Turn around.
The words didn't disappear.hey stayed on the screen quiet, patient, inevitable.
Yuni stared at them, her reflection faintly visible in the black edges of her phone.
Her face didn't look like hers. It were too pale and still.
Like something had already begun to hollow her out."I…" Her voice barely formed. "There's nothing there."
The room didn't respond. It didn't need to. It was already listening.
Buzz.
Ms. Haejin:
Then prove it.
Yuni's throat tightened. The silence thickened pressing against her ears, settling into her lungs.Waiting not for courage,but for her to obey. Slowly her body moved not fully by choice. Her shoulder shifted first before her head then her breath caught halfway through her chest as she turned and turned
Until she faced the darkness behind her.
Nothing the apartment remained unchanged. The chair sat where it always did.Her bag rested against it.The door locked.Still.Quiet and Empty.
Relief broke through her in a shaky breath.
"See…?" she whispered, almost convincing herself. "There's nothing ."
Something touched her.Yuni stopped breathing.It was so light at first she almost doubted it. A faint pressure at the back of her neck warm.
Then unmistakable fingers not brushing,not grabbing it just resting.
Placed there with quiet certainty.
Like they had always belonged there.
Her body locked instantly.Every muscle pulled tight.
Her thoughts scattered.
"I—" Yuni tried Nothing came out.
The fingers didn't move and they didn't need to.They were already enough.
Buzz.
The vibration in her hand felt too loud.
Too sharp.Like it didn't belong in the same space as that touch.
Ms. Haejin~
There you are.
A tear slid down Yuni's cheek. Her lips trembled with fear .
"Stop…" she whispered, barely sound.
The fingers shifted slowly deliberately sliding from the back of her neck .To the side tracing the curve beneath her ear.Yuni's knees weakened her hand pressed against the wall to steady herself.
"Please stop."
The touch paused not gone ,but listening waiting another vibrant sound.
Buzz.
Ms. Haejin~
You said nothing was there.
The words pressed deeper than the fingers.
Yuni's chest tightened painfully.
"I can't see you…" she whispered. "I can't."
Her voice cracked.Because that was the worst part of not knowing where to look.
Not knowing how to prove it wasn't real.
The touch resumed lower this time.
A slow line drawn along her collarbone.
Light enough to deny real enough to break her.Yuni gasped softly, her body flinching.
But she didn't move away,but couldn't.
Ms. Haejin:
You feel me?
It wasn't a question Yuni squeezed her eyes shut. As if darkness would help it didn't it made everything sharper more isolated and more real. The touch lifted gone instantly like it had never been there.
Yuni gasped, her hands flying to her neck nothing her skin felt normal untouched.But her body remembered her breathing turned uneven. Her eyes darted through the room again it was atill empty , silent and something still look wrong.
Buzz.
Ms. Haejin~
You're looking the wrong way.
Yuni froze her fingers tightened around her phone.
"What does that mean…?" she whispered.
No answer.
Just a slow, creeping realization something inside her not her thoughts,but something deeper was guiding her reluctantly unwillingly and unclearly. Her hand lifted. The phone rose in front of her face. The screen brightened.Camera. She didn't remember opening it her reflection appeared unsteady eyes wide breath shaking for a moment nothing else. Something shifted not in the room, but in the screen. The darkness behind her it didn't match it just didn't match and it was thicker denser like it had weight. Yuni's breath caught her fingers trembled slowly she turned her head. The real room was empty looked back to the phone there was shape faint barely formed person standing behind her tall but too close.Yuni heart slammed violently.
"No…" she whispered.
The shape didn't move, but it felt like it was watching her.Like it had always been watching her. Yuni turned again nothing was there.Back to the screen closer. The shape had shifted now just behind her shoulder.
Its outline flickering unstable.Like reality didn't fully accept it her breath came faster.
"You're not—real…" she whispered.
The screen flickered for a split second it sharpened a clearer outline dark hair falling forward. A shoulder angled slightly toward her a presence leaning in too close to her ear. Then distortion static.
Yuni staggered back, slamming into the wall.
Her grip on the phone tightened painfully her pulse thundered and her phone buzzed .
Ms. Haejin~
Don't turn around.
Yuni froze instantly, because now she understood by turning wouldn't help.
Turning never showed anything only the screen did only the reflection.
Buzz.
Ms. Haejin~
I'm right behind you.
Yuni's breathing broke.
Tears blurred her vision.
"I can't see you…" she whispered again.
Weaker now quieter the reply came instantly.
Ms. Haejin~
You don't need to.
A pause.
Ms. Haejin~
Look properly.
Yuni swallowed her hands shook as she raised the phone again her reflection filled the screen and behind it closer clearer still incomplete unmistakable a figure leaning toward her head tilted slightly watching her face and watching her reaction.The darkness around it moved wrong like it breathed when she did , but slower out of sync.Yuni's lips parted no sound came out.
She couldn't look away. Her instincts screamed at her to drop the phone.To break the image to end it all ,but something else held her still something quieter stronger obedience.
Ms. Haejin~
That's better.
The words settled inside her.
Heavy unwanted,but… grounding.
The figure shifted slightly in the screen.
Its outline aligning closer to her body. Like it was trying to match her position.Fit into her space.Yuni's breath hitched.
"What do you want…?" she whispered.
Silence.
Buzz.
Ms. Haejin~
You already know.
Yuni shook her head weakly.
"No…"
But her voice didn't carry conviction anymore, because something inside her was beginning to understand. The figure leaned closer in the screen . Closer to her ear, so she close it should have been visible in real space ,but wasn't.
Ms. Haejin~
You just needed to see me first.
Yuni's chest tightened her grip on the phone trembled the figure didn't fully appear.Not completely not yet, but it didn't need to.
Because now Yuni knew exactly where she was. Exactly how close and exactly how real it felt. The phone buzzed one last time.
Ms. Haejin~
Now you won't forget.
The screen flickered for a split second the figure sharpened again a faint curve of a smile. Right beside her ear then it was gone.
The camera showed only Yuni alone breathing too fast. Sranding in an empty room, but the silence it wasn't empty anymore. It had shape. It had weight and had intention.Yuni understood something she couldn't unlearn seeing her wasn't the worst part. It was realizing she had always been there.