A Bitter Taste of the Future
There was absolutely nothing to see beyond the transparent glass wall. Only a world turned pitch black stretched out before me. Panicking, I reached out, but my hand was stopped, blocked by the cold glass. I turned my head to look at Victor. He was simply staring through the glass as if nothing was wrong.
"Vi... Victor. Everything is okay, right?"
Victor didn't answer. This time, I looked at Laymon. Meeting my gaze, he merely gave a silent nod.
My breath grew shallow. The moment I realized Shine wasn't out here, an overwhelming wave of anxiety washed over me. She was definitely inside that room. That was an undeniable fact. Yet, the pitch-black darkness stretching out before my eyes made me forget even that certainty, sending a shiver through my entire body.
"Jeff. It's okay."
As my hands trembled uncontrollably, Rain stepped up and wrapped her arms around me. Just like I had done for her in the past. Rain's soft, warm embrace felt remarkably like Shine's. Slowly catching my breath, I hugged her back. My face, faintly reflected in the blackened glass, was a complete mess, looking as if I was about to burst into tears at any second.
"She's really going to be okay, right?"
"Yeah. Shine will be perfectly fine."
I nodded. Although Rain usually seemed so unreliable, she never lied to me. As she gently stroked my back, I gradually began to calm down. My breathing steadied, and the trembling in my hands subsided. Seeing that I was okay, Rain took a step back but kept a firm hold on my hand.
"Rain."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think Shine is seeing in there?"
"I don't know. We can't see anything from the outside, so there's no way to tell."
Time ticked by agonizingly slow. I found myself checking the clock with every passing second, but Shine still hadn't emerged.
"Four minutes passed."
My body flinched at the sound of Victor's voice. He had said she needed to get out of that room within five minutes. Yet, Shine was still trapped inside.
"Shine..."
Only her name escaped my weakly parted lips. My hand, pressed flat against the glass, had lost all color, turning a ghostly white. Just as my hand began to slide limply down the surface, a sudden shift occurred. The pitch-black room began to squirm. No, it wasn't the room itself—the darkness blanketing the entire space had started to move.
My eyes widened as the darkness rapidly began to recede. In the center of the room, now stripped of its shadows and turned a stark, sterile white, stood a pale girl. Shine. Her eyes were completely blacked out as she stared blankly into the empty air. Her lips were moving, as if she were holding a conversation with someone invisible.
"Shine!"
I pressed myself flat against the glass and screamed her name. Shine reacted. Shifting her gaze from the empty air, she looked directly toward me. My breath caught in my throat. Her pitch-black eyes were so dark that not a single speck of light could penetrate them. I swallowed hard. Her gaze felt slightly off, as if she were looking through me rather than at me. But that feeling lasted only a split second. The moment I blinked, Shine was back to normal. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly began to walk toward the door.
Once Shine reached the door, Laymon, who had been standing guard, unlocked it. With a soft *click*, the door swung open, and Shine slowly stepped out.
"Jeff."
"Shine!"
The moment she stepped outside, Shine looked for me first. I immediately ran forward and threw my arms around her. As I sank into her soft, warm embrace, her familiar scent washed over me, instantly soothing my frayed nerves.
"I'm back."
I squeezed her even tighter. Shine let out a soft cough and squirmed as if it were a bit too tight, but I refused to let go. Just the fact that I couldn't see her for a mere four minutes had caused me immense anxiety. I was incredibly dependent on her. I buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent deeply.
"Jeff, that tickles."
At her words, which were laced with a soft chuckle, I finally took a reluctant step back.
"This is quite an interesting place," Shine said, looking over at Victor.
"What did you see inside?"
"Do I have to tell you?"
"If you don't wish to speak of it, you don't have to."
"Hmm..." Shine blinked, looking around the room. "I saw a massive tower."
"A tower?"
"Yeah. I was standing right on top of it."
"Anything else?"
Shine merely offered a smile in response to Victor's question. Understanding her silent refusal to elaborate, Victor nodded.
"You have passed the first stage of the exam."
"Yay~!"
Shine threw her arms up in the air and laughed playfully. I watched her, feeling a strange sense of unease. Her aura had changed considerably.
"Shi... Shine?"
"Yeah?"
When she looked at me, the warmth and affection in her eyes were exactly the same as always. I swallowed hard and shook my head.
"It's nothing..."
No one else seemed to find Shine's behavior odd. But to me, in a way that was incredibly difficult to put into words, some subtle part of her had shifted. I quietly sidled over to Rain.
"Rain..."
"Yeah?"
I lowered my voice to a whisper. Rain matched my volume, leaning in close.
"Does going into that room and coming back out usually change a person's vibe this much?"
"No, why?"
"Oh..."
"What's wrong? Do you think Shine changed?"
I hesitated, chewing on my lip. It was just that... something felt off. I stared at Shine, my mouth hanging open slightly as the perfect description finally clicked in my mind.
"It feels like... she's wearing a mask."
I was incredibly sensitive to Shine's emotions. I knew exactly what she looked and felt like when she was genuinely happy, angry, or sad. But right now, even though she didn't actually seem happy, she had a bright smile plastered on her face.
"A mask...?"
"Jeff."
As I was whispering with Rain, Shine's voice suddenly cut in. Startled, I jerked my head up.
