The drive to Yuna's house was quieter than anything that had come before. Neither of them spoke much, not because there was nothing to say, but because everything that needed to be said felt too heavy to put into words right now. The city passed by outside the window in a blur, but Yuna barely noticed it. Her gaze stayed fixed ahead, her hands resting in her lap, fingers slowly tightening and loosening as if she were bracing herself for something she couldn't fully predict.
Ethan drove steadily, his focus sharp, his movements controlled as always—but his eyes flicked toward her more than once. Not enough to distract himself, but enough to make sure she was still there, still steady.
When they finally reached the house, the car came to a slow stop.
Yuna didn't move immediately.
She just stared at it.
The place that had once been her home.
Now standing silent, almost unfamiliar.
"Yuna," Ethan said quietly.
She nodded faintly, as if reminding herself to breathe, and then opened the door.
The air outside felt different.
Heavier.
As soon as she stepped inside, everything hit her at once—the memories, the echoes of voices that were no longer there, the feeling of something broken that could never be fixed again.
She didn't stop.
She walked straight ahead.
Straight to his room.
Her father's room.
The door creaked slightly as she pushed it open, and the moment she stepped inside, everything she had been holding together finally broke.
Her breath hitched.
And then—
She cried.
Not loudly.
Not uncontrollably.
But deeply.
Her shoulders trembled as she stood there, her eyes scanning the room that still looked the same, as if nothing had changed—when in reality, everything had.
Ethan didn't step in.
He stayed at the doorway for a moment, watching her.
Then quietly turned away.
He knew this wasn't something he could fix.
Not something he should interrupt.
He moved through the house with purpose instead, his expression returning to that sharp focus, his mind already working through possibilities. If there were answers here, they wouldn't be in plain sight. They would be hidden.
Carefully.
Deliberately.
Just like everything else.
Yuna, meanwhile, slowly forced herself to stop crying.
Her tears didn't fully stop, but she wiped them away, her breathing uneven as she tried to steady herself.
"I need to know…" she whispered to herself.
Her hands moved to the drawers, opening them one by one, searching through files, papers, anything that could explain the truth she had been chasing.
At first—
Nothing.
Just ordinary documents.
But she didn't stop.
She kept going, her movements growing faster, more desperate, pulling things out, scattering them across the floor as frustration built.
"Where is it…" she murmured, her voice shaking.
Elsewhere in the house, Ethan had already found what he was looking for.
A study room.
Hidden behind a locked door.
One he opened without hesitation.
Inside, everything was organized—too organized.
That alone told him enough.
This wasn't just a businessman's workspace.
This was someone who kept secrets.
Ethan moved carefully, scanning everything, opening drawers, checking compartments, his eyes missing nothing.
And then—
He found it.
A small compartment.
Hidden.
Inside—
A pendrive.
And files.
Not ordinary ones.
His expression hardened slightly as he picked them up, slipping the pendrive into his pocket without hesitation.
This—
This was what they came for.
Without wasting time, he stepped out and signaled quietly.
Kai appeared from the hallway.
Silent.
Efficient.
Ethan handed him the files.
"Take these," he said.
Kai nodded once, understanding immediately. No questions. No hesitation.
He turned and left the house just as quietly as he had entered.
Ethan remained for a moment, his mind already processing what this could mean.
Then he turned back.
Toward Yuna.
When he reached her, the scene in front of him stopped him for a second.
The room was no longer untouched.
Papers were scattered everywhere.
Drawers left open.
Things thrown aside.
And Yuna—
She was in the middle of it.
Her movements frantic now, her breathing uneven, her tears falling silently as she searched through everything, her hands shaking as she pushed things aside.
"Why can't I find anything…" she whispered, her voice breaking.
Ethan stepped closer slowly.
"Yuna."
She didn't stop.
"I know there's something here…" she said, her voice trembling. "There has to be… I need to know why he became like that…"
"Yuna."
She shook her head, her frustration spilling over. "He wasn't like this before… he wasn't—"
Her voice broke again.
Ethan reached out, catching her wrist gently but firmly.
That stopped her.
She froze.
Her breathing heavy.
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at him.
"I just want answers…" she whispered.
Ethan held her gaze for a moment.
Then said quietly—
"We'll find them."
Not you.
Not I.
We.
And this time—
He meant it.
Yuna's breath trembled as she stood there, her wrist still lightly held in Ethan's grip. The room felt smaller now, suffocating under the weight of everything that had once been hidden within it. Papers were scattered across the floor like broken pieces of a story that refused to come together. Her eyes moved over them helplessly, searching, desperate, but finding nothing that made sense.
"I looked everywhere…" she whispered, her voice hollow, like she had already begun to lose hope. "Why is there nothing…?"
Ethan didn't answer immediately.
Because he knew—
There was something.
Just not here anymore.
His gaze shifted briefly toward the doorway, toward the direction Kai had left, the files already gone, the answers now out of reach for the moment.
And for the first time—
He hesitated.
Because telling her now… would only break her more.
Yuna pulled her hand away slowly, stepping back from him. Her eyes were still searching his face, as if she was trying to find something there too—truth, reassurance… anything.
"You said we'll find answers," she said quietly. "But where are they, Ethan?"
The question wasn't loud.
But it hit harder than anything else.
Ethan stepped closer again, his expression controlled, but not as unreadable as before. "They're here," he said. "Just not in the open."
Yuna let out a shaky breath, her head turning slightly as she looked around the room again, her chest tightening. "Then help me find them," she said. "Don't just stand there like you already know something I don't."
That—
That landed.
Because it was dangerously close to the truth.
Ethan's jaw tightened slightly, but he didn't deny it.
Instead, he moved forward, kneeling slightly to gather some of the scattered files, flipping through them quickly—not because he expected to find something now, but because he needed to keep the moment grounded.
"We're not done here," he said calmly.
Yuna watched him, her eyes narrowing just slightly.
"You're too calm," she murmured.
Ethan paused for a fraction of a second.
Then continued.
"I don't panic," he replied.
"That's not what I mean," she said, her voice soft but sharp enough to cut through his composure. "You look like… you're already ahead of this."
Silence.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Ethan didn't look up immediately.
Yuna stepped closer.
"Ethan…" she said, quieter now, but more serious, "did you find something?"
There it was.
The question he had been avoiding.
He finally lifted his gaze to meet hers.
For a moment—
He said nothing.
And that silence—
That was louder than any answer.
Yuna's expression changed instantly.
Her eyes widened slightly, hurt flickering through them. "You did," she said, almost under her breath.
Ethan stood slowly.
"I'm handling it," he said.
That was the wrong answer.
Yuna took a step back, shaking her head faintly. "No," she said, her voice breaking again—but not from sadness this time. "No, you don't get to do that again."
"Yuna—"
"You promised," she cut in, her voice rising. "You said no more hiding things from me!"
Ethan's expression hardened slightly—not in anger, but in conflict.
"This isn't something you can process right now," he said.
"Don't decide that for me!" she snapped.
Her chest rose and fell rapidly, her emotions shifting from grief to frustration again. "This is my father! My life! And you're still keeping things from me like I'm some outsider!"
"You're not an outsider," Ethan said firmly.
"Then stop treating me like one!" she shot back.