***

Seeing the monster loom over him, grinning hideously at him as though he was a piece of juicy fried chicken, Tao knew better than to engage a fight with this thing. Its black claws alone could gut him with one well-aimed swing of the hand, and if that didn’t do him in, Tao could imagine that that grin contained enough sharp fangs to rip him apart.

Needing to be smart about this, Tao quickly analyzed his surroundings when he caught a path amongst the mirrors and quickly jolted towards it to make his escape. Perhaps he was being a coward for not engaging the creature in a fight, but he wasn’t stupid. One battle lost didn’t mean that the war was over either. He had to find a means to arm himself with, and if not that, then at least he had to stay one step ahead of it. That’s what his brothers would do, as well.

Shrieking, the monster followed him on his heels, but Tao kept running, seeing his reflections in the mirrors, trying to find a way to get out. There was no way he could give up here and lose to that beast.

“There!” he whispered to himself, finding a strange doorway amongst a row of mirrors, the only thing that did not contain his reflection, nor that of the monster. With a deft and elegant jump, Tao flew into it, hearing a terrible crash as he passed the entrance. When he looked behind him, the creature had ceased chasing him, glaring at him whilst standing amongst shards of glass.

“Ha! I win! You can’t catch me, I’m on a whole other level than you, you ugly beast!” he mocked, quickly running away from the entrance of the mirror chamber before the monster would change its mind and come after him after all… What a shame it was that the youth hadn’t bothered to stand there for a few seconds more. Perhaps he would’ve been able to see how the monster had turned back to take Tao’s perfect form, that perpetual smirk painted on its face…

Tao ran through the halls until he entered a parlor that didn’t look as scary as the rest of the mansion. There was a nice fire burning and after making sure there wasn’t a fire spirit haunting it, Tao gave himself a break and sat on one of the chairs.

“Jae-noona, the next time you want to visit a haunted house, I’m going to scold you,” he swore as he gazed at the ceiling. He closed his eyes a moment, wincing and frowning in agitation when he heard the loud ticking of an old grandfather clock.

Sighing deeply, Tao sat up straight and followed the sound. “Aish, is this necessary?” he complained, staring at the clock as if the object had personally disrespected him and his family.

Tao stood in front of it with his arms crossed over his chest, just glaring at it, until he noticed something odd. The pendulum of the clock swung lazily from side to side, but the second hand of the clock was ticking towards the left, instead of the right. When Tao blinked and took a closer look, the numbers on the clock were backwards as well, as if someone had pulled a prank and turned the clock inside out.

“What the–?” he touched the clock a moment when he felt his ears twitching and the faint scent of jasmine caught his attention.

“Jae-noona…” he murmured, immediately picking up the scent and following it.

“Jae-noona? Jae-noona, where are you?” he called out, the darkness of the halls and the overall creepiness meaning nothing to him now. He could smell her. She was near. The real noona, not a fake mirror monster that used her reflection to reel him into that chamber of mirrors.

“Noona!” he called for her, shouted her name, ran through the halls until he saw her pass him by, frightened and alarmed, running at full speed. “Jae-noona!” he shouted at her and saw her stop abruptly. She turned around, her face pale as if she was startled out of her wits. Had she encountered the mirror monster, too?

“Jae-noona! I found you!” Tao yelled, walking towards her.

“Tao? Is that you?” she squinted her eyes, relief washing over her tired face, the same way it washed over his.

“Noona!” Tao smiled and ran, but suddenly slammed against something invisible and solid in front of him. The loud bang startled Jae out of her wits and quickly ran into the arms of– me?

“Noona! Are you okay? What was that sound?”

Tao watched in utter confusion and disbelief at the doppelgänger that was holding his Jae-noona in their arms. He banged against the invisible wall, shouting at Jae to run, that the Tao who was with her, wasn’t him.

“Ah! What’s up with that mirror?!” Jae whined, hugging the fake Tao’s arm tightly. “I want to get out of here,” she added in a plea as the fake Tao nodded and soothed her. When Tao saw that the fake Tao’s nails were jet black and a smirk graced his face when he stared right at him, realization smacked him across the face.

“You! No! Let Jae-noona go, you monster! Let me out of here!” Tao ranted and screamed, desperately trying to break the mirror. But the louder he was, the more scared Jae became and the faster she wanted to leave with the fake Tao.

“Come with me, noona. I found a way out of this scary place, it’s right through there,” the Other Tao pointed towards the chamber of mirrors, Tao watching helplessly at Jae taking his hand and following him. He was trapped and Jae would soon suffer the same fate as him. He failed…

=== BAD ENDING: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS ===

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