An Old Story
Through the brief gap Arin had created, Gaeun sprinted with all her might—and at some point, her foot hit a white tile.
Arin, covered in the ashes scattered as the black shadows shattered, followed right behind her.
Seeing that the shadows couldn't step on the uncharred tiles, she snapped her fingers.
"Looks like they can only roam in spaces that've actually burned, just like their appearance suggests."
"But why's this place fine?"
"Who knows? Guess we'll have to find out."
Watching the shadows flail around, suddenly unable to track them just because they'd entered the unburnt area, the two smirked for a moment before reaching the door.
Arin patted Gaeun's shoulder—her eyes trembling with tension—then cautiously gripped and turned the doorknob, slowly pushing the door open.
And just like that, they came face-to-face with the woman they'd been desperately searching for.
While Gaeun and Seoyeong embraced, celebrating their reunion, Arin brushed the ash off her clothes and glanced at the people huddled in the corner of the room.
"Anyone here know anything about this building or the fire?"
Silence fell, everyone staring at her with a mix of tension and wariness.
Arin sighed, about to ask again—
But Seoyeong, who'd been checking Gaeun's condition, suddenly hugged Arin tight, cutting her off.
"Why are you here...? It's dangerous—you should've waited at home...."
"Ah—hic—uh—grk—hoeh?"
The embrace dragged on, feeling both endless and fleeting.
A moment later, embarrassed, Arin cleared her throat awkwardly and tried her question again.
This time, seeing Seoyeong flustered from the sudden hug—and Gaeun still dazed—an old man stepped forward, his wariness easing as he answered.
"W-well, not this church, but back when I was young, there was a huge fire in the building that stood here."
"Really? I never heard about that, sir."
"Before the church was built, the government was doing all that development talk and put up a massive commercial building. Not long after it went up, some gas pipe exploded or something—burned the whole thing down, killed a bunch of people. Folks nowadays probably don't know; back then, even big accidents only made the papers."
The old man added that new buildings had only recently gone up on the long-vacant lot, and the church had been built around then too.
"So that's why the outside looks like that... Um, Grandpa? Do you know any details? Like why the accident happened, or where it started?"
"Reasons... Folks said the gas guy lit a cigarette, or it was shoddy construction—rumors flew, but it all fizzled out. No one really knows."
Arin let out a disappointed hum as the old man admitted he didn't know more.
She unfolded a chair Seoyeong had been about to swing and sat, pondering deeply.
The space had definitely changed into the old mall.
Her cliché guess that the pastor was the bad guy had missed the mark spectacularly, so the church itself was irrelevant.
The fire seemed to be an incident only the old man knew about—judging by others' reactions—so digging deeper would be tough. For now, that left just one nagging point.
'Who the hell are these people approaching the pastor—and wandering around in hazmat suits?'
Arin tapped her steel pipe against the floor as she thought, scanning the room.
Not much drinking water left, but enough food to last a while.
One side had a plastic bag stuffed with empty wrappers and bottles from meals already eaten.
"By the way, how long have you been holed up here, Aunt Seoyeong?"
"Oh, right! What's it like outside? What about rescuers—did you two come in instead?!"
"Your mom's right! If girls like you made it in safe, we can get out too, right? Rescuers should've been here days ago!"
"Mom... it's been three days for you...?"
Gaeun's mumble cut through the noisy chatter of hopeful voices like a knife—crystal clear.
The room fell deathly silent in an instant.
Arin broke it.
"Looks like time flows differently inside and out. We forced our way in the same day we heard—I've been here two days, Gaeun just a few hours."
"So you're saying... it's only been one day since this started? But we've been stuck over three?!"
Seoyeong's words unleashed groans from all corners.
Someone tried positivity—"Hey, if two girls made it here, getting out can't be that hard"—but few agreed.
Arin held back on mentioning the pastor or the hazmat suits; the mood was too heavy to lift.
She sorted her thoughts, checking for anything missed.
'Why is this place intact? Everything else turned into the burned mall—why's only here fine?'
No clues to chase outside—everything charred to nothing, and even if something survived, black shadows roamed, along with those tying the pastor to a pillar and burning him alive.
Arin rubbed her temples in frustration when Seoyeong called and beckoned her.
"Gaeun says you haven't eaten since coming in. Here—have this and rest."
Arin paused her worrying, took the plastic-wrapped bread, and sat beside Seoyeong on the mat next to her and Gaeun, at her urging.
"...Thanks."
