Yechan leaned slightly toward Woonhee, keeping his voice low so it wouldn't carry past the cluster of porters gathered behind the rankers.
"…Where's Kang Min?"
Woonhee didn't look at him immediately. Her eyes remained fixed ahead, toward the massive sinkhole stretching into the earth, its spiraling layers disappearing into a depth that made her chest feel tight.
"He got laid down," she said quietly.
Yechan blinked. "What?"
Woonhee finally glanced at him, her expression calm but firm.
"Because of the Calamity 4 disaster."
She said nothing else.
Yechan frowned, clearly confused, but the way she turned her gaze forward again told him the conversation was over.
Woonhee stayed silent, but her thoughts didn't.
She knew more than anyone else here.
She knew what Kang Min had been doing over the past few days, knew what it meant for someone to rise to Ranker status in such a short time, knew the cost of standing alone against something like a Calamity 4.
