The bunker was a labyrinth of narrow corridors, saturated with the smell of earth, metal, and dampness. Seo-hyeon led Min-jun through the underground gardens, where the plants looked as exhausted as the bunker's inhabitants. In the kitchen, the smell of gray dough mixed with the palpable tension. Min-jun caught every sound: creaks, footsteps, and faint groans from behind the walls.
"This is where I'm looking for answers," Seo-hyeon said, opening the lab door. "For the virus."
Min-jun lowered his rifle, watching him.
"You're a scientist… My Seo-hyeon was the same. He… died. Because of the portal."
Seo-hyeon froze; the Stella crystal flickered.Stella crystal flickered.
"Here, there was an experiment, too. An accident. The person I knew… he died in the lab."
Their eyes met. Pain, fear, loss—a mirror reflection.
"His name was Min-jun," Seo-hyeon whispered.
Then, the sound of footsteps shattered the moment. Yoon burst in, her eyes full of suspicion.
"Seo-hyeon, we can't keep a stranger here! What will he do for us?"
"He'll survive," Seo-hyeon said firmly. "Like us."
Min-jun nodded, feeling how their shared pain and connection through the Echo and the Stella were building a fragile bridge of trust. Stella were building a fragile bridge of trust.
But at that moment, the sensors in the lab blared with an alarm, and the Stella on Seo-hyeon's ring flared even brighter. Stella on Seo-hyeon's ring flared even brighter.