"No need for that~"
Unwrapping it released a nutty aroma; one bite, and sweet jam oozed out, keeping her mouth from drying as she chewed.
While Arin chewed carefully, a few young folks huddled nearby, exchanging opinions.
One approached her soon after.
"Kid, what was the way here like? Complicated?"
"...Not really complicated, no."
"See? Even kids had no problem! We shouldn't sit here—we gotta go!"
"No, wait—the path wasn't complicated, but it wasn't easy either...!"
Gaeun jumped up to stop them, but they'd already decided; last checks done, they figured it'd be easier for them and kept prepping to leave.
"No—didn't you see the weird ash clumps out there?"
"Yeah! And people in strange hazmat suits wandering around!"
"What? You saw them and didn't say sooner?! Everyone hear that? They saw rescuers!"
"They're not rescuers...!"
Arin and Gaeun tried to stop them, along with others not on board—but shaking off hands with inexplicable confidence, they called the rest cowards and stormed out.
Gaeun stared blankly at the rattling closed door, then slumped.
Among the rest, some eyed the door, torn about following.
Arin spoke first.
"Those guys definitely aren't rescuers. More likely the ones who caused this mess."
"How would a kid know...?"
"We ran into the pastor on the way."
"The pastor's alive?! Praise God!"
'Alive... should I say?'
Anyone dead-set on leaving would see him anyway—better warn them early to soften the shock.
Arin answered.
"He's alive."
"Thank goodness...!"
"The hazmat guys just tied him to a pillar and burned him alive."
The others frowned, not grasping—but Arin pressed on.
"Anyway, he said weird people demanded the church recently, he refused, and this happened. The hazmat crew tried a live human sacrifice on him, so probably same group—or from the same place."
One auntie rolled her eyes back and collapsed; real churchgoer, huh? Better cover her eyes passing by.
Arin dismissed any rescuer notion flat-out.
"Then those who just left are in danger! We gotta stop them!"
As Seoyeong reached for the door, screams—not one, but many—erupted from beyond.
Arin startled, hugged the hand-to-mouth Seoyeong gently, and pulled her back inside, stroking her quietly till she calmed.
Hours later, even the faintest resolve to leave had vanished.
The survivors slept listlessly.
Among them, one pretending to sleep—eyes closed—opened hers and rose silently.
'Mm... Arin...? Where you going?'
Startled mid-grab of her cute pink bag and pipe, Arin saw Seoyeong half-awake, starting to rise—pushed her shoulder lightly to lay back.
'Shh, just checking something quick.''Not leaving, right?'
'...Of course. Sorry for waking you—sleep more.'
Confirming Seoyeong's eyes closed again, Arin slowly opened the door and slipped out.
In the darkness, people in eye-catching silver hazmat suits milled around a machine tangled in complex wires, fiddling with it.
"Under the Lord's... wings... protect us, and may the weary souls... amidst the world's bustle... find the Lord's... rest... and peace...."
Behind them, impossibly alive amid the flames, a charred figure tied to a pillar rasped a prayer, scraping his throat raw.
"Ha, damn it."
One operator muttered a curse, glancing at the pillar, then asked his neighbor.
"How's that heretic holding out? Without him, we'd advance our cause way faster."
"Heretic scum always go all-in for their false gods, right? Just finish the job. Our Star's waiting."
"Yeah, you're right—our Star awaits... Shit!"
Mid-sentence, he slammed the machine with his palm, head drooping.
"Damn... wiring acting up again. Wireless would be nice."
"Can't use wireless in the holy site zone—have to wire it. Even our radios are."
"Sigh... Other believers are setting up far off; it'll take ages for them to return. Guess I gotta go myself."
Sighing heavily, he grabbed a tool from against the machine and followed the floor wires.
Passing a black shadow, he aimed it.
Pulling the trigger unleashed a ripping roar and flames; the shadow crumbled to dust before touching, and he sneered.
"Born of fire, yet scared of it—idiots."
"Really unexpected, huh."
"Yeah, already burned to—"
Turning at the voice—thinking it a colleague—a steel pipe smashed his temple.
No time for pain or dizziness; he dropped the flamethrower and crumpled backward, out cold.
Arin twirled the pipe, flexed her wrist, shoved the flamethrower aside, and knelt.
"Figured wrecking the wires might buy time to reach the machine—lucky break."
Dragging the hazmat-clad body by the collar to an empty room, she pulled rope she'd stashed from the storage before leaving and bound him tight.