The hallway was darker than usual. Even the flickering emergency lights that had occasionally blinked on before were dead now, swallowed by a thick silence that clung to the walls like mold. Min-Jae stood in front of the old art room, the cold metal door creaking slightly as a breeze passed through, though no windows were open.
He wasn't alone.
Haneul stepped beside him, eyes darting nervously around. "You sure about this?"
Min-Jae nodded slowly. "The girl… she pointed me here last night. The same ghost girl. I think the mirror has something to do with the door."
"The mirror?" Haneul's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Yeah," Min-Jae said. "The broken one in the art room. When I looked into it before, I didn't see myself. I saw... something else."
Haneul exhaled, bracing himself. "Let's get this over with."
The art room groaned as the two boys stepped inside. Dust coated everything—tables, chairs, paintbrushes stiff with dried color, and the heavy mirror leaning crookedly against the back wall. Moonlight filtered through the shattered window, casting jagged shadows across the mirror's surface.
Min-Jae moved closer. The mirror's surface shimmered faintly, like water catching the moonlight. His reflection stood still… too still. While Min-Jae approached, his reflection didn't move. It only stared.
Then it smiled.
Min-Jae froze. "Did you see that?"
Haneul squinted at the glass. "See what?"
"It… it smiled. My reflection. It didn't copy me. It moved on its own."
Haneul took a step back. "Min-Jae, we need to go."
Just as he said that, the mirror flickered like a screen losing signal. For a moment, Min-Jae saw something else—an empty classroom, desks scattered and scratched, blood smeared across the walls. In the center stood someone who looked exactly like him… but pale, hollow-eyed, and grinning wide with blood-stained teeth.
He stumbled backward. "No… that's not me. That can't be me!"
A sudden chill swept through the room. The door slammed shut behind them, locking with a violent click. The lights flickered, and a humming sound vibrated through the floorboards.
The air in front of the mirror thickened. Fog spilled out from the edges of the frame, twisting and coiling like fingers stretching into the room.
And then… she appeared.
Floating inches above the ground, the ghost girl materialized. Her long black hair drifted like it was suspended underwater, her school uniform torn and stained. Her eyes were nothing but dark voids. She looked at Min-Jae, her head slowly tilting.
"You saw it," she whispered. Her voice echoed from every corner of the room. "The door. The mirror. The eyes."
Min-Jae took a step forward, heart pounding. "Who are you? What's happening to me?"
The girl blinked slowly. "They locked me behind the door. I screamed, but no one heard me. I watched through the mirror… for years."
Tears welled in her empty eyes.
"I wasn't the only one it took," she whispered. "The mirror doesn't reflect your soul. It shows what waits to become you."
Min-Jae's blood ran cold.
"What waits to become me?" he asked.
She floated closer. "You opened the door. Now it's free. It's wearing your skin. It's learning your voice. Soon… it won't need you anymore."
Behind her, the mirror flickered again.
Min-Jae saw himself inside—standing in a corridor, staring at a group of students. Then, without expression, the mirror-Min-Jae lunged forward, and everything turned red.
"I didn't do that!" he shouted.
"You will," the ghost girl said. "Unless you seal the door again."
A violent tremor shook the room. The ghost girl's head snapped toward the door. "It's coming."
Cracks formed across the mirror's surface.
Haneul grabbed Min-Jae's arm. "We need to go!"
The girl held out her hand. A symbol—burned into her palm. "You must find this. It's the seal. It's buried beneath the old stage."
The mirror shattered.
Glass exploded around them. One shard sliced Min-Jae's cheek. He cried out but didn't stop. He and Haneul raced to the door, yanking it open and running into the hallway.
Behind them, something crawled out of the mirror frame. It moved like a shadow but had a body—human, almost. Its face… was Min-Jae's.
But its eyes were empty. And its smile was wrong.