Sleep refused to come.

Sa-rang spent nearly an hour sitting on the balcony outside her room, hugging her knees as she stared at the city lights. The cool night air brushed against her skin, but it did little to calm her racing thoughts.

Just a few days ago, her biggest concerns had been school, grades, and whether her favorite novel's second male lead would finally get a happy ending.

Now she could see hate values.

She had apparently become the most hated person in the world.

And she might actually die if she failed some ridiculous mission.

At some point, she gave up on trying to sleep.

Instead, she crawled back into bed and began mindlessly scrolling through her phone. Video after video passed before her eyes, but she barely registered any of them. It was simply something to keep her thoughts occupied.

By the time morning arrived, she had gotten almost no sleep at all.

When Sa-rang finally stepped out of her room, she looked like a wandering ghost.

Dark circles hung beneath her eyes.

Her hair was a mess.

Her face had lost all color.

Her mother happened to turn around at that exact moment.

"Aah!"

She nearly dropped the bowl she was holding.

For one horrifying second, she looked genuinely terrified.

Then recognition dawned.

"Oh. It's you."

Her hand flew to her chest.

"Don't scare me like that!"

Sa-rang blinked.

"Mom..."

The word came out as a dry, croaking noise.

It sounded less like a human voice and more like a dying frog.

Her mother stared.

Sa-rang stared back.

Without saying a word, her mother shoved a glass of water into her hands.

Sa-rang drank half of it in one go.

Only then did her throat stop protesting.

"What happened to you?" her mother asked, frowning. "You look awful."

"I couldn't sleep."

Even speaking felt exhausting.

Her mother's expression immediately softened.

"Is your head still hurting?"

Sa-rang shook her head.

"No."

"Then try to sleep earlier tonight."

"I will."

Whether she actually could was another question entirely.

After breakfast, Sa-rang dragged herself upstairs and took a long shower.

The hot water helped a little.

At least she looked somewhat alive again.

As she stepped out of the bathroom, her phone buzzed.

A notification appeared.

Instagram

Normally she would have ignored it.

Today, however, any distraction was welcome.

She unlocked her phone.

One post.

Then another.

Her eyes immediately widened.

The posts belonged to Go Do-yoon and Baek Eun-woo.

Two of the most popular boys at school.

Two boys she may or may not have had a tiny crush on.

Okay.

Maybe not tiny.

Sa-rang flopped onto her bed, grinning despite herself as she scrolled through the pictures.

"Wow..."

A moment later she was kicking her feet into her mattress like a complete idiot.

Then she froze.

The smile vanished from her face.

Her thumb stopped moving.

Something in one of Go Do-yoon's photos had caught her attention.

At first she thought she was imagining things.

Then she zoomed in.

And felt her blood run cold.

There, sitting on a table behind him, was a phone.

A bright red flip phone.

Almost identical to the one currently hidden in her room.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"No way."

She zoomed in even further.

The image became blurry, but another detail emerged.

The phone's reflective surface had captured part of the person standing across from Go Do-yoon.

A girl.

Long hair.

Elegant features.

Even from the distorted reflection, Sa-rang immediately recognized her.

Kang Ga-eul.

The school beauty.

The girl practically everyone admired.

Sa-rang stared at the screen.

Her mind instantly began racing.

Was this connected?

Was it just a coincidence?

Or was there someone else involved in all of this?

The strange arrows.

The numbers.

The hate values.

The red flip phone.

None of it made sense.

But if it was all fake, then how?

How could someone create hallucinations this detailed?

How could they make her see things no one else could?

Her chest tightened.

For the first time, the room felt painfully empty.

Usually, when something strange happened, she would tell Joo-kyung.

She would complain.

Ask for advice.

Laugh about it.

But now?

Joo-kyung was the last person she wanted to talk to.

Her boyfriend wasn't an option either.

The thought alone made her stomach twist.

Sa-rang lowered her phone and stared at the ceiling.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room.

Suddenly, she felt very alone.

The loneliness hit harder than she expected.

Nobody knew what she was going through.

Nobody would believe her even if she explained it.

The more she thought about it, the more one question echoed in her mind.

Had any of it been real?

Her friendship.

Her crushes.

Her relationships.

Or had she simply been fooling herself all this time?

The thought lingered long after the screen had gone dark.

And for the first time, Sa-rang wondered whether there was anyone she could truly trust.