THE WARNING [ JIMIN FF ]

Minsha stood alone in a vast penthouse surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass. The city stretched beneath her, blurred beneath a layer of rain and fog. Thousands of lights shimmered below, distant enough to look unreal.

She never remembered entering the room.

She never knew where it was.

Yet somehow, every time she dreamed of it, she knew exactly where to stand.

Three steps away from the glass.

Near the black piano.

Facing the man at the other end of the room.

He was there again.

A dark shirt. Sleeves pushed slightly up his arms. His face remained partially hidden beneath the low light, but his eyes were always clear.

Those eyes.

They were the only thing Minsha could remember perfectly after waking.

The man looked at her without moving.

Minsha couldn’t hear the rain anymore.

Couldn’t hear the city.

Couldn’t hear herself breathing.

Then he lifted his hand.

There was a small digital clock on the wall behind him.

3:13 A.M.

Minsha stared at it.

The numbers changed.

3:14 A.M.

The man’s expression changed with them.

For the first time, he looked almost afraid.

He took one step toward her.

Man : “When you finally meet me in the real world…”

His voice was quiet.

Almost familiar.

Minsha tried to answer, but no sound came out.

The distance between them seemed to disappear.

Then he whispered—

Man : “...don’t trust me.”

The lights went out.

Minsha woke up.

Her eyes opened instantly.

For several seconds, she remained completely still.

Dark ceiling.

Closed curtains.

The faint hum of the air conditioner.

Her bedroom.

Real.

She turned her head toward the digital clock on her bedside table.

3:14 A.M.

Minsha stared at it.

Again.

Exactly the same time.

She slowly sat up and ran a hand through her hair.

This dream had been returning for years.

Not every night.

Not even every week.

Sometimes months passed without it.

Then, without warning, the same penthouse would return.

The same man.

The same silence.

The same time.

And always—

3:14 A.M.

Minsha reached for the glass of water beside her bed.

She took a sip and looked at the clock again.

Nothing had changed.

She placed the glass down.

There was no point trying to force an explanation out of something that had never made sense.

So she did what she always did.

She breathed slowly.

Then she lay back down.

Tomorrow would be another ordinary day.

At least, that was what she believed.

For now.

Morning came quiet.

Minsha woke before her alarm.

For a few seconds, she remained still, staring at the ceiling while the last fragments of sleep disappeared from her mind.

The dream was already fading.

She did not try to remember it.

She simply got out of bed, opened the curtains, and let the pale morning light fill the room.

A shower. Coffee. A quick breakfast.

Nothing unusual.

By 8:15, she was already on her way to the office.

Her work had always been easier than everything else in her life.

Data did not lie.

People could.

Memories could change.

Feelings could become unreliable.

But a digital trail was different.

A device left patterns. A server kept records. A deleted file often left something behind.

That was why Minsha trusted her work.

It followed rules.

Her office was already busy when she arrived.

Lucy was standing beside her desk with two coffees in her hands.

Lucy : “You’re late.”

Minsha looked at the clock.

Minsha : “I’m three minutes early.”

Lucy : “Exactly. Late for you.”

Minsha took the coffee from her.

Minsha : “Good morning to you too.”

Lucy smiled.

Lucy : “Morning.”

Minsha placed her bag down and opened her laptop.

Within minutes, the softness of sleep disappeared completely from her face.

She was back in her element.

A cybersecurity breach had been reported by one of their corporate clients. Nothing dramatic—just unusual access activity from an employee account that should have been inactive.

Minsha spent the next few hours tracing login attempts, comparing timestamps, checking device fingerprints and reconstructing the sequence of events.

Lucy occasionally leaned over her desk.

Lucy : “Anything?”

Minsha : “Someone tried to make it look like an internal login.”

Lucy : “And?”

Minsha : “It wasn’t.”

Lucy : “How do you know?”

Minsha turned her screen toward her.

Minsha : “The device signature.”

Lucy stared at the data for a moment.

Lucy : “You found that in two minutes?”

Minsha : “Three.”

Lucy laughed.

Lucy : “You really are terrifying.”

Minsha returned her attention to the screen.

