The Chaos That Follows.

It has been a whole week in U-jin's world, and their ongoing search for Seo-jun and the mastermind behind him has made no progress. Diego has been acting secretive lately, distancing himself from Ji-woo and neglecting their once blooming relationship. Frustrated by this change, Ji-woo constantly voiced her concerns to U-jin, hoping for some comfort.

Meanwhile, Ji-woo took all the artifacts she found in her father's secret room and gave them to U-jin's great grandfather. He quickly abandoned any previous agreements he had made about U-jin and Ji-woo upon receiving the prized possessions. The old man seemed extremely happy with his newfound treasures.

Supposedly, this big gesture was meant to help Ji-woo and Diego openly start their romantic relationship. However, Diego consistently avoided Ji-woo's attempts to connect. U-jin, noticing the chaos surrounding him and his friends since Eun-kyung's disappearance, felt deep sadness. Ji-woo's relationship problems, Ga-ram focus on her scholarship which she was on the brink of losing, Diego's return to seclusion, Eun-woo's curiosity about Yoon-mi and Eun-kyung's world, Si-woo and Mun-hee's unwavering quest to find Seo-jun—everything made U-jin feel disheartened.

As the spring sports competition approached just one week away, the members of the school council were consumed by preparations. U-jin, returning home one day, stumbled upon Eun-woo deeply engrossed in conversation with his grandmother. Eun-woo still wanted answers about Yoon-mi, the girl he had loved for three long years. Desperate to know if she had disappeared like Eun-kyung, he turned to his grandmother for guidance. To his relief, she assured him that Yoon-mi had returned to her own world unharmed and considered her still alive in her realm.

Later, Eun-woo told U-jin about a professor they had found in their school. Apparently, this professor had been working on a project to create a portal to another dimension. Unfortunately, lack of funding stopped the ambitious endeavor, forcing the professor to completely abandon the project.

"Why are you telling me all this?" U-jin grumbled, clearly annoyed. In this world, there were certain types of people that he despised, and crazy scientists were certainly among them.

"Don't you see what this means? It could lead us to finding Eun-kyung," Eun-woo pleaded, his voice tinged with hope.

U-jin stared at Eun-woo with an unexplainable expression. "But what if she's not alive? I witnessed her vanish right before my eyes, without a word or a trace."

"That's why we have to hold onto the possibility that she is still alive," Eun-woo insisted. "We need to have faith."

U-jin pondered Eun-woo's words, his mind filled with conflicting emotions. "Are you only interested in finding her because you want to find Yoon-mi?"

Eun-woo hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that is part of it. But I can't do it alone, U-jin. We can help each other."

With a sigh, U-jin replied, "Let me think about it," and retreated to his room, his mind racing with thoughts of Eun-kyung and the possibilities that awaited them.

Meanwhile, Ji-woo, determined to salvage her relationship with Diego, had followed him after school with Mun-hee on Mun-hee's bike. They reached the countryside and discreetly parked the bike behind some bushes, keeping a safe distance from where Diego had entered a nearby warehouse.

Mun-hee skillfully activated a small drone and positioned an earpiece in their left ears, quickly controlling the drone's movements from her notepad as they watched. The drone stealthily entered the warehouse through an open window, and Mun-hee guided it towards the top floor where Diego had disappeared into an office.

With bated breath, they watched the scene unfold on the drone's live feed. Inside the office, they found several individuals dressed in black, resembling bodyguards. A woman sat on a chair, pressing her heels onto a terrified thirteen-year-old girl, berating her and demanding obedience.

As soon as Diego's presence was noticed, the woman abruptly ceased her actions and approached him. "Ah, my dear grandchild. What news do you bring?" she inquired, her tone feigning affection.

"You know Granny Wang is my biological grandmother," Diego replied firmly.

"But I can be family too. After all, she's my step-sister," the woman retorted, placing a hand delicately on Diego's cheek.

"Nobody has any evidence connecting you to Ha-rin and Seo-jun," he informed her.

