Chapter 2

A third person?

“Who?”

Ethan frantically searched the room with his eyes, as if something terrifying were hiding inside.

He dragged his chair across the floor with a sharp screech. Only after moving close to me did he speak in a hoarse whisper.

“That person… no. That thing is hidden in the south bedroom by my mother!”

The south bedroom?

I immediately thought of the haze and strange scent drifting from beneath the door.

“My mom keeps taking weird dolls, sachets, and all kinds of strange objects into that room when I’m not looking. Then she says all kinds of weird things and keeps repeating that thing’s name.”

“Sometimes she even mistakes me for it and calls me by the wrong name!”

The more Ethan spoke, the more agitated he became. His body began to spasm as if he’d lost control. His hoarse voice rose into a shriek.

“She must be using some sinister method to turn me into someone else! She’s almost succeeded. Strange memories have already started appearing in my mind. Sometimes I can’t stop myself from believing they’re really mine!”

“Do you understand? I’m being replaced!”

I didn’t believe his bizarre, absurd story, but his intense reaction still sent a chill through me.

The mentally ill really were impossible to understand.

To make sure I received the rest of my payment, I played along.

“Calm down. I’ll help you.”

“Do you have a key to the south bedroom? Can you take me inside?”

I needed to do something to earn his trust.

Ethan shook his head violently.

“No. No key. I don’t have any keys to the apartment. My mother is imprisoning me and monitoring me. I have no freedom at all!”

I suggested, “If you’re willing, I can take you in myself.”

I’d already examined the lock. It wasn’t complicated.

In my line of work, there was no such thing as knowing too many skills. With the right tools, I could open it easily.

Ethan seemed to struggle to control his panic. He nodded firmly.

“Okay. Let’s take a look. If you can, you have to help me destroy that thing!”

I led Ethan out of the study and toward the south bedroom.

The haze was still slowly seeping through the crack beneath the door. The smell vaguely resembled incense burning at a shrine.

I couldn’t stop myself from frowning.

Could there really be something inside?

As I worked on the lock, Ethan grew even more terrified. His fear affected me, and I failed several times. Sweat gradually beaded on my forehead.

Just as I finally located the lock cylinder, the apartment door suddenly opened.

I stiffened and quickly hid my tools. Ethan spun around as well, his eyes filled with panic so intense it was almost tangible.

“What are you doing?”

Evelyn dropped the groceries in her hands and rushed toward us.

She blocked the south bedroom door and stared at me warily.

“Dr. Carter, weren’t you supposed to be treating Ethan in the study? Why are you wandering around?”

Feeling guilty, I said I was simply trying to understand Ethan better and had been looking around the apartment.

She accepted the excuse.

But I couldn’t help wondering whether Evelyn’s reaction had been a little too extreme.

Afterward, she went to cook. I was planning to leave, but she insisted that I stay for dinner.

She seemed desperate to cure Ethan.

At the table, Ethan—who had told me he hated winter melon more than anything—dug into a bowl of winter melon braised with ribs.

When Evelyn quizzed him on business-related subjects, he answered every question smoothly.

The anxious, terrified Ethan seemed to have become a completely different person. He was confident and unusually close to Evelyn.

All of Evelyn’s earlier worry had vanished as well. It was as if Ethan had suddenly recovered. Her eyes were overflowing with affection.

I was the one who began to feel paranoid and cold all over.

There was something wrong with both of them.

I was especially sensitive to emotions, and I could tell that neither of them had been faking the emotions they’d shown in my presence.

But why had they changed so drastically?

After dinner, Ethan returned to the study. I went to see him alone.

“Ethan—”

The moment I said his name, he looked up in confusion.

“Ethan?”

“Dr. Carter, I’m not Ethan. You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”