"Mom?" Jiho called as soon as he stepped into the house. It was dark and eerie silent with all the lights off. His mother hadn't responded to the texts he sent around lunch, and since school club activities ended late he worried that she might still be working.

It was not a rare thing for her to be working around the clock to pay the bills and the tuition fees. Most days she was dead asleep when he got home, and it wasn't rare for her to forget to eat either. It was so bad that if she didn't eat with her friend during her shift, she would go for days without noticing.

However, something seemed odd the moment he stepped into the kitchen. It looked like someone had been preparing a light meal. A pack of frozen fried rice now rested on the counter, all soggy in its wrapping from the hours out in the open heated room.

"Mom!?" Jiho called again and started hunting the apartment for trails of recent activity, but no matter what corner he went to it was all the same. There were trails of life but no one at home. 

He pulled out his phone and dialled his mom's phone number. She must have had to leave the food due to an emergency at the restaurant, nothing else would make sense. As scatterbrained as she might be, she wasn't exactly careless. 

The tone beeped a few times before he felt a chill run down his spine. A persistent ringtone grew louder by the second. It sounded like it came from the small balcony of the apartment. He stepped closer, carefully lowering the phone from his ear as if to confirm he wasn't hallucinating. His palms got all clammy when he reached for the sliding door hiding behind the curtain. The sound blasted his ears the moment he opened the door and peered out. 

And there it was, laying all alone blasting the horrid corny drama soundtrack. He ended the call and picked up the phone, still confused about the whole thing. How could she have forgotten her phone? What on earth could have chased her out of the house like this? 

Not a moment later his own phone started buzzing violently. Screaming for attention.

"Hello? Yeah- yes? What!? Alright, I'll be right there!" He hung up and bolted for the door, almost forgetting to lock it...