The Wi-Fi icon on Rora’s screen lit up with full bars, the static IP override holding the fragile cabin connection steady.

"So-min, we're back," Rora whispered urgently into the mic, keeping her voice incredibly low as she and Da-eun crouched beneath the bedroom window. "We don't have long. Did you find anything else in that photo album before you had to close it?"

"I’m looking at the digital scan I took right now," So-min’s voice came through, sharp and breathless over the Wi-Fi call. "There’s a picture of you guys playing near the old water tower by the orchard. But look at the treeline behind you. There's a small wooden shed with a heavy padlock on it. In-ah is holding a key in her hand, and she looks like she's trying to hide it from the camera."

Da-eun pulled up the manual map on her own screen, her eyes scanning the layout Rora had drawn. "The old orchard water tower... that's less than a mile from this cabin if we take the hidden valley path."

"That has to be our first stop," Rora agreed, her eyes flashing in the dark.

By the next morning, the opportunity arrived sooner than they expected. The harsh, cold light filtered through the dusty windows as In-ah’s sedan backed out of the gravel driveway, heading into the local town market for supplies.

The moment the sound of her engine faded into the distance, Da-eun and Rora slipped out the back door, sprinting into the dense forest along the hidden valley shortcut. Pushing past overgrown briars and damp pine needles, they finally spotted the skeletal metal frame of the water tower rising above the trees.

Right beneath it, half-swallowed by creeping ivy, sat the small wooden shed from the photograph.

Da-eun approached it cautiously, kneeling down to examine the heavy iron padlock hooked through the rusted latch. "Rora, look at the engraving on the back of this."

Scratched crudely into the rusted iron were two sets of initials: J.Y. and Y.E.

Before Da-eun could even look for a way to pry it open, a sharp crack echoed through the quiet woods. A heavy wooden branch snapped just a few yards away. Out of the dense thicket, a masked figure in dark clothing lunged straight toward them, aiming directly for the backpack containing their stolen files.

"Run! Back to the shortcut!" Da-eun shouted, swinging her heavy flashlight wildly to break the attacker's grip.

They tore down the ridge, lungs burning, sprinting blindly back toward the cabin. They burst through the back door, slamming it shut and throwing the deadbolt just as the sounds of pursuit faded into the trees.

Leaning against the door, catching their breath in the quiet house, a floorboard creaked in the hallway. A shadow fell across the kitchen floor.

Slowly, the figure stepped into the dim light. It wasn't In-ah, and it wasn't the masked attacker.

"So-min?!" Rora gasped in absolute shock.

So-min dropped an old ledger she had been looking at onto the counter, her hands trembling. "I ran," she whispered fiercely. "The second Do-hyun left the house, I slipped out the window. I used the coordinates you loaded before the Wi-Fi crashed, took a bus north, and hitched a ride into the valley. Hobi is going to lose his mind when he realizes I'm gone, but we started this together."

"We just found the shed," Da-eun panted, checking the window. "But someone attacked us. And there are initials on the lock—J.Y. and Y.E. We never knew anyone with those initials growing up."

So-min frowned, looking at the photo scan on her phone. "Our families have been using encrypted codes for everything since we were kids. What if those initials aren't names at all? What if it's a cipher?"

Before they could pull out the stolen files to check, the distant sound of tires crunching on gravel echoed from the driveway. In-ah was back.

"Hide," Da-eun whispered sharply. "So-min, get into our bedroom. Under the bed. If In-ah sees you here, she’ll know we bypassed everything."

So-min scrambled down the hallway, diving beneath the twin bed just as the heavy wooden front door of the cabin swung open. In-ah walked in, carrying two heavy canvas grocery bags. Her eyes immediately swept the room, sharp and suspicious, landing on the old ledger sitting out on the counter.

"Da-eun? Rora?" In-ah called out tightly.

Da-eun stepped out of the hallway, trying to look completely casual. "Yeah? We're right here."

In-ah walked over, her hand lingering on the cover of the book. "Why is this out? I told you two not to go through the old storage cabinets."

"We were just looking for something to read," Rora lied smoothly, crossing her arms. "There’s no internet, remember? We're bored."

In-ah stared at them for a long, agonizing moment, trying to read their expressions. Finally, she let out a tired sigh. "Just leave the old family things alone. I’m going to unpack these groceries, and then we need to talk about our security measures out here."

As In-ah turned her back to head toward the kitchen, Da-eun and Rora exchanged a quick glance. Down the hall, hidden beneath the mattress, So-min was clutching her phone, waiting for the right moment to help them decode the J.Y. and Y.E. cipher right under In-ah's nose.

CHAPTER ENDS