The decision to go out that morning did not come from excitement.
It came from restlessness.
Three national holidays sounded generous on paper, but after the first day, the campus began to feel too quiet. Too contained. Like a place that expected them to behave just because nothing urgent was happening.
XH felt it the moment he woke up.
The ceiling looked the same. The light through the window looked the same. His phone had no urgent notifications. No reminders. No deadlines screaming for attention.
It should have felt peaceful.
Instead, it felt like waiting.
By the time JP started knocking down the hallway like he was staging a protest, XH was already dressed.
"Wake up," JP shouted. "I refuse to suffer consciousness alone."
A muffled voice from another room groaned. TZ, probably.
XH opened the door just as JP raised his hand to knock again. JP froze mid-motion.
"Oh. You're already awake," JP said, disappointed. "I had a whole speech prepared."
"Please don't," XH replied.
They gathered in the common area slowly, like gravity was pulling everyone there one by one. HS arrived with his usual calm, already dressed like it was an ordinary class day. TZ showed up in a hoodie that looked like it had survived several disasters. NS stood near the window, hands in his pockets, watching the city wake up under a thin layer of mist.
Kitty entered quietly, hair loose, eyes alert despite the early hour. June followed shortly after, jacket half zipped, expression composed like she had already decided how the day would go.
XH noticed, not for the first time, how differently the room reacted to them.
Kitty softened the space. June sharpened it.
JP clapped his hands together loudly. "Okay. We are not rotting indoors. We're doing city again."
TZ squinted. "You said that yesterday."
"And it worked," JP argued. "Today we escalate."
"That's never reassuring," HS said gently.
JP grinned. "Escape room."
The word landed.
Kitty's eyes brightened before she caught herself. June's lips pressed together like she was suppressing a reaction.
"A horror one," JP added, clearly enjoying this.
June exhaled. "Those are always badly designed."
Kitty glanced sideways at her. "You sound confident."
"I'm realistic."
NS turned from the window. "Fear reveals efficiency."
June looked at him flatly. "You just want to see people panic."
NS did not deny it.
XH said nothing. He was already picturing dark rooms, confined spaces, the way Kitty hated sudden noises even though she pretended she didn't.
They took the bus again.
The city felt muted under the mist. Street vendors moved slower. Car tires hissed against wet pavement. Above the driver, a muted television played clips from a national math competition, the camera lingering on frantic chalk movements and tense faces.
JP leaned forward. "Why does every competition look like emotional violence."
June watched the screen intently. "Pressure filters people."
NS glanced at her. "You'd be good at that."
June did not look away. "I know."
Kitty leaned closer to XH and whispered, "She likes winning more than being liked."
June heard her anyway. "Only because winning lasts longer."
XH hid a smile.
When they reached the street JP had chosen, the escape room sign was impossible to miss.
A garish clown. Flickering neon. Words that promised fear like a dare.
TZ stopped at the base of the stairs. "I already regret this."
"You regret breathing," JP said, dragging him upward.
The waiting area smelled faintly of disinfectant and old carpet. Posters on the walls showed exaggerated reactions from previous groups, frozen mid-scream or mid-laughter.
The staff member handed them waivers without looking particularly impressed.
"No touching the actors," he recited. "No forcing locks. You can ask for hints. Cameras are active. You're safe."
Kitty muttered, "That's exactly what unsafe places say."
June scanned the rules like she was memorizing an exam.
The theme was announced.
The Abandoned Ward.
JP laughed too loudly. "That's just foreshadowing."
Inside the first room, the air changed immediately.
Dim lights flickered overhead, inconsistent enough to make the space feel unstable. Hospital beds lined the walls, sheets stained just enough to suggest history. A wheelchair sat crooked in the corner. The smell of antiseptic mixed with something damp.
XH felt Kitty move closer without thinking.
Not clinging.
Just nearer.
June noticed. She stepped in as well, not touching XH, but closing the triangle so no one stood alone.
The door behind them shut with a heavy click.
Too heavy.
A voice crackled from a speaker, distorted and clinical, explaining a missing patient, locked doors, a time limit.
JP whispered, "I already hate this."
"Then stop talking," TZ whispered back.
They split up cautiously.
HS examined a clipboard near the wall, flipping pages slowly. TZ checked drawers with exaggerated confidence. JP shook a glass jar until something rattled.
Kitty crouched beside one of the beds, lifting the sheet carefully.
June stood before a cracked mirror, studying the way it fractured her reflection into pieces.
XH noticed the way she didn't blink.
There was a keypad on a cabinet labeled PATIENT RECORDS.
A note taped beside it read: She never forgets the date.
June turned. "Calendar."
Sure enough, a torn calendar page hung crookedly nearby. One date circled in red.
JP squinted. "That's… ominous."
They entered the code.
The cabinet opened with a dull creak.
Inside: a small key and a cassette tape.
HS handled it carefully. "There should be a player."
TZ found one on a desk and pressed play.
Static. Then a woman's voice, whispering, laughing, crying in fragments.
Kitty's fingers tightened on XH's sleeve.
He didn't move away.
The tape ended abruptly with a loud bang.
Kitty jumped, shoulder slamming into XH's chest.
JP burst out laughing immediately. "You screamed."
"I did not," Kitty snapped, face burning.
"You absolutely did."
June surprised them all by laughing softly.
Not loud. Just real.
Then the lights went out.
Complete darkness.
Kitty's grip shifted from XH's sleeve to his arm, tight now. At the same time, June's hand brushed his other side, pressing briefly, instinctive.
XH froze, breath caught.
NS's calm voice cut through the dark. "Interesting timing."
June hissed, "Shut up."
The lights flickered back on.
Both girls stepped away instantly.
No one commented.
No one laughed.
They unlocked the next door and stepped into a narrow hallway lined with hanging curtains that brushed their shoulders as they passed. A speaker above emitted soft footsteps that didn't match their own.
Kitty whispered, "This is stupid."
June whispered back, "Then why are you holding him."
"I am not."
She was.
The hallway ended in another room.
A fake corpse lay on the floor with a note pinned to its chest.
JP leaned down, and a sudden scream blasted from the speakers.
Kitty yelped and grabbed XH again, this time without pretending.
June stepped forward immediately, ripping the note free.
"You're all useless," she said, voice steady despite the slight shake in her hands.
Kitty glared. "Then solve it."
June did.
Fast.
Kitty matched her pace, listing possibilities just as quickly.
Their rivalry turned sharp and productive, fear converting into focus.
XH watched them, heart pounding, realizing something unsettling.
When pushed, they worked best together.
They weren't escaping yet.
They were just getting deeper.
And the room seemed to know it.
The door behind them locked again.
The timer ticked down.
Somewhere in the ceiling, something moved.
And for the first time, Kitty didn't pretend she wasn't scared.
She leaned into XH fully.
June saw it.
And this time, she didn't look away.