Mysterious Messages
The phone had no information on its owner, to Hana’s surprise. There was absolutely nothing. No uCloud account in the settings, no call records nor contact info, no social media apps, no SIM card… not even a passcode, which is very strange. Hana thinks, for a quick second, that maybe the girl wanted her to find the phone, but dismisses the idea quickly. If anything, maybe she was more panicked because she’d lost her new phone, which makes Hana’s mission of giving it back much more urgent.
That’s when she sees an app she knows not to be one of the stock uPhone ones: it was called “messenger”, with a black icon and a yellow envelope. Tentatively, Hana opens it, as questions pop into her head. What kind of messenger was it? Why was it so plain, with no brand logo or anything? She was hoping to find some sort of profile upon opening it, but a login screen opens instead. The app seems to be new too. For a second, Hana panics. Trying to log in would be impossible, she doesn’t even know the person’s name. Then, an idea comes to her, and she decides to tap the “New user” option. She figured she could maybe send messages to someone using the app, maybe that way she’d find the girl’s info.
But the app seems impossible to use. The main screen said “CONTACTS” at the top, though there were no profiles. Then under that, was a thing that said “CHAT LOG”, and under it, a button to start a new chat. If she slid her finger to the side she could see her profile and a thing for what she supposed were private messages.
Humming in confusion, Hana decides to open a new chat, send some messages to see what happens. After sending a “Hello? Anyone there?” she holds her breath, staring intently at the phone screen.
There is no reply.
“This is strange…” Hana whispers to herself. She locks the phone and looks around at the now less busy street. It seemed that now all she could do was wait for a reply. So, she stands idle for a few more instants. After what might be a little too long (enough for people to give her weird looks, why as that girl just standing there?), she sighs and gives up on finding the owner… for now. She’d go find a place to stay for the night and try again tomorrow. It was getting late, anyway.
Then, the phone screen lights up.
MESSENGER
Unknown: …?
MESSENGER
Unknown: Can you see this?
Hana’s heart drops to her feet, drowning out every sound. Her eyes widen. There’s a reply! With quick fingers, she opens the app and types “yes, I can. Do you know who this phone belongs to? I happened to pick it up by chance, I really want to return it to its owner. If you know them, can you help me find the owner of the phone?”
Unknown replies immediately. “Of course I can help. Go to the address I’m about to send you.”
Hana grins, shocked at the helpful stranger. But then, she thinks, isn’t this a little suspicious? They’re immediately sending me an address… She frowns, considering her options. She doesn’t have any other. So, she types, “Ok, I’ll try that! Thank you for helping me.”
The apartment is, thankfully, not that far away. Just a few blocks forward and Hana is standing in front of what might be the most luxurious apartment complex she’s ever seen, mouth agape in naive disbelief that people actually live in places like these. She walks in, going up to the floor Unknown said the apartment was in. A feeling of dread and maybe even fear settles upon her shoulder as she approaches the unit. It has a password lock.
I’ll just call 112 if something seems fishy, she tells herself before ringing the doorbell.
A couple of seconds pass. No one answers. Hana frowns. Then, swallowing the lump of fear forming in her throat, she rings again.
No answer again. Hana takes out her phone, decides to tell Unknown about the situation.
He answers with “I’ll send you the code. Try it.”
Sweat forms in Hana’s brow. Her hands clutch the phone tighter. Code?
Reluctantly, Hana starts typing the numbers Unknown sends. Dread rises in her spine. The idea of just entering a stranger’s house seems… off, she can’t know what she’ll find inside.
Hana tries the handle. It unlocks. She gapes softly, surprised it worked. Slowly, she enters the house, phone in hand.
“Excuse me… is anyone home?”
She’s met with silence, yet decides to look around. Her eyes widen at the large, modern studio apartment. It’s a place Hana would like to live in, anyone would, really.
Her phone then starts vibrating. Looking down, she almost jumps in shock. Messages flood her screen, being sent in quick succession by multiple people. She reads their names on the top of her screen: 707, Hana Kang, Jaehee Kang, Jumin Han, Yoosung, V, ZEN.
“What…” Hana whispers, not being able to react to the texts. The subject of their conversation is, apparently, her mysterious entrance.
707: Wait, her location…
707: she’s in Rika’s apartment.
Yoosung: RIKA’S APARTMENT??!
ZEN: What??
Jaehee Kang: It’s classified, so we don’t even know where it is…
ZEN: How did this person get there?!
Hana looks around in shock. Classified?! Why is this place classified… Frantic, she types “who are you people?!”
Yoosung: That’s exactly what we want to ask!
Hana’s breathing quickens as she explains her situation.
