Lane was still huddled in Luka's arms.
His sobs now reduced to heavy, rhythmic breaths.
Luka held him tight, but a strange battle of emotions played out across his face.
His pupils flickered between Lane's dust-matted hair and the endless silence stretching out before them.
Luka's jaw was slightly clenched.
The faint lines on his forehead clearly betrayed his confusion.
For a fleeting second, he wanted to push Lane away and demand to know where he had vanished.
But the next moment, Lane's trembling grip held him back.
A flicker of harshness followed by an unknown softness danced in Luka's eyes.
He couldn't decide whether to comfort Lane like a protector.
Or lash out at him with the sternness of a guide.
He lowered his gaze and scrutinized Lane's face.
Moisture still clung to the corners of Lane's closed eyes.
But Luka's attention shifted to his torn sleeve.
And the shoes covered in that distinct, shimmering dust from the white railing.
Luka's body stiffened for a moment.
He tightened his grip further.
As if trying to squeeze the hidden truth out of Lane through the sheer pressure of his embrace.
Yuki, standing a few paces away and watching the exchange, took a step forward.
Luka instantly snapped his head around.
Shooting Yuki a look so sharp that it pinned him to the spot.
Only one expression remained on Luka's face now.
A mask that covered all his inner questions and anxieties.
"We can't stay here any longer," Luka whispered.
His voice no longer held that comfort; it was laced with a cold warning.
Luka, Lane, and Yuki began their journey back along that desolate path.
Their destination was the same cold, doorless room where silence seemed to seep from the walls.
Luka still kept Lane close, as if wanting to shroud him like a protective shadow.
Even though the tears had stopped falling from Lane's eyes, his body still shuddered intermittently.
His stifled hiccups echoed in the cold air.
Vibrating against Luka's chest and reminding him of Lane's lingering distress.
With every hiccup, Luka's fists clenched tighter.
A flood of questions was surging in Luka's mind.
He knew Lane wasn't an ordinary child; he wasn't someone who gave up and cried so easily.
"What exactly happened that broke Lane like this?"
This question reached Luka's tongue repeatedly, only to be swallowed back.
He wanted to stop, grab Lane by the shoulders, and demand every single truth.
But every time he opened his mouth to speak, the sharp, pained sound of Lane's hiccup silenced him.
Luka closed his eyes and took a deep, cold breath.
He realized that at this moment, Lane's heart was so fragile.
That even one bitter question could shatter him completely.
He buried his curiosity under a heavy stone.
'Not now,' he chided himself internally.
'When this storm subsides, when his trembling hands steady... then I will demand an account for every single moment.'
They continued toward that cold room without a word.
Where the shadows now appeared deeper and longer than before.
The air in the ruin's corridor grew colder and heavier.
As they approached that chill, doorless room.
Silence seemed to seep from the walls, settling into the dust on the floor.
The only sound was the crunch of debris beneath their shoes.
Yuki, who had been trailing behind like a shadow, suddenly quickened his pace to close in on Luka.
Restlessness was etched into the lines of his face.
And his lips quivered, ready to voice a mountain of questions.
Lane's mysterious disappearance, those terrifyingly stony black eyes, and then this inconsolable weeping.
Before a single word could escape Yuki's throat, Luka raised his palm without even turning back.
He pressed his index finger firmly against his lips.
A gesture as unyielding and impenetrable as a stone wall.
The sharp warning glinting from the corner of Luka's eyes choked the words right in Yuki's throat.
Luka didn't slow his pace for a single second.
His entire focus remained on the trembling weight huddled in his arms.
Luka's silent authority made it clear to Yuki that at this moment, silence was their greatest shield.
Yuki's steps faltered right there.
He clenched his fists, took a long, suppressed breath, and bowed his head.
Luka's mute command had forced him to bury his curiosity.
They continued forward once more.
Their long shadows fell upon the old, peeling walls, tangling with one another.
Much like the unspoken fears and unsolved questions within their minds.
As they approached that cold, dungeon-like room.
A small figure appeared near the doorless frame.
It was 'Aaya'.
She stood there still, peering through the dusty gloom as if waiting for someone.
The moment her gaze fell upon the three of them, her eyes lit up.
She cried out loudly— "Yuki Bhaiya!"
Her voice echoed against the bare walls of the room.
Yuki quickened his pace toward the threshold and stopped right in front of Aaya.
He leaned down and scrutinized her face.
Clear concern etched across his features.
"Aaya..." Yuki called out with a mix of relief and slight sternness.
"Did you go outside?"
"I explained to you how dangerous it could be to step out alone."
"Tell me the truth, did you go out?"
Aaya looked up at Yuki with her large, innocent eyes.
She slowly shook her head and replied in a very soft voice— "No Yuki Bhaiya, I didn't go out at all."
Yuki took a long breath and gestured for her to move inside, stroking her head gently.
Luka, still holding Lane firmly, walked toward the cold and dark floor of the room without saying a word.
The air inside the room was even colder than outside.
Luka reached the old wooden plank leaning against the wall.
He carefully, as if holding a fragile glass toy, sat Lane down on the wooden surface.
Luka then sat on the floor right beside him, his eyes fixed on Lane's face.
"Are you alright?"
Luka's voice rose like a faint echo in the silence.
Lane didn't answer; he simply gripped Luka's hand tightly with his trembling fingers.
His grasp was so firm, as if he were a drowning man clinging to Luka.
Luka gently pulled Lane toward him and rested his head in his lap.
"Close your eyes," Luka whispered.
He reached out and very tenderly pressed Lane's eyelids downward.
"Forget everything for a while. Just be still."
Luka's fingers moved slowly through Lane's messy hair.
He kept stroking his head, as if wanting to absorb all the fear within Lane through that touch.
"Don't be afraid," Luka said again, his voice softer than before.
*L
"Rest for a while. You've cried a lot; your eyes are completely swollen."
Lane took a long, heavy breath and closed his swollen eyes.
The warmth of Luka's lap and the gentle stroking of his hands began to turn Lane's heaviness into a haze of sleep.
That corner of the room, where they sat, had now become a safe island.
Completely detached from the world of ruins.