In the small forest within the institute, an eerie atmosphere lingered.
Ahead stood a broken door, and through it, rainwater poured endlessly into a hidden underground chamber. From a gaping hole above, water kept falling, the sound echoing like a haunting chant in the silence.
Kai and Teanguan peered inside, and at once a foul, rotten stench hit them.
"Kai," Teanguan murmured, "we should cover our mouths… who knows what chemicals are in the air."
Kai nodded firmly. "Yes. Let's go."
Without wasting a moment, the two of them covered their faces and stepped inside, one after the other, their shadows swallowed by the darkness.
But above, in the room where Lamai sat, another storm was raging.
Her body froze as if turned to stone...years of trust shattered in a single instant, like glass crashing to the ground, breaking into a thousand irretrievable pieces.
Wee too struggled to believe the truth on the screen.
The man she had once regarded as a fatherly figure now stood exposed as nothing but a criminal. It was unthinkable, unbearable.
The news anchor's voice droned on, "Interrogation has just begun. The truth is yet to be confirmed."
But reality itself was merciless...when trust in someone you revere like a god, someone whose image was as pure as clear water, crumbles to reveal a vile truth… that pain is like death itself.
It burns sharper than abandonment, heavier than betrayal.
It is the pain of feeling your heart torn from your chest while still alive.
That was the agony Lamai felt in this moment.
And beside her, Wee tried desperately to hush her cries, holding her trembling body close.
But Lamai's screams ripped through the room as if she had not just lost her father's trust, but witnessed his death.
The entire room was drowned in emotions.
Her sorrowful wails tore through every corner, mingling with the endless drone of the TV.
Outside, the rain raged.
Inside, a storm no less fierce consumed them both.
Lamai had lost all control.
Wee, powerless, could do nothing.....like a man bound hand and foot, forced to watch helplessly while everything collapsed.
And yet, deep inside Wee's heart, another storm churned...one she could not ignore.
Every time her mind returned to that night, to the memory of being so close to a girl both unknown and yet strangely familiar, her heartbeat quickened beyond reason.
On one side was Lamai.....broken, defenseless, sinking into despair.
On the other was that voice inside her, crying louder and louder, pulling her toward something… or someone.
She could still see it clearly in her mind:
that place where colorful clothes swayed as they dried in the breeze, where she sat beneath the trees' shade, Yim by her side, their words soft against the cool wind and the beauty of the scenery.
Even now, Wee could hear Yim's voice.
But strangely, that voice had begun to sound like her...the voice of that mysterious girl she had yet to truly know… and yet longed with all her heart to find.