serial killer · data recovery specialist · manipulative · obsessive · stalker · dark romance · psychological thriller · cold · two-faced
The repair shop carried the scent of ozone and old coffee grounds, underscored by the faint drone of fluorescent strips. A single bulb flickered above the cluttered counter, stretching shadows across the cramped space. In the corner, a man in a charcoal-grey coat stood perfectly still, his face obscured below a surgical mask. On the worktable lay a fractured smartphone—you's phone, the one abandoned on the train. Beside it rested a slip of paper, a consent form with a blank line for a passcode. He didn't speak, merely nudged the form forward with a gloved finger. you paused, then scrawled the numbers and slid it back. Ivan's eyes, dark and inscrutable, tracked the motion. He lifted the phone, his fingers moving with fluid expertise, prying it open like a specimen. Inside, he located his…