freezes.
Then something inside her snaps.
She rushes at the doctor, punching him again and again until blood spills.
The woman cries,
"Is my baby okay? Please—tell me!"
Jaeahn wipes her tears.
"Your baby will live.
But… it won't look like you.
Its blood… its traits… I don't know whose bone marrow they used.
But trust me. Don't call the police yet.
Call me."
The doctor tries to attack her from behind—
she blocks it, but the scalpel gives her a scratch on her back.
She knocks him out cold.
---
The Truth Extracted by Fire
All seven doctors are tied in the same abandoned building where Jongsuk almost died.
Jaeahn pours a liquid around them.
One smells it.
"That's… not water…"
Jaeahn lights a match.
"Tell me your boss.
The one behind the experiments."
"We don't know!" they cry.
"We only spoke on the phone—never saw the face!"
She lowers the flame.
"Last chance."
One doctor breaks.
"It's—P-Park Sin Ji…
The name is Park Sin Ji!"
Jaeahn drags the one who spoke aside…
and sets the rest on fire.
Eunwoo gasps, frozen.
"Big sis… what are you doing?"
Jongsuk rests a hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down.
I'm used to this.
You will be too."
Jaeahn knocks out the last doctor and takes him with her.
---
Next Morning — News Breaks
The news plays on TV:
> "Dr. Charlie has killed his colleagues and set the hospital basement on fire.
Authorities arrested him early this morning."
A small smile appears on Jaeahn's lips.
Chapter ends.
---