❛ I had a feeling so peculiar, this pain
wouldn't be for 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. ❜
⎯⎯ ⠀ㅤִㅤ ୨⠀♡⠀୧ ㅤִ⠀⠀ ⎯⎯
𝓗wang eunji, who also goes by iana, felt her world stop. it stopped the day she le...
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↳ chapter eleven ₊˚.༄ [# foreigner alert!]
IANA ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS CREEPY TO WATCH PEOPLE IN THEIR SLEEP. It was an invasion of privacy, someone's vulnerable state being laid bare for them to see. But she was a hypocrite for admiring her best friend's sleeping figure. Piper had a (cute) habit of breathing in from her nose and exhaling from her mouth. She just looked so... peaceful.
Iana had woken up an estimate of ten minutes before Piper stirred in her sleep and fluttered her eyes open. She was almost tempted to kiss her.
When they had finally broke camp and started down the tunnel, Iana felt the shadows' presence beside her. She didn't pay it any mind, used to its sudden come and goes. The tunnel twisted and turned for meters, never really leading them to an ending. She didn't know if they'd come face to face with a flesh eating monster by the end of it, or perhaps her and her friends would end up in the middle of a forest.
Instead, they found polished steel elevator doors, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Next to the elevator was a directory, like for a department store.
"M for Macy's?" Piper guessed. "I think they have one in downtown Chicago."
"Or Monocle Motors still?" Leo said.
"Ugh, I hope not." Iana muttered. "Look, the directory is so messed up."
Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level Furnishings and Café M: 1 Women's Fashion and Magical Appliances: 2 Men's Wear and Weaponry: 3 Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: 4
"Kennels for what?" Piper wondered. "And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?"
"Or sells poisons," Leo pointed out. "Man, what does 'sundries' even mean? Is that like underwear?"
Jason took a deep breath. "When in doubt, start at the top."
A curious custom to follow, Iana wondered but didn't protest.
The doors slid open on the fourth floor, and the scent of perfume wafted into the elevator. Jason stepped out first, sword ready.
"Guys," he said. "You've got to see this."
Piper joined him and caught her breath. "This is not Macy's."
The department store looked like the inside of a kaleidoscope. The daylight covered everything in colors, streaming through the stained glass ceiling with mosaics of astrological signs around a giant sun. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around a huge central atrium, so they could see all the way down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered so brightly, they were hard to look at.
