Benny's Perspective
"Hey, Doc. I'm good, right?"
Benny leaned back slightly as she looked at the doctor standing in front of her. He was the one Melon had assigned to treat her injuries, and judging by his expression, he had already reached the point where patience was becoming a limited resource.
The doctor glanced down at his notes before answering.
"Yes. We are finished," he said. "However, you are not allowed to remove the bandage. Your arm needs time to recover. Do not strain yourself, or the wound could reopen."
Benny listened.
Or at least she tried to.
His voice had a strange effect on her. The longer he explained everything, the heavier her eyelids became. It wasn't that she didn't care — it was simply that his serious, slow way of speaking made it incredibly difficult to stay focused.
The doctor noticed.
A small twitch appeared near his eye.
For a moment, it looked like he wanted to say something.
Instead, he swallowed his irritation.
"Anyway, we are done. Leave and get some rest."
"Okay," Benny replied, standing up. "But you don't have to talk like that."
The doctor stared at her.
"Out."
Benny blinked.
Then she left.
The moment the door closed behind her, she looked down at her injured arm. The fresh bandage wrapped around it was a reminder of what had happened — of how useless she had felt during the mission.
Her eyes slowly moved down the hallway until they stopped at the recreation room.
The door was open.
She walked inside.
Nothing had changed.
The games were still there. Sitting on the shelves exactly where they had always been. Waiting for someone to pick them up.
Benny stared at them.
For a long moment, she didn't move.
"These things..."
Her voice became quieter.
"I always played them with Mayex."
The memories came back naturally.
The laughter.
The pointless arguments.
The moments where nothing important happened, but somehow those were the moments she remembered the most.
She slowly walked over and lay down.
The ceiling above her became the only thing she could see.
"I feel like I'm..."
She stopped.
The words were harder to say than she expected.
"...useless."
Silence.
"Am I just a pain in the ass for Mayex?"
The question stayed there.
She hated that she had even thought it.
But she couldn't ignore it anymore.
During the mission, she had been injured. Mayex had carried her. He had protected her. He had done everything while she had only become another problem he needed to handle.
Her fingers tightened slightly against the blanket beneath her.
She wondered what he was doing now.
If he was safe.
If he was annoyed.
If he ever regretted having her around.
---
Boran's Perspective
They continued following the tracker.
The streets became quieter as they moved further away from the crowded areas. Their focus remained on the signal ahead of them.
Then Mayex stopped.
Not slowly.
Not because he had noticed something.
He simply stopped moving.
Boran and Adam immediately noticed.
They turned around, confused.
For Mayex to suddenly stop like that meant something had happened.
Their expressions changed when they saw his eyes.
Serious.
Completely serious.
It was an expression neither of them saw often.
Mayex was usually relaxed, joking, or acting like nothing in the world could bother him.
But now?
Something was different.
Boran's hand moved closer to his weapon.
Adam scanned the surroundings.
Nothing.
No enemies.
No movement.
No sound.
Then Mayex opened his mouth.
"AHHHHHHH!"
Both of them immediately turned toward him.
Ready for a fight.
Ready for anything.
Only to find Mayex stretching his back.
Boran froze.
He stared.
He genuinely couldn't believe what had just happened.
"Are you serious?"
Mayex looked at him.
"What?"
"Did you really make it look like something extremely important happened... just because your back hurts?"
"My back IS important!"
Mayex sounded completely offended.
"Do you know how long I've been running? I carried Benny all the way to the basement, then ran back here as fast as I could. And now I'm running again! I haven't even had time to breathe!"
Boran opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
There was no argument against that.
Mayex suddenly looked ahead.
A bench.
A simple, ordinary bench.
But to him, it looked like salvation itself.
Without hesitation, he walked toward it and sat down.
"How about this?"
He leaned back comfortably.
"You two follow the tracker. I'll catch up after I feel better."
Boran stared at him.
"Are you kidding me?"
Adam placed a hand on Boran's shoulder.
"I guess this mission just took a..."
He paused.
"A seat."
Silence.
Boran slowly turned his head.
Then slapped his forehead.
"I was expecting something cold and tactical..."
He sighed.
"I completely forgot we have a daddy joker with us."
"Hey," Adam said immediately. "Don't say it like that. It makes it sound weird."
"Whatever. Let's go."
Mayex watched them leave.
For once, he didn't argue.
He just sat there.
Because right now...
He really needed that break.
Boran's Perspective
Mayex stayed behind.
Boran still couldn't believe it.
They were on an important mission, following a tracker that could lead them directly to their target, and somehow the biggest obstacle they had encountered so far was not an enemy.
It was Mayex's back.
He shook his head and continued running.
Beside him, Adam remained silent for a while before finally speaking.
"I must say... they are a nuisance."
Boran glanced at him.
"They?"
