"She was still here when I wake her up, Sooyun-ah, I swear!" Mirae became panic when she didn't find Yoonyoung anywhere inside the room, nor answer her when she called out her name in the hall upstairs.

"The thing hasn't been moved from the doors, it means she was going upstairs, to the hall." Said Sooyun. "You sure you didn't hear her scream, or asking for help, anything?"

"No! Did you?"

"Ah... Me neither. It was all so quiet. She didn't go on purpose right?" Sooyun asked. "I think I saw her awake and walked upstairs but I thought it was just a dream, but..."

"She couldn't be, where would she go anyway?"

"Could she be searching for Wooyoung? I mean..." Sooyun bite her nails to make herself a little bit calmer. "I think I heard her call out hisname when I was sleeping..."

Mirae stood up and headed her way to the staircase, when she climbed it up slowly, Sooyun grabbed her hand. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"I'm not. Do you want to wait here still and give up on Yoonyoung? She's our best friend!" Mirae shouted back at her.

"I know, she's my best friend too! But it's dangerous out there, for God sake! What if something bad happen to us?" Sooyun tried to drag her back to the room but she let go of her hold quick.

"You still care about that? I don't even know whether I still want to survive this journey right after they took Junho from me. And then Khun, Wooyoung-ie, and now Yoonyoung." Mirae paused to give herself some air before she continued. "If you were right, if she really leave on purpose to search for Wooyoung-ie, she couldn't be far."

Sooyun couldn't stop Mirae from moving upstairs and she didn't have any option too. There was absolutely no way she was staying alone in that dark, small, dusky room. So she followed her to the hall.

"I don't believe we're going to do this again. What if we get lost?" Sooyun asked.

"We have faced the worst condition so far, I don't think 'got lost' considered as one, don't you think so too?"

"Ah... This is what I hate about you most, you know. You're such a stubborn girl." Sooyun hissed as she followed her friend traced the hall once again.

*****

"Weird. It's supposed to be an inter-junction right here, right?" Mirae asked, looked suddenly confused. The hall has somehow turned to be a long tunnel with no turns at all.

"Maybe we missed it already? Or..." Sooyun paused for a while. "Remember when Wooyoung-ie said that the inter-junction was not even there when he and Khun found the door?"

"What? Are you saying that it's disappeared again?" Mirae frowned her eyebrows, it didn't make any sense to her. But nothing made sense since the minute they arrived at the mansion. Strange things kept on happening to them that she wasn't sure anymore what to believe.

"I think... Someone's playing trick on us. Maybe it's his plan to get us lost and..." Sooyun said referring to the mysterious man whose voice always heard from the invisible speaker in every corner of the mansion. Brag!

"You heard that?" Mirae asked in whisper. It was a sound of a door slammed.

"Yeah, and I think it's from that way. Want to check it out?" Sooyun asked.

"Let's go."

They walked closer towards the sound and then there they found it. It looked like the exact same wooden door which led them to the old dusky room where they just spent their night, but this time, they found Wooyoung's watch on its handle.

"Look. It's Wooyoung-ie's watch..." Said Sooyun as she grabbed the watch from the handle and put it in her palm so Mirae could take a closer look on it.

"It means, we've been in the wrong room all these times?" Mirae looked confused. "This secret passage makes me dizzy. I thought we're just moving in circles all these times, since every staircase lead to the exact same hall and we kept on finding this exact same wooden door."

"Yeah, me too. And, shouldn't we be in the...5th floor by now? We keep on taking the staircase, right? I mean... How come?" Sooyun looked closely at Wooyoung's watch. "And...the room in which Wooyoung left his watch, must be somewhere in the...3rd floor."

"Stop, it makes me confused more, Sooyun-ah." Mirae turned the handle. The door was unlock. She opened the door slowly and moved in head first. After she thought the room was safe and clear, she signed Sooyun to come in.

"The staircase... It's...different." Sooyun spotted the different staircase. The room itself was a lot more bigger and spaceful, and the staircase looked exactly like the one in the main lobby of the mansion, only it looked older and more...fragile.

"I don't understand." Said Mirae. "Do you want to check upstairs?"

"We're here already. Come on, then."

They both walked upstairs hand in hand, Mirae went up first with Sooyun behind her. They both gasped as they arrived. It was a circular shaped room with a big window that showed the wonderful yet mysterious-like scenery of the back yard of the mansion.

They never knew such place exist until then. "Wow. Where are we?" Mirae asked as she walked closer towards the window.

"I think, my friend, we're in the mansion's tower now."

*****

The tower was quite spaceful, there weren't many things and furniture in there, only a rack full of books, a couch, a telescope, and a little drawer beside the couch.

Sooyun took a look at the telescope and gasped. "I don't know the scenerey was this beautiful. Gosh... We've been trapped in front of this magnificent view, all these times?"

Mirae didn't bother to look at the scenery, she didn't have any interest in it because she was too frustrated herself.

"Relax a little, will you?" Sooyun seemed to notice it. Mirae kept silence, she didn't say anything. She walked towards the couch and took a sit on it.

