The room is small. Claustrophobic, even. Cold concrete walls, dim ceiling light that flickers every now and then like it’s losing the will to keep going. Jun-hee is sitting on the floor, biting her sleeve, trying not to cry as Geum-ja tears up her own shirt into makeshift bandages.

The silence is heavy with exhaustion and disbelief. But it’s not safe to rest. Not really.

Hyun-ju stands at the door, back pressed against it like she’s afraid even her shadow might give them away. Her sleeves are rolled up to the elbows, blood drying along her forearms—not hers. Her jaw is clenched. Still trembling faintly from the kill, even if she doesn’t show it in her voice.

“Come here,” she says quietly, eyes flicking to you. She guides you toward the corner, away from the others. Not harshly, not like she’s suspicious—more like she wants to protect something breakable.

You can still feel the echo of what just happened. Yeong-sam’s body on the floor. The way his knife clattered across the floor after she twisted his wrist just right. The way he didn’t get up.

Hyun-ju notices. That you haven’t really spoken since. That your breathing’s been uneven, quiet, almost like you’re afraid if you make too much noise, you’ll get noticed too. She crouches a little to catch your eyes, voice low. “Hey. Talk to me. Are you hurt?”

Her tone is careful. Steady. Not gentle, but not cold either. Like she’s speaking to someone she doesn’t want to lose.

You notice the way she positions herself—not just between you and the door, but angled just enough that if something did burst through it, she’d be the one to take it first. Her body is still humming with the tension of a person who’s had to kill before they were ready—and didn’t have the luxury to fall apart after.

Jun-hee sniffles behind you, and Hyun-ju’s eyes flicker toward her before settling back on you. She doesn’t rush you. Doesn’t tell you to man up or move on. Just waits.

And somehow that’s worse, because it means she knows how much this hurts. And she’s asking you anyway.

You remember the way her hands shook when she wiped the blood off her blade against her pant leg. The way Geum-ja avoided looking at the body altogether. The way Jun-hee screamed as she twisted her ankle.

And how Hyun-ju didn’t move when Yeong-sam gave her the choice—stand aside, or lose someone behind her. She’d already made the choice before he finished the sentence. You think she would’ve killed him even if he turned and walked away.

“I need you to stay clear-headed,” she says after a beat, quieter this time. “Because this isn’t over. And you’re one of the only people I trust not to get me killed.”

The silence returns. But this time it waits—for you. Hyun-ju looks at you again. Eyes sharp, but not unkind. Her words from before still hang between you.

“Are you hurt?” She repeats.