Hana Kang: How did I get invited to this group chat?!
Hana Kang: I was talking to a person called unknown,
Hana Kang: where did he go…
Jumin Han: Unknown?
ZEN: did he not set up his screen name?
Hana Kang: What is going on???
707: Like I said, the IP is from Rika’s apartment…
707: WAIT.
707: Are you a hacker?!
707: But that’s not possible if I’m here!!
Hana shakes her head, questions rising in her head faster than she can type them.
ZEN: Maybe she’s one of our fans?
Hana’s brows furrow at his message. “One of their fans… “who are these people?” she whispers to herself. Her brain looks over their names, searching for something familiar. When she recognizes two of them, her hand goes to her mouth faster than the squeal of shock can escape her. This can’t be… How?!
Hana Kang: Wait, I’m not…!
Hana Kang: I just came to find the owner of this phone!
Yoosung: Huh? All of Rika’s stuff should be with V…
Yoosung: You didn’t lose them, did you?
707: There’s not a lot of info since it’s Rika’s phone.
707: How did she even get into the apartment?
707: I checked the building’s CCTV footage and confirmed she’s a lady.
Hana Kang: Me?!
707: And a cute one at that!
ZEN: wait
ZEN: so it’s a girl?
Hana looks around frantically, searching for any cameras in the apartment. She can’t find any, which doesn’t help the chills in the back of her neck. Not trusting her legs to keep standing, she plops down on a chair next to a kitchen counter, left to the door.
Yoosung: :eyesemoji:
Yoosung: omg!!! A girl?!
Jaehee Kang: Boys, come on...
Jaehee Kang: :sighemoji:
707: There’s only one video of her walking in from the phone, so she must still be inside.
Yoosung: omg u saw her seven?!?:!:$/
ZEN: Dude…
ZEN: Show us the photo!! You said she’s cute!
707: lololol no
707: I have to respect her privacy >_<
ZEN: lolol who are u to say anything about privacy.
707: plus, I’m only allowed to share this info with v lol.
Yoosung: :sighemoji:
Yoosung: you always only share these kind of things with V…
Hana’s heart quickens, threatening to explode out of her chest. Who the hell is V?! Where the hell is the owner of the phone?
V: She doesn’t seem like a dangerous person, so I’ll meet her in person.
V: Miss Hana, let’s meet at the restaurant next to the apartment in 30 minutes.
Hana Kang: Can we meet with the owner of this phone?
Hana Kang: I’m here to find her.
V:... We’ll talk about that when we meet.
“What’s going on…” Hana whispers to herself, putting the phone down. Her shoulders feel tight. She’d come here to find the owner of the phone, but things are getting weirder instead. Really, really weird. How did she end up in a chatroom with these people? Why did they have a private chatroom in the first place?
Thirty minutes later, Hana sits at the restaurant. The place is quiet, adorned with dark wood and plants that manage to ease her anxiety, if only a little. Her stomach growls at the smell of food. She’d left all her stuff except for the phone upstairs, including her wallet (not that she’d be able to buy anything on the menu anyway). She didn’t want this V man to see she didn’t have a place to stay.
A bright head of mint catches Hana’s eye, and she looks over to see a man she’s sure must be V. Everything about him resembles his profile picture: the mint hair, the sunglasses, even the gray cardigan. He walks over to Hana’s table, and she stands to greet him.
“You must be Hana Kang, yes?” His voice is gentle.
Hana nods, nerves rising. “Yes.”
“My name is V, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Though I regret the circumstances, I would've liked it if we met with less trouble upon our shoulders. Shall we sit?”
Hana frowns, but she nods
“You must have a lot of questions, about who we are, what we do, and what your role is in all this.” the man says once they are both seated.
Hana nods. She did know who these people were, which made the situation quite… wild, but that’s not what was on her mind right now. “Yes, but… I just came here looking for the owner of this phone, nothing more, I swear,” she says, sounding a bit more flustered than what she feels like.
V hums. “I see. Can you hand me the phone?”
She does so, before tangling her fingers together, hoping to release the tension inside her as she watches V examine the phone.
“This is indeed Rika’s phone,” he says after a way too long instant. “Rika’s apartment is classified, so not even the members know about it,” he thinks out loud. “The property is under my name, but even I don’t know the code.”
Hana frowns, her confusion increasing. She thought the people she’d encountered were an idol group… but maybe they were more than that?
“The fact that you were led there makes me think that Rika wanted you to take over her work,” V continues.