Minsha : “I’m efficient.”

Lucy : “That’s what terrifying people call themselves.”

For the first time that morning, Minsha smiled.

The day continued normally.

Calls.

Reports.

Encrypted files.

Coffee that went cold beside her keyboard.

Nothing happened that seemed important.

And perhaps that was what made the moment later feel so strange.

Around four in the afternoon, Lucy dropped into the chair opposite her.

Lucy : “You know what?”

Minsha kept typing.

Minsha : “That sentence usually means trouble.”

Lucy : “You barely slept.”

Minsha stopped typing.

Lucy watched her carefully.

Lucy : “Same dream?”

A pause.

Minsha looked at her.

Minsha : “Same man.”

Lucy : “Do you know him?”

Minsha took a slow breath.

Minsha : “No.”

Lucy studied her face, waiting for something more.

Nothing came.

Minsha lowered her eyes back to the screen.

She could feel the lie sitting quietly between them.

Minsha pov *I’m sorry, Lucy...I can’t tell you yet.

The truth is, I’ve been seeing that man in my dreams for ten years.* END OF POV..

Lucy eventually stood.

Lucy : “Fine. I’m not pushing.”

Minsha gave a small nod.

Lucy : “But you’re telling me someday.”

Minsha : “Maybe.”

Lucy : “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Lucy picked up her bag.

Lucy : “I’m leaving. Try not to work until midnight.”

Minsha : “No promises.”

Lucy rolled her eyes and walked away.

A few minutes later, the office became quieter.

Minsha remained at her desk.

Outside the windows, evening slowly replaced daylight.

She continued working until the last report was finished.

Only then did she close her laptop.

She went home alone.

The apartment was silent.

Minsha placed her keys on the table, changed into comfortable clothes and dropped onto the couch.

For several minutes, she simply stared at the ceiling.

Then she closed her eyes.

And the memory returned.

Not last night’s dream.

Something much older.

Something that had started before she understood what dreams could mean.

Flashback*

10 Years Earlier

Sixteen-year-old Minsha had no reason to remember that night.

It had been completely ordinary.

She had studied until late, complained about an unfinished assignment, argued with herself over whether to set an alarm, and eventually fallen asleep.

There was nothing unusual about the night.

Until she opened her eyes.

She was standing somewhere she had never seen before.

A vast room surrounded her.

The ceiling seemed impossibly high.

Huge glass windows covered one entire side of the room, but there was no clear view outside. Everything beyond the glass was covered in mist.

Minsha looked around.

She was alone.

Or at least, she thought she was.

Then she heard it.

A soft piano note.

She turned.

A man was sitting several feet away, his back partially turned toward her.

He wore a dark shirt.

His sleeves were pushed slightly above his wrists.

Minsha froze.

She didn’t know him.

She was certain of that.

The man slowly lifted his head.

She tried to see his face.

But somehow, she couldn’t.

The closer she looked, the harder it became to focus.

Like the dream itself refused to let her see him clearly.

Minsha took one uncertain step forward.

The man looked toward her.

Their eyes met.

Her heart suddenly beat faster.

She didn’t understand why.

She had never seen him before.

Yet something about that moment felt strangely familiar.

The room remained silent.

Then a digital clock somewhere behind her changed.

3:13 A.M.

Minsha turned toward it.

The numbers changed.

3:14 A.M.

She looked back.

The man was standing now.

He walked toward her.

One step.

Then another.

Minsha didn’t move.

He stopped in front of her.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then he said quietly—

Man : “When you finally meet me in the real world…”

A pause.

His eyes remained fixed on hers.

Man : “...don’t trust me.”

The lights went out.

Minsha woke up.

She sat upright in bed, breathing hard.

Her room was completely dark.

For several seconds, she couldn’t understand where she was.

She looked around.

Her books were scattered across the desk.

Her school uniform was hanging on the chair.

Everything was normal.

She reached for her phone.

3:14 A.M.

Minsha stared at the screen.

She had no idea what had just happened.

She had no idea who the man was.

And she had no idea why a stranger from a dream had left her with a warning she couldn’t forget.