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# Chapter 186: Dohyun’s Last Call
Saea’s thumb froze just before pressing the call button. The name “Dohyun” flashed on the screen ten times. Ten. It wasn’t simply a call log—it was the sound of something breaking. Like a fluorescent hum beneath the silence. Like a final scream from someone who had stopped speaking.
Hayouli watched Saea’s hand. Her finger hovered against the screen, but she didn’t press it. As if she knew that button would change something permanently.
“Answer it.”
Hayouli’s voice was low. Not an order. A plea.
Saea didn’t answer. Instead, she lowered the screen. The battery was at twelve percent. It would die soon. As if it were fate. As if everything inside her was dying the same way.
“Saea, what is this? Dohyun called ten times. Ten!”
Hayouli’s voice rose. In the narrow space of the car, it echoed.
“Mom was at the hospital.”
Saea said it as if that explained everything. As if it justified Dohyun’s ten calls.
“So? You had your phone. You didn’t see it at the hospital? Or you saw it and ignored it?”
Hayouli’s voice grew louder. The air in the car turned cold. Like someone had opened a window and let in the winter wind.
Saea looked outside. Gangnam Station at night. Drunk people passed by. Someone was talking on their phone. Someone else was waving for a taxi. Everyone living their own lives. So long as their siblings weren’t calling them ten times.
“Do you know what Dohyun said? Did you listen to his last voicemail?”
Hayouli asked.
“No.”
Saea answered.
Hayouli picked up her phone. Her own phone. She began searching for something. Scrolling. Scrolling again. As if finding it was the most important evidence in the world.
“Here. Listen.”
Hayouli held the phone to Saea’s ear.
The voicemail played. Dohyun’s voice. But it wasn’t the Dohyun voice Saea knew. It was broken. Like someone had stepped on his throat.
“Noona… where are you right now? Mom… mom woke up again. She’s asking for you at the hospital. She’s saying strange things. I don’t know what she means…”
Dohyun’s voice wavered. Then silence. A silence so long it seemed the message had cut off.
“Noona, please… please answer. I… I can’t do this alone. Mom keeps saying something… she’s talking about Dad. And… about you. She keeps talking about you. Please…”
The message ended.
Saea’s hands trembled. They’d been trembling before. Now it was worse. Like her nerves no longer obeyed her commands. Like her body had betrayed her.
“When was this?”
Saea’s voice was barely audible.
“Two hours ago. While you were at the hospital.”
Hayouli said.
Saea picked up her phone again. Dohyun’s name still flashed ten times. Those numbers looked like a time bomb. Tick, tick, tick. Like the sound of a second hand. Like a bomb that could explode at any moment.
“What did Dohyun say? To you?”
Saea asked.
“What did he say? He was worried. You crazy girl. Do you know how worried Dohyun was? When Mom collapsed. When you were at the hospital. Every time you went out. Every single time Dohyun asked where you were, if you’d seen Mom, if she was okay. And every time you…”
Hayouli stopped.
“What?”
Saea asked.
“Every time you didn’t answer.”
Hayouli said.
The silence in the car deepened. It wasn’t just silence. It was the sound of something breaking. Trust shattering. Time stopping. And Saea herself falling apart.
“I…”
Saea started. But couldn’t finish. She didn’t know what to say. How could she explain? Why hadn’t she answered Dohyun’s calls? Why had she only listened to Mom? Why had she forgotten her own brother?
Hayouli picked up her phone. She began dialing a number.
“What are you doing?”
Saea asked.
“Calling Dohyun. For you.”
Hayouli said.
“No.”
Saea said.
“What?”
Hayouli reacted.
“Not yet.”
Saea said. And opened the car door.
Night air rushed in. The noise of Gangnam Station. Laughter from drunk people. Taxi horns. All of it at once. Like Saea had shed her protective shell. Like she’d exposed herself.
“Saea!”
Hayouli shouted.
But Saea was already on the street. Walking between people. Not knowing where she was going. Only knowing she had to get away. From Dohyun’s voice. From Mom’s hands. From Kang Riwoo’s trembling hands.
Her phone rang. Hayouli calling. Saea didn’t answer. It kept ringing. Again and again. Three times. Four times. Five times. Like Dohyun’s calls. Like someone trying to hold onto her.
