Tang-Ji felt her stomach churning and her head reeling, she was plummeting into bottomless darkness. Bumping against an oddly shaped object, she struggled to right herself.
"Ugh, my head," she whispered, attempting to reach for her sore head but finding herself immobilised.
'Where am I? Why can't I move?'
The place she was at felt unnaturally still and cramped; it was like her whole body was submerged underwater. Everything was heavy, suffocating, and strangely rough. She slowly wiggled her legs around to find an open space.
"Ouch!" she winced as she skinned her finger.
The exposed wound burst into little crystal shards, glowing a bright red in the dark. With gradual effort, she continued to move, like attempting to dig through concrete. She could feel the tightness on her upper body slowly loosening while the uneven floor pressed against her feet.
Suddenly, she felt something tightly grab her hand and pull her upwards, out of the distorted ordeal. Now well out of the rock pile, Tang-Ji felt a growing sense of nausea, her stomach was tying itself into knots.
A familiar face looked down on her. "You alright?" Ji-Soon asked, stretching out his hand from above the pile of junk. He was filthy, and there were black spots on him, making him almost unrecognisable to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She murmured, holding her hand over her mouth, trying not to puke from the sudden movement.
"Stay close to me, alright? I'm going to get an earful from Kaz if something were to happen to you."
"Kaz? Do you mean Kazami?"
Ji-Soon brushed off black dots from his red hair before taking in the rocky surroundings.
"Well, the guy always goes on and on about you to me." He grinned, shifting on his feet. "I mean, it's no surprise he comes to me with this stuff. We're like brothers."
He chuckled lightly, eyes flicking up.
"Although, it's kind of a hassle hearing the same thing over and over. This is the first time he's talked about someone this much. I've known him since we were kids, and Kaz's not the type to casually mention crushes."
A mischievous grin spread across his face. "Makes me wonder... maybe he's into something else. Hehe!"
'What could Kazami be saying about me.' She wondered.
"He would get so pissed off whenever I told him that. If he heard this, he'd probably beat me up." Reminding himself of the punishment he'd receive if this conversation ever got out, he turned awkwardly away from Tang-Ji.
She could sense the change in his tone.
'Did I really do that much? It must have been me—the me in the past—that he is referring to,' she thought. 'So Kazami was talking about me a lot…' She suddenly felt her face getting slightly hotter.
Shaking her head violently, she began to gather her thoughts again.
Dust trickled down from the craggy ceiling, settling on their shoulders as the air felt heavier, thick with the scent of earth and rock.
Ji-Soon shrugged, his voice quieter now. "However, ever since he met you, it's like the way he views people has changed." He paused, looking off into the distance.
"I mean, he had a pretty rough childhood, so I can understand why he acts the way he does."
His gaze flickered to Tang-Ji, a softness in his eyes. "I don't know what your relationship is with him, but I still want to thank you for bringing out the old Kaz, even if it was momentarily."
Her hand moved in a soft gesture, shaking her head. "No, no, I... I don't deserve thanks." Her voice wavered as she spoke, the words catching in her throat. "There's so much more I wish I could do. I just—" she trailed off, her words swallowed by the heavy air.
Ji-Soon gave a small smile, his eyes gentle as he glanced at her one last time.
"You know, it seems to me that you've got all you want already."
"I wouldn't be thanking people who don't deserve it; I know you have the power to change lives." And without elaborating further, he turned away from her before sliding down the pile of rocks, leaving Tang-Ji lost in her thoughts.
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A tremor of loose rock underfoot sent fine dust drifting through the torchlit gloom. Tang-Ji's boot pressed into slick mud halfway to her ankle, while the shorter figure in the black hoodie leant forward, chest heaving.
The red-haired boy braced himself against a ragged outcrop, eyes darting towards the man in a trench coat, whose braided hair caught the flicker of light as he surveyed their uneasy circle.
