The hallway was a tunnel of amber light and long, stretching shadows. Building 15 was an old structure, designed with high ceilings and heavy wooden doors that usually felt prestigious. Tonight, it felt like a labyrinth.
Kang-joon gripped the USB drive in his palm, the sharp edges digging into his skin. The cold metal was the only thing grounding him. Behind the locked door of the research office, he could hear the heavy, rhythmic thud of a shoulder hitting the wood.
Thump.
"Go," Kang-joon whispered to Ji-hye.
She was staring at him, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and a fierce, stubborn loyalty that he didn't know how to process. She was clutching her laptop bag to her chest, her knuckles white.
"The emergency stairs are behind the elevator bank," she said, her voice trembling but hushed. "There's a service exit that leads toward the dormitory hill. It's dark there. They won't be able to see which way you go."
