I.

Late afternoon.

Hyukjae eyes the sun’s progress across the sky, estimating how much time he has left.

The market he's found himself in isn't helping with his concentration. It's crowded, noisy, and far too hot. Maybe under different circumstances there would be a certain charm to it all, if he had time to scope out the city's hidden gems. But not having that luxury is exactly the problem.

He ducks into a nearby bar that he'd scoped out this morning, finally giving up on finding the information that he needs on his own. There are questions Hyukjae knows he won't find the answer to, but at least a step in the right direction should be doable.

The interior of the bar is dark and smoky. It takes a moment for Hyukjae’s eyes to adjust to the low lighting. But when they do, he sees how patrons are packed in from wall to wall, spirits flowing freely between them. A hub of excitement in the middle of this otherwise mundane town.

The bartender is at the back wall serving drinks, eyeing him warily. Hyukjae makes a beeline towards him and ignores the stares he's starting to get.

"I'm looking for someone," he says. "He would have been here earlier today asking questions about the town. Any leads on where I could find him?"

The bartender's eyes have narrowed to slits. Hostility practically radiates from his body, punctuated by a crisp "I think you should leave."

Time is running out. Hyukjae can feel it slipping away from him by the second. With his quest to get answers now futile, he turns to leave, and finds the eyes of all the bar's patrons upon him with that same hostile glare. He quickly slips back out through the front door.

The moment he steps outside, a voice shouts from somewhere nearby, "There he is!"

Hyukjae doesn't hesitate to take off running. The sounds of the guards stay at his back as he sprints through the marketplace, dodging booths, carts of goods, and civilians alike. Said civilians do their best to aggressively trip him up and send him packing off to prison. Hyukjae tries not to be too offended that in their efforts to stop him, they tear the tunic he'd stolen this morning from the same market. The clothes are, after all, not his.

The chase soon meets the market's end. Wide, packed paths give way to a crisscrossed maze of side alleys, and Hyukjae manages to evade his pursuers just long enough to break from their line of sight and duck into the darkest one he can find. He presses flat against the wall while he catches his breath. But safety is temporary; he needs to get out of here before they send more search parties and cage him in.

He slinks along the alley quietly, running some calculations for escape in his head from what he's gleaned of the city during his short time here. It will depend on how much of a route he can remember, yes, but there's always another more important factor. One look at the sun tells Hyukjae that his options have narrowed down to a small few. He's about to leave the safety of the shadows...but then a familiar voice reaches his ears.

The passage to his left opens up into another town square, where he can see the owner of said voice fighting off a group of guards with a longsword. It's fitting, really, because the weapon matches well with the rather tacky adventurer outfit he'd insisted on stealing that morning along with Hyukjae's more reserved choice. But its flashiness doesn't detract from the skills being put on display.

Show off, Hyukjae thinks to himself with a smile.

He intervenes with a well-timed slash of another sword, a present from a fallen guard that had laid itself on the concrete so invitingly for him. His target lets out a grunt, and Donghae looks up at him in surprise.

"Need some help there?" Hyukjae can't help but quip.

Donghae grins. "You're just in time."

It's not an easy task to fend off the city's guards, but it's a doable one with how much their teamwork has evolved. Hyukjae stands back to back with Donghae as he flourishes his borrowed weapon with a practiced grace. The sound of clanging metal fills the air, his wrist twirling to intercept enemy blades while he lashes out with his own. One by one, their enemies fall.

Hyukjae almost drops his sword and takes a breath, but it's not over. He hears footsteps moments before more guards show up on the edge of the square. One look at Donghae, one exchange of a nod, and they're off at a breakneck pace.

"Did you find the core?" Hyukjae asks the other man as they run, struggling to keep his voice steady. He doesn't like to admit it to himself, but Hyukjae is far from in peak condition. A stumble and near fall when they round a sharp corner confirm as much.

"After my side-trip to the catacombs, I have an idea of where it is, but I don't think—"

The ground shifts underneath their feet just as the rumbling starts. In an instant, the world starts to break down, pillars folding at their centers, rooftops caving, pathways buckling. An avalanche of debris cascades down from a fallen tower in front of their path, forcing them to come up short.

"...that the world will hold up long enough," Donghae finishes, his point clearly made.

