Kaze had been staring at the house in front of him with uncertainty. The house looked empty and uninhabited—all the lights were off, even though it was already late in the afternoon, almost evening. The lights should've been on. Did this mean the owner of the house wasn't home?
"Are we going in or not?" Dion asked, looking at the others.
"Just go in," Gantha said as he stepped toward the door first.
"Eh, what if someone's inside?" Yoga whispered.
"Kala's an only child, and her parents are overseas for business for a few months," Gantha replied.
"By the way, is the door locked?" Melvin asked.
Gantha walked to the porch, pushed aside some pebbles, and found the key. He knew Kala kept a spare key under those rocks—he learned that when he once came to this house by climbing the rooftop and accidentally stepped on the key.
The others didn't question it, assuming Gantha figured it out because he was an esper and naturally smart.
Moments later, they entered the house. The atmosphere was cold and damp, without a single sound except their own footsteps. They moved carefully inside, calling Kala's name over and over.
"Feels like Kala's not home," Melvin muttered.
"Can't you check, Gan?" Dion asked.
They all gathered again in the living room, sitting together on the couch.
"You guys actually believe I'm an esper?" Gantha asked suddenly.
"W–well, you were the one who said so," Hasta replied.
Gantha sighed. "Kala hid it on purpose because he was afraid of how you'd react. He didn't want to be treated differently—positively or negatively."
"So the real esper is Kala? Then why did you say it was you?" Melvin asked, confused.
"To protect him. He was overthinking a lot, and I wanted to see how you guys would react to the idea of an esper," Gantha explained.
"We wouldn't have a problem with that. Why didn't he just tell us?" Dion asked.
"I don't know. I think he's been trying to deal with her overthinking, and maybe he planned to tell you once he was ready," Gantha replied.
"What was he overthinking about?" Yoga asked.
"He got a sign that someone was going to face disaster. That sign pointed to Asta and Melvin. But yesterday, almost everyone at school got hit by the disaster. He hasn't been able to process it. And now a doppelgänger broke into his house—and even went to Yoga's dad's store." Gantha explained.
"When did you know all this?" Hasta asked.
"After he solved Hadi and Lia's case. A few days before that, I realized he was an esper," Gantha said.
"And you two have been working together since then?" Yoan asked.
"Why? You know about it too," Gantha said.
"Not as much as that. I only found out he was an esper back at the villa when we were looking for Lyo's diary," Yoan replied.
"Guys, what do we do now? The esper kid is the one who went missing. How do we find him?" Yoga asked.
"We still have brains—we can figure something out," Gantha said.
"We can ask the neighbors. Maybe they saw Kala," Yoan suggested.
"Alright then," Dion agreed.
Everyone stood up, except Gantha, whose expression remained serious.
He remembered what Kala said about going to the villa. So he wondered—was Kala there right now?
"Agan," Melvin waved his hand in front of Gantha's face.
"You guys go ahead," Gantha said as he stood.
"Where are you going?" Hasta asked.
"To Kala's room. I left my watch there," Gantha replied.
"You wear a watch?" Yoan raised an eyebrow.
"You've been watching me?" Gantha shot back.
"No?? Why would I watch you?" Yoan retorted.
Gantha headed upstairs to Kala's room while the others walked outside.
The red-haired boy climbed the stairs one by one until he reached Kala's room. He immediately headed to the desk where the item he was looking for was kept.
Meanwhile, outside, Kaze's group waited for Gantha on the porch. Not far from them, a sweet-looking young man stood watching them with sad eyes.
Dion, sensing something strange, decided to approach him.
~~~~~~
Kala leaned against the wall, exhausted after searching endlessly for a way out of the building. Somehow everything inside was different from before. The place felt bigger, more twisted—like a maze.
Breathing heavily, she crouched on the cold cement floor. His mind felt messier than ever. Fear clung to her like a shadow. All he wanted now… was to go back to his family and friends.
That was his only wish.
"Time here is different from the real world. You don't have to rush like that," his double suddenly appeared beside her, sitting down next to him.
Kala stayed silent, not even willing to turn his head.
"I'm Sunoo. Kim Sunoo."
The double extended his hand, offering a handshake, but Kala didn't respond at all.
"Didn't ask," he muttered coldly.
Sunoo chuckled and lowered his hand. "We have history, you know. I knew you as the orphan kid who died after being buried alive."
"Honestly, I don't care about your past. Maybe we're connected somehow, but that was then. This is now. Don't act close to me," Kala snapped.
"You've got a lot of time here. Instead of wasting your energy trying to escape a place with no exit, you should listen to my story," Sunoo continued.
"Do whatever you want. I'm not listening," Kala said flatly.
"The orphanage we lived in wasn't normal. You died and were buried somewhere around it. My brothers and I came as new kids, clueless, but we knew something was wrong with that place."
Kala shut his eyes tightly, hoping ignoring him would make him leave.
But Sunoo continued anyway. "You tried to possess me because you sensed my astral projection ability. I refused, and my soul almost got lost. Luckily one of my brothers had the ability to see the past—he found out what happened to you."
"After that, you kept appearing to us, guiding us, giving clues about the orphanage. So I guess… I should thank you for that."
Sunoo turned to Kala, who still pretended to sleep.
"No appreciation at all?" he said in a purposely cute voice.
"Shut up," Kala thought bitterly.
But suddenly—his instincts screamed danger.
Kala's eyes snapped open.
Sunoo was smiling, holding a syringe dangerously close to her neck.
"Akh!!"
Even though he reacted in time, he was still too late—Sunoo managed to press the syringe close enough that Kala had no idea whether the liquid entered his body or not.
"You wanted to rest, right?" the double giggled.
Kala forced himself up, her entire body trembling.
No matter what happened next—
He had to run.
Or at least hide.