Their evening was not supposed to go this way.

They had been on a date at the carnival when they walked into the Hall of Mirrors, holding hands and smiling. They laughed, pointing at their reflections in the funny mirrors.

“Jinki, look!” Minho yelled as the mirror made his reflection all long and squiggly.

Jinki looked over.

“That’s kinda how you really look.” Jinki teased.

Minho swatted Jinki’s arm and then pulled Jinki into a soft kiss, his hands on his back, pulling him in close. Jinki’s surprise left his lips pliant against Minho’s, his eyes fluttered closed.

“Minho, what are you doing?” Jinki said, opening his eyes as Minho’s face pulled away. A look of panic flashed across Jinki’s face and he turned around to look behind them, sighing when he saw no one was there.

“Kissing you.” Minho said matter-of-factly with a grin. He grabbed Jinki’s hand and lead them further down the corridor.

A man appeared from behind two mirrors, his face covered with a top hat.

Minho and Jinki gasped from the sudden shock of running into someone. They hadn’t seen a single other person since they entered an hour ago.

Jinki clutched Minho’s arm tightly, pulling him back, but Minho’s feet were planted and he only moved back slightly.

The man tipped a purple top hat with black lace detail back, exposing his face. The man’s face is made up to look like a skull, thick white costume paint covering his skin, black make-up his eyes, black lines drawn all the way up his cheeks to made up the skull’s teeth.

“What do we have here? Lovers, perhaps?” The man drawled, his make-up cracking to show his real mouth.

“Uhh…” Jinki started slowly, turning red, shuffling his feet.

Minho simply nodded.

The man looked at Jinki slowly and then addressed them both.

“How sweet. I am the proprietor of the Hall of Mirrors. I am pleased to meet you.”

“We’re pleased to meet you.” Jinki and Minho said automatically, polite to a fault.

“The mirrors here are not what they seem.” The man turned a round medallion on the edge of the mirror like a dial and tapped the mirror. Instead of a reflection, it showed a beach, the moon hanging in the sky, lighting the white sand and dark blue, almost black water below. The man reached just next to Minho, Jinki’s grip tightened, and did the same to the other mirror. There were bright lights and billboards high into the sky, sounds of taxis honking and people, it was Times Square. “These are teleportation portals. They can take you wherever you want. But be careful, only your heart can lead the way.”

On a whim, they decided to go through a mirror. Minho went first, taking a step into the mirror when the building shook and Minho fell forward, Jinki and Minho’s hands separated.

Jinki rushed forward after Minho, but when he landed, Minho wasn’t there.

They were stuck now, playing a never-ending game of chase within the mirrors for the last three hours.

No matter what they did, Jinki and Minho were never in the same place at the same time, seeming to just miss each other. An endless game of chase.

“Minho, where are you?!”

“Jinki, stay where you are. I’ll find you.” Jinki turned around, his panic growing. He could hear the echo of Minho’s voice, but didn’t know where the sound was coming from.

They would find each other in the mirrors, look at each other’s reflections, but they couldn’t reach each other.

“Minho!”

“Jinki, I’m here.”

Jinki reached his hand out, but the mirror is cold and hard.

“How do I reach you?”

Jinki started to cry. The image of the mirror shimmered and Minho disappeared. Jinki started to cry harder.

Where they going to be stuck here forever?

Would he ever find Minho?

On the other side of the mirror, Minho slammed his hand against the mirror as Jinki disappeared. He scowled. He hated seeing Jinki cry.

Jinki was tired and he was frustrated. He wished they had never come to this place, staying in their dorm far from others instead.

Jinki then remembered what the man said. He stopped crying. He looked at the mirror again and he took a deep breath.

Will it work?

“Show me my heart.”

The mirror shimmered and it was a portal. Jinki just knew that this was different than the last time. He pushed himself through the mirror.

Minho saw a flash of light as a mirror in the corner of the room crackled. The light was warm and it felt like sunshine. He didn’t know why or how, but he felt like he could trust it. Minho walked towards the light.

“Jinki!”

Jinki walked out of a mirror and Minho crushed him into a bear hug immediately. They were back in the Hall of Mirrors. Minho let go and touched Jinki all over, checking his body over for any injuries.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m okay. Are you okay?”

“I’m better now that I found you.” Minho said, the relief evident on his face. “Let’s get out of here.” Minho grabbed Jinki’s arm, leading him past the mirrors.

“Yea, let’s go.” Jinki took one last lingering look at the mirrors over his shoulder as Minho lead them outside.

Jinki and Minho can be heard talking in the distance as they walked outside and down the stairs.

“How did we get out of there?”

“I asked to see you.”

“I did that too! But it didn’t work.”

Their voices begin to fade as they move farther away from the building.

“I… asked to see my heart.”

Silence.

“Really?... I’m your heart?”

Inside, the man in the top hat leaned against the wall and smiled.

“Good for them.”

Jinki and Minho had figured out the solution and realized what they meant to each other. Other people spent much more time figuring out the same and some never did.

The door chimed as another couple entered the Hall of Mirrors.

“Ah, new customers.”

The man broke out in a slight smile as he walked down the hall, whistling as he disappeared into the darkness.