The tunnel beyond the door was colder than they expected. The air felt wrong somehow..heavier. The floor sloped gently down, and the walls, though solid, seemed to hum faintly with something beneath the surface, like a low, constant murmur.
Yona and Lena moved carefully, their hands still clasped, footsteps echoing.
Ahead, Ayumi and Mia were faint outlines in the dimness. Mia's flashlight beam swayed left and right, cutting through the dark in rhythmic sweeps.
Then—
A sound.Sharp.Metallic.
A crack like steel giving way.
Mia froze. "Did you hear..."
Before she could finish, a portion of the ceiling gave way with a shuddering groan. Stone and steel screamed as a support collapsed to the left side of the tunnel. The floor jolted. A section of the wall splintered..sending debris flying.
"Get down!" Ayumi yelled, grabbing Mia's arm.
But the floor beneath them buckled violently. A narrow fissure cracked open near Mia's feet.
Mia slipped, screaming as she stumbled toward the edge.
Yona's instincts kicked in before thought could form. His hand ripped free from Lena's without hesitation.
"MIAAAAAA!!"
He ran .
Lena's fingers snatched at air.
"Yona?!"
She lurched forward to follow, but her foot caught the edge of the forming chasm. It crumbled beneath her with a sharp snap.
Her eyes went wide.Her mouth opened, but no words came.
Her chest rose and fell.
"Yona..!"
Then...She fell .
Yona barely noticed. All he saw was Mia falling, her fingers scrabbling for grip on the edge of the sinkhole widening beneath her.
"I've got you!" he roared, diving low.
He caught her wrist just in time. Her body dangled halfway into the dark, one foot barely touching a broken ledge. Her eyes were wide with shock. Breathless.
Yona on his knees, clutching Mia's arm like nothing else existed.
Mia gasped as Yona hauled her up, pulling her body away from the drop, his arms tight around her.
Behind them, no sound. No warning.
Just the echo of rock sliding deeper into the crack.
Then Yona turned, breath still ragged. "Lena..let's go!"
He looked back.
His voice caught.
She wasn't there.
The spot she'd stood was empty..only a scattering of dust, and small rocks still rolling down into the dark.
"...Lena?"
Nothing.
"No—no, no…" Yona moved toward the edge, hands searching through the thick dust. "LENA!"
Mia stepped closer, her voice sharp with worry. "What happened?!
"She..she was right here...I..."
His voice broke.
He scrambled to the edge of the fissure, peering down into the dark.
"LENA!" he screamed, voice raw. "Answer me! Please!"
No reply.
Only silence.
And the deep, breathless dark.
Mia placed a hand on his shoulder. "We have to keep moving. The floor's still unstable..we can't stay here."
Yona didn't answer. His eyes were wide, fingers trembling.
He whispered her name again. "Lena…"
And behind them, hidden in the shadows..he watched.
The figure leaned slightly forward, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. In his gloved hand, he held a small , black key.
"Now," he said softly, "let's see how far loyalty really goes."
The light above flickered.
And the path ahead turned darker still.
---------------------
The tunnel stretched on.
Endless. Winding. Deeper.
Their footsteps were the only sound now, echoing off the stone walls like ghostly reminders of what had just happened.
Yona walked ahead of Mia, his shoulders tight, head low. He hadn't spoken a word since they left the broken fissure behind.
Mia kept glancing back, uncertain whether to say something, or stay silent . Her hand still clutching the spot where Yona had grabbed her, the warmth of his grip lingering like a phantom reminder.
Behind them, Ayumi followed at a measured pace, her eyes fixed not on the path, but on Yona.
Her thoughts churned, unspoken, silent against the quiet hum of the passage.
The way you screamed... the way you ran to her without thinking...
You let go of Lena.
Her fists clenched lightly by her sides.
"Do you still love Mia?"
The question struck her like an echo inside her chest.
If you do… then why were you so gentle with Lena?
Why did you look at her like she was your world?
She slowed her pace slightly, letting distance settle ⁴ her and the others.
She muttered aloud, quiet, more to herself than to anyone listening.
"The way you acted, Yona… it was clear."
She bit her lip.
"Lena saw it too, didn't she? That's why she didn't scream. That's why she didn't call louder. She knew your heart was still with Mia."
A part of her wanted to believe Lena had survived.
But her brows furrowed suddenly. A new thought emerged..sharp and strange.
"Where did she really go?" she wondered, her breath catching. " Not a sound. No scream. No crash. She just… disappeared."
Her voice came out in a whisper, tinged with unease.
"She vanished… like a ghost."
