The question hung between them, suffocating and relentless.
Ray’s gaze bore into hers, his next words cutting her open.
"Was it really for food?"
Es’s body went rigid, her throat suddenly dry. She had prepared for a confrontation—but not for this.
Ray saw her reaction. His voice turned colder, sharper.
"Es, believe it or not, my parents raised to be a CEO. To be their heir." His lips curled into a bitter smile. "And before you, I was the one who led our group. I was the one who navigated this world, who kept my family alive without anyone protecting ."
His fingers twitched at his sides, a restrained anger simring beneath his composed exterior.
"Do you really think I wouldn’t see through sothing like this?" He scoffed, his tone dripping with disbelief. "You, who could order food with one phone call, suddenly had to go out to get it? And then—the accident happened."
His words were a death sentence, and Es felt them sink deep into her bones.
She swallowed, her mouth dry.
Ray’s eyes, dark and unwavering, locked onto hers.
"Tell , Es—am I wrong?"
Her entire body tensed. The cold truth she had been hiding, the one she had convinced herself was safely buried, had just been dragged into the open.
She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
For the first ti in a long ti, Es was truly frozen.
Es remained frozen in place, her thoughts tangled in the web of her own choices. She hadn’t gone out for food that day—she had walked straight into danger, believing she could handle it alone. She had seen the n lurking around the hospital, felt their eyes on her, and she knew they were waiting for the right mont. If she had done nothing, they might have turned their sights on Ray, on the children, on everyone she cared about.
So she had made a choice.
She had lured them away.
And she had never once considered that Ray would find out.
She had underestimated him. Or maybe... she hadn’t even thought about it. It wasn’t that she tried to hide the truth—it simply never occurred to her that she needed to. She had planned to take care of everything and co back as if nothing had happened. But plans had flaws, and hers had cost her more than she had expected.
Ray’s laughter—bitter and sharp—pulled her back. His voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"You really take us for fools, huh?"
Es flinched. She had never heard him sound like that before.
Ray didn’t wait for an answer. He turned on his heel and walked away, his steps heavy with frustration and disappointnt. Guy followed him, casting Es one last unreadable glance before disappearing into the darkness.
And just like that, she was alone.
The silence of the alley stretched around her, suffocating. The air felt colder now, pressing against her skin like an invisible weight. She didn’t know how long she stood there—seconds, minutes? Ti felt distant, unimportant.
Only when a cat leaped onto the dumpster beside her, its sudden movent breaking the stillness, did she finally snap out of her daze.
She blinked, her fingers curling slightly as if trying to grasp onto sothing real.
Her lips parted, but no words ca.
She had made a mistake.
And now, for the first ti, she wasn’t sure how to fix it.
After that day, five days passed, yet Es could not et Ray or anyone connected to her. Sitting on the railing of a neighboring rooftop, directly across from the Valhale building, she absentmindedly popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth. Her legs dangled freely, her sharp gaze locked onto the office below. The night air was crisp, but her mind was burning with thoughts.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed behind her. Es didn’t move, only tilting her head slightly as she recognized the approaching presence—her forr refuge.
The rooftop door burst open with a loud bang, revealing seven won dressed in ordinary civilian clothing. Their eyes locked onto Es, their expressions unreadable.
Still chewing her popcorn, Es slid the bucket onto her head like a makeshift hat before placing it aside. She stood up on the railing, dusting off her hands, and looked at them with cold amusent.
"Wow, you all took your sweet ti. I was waiting, huh?"
With that, she leaped down from the railing, landing effortlessly on the rooftop.
Fifteen minutes later, the scene had changed drastically. The once-pristine rooftop was now stained with blood, bodies sprawled across the concrete. Es stood at the center, her breaths steady despite the violence that had just unfolded. The only sound was the distant hum of the city below.
Kneeling down, she wiped the blade of her knife on one of the fallen won’s shirts before tucking it back into its hidden sheath. These won—they weren’t ordinary watchers. They were bait, ant to push her into revealing herself.
"Desperate, aren’t we?" she muttered to herself.
Since that night, the pressure on her had tightened. Every street corner, every shadow—she could feel their eyes on her. They weren’t just trying to track her down; they were waiting for her to make the first move.
And she did.
But not in the way they expected.
Es pulled out a phone from one of the n’s pockets, flipping it open with a practiced flick of her fingers. She scrolled through the recent ssages, her sharp eyes scanning for anything useful. Nothing. Whoever they were, they were careful. No nas. No direct orders. Just enough to confirm what she already knew.
This wasn’t about her.
This was about them.
Ray. Her children. Everyone connected to her.
They were forcing her out of hiding, making sure she had no choice but to face them.
She clenched her jaw. Not yet.
She needed to be smarter.
With one last glance at the bodies around her, Es stood up, stepping over the ss she had created as if it were nothing. She grabbed the cup of popcorn she had set aside earlier, dusting it off slightly before popping a kernel into her mouth.
Then, without hesitation, she disappeared into the night.
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