They pushed towards the service door. Smaller monsters darted out from the tracks, low and fast, forcing Zhou Xiao and Lin Lan to veer off left and right. Ye Fan stayed at the front, with Mu Chen right behind him, just as he'd been told. The service door had caved in a bit, leaving a jagged opening. Inside, a slow, pulsing blue-black light beat like a heart.
"The core's in there," Lin Lan said.
Ye Fan went in first. The room was a cramped maintenance chamber, half-flooded. Old control panels lined the walls. In the middle, hovering over dark water, a cracked glass heart of a core spun slowly. And next to it, another shape. Not quite solid, more shadow than anything. But it looked at Mu Chen and tilted its head, like it recognized him.
Ye Fan's knife shot up. "Don't."
The thing ignored him. Its voice was soft, and wrong. "He always turns towards you."
Mu Chen froze. Zhou Xiao made a sharp, disgusted sound. "I'm so sick of these gates knowing things."
Lin Lan's voice remained steely. "Kill the core."
Ye Fan lunged. The shadow moved too, not to fight, but to get in the way, costing Ye Fan a single second. That was all it took. The pressure in the room surged. Mu Chen felt Ye Fan's control stretch thin, like a wire pulled almost to breaking point. It was too close.
Mu Chen stepped forward without thinking. His fingers brushed the fabric between Ye Fan's shoulders as he reached for his back. Ye Fan instantly steadied. The shadow thing chuckled. "There," it said. "That hidden pull."
Heat bloomed under Mu Chen's skin. Not because the gate said it. But because it had named it correctly. Hidden pull. Not some assignment, not compatibility, not duty. It was the thing between them that neither of them had dared to name.
Ye Fan's face turned dangerously cold. "You don't get to talk about him." Him. Not the guide. Not Lieutenant Mu. Not restricted support. Him. The shadow thing grinned wider. That was its mistake. Ye Fan crossed the room in one brutal move and struck right through it. The shadow dissolved into smoke and sound, and at the exact same moment, Zhou Xiao fired at the core. Cracks spread across its blue-black surface.
"Again!" Lin Lan yelled. Ye Fan plunged his knife in. The core shattered. The room lurched. Water surged across the floor. Sparks flew from exploding panels. The tunnel behind them twisted and narrowed as the gate started to collapse.
"Out!" Ye Fan barked. Zhou Xiao grabbed Lin Lan's arm and pulled her through first. Mu Chen turned to follow, but the floor shifted. One foot slipped into deeper water, and he hit the wall shoulder-first. Before he could recover, Ye Fan's hand clamped around his waist and hauled him upright. The grip was strong, immediate, and far too intimate to be anything but pure instinct. Mu Chen gasped. Ye Fan didn't let go. "Move," he said, his voice rough near Mu Chen's ear. They ran like that for three steps before Ye Fan released him. Too late for it to mean nothing. Too brief to hold onto. They scrambled into the tunnel just as the room behind them folded in. Concrete screamed. Water burst through the cracks. A flash of blue light, then darkness. The gate unleashed one last wave of pressure. Not fear this time. Need. A sharp, aching sense of reaching for something just out of reach. Mu Chen stumbled under the feeling. Ye Fan turned instantly. "Mu Chen." Hearing his name from Ye Fan cut through the gate's pressure more sharply than it should have. Mu Chen found his footing. "I'm here," he said. For a second, Ye Fan looked at him like the answer mattered more than anything. Then Zhou Xiao shouted from up ahead, "Exit!" The tear in the air waited at the end of the passage. Lin Lan went through, then Zhou Xiao. Mu Chen followed, and Ye Fan came out last. Cold night air hit them. Floodlights. Concrete. Base staff rushing in. Mu Chen stepped clear of the gate's perimeter and forced himself to breathe normally. His shoulder ached from hitting the wall. His waist still felt warm where Ye Fan had grabbed him. Across from him, Ye Fan looked completely calm again. Only his eyes gave him away. They went to Mu Chen first. Not the med team. Not Luo Wei. Not the collapsing gate. Mu Chen held the gaze for a second, then looked away before anyone else could see it. Luo Wei arrived and said, "Report." Lin Lan brought up her tablet. Zhou Xiao started explaining. Ye Fan answered in short, controlled sentences. Mu Chen stood under the floodlights, his face blank. Hidden pull. The phrase still stuck with him. Because the gate had been right. And the worst part was, it was getting harder and harder to keep it hidden.