"Hey."
"Hey!"
Something slammed into Kangwoo's shoulder.
He staggered a half-step sideways, boots scraping against concrete as his balance caught late. A man brushed past him, already moving on.
"Watch where you are going." the man muttered, not slowing.
Kangwoo blinked.
Sound rushed back in all at once.
Footsteps, voices, laughter filled the space. The scrape of boots, the murmur of conversation layered over itself until it blurred into a low, constant noise.
He looked around.
People filled the corridor. Dozens of them. Some leaned against the walls talking in low tones, heads close together. Others walked past him without breaking stride, eyes flicking over him with brief, assessing glances before moving on. A few didn't look at him at all, like he was just another obstacle to walk around.
Kangwoo's gaze drifted upward.
The lights were wrong.
Long strips of illumination ran in clean lines overhead, embedded into steel beams that crossed and overlapped like ribs. He followed them higher, neck tilting back,
And realized there was no sky.
A metal ceiling stretched endlessly above the corridor, plates bolted together, seams traced with conduit and vents. The structure arched high enough to fake openness, but not high enough to forget.
Below it, the place still looked like a village.
Wooden storefronts. Hanging signs. Narrow alleys branching off between buildings with tiled roofs and paper lanterns strung across walkways. Someone laughed near a food stall. Somewhere, something sizzled. It smelled faintly of oil and spice and sweat.
A town, wearing a ceiling.
The contradiction scraped at him.
He drew in a breath but it was too shallow. He tried again, but the second one caught halfway in, ribs refusing to expand like they should. His heartbeat thudded loud in his ears, out of sync with the calm movement around him.
…
"Kangwoo!"
The shout cut through the noise cleanly.
He flinched, then turned forward.
Jaewon stood several meters ahead, half-turned toward him, one hand rested loosely at his side, posture easy in a way that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Their gazes met.
Jaewon tilted his head slightly. "Can you walk?"
Kangwoo didn't answer right away.
He dropped his gaze to the floor instead, staring at the scuffed concrete between his boots. He forced his shoulders down, unclenched his jaw. Inhaled through his nose this time.
The noise didn't disappear, but it dulled enough to stop pressing directly against his ribs.
He lifted his head.
"Yeah," he said. His voice came out quieter than he expected, but it didn't shake. "I'm fine."
Jaewon watched him for a second longer, then gave a small nod.
"Then do so." he said, already turning away.
Jaewon faced forward and started walking again.
Kangwoo followed.
They moved with the flow of people now, not against it. Kangwoo stayed half a step behind Jaewon, close enough to track his movements without thinking, far enough not to bump into him. The crowd shifted around them, opening and closing in subtle ways he didn't fully understand yet.
Jaewon spoke without looking back.
"Do not let your thoughts wander here." he said casually.
They passed a group clustered near an open doorway. Someone laughed sharply. Someone else was arguing in a low, heated whisper. Kangwoo felt eyes on him again, brief and curious, sliding away just as fast.
They walked on.
The street began to narrow slightly, the crowd thinning as doors became more spaced out, the noise pulling back into something more contained. Kangwoo's breathing finally evened out completely, settling into a rhythm he could ignore again.
He kept his eyes forward.
Behind them, the noise swallowed itself whole, like it had never been there at all.
The crowd ahead of them started to split.
Conversation cut off mid-sentence. Bodies shifted aside, opening a corridor straight down the center of the street. People stepped back without being told, eyes lowering, shoulders turning just enough to make space.
Kangwoo slowed, confusion snagging his steps.
"What–"
Jaewon's hand closed around his wrist.
And yanked.
The sudden torque twisted his injured side sharply backward, sending a jagged spike straight through the joint. His vision flickered at the edges, knees buckling for a fraction of a second as he was pulled sideways.
He bit down hard enough to taste iron.
By the time his body caught up to the movement, someone had already passed through the space where he had been standing.
Kangwoo's eyes found him, and froze.
The man walked alone through the parted crowd.
A leather jacket hung open over his shoulders, dark and worn, the back marked with a bold tiger emblem that caught the overhead light as he moved. Blood streamed down the right side of his face from a deep cut that split straight across his eye, soaking into his cheek and collar without slowing him at all.
In his arms, he carried another man.
The weight didn't seem to matter.
The injured man was wrapped in layers of bandages, chest, shoulder, head, white already turning brown and red in places. His head lolled weakly against the tiger-marked man's shoulder.
The man didn't look left or right. His gaze stayed locked forward as he walked, boots striking the ground in an unhurried rhythm, heading straight toward the massive building rising at the center of the town. The structure loomed heavier the closer he got, its shadow swallowing the street long before he reached its doors.
Kangwoo swallowed.
The crowd closed in behind them the moment the man passed, sound rushing back in like a held breath released. Voices resumed. Footsteps overlapped. Movement returned.
Kangwoo glanced sideways.
Jaewon had let go of his wrist.
His expression was composed, neutral, but the corner of his mouth had twitched, so fast Kangwoo almost missed it.
Jaewon caught him looking.
"Keep moving, we're near."