Jungwon staggered.

His lungs felt like they were collapsing, like his ribs were caging in something awful, something he couldn't contain.

Memories that had once been buried, lost, erased—

Came flooding back.

---

It wasn't a single memory.

It was a hundred, a thousand, all at once.

—A school that never let students leave.

—A dormitory where students mysteriously disappeared.

—A cafeteria that served meat that never seemed to run out.

—A woman, smiling, always smiling, with hands permanently stained red.

Jungwon’s breath hitched.

And then—

He saw himself.

A boy identical to him stood in the memory, eyes wide, a silver chain around his neck—

The same necklace.

His heart stopped.

That boy…

That wasn’t him.

But at the same time—

It was.

---

Jungwon’s knees gave out.

Jay barely caught him in time.

The others surrounded him in panic.

"Jungwon—what’s wrong?!" Ni-ki’s voice was urgent, almost desperate.

"Say something!" Sunoo shook him lightly.

But Jungwon couldn’t speak.

Because the cafeteria lady was watching him, smiling.

Because she knew.

And because—

She wanted him to remember.

"Oh, dear little lamb," she cooed. "You finally see it now, don’t you?"

Jungwon’s head pounded. His body burned.

The past. The whispers. The forgotten history.

The truth.

He forced himself to look up, meeting the woman’s gaze.

His voice was hoarse.

“… I’ve been here before.”

The cafeteria lady’s grin stretched.

"That’s right."

Jungwon’s stomach churned. "But—how? I—"

"You always come back."

Jungwon froze.

The room was dead silent.

The air felt thick.

The others were confused, horrified, on edge.

But Jungwon?

Jungwon felt sick.

"You don’t mean…"

The woman tilted her head.

"You've died here before, my dear. Many, many times."

Jungwon’s world shattered.

---

"No," Jay whispered. "That’s not possible."

"She’s lying," Heeseung said, voice tight, almost begging. "She’s trying to mess with you, Jungwon—don’t listen to her."

"Yeah, there's no way," Jake said, forcing a nervous laugh. "You’re right here! You’ve never—!"

But Jungwon wasn’t listening.

Because his memories were telling him otherwise.

Because deep down, something inside him already knew.

And because—

His body remembered.

---

—Cold hands dragging him through the halls.

—Screams echoing from locked doors.

—Bloodstained notebooks filled with desperate pleas.

—A blade slicing through his skin.

—Falling. Falling. Falling.

Jungwon’s breath hitched.

He had died here before.

Again. And again. And again.

And yet—

He always woke up.

In this school.

With these people.

Repeating.

A cycle.

His fingers clawed at his chest, gripping his uniform tightly.

The necklace was burning hot against his skin.

"You never leave," the woman continued sweetly. "You can run, you can scream, you can fight—but in the end…"

Her voice lowered to a whisper.

"You always come back."

Jungwon’s vision blurred.

He felt like he was drowning.

Trapped in something far beyond his control.

Something older, darker, endless.

Something that wasn’t just happening to him.

But to them all.

---

Jungwon looked at the others.

At Ni-ki, holding onto his arm like he’d disappear.

At Jay, still gripping his wrist protectively.

At Heeseung, Jake, Sunghoon, and Sunoo—all looking at him with fear, desperation, and denial.

His voice came out shaky.

“… This isn’t our first time here.”

Nobody spoke.

Jungwon swallowed hard.

"This school—" His fingers tightened around the necklace. "It’s been trapping us.**

Ni-ki’s grip tightened. “Jungwon—”

"We never actually leave.”

A cold silence fell over the room.

Jungwon looked down at the skeletons on the walls.

At the necklaces on their necks.

The cafeteria lady’s smile widened.

"You’re finally getting it."

Jungwon's chest ached.

He looked back at the others—at his friends, his family.

At the people who had been suffering alongside him for who knows how long.

He couldn’t let this continue.

He wouldn’t.

Jungwon took a deep breath.

And then, he stood up.

"We’re breaking the cycle," he whispered.

The cafeteria lady’s grin twitched.

The room grew colder.

The skeletons on the walls rattled.

The shadows in the room shifted.

And then—

The woman lunged.

The cafeteria lady's body twisted and cracked, her limbs stretching unnaturally.

