Prologue.
When destiny begins to bind, whether they realize it or not...
BOOM! The sound wave struck like a nightmare, shaking the hotel room window with deafening force. The room lights died for a moment before flickering back to life while the floor trembled beneath my feet as if it were splitting apart.
Oh, Universe. I jolted, my breath caught. My blood rushed fast. Something big had happened. Smoke, the smell of metal, and dust began to creep in through the window cracks. Screams from outside the hotel grew louder and louder.
What was that? Steeling myself, I walked toward the window and pulled back the thin curtain. My gaze fixed on thick smoke rising into the night sky, forming a black cloud above a building not far from here. Fire danced wildly amidst the rubble while people ran around like panicked ants.
What happened? I stood frozen, holding my breath. My heart pounded hard, but not from fear—rather from confusion. So much chaos and destruction had already struck my life. But this felt different. This was real chaos. Destruction that didn’t just strike the soul, but crushed the body as well.
As I tried to steady my breathing, dark thoughts began to creep in.
How many people were hurt? How many people died? Could it be—
The sound of sirens filled the air, interrupting my reverie. Ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars sped through the streets. Red and blue lights bounced off the glass of surrounding buildings. I stepped back from the window until my body collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
The explosion shook more than just the city. I knew what loss felt like. I knew what it felt like to watch everything fall apart. And now—out there, the same destruction was befalling others.
Should I—damn it. I had to leave here to check on someone’s condition. Without thinking twice, I grabbed my bolero jacket and handbag before rushing out of the hotel room.
The Las Vegas sky was filled with thick haze. Cold wind struck as I walked through the quiet hotel lobby. Outside, people ran around anxiously. The chaos from the bombing didn’t just shake buildings, but also wounded everyone’s sanity.
And this insanity made it difficult for me to find a taxi.
My phone kept vibrating in my bag. I ignored it, too busy looking for a cab. An hour passed, and finally I arrived at the hospital. Except I stood frozen at the threshold, witnessing a scene I’d never seen before.
Screams echoed in every corner. Some injured people were carried on stretchers and gurneys. Some were badly hurt, others just crying or silent. There was a lot of blood on the floor. There were expressions of fear everywhere. Paramedics ran from one place to another, trying to save lives. The tension was so real, and even though this atmosphere was different from the suffering in my life—I still felt the same vibration.
Deep fear. Deadly anxiety.
I clenched my fists, trying to strengthen myself. Every step I took felt heavy. Clearly my destination wasn’t the emergency room but the inpatient ward. Very clearly the person I worried about wasn’t a victim of the explosion but a girl who had been hospitalized here for weeks.
She was my litter sister. The only reason I kept fighting to survive.
Once again, I couldn’t bring myself to knock on the door. Only from the window did I observe her. She seemed fine though I found her expression anxious. One hand gripped her phone, undaunted in making calls. A sign she knew something was happening in this city.
Half-heartedly, I answered her call.
Her voice burst through. “Are you okay? I heard—”
Closing my eyes for a moment, I took a step to leave while quickly interrupting. “Yes. I’m fine.”
“Good.” Cheerfulness colored her tone. “Where are you?”
“I still have to work.”
“Where?”
A lie slipped smoothly from my mouth. “PublicUs Cafe.”
Then my litter sister rambled about the tragedy that occurred, providing lots of information while asking how I was. As soon as the call ended, other calls came in. My aunt, my uncle, and some of my bosses called. I felt relieved they were okay, felt even more relieved when told my work tonight was postponed.
The hospital atmosphere felt suffocating—crying, screaming, and the smell of blood. It was all too much to bear. Moreover, a few hours before the explosion shook people, I was shaken first by just learning the truth about my sister’s worsening condition.
With extraordinarily heavy steps, I left the hospital. My head bowed as my eyes began to glisten. It felt like this world was filled with darkness that could never be passed through by anyone. Neither me nor those who were now victims of the tragedy.
I kept walking without direction or purpose, not knowing how far and not knowing how long. I felt lost in the middle of a city whose magnificence was cracking, like the cracks in my life. Without realizing it, I had returned to downtown.
People crowded the streets. Their faces radiated anxiety. But I didn’t care. Even though I wanted to share with others, I thought there would never be anyone willing. Or actually—never mind. Hoping for something impossible would only bring me to another suffering.
I stopped at a street corner, tilting my head toward the sky.