Each inhalation dragged grit into their lungs; every heartbeat was a drumroll in the enclosed darkness. Tempers, as frayed as the lichen-scarred walls around them, crackled in the silence.
"Yo, asshole…" The broad-shouldered blonde flicked clay from his shoulder, tapping the older gentleman next to him with a scowl.
"Couldn't you have waited a moment longer? Thanks to your timing, every monster in this hole knows we're here—and now we're stranded. Or maybe that was always the plan: use us up, then toss us aside."
The echoes of his accusations bounced off the cave walls, drawing attention from the shadows.
Kompto's patience finally snapped. "Could you please shut the fuck up?"
The blonde's lip curled as he stepped in front of Kompto, tilting his chin upward and looming over him with a hard stare that dared the older man to flinch. "Oh, yeah? And why would I do that?" he shot back, voice sharp as flint.
He met the Decker's glare without a flicker in his own. "You're the one who's been itching to get rid of me since the beginning. The one that started with 'I don't trust any of you.' Now you want to lift accusations? Fine—sorry I can't change my skin to suit your tastes. My bad."
"But if this was a trap set by a traitor, then you would be most likely to be behind it. So, if you have nothing else better than poor speculation, I'd suggest you stop screaming and use your brain for once."
A smaller figure shuffled forward—Junyo's hood down, shoulders tense. He held up both hands in a pale plea. "Wait—no one wants to get rid of anyone," he gasped, voice trembling over the cavern's dripping hush.
He glanced at each pair of eyes in turn. "We… we only wanted an alliance. Fewer people, closer trust—better odds against whatever comes next."
However, despite his effort, he already knew without looking back that his 'dumbass' partner would disagree.
"Please believe us when I say we mean no harm."
Junyo's voice tried to stay gentle, tried to make itself small enough not to frighten anyone, but Decker's hand was already on him.
"Alright. Time to shut up."
The words came out as a groan, rough and tired and angry all at once. Before Junyo could turn, Decker grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him down. His smaller body hit the ground with a hard breath, dust and sand jumping around him like the floor itself had flinched.
For a second, nobody moved.
Only the dark moved.
It sat between them in thick layers, swallowing the edges of faces, the outlines of hands, the shape of the passage ahead. Kompto could feel everyone staring, or trying to stare, eyes wide and useless, searching for meaning in the black.
Decker stepped over Junyo and kept walking towards Kompto.
Heavy steps. Too loud. Too careless.
Kompto's fingers tightened near his wristwatch.
Then the ground trembled.
"Huh!"
The gasp broke out of everyone at once.
Tang-Ji reached for the wall, her eyes still fighting against the darkness. "What was that?"
No one answered straight away.
Because the sound did not feel like a sound. It felt like a warning. Like the whole place had heard them arguing and had decided to breathe back.
Kompto flicked the switch on his wristwatch. A thin beam of light barely cut through the dark, shaking slightly over broken stone and narrow walls.
"Let's try not to make too much noise," he said.
"Pfft. Whatever." Decker turned away before the light could settle on him. "I don't care anymore."
He walked in the opposite direction, shoulders stiff, jaw clenched, every step saying he would rather be swallowed by whatever waited down here than stand one second longer with any of them.
"I'm finding my own way out," he snapped. "If all of you still think this monkey is trustworthy, then go ahead and stay with him. I ain't gonna waste my breath."
Junyo pushed himself up from the ground, coughing once, then sprinted after Decker. "Where are you going, jackass?"
"Tsk! Racist bastard." Ji-Soon clicked his tongue, but his hand had already curled into a fist. "Maybe I should drill it into his thick skull by giving him another beating."
For a moment, it looked like he might actually do it.
Then the ground gave another faint tremble.
Ji-Soon exhaled through his nose and shrugged. "Welp. Looks like we have to follow the idiot then."
He glanced down the passage where Decker and Junyo were disappearing into the dark.
"Maybe we'll run into the other three."