Crash
> 6:43 PM.
Ji-Han was running.
Barefoot. Short of breath. His heart about to explode.
The sky had turned red. Not a sunset red — a dirty red, like blood diluted in the air.
He had left the apartment without warning. Without thinking.
The streets were empty. Too empty.
No sound. No breath.
Just that constant ringing, growing louder in his ears.
> Run.
Run.
Now.
He turned left, dashed onto an avenue he vaguely recognized.
A bus stop. A phone booth. A broken shop window.
Everything seemed abandoned.
He stumbled. Got up. Blood on his knees.
He shouted:
— IS THERE ANYONE?!
Nothing.
And then...
An engine.
He spun around abruptly.
A black car. Slow. Headlights off.
And behind the wheel...
Jae-In.
Not the one from the morning.
Not the one from the park.
Another.
A monstrous smile on his lips. Black eyes. Hands gripping the wheel tightly.
— Come back here, Ji-Han.
Ji-Han stepped back, panicked.
— Don't come near!
— You can't escape. You created me. You let me in. Now… you belong to me.
The car accelerated abruptly.
Ji-Han screamed.
Ran again. Tears blurred his vision.
A crash. A dull thud.
His body was thrown against the asphalt. He rolled, crashed, landed on his side.
> Silence.
> Then... voices.
> "He moved. Look, he reacted!"
> "Quick, increase the oxygen!"
Ji-Han opened his eyes.
He was lying in the street. But not the same one.
The sky was blue this time. The real one.
The scent of disinfectant floated in the air. Footsteps. A stretcher.
And there… above him…
The real Jae-In.
Tears in his eyes.
— Please… stay with me...