By the time they reached the 120th floor, Soohee's steps had slowed. The air itself felt different here compared to the top floors—colder, heavier, almost damp. The emergency lights flickered unevenly, leaving stretches of the corridor drowned in alternating pools of red light and shadow.

Jungkook reached for Soohee's hand again. His palm was warm, reassuring.
"Stay close."

Taehyung was clinging to the back of Jungkook's hoodie with his fingers, matching his pace, walking just a step behind.

Soohee forced a smile. "I wasn't planning on sightseeing."

They passed a row of souvenir shops, shoe stores, and clothing outlets—places they'd once laughed in, argued over what to buy, stolen little moments together. Now those same familiar corners looked like carcasses of something that used to be alive. Posters on the walls had curled up at the edges. A child's balloon from the toy floor below had somehow floated up here—now deflated and tangled around a railing spike.

"Jungkook," Taehyung whispered. "This feels wrong."

"I know," said Jungkook. "But we'll get to the basement. We'll get out of here."

The escalators ahead were barely lit. Soohee glanced over the edge again, and her stomach flipped. Through the hollow center of the mall, she could see all the way down to the lower levels. Rows of dim lights stretched like a spine through the building, each floor growing darker the closer it got to the ground.

A faint tremor rippled through the floor—not strong, but enough to make a nearby vending machine rattle. Soohee stumbled, gripping Jungkook's arm.

"An earthquake?" Taehyung breathed.

Jungkook shook his head slowly. "If it was, we'd feel aftershocks. That wasn't normal."

"You do know an awful lot about earthquakes, Jungkook. Where the hell did you learn that from?" asked Taehyung, eyes wide.

Then came the sound again.
Dragging. Slow. Wet.

Somewhere below. Maybe two floors down.
It crawled its way up through the hollow atrium—clinging to the walls, threading through the silence like a needle through skin.

Jungkook lifted a finger to his lips, motioning the others to stay still. His other hand gestured for them to stop moving. He wanted everyone silent—so he could focus, listen, and locate the sound.

The silence thickened. The sound stopped.

For a moment, it felt like the entire building was holding its breath with them.

"Let's go," Jungkook murmured finally.

As they descended the next frozen escalator to the 119th floor, Soohee didn't look down again. Neither did Taehyung.
They didn't want to know what was moving beneath them.

***

The air on the 119th floor had changed.

It wasn't the kind of shift that came from lighting or temperature—it was deeper than that.
Taehyung felt it before he could make sense of it. His skin prickled, his breath came short, and a heavy tension settled around them like the calm before a storm.

Jungkook, Taehyung, and Soohee moved slowly through the darkened corridor. The only light came from a dying strip of emergency bulbs above the souvenir shops—flickering weakly, fighting to stay alive.

Somewhere down the hallway, a faint click broke the silence.

It wasn't mechanical. It wasn't a door. It was... something else.

Jungkook froze mid-step. His arm shot out, steadying Soohee before she could bump into him.

"What was that?" Taehyung and Soohee whispered at the same time.

Jungkook didn't answer. He tilted his head, listening—pulse hammering at his neck, visible even in the red glow.

Then it came again.

Click. Click. Click.

Slow. Uneven. Like claws tapping against the tiles.

The sound crawled from the far end of the hallway—from the direction of the emergency stairwell.

Soohee's throat went dry. The air felt wrong again. Too thick. Too heavy. Like something alive—but not human—was breathing in the same space as them.

"Bathroom," mouthed Jungkook silently, pointing toward a sign at the end of the corridor.
Even though there were separate restrooms for males and females, they didn't care anymore.

Taehyung and Soohee nodded. They crept toward it, every step careful, deliberate—but the sound behind them didn't stop.

The clicking grew sharper. Closer.
Now joined by a dragging noise—wet, heavy—like flesh sliding against the ground.

The door to the restroom creaked faintly as Jungkook pushed it open, moving as slowly as possible. Soohee winced. The sound felt deafening in the suffocating quiet. They slipped inside and shut the door, holding their breath.

All three of them crouched inside, pressed low against the cold tiles, trying to quiet their ragged breathing.

It was pitch-black except for a single emergency bulb glowing weakly in the corner. The tiles smelled faintly of cleaning fluid—but beneath it lingered something else. Metallic. Sharp. Like rust. Or blood.

Taehyung leaned back against the wall, forcing himself to stay still even though his heart pounded against his ribs.
Jungkook crouched forward toward the thin gap beneath the door, trying to see what was happening outside.

And then—

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