Damn it, they were close this time. Closer than they'd gotten in a while, if Donghae really was that confident in his lead. When would be the next time they weren't running blind? A week? A year? Not that time really mattered, when all was said and done. Just the sunsets. Endless sunsets.

"I'm sorry, Hyukjae. If I thought we had any chance..."

Hyukjae waves it off and masks his frown, conceding to what he knows is their only option. Disappointment strains his heart with a phantom ache.

He does his best to outrun the feeling. Their shoes kick up dust and gravel as they navigate through the collapsing rubble, running until they're clear of the city gates. The world doesn't stop falling apart, but they don't stop running. The collapse won't have them today.

Their escape is just outside of the gates. A great tear in the atmosphere hovers inches above the ground, pulsing with a blue-purple glow that Hyukjae has come to know by heart: a portal. The eye of the hurricane, promising relief from the total breakdown of time and space going on all around it.

The hillside they're standing on begins to tilt off the edge of an invisible rift. Time's up.

"Let's go," Donghae tells him, holding out a hand that Hyukjae takes by instinct.

They step together into the glowing gate, and the world goes white.

II.

When Hyukjae's world shifts back into focus, the first thing that hits him is the silence. Compared to the destruction they'd left behind, this new setting is far more serene. He's definitely on a ship —a pirate ship, he amends when he sees their flag — but there's no crew to speak of, nothing but the ambient sounds of fluttering sails and rocking waves.

He sees Donghae standing next to him, running his hand along the wooden rigging as he takes in their new setting. Gears are already visibly turning in the other man's head.

"So, new world, new core. Any guesses this time?" Hyukjae asks him. "Under the ocean? On some deserted island?"

"Hard to say, but there has to be at least some kind of clue to tell us. And since we're on a pirate ship...what better way to give a clue than with a treasure map?"

"Good thinking. Let's check out the cabin," Hyukjae agrees, still taking a few more moments to look at the sea despite himself. The vastness of the ocean they've found themselves in the middle of is too beautiful not to admire for a little while longer. When he turns to go, he sees Donghae staring at him.

"What is it?" he asks, feeling unexpectedly self-conscious.

Donghae opens his mouth, but closes it before he can say what's on his mind. "Nothing. Let's go."

They break into the Captain's cabin with a makeshift lockpick fashioned from a piece of wood snapped off the ship's hull. It's not the most elegant tool, but it gets the job done.

("You had no idea how to do this when we first started off," Donghae says when the lock springs open, failing to contain his laughter.)

(He's not wrong.)

The cabin is far more luxurious than the rest of the ship. Red satin adorns the windows and walls, decorative wooden pillars in each corner are etched with intricate designs, and gold trim laces every piece of furniture. But they only briefly eye the glamor, going straight for the desk in the center of the room. An old canvas is rolled up on the wooden surface. Donghae flattens it out with a successful smile: a treasure map.

"We'll sail north," Donghae says, tracing a finger along the canvas's faded surface. "The sea narrows into the mouth of a channel. We can take that and come out in the inlet here where the treasure, along with the core, should be buried near the shore. As long as we make good enough time, it's possible."

Hyukjae has to admit he's impressed; it's been a while since they've been on any sort of ship, and Donghae has managed to retain a lot of what they'd learned through trial and error (though mostly the latter). Maybe what they've learned will be enough to lead them to this world's core. Of course, that last ship ride in the arctic hadn't exactly ended well...

When they head back up to the deck, the sky is still clear. But the storm clouds on the horizon are ever more prevalent, a threatening mass at the end of their charted course. Hyukjae can almost feel the ticking resume on their far too short countdown. They need more time. But isn't that always the case? If they ever had enough, they wouldn't still be trapped here in this endless maze of worlds.

Hyukjae senses Donghae's eyes upon him once again and turns around, saying more firmly this time, "You can just ask me, you know."

"I just wasn't sure how to bring this up. But, Hyukjae...collapse times have gotten shorter and shorter. The sun is going down much sooner than it should. And since we're inside your mind..."

"You think something's wrong with me," Hyukjae finishes for him, a chill going down his spine. He's had similar thoughts, but hearing it said aloud by someone else makes it too real for his own comfort.

