"Pssst! Up here! Quick!" A familar voice hissed from behind.

Whose voice is it? It sounded like Yuri...! It must be her!

I turned around and looked up.

What the hell?!

In the dark, I could make out a face of an old lady staring back at me from the air vent and my jaw dropped.

"Yuri?" I called.

"Hurry! They're going to be back anytime!" the voice answered.

How did Yuri age so much?? My poor Yuri... Are we going to become like this too?

"Come on!" Sunny gave a light pat on my back and gingerly propped herself up on the table. Sooyoung followed behind as quietly as possible. Wasting no time, they had already climbed into the air vent.

"Come with us!" I whispered to the mother, still trembling in the cabinet, "We'll be safe there, trust us!"

I extended a hand towards her and she slowly reached out with her trembling hands. Holding her little girl tightly, we quickly make our way to the table as quietly as possible. Sooyoung and Sunny gave me a hand in climbing up as I couldn't reach. I could hear soft giggles at the background. Mmmm...

Once I got in, Sooyoung held me while I lowered my body down to grab the little girl as her mother lifted her up to me. Sunny was holding the filter, preparing to close the air vent as soon as they got in. I gave a reassuring smile to them even though I'm not certain if they were able to see it in the dark.

After I had safely tugged the little girl beside me, I reached out for her mother. Then, we heard footsteps coming closer and closer. "Remember to check thoroughly, find every single one," a voice ordered.

The mother and I looked at each other with a horrific look. My heart rate was accelarating and I could feel it pounding against my chest.

"Quick!" I attempted to grab her hand but she pushed my hand away.

"It's too late, we can't risk it," she stated solemnly, "Please take care of her for me."

"No! We can still make it!" I insisted. "Give me your hand!"

"If we don't? All of us are going to be caught," her voice was shaking and I lost my voice.

She was right.

My vision went blurry as tears flooded my eyes. The little girl tried to struggle away from me but I hugged her tighly, covering to muffled her screams. 

"Hyeyeon arh, be a good girl, okay? Mama will be back soon." she gave one last look at her child as tears rolled down her cheeks. 

She got down from the table and turned to face the door but then decided to hide under the table instead. Sunny promptly covered the air vent with the filter and everyone kept still. The silence was deafening.

The sound of the door creaking open broke the silence as everyone held their breath, awaiting the next moment that could decide their fate.