The sound of rain slowly faded, leaving only small droplets falling from the roof and leaves.
"Let's go home," Dion said while stretching his body.
"Yeah, it's probably just drizzling now," Yoan replied, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
They all rose from where they were sitting. Gantha glanced at Kala, who looked pale, his body trembling as if he was still trapped in the lingering shadows that had haunted him earlier.
"Can you still walk?" Gantha asked.
Kala only nodded weakly before forcing himself to stand.
"D-do you guys… know the way back?" he whispered, his eyes scanning his friends' faces with uncertainty.
Gantha pulled something from his pocket. "I kinda stole your watch, by the way," he said casually, showing him the compass watch.
Kala glanced at it briefly. No words came out—only a soft, faint sigh.
They began walking away from that unsettling building, following the direction of the compass needle. The journey felt longer than usual, as though the forest refused to release them. But eventually, the street lights ahead greeted them. They were back on the main road—the starting point before everything turned into a nightmare.
They continued walking until they stopped in front of Kala's house.
"T-thank you…" Kala whispered, his voice nearly swallowed by the night.
"Kal, you're living alone right? Is it really okay if we leave you now?" Hasta asked, worried.
"I—I'm gonna sleep over at a friend's place," Kala replied quickly, as if trying to reassure them.
"Oh, good. Don't stay home alone," Dion said, giving him a brief pat on the shoulder.
Kala only nodded, watching his friends' backs as they slowly disappeared into the darkness. Warmth filled him, yet it was mixed with a painful tightness. He was still keeping everything to himself.
His phone showed 9 p.m.
"Kyungmin's usually asleep by now…" he muttered.
He hesitated for a moment. He had planned to stay over at Kyungmin's, but now he felt unsure. He didn't want to disturb him. Reluctantly, he stepped into his house, which felt unfamiliar after what had happened.
"Kala."
He turned sharply. His breath caught for a moment—but it was only Jihan. The girl approached with a confused expression, her eyes scanning him from head to toe.
"Hm… I wonder if the drug's still in effect…" Jihan murmured quietly to herself.
"Too late. I already passed out earlier," Kala replied flatly. "Luckily my friends showed up. If not, I could've overdosed on the sleeping drug."
"Oh… thank goodness, then." Jihan sighed and then glanced toward Kala's house, now lit up because Kaze had turned the lights on earlier.
"You're definitely not staying alone tonight," she said firmly.
"I was gonna go to Kyungmin's… but I don't think I will," Kala said.
"He's not asleep. I told him to stay awake. I knew you'd come home," Jihan replied.
Kala nodded softly. "Hm, good… I'll message him."
"No need, I already texted him. He'll probably come soon," Jihan said with a small smile.
Kala stared at her briefly. "Okay. Thanks, Han."
"Kal…" Jihan's voice softened. "Sorry I couldn't help you earlier."
Kala held his breath for a moment before lowering his gaze. "You weren't supposed to. I don't want you getting targeted too—like me."
Jihan stayed quiet, watching sadly as her friend slowly walked into the house.
~~~~~~
Riiiiing.
The alarm blared that morning, waking Kyungmin who was still sprawled on his folding mattress. Half-asleep, he reached for the clock on the nightstand.
"It's morning already," Kala mumbled, rubbing his eyes gently.
"Go back to sleep, Kal," Kyungmin muttered.
"I'm going to school, idiot," Kala replied casually.
"Huh? You're seriously going today? You're not gonna rest at home first?" Kyungmin looked at him incredulously.
"I was just missing, not sick. Why would I skip school?" Kala answered as if it was obvious.
Kyungmin scoffed. "Just missing? You disappeared because you got kidnapped by a demon, Kal."
Kala ignored him. "Don't care. I'm going." He tossed the blanket aside and walked to the bathroom.
Some time later, the two were ready and agreed to grab breakfast before leaving. When they entered the kitchen, they found Jihan already there, busy toasting bread.
"Perfect timing," Kyungmin said as he pulled out a chair.
The three sat around the dining table. The smell of slightly burnt bread mixed with butter filled the room.
"You're really set on going to school?" Jihan asked, glancing at Kala.
"Yeah. I owe my friends an explanation," Kala replied, then turned. "Oh, by the way… you guys know everything already, right?"
"Yeah, Jihan told me," Kyungmin answered.
Kala looked toward Jihan, who was watching him with uncertainty.
"Kal," she called softly.
"Yeah?"
"Hesa… he doesn't have a twin like you thought," Jihan said carefully. "But if you want to look into it more, I can get his number from a friend. 'Cause… one of my friends is his sasaeng."
Kala paused for a moment and shook his head. "No need, Han. It's probably not that. I have another theory. I'll look into it myself later."
"Oh… okay." Jihan replied quietly, though her worry was clear.
~~~~~~~
Before going to class, Kala—as usual—stopped at the vending machine for a drink. He grabbed a cold can, staring blankly at the machine as if deep in thought.
"Another perspective, huh… I guess there really are lots of angles I could've looked at before deciding anything," he murmured.
He glanced at his watch. "Still some time left… but it's a free period anyway. Might as well cool off here a bit."
As he took a sip, his gaze accidentally caught Melvin coming out of the restroom. The boy moved quickly, his face pale. Kala narrowed his eyes when he noticed Melvin hurriedly slipping something into his blazer pocket.
"Medicine? Is he sick? But… that bottle looks kinda suspicious," Kala thought.
Ding—!!!
A notification popped up. He checked his phone.
"Gather up. Perfect timing. Btw the cat still hasn't returned my watch."
Kala sighed and headed toward the basecamp room.
A few minutes later, he arrived. His friends were already there, their eyes instantly filled with concern.
"Feeling better, Kal?" Hasta asked.
Kala gave a faint smile. "I'm fine. But… why did you guys come to that building yesterday? Do you even realize that place was actually another dimension?"
Yoga raised a brow. "Wait, so we really did enter another dimension?"
"Yeah. I didn't say anything because I didn't want you guys to panic," Kala replied.
"We came because we wanted to find you, Kal," Yoan said seriously.
Kala pointed at himself, confused. "Find me?"
Dion nodded. "Yeah. So, here's the thing. Yesterday when you didn't show up, we talked about that case—the attacker at Yoga's dad's shop. And the culprit… looked exactly like you."
"Huh? But you guys didn't think it was me, right?" Kala asked, a hint of caution in his voice.
"Of course not! We know it's not you," Dion said quickly.
Melvin added, "But you didn't give any notice and didn't come to school, so we went to your house. It was empty. When we were about to leave, we ran into Kyungmin."
Yoan nodded. "He said he saw you get pulled by someone and disappear into the fog. He kept calling you but you didn't respond at all."
Kala let out a slow breath. "I heard Kyungmin, but I was already in another dimension by then. And the person who grabbed me… the twin you saw at Yoga's dad's shop. His name is Sunoo. He's the one who kidnapped me."
Yoga leaned forward. "What happened exactly? Kyungmin only said you were walking alone before that person appeared."
"He suddenly came into my room. Put a red blindfold on me—I didn't even get to fight back. When I woke up, I was already in the forest. Sunoo was there with a gun. I ran, found that building… but he showed up there too."
Melvin looked worried. "Did he hurt you, Kal?"
Kala stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah… he injected me with a sleeping drug, but not all of it went in because I fought back. That's why I passed out when you guys found me."
He turned his gaze toward Hasta, swallowing the words he wanted to say.
Gantha also glanced at him briefly, as if signaling something.