TARGET

서른 여덟

The music being referenced in the next few chapters ^^^

___

Analogous to a cavern, the room the two infiltrated reverberated even the slightest of accentuation.

Joshua found increasing difficulty in differentiating the palpitations of his chest and the tap of his combat boots; the whistle of air leaving his pursed lips and the hiss of the ventilator overhead.

The auditory intake merged itself into a symphony of suspenseful white noise, despite its ambient nature- and it could be attributed to the psychological warfare concocting within Joshua's mind.

The wooden doll weighed heavy in his satchel, a consistent reminder throughout his discourse of his rash deduction.

And oddly, he felt to urge to keep the marionette with him.

Joshua traced the nooks and crannies of the abode with his flashlight, searching for indication of exit, or entrance rather.

His in-ear line hissed, startling Joshua because of the prolonged lack of communication,

"Josh, what the hell was that?"

Sighing, Joshua rummaged through a ajar box upon a creaky table positioned in the center fixation of the room,

"I wish I could tell you, woo, but I really dunno,"

He heard Wonwoo release a shaky sigh, "Well we'll talk about that later, but you should be near the chip,"

"I know, Nana said its nearby but I'm not sure-"

Out his peripheral vision, he watched as Jaemin frantically motioned for Joshua to silence himself,

Chorused with the hiss of the white noise of the line, Joshua heard the faint patter of footsteps approaching where he resided.

Joshua lowered his tone to hushed whisper, "Woo how is it looking-"

Silence.

"Run. Grab the chip and run-"

"about fifty of them. their coming."

fi-fifty?

It was as if Joshua's bowels liquefied,

"Woo, I don't know where it is yet, how long to I have,"

"Ill give you 3 minutes tops, try the next room and get the fuck out of there" Wonwoo's voice wavered and his line cut off.

Joshua shoved a steel file compartment aside with his shoulder, I should've had more time before their second wave came in, the music boxes should've started before-

He was interrupted mid thought with the dainty airy chords reverberate throughout the corridors.

___

Present

The mellow chords chorused, supplemented with slightly distorted resonance attributed to the auditory obstructions of the pillars of ice.