"Hey... What is this?" She felt like she was sitting on something... "Hey! It's Yoonyoung's wallet!"

"What? Let me look at it!" Sooyun approached Mirae quick to take a closer look at the wallet. "It is her wallet. It means... She was here before?"

"Ne... Maybe." Mirae opened the wallet. It got a picture of the five girls; Chaerim, Mirae, Sooyun, Misun, and Yoonyoung herself, hugging each other with big grin on their face. It was the picture they took on their first year of highschool.

"This picture. Tch." Sooyun hissed. "It's been years."

"Yeah, right. Been years." Mirae looked closely at the picture, at how happy they seemed to be. She was still surprised on how everything could be changing so much in years only.

*****

The sun was shining pretty bright as Sooyun prepared herself for her very first date with Khun. She finally opened up her heart for him and decided to move on and leave her feeling for Junho behind.

Jaegi, I'll be waiting for you at the amusement park's entrance gate, okay? I've bought us two tickets. :D

She smiled when she read Khun's texted message. "Jaegi... It sounded so nice to me." She said to herself. She had been ready for 15 minutes and couldn't stop checking herself in front of the mirror. "I guess I should go now. I shouldn't leave him waiting much longer. Teehee."

She was walking cheerfuly to the amusement park when suddenly, in the middle of her way, inside an ice cream cafe, she saw Mirae and Junho sat face to face as they laughed at each other.

Sooyun's walk became slower as she became closer to the cafe and looked at them clearer. They looked happy, and what she hated about it was, they looked perfect for each other. They looked like they made for each other. The fact disturbed her pretty much.

She hadn't had the chance to fasten her way and went straight to the amusement part when suddenly Junho cupped Mirae's face with his hand as he smiled, caused that tiny eyes of him disappeared, Sooyun's favorite smile of all.

Not long after that, she saw them shared their very first kiss. Sooyun couldn't stand but cry and left. She walked fast home, forgot about her date with Khun, she didn't even know that her feeling for Khun was true at all.

Khun, I couldn't come. I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well. I hope you're not mad.

She texted him as soon as she arrived home.

Of course I'm not, I'm worried instead :( are you really okay? Get well soon, jaegi-ah... Do you want me to come to your house? Do you want me to bring something? Ddeokbokki, maybe? :D

Again, she felt guilty towards him. If only she could love him as much as she loved Junho. If only she could forget about Junho and gave her full heart to Khun, to this nice man, this sincere man who loved her unconditionally. If only.

*****

"Mirae-ah..." Sooyun closed Yoonyoung's wallet and turned her head to Mirae beside her.

"Ne?"

"I just...wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Junho... You...really love him? Even... Even if you already know I loved him too?"

"Why...suddenly you..." Mirae seemed like she was out of words, but then she smiled. "Yes, I love him so much. I'm sorry. I know things going bad after that between us."

"Wae?" Sooyun asked again. "Don't you feel...some what...guilty towards me?"

"Of course." Mirae turned her head down to avoid Sooyun's eyes. "But...your life is perfect already. You're wealthy, everyone loves you. All I need is Junho, nothing else. I don't mind faith turn me down oftenly. I'm sorry, I may sound so selfish but..."

Sooyun remembered it all. Mirae was the one who wanted so bad to enter Seoul Arts High School, but she was the one who attended it in the end. Mirae was the one who wanted to have the red dress they saw together in their favorite boutique, but she was the one who wore it on their graduation night. She has took too much things from her, many uncountable others. No wonder she didn't want to give Junho up that time.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you?" Sooyun asked again. After all these years... Those misunderstanding has made her lost her best friend. She felt so ashamed yet so angry.

"I thought you hate me so much you didn't want to see my face again. Hahaha." Mirae sighed, a long and deep one. "But... You love Khun right? You didn't date him because you need..."

Sooyun cut her before she could finish, "At first, yes, he was my rebound. But day to day I turned out to be loving him so much. Hahaha. Stupid, huh? What we're doing to each other all these times?"

"I'm very sorry, Sooyun-ah."

"Me too, I haven't been an understanding friend for you."

"Don't say things like that..." Sooyun hadn't finish her words when suddenly the lights in the room went off. Heavy step was heard from the staircase, slowly climbed up towards the tower. Both girls could do nothing but shut their mouth tight and held to each other's hands.

"Last two..." The mysterious voice came out again, along with the sound of the heavy foot steps walked closer and closer. "Finally."

Mirae could feel a cold hand grab her feet and dragged her towards the staircase. She fell to the floor with a huge 'brag' sound. Sooyun was quick enough to hold her hand. "No!!! Leave us alone!!!"

Another cold hand grabbed Sooyun's hand, made her hold to Mirae's hand off as she was dragged to another corner of the room.

"Last two..." The voice repeated. "It's about time."

"No!!!" both girls screamed. And then there was only silence.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hold on, guys! This is not the final chapters, nor the end for the team! I still got one chapter left, where all the secrets will be revealed. The chapter will be updated tomorrow night. Curious? Stay tuned! -Q-