"I have no idea. When we went under, I know your mind was fragile even then. You were in a coma, infected with a virus that threatened to shut your body down entirely."

"A detail that I try not to think too much about.”

"Hang on," Donghae insists. "I'm getting somewhere with this. What if because your mind was fragile when we both were transported here, it can't handle us world-jumping all around your consciousness? What if it's growing weaker, which is why it's collapsing sooner?"

Hyukjae shakes his head, not wanting to consider it. "Jungsoo wouldn't have gone through with the procedure if he thought we were in danger."

"He didn't agree with it in the first place. I had to fight tooth and nail to be able to come in here with you. At the time, I thought it was because he was worried about me being in danger, but what if the one put in harm's way is you?"

The look on Donghae's face hurts Hyukjae more than he can say.

"I'm fine, okay?" he says. "I'm just tired, and maybe the collapse times are different for different worlds. We can't exactly claim to be experts of this place, even after all the time we've spent here. This is what’s going to happen: we're going to find a world core and get out of here as fast as we can, so that I can be back in top form and virus-free.”

Hyukjae can tell Donghae doesn't find his answer entirely satisfactory, but better that than have the other man lose his mind worrying over him.

They sail on without further discussion. The sky stays clear for a while, but their north-bound route eventually leads them right into the path of the growing darkness on the horizon. Storm clouds hit, dousing them in an immediate curtain of rain, and the sun disappears like a light switch being turned off. Choppier waves threaten to throw them off course entirely. They're soaked and struggling to navigate, but even through the storm they manage to handle everything this world throws at them.

Then the giant kraken attacks.

A monstrous creature rises out of the water like a figure of Death itself. Red eyes pierce somewhere beneath Hyukjae's skin, and a horrible gurgling noise issues from the depths of the ocean, unnatural and horrifying. Eight scaled tentacles rise up around the ship in a cage. And chaos begins.

Hyukjae just barely manages to jump out of the way as one tentacle comes crashing down where he was standing seconds before, separating a chunk of the deck from the rest of the ship. The wood crashes somewhere into the sea of tentacles and ever-growing waves. Hyukjae's eyes don't see it hit the water; he's too busy catching his breath after the narrow escape. He doesn't know what happens if he dies in his own mind, but he doesn't intend on finding out.

When the kraken strikes again, Hyukjae struggles to find enough energy to jump away and comes up short. Running on half-empty for so long seems to have finally caught up with him in the worst possible way. The tentacle comes crashing down, Hyukjae curls in on himself as he braces for impact—

Arms pull him to safety, giving him an up-close view of what could have been the end.

"We need to find a portal!" Donghae shouts over the sounds of destruction. His eyes scan Hyukjae as he speaks, making sure the other man really is in one piece. "It's too dangerous to keep sailing for the core!"

Hyukjae does what he's been doing a lot of recently: he silently nods and follows.

Donghae slams the trapdoor shut behind them as make their way back down into the ship's belly. On a shared hunch, they rush to the captain's cabin, moving unsteadily from the shaking of the kraken's continued assault. The treasure map is still rolled up on the desk, the same red satin ties the room up like a bow, but that's it. No portal.

With a heaving groan, the floor in the cabin splinters, and Donghae nearly falls into the sea. Hyukjae grabs onto him just in time, pulling him back from the edge with what little strength he can muster. They don't have to tell each other where they're heading as they sprint toward the back of the ship. Unless the nearest portal is at the bottom of the ocean, this is their only option.

Hyukjae slams the door open so hard that the wood splinters. He catches a glimpse of the glowing portal inside just as another violent explosion rocks the ship, and they start to pitch forward into the water.

There's no time for hesitation. Hyukjae grabs on to Donghae, and together, they jump through.

III.

When they come through the portal, Hyukjae falls to his knees. Dirt and grass press against his palms as he catches his breath, a tree trunk hitting solidly against his back when he sits up.

They're...in some sort of rainforest, is Hyukjae’s best guess. He scans the area with an almost phantom sense of interest, feeling too drained to take in the tall trees and heavy foliage. Rain pours from the sky even harder than it had when they were at sea, but thankfully the leaves in their landing spot give them cover from the downpour.

