"Uh… Hyein?"
Collin stepped further into the room, looking around. "I thought it'd just be us. Told the others to skip today. Grab snacks or something."
His gaze landed on me. His smile faltered.
"I didn't know we had a new recruit already."
Hyein raised an eyebrow. "He's Eiji-senpai. Mystery Club. Just visiting."
She turned to me. "This is Collin."
I already knew.
Collin stuck his hand out, a little too eagerly. "Nice to meet you!"
I gave it one shake and let go.
"I'll head out," I said. "Thanks for the tour."
Hyein nodded. "See you around."
I slipped through the door. It closed with a soft click.
Through the narrow gap, I caught Collin's quick wink. Like a thank-you.
---
The hallway was dim, and fog pressed against the windows like breath on glass.
Someone was standing just outside the door.
Hoodie. Glasses. Backpack hanging low, a small car keychain hanging from the zipper.
He jumped when he saw me. "Oh—hey. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm Chaniel Yoon. Club leader."
I nodded, the cube already turning in my pocket.
"Just… checking in," he said. "Sounded tense."
He leaned closer to the door. "Walls are thin. You want to listen?"
I don't do other people's drama.
But the cards. The codes. Something still didn't line up.
Before I could stop myself, I leaned in too.
Voices slipped through.
Collin came first, nervous but hopeful. "Hyein, about those cards… I made them. Wanted to impress you. Build up to this."
A pause.
"I like you. A lot."
Beside me, Chaniel went still.
"You cracked it, right?" Collin said. "The message?"
Hyein exhaled slowly. "Yeah. 'Lee Hyein, I love you.' And your name hidden in the cipher."
"So… what do you think?"
The silence stretched.
Then Hyein spoke, steady. "It's creepy, Collin."
"What?"
"The photo. Me asleep in the library. The flower. That's not romantic. It's obsessive."
Collin's voice cracked. "I thought— I just—"
That was enough.
I pulled back. "I heard what I needed."
---
We moved down the hall until the voices blurred into nothing.
Chaniel rubbed the back of his neck. "Collin's not a bad guy. Just impulsive."
He kept his eyes on the floor.
"I helped him plan it. I tried to help him plan it right. Make it thoughtful. Thought it'd make things smoother. Less awkward."
He swallowed. "And maybe… if Hyein stayed around the club more, things would feel normal again."
Six years away. Childhood friends. Acting like nothing had changed.
It lined up too neatly.
"So you designed the cards," I said.
He stiffened. "What?"
I pointed to the keychain. "You like cars. The cards are styled like license plates."
He shrugged, defensive. "Almost everyone likes cars."
"The license plate style," I said. "UK format. You lived there."
He hesitated.
"Your locker was open earlier," I went on. "You had a cipher wheel inside—the kind with rotating rings for Caesar shifts."
The cube clicked once in my pocket.
I met his eyes. "A modified Caesar shift cipher isn't something most people think of. If anyone here would come up with that, it'd be you."
He looked down.
"Yeah," he said. "That was me."
He kicked lightly at the floor. "I just wanted things to feel normal again. Like when we were kids, and everything was easy."
"What now, senpai?" he asked. "Do I tell her? Or let it die?"
Feelings weren't my thing. But the logic was simple.
"Truth shows up eventually," I said. "No matter how well you hide it."
I turned and walked away.
Behind me, Chaniel stayed where he was.
---
The fog clung heavily as I headed out. My phone buzzed—a text from Hanni.
Math Olympiad training ran long. Too tired. Heading home early. Catch you tomorrow?
I stared at the screen longer than necessary.
My thumb hovered over the keyboard. I started typing—something simple, like: Yeah, tomorrow.
Then I stopped.
Childhood friends. Time apart. Things left unsaid.
Our situation ran parallel to Chaniel's—friends pulled apart by years, then shoved back together, pretending nothing had changed.
Ours felt the same. But I wasn't ready to poke at that yet.
I deleted the message. The empty reply box stared back at me.
To shake it off, I scrolled up through my gallery.
The photo of the vandalized poster popped up.
U3HH83 I8J.
Same string scrawled on every torn poster. Not random.
Chaniel's code flashed through my mind.
Simple shift… hidden name…
I froze.
The keys on the phone keyboard stared back at me.
Could it be?
My pace slowed.
If that string really spelled a name the same way Chaniel's cipher did… Minji needed to know. Now.
I turned back toward the humanities wing. Room 722 was dark, empty—Minji already gone. The realization hit harder than I expected—no way to tell her tonight.
On the center table sat a purple envelope. Crisp, unmarked. Same as the first.
I tore it open, same neat handwriting as before.
Both my ears are open wide
Talk to you through secret rhymes
Back and forth, just you and I
My pulse kicked up.
This wasn't over.
It was just getting started.