As Sunggyu ran through the hallway, the pink color was completely gone and replaced with old, grey walls. The house looked more like an abandoned warehouse that hadn’t been cleaned in months. Sunggyu ran past the entrance to the bathroom and glanced at the mirror. He saw his reflection for a very brief second but it was enough for him to run faster. The eyes in his refection were glowing a pale, yellow light. There was blood seeping down his palm and he quickly tore off a piece of his white shirt and wrapped it around his upper wrist tightly. As he approached the opposite end of the hallway, he saw a closed door that he never saw before and pushed it open. The hallway was filled with the same mirrors he saw with Hoya and Woohyun when they first entered the house and they were the only part of the house that weren’t broken or dusty. Sunggyu bit his lip and kept his gaze straight ahead, not wanting to look at his reflections passing by him. He could still feel a heavy atmosphere around him and he was nervous that his feet might slow down again.

“That was a very bad idea.” A whispery, deadly voice hissed in Sunggyu’s ears. Sunggyu clamped his eyes shut and shook his head, continuing toward the exit of the haunted house of mirrors. Once he got to the door, he pushed it open and ran out into the open area, not daring to look behind him. He forced himself to keep running even though he was starting to feel very tired. After a while he could hear footsteps running behind him and he glanced behind him. He saw himself running some distance behind him and jolted his gaze back to his front. He ran until he was inside of a roofed parking lot with no cars parked in any of the spaces. Then he realized it was night. He had been in the house the entire day.

Fatigue started to take over his body and he unwillingly slowed down and stumbled into a stop, leaning his hands on his knees and breathing deeply and a bit hoarsely. The footsteps had disappeared from behind him as well.

“I’m free…you can’t hurt me anymore…” Sunggyu breathed very quietly.

“Why don’t you look to your right?” The woman’s voice responded smugly.

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.”

Sunggyu stared down his reflection in silence.

“Don’t try to sneak out your promise. Your friends are free, but you are not, no matter how much you try to run away. You belong to me.” His reflection said.

“…I guess you’re right.” Sunggyu said quietly.

“Of course I am. Now come here.” His reflection held out his hand toward Sunggyu.

Sunggyu let out a small sigh and started to walk closer to the mirror. He really wanted to get away, but something inside him suddenly gave up and he didn’t have the strength to fight anymore.

“Closer. Come right up to the glass.” His reflection added.

Sunggyu approached the mirror in silence, staring into his reflection’s eyes. The eyes slowly turned from brown to pale yellow and Sunggyu felt his entire body stiffen, but instead of trying to fight it, he just accepted it. The same feeling of euphoria started sneaking back into his mind and he felt really calm and content, like he was seconds away from falling into a deep sleep. His reflection started to blur in his eyes along with everything else and his eyes slowly closed. In the next second he felt like he was floating in a state of pleasant twilight and every amount of worry and anxiety left his mind.

Unfortunately in the very next second, his peaceful bliss was ripped apart by a loud, female shriek and the sound of breaking glass. His back erupted in pain and he let out a loud grunt.

“Sunggyu? Are you okay?” A familiar voice sounded from above him.

Sunggyu slowly opened his eyes and squinted. “Woohyun…?”

“Hey stand back, the mirror is glowing!” Another voice shouted.

Several hands gripped Sunggyu’s arms and pulled him up, clumsily pulling him a small distance away.

“W-what happened…?” Sunggyu was feeling extremely uncoordinated.

“We’re lucky we found you like we did!” Sungjong exclaimed. “You were standing very still and your eyes were closed.”

“It took all of us to break that mirror. And it took us several tries.” Woohyun added.

Sunggyu blinked several times and tried to focus on the broken mirror. It was indeed glowing a dark black aura and Sunggyu could hear the woman’s shrieks of pain echoing through his mind.

“How did you even find me…?” Sunggyu glanced back at the guys standing around him.

“We saw you running and followed you. We tried calling your name but you couldn’t hear us.” Sungyeol replied.

“So…you’re all okay, right? This nightmare is over, right?” Sunggyu glanced at all of them still a bit on edge, wishing the shrieks in his mind would go away.

“I’m sure once that mirror stops glowing, we can go home and sleep.” Dongwoo said.

At that moment, the black aura expanded and broke away from the broken mirror. It lingered in the air above the mirror for several seconds until the pained expression of the woman formed in the midst of the black smoke.

“How could you ruin my fun like this…why would you come back so quickly to save your precious leader!?” Her voice was full of hatred and pain.

“Maybe you should have tried having friends.” Hoya glared at her.

“I don’t need friends. I never did!” Her face grimaced in pain as the smoke around her started to slowly fade away.

“Just go away.” Sunggyu closed his eyes tiredly. “And stop screaming. I’m getting a headache.”

“I’ll come back…you all will be sorry.” The woman growled lowly as her face started to break apart and scatter into the air. As that happened, the atmosphere in the parking garage gradually lightened up and the broken mirror quickly turned to dust and fell apart in front of everyone’s eyes.

Sunggyu let out a small breath as his mind gradually became lighter. It felt empty and voice-less.

“Is it over now?” Myungsoo asked quietly.

No one spoke for a moment as the silence around them seemed to give them the answer.

Woohyun and Sungjong helped Sunggyu stand up, which Sunggyu could do much easier and hold his own weight.

“…thank you.” Sunggyu said with lowered eyes.

Everyone looked at him a bit surprised.

“…you came back and saved me even though I set you free…so thanks.” Sunggyu cleared his throat a little. He was attacked by several hugs, the roughest one being from Dongwoo.

“Why wouldn’t we come back? Did you think we were just gonna go out and eat dinner and talk about how much of a good leader you were?” Dongwoo laughed.

“You’re our leader, Sunggyu. Of course we’re gonna look after you as much as you look after us!” Sungyeol added.

Sunggyu looked at everyone and smiled softly. “I’m really lucky to have you guys as my friends.”

There was a moment of silence between everyone as they looked at him and each other contently.

“But I really am hungry though.” Dongwoo chuckled. “We should go eat dinner.”

“What time is it?” Myungsoo asked.

Sungjong looked at his watch and his eyes widened. “Oh my god…it’s after 2 am!”

Everyone stared at him wide-eyed.

“What time did we go into the mirror house?” Hoya looked at Sunggyu.

“It was after 2 pm.” Sunggyu replied.

“Whoa…” A couple of the members breathed.

“What restaurant is even open now?” Woohyun asked.

“Whatever. Let’s just go back to our homes and sleep. We can go out for breakfast later.” Sunggyu said.

Everyone agreed and headed out of the parking garage. As everyone talked with each other, Sunggyu slowly glanced behind him. The dust from the golden mirror was still resting on the ground.

Hopefully now you’re in a better state of mind… Sunggyu thought then turned back to his front to talk with his friends.