Hyukjae draws his eyes down from the canopy to see Donghae kneeling in front of him, checking on instinct for the physical wounds that they both know won't be there. Not after another jump. But Hyukjae can still appreciate the sentiment behind it.

"I mean it when I ask this time," Donghae says seriously. "We've only made it this far because we've stayed honest with each other. Are you okay, Hyukjae?"

If I tell him, he'll worry. He'll know just how bad it's gotten. But he's right; if I don't...

"No," Hyukjae admits, feeling a weight lifted off his shoulders. "Not for...I don't know how long it's been. I can't keep up with you anymore; it feels like I'm falling deeper and deeper into this pit of exhaustion with every new world we go to. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Donghae takes his hands, looking at him earnestly. "You can tell me these things, okay? Anything that's on your mind, any time it starts to be too much. You know that."

"I do. I'm sorry, I just...I'm sorry."

Donghae leans forward, asking with his eyes before their lips meet in the softest of touches. And just for a moment, Hyukjae can breathe.

When Donghae leans back, he doesn't let go. He keeps Hyukjae's face cupped in his hands, looking at him tenderly, and Hyukjae can't help but melt into the touch. His eyelids nearly flutter shut again at the sense of calm that comes over him.

"I need...can we rest?" Hyukjae asks. His words have started to slur together.

"I can only give you an hour. I'm sorry," Donghae tells him, sounding guilty. "If the last world was any sign, collapse times will only get shorter. We have to move even faster than we're used to if we want to get out in time."

Hyukjae practically collapses onto the forest floor. The gears in his head refuse to stop spinning in time for him to fall asleep before they have to leave, but at the very least he gets to rest his eyes. He walks at Donghae's side with weary steps as they make their way deeper into the foliage.

Their journey is a taxing one. Trees stand as giants before them, blocking the view of their path every time they set a new course. And what the trees don't block, the greenery does: everywhere they look, it's the same swath of flora and fauna. There are some places to take shelter along the way under the protection of such plants, which Hyukjae counts as a blessing. The rain soaks them to the bone whenever they venture out from the shelters. Even shedding layers to counter the humidity and using that extra fabric to protect themselves from the rain is only a temporary solution, the pieces becoming soaked and useless for too quickly.

They choose to make their next temporary camp under another protected canopy of leaves. Hyukjae knows it's primarily for his benefit, so he fully embraces the opportunity to sit and let his body recover. Donghae paces as they start to reevaluate their strategy.

"It feels like we're not making progress," Donghae flat-out admits. "For all we know, we could be blindly wandering in circles. There must be a better way to find where the core is hidden."

Hyukjae awkwardly laces and unlaces his fingers, not making eye contact. "I do have abilities I can use, things I can manipulate inside of my own head. Maybe I could try to—"

"Not an option," Donghae cuts in. "I'd have to be blind not to see what that does to you. None of our mission means anything if you lose your mind trying to save it."

In the silence that follows, Hyukjae banishes the earlier thought from his mind, somewhat relieved that he won't have to resort to an extreme. But to truly avoid it, he needs a better option, or at least a different one. Something obvious they've overlooked, something like...

"Couldn't we climb one of the trees for a better vantage point? Maybe we can see a clear path from there."

Donghae nods, and a short while later they're struggling up the thick branches on the side of the tallest tree they can find. It's a hike far more treacherous than on the forest floor: twigs snap off as they ascend, and Hyukjae nearly slips to his doom from the rain-slicked surface before he grabs onto another branch and steadies himself.

After what feels like another day entirely, they reach the top. Hyukjae hoists himself above the leaves to look around from this superior vantage point of the rainforest. In another life, it would be beautiful. But his focus is only on a small anomaly in the distance, differentiating itself from the endless sea of green.

"There's...something this way. Maybe some sort of oasis, or at least a clearing worth checking out."

"Everything else is trees and more trees. I won't argue with you; let's get there before the collapse starts." Donghae steals a glance at Hyukjae, noticing the other man’s heaving chest from the exertion of the climb. "Or let's at least try our best."

As it turns out, Hyukjae's fatigue isn't what brings their steady hike to an end. They're halfway there when the daylight begins to fade and the slide into chaos starts to go into motion. Twisted forest creatures jump at them from the shadows, resembling Frankensteinian experiments more than they do animals. The unnatural screeches that issue from their jaws send shivers down Hyukjae's spine as he and Donghae break into a sprint, and Hyukjae runs as fast as his weary legs will carry him.