Adam looked forward.
"The gang, the ones we are up against. Why exactly do we have to deal with them?"
Boran didn't slow down.
"Because we have a mission."
His voice was calm.
"That's all that matters. No matter how annoying they are, no matter what happens, we complete it."
Adam looked at him for a moment.
Then he nodded.
A mission was a mission.
Nothing else mattered.
---
The tracker eventually led them away from the familiar streets.
The buildings became older. The roads became emptier. The atmosphere slowly changed from ordinary city life into something abandoned and forgotten.
Finally, they stopped.
In front of them stood an old gymnasium.
The sign above the entrance was damaged, the windows were dark, and the entire building carried the feeling of a place that had been left behind for years.
Boran looked at it.
"Well. Let's go in."
Adam immediately raised a hand.
"Wait."
Boran looked back.
"What now?"
Adam studied the building carefully.
"What if they are waiting for us inside?"
Boran remained silent.
Adam continued.
"Think about it. This place is isolated. It's not in the middle of the city. If something happens here, nobody would hear anything."
Boran looked at the entrance.
"There is nobody outside."
He stepped closer.
"I don't hear anyone inside."
He grabbed the door handle.
"We can just enter."
Adam sighed.
"I know. I just don't like this."
Boran opened the door.
"What's the worst that could happen?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Adam looked at him.
"Every time someone says that, something terrible happens."
Boran ignored him.
They entered.
---
The inside of the gymnasium was silent.
Too silent.
Their footsteps echoed through the empty space.
Boran moved forward, scanning the area.
Nothing.
No movement.
No voices.
No obvious signs of anyone being there.
They continued deeper inside.
Then Adam stopped.
Something on the floor caught his attention.
He slowly crouched down.
His expression changed.
Boran noticed.
"What is it?"
Adam didn't answer immediately.
He picked it up.
The tracker.
The same tracker they had placed on the boy.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Adam's eyes widened.
"...A trap."
Boran looked at him.
Adam's voice became louder.
"BORAN."
He turned around.
"IT'S A TRAP. WE HAVE TO LEAVE."
A voice answered from behind them.
"Too late~"
They froze.
Slowly, they turned around.
The boy they had been tracking stood at the entrance.
But he wasn't alone.
People surrounded the entire area.
Boran looked to the left.
More people.
To the right.
More.
Behind them.
More.
Every possible exit was covered.
They were surrounded.
Outnumbered.
A boy stepped forward from the crowd.
Blonde hair.
Blue eyes.
A confident expression.
He walked toward them calmly.
Then, unexpectedly...
He bowed.
A perfect, almost royal bow.
"My name is Jerry."
Boran and Adam stared at him.
A long silence followed.
"...Hi, Jerry?"
Boran was the first to speak.
Jerry immediately straightened himself.
"Oh, right. I know what you're thinking."
He pointed toward the boy behind him.
"That boy over there. The one you know."
Boran looked.
"The one we beat up and placed the tracker on?"
"Exactly!"
Jerry smiled.
"He is an idiot. Even though I lost against him, I still have a higher position than him."
The unknown boy crossed his arms.
"Jerry literally loses against everyone."
Jerry's smile disappeared.
"He is called the true loser for a reason."
"Hey!"
Jerry turned around angrily.
"Shut up, Mohammed! Nobody asked you!"
Mohammed shrugged.
Jerry turned back toward Boran and Adam.
"Anyway. When Mohammed appeared, I noticed something."
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"A tiny little spark."
Jerry pointed toward the tracker.
"On his jeans pocket."
Adam looked at him.
"Why were you even staring at his pocket?"
Jerry paused.
"...That's not the point."
Adam said nothing.
Jerry continued.
"I told him to take it out. Obviously, he was suspicious. But he did it anyway."
He smiled.
"At first, I thought he would destroy it."
Mohammed looked at him.
"But you told me not to."
"Exactly."
Jerry spread his arms.
"Because I realized something. This little thing could become useful."
Adam looked at the tracker.
"So you used it against us."
Jerry smiled.
"Exactly."
Mohammed shook his head.
"Jerry, I know you like acting smart, but Adam's question wasn't a bad one."
Jerry immediately raised his voice.
"ANYWAYS!"
Everyone looked at him.
His eyes suddenly moved past Boran and Adam.
A smile appeared.
"I just noticed something much more important."
Boran frowned.
"What?"
Jerry pointed.
"That beautiful girl."
Adam and Boran looked.
"Which girl?"
Jerry pointed again.
"Her."
The two followed his finger.
And froze.
Elara.
Standing there.
Silent.
Watching.
The realization hit both of them at the same time.
They had forgotten her.
Completely.
She had followed them the entire way.
Entered the building with them.
And somehow neither of them had said a single word to her.
Boran and Adam looked away in embarrassment.
Jerry walked toward her confidently.
