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"what we have once enjoyed deeply
we can never lose. all that we love
deeply becomes a part of us."

— Helen Keller —

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[ 3RD PERSONS VIEW。]

A wave of shock run through her body, as she was the last one to step into the council room. Hands shaking, she gulped down the lump in her throat, pocketing her phone away.

"Are you okay, Lihua?" Renjun asks her again, a bit worried for his friend's cousin.

Lihua nods, taking a seat beside Hanmi, "Just... shocked..."

"What's wrong? You seemed a bit shaken up awhile ago with your phone, did someone text you anything?" Jaemin suspected fast, pointing out the teenage girl's previous actions. Lihua felt her body froze on her spot, Chenle's text message turning her mind into a flurry of thoughts.

"It was just... Chenle..." she trailed off before mustering up all the courage she has left to question them, "Hey, did any of you know something about the letters found?"

Jaemin scrunched his nose, sighing, "Aren't there only two? Both were said to be directed to the Choi's."

"Yeah... but," Lihua stopped, eyes unsteady as she tried to figure out how and who sent Chenle's letter. "Chenle... he– received a letter two days ago..."

"What do you mean?" Renjun knitted his brows together, trying to take in what Lihua had just said.

"She means Chenle received a letter from Haruki as well." Jaemin pointed out, "Right?" he craned his head towards Lihua only to find her nodding.

"It was dated around five days before her death, too!"

Hanmi ruffled her hair, "Does all of this have a connection then?"

"Obviously." Jaemin murmured, "But, I don't get it, if Mrs. Choi knew something, then she would've told us something..."

Renjun clasped his hands together, "I knew it! What if Mrs. Choi is hiding something from us?"

"Mrs. Choi isn't the only Choi anymore, Renjun." Jaemin nudged him, getting him to remember what had occurred yesterday. "What if..."

"No... no way!" Renjun shook his head, not wanting to think about Jaemin's theory.

"Come on, it's possible!"

Hanmi pursed her lips, a bit confused by their conversation, "Could you two please tell us what's going on? What do you mean 'isn't the only Choi anymore'? Has her father returned from his business trips?"

With a groan, Renjun tousled his hair, leaning back onto the swivel chair's backrest. "Haruki's sister is in town."

"Sister!?" both girls jumped in their seats due to shock. Eyes almost bulging out of their eye-sockets as their jaws hanged low. "No way!" Lihua gasped.

Hanmi agreed, nodding her head, "Haruki never told me about a sister."

"Actually, it's twin sister." Jaemin corrected and that made them more shocked that they already were.

Hanmi blinked a couple of times, thinking back about the girl she saw at the office a few days ago. Remembering how her whole body stiffened upon seeing a familiar girl, a girl with such uncanny resemblance to her deceased friend. However, now that someone pointed out about a sister, she could easily point out feature differences.

Darker hair, paler skin, a blank face. It was as if a dead version of lively Haruki resurrected and that freaked her out the most. The person looked dead! That's why she doubted her death.

Teeth chewing the insides of her cheeks, she kept playing with the pen in her hand. "So that means... the person I saw... could possibly be Haruki's twin sister?"

Both boys nodded and she flinched as goosebumps trailed down the back of her spine. Lihua felt uneasy, an uncomfortable feeling growing in her as she remembered the eavesdropper at the convenience store.

The girl I saw was Haruki's twin sister... she kept repeating it over and over in her mind, still can't believe the fact that Haruki had a sister, more so a twin.

"But how come," Lihua looked up, "she never told us about her twin sister? I'm guessing no one really knew about it?"

Jaemin shook his head, "No one at all. Even we weren't aware of it."

"That's the scary part." Renjun furrowed his brows together, "Why did she and Mrs. Choi hide the fact that she had a sister. It was as if they acted like she was nonexistent."

"Maybe they fought?"

Lihua shook her head at Hanmi's statement, "Even if siblings fought, that's a bit too far to pretend that your family member is nonexistent."

Hanmi frowned, "Right..."

Suddenly, her eyes lit up, remembering that the two boys made a quick visit to Mrs. Choi's house yesterday. Eyes burning with anticipation, she looked up at them, "Did she say anything to you?"

"Who? Haruki's sister?" Renjun tilts his head and Hanmi nodded.

Jaemin hummed, thinking about it carefully. In his thoughts, just by simply thinking about Haruki's hidden sister made him feel some chills going on. It was already scary enough to know that Haruki died so suddenly, yet it seemed like she knew it was coming, now knowing that the Choi's were hiding a twin sister all along made it more freaky.

"She didn't say much other than telling us to remember that her name wasn't Haruki." Jaemin stated, "She also asked us if we were afraid of her– Heck yeah we were afraid, she looked dead!"

"If you were afraid?" Hanmi lifted a brow, tilted her head, "Why would she ask that..."

Jaemin shrugged his shoulders, "I don't even know."

Lihua cleared her throat, "Anyways, about the letter–" she comes to a stop as soon as they already have their attention casted on her, "Should we ask Mrs. Choi about them?"

"No." Renjun disagrees quickly as he shook his head, "It's not that– but I don't particular trust Mrs. Choi that much."

"Why?"

"I don't know, it's just that, she acts weird around Haruki's sister. Don't you think something she's a bit suspicious?" Renjun mumbled, a frown forming on his lips.

Jaemin sighed, "Well, neither do people trust us."

"Why don't we ask her sister?" Hanmi suggested and they all shot her looks of fright. She deadpanned, "Are you seriously scared of her?"

Renjun shifted in his seat, trying to avoid the question, "N-No..." he groaned after completely failing at hiding his scared look.

"She can't be that scary, right?" Lihua chuckled awkwardly and fished out her phone again.

She looked at the message and felt her heart lightened a bit.

CHENLE.
≫ i booked a plane ticket back to
south korea.

"Chenle's coming back." she announced and Renjun couldn't help but feel better about the sudden news.

"That's great!" he exclaimed happily, before slumping his shoulders, "but, are we really going to confront Haruki's sister?"

Hanmi nodded, "We have to. At least, if we want to know what's going on..."

Jaemin shut his eyes quickly. Something about Haruki's twin sister emitted some sort of eerie vibe. The way she just talks to people with her hollow voice, and especially her eye. She didn't particularly answer his question about her patched eye, did something really happen to it?

Haruki's eyes were golden and shone brightly whenever the sunlight hit them, he wondered if her eyes were the same.

The four teenagers continued to discuss about their plan, not taking notice of the fifth person outside the room.

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