Her neck elongated, her grin widening until it reached both sides of her face.

Her arms hung at odd angles, one longer than the other, fingers twitching as if desperate to grab, to take, to consume.

"You belong to me," she crooned, her voice a distorted mix of whispers and shrieks. "You always have."

Jungwon staggered backward.

His mind screamed at him to move, to run, but his body felt heavy, frozen.

The others weren’t wasting any time.

"Find a way out!" Heeseung barked, grabbing a rusted chair and hurling it at a shelf.

Sunghoon and Ni-ki were tearing through cabinets, desperately searching for anything.

Jay clutched a rusted pipe, swinging it at the woman whenever she got too close. "What the hell are we looking for?!"

Jungwon felt it before he saw it.

His necklace pulsed.

A soft glow, faint but insistent.

He turned, following the light’s pull—

And then he saw it.

A mirror.

An old, tall, cracked mirror, covered in dust and grime.

His necklace pulsed harder.

Jungwon’s eyes widened. "Over there!"

The moment the others saw it, their necklaces flashed brightly, and words appeared.

"Break the mirror. Enter the portal."

Sunoo didn’t hesitate. "Move!"

He grabbed a heavy metal tray from the floor, swung it with full force—

And shattered the glass.

The mirror exploded into shards, but instead of revealing the wall behind it—

A swirling black void appeared.

A portal.

A way out.

Jay wasted no time. "Go! Go!"

One by one, they rushed through.

Jake went first. Then Ni-ki. Then Sunghoon, Jay, Heeseung, and Sunoo—

Until only Jungwon remained.

But…

He didn’t move.

He couldn’t.

---

Jungwon stood there, swaying.

His heartbeat slowed.

The portal was there.

Safety was right there.

So why…

Why couldn’t he move?

The cafeteria lady’s form lurched closer, her face twisting into something worse.

Her voice came out softer, almost coaxing.

"You don’t want to leave, do you?"

Jungwon’s body swayed.

His mind felt fuzzy.

The pull was there, deep inside him.

Like something was telling him to stay.

Like something was waiting for him here.

The cafeteria lady’s smirk widened.

"You’ve always been different," she whispered, stepping closer. "Always… special."

Her hand reached out.

And Jungwon—

Jungwon stepped forward.

---

Suddenly—arms wrapped around him from behind.

A strong grip yanked him back.

Jungwon let out a gasp as his body was pulled away from the woman’s grasp.

He turned his head—

And met Sunoo’s panicked gaze.

"JUNGWON, WAKE UP!" Sunoo shouted, shaking him violently.

Jungwon blinked rapidly, his head clearing just enough to realize—

He had been walking toward her.

Toward death.

Toward something far worse than death.

The cafeteria lady’s expression faltered.

Sunoo tightened his grip. "You're coming with me."

With one final pull, he yanked Jungwon into the portal.

The last thing Jungwon saw before the darkness swallowed them—

Was the woman’s face twisting in fury.

And then—

She whispered, so softly, so lovingly—

"You'll be back."

---

The Truth About Jungwon

Jungwon hit the ground hard.

His body collapsed onto cold stone, Sunoo landing right beside him.

He gasped for air, his mind still spinning.

Then—

"JUNGWON!"

Six pairs of hands grabbed him, touching his face, gripping his shoulders.

Heeseung’s voice was shaking. "What the hell was that?! You just—stopped moving!"

Jay looked furious. "You were going to her! Why?!"

Jungwon couldn’t answer.

Because he didn’t know.

Something had called to him.

Something had made him want to stay.

Then, Ni-ki’s voice came out low.

"You’re not like the rest of us, are you?"

Jungwon froze.

Everyone turned to Ni-ki, then to Jungwon.

"What do you mean?" Jake asked cautiously.

Ni-ki’s jaw clenched.

"She wasn’t just hunting you," he muttered. "She was… waiting for you."

Jungwon’s blood ran cold.

The realization hit all of them at once.

Jungwon was special.

More special than the others.

He wasn’t just another student trapped in the cycle.

He was part of the cycle itself.

He was the reason it kept repeating.

Jungwon swallowed hard.

The cafeteria lady’s words came back to him.

"You always come back."

Jungwon’s fingers shook as he clutched his necklace.

What… was he?