Seo-yeon returned the envelope exactly where she found it.
Same position.
Same angle.
Same lie.
Her fingers lingered on the table for a moment before she pulled away.
Her chest felt heavy.
Not with fear.
With understanding.
Her father wasn't careless.
He wasn't reckless.
He was desperate.
She walked back to her room slowly.
Each step felt different.
Heavier.
More deliberate.
She sat on the edge of her bed.
Her notebook lay open.
Waiting.
She picked up her pen.
Her hand hesitated above the page.
Then she wrote:
June 12 — Reason for leaving: Debt
The word looked ugly on paper.
Sharp.
Unforgiving.
Real.
She stared at it.
This was the truth she had never been meant to know.
Her father had carried it alone.
Protected her from it.
Even until the end.
Her grip tightened around the pen.
Her parents hadn't died randomly.
They died while trying to save her.
Her throat tightened painfully.
In her first life, she had spent years believing she was the victim.
Believing she was the one left behind.
She never considered—
They were victims too.
She lowered her head.
Her tears fell silently onto the paper.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Sorry for not seeing.
Sorry for not understanding.
Sorry for surviving while they didn't.
Her fingers trembled.
But beneath the guilt—
Something else was growing.
Resolve.
This wasn't the same life anymore.
This wasn't the same helpless girl anymore.
She knew now.
She understood now.
Which meant—
She had power now.
Her parents didn't need miracles.
They needed time.
And time was the one thing she had.
Seven days.
Six now.
Six days to break a chain of events that once destroyed everything.
Her mind raced.
Debt caused pressure.
Pressure caused decisions.
Decisions caused movement.
Movement caused the accident.
If she removed the pressure—
She could remove the accident.
Her breathing steadied.
She wasn't trying to stop fate anymore.
She was trying to stop the cause.
She stood slowly.
Her reflection stared back at her from the window.
Seventeen.
Young.
But carrying the memories of a broken life.
This time—
She wouldn't wait to be saved.
She would save them.
Even if she had to become someone completely different to do it.
Even if she had to sacrifice the version of herself that once gave up.
Because this time—
She refused to survive alone.