# Chapter 2
Hae-Li lay restlessly on the sofa, her face tense and her lips moving without a sound. The room, usually so quiet, was now filled with soft groans and desperate sighs. Her pale hands gripped the fabric as though searching for something to hold on to against the nightmares twisting through her mind.
Cold sweat dampened her forehead, making strands of hair cling to her skin. Her eyes shifted beneath her tightly closed lids, as if following a terrifying shadow only she could see.
“Kiddo, what’s wrong? Wake up!” A woman sat beside her, gently patting her shoulder.
Hae-Li immediately woke and sat up, gasping for breath. She slowly opened her eyes and saw sunlight shining so brightly that it made her vision blur. Hae-Li looked relieved when she saw her sister. She hugged her tightly, though her heart was still pounding erratically.
“Nightmares again?” her sister asked, as though this wasn’t the first time Hae-Li had suffered from them.
Hae-Li still hadn’t fully calmed down. Her face remained pale, filled with anxiety. Angel quickly went to the kitchen and brought her some water.
“Are you all right?” Angel asked as she held out a glass of water to Hae-Li.
Hae-Li got up and examined every corner of the room. Everything looked perfectly normal. Yet for some reason, she felt as though something strange was weighing on her heart.
“Sis, what’s wrong with me? Why was I sleeping on the sofa? And... why does my head feel so heavy?” Hae-Li took a sip of the water her sister had given her. Angel let out a long sigh and sat across from her.
“You tell me. What kind of girl comes home drunk in the middle of the night and becomes someone else’s problem?” Angel stared sharply at Hae-Li.
“What? How did I get drunk?” Hae-Li asked in shock.
“I should be asking you that. What did you do with that strange man last night?” Angel glared at her sister.
“What man?” Hae-Li couldn’t remember everything that had happened to her in detail.
“You even threw up on his suit jacket. It was so embarrassing!”
“I threw up on his suit jacket? Oh my God, I hope I never run into him again.” Hae-Li fell silent, unable to believe what had happened.
“I don’t think even God intends to grant that wish,” Angel muttered, exaggerating for effect.
Hae-Li kept trying to remember how she had ended up drunk. She had never done anything like that before. But now her attention was drawn to the house directly across from hers. It had looked empty before, but now there were clear signs of life inside.
“Who are they?” Hae-Li asked, turning toward Angel, who was focused on her phone screen.
“Oh, the people across the street? Apparently someone moved in and bought that house last night. The one right over there, across the street, remember?” Angel glanced over briefly.
“Oh, I see,” Hae-Li replied flatly, though she was curious.
Hae-Li got up and walked to the kitchen to take another cold drink from the refrigerator. She poured it into a fresh glass, her eyes still fixed on the house.
Suddenly, Angel’s scream shattered the silence.
“What is it?” Hae-Li furrowed her brow and took another sip from the drink in her hand.
“There was a murder around here last night!” Angel stared at Hae-Li seriously.
Her sister’s gaze seemed to remind her of something. Hae-Li was genuinely terrified when she heard the news. Her hand suddenly went limp, and the glass fell from it.
“Hae-Li!” Angel shouted angrily.
“I-I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry, Sis. My head still hurts. I’ll take a shower right away.” Hae-Li avoided her sister’s gaze.
“Cho Hae-Li, clean that up!” Angel shouted at her.
Hae-Li immediately ran to her room, hiding her anxiety from her sister. Although she had experienced terrifying nightmares over and over, it was only last night that she felt the events had been truly real in her memory.
Hae-Li continued trying to push away every bad thought entering her mind, hoping nothing would happen to her—especially nothing terrible to her family. She slowly opened her bedroom door and headed straight for the bathroom. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked puffy. She tried to remember every detail of what had happened the night before.
“What happened to me? Who was that man?” she muttered.
She looked frustrated as she thought about it. After showering, she returned to her room to get ready to meet her friends at a college campus. She went back downstairs and saw her sister.
“Kiddo, where are you going?” Angel asked, having just finished cleaning up the broken glass.
“I have plans with my friends. I think I’m going to be late.” Hae-Li hurriedly put on her shoes.
“Be careful, okay? Don’t forget to let me know if anything happens, all right?” Angel waved while watching her sister worriedly.
Hae-Li stepped outside and began leaving the house, barely hearing what her sister said. As she closed the gate, she suddenly tripped hard and...
“Ah!” she cried.
Luckily, someone quickly caught her.
“I told you to slow down,” a man said as he released Hae-Li’s hand. He seemed to have been watching her for some time.
“Who are you?” Hae-Li stared intently at the man, who seemed strangely familiar.
“Are you feeling better now? It seems you drank too much last night,” the man asked.
Hae-Li turned around and slapped her forehead. She immediately remembered when he mentioned the previous night. Yes, he was the man who had brought her home.
Who was he?