The rainforest is not forgiving. Low-hanging vines and brambles threaten to set them back, cutting into flesh even when avoided. Creatures snap at their heels as they struggle to navigate through a maze with endless possibilities and nearly identical spreads of vegetation. A howl sounds at Hyukjae's back, and he's forced to take a sharp right to avoid running directly into a tree.

"Donghae!" he calls, not sure which side of him the other man is on. He's breathing too heavily to pick out a second set of footfalls.

There's no answer. Hyukjae feels himself start to panic, tries and fails not to think the worst.

The trees open up into the clearing he'd seen from up above. The creatures don't let up their chase, but Hyukjae nearly chokes on his relief when he sees Donghae appear from another side of the same clearing. They race toward the center. And to Hyukjae's utter disappointment, not toward a world core. It's just another portal. Another promise of another doomed world. His heart breaks.

"Don't stop running!" Donghae shouts as he races to close the distance between them, and Hyukjae snaps back to attention.

He can mourn, but not now, not at the expense of all the work they've done so far. He wills himself to have one last burst of speed, and Donghae reaches out his hand just in time, grasping Hyukjae's tightly as they jump through the portal.

IV.

Hyukjae takes a deep breath, only to find that he can't breathe at all.

A strangled sound escapes his lips, and he clutches at his throat as he stumbles backward, unable to take in his surroundings when his lungs keep coming up short of air.

Loose stones shift under Hyukjae's feet in a spot he doesn't see. He struggles to find footing, but it's too late. His body careens backwards and breaks through water before he can stop himself.

A cloud of bubbles temporarily encases his vision. Hyukjae struggles to see which way is up, gulping down rapid gasps of air as he does so, and...

I can breathe.

With one focused movement, he propels himself back up to the surface, grabbing Donghae's ankle and pulling the other man into the water with a splash. Safe.

The two of them breathe heavily as they sink to the ocean floor, physical wounds healed as they always are between worlds but not the mental strain. Hyukjae thinks at first that he can still hold himself together. But the moment he hits the ground, he has to bury his head in his hands, collecting himself enough to continue.

A gentle hand rests on his back, and Donghae asks, just audibly, "Anything I can do?"

Even when the other man's voice is distorted in the water, quieter than usual, it still has that same feeling of comfort and security. Hyukjae doesn't respond, but he takes Donghae's hand in his own and allows himself another few deep breaths.

"Honestly, Hyukjae, what kinds of things does your mind dream up?" Donghae asks him, making a weak attempt at a joke. A wan smile makes its way to Hyukjae's face.

"If we make it back, I'll have to ask Jungsoo what he slipped into that syringe to put us under."

A beat of silence.

"We'll make it back," Donghae says firmly. "Don't give up, alright?"

Hyukjae squeezes his hand one last time, not answering. "Let's go."

They swim into the deep ocean, heading in the opposite direction of the rocky ledge they both fell from. It's a strange sensation being able to breathe, a feeling that's especially poignant given the emptiness of their surroundings. The ocean provides nothing but endless blue and the sunlight filtering down from above, the latter lost as they go further and deeper in. But even just the blue is a sight to see: Hyukjae considers it one of the most beautiful places they've been to.

When the ocean floor begins to even out, they come to a point where it drops off into even deeper waters. The edge of the cliff provides a vantage point of the seafloor beyond — and the city just beyond the drop-off.

Even without sunlight, the buildings shimmer, shifting color from one end of the spectrum to the other nearly faster than Hyukjae's eyes can process. Golden spikes and ts adorn those shimmering towers, and the castle they surround dwarfs what are already impressive structures.

As for the city's inhabitants...Hyukjae can't be positive from this distance, but he could swear that they look like merfolk. Not the romanticized half-humans from the fairytales. Not the gentle, playful sea-dwellers of superstition. These are true sea creatures with bulging eyes and gills, with scaled tails that propel them through the water at inhuman speeds.

With a silent nod to Hyukjae, Donghae leads them closer to the city, angling their approach out of sight from the main gate. They both keep a sharp eye out for a less obvious entrance along the wall. These merfolk may not be hostile now, but as with all 'living' things in Hyukjae's mind, they'll turn violent as soon as time runs down.

