I stood by a light pole as Min Sungho’s car arrived at the far end of the walkway and security stepped out. As the other Mina and Yejun talked, I scanned the crowd for anyone in a pink sweatshirt, but counted over a dozen on this side of the barriers alone.
Then someone bumped into me from behind, jolting me away from the streetlight.
Hot liquid seared across my face and neck. I fell forward onto my hands, my eyes stinging. A boot stomped dangerously close to my fingers, but before the crowd could crush me, someone yanked me up by the arm.
Someone with a pink sweatshirt.
I rubbed the liquid from my eye as some of it trickled into my mouth.Coffee, I realized, as the scent wafted over me.Someone spilled their hot coffee on me.
“I’m so sorry!” a man was saying over and over again. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said, tugging off the soaked sweatshirt and using it to dry my neck and face. I squinted up at the man even though my eyelids felt gummed together with sugar and cream. He was young—probably a college student—wearing a pink sweatshirt and clutching a crumpled coffee cup.
His face suddenly turned red and he ripped his own sweatshirt off, handing it to me. “Here, you can have this,” he said.
“I don’t need your sweatshirt,” I said, trying to look around him at Yejun, but he only pushed it closer to me.
“Your shirt,” he said uneasily.
“What about my—” I looked down, and realized why he was so uncomfortable—the coffee had made my white tank top see-through.
I sighed and snatched the sweatshirt from him, tugging it overmy head and moving as far away as possible. It didn’t matter if I was wearing a pink sweatshirt anyway. I still wasn’t going to shoot the other Mina.
Min Sungho was heading up the walkway now, and I could see the other Mina frowning as Yejun put his gun away. Hana needed to make her move soon, but I still couldn’t see her in the crowd.
Counterprotesters started yelling as Min Sungho drew closer, trying to push their way to the front. The crowd carried me closer to the stairs, angry humans stomping on my feet and elbowing my ribs to get past me.
Something snagged on the ladybug key chain on my zipper, yanking me to the side. The left shoulder strap on my backpack finally tore, and my bag hit the ground. I reached for it right as something metal fell out of the front pocket and clattered to the ground.
Firearm cartridges.
The ones Hyebin’s Echo had given me at school. I held one up to the streetlight, running my thumb over the flat paper surface where a projectile was supposed to be.
They were blank rounds.
I hadn’t known it at the time, since I hadn’t had firearms training yet, but now I was certain. I remembered how pale and unraveled Hyebin’s Echo had looked under the yellow light of the bathroom stall. Had she come back to help me because I’d used live rounds and died, or because the descendants had caught me the first time?
I clutched the handful of cartridges tight in my palm, then rose to my feet and turned to the other Mina and Yejun, who were still in a tense discussion. There was no one else in a pink sweatshirt pushing through the crowd. No one but me.
I looked to the sky.Really, Hana?I thought.You’re gonna make me do this part too? Just how lazy are you?
The sky crackled with thunder, and I let out a dry laugh. It was the most sisterlike interaction I’d ever had with Hana, if you couldcall it that. I could imagine her response, even if it was nothing more than a story I told myself and the real Hana was nothing like that at all. But, like Yejun said, sometimes stories were all you had.
You can’t expect anyone else to save you, Mina, Hana would say.This was your plan, so you can finish it.
I sighed, my hand curling tighter around the cartridges.
Fine, I thought. I’ll have to save myself.
I yanked my hood up, then pulled out my gun and emptied the live rounds onto the ground. It didn’t matter who saw—the crowd was going to stampede in about thirty seconds anyway. I jammed the blank rounds in, hoisted my bag over my shoulder, and shoved through the crowd.
“I won’t do it,” I heard Yejun saying as I drew closer.
You can’t, I thought, elbowing someone out of my way,butIcan.
The other Mina had clearly noticed me approaching, her body angled toward me, one hand still on Yejun’s sleeve.
I squared my stance and pulled the trigger.
