There was a burning sensation in Eunchae's heart, as the spirit aroused.

"You've already betrayed them..."

The spirit let out a small chuckle from her mouth.

"You've betrayed them once, why not do it again?"

...

Time: 23:37, October 21

"I think it's better if you take the bottom bunk, Sunghoon. We don't know whether you'll roll off if we put you in the top one." Jungwon said, pointing to the free bed in the corner of the room.

It was after dinner, Heesung had served the two groups a large portion of his home-cooked meal, yet their dine had been completely silent. Sunghoon and Sakura's death glances between each other spoke louder than words.
It was high tension, all the way until Sunghoon, Jay and Jungwon had decided to take an early leave, back into the dorm.

"I think they're still mad at me..." Sunghoon mumbled, climbing into the bunk.

"You mean the others? Like, Sakura and Kazuha? Yeah, big chance." Jay said, his eyes on the door.

Sunghoon scoffed.
Sakura must've still been fuming. She wasn't the type to lash out so easily.

The thought almost made him sad, in a way. Would he ever be able to restore their past relationship, as a group, to its former glory? Or had he broken their trust beyond repair?

"Why do you even have an extra bed here, anyways? A bunk bed, even. There's only seven of you, and Heesung already has his own bunk..." Sunghoon asked, trying to distract himself with a question.

"Speaking about Heesung, that pasta he served wasn't good... but don't tell him that..." Jay whispered from the top bunk, on top of Jungwon's bottom bunk.

"And about the beds?"

Jungwon let out a small sigh.
"Well... that's complicated... I don't really want to talk about it..." he said, trying to dismiss the topic.

But Sunghoon persevered.
He had seen this scenario once before.
Maybe if he let them know they weren't alone, it would make it better for them.

"It must've been hard, mustn't it?" he asked.

Jungwon turned his head.
"What?"

"It must've been hard... losing a member... right?"

His remark made Jay clamber out of his bunk in shock.
"How... how'd you know?" He asked, half bewildered, half concerned.

Sunghoon shook his head.
"You're not the only group, you know. The others, they've also lost one... It's like you guys can walk in each other's shoes."

Jungwon shook his head.
"It wasn't just one..." he mumbled.
He gripped a pillow in his hands.
"It was two..."

Jay gulped as he reminisced the thoughts.
"K and Taki... they were like brothers to us, especially to Niki. As a three, they had all come from Japan together, and we met by chance."

Jungwon took a deep breath in. He tried to calm himself down, to stop himself from breaking. He didn't want to seem weak, not in front of Sunghoon.

He peered at the door, checking for any eavesdroppers.
Jungwon whispered to him from his bunk, in a quieter voice, just so that he could make sure they couldn't hear it from the other room.

"We lost them... three years ago. Niki was still a small child back then, early adolescence. He'd hang everywhere with them, because they spoke the same language. K and Taki knew Korean, they just translated it for him. But, that all changed after they were gone. Niki had to adapt quickly. It was terrifically difficult at first, but now it's fine... the language part, I mean."

Jungwon peered one more time at the door, and then leaned closer to Sunghoon across his bunk, practically leaning over the handle rail.

"He changed, Niki. The guy changed a lot. He wasn't the same. He used to be a cheerful lad, always trying to ask us things in Japanese, and K and Taki would translate for us. Bizzare things, he asked, really. Like 'what's the worst type of noodle?' or pretty much every single thing that had nothing to do with whatever we were doing. I actually enjoyed it, really. Whenever he'd come up to us, we would always brace ourselves for a question..."

He let out a small puff.
"But now... The past is the past. Niki's got a bad temper. As much as we try to stop him, he won't. But, something changed, when he came back with Yunjin. It was the first time, in a long time, that I've seen him cry. As much of a youngster he is, he doesn't cry easily. He's always the one to use anger to cope, but that time, it was different."

"Maybe you should take that as a sign, Sunghoon. You might deny it, but he really does feel sorry for what happened to Yunjin. You should give him a chance. You never know..." Jay added, leaning on the frame of their bed.

Sunghoon shrugged, retreating further down into the bunk.
"I guess so..." he mumbled, though half-heartedly.

Just then, a cluster of people entered through the door. It was Heesung and the others, newly returning from the dinner table.
Heesung was rubbing his stomach, his face a little bit annoyed, but only a tint.