Saea entered a convenience store nearby. GS25. A worn sign. Fluorescent lights. Cold air drifting from the frozen food section. Everything felt familiar. Identical to the convenience store where she’d worked. Same smell. Same light. Same weight.
The clerk didn’t look at Saea. His eyes stayed on the monitor screen. As if she wasn’t there. As if Saea had already disappeared.
Saea stood before the frozen food section. Ice cream. Red bean shaved ice. Ice. All cold and fixed in place. Not moving. Not melting. Just there. Like herself.
Her phone rang again. This time it wasn’t Hayouli. A different number. Saea checked the screen. Kang Riwoo.
Kang Riwoo was calling. Exactly 12:47 AM. Saea didn’t answer. Instead, she turned off the screen. Battery at seven percent. It would die soon. She thought it was like her. Like a dead phone. She felt dead too.
The convenience store’s fluorescent light flickered. Once. Twice. Like sending a signal. Like a warning.
Saea left the store. She walked toward Hangang Park near Gangnam Station. Navigating through the night streets. Avoiding drunk people. Like searching for her own soul.
The Han River came into view. The river at night was black. Like not a mirror but a hole. Like a black mouth swallowing something.
Saea stood at the railing. Her hand gripped the cold metal. Freezing cold. So cold. Like the hand of death. Like something trying to grab her.
Her phone rang. This time it was Dohyun.
Saea answered.
“Noona?”
Dohyun’s voice came through. Already crying.
“Yeah.”
Saea said.
“Where are you? Where are you? Mom is… Mom keeps saying strange things.”
Dohyun said.
“What?”
Saea asked.
“About Dad. And she says you’re some kind of dangerous person. And that you… and that…”
Dohyun stopped.
“What?”
“She said you might hurt Mom. Or that you already have. But what does that mean?”
Saea’s grip on the railing tightened. Her fingers turned white. Like all the blood had been drained away.
“Dohyun, are you with Mom?”
Saea asked.
“Yeah. But Mom kept saying I should sleep. So I…”
“Tell Mom I’m coming.”
Saea said.
“Really? Right now?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
Saea said.
She ended the call. And looked at the Han River. The river at night was still black. But now it didn’t look like a hole. It looked like a mirror. A mirror reflecting her own image.
Saea’s hand pulled a lighter from her pocket. A lighter she’d carried for so long. The habit of pressing it three times. Click-click-click.
This time, she didn’t press it. Instead, she held it. Trying to feel its weight. Trying to confirm it was hers.
Then she walked. Away from Hangang Park. Back to the streets. Toward the hospital. Where Dohyun was. Where Mom was. Where all her failures waited.
12:52 AM. Saea’s phone battery was at four percent. It would die soon. And she felt something inside her dying too tonight. But before that, there was something she had to do.
Hug Dohyun. Hold Mom’s hand. And finally, use her own voice.
She got in a taxi. The driver asked for her destination. Saea gave him the hospital address. He nodded and pulled away. From the streets near Gangnam Station. Between buildings tall as mountains.
Gangnam’s night passed outside the window. The lights grew smaller. Like distant stars. Like Saea was drifting away from that place.
And Saea told herself. It’s already too late. Everything is already broken. But there’s still something you can do. Hug Dohyun. Don’t let go of Mom’s hand. And find out what Dad was afraid of.
Kang Riwoo didn’t call. Hayouli didn’t call. Only the sounds of night remained. The engine. Wheels rolling on asphalt. And Saea’s racing heartbeat.
Her phone rang. Like a final signal. Battery at one percent.
Saea didn’t answer. Instead, she looked out the window. The hospital came into view. A hospital at night. Windows with lights on. Behind those windows were things in pain. Death. Life. And something in between.
Saea got out of the taxi. Paid the driver. Without a word. And entered the hospital.
Elevator. Hallway. Fluorescent lights. Everything familiar. Like she’d already lived here. Like all her memories existed here.
Dohyun was standing in the hallway. Alone. And when he saw Saea, his face crumbled.
“Noona…”
Dohyun said.
Saea ran and embraced him. That small body. Those cold hands. Those trembling shoulders.
“I’m here. I’m here now.”
Saea said.
Like it was her final words. Like it was the last promise she could make.
Mom’s door came into view. Opening that door would start everything. Dad’s terror. Kang Riwoo’s truth. And who she really was.
But before that, Saea held Dohyun a little longer. 12:56 AM. Her phone was already dead. Only their breathing remained. Under the bright light of the elevator.