"Beautiful girl."
No response.
"Would you like to be my girlfriend?"
Nothing.
Elara didn't move.
Jerry waited.
Still nothing.
"..."
He leaned slightly closer.
"Are you shy because you saw this beautiful face?"
Silence.
"Come on."
Nothing.
Jerry looked hurt.
"Am I talking to a deaf person?"
He placed a hand on his chest dramatically.
"If yes, I feel terrible."
A pause.
"If no..."
He sighed.
"I feel heartbroken."
Adam looked at him.
"She isn't deaf."
Jerry looked relieved.
"Good."
"But she doesn't talk."
The smile disappeared.
"Not even to us."
Adam looked at Elara.
The only time he had ever seen her truly react...
Was when Mayex was injured.
That moment.
That fear.
That instant movement.
It was the only proof that she cared.
"Sorry, Jerry."
Adam looked away.
"She probably won't answer."
Jerry sighed.
"Why am I always unlucky?"
He turned toward the others.
"Whatever."
Then he pointed.
"Tie them up."
---
Johan's Perspective
The changing room was silent.
Not peaceful.
Silent.
There was a difference.
The only sound was the faint hum of the old lights above them, flickering occasionally as if even the building itself was struggling to remain alive.
Johan stood there.
Still.
For how long, he didn't know.
Across from him sat Nacy.
The same person he had once found alone in the cold.
The same person he had taken in when nobody else had.
The same person he had protected.
And yet...
Now she was the person standing on the other side.
Nacy looked at him calmly.
"So..."
Her voice broke the silence.
"How long are you going to stare at me?"
Johan blinked.
He had almost forgotten why he was there.
The memories had distracted him.
Old memories.
Before everything became complicated.
Before all of this.
"Oh."
His expression hardened slightly.
"Right."
He looked directly at her.
"Do you have a good reason for betraying me?"
Nacy didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she studied him.
Then she spoke.
"Before I answer..."
A pause.
"I want to make sure of something."
Johan remained silent.
"That you won't kill me."
His eyes narrowed.
"Do you really think I would do that?"
Nacy didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
The answer came too quickly.
"Because anger changes people. It changes how they think. It changes what they believe they are capable of."
Johan stared at her.
She extended her hand.
"Give me the gun."
A moment passed.
"Then we can talk."
Johan looked at her.
He wanted to disagree.
He wanted to tell her that she should trust him.
That after everything they had been through, she should know him better.
But he didn't.
Instead...
He sighed.
Slowly, he reached inside his coat.
And handed her the gun.
Nacy took it.
She turned it in her hand.
Examining it.
Feeling its weight.
Then she spoke quietly.
"It's warm."
Johan looked at her.
"Yes."
A strange answer.
But he didn't question it.
"Now let's talk about the fact that you tried to ki—"
BANG.
The sound shattered the room.
BANG.
Another shot.
BANG.
A third.
---
Outside the changing room...
Adam and Boran froze.
The entire world seemed to stop for a moment.
Three gunshots.
Close.
Clear.
Impossible to misunderstand.
Adam's face changed.
"What..."
His voice was barely audible.
"What is happening?"
Boran didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the door.
A feeling he hated began forming inside him.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
"I don't know."
His voice became quieter.
"But I don't like where this is going."
---
Inside the changing room...
Johan was on the floor.
For a few seconds, he didn't understand.
His body had stopped listening.
His mind was trying to process something that refused to make sense.
The pain came after.
Three wounds.
Three shots.
His chest burned.
His breathing became uneven.
Blood spread across the floor beneath him, dark and unstoppable.
His vision blurred.
The edges of the room disappeared.
Slowly, he looked upward.
Nacy stood above him.
Still holding the gun.
Her expression wasn't angry.
It wasn't sad.
There was no hesitation.
Only determination.
"Why?"
The word escaped him.
A cough followed.
Blood touched his lips.
"Why...?"
Nacy looked down at him.
"Because I have a goal."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"And this..."
She looked at the gun.
"...is my only chance."
A pause.
"My golden chance."
Johan's fingers moved slightly against the floor.
"You know me, Johan."
Nacy continued.
"I don't waste golden chances."
Those words hurt more than the bullets.
Because he understood them.
He knew her.
Or at least...
He thought he did.
His mind drifted.
Snow.
Cold.
A lonely street.
A young girl who had nowhere to go.
A girl he had found alone, freezing and abandoned.
He remembered her eyes.
The fear.
The loneliness.
Because he knew that feeling.
He had felt it himself.
Someone had once reached out a hand to him.
So he did the same.
He took her in.
He protected her.
He gave her a place to belong.
He gave her everything he had.
And now...
This was the end.
"I..."
His voice trembled.
"I gave you everything..."
Nacy remained silent.
"Everything I had..."
His breathing became weaker.
