In Hae smirked confidently, brushing past Gu Mi as she whispered with venom-laced charm, "Sure. It's a promise. But… remember, Gu Mi your father's dirty secret might not be the only thing that could cost him the election. Politics is full of landmines."
She gave Gu Mi one last amused glance before strutting away, her shoes clicking dramatically across the polished floor. Gu Mi stood frozen in place, clenching her fists, her face red with frustration and shame. She wanted to scream. To cry. To hit something. But instead, she bit her lower lip until it nearly bled.
"Damn you… In Hae," she muttered under her breath.
Inside, her mother was still confused by her daughter's strange behavior. "Gu Mi, what was she talking about? Who is Hye Ji?"
But Gu Mi cut her off quickly, snapping, "It's nothing, Mom. Just… stay out of it, okay?" Then she stormed off, her hands shaking.
---
Meanwhile, at the scene of the destroyed house, chaos buzzed in the air like static. Police cars and ambulances filled the narrow street. Neighbors were gathered at the edge of the yellow tape, murmuring about what they had seen—or what they thought they had seen.
Woo Joon parked his car in a hurry, stepping out with sharp eyes scanning the destruction. The house where Bo Ah had lived stood in ruins its roof torn, the walls scorched and cracked. He pushed through the small crowd and showed his badge to the officer blocking the entrance.
"I'm Woo Joon. I got a call about this place," he said.
His colleague, Detective Kang, nodded grimly and pulled him aside. "You're not going to believe this. We were just doing a check-up, following the last case you flagged. When we got here, it was like this. Total destruction. The neighbor called it in—heard screaming and an explosion. When we went in, we found a girl still alive.
He pointed toward the gurney being wheeled toward the ambulance. On it was a horrifying sight a body so thin, so drained of moisture and color, it resembled ancient leather. Its face was shriveled, its eyes hollow.
"A dried corpse," Woo Joon said quietly.
Kang nodded. "Exactly like the ones we found in the club . No signs of blood, no signs of struggle. No CCTV footage. It's as if the killer is a ghost."
Woo Joon's eyes narrowed as he looked around the perimeter. The front door was blown apart. The living room inside looked like it had been slashed by something with enormous claws.
"And the girl?"
"She's alive," Kang said. "Barely. She's in the ambulance. No visible wounds except a minor cut on her arm and some bruises. But... mentally, she looks completely gone. Like someone ripped her out of her own life."
Woo Joon jogged toward the ambulance and climbed in briefly. There, lying on the stretcher, was Bo Ah. Her eyes were half open, but they stared into nothing. Her lips trembled as if she were whispering something, but no words came out.
He gently placed a hand on her wrist. It was cold but pulsing with life. He let out a soft breath of relief. "At least you're still breathing," he said under his breath.
As he stepped back out of the ambulance, he glanced at the ruined house again. Something about it gnawed at his gut.
Kang walked up beside him. "It's not just this house. Another incident happened across town yesterday. But doesn't look like this.is this country reall save?
Woo Joon didn't respond right away. He stared up at the sky, watching the clouds move sluggishly across the blue.
"There's something… unnatural happening," he finally said. "We're not just dealing with a killer. We're dealing with something else. Something that walks like smoke. Something that devours souls."
---
As the ambulance pulled away with Bo Ah inside, a thick mist began to curl around the edges of the alley behind the house.
And far away hidden among shadows a dark figure stood atop a rooftop, watching with burning red eyes. The woman from before, the one who claimed to be the evil in Bo Ah's family, sneered at the sky.
"That cursed woman… She put a barrier on the girl," she spat. Her hand still throbbed from when it shattered moments before. "Who is she to interfere? Years of my careful work… ruined in one night."
Her cloak danced in the wind like living smoke. "No matter," she muttered. "If I can't have her now, I'll wait. Pain always comes back... and when it does, I'll be there to feed."
With that, she dissolved into the mist, leaving nothing behind but the scent of rot and smoke.
The war for Bo Ah's soul… was far from over.