What? Hana thinks. But I’m not here for… I don’t want to… “Is miss Rika the person I met? I don’t understand why you’re saying all this if you’re not the person I’m looking for.” God, she just wanted to get this over with. This was not looking too good… all she wanted was to just return the phone, find a place to stay for the night, and leave this as a funny story she could tell people for a good laugh. Nothing more.
V looks down before explaining. “Rika… was the leader of a group called Mystic Messenger. You might have heard of them before. They’re usually referred to as MysMe.”
Hana nods. She has heard of the group, even knows some of their songs. She can’t recall a Rika being in the group, though… strange. Leaders are usually the more well-known members, as they’re always representing the group in their activities. Then again, her knowledge of Mysme is only limited to their subunits, she never bothered to learn about the group as a whole.
V continues. “As Mysme’s popularity grew, so did our influence, and more people became wary of us.”
Hana’s eyes soften. As a trainee, she was an insider on all the gossip of the idol world, she’d heard about plenty of bad drama. But, from V’s tone, she could tell that whatever this group had been involved in was not the usual celebrity scandal. Her spine tightened. She didn’t think this world could be dangerous.
“Right now, I can’t tell you much about Rika,” V says, taking a sip of his water. “Instead... I’m hoping that you’ll join Mysme, and take over Rika’s work.”
Hana forgets how to breathe, her hands now clenching the fabric of her pants. What V is asking her to do… part of her wants to accept, obviously, but deep down she knows she could never do something like that. To lead a group, she is not adequate for such a task, she didn’t come here for a job… why is he asking her to do this?
“And if you do so….” V continues, “you may stay in that apartment.”
Hana flinches. This just feels like… like a kindness she doesn’t deserve, like something way too good to be real.
“I don’t think that’s a bad deal.”
“I… I didn’t come with such intentions…” is all she can say.
“I know,” he reassures, “but you’ve already been invited to our messenger, and we don’t know the identity of Unknown, the person who sent you here.” His tone turns stern. “This is also for the group’s-- and your-- safety. So, please. Stay under the terms that you’ll take over Rika’s work.”
Hana’s hands relax, and she looks down. She tries to breathe evenly, feeling her cheeks heating up. “Rika’s work… you mean lead a group?”
V shrugs. “Not necessarily lead, but we do need a creative voice. The group has been quite… stuck, ever since Rika’s leave.”
Hana shakes her head slightly, face red in embarrassment. “I apologize, but… I don’t know if--”
“I understand that you are quite new to this, and joining a group so suddenly, especially one with years of experience, can be quite daunting,” V says. “But please do not worry. I promise the group will welcome you with open arms, and aid you in every step of the way.”
Hana’s expression softens, breathing out. This isn’t a bad opportunity in the slightest, and she may have accidentally compromised the safety of a group from one of the biggest entertainment companies out there, as well as her own. This really is the best decision to make. Plus, she’s in desperate need of both a job and a place to stay.
“... Alright,” she gives in, giving him a small ‘thank you’ bow. “I happened to need a place to stay, so thank you.”
“I’ll tell the other members you’ll be joining the group,” V says. He gives her a small smile. “Welcome.”
Hana smiles back, muttering a low “thank you.”
“We’ll reach you tomorrow morning to get started. See you then,” he says as he gets up to leave.
“Wait…” she stops him, “I was meaning to ask, are you also a member of the group? Or…”
V shakes his head. “No, I am their manager… The members are Jumin, Jaehee, Yoosung, 707, and Zen. Jumin is currently the leader.”
Hana nods. “Well, see you soon,” she says to V before he leaves. Four boys and a girl… this is an interesting group, she thinks. Her stomach tightens, thinking about how they’ll take having another girl in her group… will they like it? Will their fans like it? Probably not, new members of groups are usually not welcomed well… What have I gotten myself into?
The walk back to the apartment is hazy. Hana is barely aware of her surroundings, the exhaustion of the whole day finally settling on her. The day’s events replay in her mind, they feel like a dream, or the plot of a bad drama. She’d woken up this morning like any other day, only to find out she’d been fired from her company and left homeless. Now, she was going to sleep at a stranger’s apartment, with the promise of a debut, all thanks to a lost phone.
As soon as she enters the apartment, she crouches into a ball on the bed, hugging her knees. God, what was she doing? How had she landed here, out of all places, inside the claws of a potentially dubious group? Everything about them was strange; their “influence,” Rika’s disappearance, the secret app, Unknown… Hana just hopes all of this gets solved soon. She hopes she can return the phone, meet the person again, become friends with her… her mind then drifts back to a few hours ago, to the safety of her embrace and the warmth of her presence. The memory soothes her, and she lays down on the bed. She wonders where miss Rika is now. As she drifts off to sleep, she prays silently, hoping Rika is safe.