Chapter 10: Wounds That Speak in Silence
636 Words
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The Invitation
That morning felt like any other in the city. But not on the fifth floor.
Jisoo sat in the corner of the living room. Her body was still, her eyes fixed on the writing she had found the night before—still scratched faintly on the floor, like ink slowly drying:
“Open the door. Stop lying to yourself.”
She didn’t remember writing it. But her hand was still holding the pen, its ink deep black—and her fingertips were stained.
She rose slowly.
Her footsteps led her to Jungkook’s door.
That door… was half open again. As if waiting. As if inviting.
And this time, Jisoo didn’t hesitate.
She pushed the door gently. No sound. No alarm. Only the faint scent of damp wood… and wilted flowers.
The room was dark. But not the kind of dark that lacked light—the kind that rejected it.
Inside, the walls were covered in sheets of paper. Handwritten notes. Faded photographs. And in the center of the room—a large mirror stood.
Not an ordinary mirror.
Because her reflection didn’t follow her movements.
She stepped to the right. Her reflection stayed still.
Then—the reflection smiled.
A crooked smile. Not terrifying. But enough to stop the blood in her veins.
“You finally came in,” said a voice from the mirror.
Not Jungkook’s voice. But one too eerily similar… to her own.
The Shattered Self
Jisoo collapsed to the floor. Her breath ragged.
“This isn’t real… this isn’t real…”
But a voice in her head replied:
“This is more real than anyone who ever claimed to love you.”
Then came the sound of footsteps. Slow. Heavy. As if carrying the weight of the world.
Jisoo turned—and Jungkook stood in the doorway. His face pale, his eyes black and deep like an ancient well.
“You saw her, didn’t you?” he asked calmly.
“Who… is she?”
“Yourself. The one you’ve been slowly killing since you were a child.”
Jisoo shook her head. “I didn’t… I—”
Jungkook stepped closer. Knelt beside her.
“I have my own version of me like that,” he whispered. “And if you don’t talk to her… she’ll start talking through dreams. Through voices. Through… others.”
Tears slipped down Jisoo’s cheeks.
“Then what about you?” her voice trembled. “Who are you really?”
Jungkook looked into her eyes. For a long time.
“I’m just someone who failed to save his own shadow.
And now, I’m trying to save you… before it’s too late.”
Whispers in the Dreamscape
That night, Jisoo was trapped inside her own mind.
Lisa appeared in her dream, sitting on the edge of a bathtub filled with black water.
“Don’t trust everything you remember,” she said, tossing a wilted rose into the water.
Jennie was in the living room, with hundreds of wires connected from her head to dead TVs.
“Wounds don’t die, Soo… they just learn to speak more quietly.”
Taehyung stood in the hallway, drawing Jisoo’s face over and over again.
But each version… scarred. Scratches. Torn eyes. Fake smiles.
And Namjoon stood right in front of the mirror. Whispering:
“This was never about Jungkook. It’s about you… trying to save the last piece of yourself.”
The Named Shadow
The next morning.
Jisoo woke up on the floor of Jungkook’s room. No one else was there.
But beside her—a single piece of paper. Handwritten.
“If you truly want to live, Jisoo… then never run when the mirror starts to speak.”
And beneath those words— a name that made her breath catch in her throat.
Ica.
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To be continued...
- Writer