Please, Universe. Give me a little strength to keep moving forward.
My eyes fixed on the giant wheel spinning slowly, so graceful amidst the chaotic city’s bustle. That was the High Roller—one of Las Vegas’s icons. It felt ridiculous. The High Roller’s arrogance seemed unaffected even though an explosion occurred. The wheel kept spinning, still luxurious, and still stable.
I wanted to be like that.
Somehow, I was moved to ride it and I indeed had never ridden it since the High Roller was inaugurated. Not afraid of heights, I just didn’t have time to visit it. I smiled bitterly, intending to find peace in a higher place—farther from all the chaos down here.
After entering the building, I bought a ticket without much thought. As I headed to one of the empty pods, an attendant tried to stop me. He told me that pod was already reserved. Unfortunately, I was too fed up to care.
I ran away, breathing a sigh of relief when the pod door closed before the attendant could catch me. The pod began moving upward, and finally—silence.
Too bad. The giant window presenting the city view apparently wasn’t very comforting. I approached the window, observing it in an emptiness difficult to describe. My mind wandered, recalling the sense of loss I’d experienced.
My father who died. My mother who also died. And now—my little sister’s life was threatened.
How many more losses would I feel, Universe?
Right when the pod reached the peak, that emptiness felt different. I suddenly sensed something. No, not something but someone.
The attendant hadn’t been lying. There was another person’s presence inside the pod. Which I hadn’t realized before. My instincts kicked in. I turned toward a certain direction, and sure enough. My eyes found a man sitting in the corner.
He was almost invisible, blending with the night’s shadows. He was even dressed all in black. His thick jacket was black. His faded jeans were black. And the cap covering most of his face was also black. The man didn’t move at all, said nothing either. All I realized was there was a sharp gaze, watching me like an uninvited observer.
That made me a little uncomfortable.
I almost wanted to apologize for disturbing him, but my tongue went numb. Then when the pod moved toward brighter lights—whose glow illuminated part of the man’s face, I became even more powerless to move. I could clearly see the color of his eyes. Brown, or more precisely hazel. In the intimidating sharpness of his gaze, I don’t know why but suddenly I could sense his eyes filled with buried wounds.
He was broken. Chaotic and cracked.
Just like me. Just like this city.
Trying hard to ignore him because he was still watching me, I turned my face away and tried to forget the man’s presence. What could I do. I was already here, and I intended to leave immediately when the first rotation finished.
Except the atmosphere was extremely quiet. My heart beat fast for a reason I didn’t understand. Maybe I was too nervous and I could still feel the man’s gaze stabbing my back. Pretending not to care again, I observed the cluster of lights glowing down below.
Damn it. Time felt so slow.
My gaze shifted to the glass reflecting him. Once again drawn to guess. The man’s expression was hard to read. Not angry, not friendly—just cold. Again and again, I wanted to speak but my tongue remained stiff.
What did I want to say? I didn’t know.
Only one thing I realized now. Riding a pod moving up into the sky then meeting a stranger who felt the same thing at least made me realize that I wasn’t the only one who was broken and struggling to survive even though my judgment about the man sounded like a guess, but it didn’t matter.
At least, I could smile now.
I held back laughter at my own thoughts.
Not long after the pod’s rotation was almost finished, I prepared to exit. Before passing through the open door, my head turned toward the man again.
“Thank you. I don’t know why I have to say it—” How relieving to get my voice out even in a whisper. “But I still want to thank you.”
I didn’t expect an answer, and he indeed didn’t answer. But I could feel the change in atmosphere around us. The man looked at me with a different gaze. He seemed to want to say something but struggled just to utter it.
Without wanting to wait, I stepped out while the pod rotated again, carrying the man away. My body moved on its own, turning back and staring at him. He was still there, still sitting motionless like a statue. He still didn’t move his lips and still stared at me from behind the glass window with a piercing gaze.
Right then, I realized why I wanted to thank the man.
Though only briefly in the pod, it felt like he and I were sharing silence. Not in hostility, but in understanding. Two strangers who only looked at each other and didn’t speak to each other—we seemed to be recognizing each other’s wounds.
My God. That was even more absurd.
The proof: he didn’t throw me out, didn’t scold me either. He actually let me enter his private realm, sharing the silence that was indeed needed.
That moment. As if we had shared something inexplicable.
Alright. Enough. Stop guessing, Morgan.
