A long silence filled the room.
Kai looked down at his hands.
Then around the room.
Then back at Ren.
"…No," he muttered.
But it didn't sound confident.
The air suddenly felt colder.
The room quieter.
And then—
Kai's body flickered.
For just a split second—
his form distorted.
Like static.
Like he wasn't fully there.
Ren's eyes widened.
"…!"
Kai froze.
"…What was that?"
The truth began to settle in.
Slowly.
Painfully.
He wasn't fully alive.
But he wasn't gone either.
And the ring on Ren's finger…
began to faintly glow.
Kai looked at Ren, confused at first.
"…But I came home. I was walking and—"
He stopped.
His expression changed.
Slowly.
Like something inside his mind had just unlocked.
"…Wait…"
His eyes lost focus.
Fragments.
Broken pieces.
That night.
Ren stepped closer.
"…What's wrong?"
Kai didn't answer immediately.
His breathing slowed.
"…I was walking…"
A pause.
"…and then…"
His hand moved slightly to the back of his head.
"…something hit me."
Ren's eyes sharpened.
"…What?"
Kai's voice got quieter.
"I woke up…"
Another pause.
"…in a forest."
The room felt colder.
"…It was night," Kai continued. "No lights. No sound. Just trees."
His eyes darkened slightly as the memory became clearer.
"…And I wasn't alone."
Ren didn't interrupt.
Kai's hands tightened.
"There were people."
"…Seven of them."
Silence.
"…Six of them wore white," Kai said slowly.
"Completely covered. Faces… hidden."
His voice dropped further.
"…And one…"
He stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
"…One man stood in front of them."
"…Wearing red."
Ren felt something shift in the air.
"You couldn't see his face," Kai continued.
"Everything was covered… like he didn't want to be known."
A long pause.
Ren's eyes stayed locked on Kai.
"…So you didn't see any of their faces?"
Kai shook his head slowly.
"No… none of them."
He looked down at his hands again, like he was trying to feel something that wasn't there anymore.
"…I was laying on something," Kai continued.
"A stone."
His voice grew quieter.
"…Cold."
Ren didn't interrupt.
"They tied me down," Kai said.
"Chains… around my arms… my legs…"
His jaw tightened slightly.
"…I couldn't move."
The room felt heavier with every word.
Ren's fists slowly clenched.
"…Then what?"
Kai's eyes darkened as the memory became clearer.
"…They started doing something."
"…A ritual."
Silence.
"I didn't understand it," Kai said.
"They weren't speaking normally… it sounded… wrong."
He swallowed slightly.
"…Like they weren't even human."
Ren's breathing slowed.
Listening carefully.
Kai continued:
"The one in red… he stepped forward."
"…Everyone else stayed behind him."
A pause.
"…I couldn't see his face," Kai said again.
"But I could feel him looking at me."
The air in the room dropped colder.
"…And then…"
Kai's voice almost disappeared.
"…everything went quiet."
Ren stepped closer without realizing it.
"…What happened after that?"
Kai frowned slightly.
Like something was missing.
"…I don't know."
A pause.
"…The next thing I remember…"
He looked up at Ren.
"…was sleeping."
Silence.
"I thought it was just a bad dream," Kai said.
"…Until now."
The truth settled between them.
Slow.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Ren looked down slightly.
"…It wasn't a dream."
Kai didn't respond.
Because now—
he knew.
The ritual.
The chains.
The man in red.
That was the moment he died.
And yet…
he was here.
Ren's eyes slowly shifted to his hand.
The ring.
To be continued...