The morning sun had barely cleared the horizon when the front door of the Lee household slammed open.

Da-eun scrambled out of bed, her phone still clutched in her hand, as In-ah’s voice cut through the quiet house. It wasn’t a request; it was a command.

"Da-eun! Rora! Pack your bags. Now. Only the essentials," In-ah shouted from the bottom of the stairs, her footsteps heavy and rushed as she moved through the living room. "We're going to the countryside."

Da-eun exchanged a terrified look with Rora, who had just opened her bedroom door. The nightmare from the night before felt altogether too real now. They didn't have time to decrypt messages or plan. Da-eun quickly grabbed the stolen manila folder, shoving it deep into the bottom of her backpack beneath her clothes, and zipped it shut.

When they got downstairs, In-ah was already waiting by the front door, her car keys jingling in her trembling hand. She looked exhausted, dark circles shadowing her eyes, but her expression was fiercely set.

"Where are we going?" Rora asked, her voice tight. "What about school?"

"You're not going to school today. You're not going for the rest of the week," In-ah said, pulling the door open and ushering them out toward the car. "We’re going to our grandfather’s old place in the countryside. It’s off the grid. No one will find us there."

As the engine roared to life, Da-eun quickly slipped her phone out, keeping it low beneath the dashboard.

Across town, a similar wall was being built around So-min.

She was standing in the kitchen, her backpack already slung over one shoulder, when Do-hyun stepped into the room, blocking the doorway to the garage. He was still wearing his athletic gear from the night before, his face pale and uncharacteristically grim.

"Drop the bag, So-min," he said quietly.

So-min blinked, taking a step back. "What? The bus is going to be here in ten minutes."

"You're not taking the bus. You're staying home today," Do-hyun replied, his voice leaving absolutely no room for argument. He walked over, gently but firmly taking her backpack and placing it on the kitchen counter. "The city isn't safe right now. I need you where I can see you."

"Is this because of that text?" So-min demanded, frustration bubbling through her fear. "You can't just lock me in the house! What am I supposed to tell my friends?"

"I told you last night, you don't talk to them," Do-hyun hissed, his grip tightening on the edge of the counter. "The Lees are already running. If you try to contact Da-eun or Rora, you’re putting a target right on our backs. Just sit tight, stay inside, and keep the doors locked."

He turned and walked toward his private study, leaving So-min standing alone in the quiet kitchen.

The moment she heard his door click shut, she pulled out her phone, her fingers flying across the screen in their childhood code.

[THE TRIO CHAT - ENCRYPTED]

So-min: Do-hyun just blocked the door. I’m trapped at home. He says you guys are running.

Da-eun: We are. In-ah is driving us to the countryside right now. She’s completely panicked. We’re losing signal fast.

Rora: We still have the folder. No matter where they put us, we don't stop looking. Look for anything in your house, So-min. We’ll find a way out.

The smooth asphalt of the highway gradually gave way to the uneven, bumpy gravel of the old country backroads. Outside the tinted windows of the sedan, the towering city skyscrapers were replaced by dense patches of forest and vast, empty fields.

In the driver’s seat, In-ah’s eyes remained fixed on the rearview mirror, watching the empty road behind them with a fierce, quiet intensity.

In the back seat, Da-eun and Rora sat close together, their heads bowed over a single phone screen. The cellular signal bar at the top of the screen was fluctuating wildly, threatening to drop to zero at any moment.

"In-ah thinks we're completely lost out here," Rora whispered, her voice barely audible over the hum of the tires against the gravel. She leaned closer to Da-eun, pointing at a blank gray section of the digital map app that was failing to load. "But I remember these roads. Our parents used to bring us to the old orchard out here when we were kids before everything changed."

Da-eun nodded quickly, opening a digital notebook app on her phone. "Tell me exactly what you remember. If the signal dies completely, we won't even know which direction is back to the city."

"Okay," Rora said, closing her eyes for a second to visualize the landscape. "About two miles back, we passed the old stone bridge. That means up ahead, there’s going to be a three-way fork in the road by an abandoned gas station. In-ah is going to take the left path—that's the one that leads directly to our grandfather's cabin."

Using her finger, Da-eun began sketching a rough, manual map on her screen, tracing the lines based on Rora’s memory. She marked the stone bridge, the upcoming fork, and the location of the isolated cabin.

"What about the right path at the fork?" Da-eun asked quietly, her stylus tracing the alternative route. "Where does that go?"

"The right path cuts through the valley and connects back to the old northern highway," Rora explained, her eyes tracking In-ah's movements in the front seat. "It’s a shortcut back toward the city, but it's completely hidden by the trees. If we ever need to get away without her noticing, that's the route we have to take."

Da-eun added a heavy dotted line for the hidden valley shortcut, saving the image directly to her phone's local storage so it wouldn't disappear when the network dropped.

Just as she hit save, the phone gave a final, weak vibration. A single notification from So-min managed to slip through the fading connection before the signal bar turned into a stark, empty 'No Service.'

The sedan crunched to a halt on the overgrown driveway, the tires kicking up dry dirt. Ahead of them stood their grandfather’s old cabin—a weathered wooden structure tucked deeply into the shadow of the surrounding pine trees. It looked entirely frozen in time, completely isolated from the rest of the world.

In-ah turned off the engine, the sudden silence in the car feeling incredibly heavy. She took a deep, shaky breath, letting her hands drop from the steering wheel for the first time in hours.

"We're here," In-ah said, turning around in her seat to face them. Her expression was slightly softer than before, but the hard, protective edge remained. "There's electricity, and yes, there is technically Wi-Fi hooked up to the old house line."

Da-eun’s eyes lit up slightly, her hand instantly tightening around the phone in her pocket. If they had Wi-Fi, they could reconnect the trio chat and get the map coordinates over to So-min.

"But," In-ah cut in sharply, pointing a finger at both of them, "you are not allowed to use it. I’ve already changed the password, and the router is staying locked in my room. No phones, no laptops, no outside communication. If anyone tries to track a signal out here, it ruins the entire point of leaving."

She opened her door and stepped out into the crisp country air. "Grab your bags and come inside."

Da-eun and Rora exchanged a frustrated look in the back seat. The digital lifeline they had spent the whole drive building was effectively cut before they could even use it.

"She thinks she's being smart," Rora muttered, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "But she forgot that the router's physical reset button resets the default password printed right on the bottom of the box."

Da-eun smiled faintly, the thrill of the investigation returning. "Then we just need to get into her room tonight while she's asleep."