"Why didn't you tell me that I put too much pepper in the pasta? You were all silent, it would've been nice if you just told me instead of trying to keep it a secret, you know..." he said, telling it to Jake behind him.

Sunoo shut the door behind him, chuckling to himself.

"It would've been rude, though. Especially in front of them. Just being completely fair with you." Jake replied, stifling a laugh.

Heesung sat on his bed, just a little bit irritated, but not angry.

"Oh come on, cheer up..." Sunoo said, trying to lighten up his mood playfully.

Jungwon joined in the conversation.
"Heesung, your pasta wasn't that bad... for sure."

"Niki's cooking is worse." Jake said, pointing next to him at Niki, who was just casually enjoying the conversation.

"Hey... what did I do?" He murmured, feeling slightly attacked.
He batted Jake on the shoulder with his hand.

"That's the reason I buy snacks instead of cooking... but that's not relevant!" He said, pouting.

Heesung nodded his head.
"Maybe it wasn't that bad... I still remember that. Niki's... eggs." He said, snorting at the recollection.

"I didn't even know it was possible to mess up eggs, of all foods..." Sunoo mumbled, a grin on his face.

"I was fourteen, alright?" Niki retorted.

"Yeah, you were fourteen. And you nearly burned down the entire kitchen." Jay added.

It earned a small chuckle from Sunghoon.
Niki seemed like one chaotic child.
If only he had stayed that way.

"You know what? I'm going to bed, goodnight. Stop talking about it, I'm tired already." Niki said, quickly switching off the lamp next to him and tucking into bed, ending their conversation.

Heesung let out a puff.
"Come on, Niki. We were just joking with you..." he said.

But Jay yawned, cutting him off.
"Nah, I actually think Niki's right. We should probably get some energy back, don't you think? You never know, we could be fighting spirits all of a sudden. But I'd much rather do it when I'm awake, and not half asleep."
He climbed back into the top bunk, and laid back on his mattress.

The others started to do the same, quietly taking their places and slowing down to rest.
Sunghoon got comfortable in his bunk. He had it all to himself, for one, and it felt much better than sleeping on the floor like he'd been doing for the past days.

He could already feel himself fully relaxing, sinking down into the cushion.

And it wasn't long before he drifted into sleep.

...

Time: 3:34, October 22

"Take the left. I'll take the right. We'll close him off."

K ran in front, leading Taki and Niki into the abandoned warehouse. The ceiling towered over them, blocking the light.
Niki had to squint his eyes, surveying the room. It was covered in dirt and dust, just like what any deserted building would.
But he had his eyes out for the spirit, and brushed the terrible dusty stench aside.

K held his arm out in front of Niki, shielding him with his taller physique.
"Stay here. We'll be back, Niki. Be careful and stay alert, okay?" He said, before running down a passageway to the side, kicking down the door and disappearing.

Taki looked back at Niki, and stared at him with concerned eyes.
"Don't you dare move, okay? If anything goes wrong, scream. We will make sure you'll be safe."

He turned around, about to take his leave, but Niki grabbed his hand.
"Please, Taki, don't leave me. I'm scared." He mumbled, clinging to the older one.

Taki reached down and patted Niki's shoulder, trying to calm him down enough for him to let go.
"We'll be quick. You can trust us, right? The others will be coming here soon. Just wait for them."

He tried pulling his arm again, but Niki held on tight.
The younger one looked up to him with pleading eyes, begging him to stay.

"I'll buy you those snacks you really like... One- no- two packs, okay?"

Taki gently slinked his arm away from Niki's grasp.
"I'll make it three... just stay here."

And with that, he ran off into the building, his opal-coloured wakizashi clutched in his hand.
He ran through a corridor off to the side, and was gone, his steps reverberating off the walls.

It wasn't long before Niki was left in dead silence, alone, quaking in fear.
He could feel his palms sweating, his own wakizashi nearly slipping out of his arms.

For a long time, it was silence. Niki's thoughts were louder than his surroundings.

But then, a loud bang erupted in front of him.

Niki raised his sword up in alarm. He stared around frantically.
A figure was emerging from behind a pile of crates, pushing and shoving them out the way. They clashed to the floor, one by one.

