She really… wanted to die.
Or rather, she wanted to find somewhere with no one around—so she could "disappear" from this world completely, protecting everything she held precious.
"Kevin, Mei—listen to me."
Su Yu spun around sharply. His words came out like machine-gun fire, his voice carrying an urgency and gravity they had never heard from him before.
"Help me find her. Now. Immediately."
"This isn't just getting lost. If we don't find her, something bad will happen—something really bad."
He didn't have time to explain "crossing worlds," "anchors," or "vanishing."
All he could do was gamble on their trust.
Kevin stared into Su Yu's eyes.
It was fear—true fear—something Kevin had never seen on Su Yu's face in all the years they'd known each other.
The kind of look that said: If I don't seize this second, I'll lose something forever.
"…Got it."
Kevin didn't ask a single question.
He grabbed Mei's hand and nodded.
"Mei and I will take the exits and the emergency stairwells over there. You go that way."
"Call the moment you find her." Mei moved instantly too—worry on her face, but her execution was clean and fast. She had already pulled out her phone and started contacting venue staff.
"Thanks."
Su Yu threw the words over his shoulder and sprinted into the corridor.
[28:15]
The hallway was empty—only Su Yu's frantic footsteps and harsh breathing echoing off the walls.
But he knew that once he left the VIP area, he'd be swallowed by the sea of regular seating—tens of thousands of people.
Trying to find one person who wanted to disappear in a crowd like that…
was like fishing a needle out of the ocean.
BOOM—!!!
A tidal wave of cheers exploded right then, shaking the entire venue.
The concert had begun.
The lights snapped off. Countless glow sticks flared to life, merging into a purple galaxy.
A spotlight dropped onto center stage—
and the woman with wine-red hair—Eden—lifted the microphone with effortless elegance.
Her beautiful, airy voice poured through top-tier speakers, flooding every inch of space…
and drowning out Su Yu's hoarse scream.
"Kiana—!!!"
Su Yu charged into an aisle in the general stands, forcing his way through bodies, scanning every corner like a madman.
Around him were nothing but ecstatic fans—everyone screaming, everyone waving their arms.
That peak-level noise and joy—
in Su Yu's eyes, it became a wall of despair.
He was shouting.
No one could hear him.
He was searching.
But there was no white figure anywhere.
[25:40]
Sweat ran down from his forehead into his eyes, stinging like needles.
He didn't even wipe it away.
He wove through the crowd like a man possessed, bumping into people without time to apologize.
"Where… where are you…"
Su Yu's heart slammed against his ribs, each beat syncing with the countdown's pulse.
That sound—
louder than Eden's singing,
more piercing than anything in the world.
[15:15]
The countdown kept bleeding away without mercy.
Where was she?
His heart felt like it was being crushed in a giant fist. Every breath tasted like iron.
That idiot…
That idiot who always took every mistake onto herself—
She'd just promised she'd live properly.
She'd just said the popcorn was sweet…
"Su Yu—nothing in the East side."
"Nothing in the West either."
Kevin and Mei's tense voices came through his phone.
Su Yu stopped, sucking in air in huge gulps. His lungs burned like they were on fire, his throat full of rust.
Sweat cut into his eyes again, stinging.
All around him: fevered cheers.
In his ears: Eden's breathtaking voice.
In this world full of light and heat—
full of happiness and laughter—
only he was searching for a ghost who didn't belong here.
Only he was trying to catch a soul…
about to fall back into the abyss.
Where would she go?
Su Yu froze.
Someone who wanted to escape—who wanted to disappear—where would she choose?
She wouldn't go where people were.
Because she was afraid of hurting them.
She wouldn't go somewhere sealed and enclosed.
Because she feared that suffocating feeling.
She would go somewhere…
far away from everyone,
far away from "disaster."
His gaze rose over the purple sea of lights—up to the highest point of the stadium.
Maintenance access.
Away from the crowd.
Dark.
Quiet.
And also—
closest to the sky,
farthest from the ground.
Su Yu's pupils constricted hard.
He saw her.
In the topmost corner with no lights—
a small white figure, swaying unsteadily near the railing.
So lonely in the dark.
So painfully visible.
[10:30]
"…Found you."
Su Yu ground the words out through clenched teeth.
He didn't hesitate for even a second—he whipped around and sprinted for the stairs that led to the top level.
Wait for me.
Kiana—wait for me.
The wind on the top level was fierce, tangled with the roar of tens of thousands below—like a grand storm.
Su Yu shoved open the heavy fire door.
The rusty hinge shrieked a harsh creeeeak—
and was instantly swallowed by Eden's soaring vocals.
He gasped for air, lungs scorching, sweat streaming down his face to drip onto the floor.
His eyes hunted wildly in the dim rooftop space—
until they locked onto that small white shape in the corner.
Kiana wasn't standing on the edge.
She was simply waiting for time to run out.
Waiting to fade away like a bubble that had never existed.
Even if it meant dying—
she didn't want to dirty this clean floor.
Didn't want to leave anyone here even the smallest trouble.
She was curled up between two huge exhaust fans, arms wrapped tightly around her knees, face buried in the crook of her elbow.
Her thin shoulders shook with suppressed sobs—
like a stray cat abandoned by the entire world, left to freeze and die in the wind.
Below, the world blazed with light: glow sticks became a star sea, and Eden's song praised love and reunion.
But that warmth belonged to Kevin.
To Mei.
To this peaceful world so gentle it made you want to cry.
It didn't belong to the ghost who had crawled out of ruins.
The countdown on the system panel jumped like a death sentence.
[00:03][00:02][00:01]
That familiar suffocating sensation—like her body was being hollowed out—arrived right on schedule.
Kiana didn't even lift her head.
She was just waiting.
Waiting to be erased—like bugged data that never should have existed—silently cleaned by this world's firewall.
And then—
at the instant it hit zero—
a warmth abruptly forced its way into her senses.
Not some phantom comfort.
Not a hallucination.
A real human body temperature—
carrying the sharp scent of sweat.
Her body, which had been dissolving, was seized by an invisible hand. Sensation surged back like a tide flooding in.
The wind became bitter again.
Her knees became solid again.
Her heart began to beat—hard and real.
Kiana jerked her head up.
And what she saw—
was Su Yu's face, flushed red.
....
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