The rain hadn't stopped by the time Yuna boarded the bus.
She slid into a window seat, watching the city blur past like watercolors bleeding down glass. Jingluan faded behind her, grey and breathless. She leaned back, earphones in, but didn't press play. There was no music just silence humming in her chest.
Qilin District came into view like an old secret. The streets here were cleaner, quieter. The kind of place where sins wore suits and whispers didn't echo.
Yuna stepped off at the curve near the iron gate. Her boots touched wet stone. The mansion loomed above, still and familiar. She took a breath, then another, and walked through the front door.
Inside, the scent of jasmine tea and suitcase chaos filled the air.
"You're late," Nari called from upstairs. "I almost left without you."
"You say that every time," Yuna shouted back, shrugging off her coat.
She padded up the grand staircase, where Nari was half-kneeling on an open suitcase, trying to zip it shut with one knee and zero patience.
"What's the plan again?" Nari asked, hair clipped up in a messy twist.
"Land in Chicago. Check in under the names I gave. We disappear."
"And after that?"
Yuna raised an eyebrow. "After that, we live."
Nari smirked. "We've said that in every city we burned down."
Yuna threw herself onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Yeah. And we're still alive, aren't we?"
They moved like muscle memory — clothes folded sharp, IDs stashed, burner phones switched. The hour stretched lazy until evening dipped its fingers across the windows.
Then the doorbell rang.
Sharp. Unexpected.
They both paused.
Yuna sat up, brows tightening. "expecting someone?"
"No," Nari said slowly, already walking downstairs. "Not even food delivery."
Yuna followed, one hand casually brushing against the table drawer just in case.
When Nari opened the door, the porch was empty.
No footsteps. No car engine. Just a black box sitting neatly on the stone step like it belonged there.
"...Aesthetic," Nari muttered, stepping out under the awning.
She bent down and picked it up. The box was heavy for its size — matte black, with silver ink written across the top.
Her face shifted.
"What is it?" Yuna asked from the hallway.
Nari turned the box around and showed her.
Yuna.
The name was written like a signature no return address, no label, no note.
Nari raised an eyebrow. "You've got secret admirers now?"
Yuna tilted her head, expression unreadable. "No one knows we live here."
"Apparently, someone does."
Yuna took the box from her and walked into the kitchen, setting it gently on the counter.
"You're not gonna open it?" Nari asked, wide-eyed. "It could be a trap. Or perfume. Or poisoned perfume."
Yuna popped the lid off without a blink.
Inside, nestled in soft velvet, was a single black flower. Long-stemmed. Glossy petals. Not a wrinkle in sight.
"Romantic," Nari said sarcastically. "In a Tim Burton kind of way."
Yuna stared at it — calm, thoughtful.
Nari came closer, voice quieter now. "You think it's from someone we know?"
"I think it's a message," Yuna said.
"You think it's a threat?"
Yuna smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "If it is… it's late."
The flower sat between them. Neither of them touched it.
Outside, the rain picked up again — steady and cold.
Inside, the mansion felt slightly less like home.
AIRPORT HIGHWAY DAY (LATE AFTERNOON)
A cab speeds through the rainy roads of Bailin City. Foggy glass. The city blurs outside. Yuna and Nari sit in the backseat, half-asleep, halfhyped.
NARI
(stretching)
I swear if this flight gets delayed, I'll cry in three languages.
YUNA
(softly smiling)
Add Turkish and Mandarin to that. Be more international.
They laugh. Yuna leans her forehead against the glass, eyes scanning the gray buildings turning gold in the low sun. Her hand tightens around her phone. The flower is gone — left in the mansion, locked in a glass box.The cab stop on traffic red light.
Just then, a raspy voice cuts through the air.
OLD WOMAN
(voice hoarse but weirdly clear)
Beautiful lady… give me some coins.
They turn. A fragile old woman in a tattered shawl stands near a hotel wall. Her hands are outstretched. Her eyes are milk-white. Not blind, but… blank.
NARI
(under breath)
Where's her handler? Is this safe?
Yuna Pulls out her wallet and drops some bills into the woman's hands.
YUNA
Pray for me.
OLD WOMAN
(smirking)
What should I pray for?
YUNA
(smiling faintly)
That I find what I'm going to look for.
The old woman nods slowly. Her fingers tighten around the money.
Then
A cold, sharp voice cuts the air behind them.
The tone is too clear, like the woman's entire voice just shifted.
OLD WOMAN :
May God never let you find what you're looking for.
Yuna freezes
Nari turns around but the woman is gone. Just an empty sidewalk.
NARI :what was that
Yuna didn't replied
But behind them, back at the roadside—
the wall still echoes.
The air still listens.
The cab glides to a halt under the towering lights of the terminal. A plane roars overhead, its red tail blinking like a slow, distant warning.
NARI
We're here.
YUNA
Right on time.
The cab driver opens the trunk. They step out their coats flutter in the breeze like shadows about to take flight. Yuna's brown eyes scan the crowd. Calm. Composed. Watching.
Nari lifts out a single suitcase. Yuna doesn't carry much just one small black bag slung over her shoulder. Everything else, she's already left behind.
IN AIRPORT
Inside, the terminal hums — a low orchestra of departures, coffee machines, sleepy travelers, and wheeled luggage scraping polished floors.
Yuna and Nari walk in step, black boots echoing softly. At check-in, they pass their passports across the counter without a word.
RECEPTIONIST
Chicago.
Midnight flight.
Gate C12.
Their tickets print. As they walk away
They move toward security. The lines are short. Everything feels too smooth — too quiet.
BOARDING GATE MOMENTS LATER
At Gate C12, they sit near the windows, watching rain snake down the glass. Outside, their plane waits — silent, still, like a sleeping beast.
NARI
What if… she was there?
YUNA
Then it means fate still has the nerve to play.
NARI
And if she's not?
YUNA
Then I'll make fate regret wasting my time.