The rain returned that night.
Not gentle.
Not calming.
It fell hard against the windows of Park Jang Mi's home, as if the sky itself was trying to wash something away before it even happened.
Inside, the house was quiet.
Too quiet.
Jang Mi stood in her bedroom, gripping her phone tightly. The evidence lay spread across her desk—photos, printed messages, records.
Proof of betrayal.
Proof that her marriage was built on lies.
Her reflection in the mirror looked unfamiliar.
Stronger.
Colder.
"I won't stay like this," she whispered to herself.
Her voice didn't shake this time.
She had already made up her mind.
Tomorrow, she would file for divorce.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
⸻
Elsewhere in the House
Thirteen-year-old Song Kang Min sat on the floor of his room, headphones around his neck, staring blankly at his notebook.
He wasn't studying.
He was listening.
The silence in the house felt… wrong.
His mother hadn't called him for dinner.
His father hadn't come home yet.
Or maybe he had.
Kang Min wasn't sure.
Something felt off.
⸻
10:42 PM
The front door opened.
Kang Min looked up.
Footsteps echoed faintly through the house.
Slow.
Measured.
Not rushed.
"Dad?" he called out.
No answer.
He frowned.
That wasn't normal.
His father always responded.
Always.
Kang Min stood up slowly, walking toward his door.
He opened it just slightly—
The hallway was dim.
Only the light from his mother's room at the far end.
And something else.
A shadow.
Moving.
Not his father's.
⸻
Inside Jang Mi's Room
Jang Mi turned at the sound of the door opening.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
"Min Jae? You're back earl—"
She stopped.
The man standing in the doorway wasn't her husband.
He closed the door behind him quietly.
No rush.
No panic.
Just calm.
"Who are you?" she asked, stepping back.
No response.
The man tilted his head slightly, observing her.
Like she was something to be studied.
Not a person.
Not a threat.
Just… a task.
Jang Mi's voice sharpened.
"If this is some kind of joke, you need to leave—"
"You shouldn't have looked," he said.
Her breath caught.
"What…?"
He took a step closer.
"Some things are better left unseen."
Fear crept in.
Real.
Cold.
Immediate.
Jang Mi reached behind her slowly, fingers searching for her phone.
"I'm calling the police."
The man didn't react.
Didn't rush her.
Didn't stop her.
That was what made it worse.
"You can," he said calmly.
A pause.
"But it won't matter."
⸻
The Moment Everything Broke
Kang Min stepped further into the hallway, his heart pounding.
His instincts screamed at him to go back.
To hide.
But his feet didn't listen.
"Mom?" he called again.
And then—
A sound.
A sharp crash from inside her room.
Kang Min froze.
His chest tightened.
Something was very, very wrong.
He moved quickly now, but quietly, stopping just before the door.
It was slightly open.
Just enough.
He didn't mean to look.
But he did.
⸻
What He Saw
His mother—
Struggling.
The man—
Calm.
Too calm.
No shouting.
No chaos.
Just controlled violence.
Jang Mi tried to fight back, grabbing whatever she could reach—but it didn't matter.
She wasn't stronger.
She wasn't prepared.
And the man—
Had done this before.
You could see it.
In the way he moved.
In the way he didn't hesitate.
Kang Min's breath hitched.
A sound almost escaped him—
He covered his mouth instantly.
Tears filled his eyes as he dropped to the floor, crawling backward, his body shaking violently.
Don't make a sound.
Don't move.
Don't let him see you.
Inside the room—
It ended.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just… suddenly.
Silence.
⸻
After
Minutes passed.
Or seconds.
Kang Min couldn't tell.
His ears rang.
His body refused to move.
Then—
Footsteps.
Coming closer.
From inside the room.
Into the hallway.
Toward him.
Kang Min's eyes widened.
He scrambled, barely making it back into his room before diving under his bed.
The door creaked open.
Footsteps entered.
Stopped.
Right in front of the bed.
Kang Min stopped breathing completely.
He could see the man's shoes.
Dark.
Clean.
Still.
A long pause.
Then—
The man crouched slightly.
Not enough to see Kang Min fully.
But enough.
Enough to know.
A voice.
Low.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
"You're a quiet one."
Kang Min's entire body went numb.
The man straightened.
Turned.
And walked out.