By the time I arrived at school, I was already exhausted.
Not physically.
Mentally.
The kind of exhaustion that clings to your thoughts like fog, dulling everything, making even reality feel… slightly unreal.
As expected, my idiotic friends wasted no time.
— "So? What did you see during the storm?"
— "Did you see creatures?"
— "Something from another dimension, right?"
I sighed.
Of course.
Always the same.
I didn't even bother looking at them at first. I just kept eating, slow, methodical, pretending their voices were nothing more than background noise.
— "Hey, idiot, I'm talking to you."
Wonho.
I glanced at him briefly, then looked away again.
— "There was nothing," I said flatly. "Stop making up stories for children."
— "Come on, Dark, let's investigate the storms."
— "No."
— "Xia, convince him."
A pause.
Then the soft rustling of a backpack.
I looked up.
Xia was holding something.
A book.
A very specific book.
Hardcover. Deep crimson and black. Golden embossed details shaped like tears and intertwined leaves, shimmering faintly under the cafeteria lights.
My heart skipped.
The Grimoire of Black Tears.
— "…Where did you get that?" I asked, my voice lower than before.
She smiled.
— "Let's just say… I knew you wanted it."
I clenched my jaw.
— "If you come with us," she continued, lifting the book slightly, "it's yours."
Silence.
A long one.
— "You bastards…"
I sighed.
— "Fine."
And that's how I ended up walking toward a forest I had absolutely no intention of entering…
…with a group of idiots.
The Forest
The moment we crossed the threshold…
Something changed.
It wasn't immediate.
Not obvious.
But it was there.
A subtle shift.
Like stepping into a place that didn't want you.
The air grew colder.
Not the kind of cold that makes you shiver instantly…
…but the kind that seeps into your bones slowly, quietly, until you realize you've been uncomfortable for a while.
The light dimmed.
Even though the sun was still up.
The trees… felt wrong.
Their trunks twisted unnaturally, bending in angles that didn't quite make sense. Their bark looked like layered scars. Some even resembled stretched skin.
And the silence…
No birds.
No insects.
Nothing.
Just our footsteps.
Too loud.
Too intrusive.
— "I don't like this…" Kimberly whispered.
Without thinking, I took her hand.
— "Relax," I said. "It's just a forest."
Even as I said it…
I didn't believe it.
Airi was behind us.
Quiet.
Too quiet.
I glanced back.
Her hands were trembling.
Her phone was still recording… but unstable, shaking slightly.
Her pupils were dilated.
Her breathing shallow.
And then I noticed something else.
Her screen.
For a split second…
I saw it.
Our shadows.
They weren't matching.
They moved… wrong.
Delayed.
Twisted.
Like something was mimicking us.
Badly.
I blinked.
It was gone.
"…Just my imagination," I muttered.
It had to be.
— "Someone is watching us."
Kimberly's voice was tighter now.
Fear.
Real fear.
That wasn't normal.
Kim wasn't the type to get scared easily.
— "Don't start," I said, forcing calm into my voice.
— "No… she's right," Xia added quietly.
That made me stop.
Xia was scared too.
That… wasn't good.
At all.
— "There's something here," she continued. "Something we can't see."
I exhaled slowly.
— "You're overthinking."
But inside…
Something was cracking.
We kept walking.
Deeper.
And deeper.
The darkness thickened.
Not visually.
But… presence.
Like the air itself was heavier.
Breathing became slightly harder.
The temperature dropped again.
And then—
Minho slipped.
— "SHIT—!"
He disappeared down a slope.
— "MINHO!"
We ran.
Branches scratched against our arms. The ground was uneven, roots like veins trying to trip us.
By the time we reached the bottom…
He was already standing.
— "I'm fine," he said, breathing heavily.
But something in his voice…
was off.
He turned.
— "These trees…"
His eyes scanned the surroundings.
— "They look… alive."
Then—
He tripped again.
This time, he fell forward.
Hard.
— "What the hell…?"
He pushed himself up and looked down.
At what made him fall.
A bone.
Long.
White.
Covered in symbols.
Runes.
Ancient.
Wrong.
— "What is this…?"
He touched it.
And then—
Everything changed.
The First Break
Minho froze.
His body went rigid.
His pupils shrank.
— "…Do you hear that?"
We didn't.
But he did.
Footsteps.
Surrounding him.
From all directions.
Then laughter.
Children.
Dozens of them.
Whispering.
Crying.
Singing.
All at once.
— "Stop… stop…"
He dropped the bone.
Silence.
Instant.
He looked at us.
His face had lost all color.
— "We need to leave."
No jokes.
No sarcasm.
Just fear.
Pure, raw fear.
— "NOW!"
We ran.
No one argued.
No one questioned.
Branches tore at our clothes.
The forest seemed longer now.
Paths didn't make sense anymore.
Everything looked the same.
And then—
— "Wait…"
Airi's voice broke.
— "Where's Wonho?"
Silence.
We stopped.
Looked around.
Nothing.
— "WONHO!"
No answer.
Minho started shaking.
— "We're going to die… we're going to die…"
Xia slapped him.
Hard.
— "GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!"
Her voice cut through everything.
— "We find him. Then we leave. Understood?"
He nodded.
Barely.
We searched.
Minutes felt like hours.
The air grew colder.
Heavier.
And then—
Rustling.
Wonho stumbled out of the trees.
Covered in dry leaves.
Disoriented.
— "Where were you?!" Kim snapped.
He blinked.
— "…I don't remember."
That was worse than any answer.
Escape
We didn't speak.
We just ran.
Until—
The forest ended.
Abruptly.
Like crossing an invisible line.
The air returned.
Sound returned.
Life returned.
I bent slightly, catching my breath.
— "Yeah… I'm never doing that again."
No one laughed.
Aftermath
Later, at the restaurant, things felt… normal again.
Too normal.
We ate.
Talked.
Pretended.
But something stayed.
A weight.
Unspoken.
I got the book.
Finally.
The Grimoire of Black Tears.
And that night…
As I opened it…
As I touched its pages…
I felt it.
That same presence.
From the forest.
Watching.
Waiting.
And deep inside…
I knew.
That forest…
wasn't done with us.