Tears continued to spill from Kaylen's dark brown eyes.
He made no attempt to wipe them away.
For years, he had buried every emotion beneath the discipline of a soldier. Grief was a luxury he could never afford on the battlefield. Regret was something to be locked away if he wished to survive another day.
Yet now, standing in the quiet apartment of a world that wasn't his own, every wall he had built around his heart had crumbled.
Sofia stood frozen.
Only moments ago, she had been consumed by anger, convinced that Rian had shut himself away from everyone after the tragedy.
Now...
All she could see was a broken young man struggling to breathe through silent sobs.
The look in his eyes frightened her.
She had known Rian for years.
He was the type of person who laughed too loudly at terrible jokes, smiled whenever someone needed encouragement, and always tried to carry other people's burdens without complaining.
But the person standing before her now looked...
Ancient.
Not in appearance.
In sorrow.
It was as if those dark brown eyes had witnessed far more suffering than any nineteen-year-old should ever endure.
Her chest tightened painfully.
Without thinking, she stepped forward.
She wrapped both arms around him and held him close.
The embrace was firm but gentle, filled with a desperate tenderness born from fear rather than romance. It was the instinctive comfort of someone who had spent an entire week believing she might never see her closest friend alive again.
Kaylen's body stiffened.
His first instinct was to step back.
Years of military training screamed at him never to lower his guard, never to allow anyone inside his reach.
But...
He couldn't.
The warmth of another human being caught him completely off guard.
His shoulders slowly relaxed.
The violent trembling running through his body gradually weakened until only uneven breaths remained.
Neither of them spoke.
Words felt meaningless.
For several long minutes, the apartment remained silent except for the faint hum of distant traffic outside the towering windows.
Eventually, Sofia loosened her embrace.
She gently took his hand.
"Come," she whispered.
"Let's sit down."
Kaylen followed her without resistance.
They settled onto the living room sofa.
Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling glass, casting pale reflections across the polished floor, yet neither of them paid any attention to the beautiful view outside.
Sofia looked down at her clasped hands.
"I think..." she said quietly, "...I know why you disappeared."
Kaylen remained silent.
"I know about the INOX Tower."
His eyes slowly lifted toward her.
"My father works in the office building across the street."
She swallowed.
"He saw you that afternoon."
Another pause.
"He said you were walking toward the tower with your parents."
Kaylen felt his heartbeat slow.
*Parents...*
The word lingered in his mind.
Sofia continued in a quieter voice.
"About twenty minutes later... the tower collapsed."
She struggled to say the next words.
"It wasn't like a normal building accident."
"There wasn't a warning."
"There wasn't an earthquake."
"There wasn't even an explosion anyone could explain."
"It simply... started falling apart."
Her fingers tightened together.
"My father said people didn't even understand what was happening until it was too late."
She lowered her gaze.
"Thousands died."
"Thousands more were injured."
"Entire families disappeared in a single afternoon."
Her voice hardened with restrained anger.
"And even now... the government refuses to explain anything."
"No official cause."
"No investigation results."
"No answers."
"It's like they're pretending it never happened."
Kaylen listened carefully.
Every sentence became another piece of information.
*A mysterious collapse...*
*Thousands of casualties...*
*Rian's parents among the dead...*
*And the authorities are keeping the truth hidden.*
He knew almost nothing about this world.
Every detail mattered.
Choosing his words carefully, he asked,
"What happened... inside the INOX Tower?"
The question hung in the air.
Sofia stared at him.
Confusion flickered across her face.
Then disbelief.
Then fear.
"...Rian?"
She searched his expression.
"Stop joking."
Kaylen remained silent.
A nervous smile appeared on her face.
"This isn't funny."
Silence.
Her smile slowly disappeared.
She leaned closer.
"Tell me something only you would know."
Kaylen blinked.
"What café do we always go to after classes?"
He looked at her apologetically.
"I don't know."
She laughed weakly.
"My birthday?"
"I don't know."
"The neighborhood we grew up in?"
"I don't know."
The color drained from her face.
Her breathing became shallow.
One final question escaped her lips.
"Your father's name?"
Kaylen searched his mind.
Nothing.
Only emptiness.
"I'm..."
His voice faltered.
"I don't know."
The room became unbearably quiet.
Fresh tears welled in Sofia's eyes.
"You really don't remember..."
Kaylen lowered his head.
"I only remember waking up here."
"I don't remember anything before that."
Those words shattered the last of her hope.
Without warning, Sofia threw her arms around him again, holding him even tighter than before.
"Oh, Rian..."
Her voice broke.
"You lost your parents..."
"And now..."
"...you've even lost your memories of them."
A tear landed on Kaylen's shoulder.
He slowly reached up and gently brushed another tear from her cheek.
"Please don't cry."
His voice was calm, carrying a sadness so old it almost sounded timeless.
"I understand what it means to lose your parents."
Sofia closed her eyes.
She believed those words came from Rian's grief.
Only Kaylen knew they came from his own.