Chapter - 21
Nani woke up with a headache.
Not the normal kind.
The kind that made his thoughts feel tangled.
He opened his eyes slowly.
The ceiling above him wasn't his pink bedroom.
For a second, panic hit.
Then he felt something warm beneath his cheek.
A chest.
A familiar scent.
Sky.
Nani blinked.
He was still curled against Sky.
At some point during the night, Sky had stayed beside him.
His arm rested around Nani's waist.
Nani stared at him.
"...You stayed?"
Sky opened his eyes.
"I wasn't leaving."
Nani looked away.
"You could've gone to your room."
"I could have."
"But you didn't."
"No."
Nani's cheeks warmed.
"...Okay."
Sky studied his face.
"Headache?"
"A little."
"You fainted yesterday."
"I remember."
Sky's expression tightened.
"Do you remember what you saw?"
Nani went quiet.
"The woman."
Sky waited.
"I still can't remember her face."
"But..."
Nani swallowed.
"I know her."
"Somewhere."
Sky didn't push.
"Then we'll figure it out."
Nani looked at him.
"You promise?"
"I don't make promises lightly."
"That's basically a yes."
"Yes."
---
Downstairs...
Dew was already awake.
Tee sat across from him with a cup of coffee.
Dew looked exhausted.
"I barely slept."
Tee sighed.
"Same."
Dew lowered his voice.
"Something about those messages bothers me."
"What?"
"The sender knows too much."
Tee nodded.
"Yeah."
"And whoever that woman is..."
Dew glanced toward the staircase.
"...she knew Nani would recognize her."
Tee didn't answer.
Because he'd been thinking the same thing.
---
Upstairs...
Nani stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
He splashed cold water on his face.
Then froze.
For a split second...
The mirror wasn't showing his bathroom.
It showed an old hallway.
Rainwater on the floor.
A man's shoes.
Blood.
And a woman's perfume.
Nani blinked.
The image disappeared.
He gripped the sink.
"What the hell..."
He shut his eyes.
Another fragment.
A door.
Someone arguing.
A voice.
"You shouldn't have brought him here."
Then another voice.
"He's just a kid."
Nani's eyes snapped open.
His heart pounded.
He couldn't tell whose voices they were.
He couldn't even tell if the memory was real.
He stepped backward.
Sky appeared in the doorway.
"Nani?"
Nani looked at him.
"Did you say something?"
"No."
"I heard voices."
Sky's expression changed.
"Where?"
"In my head."
Sky walked closer.
"What did you hear?"
Nani shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Two people."
"They were arguing."
Sky studied him.
"Anything else?"
Nani hesitated.
Then whispered,
"Someone said I shouldn't have been there."
Sky's jaw tightened.
"That's all?"
Nani nodded.
Sky didn't show what he was thinking.
But something about the sentence bothered him.
A lot.
---
Later that afternoon...
Nani sat in the garden with Dew.
Dew had brought out an old box from storage.
"What's that?"
"Family stuff."
Nani frowned.
"Why do you have it?"
"Dad left some old documents at the villa."
Dew opened the box.
Old receipts.
Photographs.
Business papers.
Nothing useful.
Nani flipped through them.
Then stopped.
An old photograph.
His father's company.
October 2021.
Nani stared.
"Wait."
Dew leaned closer.
"What?"
"Look at the background."
Behind his father stood several cars.
One of them had a small symbol painted on the door.
Nani frowned.
"I've seen that before."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
He took a picture with his phone.
Dew zoomed in.
The symbol was partially scratched away.
"Could be a company logo."
"Maybe."
Nani stared at it longer.
Something inside his head tugged.
A memory.
A black car.
Rain.
A man's voice.
Then—
Nothing.
Nani shut the box.
"I don't want to look at this anymore."
Dew nodded.
"Okay."
He didn't force him.
---
That evening...
Sky stood alone in his office.
Tee entered quietly.
"Boss."
"What?"
"We found something."
Sky looked up.
Tee placed a photograph on the desk.
An old photograph.
From 2021.
Sky stared at it.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get this?"
"One of our old archives."
Sky picked it up.
The image showed a warehouse.
Several men stood outside.
Sky recognized some of them.
But one detail caught his attention.
A symbol on a vehicle.
The same symbol Nani had photographed.
Sky's fingers tightened around the photograph.
"...Why is this appearing now?"
Tee watched him.
"You think it's connected?"
Sky didn't answer.
He looked toward the window.
Across the city...
Nani was staring at the same symbol.
Neither knew why it mattered.
Neither knew that the answer was buried in the same night.
And somewhere far away...
A woman stood in front of an old photograph.
She traced one finger across Nani's younger face.
Her eyes filled with something between guilt and determination.
She whispered,
"...I'm sorry."
Then she turned the photograph face-down.
Because some memories...
Were dangerous to uncover all at once.
------------
The next morning felt wrong.
Not dangerous.
Not yet.
Just... wrong.
Nani sat at Dew's kitchen island, staring into a cup of coffee he'd forgotten to drink.
Dew waved a hand in front of his face.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
"Nani."
"Hm?"
"You've been staring at that coffee for ten minutes."
Nani looked down.
"...I hate coffee."
"Then why are you holding it?"
"I forgot."
Dew sighed.
"You're thinking about yesterday."
Nani's fingers tightened around the cup.
"The symbol."
"Yeah."
"I know I've seen it before."
