𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐄 | нwang ᴊunнo

8

☐△◯

THERE WERE two of us, and the rest of the unit followed the designated route. No one noticed that we had strayed from the path. The silence between us spoke louder than any words could. Junho, always the more composed one, looked at me for a moment. Before I could say anything, he simply nodded. That was the moment when nothing needed to be said. We decided to go.

A moment later, we found ourselves in one of the side corridors, which went deeper and deeper. I could feel it—that unspoken feeling that we were entering some place that had no right to exist in this reality. The corridors were still cold, but there was something unsettling about them, as if the doors led to something we didn't understand. Time became more fluid, as if we were following in the footsteps of someone who had been here before but never returned.

"This... this can't end well," Junho said, although I knew he didn't quite believe those words himself. In his eyes I saw more curiosity, as if all this would give him the answers he had been searching for his whole life.

It was clear that no one had the right to be here. When we finally reached the underground halls, something changed in the air. The dull hum, as if from deep within the earth, was now more palpable, and the light from our flashlights did not seem to penetrate this strange darkness.

No one noticed that we had strayed from the main road. The rest of the group followed the marked route, as always. But we... felt something we couldn't ignore. Maybe it was intuition, or maybe just an irresistible need to check what was hidden behind closed doors, behind corridors that no one entered.

Before I knew it, we were heading towards a side passage. I felt something circulating in the air that I didn't understand, but that pushed me forward. Junho walked next to me, silent, as composed as always, but in his eyes I saw the same fascination that had accompanied me since the moment we felt that something was... wrong here.

"Let's turn here," I said quietly, pointing to a narrow corridor that stretched into the darkness.

Junho looked at me, not asking, not resisting. He nodded, and together we entered the depths of the underground. The further we walked, the further we moved away from everything familiar. The corridor became increasingly claustrophobic, and the silence — heavy, almost tangible. Despite the fact that the entire area was like an abandoned zone, I felt that we were not alone here. Someone was watching us.

Finally, we reached a large, open space. Flashlights flickered from the metal walls, and the echo of our footsteps could not be drowned out. When we stood at the edge of the room, I saw him — there he was, in the shadows, as if emerging from the darkness. A figure we had not expected to meet.

He was tall, dressed in a dark, practical jumpsuit, but the most important detail was the one that distinguished him from everything we had seen so far. A mask in the shape of a sharp triangle rested on his face. The smooth, metallic surface reflected our movements in a way that made his entire presence seem somehow... unreal. Unnatural. His whole appearance sent shivers down my spine—it wasn't a mask you could just put on. It was something that changed his identity. The mask was a part of him, a part of this character that couldn't be understood.

I stared at it, feeling my heart beating faster. Junho didn't move for a moment, he looked at him calmly, but I knew he knew who this man really was. And me? I was terrified, but at the same time I couldn't look away.

The triangle took a step closer. His stance was confident, and yet everything that was happening felt like some kind of ritual, like we were standing on the threshold of something we had to accept, something that had to happen. He took out a scanner and scanned our masks.