[No-Ah]
No-Ah remained seated for several seconds after Jae-Won left.
The café door had already closed.
The bell above it had already stopped ringing.
Yet—
she was still staring at the space he'd occupied.
Confused.
Because one thing refused to leave her mind.
Why had he looked so happy?
Not relieved.
Not satisfied.
Happy.
The image replayed itself.
The way he'd looked at his phone.
The small smile.
The certainty in his voice.
He finally moved.
The words echoed again.
What did that even mean?
No-Ah rubbed her forehead.
Nothing about that conversation made sense.
Jae-Won had spent almost an hour talking about the past.
About Kei.
About promises.
About consequences.
Then suddenly—
one message arrived.
And his entire mood changed.
It was strange.
Very strange.
No-Ah looked toward the door again.
As if expecting him to come back.
He didn't.
Of course he didn't.
The chair across from her remained empty.
The untouched coffee remained untouched.
And the questions remained unanswered.
Her phone vibrated.
No-Ah barely glanced at it.
Probably a notification.
Nothing important.
The screen lit up again.
And again.
And again.
Her brows furrowed.
That was unusual.
She picked up the phone.
One notification.
Then another.
Then another.
Messages.
Mentions.
Unknown notifications.
Group chats.
Everything at once.
No-Ah frowned.
"What..."
Her phone vibrated again.
Yun-Ra.
Then again.
Yun-Ra.
Again.
Yun-Ra.
Again.
And again.
No-Ah's stomach tightened.
Because Yun-Ra only sent that many messages when something was wrong.
Very wrong.
She opened the chat.
The messages filled the screen.
No-Ah.
No-Ah answer me
Please tell me it's not real
They found out
No-Ah's heartbeat stumbled.
What?
Her thumb moved.
Another message appeared before she could type.
Someone leaked a video.
No-Ah froze.
Then another.
They know your face now
The world suddenly felt very quiet.
Too quiet.
No-Ah stared at the screen.
Not understanding.
Not immediately.
Because her brain refused to connect the pieces.
Video.
Face.
Found out.
Then—
slowly—
horribly—
everything clicked.
Her stomach dropped.
No.
No.
No.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she opened the link Yun-Ra had sent.
The page loaded.
And immediately—
No-Ah felt the blood drain from her face.
The video.
The café.
Her.
Kei.
The conversation.
The smiles.
That was a video that should've never existed.
The comments were already multiplying.
Thousands.
Faster than she could read.
Who is she?
Is it that girl involved in the magic healing thing?
Wait isn't that the café worker?
Are they dating?
NOCTIS better explain
Look how he's looking at her
That's definitely not normal
No-Ah immediately closed the page.
Her hands felt cold.
Ice cold.
Because this wasn't a rumor anymore.
People had proof.
Or at least—
something that looked like proof.
The phone vibrated again.
Yun-Ra.
Where are you???
No-Ah swallowed.
The café suddenly felt too small.
Too crowded.
Too bright.
Around her—
people continued talking.
Ordering drinks.
Walking past.
Living normally.
Completely unaware that her entire world had just tilted sideways.
Or maybe—
not completely unaware.
A laugh sounded nearby.
No-Ah flinched.
Two university students sat at a table across the room.
Both staring at their phones.
One suddenly looked up.
Directly at her.
Then quickly looked back down.
The second girl followed his gaze.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Then she whispered something.
No-Ah's stomach sank.
Because she knew that look.
Recognition.
The first girl glanced over again.
Longer this time.
Then whispered:
"Isn't that her?"
The words were quiet.
Very quiet.
But No-Ah still heard them.
Every syllable.
The second girl leaned closer.
"I think it is."
No-Ah immediately looked away.
Her chest tightening.
Maybe she was imagining it.
Maybe she was overthinking.
Maybe—
A phone camera lifted.
Only briefly.
Then lowered.
No-Ah's pulse spiked.
No.
No, no, no.
She stood so quickly that her chair scraped against the floor.
Several people looked over.
Immediately.
The attention felt physical.
Like pressure.
Like weight.
No-Ah grabbed her bag.
She needed to leave.
Now.
The café bell chimed as another customer entered.
A middle-aged woman.
The woman glanced up.
Then froze.
Her eyes landed on No-Ah.
Recognition flashed instantly.
"Oh."
The sound escaped before she could stop it.
The woman looked at her phone.
Then at No-Ah.
Then back at her phone.
No-Ah felt sick.
Actually sick.
Because now she knew.
People weren't guessing anymore.
People knew.
Or thought they did.
And that was almost worse.
The whispers started spreading.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
Like ripples.
"That's her."
"I saw the video."
"She looks exactly the same."
"Isn't she the girl with that idol?"
"No way."
"It has to be."
No-Ah's fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.
Every instinct screamed at her to leave.
So she did.
Immediately.
She pushed through the café door.
The afternoon air hit her face.
Cold.
Sharp.
Yet somehow—
it didn't help.
Because her phone kept vibrating.
Notification.
Notification.
Notification.
Message.
Message.
Message.
The internet was moving faster than she could think.
And somewhere in the middle of all that chaos—
one terrifying realization finally settled in.
Kei probably hadn't seen it yet.
But he would.
Soon.
Very soon.
And when he did—
everything was going to change.
Who did this?
☆ ☆ ☆