The figure was menacing; a broad-shouldered silhouette, a size twice the height of Niki.
He walked forwards, pacing towards him.

Niki inched away, stumbling backwards in fear.

He could see them.
The two red eyes. They were so luminous, practically gleaming orbs in the darkness.
That person, whoever they were, was a spirit.

Niki screamed.
"SPIRIT! TAKI, K, HELP!!!! HE'S HERE!!!"

His voice ring through the room, bouncing off the walls.

The spirit stopped, and stood there, looking at him straight in the eye, stood just behind a cluster of boxes.

"Was that his name then? No wonder,"
He hauled a big box aside and out of the way like it was nothing, and he stepped forward into the light, his path now clear.
"So... which one was which?"

He tossed two items to the ground, they bounced and scraped across the floor, landing right an Niki's feet.

He forced his neck to look down, and Niki gasped in shock, dropping down to the floor.
His legs gave way, and tears flowed down his face as he started to sob.

He recognised exactly what they were.

Because he had one of his own.
Two Wakizashis.
One was black, and the other was opal.

It was K's and Taki's.
And they were covered in blood.
Red blood.

Niki stared up at the spirit, furious and sad tears built up in his eyes, and cold sweat pouring down his face.
"No... pl- please... K- Taki-"

"How sad. Such a poor, poor child, you are." The spirit butted in, half laughing to himself.

He had a smug look on his face, and stood in front of Niki, almost relishing his trauma.

"This isn't a small game for children. Look at you, pathetic. You will never know what you are dealing with. They might even say, curiosity kills the cat. Times are not the same, and us spirits have adapted to you hunters. Take this as a warning." he said.

He laid one bloody hand on Niki's shoulder, disrespectfully wiping off K and Taki's blood onto his clothes, in a sign of mockery.

"You know what? I change my mind. I don't do warnings. I only kill."

Niki bowed down his head.
He didn't have the courage to fight back anymore.
Maybe it was just better for him to die. Then he'd be with K and Taki.

But suddenly, the spirit was writhing on the floor, screaming, as a knife flew through the air and impaled right in the middle of his chest.
But it wasn't enough to kill him.

"NIKI!" Jay shouted.
It was the others.

They had finally made it.

The spirit cursed at them. He was now very much outnumbered, way more than before.
He yanked Jay's out of his chest, and booked it through the crates and boxes, tipping them down behind him, blockading the path.

Jay ran up to Niki, and instantly gripped him into a relived embrace.
"Oh my god... Niki, I'm so sorry. We were so late..." he mumbled, his voice shaky.

Heesung wanted to chase after the spirit, but Jungwon stopped him with a hand.
So, the two stood in guard at the front, while Jay and Jake consoled Niki.

"Where- where did K and Taki go? Which direction?" Jake asked, slightly shaking Niki.

But Niki shook his head, not answering.

"Niki? Niki, what's wrong? Where are they?" Heesung said, staring at Niki with concerned eyes.

He was so concerned, in fact, that he had failed to notice the two blades under Niki's hands. The ones that had belonged to K and Taki.

But Jake spotted them.
He reached down, and grabbed one of the blood-soaked handles, holding it up.
"Those..."

He couldn't believe it.

Heesung's face dropped, and his expression went stone cold. He knew.
And soon, so did everyone else.

"Taki and K... they're dead... aren't they?" Jake said.

...

Time: 06:34, October 22

Jungwon awoke in his bed, stretching. He rubbed his eyes, pushing the sleep away.
It took a while until his eyes could adjust to the darkness.

He looked around the room.

There was one lamp on.
Next to a lower bunk opposite him.

But, something was off.

There was nobody in the bed.
Niki was gone.

He looked around the room frantically, begging that he'd spot Niki.
But what he saw just made it worse.

There wasn't one, but two people gone.
Sunghoon wasn't there either.
They were both missing.
If they weren't in any of the other rooms, where were they?

He banged his hand on Jay's bunk, getting him to wake up.

"Have you seen Niki or Sunghoon?" He asked.

He could hear Jay's response, a tired groggle.
"Hm... no..."

Jungwon stamped his foot, instantly getting out of bed.
He check through Niki and Sunghoon's beds, just to make sure.
They weren't there.

"Niki and Sunghoon... they're- they're gone. I don't know where they are."