She looked at him like he wasn't the same man who had pulled her into the stall minutes ago.
What she'd seen didn't fit anywhere in her head. He tore a metal door loose with a shove. Rifle rounds hit him and fell away. No blood. No flinch.
"Wha… what are you?" she asked.
"I'm just an average dude with a strange power," Felix said. He glanced her over. "You hurt?"
She shook her head.
"What did you just do?"
Felix stepped back into the stall and held out his hand. "I'll answer later. We need to move. Now."
"Move?" Her voice tightened. "What if they're still outside?"
"I won't let anything happen," he said. "I've got you."
She hesitated, then took his hand and stepped down from the seat.
They left the stall.
The first body lay half across the sinks. The man's neck bent at an angle it shouldn't. Blood streaked the porcelain and pooled on the floor, mixing with shards of glass and water. Another body lay against the wall, chest caved in, face hidden behind a smeared balaclava.
She covered her mouth.
Her stomach lurched. Heat climbed up her throat. She swallowed hard and forced it back down, eyes watering, legs stiff as she stepped around the mess.
Felix didn't slow. He kept her close, guiding her past the wrecked mirrors and broken tiles. His grip stayed steady.
They pushed out into the hallway.
The corridor was worse.
Bodies lay everywhere—on their backs, facedown, twisted together where people had fallen and been trampled. Blood spread beneath them in dark pools that crept along the grout lines. A hand stuck out from under a body, fingers curled. A wall was painted red at shoulder height, streaked where someone had slid down it.
"What's your name?" Felix asked.
"My name is Chae Soon-ah."
"Chae? It is…my name is Felix. Now do you stay here at Okada? Do you have a room?"
"Yes and I'm with my friends but we got separated…" Chae replied.
So she was saying here at Okada? That means she's loaded.
"Then we have to get to your room first and plan our way out."
"What about my friends…"
"I'll help you find them but I don't have the power to do that yet. We need to get into your room first and strategize," Felix replied.
"Okay…I have the keycard with me."
They went to the elevator hall.
Felix slowed and raised a hand.
"Wait."
He leaned out just enough to scan the open space. The carpet was torn where people had slipped and been dragged. A body lay face-down near the call buttons, blood pooled beneath the chest and creeping toward the drains. The smell was stronger here.
Felix stepped out first and pulled Chae with him, keeping her close to his side. His eyes stayed up, tracking corners, reflections, anything that didn't belong.
She pressed herself against his arm, shoes sliding on the slick floor. She didn't look down anymore.
"Keycard," Felix said.
Chae fumbled in her purse, fingers shaking, and handed it over. He scanned the panel, frowned, then swiped again. The elevator chimed and the doors slid shut with a dull thud.
The car rose.
Neither of them spoke. The hum of the cables filled the space, broken by a distant bang somewhere below. Felix stood between her and the doors, shoulders squared, breathing even.
The elevator stopped on her floor.
Compared to the floor down below, this floor was peaceful. There were no dead bodies and the air smelled fresh.
"Where's your room?" Felix asked.
She pointed down the hall.
"End corner," Chae said.
Chae stopped at the last door and swiped her keycard. The lock clicked. She pushed it open and stepped aside.
Felix went in first.
The suite opened wide—living area, dining table, a bar lined with bottles he couldn't name. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the city, lights scattered like embers. A couch sat low and white, untouched. Curtains hung heavy and still. Everything smelled clean. Expensive.
Felix paused just inside the door.
"Damn," he said quietly.
Chae closed the door behind them and turned the lock. Then the deadbolt. Her shoulders dropped a fraction, like she'd been holding them up for too long.
"This is… your room?" Felix asked.
She nodded. "Suite. My friends insisted."
Felix took a few steps in, eyes moving over the space. Marble counters. Polished wood. A bedroom visible through a half-open door, sheets smooth, pillows stacked.
The contrast hit him late.
Outside, people were dying. In here, nothing was touched.
Chae leaned against the wall and let herself slide down until she was sitting again, knees drawn up, arms wrapped tight around them. Her breathing slowed, uneven.
Felix turned back to the door and listened for a count of ten. Nothing. No footsteps. No voices.
He finally relaxed his stance.
"Okay," he said. "We'll use this place to plan. And I'm going to need your help."
"Help? What do you mean?"
Felix walked up to her close and explained.
"You see what I did earlier right? It happened because I got intimate with you. If I do it again, my powers will be reactivated. I'll use that power to take out the armed men and rescue as many civilians as I can."
"Wai…wait…" Chae fumbled her hands, her cheeks turning red. "You mean, you are going to kiss and touch me?"
"Yeah but we have to take it to another level. My powers work in a way that the longer the act, the longer the duration my powers would be. Back in the bathroom, I only kissed and touched you for a good five seconds, and in those five seconds, I used it to kill the gunmen."
"By another level…you mean?"
"Let's have sex."