Wonho didn't move for a long time.
Even as the officers worked around him, carefully lifting each piece and sealing it away, he remained standing in front of the vault like a statue.
Silent.
Still.
Only his eyes moved.
Slowly scanning.
Taking everything in.
Behind him, one of the younger officers swallowed hard before speaking. "C-Captain… based on the condition…" he hesitated, glancing at the remains, "…this wasn't just murder."
Wonho's jaw tightened slightly.
"I know," he replied flatly.
Another officer stepped forward, holding a small evidence bag. "Sir… we found this inside the vault."
Wonho finally shifted his gaze.
Inside the clear bag was a small object.
A phone.
Cracked screen.
Dried blood smeared along the edges.
Wonho took it without a word, his gloved fingers steady as he turned it over.
"Get tech to pull everything from this," he said. "Messages. Calls. Deleted files. I want all of it."
"Yes, sir."
As the officer hurried off, Wonho's eyes flicked once more toward the inside of the vault.
Then he turned away.
"Secure the scene. Nobody in or out without clearance."
***
(Outside.)
Doyeon remained leaning against the alley wall, his breathing slow and uneven as he tried to settle his stomach.
The flashing lights from the police cars washed over everything in shifting red and blue, stretching shadows across the narrow walls.
For a moment, the world felt… loud.
Too loud.
Footsteps rushed past.
Voices overlapped.
Radios crackled endlessly.
It was the kind of noise that reminded him he was still alive.
And that something else… wasn't.
After a few seconds, Doyeon pushed himself off the wall and stepped out of the alley.
Just beyond the entrance, an ambulance had already arrived.
Its back doors were open, and paramedics moved quickly, their motions practiced and efficient.
On the stretcher—
The dog.
Wrapped tightly in a blanket.
Its frail body barely rose with each shallow breath.
And beside it… The ghost girl.
She knelt close, her entire body trembling as she reached out again and again, trying to hold onto something she could no longer touch.
Her arms passed straight through the dog each time, yet she didn't stop. Again and again, she reached forward, trying to hold it, trying to comfort something she could no longer touch.
A broken sob escaped her throat, trembling and weak. "No… please… please…" the words came out uneven, barely holding together as her shoulders shook.
Doyeon watched her for a moment, his expression unreadable, before letting out a quiet sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose. "This again," he muttered under his breath.
He turned away, gaze drifting back toward the alley.
Without another word, he stepped back toward the alley, ready to leave it behind like he always did.
But just as he reached the entrance—
"Doyeon."
He froze.
For a brief second, the noise around him dulled, like the world itself had taken a step back. Slowly, he turned his head.
The ghost girl stood a few steps away now, no longer trembling, no longer collapsing in grief.
The blood that had once streamed endlessly from her eyes had stopped completely. Her face— had changed. The panic was gone. The desperation had faded. What remained instead was something quiet. Heavy. Still.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice soft but clear.
Doyeon looked at her properly this time, and then he noticed it. Something thin and dark wrapped around her form, like a fragile shell barely holding itself together.
It pulsed faintly, spreading across her like cracks on glass.
Then—
Crack.
A soft sound broke the silence. The darkness split. Light seeped through the fracture.
Doyeon's eyes narrowed slightly as another crack followed, then another, spreading faster now, like something inside was forcing its way out.
The black layer surrounding her began to break apart piece by piece, falling away like a brittle fragments, dissolving before they even touched the ground.
And beneath it— there was someone else.
The twisted, bloodied figure disappeared completely, and in its place stood a young woman, her features soft and gentle, her expression no longer distorted by pain.
Her eyes were clear now, no longer swallowed by that suffocating darkness.
Color slowly returned to them, like life being painted back in after being stripped away.
Even the ruined dress she wore began to change, the stains cracking and peeling away as the fabric reformed into something clean. White. Untouched.
Doyeon stared quietly, something flickering behind his gaze. This… this was what they looked like. Not as ghosts. Not as monsters. But as they were before everything went wrong.
"I've already seen this a lot of times, so I guess… she can pass on now," Doyeon muttered faintly, his voice carrying a quiet weight that didn't quite match his usual tone.
His gaze lingered on her for a moment longer, something unreadable flickering in his eyes before it settled into something calmer.
Not all ghosts stayed broken. Some just needed something to let them go— a reason, a person… or sometimes, just a choice they couldn't make alone.
He let out a small breath, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly, then gave a faint, almost tired smile.
"Yeah," he said softly, his voice gentler now, quieter than before. "Don't mention it."
The girl looked at him for a long moment before her lips curved into a small smile. It was fragile, almost hesitant— but real.
For that brief second, she didn't look like a ghost at all.
Just someone who had finally reached the end of something long and painful. Then, slowly, her body began to fade. Not violently. Not instantly gone. But gently, like an ash drifting away on the wind.
Doyeon's brows furrowed slightly as he stepped forward.
"…hey," he said, his voice quieter now. "Wait."
But she didn't stop. Her form grew lighter, more transparent, the edges of her figure dissolving into faint particles that shimmered before disappearing completely.
Doyeon's chest tightened again, that same unfamiliar feeling creeping in. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you," he muttered under his breath. "I just… found you."
The girl shook her head gently. "No," she said softly. Her voice was different now— it was like… someone freed. "You stayed."
Doyeon went still. Those two words hit deeper than he expected, settling somewhere he didn't want to look too closely at. For once, he didn't respond. He simply stood there, silent.
Her figure flickered weakly, her presence growing fainter with each passing second. Then, in a voice barely louder than a breath, she spoke again.
"Please… take care of her."
Doyeon blinked, his brows pulling together. "her?" he repeated, confusion slipping into his voice.
But there was no answer.
Her form broke apart completely, scattering into faint particles of light that drifted for only a moment before vanishing into nothing.
And just like that—
She was gone.