“The entrance will have to be on the third floor, near Diar’s,” Kris said, scrolling down on his touchscreen device with the pad of his finger. Sowon marveled at the device – it was a flat, rectangular device around the size of her head with a screen that could show many things like maps, notes, and Communication Amulet contacts’ positions. And it could be controlled by touching the screen with a finger. Kris had called it “the Tablet.”

“Diar’s?” Sowon asked.

“It’s a popular fashion brand that sells clothing and shoes,” Sehun explained, showing her the label of his fancy button-up shirt. It had “Diar” on it in flowing print. Of course Sehun would know.

“We should split up. If we want to make it to the Other World in one piece, that is. Our Auroras are unmasked here, you know,” Kris added. Sowon suppressed a shiver. Kris made it seem like a mission of survival. This wasn’t a game to be played – it was reality.

“I’ll go with Sowon,” Chanyeol volunteered from beside her. He gave Sowon a reassuring smile.

“Not this time.” Sehun gave Chanyeol a suspicious look and grabbed Sowon’s hand, pulling her towards the escalators. Chanyeol sighed behind them and gave a shrug.

Sowon glanced at the boy’s leg. He was wearing baggy pants to hide his bandages. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Sowon asked.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “I said, I’ve gone through worse. I can still walk and run. Stop acting like a worrywart and get moving.”

The ride on the escalators to the third floor was uneventful, but Sowon’s heart was pounding the whole time. Sowon wondered if Sehun could hear it – it seemed so loud. She wished Sehun would let go of her hand – it was probably soaking his with cold sweat.

As soon as they reached the third floor, Sehun shoved Sowon behind a nearby sales rack. The girl stared dumbly at Sehun, startled. “What-” But he put a hand over her mouth before she could finish her question.

Sehun peeked over the rack, adjusting his huge rectangular glasses, which was either part of his disguise or a fashion item; Sowon wasn’t sure. “This is not happening,” he muttered. “How would they have known?” Those words made Sowon shiver. Who was they? The Yin?

The loud wailing of a fire alarm began to ring inside the department store. The lights dimmed and flickered. The screaming from the surprised shoppers mixed with the wailing from the sirens. Sowon could hear the clatter from people bumping into clothing racks. She blinked. This had happened in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly, an eerie silence filled the air. The screams of the shoppers and the clattering of metal racks could no longer be heard. The lights had stopped flickering and dimmed to a soft, constant yellow. The air around Sowon and Sehun felt unusually stuffy and thick, as if it had turned partially into liquid. Sowon looked at her companion with a mixture of fear and confusion in her eyes. The worry reflected in Sehun’s eyes made her even more nervous. What was happening?

Despite her better judgment, Sowon stood straight up to gaze above the rack at the surroundings around her. The atmosphere was weird, like from an alien planet, and all around her, it looked as if time had stilled. A couple who had been panicking while still holding the clothing they had been admiring were like statues, with their expressions of horror frozen on their faces. So was a toddler a few yards away, who was like stone crouching on the ground, his hands still on his eyes as if in the middle of wiping tears.

Sowon’s gaze swept to the left and she locked eyes with a stranger less than ten feet away from her. A chill ran down her spine as she recognized the person. The black clothing, black cloak, and longish blond hair were new to her, but the telltale black mask covering over half of the person’s face wasn’t. The Masked Man was staring straight at her, almost as still as the shoppers. His huge almond-shaped eyes seem to glint dangerously. He slowly began to move, advancing towards her and Sehun.

Sowon, her eyes still locked with the stranger’s, was paralyzed in place. Her mind was numb and her legs felt like stone. She felt like she had turned into a statue, much like the shoppers around her.

Sehun saved her; he shoved Sowon to the side, snapping her out of her stone-like state. Sehun promptly threw a Marble to the ground in front of the Masked Man. As soon as the Marble cracked, it transformed into several golden bullets that jumped into the air. They whikzzed down, all aimed at the man. He ducked and rolled smoothly to the side, as the bullets hit the floor he had been standing on less than a second before.

Sowon reached into her satchel and grabbed one of her own Marbles uneasily. She wondered if she had enough courage to attack another person, despite him being her supposed enemy. Tightening her fist around the Marble, she remembered Chaewon’s look of fear as she was carried away by the Yin. With one swift movement, Sowon raised the fist and threw the Marble down at her feet.