The tunnel seemed colder after that.
Up ahead, Yona slowed, his voice gravel-thin.
"There's a fork."
Two tunnels.
One curved downward, swallowed by shadow. The other tilted up slightly, lit by faint blue glimmers that pulsed like breathing light.
Mia hesitated. "Which way do we…?"
Yona didn't answer. He looked down at his hand..the one that had held Lena's just moments before.
His knuckles were still dust-stained.
"I don't know," he said finally. "We just… keep moving."
Ayumi stepped closer, her voice quieter now. "She might still be alive."
Yona didn't look at her.
"I have to believe she is," he said.
His voice wasn't angry. It was hollow.
Then, without another word, he took the upward path.
Mia followed. Ayumi lingered for one more second..eyes drifting to the darkened tunnel that dipped low, the one they weren't taking.
Her voice barely carried.
"Where are you, Lena…?"
She turned and walked away.
But far beneath them, somewhere in the silence below, something stirred.
And someone watched.
The voice returned. Low. Amused.
"Now we see what comes apart… when the truth is only half-told."
They walked in silence. The tunnel's breathless chill wrapped around them like fog, whispering against their skin.
Ayumi trailed just a few steps behind, her eyes flickering back down the path they'd come.
Her feet slowed.
We should go back…
The thought gripped her chest, a knot of unease coiling tight in her gut. Her mouth parted.she wanted to say it. "Guys… let's turn back."
But no sound came out.
Instead, she swallowed it. Buried it.
And kept walking.
Mia's eyes flicked toward Ayumi for the briefest second watching her without turning her head. But she said nothing either.
She hadn't said much at all since Lena vanished.
Then, something shifted in the dark ahead. The space changed.
They all stopped.
A massive shape rose before them, quiet and still like it had always been there, waiting in the shadows.
A door.
Not just any door.
It stood nearly three stories tall, wide and solid, forged from some black metallic stone that shimmered faintly in the dark. Its surface was smooth but unnatural..no carvings, no handle. Just a single circular indentation in the center, about the size of a human hand.
Ayumi's eyes widened slightly.
Mia stared at it, expression unreadable.
Without a word, Ayumi stepped forward.
Her hand reached out slowly, fingers trembling slightly as they neared the dark metal.
"Be careful," Mia said softly, her voice the first sound in minutes.
Ayumi didn't answer at first. She placed her palm against the cold surface.
Nothing happened.
She let her hand drop.
"This door is locked…" she murmured, brows furrowing.
Then something flickered across her face. A memory.
Her voice grew firmer. "This door is locked. We can't pass."
She turned around slowly. Eyes distant.
"We need the key."
Mia froze.
Ayumi's gaze landed on her again..sharp now, assessing.
Mia felt it. She looked away.
Ayumi took a slow step closer, her tone calm but probing. "Do you know where the key is?"
Mia's mouth opened slightly, but no words came.
She shook her head once. "No."
But it was too slow. Too measured.
Ayumi narrowed her eyes. She didn't believe her.
She tilted her head slightly, voice lower. "Mia… are you sure?"
Mia didn't look at her this time.
he just stared at the floor.
And for the first time… Ayumi was certain.
Mia knows something.
Suddenly, Yona snapped from his daze at the sound of Ayumi's voice low, uncertain, yet edged with tension.
"Let's just go back," she said, not meeting their eyes. "We can't go any further unless we have the key to this door…"
Her words hung in the cold air, a pause following like a held breath. For a second, no one moved.
Yona glanced at the tall, black metallic door before them. Its surface looked ancient, untouched by time, yet foreboding—like it wasn't meant to be opened.
<
He turned slightly toward Ayumi. "Go back…? To where?"
Ayumi hesitated. Her jaw tightened. "I don't know," she admitted, voice quiet. "But this place—it's wrong. Everything about it feels like we're walking into something we're not supposed to see."
Her hand drifted near the wall beside the door, fingers brushing along strange grooves in the metal.
Mia stood silently nearby, her eyes flicking toward Ayumi with something unreadable behind them.
Yona studied her. "Do you know something?" he asked.
Mia looked down, shaking her head just once. "No."
But Ayumi didn't buy it. Her gaze narrowed, sharp. "You hesitated."
Mia didn't respond.
The silence grew thicker, pressing in on them from all sides.
Behind them, the tunnel stretched back into shadow. Before them, the door waited—locked. Cold. Unmoving.
And beneath it all, the question lingered in Yona's heart:
"Where did Lena go?..Maybe if I hadn't let go of her hand… she'd still be here. This is on me."
To be continue .....