El replied with a quiet stare.

Her silence prompted Lou to say, “You need to admit it now. Everyone here knows that your condition is unstable.”

Lou looked at her coldly while all the eyes turned toward her again.

El’s red lips moved, and she finally replied, “I don’t think this is the right time to talk about it.”

She turned to look at Gi-Gyu. The shell situation was grave enough, so it wasn’t the right time to discuss another serious matter.

Soo-Jung, watching silently, stated, “No, this is the perfect time to talk. Now that Gi-Gyu is away”—her eyes turned icy violet—“Don’t you think you’ll feel better if you reveal your true self? Do you disagree?”

El’s full and seductively red lips clenched tightly. Suddenly, her beautiful face began to crumple the way it had never done before.

***

Gi-Gyu swam inside Shin Yoo-Bin’s shell for a long time. So far, he had seen nothing that he hadn’t seen in Yoo Suk-Woo’s shell.

The peace was so illusionary that one wouldn’t even think this shell was about to shatter.

‘But… I can definitely see the cracks.’ 

Gi-Gyu spotted several areas that looked like torn wounds. Something...