The guards are absent from their post at one small section of the wall. Hyukjae and Donghae immediately seize the opportunity, swimming up and over the wall and taking cover behind the nearest structure. It takes a few more moments of silently floating in place before they're certain: safety. For as long as it will last.

Hyukjae's first instinct is to head toward the center of the city.

"To the castle?" he asks, triggering a stream of bubbles to issue from his lips.

Donghae frowns at the question. "That was my first assumption, too, but...the world core is at the center of a world, isn't it? The castle is the physical center, but I think the clue leading to the actual center might be—"

"The temple," Hyukjae finishes.

He can see where Donghae's thoughts are headed; if he takes one more sweeping glance of the city, he can see the one detail which had escaped his initial observations. A domed temple near their current position has a giant, jagged crystal attached to its front, refracting light from within the building onto the rest of the city to create those shifting colors. It's hard to put his finger on exactly what it is, as so many things created by his subconscious often are, but with one look Hyukjae can feel that the ebb and flow of the world is focused here.

They don't waste another moment. Once Donghae seconds Hyukjae's hunch with his own, they head in the temple's direction, staying low and hidden in the shadows to avoid the flow of merfolk above. Swimming anywhere near the crystal would mean instant detection, but the back of the roof is unguarded. Donghae keeps watch as Hyukjae peers in through one of the glass portholes into the temple below. His eyes scan the elegant interior without finding much of interest, until he sees something curious at the edge of the space and moves to get a better view.

There's a glowing image projected on the temple's back wall. Hyukjae can make out what looks like a huge clam surrounded by underwater vents, their smoke nearly obscuring the projection. Some sort of gem rests in the center of the clam, and as he peers at it, Hyukjae gets a feeling in his chest that lets him know: this is the world core. If they can find this place, they can go home.

"Vents," he murmurs near Donghae's ear, pulling back from the porthole, and the other man doesn't question it. He immediately scans the horizon, pointing in the distance when he finds what he's looking for.

Hyukjae's eyes follow the outstretched finger until they see the billowing smoke in the distance, just visible from where they're floating. Deep-sea vents. They take off swimming without another word.

The armory is only a small detour from the path back out over the wall. They steal two golden tridents from the outdoor display before they can be caught and swim in the vents' direction with purposeful . Hyukjae still doesn't like taking what doesn't belong to him, but he's not about to swim into the deep ocean unarmed. Even when they're far from the merfolk city, he keeps a wary eye on the fish that start to appear in increasing numbers.

Hyukjae is just glad this isn't like real swimming —it's more like purposeful floating— because otherwise he doesn't think he'd be able to make the journey.

Even if the smoke hadn't been a giveaway, they'd be able to tell when they were approaching the vents. The schools of colorful fish seem to disappear, giving way to a feeling of vague uneasiness, and Hyukjae grips the trident tighter as he swims. It's been too long. The world should be falling apart by now. If they're underwater, how would that even...?

A sudden shadow in the corner of his vision catches Hyukjae's attention, and he cries out just in time for Donghae to look up and see a shark diving their way like a harpoon.

Hyukjae doesn't get the time to be relieved that the spikes on Donghae's trident save him from the initial attack. A second shark comes for Hyukjae, and his own trident just barely keeps it at bay, jaws snapping far too close for comfort.

They slowly retreat backward into the vents, fending off both sharks with defensive blocking and prodding. They've nearly made it when one shark bites off the end of Donghae's trident. Hyukjae sees the other man's face go white before he pulls Donghae to safety amongst the vents, sharks snapping dangerously at their heels for another few moments before they disappear.

This new area is a stark contrast to the wide, open ocean. A deep canyon cuts into the ocean floor, littered with tubular vents that shoot up thick smoke into the water. Hyukjae's instincts practically yell at him to avoid the discharge. The bubbles that issue from each vent are hot, discolored, and probably toxic, not to mention the sense of danger radiating from the smoke. This place isn't a friendly one.

"Hyukjae," Donghae calls in his direction, "Is that...?"