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"That's the problem."
Nani groaned.
"Everything is always 'I don't know.'"
He pushed the cup away.
"I hate mysteries."
Dew snorted.
"You're literally living inside one."
"Exactly. It's rude."
---
A car stopped outside.
Nani looked toward the window.
Black.
Familiar.
He didn't even need to ask.
"Sky."
Dew raised an eyebrow.
"How romantic."
"He's probably here to kidnap my snacks."
"You wish."
The front door opened.
Sky walked inside wearing a black coat, his expression unreadable.
His eyes immediately found Nani.
Nani smiled.
"Hi."
Sky's gaze softened for half a second.
Then he noticed the tension in Nani's face.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie."
Nani frowned.
"You always say that like you're interrogating criminals."
"I am."
"...Fair."
Sky walked closer.
Nani tilted his head.
"You came here just to check on me?"
"Yes."
Dew muttered,
"That man crossed half the city for a five-word conversation."
Sky looked at him.
"Problem?"
"Nope."
"Good."
Dew immediately returned to his breakfast.
---
Nani reached for his phone.
"Look."
He showed Sky the photograph from yesterday.
"The symbol."
Sky stared at it.
For a fraction of a second...
Something flickered across his face.
Nani noticed.
"You recognize it."
Sky looked at him.
"No."
Too quick.
Nani narrowed his eyes.
"That was a suspicious no."
"It's an old symbol."
"So you do know it."
"I've seen similar markings."
"Where?"
Sky paused.
"Work."
Nani stared.
"That's it?"
"That's it."
Nani crossed his arms.
"You're terrible at lying."
Sky leaned closer.
"And you're terrible at hiding when you're curious."
Their faces were suddenly close.
Nani's confidence disappeared.
His ears warmed.
"...Don't distract me."
"I'm not."
"You are."
Sky's mouth curved.
"If I wanted to distract you..."
He lowered his voice.
"...I'd do a much better job."
Nani's eyes widened.
"Sky!"
Dew slowly looked up.
"...Did I just walk into something?"
"NO."
Nani's face burned.
Sky looked completely unbothered.
Dew shook his head.
"God help me."
---
Later...
Nani wandered through the villa's storage room.
He wasn't supposed to.
Which, naturally, made him want to look even more.
Boxes lined the shelves.
Old clothes.
Books.
Documents.
Photographs.
He opened one dusty box.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
Then—
A small leather folder.
Nani pulled it out.
Inside was an old newspaper clipping.
BUSINESSMAN ATTACKED OUTSIDE PRIVATE WAREHOUSE — INVESTIGATION ONGOING
Nani's eyes widened.
The date.
October 9, 2021.
He read the article.
His father's company was mentioned.
But one name had been blacked out with a marker.
Nani frowned.
"Who did this?"
He rubbed the paper gently.
Something was written on the back.
One sentence.
Don't trust the man who arrives after the blood is spilled.
Nani's skin prickled.
He read it twice.
Then a sound came from behind him.
Click.
The storage-room door shut.
Nani spun around.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
He grabbed the nearest object.
A feather duster.
He stared at it.
"...Great."
"If someone attacks me, I'm dying with a feather duster."
The door suddenly opened.
Sky stood there.
Nani nearly screamed.
"FUCK—"
Sky caught the feather duster before Nani could swing it.
"...Really?"
Nani clutched his chest.
"You scared the shit out of me!"
Sky looked at the weapon in his hand.
"...You were going to fight me with this?"
"I panicked!"
Sky's eyes dropped to the newspaper.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Nani held it up.
"Found it."
Sky took it.
His eyes moved across the article.
Then stopped at the sentence on the back.
His face hardened.
"You shouldn't be looking through this alone."
Nani noticed.
"You know something."
Sky didn't answer.
"Sky."
Silence.
"Please."
Sky finally looked at him.
"I know enough to tell you that someone wanted that night forgotten."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying again."
"I'm hiding something."
Nani's stomach dropped.
"...What?"
Sky stepped closer.
"But not what you think."
Nani stared at him.
"What does that even mean?"
"It means..."
Sky lowered his voice.
"...if I knew the whole truth, you'd already know."
Nani studied his face.
For once, Sky looked genuinely unsettled.
That frightened Nani more than anger would have.
---
That night...
Nani couldn't sleep.
He sat beside his bedroom window.
The city lights blurred beneath the glass.
His phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
?You found the article.?
Nani froze.
Another appeared.
?Good.?
His heartbeat picked up.
?Now look at the name that was erased.?
Nani stared.
Then another message arrived.
?Your father didn't erase it.?
A pause.
?Someone else did.?
Nani's fingers went cold.
He typed:
Who are you?
The reply came after several seconds.
?Someone who watched Niran lie to your father that night.?
Nani stopped breathing.
Another message.
?And if you want the truth...?
Three dots.
Then:
?Find the old warehouse before Niran does.?
Nani's eyes widened.
He immediately took a screenshot.
Then—
The message disappeared.
Every single one.
Nani stared at the blank conversation.
"What the fuck..."
A shadow moved outside his window.
Nani stood.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
He pulled the curtain aside.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then his phone vibrated again.
One final message.
?Don't bring Sky.?
Nani's blood ran cold.
Because whoever was sending these messages...
knew exactly who Sky was.
And that meant the mystery was no longer sitting quietly in Nani's past.
It was watching him now.