She fiercely focused her thoughts on a wind – strong, powerful wind, similar to the ones during a terrible storm. All her fear and anger were pinpointed onto that one image. As she felt a rush of adrenaline shoot through her body and a sudden drop of energy, she remembered Joonmyeon’s advice. You need to know how to control your power.

Fear spread through Sowon’s body as she struggled to release her power. The Marble broke and disappeared. From somewhere behind her, a mighty gust of wind started blowing past her. She was unaffected save for her hair blowing slightly as though hit by a breeze, but she could feel the force of it from inside her body. The wind rushed at the Masked Man.

A shimmering wall of fiery-red fire appeared in front of the man, blocking most of the wind from reaching him. Around him, racks of clothes fell to the ground and clothes went flying everywhere. The frozen shoppers fell to the ground heavily, like real statues. In a blink of an eye, the wind stopped along with the disappearing of the strange shield-like flames, leaving chaos behind.

Sowon froze, a wave of exhaustion making her legs feel like jelly. It looked like a mini hurricane had hit the place. Clothes were strewn everywhere, shoppers were lying on the ground, racks were overturned, and glass jewelry cases were severely cracked, scattering glass shards everywhere. Dread filled her at the sight she had brought on herself. All she had wanted was to blow the man away – maybe knock him out. She hadn’t thought of her surroundings.

Sowon turned to see Sehun pick himself off the ground and dust himself off. Sehun’s usually calm and serious disposure was twisted with bewilderment. Sowon saw his eyes turn to the Masked Man, so she quickly turned back to the man who was in the middle of the mess she had made.

The Masked Man’s mask was gone – probably from the wind. Now the man didn’t seem so ominous anymore, as Sowon was able to see his uncovered face for the first time. Other than his longish blond hair, he had a tall nose and a chiseled chin. He looked young – Sowon assumed that he couldn’t be far from Joonmyeon’s age. His facial features strikingly resembled someone, yet she could not remember who. He was undeniably handsome, but there was an unmistakable dark glint in his brown eyes.

Something on the man’s cheek caught her eye. There was a glowing black Yin symbol on his left cheek. The Masked Man was indeed a Fire Yin, Joonmyeon’s counterpart.

“Sowon,” the man said, reaching out a hand like he did last time after the train incident. Sowon felt a chill in her spine. The young man knew her name, and when he said it, it sounded like a threat. “Come. You belong with us.”

“I’m Yang,” Sowon said, clearly, swallowing a lump of fear. Yet she was aware of her trembling hands. She clenched her hands, willing them not to betray her inner fear.

“Is that why you do not have a symbol when you use your power?” the Masked Man asked, unmoving. Sowon felt herself automatically raise a hand to her right cheek.

“It’s only her second time using her power,” Sowon heard Sehun say with a snarl. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sehun raise his arms way above his head. Sehun’s face was twisted as if he was lifting something very heavy – it was the expression he had on every time he was concentrating.

With a shout from him, metal racks that had fallen were lifted into the air. Sehun motioned his hands as if throwing something, and the racks were thrown towards the man as if by a huge invisible hand. “Run!” Sehun screamed to Sowon, pointing to the far side of the mall. The girl froze for a second, and then tore through the fallen items, steering clear of the red fire that seemed to engulf the man, saving him from the metal thrown at him.

Sowon saw the sign on the wall that said, “Diar” in feminine, fancy letters. It surprised her that the sign was still intact. She glanced back at Sehun, who was running towards her with his bangs flying back from his forehead. She was uncertain about what to do next. Suddenly held from behind by a pair of strong arms, Sowon nearly screamed. Thankfully, it was Kris.

“Chanyeol!” Kris roared. “Open the freakin’ gate!” Sowon saw the said boy appear in a flash next to her. He slammed a hand onto the “Diar” sign and muttered a few words under his breath. The sign shimmered, as if made of jelly. Then before their eyes, it transformed into a blue, circle pan, with a diameter of about two feet, which shimmered like silk and sparkled as if decorated with glitter. It was a portal.

Sowon was pulled off her feet by Kris. Her eyes widened at how easily the tall boy had picked her up as though she weighed nothing more than a rag doll. “Off you go,” Kris hollered, throwing Sowon at the circle. The girl closed her eyes, knowing that she probably wouldn’t be smashed into the wall, but bracing herself nonetheless. She felt the air around her whirling around like a tempest. And then sudden silence. She felt moving air brush her skin, this time softly. Sowon slowly opened her eyes.

Thank you for being so patient, readers! Enjoy! :D