It was the last door. Door number five. If she could succeed at that last game, she was free, Wendy was free, or so she thought. The tangled feelings of fear and anxiety were playing tricks inside of her, but there’s nothing she could do but to open that door, so she did.

In a couple of seconds, the spiders in the first room, the freezing room at the second door, the knives in the third room and the bomb in the last room turned into a simple tic tac toe game comparing to what she was seeing.

The room was enormous, twice the size of the first ones. Five steps away from where she was standing the concrete floor ended and a pool started. A huge, deep pool full of water, and there was no way to cross to the other side without going in. Of course she didn’t know how to swim, not even float, nothing. She was scared of water, not as much as of spiders, but still it was pretty awful. For someone as reticent as Seulgi, the person behind all that knew her a little too well.

On the other side of the room… was Wendy. Kneeling Inside a metal cage in which she couldn’t even stand, handcuffed and gagged. She was dirty and scared as if she’d been there for days. As soon as she saw Seulgi enter the room she started crying really hard and tried to scream something the latter could not understand. The oldest started to get desperate seeing Wendy like that and knowing it was probably her fault.

At the end of the room there was a door, which Seulgi thought was the way to their freedom. There was something weird about that room though. Unlike all the other times, there were no indications whatsoever; nothing to guide her or tell her what to do. ‘Should I just guess?’ she thought. It was extremely dangerous but what else could she possibly do?

The room was cold and dark, she was sure Wendy was freezing and probably also starving. The uncertainty was killing her and the girl in the cage was trying so hard to tell her something that it was all getting worse by the second.

“Wan… I’m gonna get you out of here, oh my god” her heart started beating faster than ever because she couldn’t promise her that, she couldn’t promise the only person who really, truly mattered to her to keep her alive.

She started walking slowly towards the pool trying to convince herself that going into the water was the best decision. Wendy’s sobs got louder with every step she took so she stopped and stared at her, searching for some kind of answer. Wendy just shook her head erratically, with tears running down her cheeks and wetting the white fabric tied around her head.

Suddenly, the back door opened and a figure entered the room. Seulgi’s heart skipped a beat. Wendy turned around to see who the subject was. Either she was having the worst nightmare, or her life was a ing joke. There she was, her cute classmate, who didn’t look so cute anymore.

“Irene? What are you doing here?!” Seulgi asked confused, not really knowing what to believe anymore. Suddenly a flashback invaded her mind.

Seulgi was walking down the halls of Joongdong High School to go to math class. She reached for her locker, grabbed the lock and entered 0930; that was the date of the worst day of her life. Her girlfriend had passed away on September the 30^th, only a few months back. The only person she had cared about, gone, just like that, because someone decided to drink and drive. Her heart was broken, she thought it would never heal. A hand on her shoulder made her turn around.

“Irene, hi” she said, lifeless.

“Hey cheer up! Look outside, it’s sunny! Besides you just got an A+ in Modern Literature, are you kidding me?! That’s awesome!” Irene answered super hyped.

“Yeah” Seulgi made an inhuman effort to smile, but it was pointless.

“Look, I got you something” her friend said, taking a present out of her backpack. She handed it to Seulgi. “You parents told me you got into Busan Law School, I’m so happy we get to stay together… I thought you’d like it”

Seulgi ripped the wrapping and looked at it. A law book.

“I did some research and I found this, it’s one of the best books for law dummies” she laughed and looked at Seulgi, waiting for a reaction.

The youngest read the title out loud “‘Think Again! Innovative Approaches to the Business of Law’ by Jeffrey L. Nischwitz. Thank you Irene, I love it”

“I came here to give you the instructions” Irene said without hesitating, bringing Seulgi back to life.

“What do you mea-” She couldn’t even finish her sentence because her brain was too messed up to even think at that moment. She stood still, staring at the girl so intensively the air could break into a million pieces.

“Shut up. You never had anything to say, so now shut up” Irene enquired firmly. Seulgi just stared at her, completely shocked. A part of her didn’t want to believe what she was seeing.

“What are you talk-” again interrupted.

“I SAID SHUT UP!” she shouted so loud the words echoed inside the room. “Oh Seulgi, you were never a good listener” she started what it seemed to be a speech “remember that night I told you I had feelings for you? What did you do? Not a word came out of your mouth. Nothing. I cried a lot after you left my apartment; you didn’t care…”

“But that was a long time ago Irene…” Seulgi mumbled, confused.

“You’re right, it was a long time ago, and I suffered a lot during that time” the girl responded.

“You told me you were ok with it after I apologized” the younger girl defended herself.

“Well, you know… some wounds never heal, I’m pretty sure you know the feeling. I was there for you when that little cute girlfriend of yours passed away; I spent my nights watching you cry, handing you tissues, telling you everything was going to be ok; gosh Seulgi you’re so ing selfish... but karma is a and now you have to pay for it, and Wendy does too” she looked at the girl in the cage and smirked.

“Wendy doesn’t have to pay for anything. You’re right, I’m selfish, and self-centered and everything else you want me to be, but please, let Wendy go, we can work it out, just you and me” she pleaded but Irene only laughed.

“Tell me… what does she have that I don’t?” the oldest asked. Seulgi just stood there, frozen. ‘Everything’ she thought, but that answer was only going to make it worse.

“Nothing, just let her go and I promise I won’t talk to her again, ever” Wendy looked at Seulgi, scared, not knowing whether to believe her words.

“This is not a negotiation. I came here to tell you the reasons why I’m doing this and to give you the instructions for the game. I won’t let her go, I won’t let you go either, unless you succeed at this” she made a long pause that made everything creepier if that was even possible. She sighed and continued. “That pool is just a pool full of water, you know, nothing to be frightened of… unless you don’t know how to swim...”

