In the evening, Yerin and Sua were already home and happened to meet in the kitchen.

“Smells so good,” Yerin said as she walked in.

“Yeah, fried potatoes today. Can you make a salad?”

“I will,” she smiled. “Cucumbers and tomatoes — the classic.”

For a few seconds they were silent while Yerin cut the vegetables and Sua stirred the potatoes in the pan. Then Sua sighed:

“Did you hear about the body?”

Yerin looked up.

“No… I’ve been busy all day. What happened?”

“They found a girl. Young… about your age. She had been lying there for three or four days. Only yesterday they figured out who she was.”

Yerin froze.

“What girl?”

“They say she lived on the fifth floor of the building next door. She came home late and… something happened on the way. They found the body near the river. A very quiet place.”

“Horrible…” Yerin whispered. “But why didn’t anyone talk about it earlier?”

“Because at first they couldn’t even understand what happened. The police were there all day, but there aren’t many details. People only say she was alone, late at night.”

“Everyone keeps repeating the same thing…” Yerin said thoughtfully. “But no one really knows what actually happened.”

Sua nodded.

“What scares me more is how close it is to us. Too close. Too quiet. And… who did it? Where is he now?”

Yerin felt her hands grow cold.

“You think he’s somewhere nearby?”

“I don’t know,” Sua said honestly. “People are whispering that it’s a maniac. Others say it might be someone local. Honestly, I don’t even know who to believe anymore.”

“People sometimes invent things worse than the truth,” Yerin said quietly, though her voice sounded uneasy.

“Maybe. But something about all this bothers me. It’s become scarier to go out at night.”

“Be careful,” Yerin said.

“You too.”

They fell silent for a moment, but both of their thoughts remained in the same place — by that river.

“Can you imagine what her family went through?..” Sua said quietly.

“I don’t even want to think about it… It’s too painful to imagine.”

“I hope they catch the culprit. Quickly.”

“All we can do is hope,” Yerin repeated.

After that, the kitchen fell silent again. The girls finished their dinner and went to their rooms, each carrying the feeling that something in this district had changed forever.