Sometimes the only way to get away from something is to face it full on. Because the more you run away from it, the more it chases after you. It's always in the background. Always in the back of your mind. And it stays there until you confront it.

Sunggyu slowed down from running to a small stumble, breathing very hard and clutching his bandaged, bleeding wrist. He looked behind him and saw nothing. There weren't even any cars in the dimly lit parking garage. He was all alone. At the moment.

A strange chill ran through his entire body and his head slowly turned to his right.

A tall, golden-rimmed mirror was standing a short distance away, its glass clear and unbroken. He could see his reflection in it clearly, his fatigued and anxious expression staring back at him.

Then his reflection straightened up very slightly and smiled smugly. “There’s nowhere to run now.” The voice that came out of his refection was a raspy, woman’s voice.

Earlier that day

The morning sun peaked its way through the drapes of Sunggyu’s room. He was in his bed sleeping deeply, his head buried in his blanket. Then the loud, annoying alarm from his phone immediately woke him up. Annoyed, he pulled his arm over his head to pick up his phone and turned it over, setting the automatic snooze system in place. He took in a deep breath and stretched a little, then to his back with his arm over his forehead. Right when he was about to doze off and see images in his head, his phone rang again, this time the ring signaling someone that was trying to call him.

“Ugh, seriously…” Sunggyu sighed deeply and reached for his phone again. Not bothering to see who was calling, he held the phone up to his ear. “Hello?” His voice was groggy and a bit raspy.

“Sunggyu! Are you awake?” The urgent tone from his friend Hoya rang in his ears.

Sunggyu grunted a little, startled by the loud voice. “Am now.” He sat up and rubbed the side of his head. “Why are you calling so early?”

“It happened again. Myungsoo, he…he’s gone!”

Sunggyu’s hand froze on the side of his head.

“I tried calling him this morning and he didn’t pick up his phone. So I went to his apartment to make sure he’s okay but he didn’t answer the door. There was no one home and I saw a lot of broken glass pieces scattered on the carpet near his bathroom. When I went to look inside, the entire room was destroyed and the glass was broken. Plus I felt really strange just standing there. It felt like something was pulling me closer. It creeped me out, so I ran out.”

“Are you home?” Sunggyu asked quietly.

“Yeah. Woohyun’s with me.”

Sunggyu nodded. “I’ll be right over, hang on.” He put his phone down and jumped out of bed. After brushing his teeth quickly and throwing on a sweater, he left his apartment and went straight for the bus stop.

There used to be seven members of his friend group. Four of those members have all disappeared in very similar ways; they would be in a room with a mirror and they would never come out. When someone tried to check on them, they turned out to have disappeared and the mirror in the room they were in would either be shattered or have many large cracks in it. Sometimes there was even blood on the floor or in the shattered glass.

Sunggyu and his two remaining friends, Hoya and Woohyun, all agreed to find their friends and find out who or what has been the cause of their disappearances. Something inside Sunggyu made him feel on edge about the situation, not that he wasn’t on edge anyway. For the last couple weeks, he’d been in a bit of an emotional rut; he stayed to himself a lot and only hung out with his friends once or twice a week, even though they were all meeting almost every day of the week. Sunggyu would give the excuse that he needed to rest, which was kind of true, but something he couldn’t put his finger on was making him feel a bit emotionally dead.

Fifteen minutes later he was standing outside of Hoya’s apartment waiting for him to let open the door.

“Hey.” Hoya pulled the door open and moved to the side so Sunggyu could get in.

Woohyun was sitting in the living room area sitting on the couch with his gaze focused on the ground. He didn’t look at Sunggyu.

“Did you all hang out last night after work?” Sunggyu asked Hoya.

“Yeah. Went to our usual place and had a couple drinks.” Hoya walked into the living room and remained standing. “Myungsoo was acting fine. We were all still a bit on edge, but after we drank a little, I think the atmosphere got calmer.”

“When did you guys go home?”

Hoya glanced at Woohyun. “Maybe at around midnight?”

Woohyun nodded, keeping his gaze attached to the floor.

“When I came back here, I texted Woohyun and Myungsoo to make sure they got home safely. Woohyun answered me right away, but Myungsoo never answered me at all.” Hoya’s gaze lowered. “I got nervous…so I went to his house to make sure he was okay.”

“And that’s when you saw the shattered glass?” Sunggyu asked quietly.

Hoya nodded. “I couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“What are we going to do?” Woohyun asked quietly. He was clearly upset.

“Well we know there’s one thing connecting all of these strange disappearances: a mirror. Honestly…this sounds like a haunting.”

“So we’re gonna walk up to every mirror in town and demand them to let go of our friends?” Woohyun’s gaze met Sunggyu’s.

Sunggyu’s gaze narrowed. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. There must be one kind of mirror that we should focus on.”

“I saw on the news earlier today that there was a new attraction that opened in town.” Hoya put in. “It’s called The House of Mirrors.”

“You’re kidding.” Sunggyu stared at Hoya.

“Nope.” Hoya shook his head.

“It must be haunted then.” Sunggyu shrugged one shoulder.

“How can you say that so matter-of-factly?” Woohyun stared at Sunggyu.

“I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Look, it makes our search easier.”

“But we don’t know if that’s the cause of the disappearances!” Woohyun pressed.

“Woohyun, I know you’re nervous about this situation. I am too, trust me. But if all of the clues add up like this, then we have no other choice than to go into this house.”

Woohyun didn’t respond.

“When are we gonna go check it out?” Hoya asked.

“What time will it open?” Sunggyu asked.

“I think after 2 PM.”

“Then that’s when we’ll go.” Sunggyu stated. “We’ll get our friends back.”

The three guys stood outside of the entrance to the House of Mirrors. The entire house was painted grim and dark but the door looked charming and welcoming. After exchanging glances with each other, Sunggyu reached out toward the door and pushed it. The door opened very slowly and revealed a long corridor with halls filled with tall mirrors. The three could see another door on the other side of the hallway.

“Okay…let’s go.” Sunggyu tried to sound calm but he couldn’t fight a feeling of nervousness making his heart beat fast.

“Is it okay to just walk into a circus attraction without permission like this?” Woohyun asked, glancing behind him nervously. “What if we get caught?”

“This isn’t part of the circus, so maybe that’s why there’s no security around.” Hoya shrugged.

“Or maybe the mirrors swallowed them up...” Woohyun muttered quietly. His anxious expression didn’t go away as the three entered the hallway and walked straight forward.

“Just don’t look at the mirrors.” Sunggyu said.

As they walked, a strange feeling washed over Woohyun’s body. He blinked a few times, noticing his vision blur slightly.

“G-guys?” He stopped walking.

Hoya and Sunggyu stopped as well and turned to him.

“Are you okay?” Hoya asked.

Woohyun closed his eyes and rubbed his face. “I-I don’t think we should be in here. I felt really off just now.”

Sunggyu glanced toward the entrance and his eyes widened.

The door they entered through was gone and was replaced with a tall mirror. Sunggyu met his reflection and stared into his own widened eyes.