"It's them."
Standing in the center of the dim corridor, nearly frozen on his feet with wide and dispirited eyes blinking, Jin's breath hitches deep in his lungs in a tremulant manner.
His fingers grasp the hem of his clothes, and the spectral shiver runs up to his shoulders, the dreadful sensation gradually spreading to his body.
The man did not spare another minute or two to waste.
After noiselessly stepping a foot to the side, he holds and steadily opens the door to their right.
Miraculously, it was empty.
He pushed it open and ushered Jin inside.
Quietly sprinting towards the door in high hopes of escaping the gruesome possibility of them getting caught, Jin held his chest and stopped in the middle of the empty room when he arrived while still chasing his breath.
Curse his poor stamina.
He looked back and heard the lock of the door.
A sudden chill stroked him across his back.
"This way."
The next thing he knew, a door from the other corner of the room creeks open, and a faint light creep its way inside.
He was stunned at the man's soundless footsteps.
The eroding and aching feeling on his temple punctured alternatively in his head, making it difficult for him to think.
Jin pushed his best to keep himself conscious despite the constant feeling that his body would somehow snap and give in to vulnerability.
A somber silence sits between them when they hear myriad footsteps and muffled voices passing by outside the closed door.
It was only a matter of time before the people that took him here would find out about his absence in the room.
He glimpses at the man whose hand steadily held the door leading to who knows where.
Fear, doubt, and hopelessness consumed him.
All of a sudden, he felt difficulty breathing.
His chest compressed painfully, and his breath was shallower than the last.
"Lad, I can assure you one thing."
The man's hands left the door partly open, and he placed them gently to the front of his stomach as if trying to soothe a child down.
"I will get you out of here as I am told to."
Not caring if it was a white lie, Jin's hands lowered to his knees. His body slowly folds to the floor, and unshed tears emerge in his tired eyes out of melancholy.
"Trust me, child. I have already bet my life to the devil with this task."
Jin shook his head when the man mentioned the devil, but unexpectedly, he did not know it could calm his nerves down hearing such a heretical promise.
Surely no human being would want to give up their soul to the devil.
He collects his thoughts and steadies his heart. He bears a quick clean breath and looks up.
He must not take his emotions into mind.
Right now, what matters the most is he must get out of this hellhole place.
For his mother—for Hiro.
Seething with determination, Jin found his way to the other side of the room, and when he reached the door, he only wished he had prepared himself a breath or two.
He did not anticipate what was waiting for him ahead.
The same designed balcony that takes them out in the open air with a clearer view of the monstrous forest around them welcomes his sight.
What . . .
The man scarcely gives his back a tiny push and once again shuts the door behind them. His ever-so-baffled amethyst eyes looked behind him, and only did he notice the person's vivid blonde hair.
He looked like someone who would work additional hours for an extra wage at his age.
"I'm sorry that you would have to do this the hard way," says the man after reading the bewilderment in his expression. "My name's Joe. And yes, I'm naturally blonde."
Joe looks to his side, pushing Jin to follow wherever he is looking at, and his mouth gradually falls open.
No.
The man took a few light steps backward before sprinting and leaping high towards the next balcony in a blink. He landed safely, swiftly, and effortlessly.
Joe's eyes turn to him, nudging him to follow what he just did.
Only that it seems too impossible for him to do so.
Jin gulps.
"If it's too high up, just jump and I will grab you." Joe reaches his arms to the young fellow as much as he can. Half of his body was now glued to the corners of the glass walls.
He would have to do what?!
Jin glanced at the door, but there was no backing down now.
Great God watch over me.
He hesitatingly approached the glass railing that leveled up to his chest.
How is he supposed to jump from this height?
He looks to his side, and an unwelcoming and absurd idea passes his head.
He takes a deep breath before slowly grabbing the curtains. He breathes in. His heart was pounding inside him.
One arm after the other, he started climbing his way up the edge of the glass railings with no support but the thin layered clothing with no one knowing when and where it would snap from his weight.
The cold wind skims past his hair and face. A shivering breath escapes his parted lips. His body had turned numb, and he could feel his soul wanting to leave his body.
He did not dare to look down.
He could feel the thin squared glass gradually slipping against the silky material of his socks. His hitching breath turned worst. His eyes met Joe Ahjussi's and he can read from his bothered expression how dangerous this was.
He could slip from right where he is standing and his life would end there.
The distance between the balcony to the other was about two meters and a half, jumping such lengths would require his full strength and capacity to live.
Jin wavered at the thought of one of them failing to do their part, but either consequence would cost his lifeline to disappear.
"On three."
Eomma . . .
"One."
Hiro . . .
"Two."
Mochi . . .
"Three!"
He clears his head as he jumps and frees his hold of the curtain.
Staring and catching him without a breath and blinking amiss, the man pulled and carried Jin's weight over to the next balcony floor in split seconds.
When Jin felt the stone-cold balcony floor beneath his numb feet, he released the breath he had been holding.
Both dumbfounded and relieved, Jin can vividly feel his knees buckling, knowing he was up in the air a few seconds ago with nothing but the hard ground waiting for him hundreds of feet below.
His stomach was churning in quick reversing circles.
One wrong direction of his jump . . . and he could be good as dead by now.
"Was that manageable?"
The man cautiously lets go of his hold against him as if he had committed a grave sin and glances around in panic.
Jin's head tilts to the side. "Nowhere near easy," he replied.
His brows furrow.
Joe clears his throat. "The hard way, isn't it?" His gaze moves on towards the nine more balconies seen on sight.
Jin weakens in realization.