"Guys—" Jungkook suddenly muttered, looking up from his computer screen, eyes widening.

"What is it!?" I asked, immediately getting up from my chair in a swift motion, walking over to his table. The urgency in his voice had sent a surge of adrenaline through me.

The others joined us, gathering around Jungkook as he clicked open the call log we'd been combing through for days. His hands hovered over the keyboard for a second, as if double-checking what he'd just seen.

"Look at this," he said, his voice low but tense. He highlighted a series of numbers that we’d all assumed were insignificant.

I leaned in closer, narrowing my eyes at the screen. The logs showed a pattern, subtle but now unmistakable.

"These aren't just random calls..." Jungkook continued. "Each of the victims received a call from the same number exactly 24 hours before they went missing."

My breath caught in my throat. "How did we miss this?"

"It's too well hidden," Namjoon said, running a hand through his hair. "The calls were made using an encrypted number, masking the location and real identity of the caller. But the time pattern... that’s the key."

"It gets worse," Jungkook added, his fingers flying over the keyboard. He brought up the latest victim’s log, then scrolled through the data quickly. "The next call... is scheduled for tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow?" Nari echoed, her face paling. "That means—"

"We have less than 24 hours to prevent the next disappearance," Yoongi finished, his voice grim.

My heart pounded as I stared at the screen, trying to process the gravity of the situation. "Who’s the next target?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Jungkook hesitated before pulling up the information. "It’s a journalist," he said, meeting my gaze. "She wrote an exposé on a corporate scandal a few years ago. It looks like she’s been digging into something again recently... something big."

"Doesn't this mean there's a connection between the victims? This can't be a coincidence," Nari said, a worried frown settling on her face.

"But what's the link?" Jimin asked, leaning over Jungkook's shoulder to scan the details. "A journalist, a businessman, a teacher... they all seem to have nothing in common."

"Except that they were all targeted," Namjoon pointed out, his voice heavy. "Whoever is behind this... they want to make sure no one can speak out about whatever it is they’re hiding."

"Looks like we have less time than we thought," I said, pulling out my phone. "We need to warn her, track down this caller, and figure out what connects them all."

"And quickly," Yoongi added, his eyes narrowing at the screen. "Because if we don't, tomorrow will be too late."

The room fell into a tense silence as the weight of the next few hours hung in the air. We were running out of time, and the clock had just started ticking...

"Guys... can we not tell Yunjin?" I blurted out suddenly, the words escaping my lips before I had time to really think them through.

The room went silent, and all eyes were suddenly on me. Jungkook, who had been furiously typing on the keyboard, froze mid-action, his fingers hovering over the keys. Nari raised an eyebrow, Yoongi's face was unreadable, and Namjoon slowly crossed his arms, staring at me like I'd just suggested something absurd.

Jimin was the first to break the silence. "What? Why wouldn't we tell Yunjin? She's our mentor."

I shifted uncomfortably, trying to find the right words. "I don’t know, it’s just—" I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "There’s something... off about her. Ever since this case started, I’ve had this weird feeling around her. Like she knows more than she’s letting on."

Yoongi finally spoke up, his voice calm but firm. "Sena, are you saying you don’t trust her?"

"I don’t know," I admitted, feeling the weight of their stares. "Maybe it’s just paranoia, or maybe I’m reading into things too much. But every time we hit a dead end, it feels like she’s holding back. Like she’s leading us in circles."

Nari leaned back in her chair, arms crossed. "I get what you're saying, but she’s been with us since the beginning. What reason would she have to hide anything from us?"

"I’m not saying she’s against us," I quickly added, realizing how crazy I must have sounded. "But I just think... for this one lead, we should handle it ourselves. At least until we know more."

Namjoon gave me a long, hard look. "That’s a big risk, Sena. If we keep this from her and something goes wrong..."

"I know, I know," I said, cutting him off before he could finish. "But this feels different. I can’t explain it, but I have this gut feeling that telling her might be a mistake."

Jungkook had been silent the entire time, but now he leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on me. "You really think Yunjin would sabotage us?"

"I don’t know, Jungkook," I said, exasperated. "I’m just saying... let’s play this one close to the chest, okay?"

There was a moment of silence, the tension thick in the air as everyone exchanged glances.

"Maybe you’re overthinking it," Nari finally said, her voice softer. "It could just be stress, you know? We’ve all been on edge since this case started."

Jimin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it’s been four days of non-stop work. We’re bound to start imagining things. Yunjin’s been nothing but supportive."

I bit my lip, realizing they were probably right. Maybe it was just paranoia. Maybe I was just tired, and my gut was making me see things that weren’t really there.

"Yeah... maybe you're right," I mumbled, feeling my earlier conviction fade. "It’s probably nothing."

Namjoon gave me a small, reassuring smile. "We’ll keep this between us for now, but if we hit another wall, we’ll bring Yunjin in. Deal?"

I nodded, feeling a mix of relief and unease. "Deal."

But deep down, that nagging feeling in my gut didn’t go away.

"Don't you find it weird... how she told us not to check the call logs again and focus on family backgrounds instead though?" I said, my voice barely a whisper, eyes darting around the room. "Thankfully, Jungkook did check them."

The room fell silent again, and I could see the gears turning in everyone’s minds. Jungkook’s fingers stilled on the keyboard as his eyes flicked up to meet mine.

Namjoon frowned, arms still crossed tightly. "Now that you mention it, it was a strange directive. Usually, we'd explore every lead, especially something like call logs."

"Exactly!" I said, feeling a flicker of validation. "She didn’t even give us a solid reason why we should avoid it. Just brushed it off and steered us towards something else."

Jimin leaned forward, eyes narrowing slightly. "That is weird. I thought it was odd at the time, but I didn’t question it. You know, she's always been so... authoritative. I figured she knew what she was doing."

Nari shook her head. "Why wouldn't she want us to look at the logs? I mean, isn't that, like, basic investigative work?"

Jungkook, still quiet, finally spoke up. "Maybe she knew there was something there. Something she didn’t want us to find."

Yoongi exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair. "Could be. But it doesn’t make sense for her to sabotage us... unless she’s involved somehow."

I felt my heart race at Yoongi’s words. Involved? Could Yunjin really be connected to all of this?

"But she’s our mentor," Namjoon argued, his voice uncertain now. "She’s been guiding us since day one. Why would she do something like that?"

"I don’t know," I muttered, staring at the screen where the call logs glared back at us. "But it's too much of a coincidence. She told us to drop it, but this—" I gestured to the logs, "this could be our missing link."

Jungkook glanced at me, then back at the screen. "If I hadn’t checked, we wouldn’t have found this."

"So... what do we do?" Nari asked, her voice quieter than before. "Do we confront her?"

"No," Namjoon said firmly, shaking his head. "Not yet. We don’t have enough to accuse her of anything."

"Yeah, we can’t just jump to conclusions," Jimin added, though I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

I swallowed hard. "So, we keep this quiet? Keep digging on our own?"

Yoongi nodded slowly. "For now. But we keep a close eye on her. If there’s something off, we’ll find it."

"Agreed," Namjoon said, his tone decisive again. "We move forward, but we don’t tell her about this. Not until we know for sure."

I nodded, glancing around the room. They were all on board, at least for now. But in the back of my mind, that unease still lingered.

"Alright," I finally said. "Let's keep it between us... for now."

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