» Friable «

𝙭𝙭𝙞𝙫.

The remaining five continued to trek forward into the dense whiteness, oblivious to the fact that they were missing a person. The only thing on their minds was finding the Door of Erised.

After twenty more minutes of suffocating silence, Soobin, who was on the lead, felt his heart soar in happiness at seeing the enormous white door just a few feet away from him.

A single step closer to salvation.

He could feel himself begin to relax and his shoulders loosen. His eyes began to water, but he refused to cry in front of everyone else. They all needed him strong right now.

"GUYS! It's the Door of Erised!"

His scream of joy rang through the silence like thunder. He was so happy that this had worked out for them. This had been the most challenging part of their journey.

"We found it," Beomgyu spoke in relief, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as he looked ahead.

The others were also cheering and running towards the door with glee. They were almost there... they could see their destination. As they near the door, it seemed like the cold and obscure atmosphere around them dissolved.

The surrounding became brighter and warmer, it was almost like someone flipped the switch on the weather. Their spirits rose higher upon hearing each other's cries.

"I can't believe we get out of that valley unscathed!!!" Kai beamed, jumping all over the place to express his excitement.

"It seems like our luck hasn't run out just yet..." Taehyun commented, amused at their sheer luck.

"Which you shouldn't have mentioned because you might've jinxed it," Yeonjun spoke drily, smiling as he did so. He had been experiencing abrupt, painful attacks, which he successfully hid.

It was most likely from the poison, warning him that it was approaching its destination. He tried hard not to let it show on his face, but it was hard. He knew his friends would become worried and ask him if something was wrong. Once they knew he was hurting, they'll become worried even more. That wasn't how he wanted them to deal with things.

The pain also influences his emotions, like what was happening right now. But his friend never got annoyed with his spontaneous mood swings. He thought that maybe they knew what he was feeling, so they were being considerate and forgiving to him.

Even Dawn, the self-proclaimed girl from another world, has been patient with him...

Speaking of Dawn, where is she? He turned around to look behind him and couldn't find her anywhere. Where did she go? Why isn't she here? He panicked and started looking frantically through every little nook and cranny around them.

"Hey, guys?" he called out nervously, trying desperately not to panic. "Dawn... where's Dawn?" Everyone stopped moving at his call and looked around. No answer. Just an unsettling silence.