Hyukjae turns back toward the sound of his voice, and he sees a glow that imprints itself on the backs of his eyelids, filling him up with a deep understanding of something he can't name. The clam he'd seen in the projection lies further ahead in the canyon. And within its shell rests an orb that shines brighter than any star. Hyukjae has never seen a world core this close, never been able to appreciate its beauty until now. A light in the midst of this madness.

But that madness still remains, slithering out from the ocean depths to signal that their time is up. A terrible groaning sounds from all around them, and the sound echoes through the canyon to send shivers down their spines. Before Hyukjae can move, a rip in the fabric of the word opens up on his right. A portal. Its glow lights up the walls of the space even through the crumbling debris that turns the water dark and perilous.

But this isn't the time for temporary escape. This is the time for closure. Hyukjae dives for the world core, fingertips outstretched—

Only for a collapsing chunk of the ocean canyon to slam into him, knocking his body into the bubbling water above one of the vents.

Faster than Hyukjae can react, the vent shoots up a billowing column of toxic discharge. He feels the chemicals that engulf him eat through fabric and flesh just before a hand grabs him, pulling what's left of his damaged body through the portal.

V.

Hyukjae's face breaks through the surface of the water, a muted gasp all that remains of the scream of pain dying in his throat.

He's , and not just in the literal sense. Hyukjae feels raw and exposed, skin and muscle restored but feeling unnatural and stretched too tightly. Shivers take over as he sits in whatever pool of water he's ended up in, curling up and holding his knees close to his chest. Hyukjae wants to calm down, wants to stop trembling, but the thoughts pounding in his head insist upon being heard.

I was so close. So close to getting us out of here, and then so close to... His fingers dig tighter into skin, reassuring himself that he's still all there. I've been in danger before, in nearly every world we've been to. I've seen a hundred times over how it could have happened. But I've never...

Donghae's careful hands help him out of the water, dry Hyukjae's shaking body with one of the towels folded in the room before they help him into new clothes. Hyukjae's movements are almost mechanical as he goes through the motions. The dissociation he feels from his own body would frighten him more if he wasn't still in such a state of shock.

When their eyes finally meet, Donghae is looking at him with a profound sadness.

"Hey..." he starts in a whisper, and Hyukjae feels himself break.

He turns away from Donghae just as the tears start to come. The other man is immediately behind him, holding him with a fierceness that Hyukjae nearly feels like he doesn't deserve. Murmured words make their way to Hyukjae's ears, full of encouragement and reassurance. But he can only cry into his shaking hands.

What was different this time? The nearness of death, however literal it would turn out to be, the growing hopelessness of their escape, the exhaustion that's catching up with him. Hyukjae has been so skilled with compartmentalizing these things to deal with later. But for some reason now he slips and falters with tucking those boxes away.

A soft puff of air caresses the nape of his neck, and Hyukjae feels soft, comforting kisses pressed there, moving toward his jaw before they circle back. He tries to find peace in the steady rhythm, willing himself to relax. This moment of weakness has to pass. It takes another long few moments, but Hyukjae stitches those jagged pieces of himself back together enough for them to continue. He attaches them in fragile seams that, from a distance, almost make him look like he’s okay.

But he's not. Not even close. Both psychologically and physically, Hyukjae is barely staying afloat. Donghae has to guide him out of the room and into the hallway, keeping a steadying arm wrapped around Hyukjae's still-shaking form.

The hallway has high-vaulted ceilings, with jeweled columns that reach toward stained-glass windows and painted mosaics. Green velvet carpets crunch under their feet as they pass alcove after alcove holding what are surely priceless vases and statues. There's no doubt that they've found themselves in some sort of palace. But Hyukjae finds it hard to enjoy the luxury surrounding them when he can hardly keep his eyes open.

He can feel himself growing weaker, strength being sapped from his body with every step until at last he can't take it anymore. He stops in the middle of the hallway, bringing Donghae to a halt. The other man looks at him in concern.

"Please," Hyukjae says simply. The quiet words nearly don't make it past his lips. "Let's give up on finding the core this time. We can wait here until the portals open and try again in the next world. I have to rest."

"Hyukjae..." Hyukjae had never wanted to see what it looked like when Donghae's heart broke, but he finds out anyway. "We don't have the luxury of choice. The only way we can both rest is if we find the core and escape."