“You know I don’t… don’t do this, I’m begging you” Seulgi was at her lowest but she didn’t care, she just wanted to get out of there alive, with Wendy.

“SHUT THE UP” she screamed again and continued speaking at her usual tone “after you get out from that pool… if you do… I bet you’re gonna want to get this little piece of out of the cage” she said with an evil smirk and pointing at Wendy. She searched her pocket and took something out of it. “This is the key to that lock, I’ll leave it right here” she kneeled and left the shiny key on the floor, out of Wendy’s reach. “Once you open the loch, the door to your freedom is going to open automatically. The thing is… that cage is electrified and you’re gonna be wet. How much can you take to save her and yourself?”

“You’re ing sick” Seulgi dared to say, she couldn’t handle the situation anymore.

“I am sick… you’re right. I’m sick in love with you and you don’t give a . If you’re not happy with me, you’re not gonna be happy with anyone” that was the reasoning of a psychopathic mind. She approached Wendy and carefully took the gag off . “You know… I’d actually like to hear her scream” The girl in the cage swallowed and coughed.

“What about Joy?!” Wendy spoke for the first time.

“I don’t want you to ask questions, but since you probably have just hours left to live I’m gonna answer it. Joy is not my girlfriend, she never was. She’s in love with me though, poor thing… and I kind of promised her if she helped me with this I would be with her, so she did. It doesn’t make any sense but I guess love blinds you… it makes you do stupid things, right?”

Wendy’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How could so much hate and evil take over one person? How could she hide it so well and seem so normal all the time? She was sweet, she was fun to be around… or so she thought.

“Ok, my job here is done so I’ll just go. Good luck Seulgi, give me a call if you get out alive” she said and winked at the girl across the room. She turned around and left slamming the door and locking it, despite all the screams and intense crying of the other two girls.

“Seulbear…” Wendy sighed, letting her tears fall down; there was nothing she could do to stop them.

“Wan, I’ll get both of us out of here” she wasn’t sure how and she was scared to death to find out.

“No, please don’t do it, you’re going to drown, don’t be stupid!” she said quite effusively.

“Then what? I don’t think I have a choice here Wendy. I try or we die. No one’s gonna come look for us, God damn, I don’t even know where we are!!” she screamed furious.

“Ok, try to calm down, talk to me, what happened to you? You’re hurt” she asked.

“I’ve been through hell, you don’t even want to know; but I got here and I need to finish it” she said, sitting on the edge of the pool. She immersed her feet in the cold water. Her breathing was getting heavy and her heart rate was probably over a hundred. She let herself fall into the pool, hear arms leaning on the edge; tears racing down her cheeks. The only time she had felt that way was when she was kneeling on the asphalt holding her dead girlfriend in her arms.

“Hey, try to push your feet against the pool really hard and get to the other side. Use all your strength, you can do it” Wendy suggested. It was just an idea, but a good one. Seulgi thought about it for a second and decided to do it.

She turned around never letting go of the edge and positioned herself. She filled her lungs with air and closed her eyes before submerging. Once under the water she pushed the wall gathering all her strength and tried to reach the other side of the pool. With her arms stretched she felt her way to the edge but there was nothing but water at the tips of her fingers.

She felt her body weighting down and sinking. The fear started shrinking her lungs and suddenly the air was not enough. She opened her eyes and looked at the surface, to find she was not far from it.

“Seulgi!!!” she heard Wendy desperately screaming her name. She wasn’t going to die there, in a pool, with the girl watching… her girl. She was not going to let Wendy die in that cage as if she was an animal. She deserved better than that. She started moving her arms and legs uncontrollably until she resurfaced and magically made her way to the other edge. She hanged in and used what was left of her strength to pull herself out of the pool.

She breathed in and out many times and coughed the water out of . Whilst still on the floor she looked at Wendy and smiled for the first time in what felt like days. She stood up and grabbed the key Irene had left on the floor. As she quickly approached the cage Wendy screamed again.

“Wait, don’t!!” She warned the older girl. Seulgi stopped short and remembered the cage was electrified. She started thinking but there was no apparent solution.

“Wendy… I’m going to open it, ok? Just get out of here and find Irene, she can’t get away with this” Seulgi said looking straight into Wendy’s eyes. She started crying again and looked down playing with the key in her hands.

“No” Wendy said firmly, as if she could change the other’s mind.

“I didn’t ask for your permission” she answered, trying to seem mad so that Wendy wouldn’t insist anymore. Before the girl could speak again she continued. “I read your diary, you know, the pages in which you wrote about me…” she looked up again and saw the other blushing a bit. “I’m not good at expressing myself, I never was but I’m going to try. I… I feel the same way you do, I love being around you, you make me smile. I’m sorry if I don’t let it show, I’m sorry for humming instead of talking, I’m sorry for being cranky and stupid, but I guess somewhere along the way I lost the will to live and it took me a while to recover it. I started to feel things for you that I had only felt for my girlfriend and I… I was afraid of losing you like I lost her, that’s why I was so reluctant to everything. Now I realize I was an idiot because… well, look where we are” she let a sarcastic laugh out “I’m sorry you had to go through all this because of me, I feel guilty for some reason, you’re sweet and you don’t deserve this” she apologized “I… hope-” her voice broke and she suddenly felt a lump in .

“What? Seulbear…” Wendy said. She was shivering and crying.

“I hope you find someone who can make you really happy” she managed to finish the sentence and as soon as she did she grabbed the lock and opened it.

“Hey baby… I missed you” a girl dressed in a white gown said as she stretched her arm to reach Seulgi.

Everything was white and luminous, it looked like paradise. “Take my hand” she added with an angelic smile. Seulgi reached for her.

Author's Note: It doesn't end here, I have one more chapter to write. What do you think? Let me know! Thank you for the feedback and all the love ♥