Hahm Yunhee is home. A place of safety. A place of comfort. And yet, a large segment of her heart is missing, left behind in an unreachable world.
Park Jimin is trapped in a parallel universe, fighting for survival while striving to find a way back...
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The stone - at first glance - appeared inconsequential. A meaningless, giant pebble protruding from the ground like those found on a mountain or in the wilderness.
If a person knew it had the ability to hurl them into a spiral of stars and spit them out into another universe, would they approach, or give it a wide berth?
If they knew it had the power to change their life...
'Or ruin it,' Jimin grumbled as he kicked a piece of loose gravel into the trench.
Earlier, when he'd walked into the warehouse to find an elongated pillar in place of the usual stump, Jimin had experienced a fleeting sense of panic.
It was the first time he'd visited since escaping Taehyung, and the sight had given him such a sucker punch that he'd spent ten minutes gawking while trying to piece together what had happened.
He could only conclude that Taehyung had returned in recent days, the freshly dug moat around the perimeter of the stone a sign that he'd tried to remove it from the floor.
'What the hell are you planning?' Jimin muttered while pinching his chin in thought.
Was the cunning man attempting to move it?
Hopping into the knee-height ditch, Jimin approached the dark grey column that rose from the ground like an ancient tombstone.
It was a peculiar conundrum.
There'd been no storm the night he, Yunhee, Jin and Namjoon had come to investigate, and yet, the stone had sputtered out the photo of the happy couple that was stuffed inside his trouser pocket.
The workings of the vortex made little sense, but why would they? Vortexes weren't supposed to exist.
Period.
At least the channel he stood in answered his question of how deep the rock was rooted into the earth.
How much further did it go, though? Jimin had come today to test out their fire theory, but upon seeing that Taehyung had attempted and failed to relocate the object, he was interested in taking a shot at moving it himself.
Wrapping his hands around the smooth surface, he gave the stone post a firm shake, wheezing in shock when it shifted an inch to the left. His bullet wound twinged when he tried again, but after a few vain struggles of trying to haul it free, he realised it was not going to budge.
Jimin scowled at the stone as he rubbed out his aching flesh. 'Piece of shit.'
Saving the women yesterday - along with Byun Mee - had been gratifying, but the task had taken its toll on a body that had yet to fully recover, and his shoulder had given him nothing but grief since he'd carried Choi Miseon out of the cargo container.
As well as that, the authorities would not touch Taehyung, pressed too firmly under his thumb and too afraid to make an arrest. Once again, he would get off scot-free for his crimes, giving him the opportunity to cook up another batch of heinous felonies in not one world, but two.