Hyukjae relents with his head bowed, continuing on without any further objections. In his heart, he knows that Donghae is right, but it doesn't change the fact that he's suffering. It doesn't change that he isn't sure how much longer he can keep going.

There's a spiral staircase at the end of the hallway that they take down to the lower level. Hyukjae has a scattered impression of crystal chandeliers through the fog in his mind, just before a shout sounds from nearby. Guards.

An alarm rings soon after the discovery, followed by a hoard of pounding footsteps, and Hyukjae clings to Donghae for dear life as they try to outrun this new enemy.

The next archway leads them to the grand dining hall. Hyukjae can feel Donghae's arm tense as the other man looks around for their avenue of escape, and once he takes in the room he realizes why. There is no other doorway. They've reached a dead end. Any thoughts of retracing their route are crushed by the appearance of the guards where they'd come in, swords drawn with the sound of grim finality. For every backward step Hyukjae and Donghae take toward the furthest wall, toward those towering stained-glass windows, the guards advance another two. They’re trapped.

"Maybe they just want to take us in as prisoners," Donghae half-heartedly suggests. "They could lead us right to the world core."

Hyukjae takes one look at the line of swords, the looks of cruelty on the men's faces, and knows that's far from the truth. They're going to die.

I'm sorry, Donghae, Hyukjae thinks, resigned, and then he closes his eyes. He turns his thoughts inward, finding that small spark that rests within his subconscious and fanning the flames until raw energy fizzes on the tips of his fingers.

With a shout, Hyukjae s his palms away from his body. A current sweeps through his entire being, digging talons into his mind as it also latches onto the strings of the world around them. And with a sound like an explosion, the great windows of the palace shatter. Shards sail past Hyukjae's outstretched hands and careen toward the line of guards.

Hyukjae is the one this time to grab a stunned Donghae by the wrist and race out of the room past their incapacitated enemies. His head pounds, breath coming in labored puffs with the strain that his escape trick had taken upon his body. It had given him a burst of renewed energy, a temporary fix, but at what cost?

The time it takes to get up the stairs and out of the dining hall gives Donghae time enough to sort out just what he wants to say to give Hyukjae a piece of his mind. "What were you thinking!?" he yells, voice echoing down the hallway as they run. "You know what playing with your mind does to you! You know it's not worth the cost!"

"I'm sorry," Hyukjae says simply. The guilt hits him at full force, and he can't meet Donghae's searching eyes. "It was the only way to get us out of there alive."

Donghae doesn't have a response to that, or else what he was about to say is cut off by the sudden shaking of the hallway, the splitting of the stone that seemed so solid underneath their feet. The beams supporting the upper balcony begin to bow just as they make it through the back door at the end of the hallway. Hyukjae’s eyes quickly take note of the ridge they're standing on top of, of its steep sides that extend down to the plateau below. And of the glowing portal that's opened up at that intersection.

They're just starting to step out onto the narrow outlet of the ridge when a sharp voice demands, "Stop right there!"

A guard captain steps out from the shadows of the palace with more guards than the two of them can possibly fight, and Hyukjae feels any hope he had left slip from his grasp.

"Hyukjae...run," Donghae says, deadly serious.

"No. There's no way I'm leaving you here to—"

Donghae shoves him mid-sentence, and Hyukjae half-falls, half-slides down the side of the ridge toward the stables, too startled to cry out even when he hits the ground.

He scrambles toward the rocks again as soon as his head stops spinning, but it's too steep to climb. There's no way up. The sounds of fighting reach his ears from the top, and Hyukjae knows there's no way Donghae can take them all by himself and come away unscathed, and—

A sword swings dangerously close to Hyukjae's head, making him stumble backward on unsteady feet.

One of the guards had made it down to intercept him, it would seem. The man's face is curled into a brutish grimace. He slashes forward with his sword once more, and Hyukjae jumps back to avoid it without a second thought.

Too late, he realizes his mistake. The purple-blue glow of the portal surrounds him, blurring the world with a thin layer of the veil beyond, and the realization of what he's done settles in Hyukjae's mind with a definitive click: he's leaving Donghae without a tether, without a link back to find him.

He panics.

The portal him in with a surge of white light, and Hyukjae screams Donghae's name as he disappears.