The atmosphere was unbearably heavy.
Hee-mi took one deep breath after another, but no matter how much oxygen she pulled into her lungs, that suffocating pain inside her chest never left. It clung to her, refusing to loosen its grip.
Her tears did not stop.
The hours crawled forward painfully slowly.
She clutched her phone with trembling hands, scrolling through every notification… every news update… every rumor related to Min-soo's incident.
She couldn't stop herself, no matter how hard she tried.
Despite KAVA Entertainment's efforts to suppress circulating rumors and images, they kept resurfacing again and again.
Min-soo's broken body lying in front of his house.
The black umbrella.
The blood spreading across the ground.
It all kept reappearing like an endless curse.
The speculation never stopped: Some said the attacker was an obsessed sasaeng fan. Others claimed it was a conspiracy to bring down the group that had dominated the industry for years, leaving no room for rising rivals.
Hee-mi's cold fingers kept scrolling endlessly.
News reports. Medical analyses. Every new line felt like another stab.
Two knife wounds.
And the first one—at liver level—was the most dangerous, tearing through tissue and causing severe internal bleeding that threatened his life.
Images of the knife lodged in his lower abdomen and the blood soaking the ground sent a chilling cold through her body.
She lowered her phone beside her.
Then wrapped her arms around herself in a desperate attempt to warm her trembling soul.
But the sound of her chattering teeth and ragged breathing betrayed her.
A nurse approached slowly.
She looked at her with pity.
"Miss… are you alright?" she asked softly. "You don't look well."
Hee-mi lifted her head.
Her eyes were empty, like a sky stripped of all its stars.
"When can I see him?"
The nurse smiled gently.
"I'm sorry… not at the moment."
"But to reassure you… I checked on him earlier."
"He's stable."
Hee-mi reached out with her cold hands and grabbed the nurse's hand.
"Just one minute…" she pleaded. "Please… I'm going to lose my mind."
"The possibilities are suffocating me."
The nurse stared at the despair gathered in her eyes for a long moment.
Then gently pulled her hand away.
"Give me some time… and I'll see what I can do."
The world outside was chaotic and unstable.
But inside Min-soo's mind…
He was living the happiest moment of his life.
In a distant past…
Among laughter and music…
He ran through a large amusement park.
His small eyes saw colors as if for the first time.
A blue sky.
Soft white clouds.
A gentle breeze filling everything around him.
He ran toward a claw machine full of stuffed toys.
Pointing excitedly at a small blue bird.
He jumped with pure joy, calling out:
"Mom! Mom! I want this one!"
The emotions were completely real.
But the faces around him…
had no features.
"Do you want it, my son?" his mother asked.
"Yes!" he replied with pure childish happiness.
"I love birds… and the color blue!"
Her laughter mixed with a soft cough.
"I'll get it for you."
Even though her face was blurred, he could still feel her smile.
The warm sunlight on her cheeks.
The gentle way she leaned forward to hand him the toy.
"My son…"
"People call this bird the blue magpie."
"What do you want to name it?"
The child hugged the plush tightly, as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
Then he smiled brightly.
"Bird of Happiness."
His mother laughed softly.
"Bird of Happiness?"
He nodded eagerly.
"Yes."
"I want to call it Bird of Happiness."
"Because it makes me happy."
A brief silence followed.
Then his mother said warmly:
"Then let it be Bird of Happiness."
He hugged it tighter.
He felt like he owned the entire world.
He didn't know…
that some moments of happiness are too short-lived.
After more than an hour of waiting…
the nurse finally returned.
She stopped in front of Hee-mi and glanced around cautiously before whispering:
"Five minutes only."
"And don't touch anything."
Hee-mi's eyes widened.
She stood up quickly, as if she had forgotten all her exhaustion.
She followed the nurse through the long corridors until they reached the intensive care unit.
"Here."
Hee-mi couldn't respond.
She simply nodded.
Then stepped closer to the glass.
At that moment…
something inside her collapsed.
She couldn't see the machines.
Or the tubes.
Or the monitors.
All she could see…
was Min-soo.
His pale face.
His motionless body.
And that terrifying stillness surrounding him.
As if life itself was moving carefully around him.
And inside the room…
a single tear slipped from the corner of his closed eye.
His lips moved faintly.
"Mom…"
"Mom…"
But no sound reached anyone.
Hee-mi's knees trembled.
She placed her hand on the glass, as if trying to reach him through it.
Her heart felt like it was being crushed slowly.
She wasn't afraid of death.
She was afraid of the life that would come after it.
For the first time in years…
she felt the world was unbearably cold.
Then everything went dark.
And she collapsed unconscious.