"Nacy..."
A small pause.
"I gave..."
His voice cracked.
"Everything..."
The word became quieter.
"Everything..."
Even quieter.
"..."
The sound disappeared.
Nacy looked at him.
For a moment.
Only a moment.
Then she turned away.
She placed the gun into her coat.
And left.
---
The gymnasium fell silent as Nacy returned.
The others immediately noticed.
The blood.
The expression.
The atmosphere.
Something had changed.
Boran and Adam were tied up in the center of the room.
Elara stood beside them, equally restrained.
Their eyes followed Nacy.
They already knew.
They didn't need an explanation.
Nacy stopped in front of them.
"You three..."
Her voice was calm.
"You probably want to know where this blood came from."
Nobody answered.
She smiled faintly.
"It's from Johan."
A pause.
"The one who gave you all such a difficult time."
The room became colder.
"He is gone."
Forever.
The words hit them.
Adam stared at her.
Unable to move.
Unable to understand.
Nacy walked toward him.
Slowly.
Her smile returned.
"Adam."
She tilted her head.
"I wasn't expecting to see you again."
Adam trembled.
Not because he was weak.
Because he knew.
He knew exactly who stood in front of him.
But knowing someone existed...
And seeing them standing right there...
Were two completely different things.
"How..."
His voice shook.
"Just how?"
Nacy smiled.
"I won't say it~"
Boran watched silently.
Fear was still there.
But something else had appeared.
A question.
A connection.
Adam knew her.
Not casually.
Not by coincidence.
He knew her.
And now Boran needed to know why.
The atmosphere inside the gymnasium had changed.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
The silence itself felt heavy, as if the entire building was waiting for something terrible to happen.
Nacy looked at Adam.
The fear in his eyes was obvious.
Not ordinary fear.
Recognition.
She noticed it immediately.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Why aren't you shining?"
Adam froze.
Nacy leaned slightly closer.
"Shouldn't you be more shiny?"
Her voice was soft.
Almost playful.
But something about it made Adam's entire body tense.
It wasn't the words.
It was the way she said them.
Like she was remembering something.
Like she knew something he wished she didn't.
Adam's hands trembled.
"How..."
The question barely escaped his mouth.
"Just how?"
Nacy tilted her head.
For a moment, she simply looked at him.
Then she smiled.
"I won't say it~"
Boran watched the exchange carefully.
Even while fear was controlling his body, his mind was still working.
Adam knew her.
That much was obvious.
But why?
Why did someone like Adam react this way?
Who exactly was this woman?
And what history did they share?
---
Mayex's Perspective
The bench had finally done its job.
Mayex sat there for several minutes, allowing his breathing to return to normal.
His muscles relaxed.
His exhaustion slowly faded.
For once, he allowed himself to enjoy a simple moment of peace.
Then he opened his eyes.
"Alright."
He stood up.
"Time to move."
He remembered the path Boran and Adam had taken.
Following their route wasn't difficult.
He walked through the empty streets, passing through areas that became quieter with every step.
Eventually, he saw it.
An old gymnasium.
Abandoned.
Silent.
Exactly the kind of place where something suspicious would happen.
Mayex stared at the building.
"..."
He walked toward the entrance.
The door creaked as he opened it.
He stepped inside.
And stopped.
---
The world seemed to freeze.
Mayex looked forward.
Boran looked at Mayex.
Adam looked at Mayex.
Nacy looked at Mayex.
Jerry looked at Mayex.
Mohammed looked at Mayex.
Elara looked at Mayex.
Every member of the group stared.
Nobody said a word.
The silence became almost painful.
Mayex slowly looked around.
The situation was obvious.
Boran and Adam were tied up.
Elara was restrained.
A large group surrounded them.
Nacy stood there with blood on her clothes.
Everyone looked like they had just been interrupted in the middle of something extremely serious.
Mayex blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then he spoke.
"..."
Another second passed.
"...Well."
He slowly nodded.
"Wrong door, I guess."
He immediately closed the door.
---
For a few seconds, nobody reacted.
Then Mayex moved.
Fast.
He stepped away from the entrance and found the nearest cover.
His back pressed against the wall.
He stayed completely still.
His heart was beating faster than he wanted to admit.
"What..."
He whispered to himself.
"What happened here?"
He tried to understand the scene.
Boran and Adam had entered the building.
They had been captured.
Old man was nowhere to be seen.
And everyone inside looked like they were ready for a war.
Mayex closed his eyes for a moment.
He had expected many things.
An enemy.
A fight.
A difficult mission.
But not this.
Not this kind of situation.
He opened his eyes again.
Slowly, he looked toward the door.
For the first time in a long while...
Mayex didn't have a joke.
Didn't have a funny comment.
Didn't have a careless smile.
Only one thought remained.
How did they end up in that situation?