Thud!
A loud crash echoed through the restaurant, startling everyone inside. People turned their heads in shock; some even rushed out to check what had happened.
"What was that? You guys heard it too, right?" Jio asked, scanning the others.
"It was really loud," Setta replied.
"Let's go see what's going on," Niki suggested.
"No, dude, stay here. It's safer," Arkha warned.
They decided to stay put. A few minutes later, a group of new customers entered, chatting about what had just happened outside.
From their conversation, it became clear — the noise they had heard was from an elevator crash caused by a system error.
Silence fell over the table.
Joan glanced at Arkha, whose face was pale with shock. He looked frozen, remembering that he had just been in the elevator earlier — the same one that had stalled.
"Khan… thank God you made it out," Joan said with relief.
"The malfunction earlier— it was a warning sign, wasn't it?" Arkha muttered, shivering.
"Uh… maybe," Jio replied uneasily.
Niki glanced around nervously. "Guys… Hesa and Satya didn't take the elevator too, right?"
Everyone's faces turned white. Without another word, they grabbed their phones and began typing frantically.
~~~~~
Satya stood in front of the elevator, eyes glued to his phone while waiting for the doors to open. He caught a glimpse of people walking past and instinctively took a step forward—only to be pulled back by someone behind him.
Ding!
Before Satya could even look up, the elevator doors had already closed.
"You're always on your phone, huh? Didn't you notice it was full?"
Satya turned to see Hesa, his senior, giving him a flat look while still holding his hand.
"Huh—" Satya said quietly, his pale face expressionless, silently signaling for Hesa to let go.
"Oh—sorry," Hesa grinned awkwardly, releasing his grip.
"You just got here too?" Satya asked.
"Not really, I came with Joan earlier," Hesa answered.
"Oh."
"So… are we just standing here doing nothing?" Hesa asked.
"We're waiting for the elevator. The restaurant's on the fourth floor," Satya replied.
"Let's just take the escalator," Hesa suggested.
"Too lazy," Satya muttered.
"You're always lazy. Come on," Hesa said, grabbing Satya's wrist and pulling him along.
They started climbing the escalators one by one. But as they reached the third floor, about to step onto the next escalator, a loud crash suddenly broke the air.
"What was that sound?"
Satya froze, turning toward the noise. He was about to approach a security guard to ask, but Hesa caught his arm.
"Where are you going?" Hesa asked.
"Didn't you hear that?" Satya frowned. He noticed the other visitors looking around too, just as confused.
"Y-yeah… maybe it's an accident outside," Hesa said hesitantly.
"The sound came from inside the building, not outside."
Satya started moving toward the direction of the noise again, but Hesa stopped him. "Don't. Let security handle it."
Satya hesitated for a moment, locking eyes with his senior. "Just a quick look—"
"Come on, the others are waiting upstairs," Hesa insisted, tugging Satya back toward the escalator.
"Let's just hope no one goes snooping around."
Moments later, they arrived at the restaurant. The group's expressions of relief said it all.
"Thank God you two made it," Jio said.
"You guys heard that loud noise, right?" Satya asked.
"Yeah. It was the elevator crash. Some people got injured— and there were a few casualties," Setta explained.
"We were scared you two might've been inside, so we texted you like crazy," Niki added.
Hesa and Satya quickly pulled out their phones — dozens of unread messages filled the screen.
"I was gonna take that elevator, but it was full. I thought I'd wait for the next one, but then I ran into Hesa and he told me to take the escalator instead," Satya said.
Joan frowned at Hesa. "Wait, I thought you went to the bathroom?"
"I—uh, actually remembered something I needed to buy on the first floor," Hesa said, trying to sound casual.
Joan nodded, accepting the explanation.
"Oh, by the way, I ordered your food too." Joan slid a plate toward Hesa.
"Thanks, Jo."
As the night went on, conversation and food dwindled until both were gone. They decided to head home—until Setta suggested watching a movie first.
They walked together down the corridor. On their right, stores lined the path; on their left, glass panels reflected their figures.
Arkha glanced to the side—then froze. His reflection, and everyone else's, was there. Everyone except Hesa.
No shadow. No reflection. Nothing.
A chill ran down his spine.
Setta noticed Arkha's frightened expression. "Khan, are you okay?"
"D-do you… see anything weird in the glass?" Arkha asked shakily.
Setta frowned and followed his gaze. "No. Why? What's wrong?"
Arkha looked away quickly. "N-no, nothing. Must've been my imagination."
A few minutes later, they reached the cinema. After buying tickets, they waited in the lounge for their movie to start.
Hesa and Arkha sat together while the others went to buy popcorn and drinks.
After a few silent minutes, Arkha spoke up.
"You… that elevator you and Satya almost took— that's the one that fell, right?"
"Y-yeah," Hesa nodded. "Good thing we didn't get on."
"I was in that elevator before it fell," Arkha admitted. "From the start, I felt… something strange. Like a bad presence, or—"
He stopped mid-sentence, uncertain if he should mention what he saw earlier — that Hesa had no reflection.
"Khan? What's wrong?" Hesa waved his hand in front of Arkha's face.
"N-nothing," Arkha said quickly, forcing a smile.
Hesa looked puzzled, but let it go. "So you really felt something weird back there?"
"Y-yeah," Arkha nodded again.
Their conversation ended as the others returned with snacks. Soon after, they entered the theater as the movie was about to start.
Since the seats were split by rows, Jio, Joan, Satya, and Setta sat in front (Section A), while Hesa, Arkha, and Niki sat behind them (Section B).
The movie was an action flick, full of explosions and suspense — yet Arkha couldn't shake the tension he felt. He tried to convince himself it was just the movie.
But then he glanced forward—toward Setta, who sat at the edge of the row.
Even in the dim light, Arkha could see someone sitting beside Setta. The figure turned slightly, revealing a face identical to Setta's.
"N-no way. That's impossible— Setta doesn't have a twin…"
Arkha squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The seat was back to normal. Only Setta and Joan were there.
"His hair's brown, not purple. Damn… I'm hallucinating."
Hesa, who had been watching Arkha from the corner of his eye, noticed his odd behavior again.
Could it be, he wondered, that Arkha wasn't just imagining things?
The boy had sensed something strange before the elevator crashed…
Was it intuition—
or was it something else entirely?