After several tense minutes, they were still sitting there in tense silence. The girl still sat beside the unconscious leader — carefully dabbing his forehead, checking his breathing every few seconds — while her twin sat stiffly at the foot of the bed, legs bouncing anxiously, desperately waiting for the others to find a solution.
Every tick of the clock made the situation feel heavier, the room smaller
The room felt smaller with every passing second, the air heavy with worry, fear, and helplessness.
“Chanie… he's cold! A-And I think his breathing slowed.... What should we do?” Soul whispered, her voice thin with fear.
Her voice cracked, frustration and fear mixing painfully. She hated sitting still — hated feeling useless.
Sungchan looked at his leader, watching his chest rising barely in irregular rhythm.
“I... I don't know. But I have to do something!”
“Oppa said we both should stay here until they found a solution...”
“Damn it, and when?!” she flinched lightly at his unexpected outburst “Look at him! Does he looks fine to you?!”
The girl looked down at the leader. Something in her chest twisted at the paleness of the leader’s skin.
“He looks so pale, what if it’s poisonous?” he said. “Doyoung hyung or Kun hyung need to check him as fast as possible, we have to do something!”
“Chanie... d-don't... let's wait! I… I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you too…”
He looked up at her—torn between wanting to reassure her and knowing he had no reassurance to give—when suddenly the phone rang sharply.
He grabbed it instantly and put it on speaker without hesitation— the sound of his hyungs’ frantic voices grounding him for a split second.
“Hyung?”
“How's Taeyong hyung?”
“He's still unconscious... and he sweats a lot.... Did you find a solution?” Sungchan asked, sitting up straighter, bracing himself for whatever answer would follow.
“Listen, you two. We have no way out without the override code,” Jaehyun explained. “We talked through every option but there's no other way. Someone in that section needs to disable the protocol from the hallway control panel. Until that’s done, no other section will unlock. Ours won’t open for several more minutes even afterward.”
The girl blinked rapidly, trying to keep up.
“W-What...”
“The section where the alarm originated—the main house—is under manual override ” Jaehyun explained. “that means someone on your side will have to enter it manually. The system won’t open for us from here.”
Her heart dropped.
“So… no one can come here?”
“Yeah.”
There was a soft exhale on Jaehyun’s side—as if he hated admitting it.
“Yaya, listen carefully. The gas is still spreading through the hallway and living room. I don’t want you stepping even a foot outside that room. You're not trained, you don't know the way, you don't know the system. It’s too dangerous. Stay where you are. Promise me.”
“I… I understand, oppa,” she whispered, her throat tight.
“Good girl. Okay,” Jaehyun continued, shifting back into command mode, “Sungchan, are you listening?”