"Y-Yes?!"
"It's your turn now, Jeff."
I swallowed hard and nodded. Now that Shine was done, it was my turn. What on earth was the tower she had seen? And who was she talking to in there?
"Shine."
"Yeah?"
"Earlier... who were you talking to?"
At my question, the smile instantly vanished from Shine's face.
"You saw...?"
"Y-Yeah. It just looked like you were holding a conversation with someone."
I avoided her gaze as I answered. She remained silent for a long time. A small pang of hurt bloomed in my chest. I stared at her for a moment, then turned around and began walking toward the testing room.
"I'll tell you later."
Just before I reached for the door, Shine's quiet voice drifted from behind me. I turned back to look at her. Shine was smiling. It wasn't that artificial mask from earlier, but the genuine, warm smile she always reserved just for me. Just as I was sensitive to her feelings, she was equally attuned to mine. I gave a small nod and stepped inside the room.
I walked to the very center of the room, just as Shine had done. Looking out at the world from behind the glass... for some reason, the perspective felt strangely familiar. I waved to Shine, who was watching me intently. Then, I blinked.
And in that single split second, I was somewhere else entirely.
Cold air. The wind brushing past my cheeks was biting, freezing cold. I took a breath, and the stale, heavy air stung my lungs. It was a sensation I knew all too well. Panicking, I looked around. The glass walls were shattered and collapsed. Beyond them lay heaps of ruined machinery. For some reason, this place was familiar. The floor was littered with shards of broken glass. I carefully picked my way toward a half-collapsed door. The layout was unmistakable. This ruined doorway was definitely the same door I had just walked through moments ago. Squeezing my body through the gap in the wreckage, I stepped outside.
Outside was indeed the training ground. But the spot where Victor, Shine, and Laymon had been standing was completely empty.
"Shine...?"
Shine...? My voice echoed hollowly in the vacant space. No one answered.
I approached one of the ruined machines. A mysterious black liquid was splattered across it, dripping in sticky, viscous threads. The device I had used to train dodgeball with Rain was smashed beyond any hope of repair. I realized then that this wasn't reality. All of my senses felt dull, wrapped in a hazy fog. I reached out and tried to touch the machine. My hand passed right through the metal. I began to look around the devastated training ground. Not a single piece of equipment was functional, and there wasn't a trace of the people who had been here just moments ago. Yet, I didn't panic. I knew this was all an illusion.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a sound broke the silence. Footsteps, starting from far away and rapidly drawing closer. *Tap, tap, tap, tap.* The footsteps echoed down the empty corridor, heading straight toward me. I stared at the entrance of the training ground. The heavy, sealed doors slid open, and a tall woman stepped inside. She wore a long black coat, and her white hair cascaded down her back. She looked at me, then pulled a cigarette from her pocket and placed it between her lips. Her long legs began to move. *Thud, thud.* The footsteps echoed again as she walked toward me. A faint blue spark flashed at the tip of her cigarette before dying out.
"You're too fast..."
The woman exuded an incredibly cold, detached aura. Her face looked exhausted, and her shoulders slumped with a heavy weariness. White smoke drifted lazily from her cigarette. Up close, she seemed to be about the same height as Amy—a detail I noticed instantly since I was so used to walking by Amy's side. She was definitely a stranger, yet she felt oddly familiar.
The woman took the cigarette from her lips and offered it to me. The white smoke blurred my vision. When I froze, too bewildered to react, she gently placed the cigarette between my lips. A bitter, acrid taste flooded my mouth. A sharp, tingling sensation pricked my lips.
"Cough! Hack!"
The moment I spat out the cigarette and coughed, the woman vanished into thin air. I stood there, dumbfounded, looking around the empty room. She was gone. I looked down and picked up the cigarette that had fallen to the floor. The texture of the paper, and the faint blue ember still flickering at its tip, felt incredibly, vividly real.
Jeff—
Jeff—!
Then, a faint voice echoed from somewhere far away. Shine. It was Shine's voice.
"Jeff!"
"Ah... yes?"
I blinked, dazed. Shine was standing right in front of me, holding both of my hands tightly.
"What did you see in there?"
"In there...?"
I looked over my shoulder at her words. I was already outside the room. Beyond the wide-open door, the stark white testing chamber was empty.
"Uh..."
When had I stepped out? My memory was a blur. What on earth had I just seen? The bitter, acrid taste of the cigarette still seemed to linger on the tip of my tongue.
"I'm not really sure."
"Really...?"
I truly didn't know. What I had seen, what her words had meant... I couldn't make sense of any of it.
"She just... told me I was too fast."
"Thank you, Jeff."
Shine smiled brightly at my answer, playfully swinging our clasped hands. What on earth was she thanking me for?
"Jeff! Shine! Congratulations!"
Suddenly, Rain squeezed her way between Shine and me. Before either of us could react, she threw her arms wide and pulled us both into a tight hug.
"You both passed!"
At Rain's words, I looked over at Victor. He gave a silent nod.
"I... passed?"
"Yeah! You were super fast, Jeff. You came out after only three minutes!"
I couldn't even begin to guess how much time had actually passed. The moment I had regained my senses, I was already standing outside the room. Seeing Rain so genuinely thrilled made me smile too. I let out a soft laugh, sharing in her joy.