"Good, what about my dear U-jin? How is he? He seems distant these days," she inquired with feigned concern.

"He has always been that way towards you," Diego replied.

"I mean, it's as if there's no life in his eyes," she added, her voice betraying a hint of insincerity.

"I didn't come here just for that. I want you to stop any interest in attacking Ji-woo," Diego stated firmly.

"What? You know I can't do that," she retorted.

"Ji-woo is not going to marry him. Your father has cut off everything involving the two of them being together," Diego assured her.

"That doesn't solve my problems. They have been very close for weeks now," she persisted.

"Your thoughts are irrelevant. I assure you they won't get together," Diego said dismissively as the woman returned to her chair, poured herself a glass of wine from the stool beside her, took a sip, and emptied the rest onto the trembling girl beside her.

The door then swung open, revealing a boy of the same age as Diego entering the office.

"You're back so quickly. Did you take care of his body?" the woman asked joyfully.

"Yes, but I still don't understand why I had to be the one to dispose of the body when I wasn't the one who beat him up until he fainted," Yong-rae retorted, glaring at Diego.

"I wasn't even the one who killed him," countered Diego.

"Boys, we should all remain calm. I understand that both of you are enemies, but we are working towards the same goal—to destroy two people," the woman interjected.

"How long will it take?" Diego inquired.

"Tomorrow, you will hear some very important news. I need to take her down before she takes me down," the woman smirked with malicious intent.

Ji-woo and Mun-hee, who were observing the scene through the drone, were shocked and taken aback.

"Retrieve your drone and get us out of here," Ji-woo urgently instructed Mun-hee as they made their way back to the bike.

"But we need to hear more," Mun-hee protested.

"Do it now. I can't bear it," Ji-woo pleaded, tears welling up in her eyes.

Mun-hehe saw the pain and desperation in Ji-woo's eyes and immediately complied with her request. Once they were safely away, Mun-hee drove Ji-woo back home, but Ji-woo didn't greet anyone as she went straight to her room, locking herself in.

In her room, Ji-woo stepped under the shower and turned on the water, needing its comforting embrace to wash away the overwhelming emotions that threatened to consume her. Time seemed to slip away as she lost herself in the soothing stream, her mind filled with thoughts of Diego and the woman he was working with. Did this mean that all of his feelings for her had been a facade? A means to an end? Ji-woo resisted the urge to go and confront him, not wanting to face the possibility that his love for her had been a lie.

She covered her eyes with both hands, her heart heavy with confusion. Maybe Diego was pretending to work with the woman in order to gather information and protect her. But Yong-rae's mention of someone dying shook the foundations of Ji-woo's wavering hope. She let out a sigh of frustration, her mind racing with unanswered questions.

As she tried to gather her thoughts as she went out of the bathroom, Ji-woo's gaze fell upon her guinea pig, Cookie, who was restlessly pacing in its cage, craving food. The sight reminded her of the times Eun-kyung would disappear whenever she let Cookie out. A sudden realization struck her—Eun-kyung might hold the key to solving this mystery. She remembered that Eun-kyung had mentioned U-jin and Diego being enemies in her writings, but the details eluded her.

Driven by a desperate need for answers, Ji-woo rummaged through her desk and finally found the book with Eun-kyung's writings. Opening it, she began reading intensively, absorbing every word. But as she reached the part about Diego, her hands trembled, and the book slipped from her grasp, falling to the floor.

What Eun-kyung had written painted a disturbing picture of Diego—a psychopath who had tortured both Ga-ram and Ha-rin and when he was caught, he committed suicide leaving a note that says he never regretted all the things he had done. A wave of realization crashed over Ji-woo—Diego never loved her.

Tears streamed down Ji-woo's face as she lay on her bed, her towel still wrapped around her. She felt a mixture of heartbreak, anger, and betrayal. How could she have been so blind? The man she had trusted with her heart had turned out to be someone entirely different. The weight of the truth seemed almost suffocating, but amidst the pain, a spark of determination flickered within Ji-woo.