The next morning, Ji-hoon didn't speak. He barely breathed.
Dr. Kim entered, his smile thin. "You look tired."
"I didn't sleep," Ji-hoon muttered.
"Hallucinations?"
Ji-hoon said nothing.
"You're not losing control," Kim said. But his eyes said otherwise.
During therapy, Ji-hoon watched the light pass through the blinds. Every shadow looked like fingers.
When the nurse brought lunch, Ji-hoon noticed the tray's metal edge. A reflection.
Don't look.
He looked anyway.
The tray shook. The nurse dropped it. "Sorry," she whispered, eyes wide. She had seen it too.
Later, Ji-hoon found her crying in the hall. "He spoke to me," she said. "From inside the tray."
Ji-hoon touched her shoulder. "He's speaking to all of us."
That night, Su-yeon's voice returned. Not from a speaker. From the glass.
"We're ready."
"For what?" Ji-hoon asked.
"The third path."
Not integration. Not separation. Convergence.
In his room, every surface began to hum. And Ji-hoon? He didn't run.
He watched. He listened.
He stepped through.
→ [To be continued in Episode 39]
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