The city felt colder today.
Not from the weather — the air had the same dry, burnt metallic taste as always — but from something deeper.
A silence under the noise.
A tightness in every breath.
Seo-jin tightened the straps on his gear as he stood in the main yard of Lotus, the broken concrete crunching faintly under his boots.
Min-ji leaned against a cracked support beam nearby, arms crossed, eyes scanning the courtyard.
Tension rolled off everyone like heat.
Small groups whispered fiercely in corners.
Older fighters sat with their weapons resting against their legs, gazes hard and distant.
Seo-jin saw Myung-soo arguing quietly with two other scouts near the west gate.
He saw Ha-eun packing supplies with more violence than necessary.
He saw Ko, standing alone by the central tower, looking heavier than ever.
Lotus wasn't just tired.
It was splintering.
**
"You feel it too, right?" Min-ji said quietly, breaking the thick silence between them.
Seo-jin nodded without speaking.
"Everyone's scared," she continued, voice low. "But it's not just that."
Seo-jin glanced at her.
Min-ji frowned, arms tightening around herself slightly.
"It's like…" she hesitated. "Like they're starting to think we're going to lose."
Seo-jin swallowed the lump rising in his throat.
Because she was right.
And the worst part was — he couldn't even blame them.
**
Ko called a meeting at noon.
The leaders, the squad heads, the medics — everyone crammed into the main hall, their voices echoing strangely off the cracked stone walls.
Seo-jin stood near the back with Min-ji and Jae-hwan, feeling the weight of every angry stare.
Ko stood at the front, a battered map pinned behind him, lines and notes scrawled hastily across its surface.
His voice was steady, but there was a rawness to it that hadn't been there before.
"We have two options," he said.
"Stay and fight."
He paused.
"Or run."
Murmurs swept through the crowd like wildfire.
Seo-jin stiffened.
Min-ji clenched her fists.
Jae-hwan just whistled under his breath.
Ko raised his hand for silence.
"If we stay, we risk being wiped out when Crimson Shield and Black Sun move on us."
He let the words hang, heavy and brutal.
"If we run, we lose Lotus. We lose everything we've built."
No one spoke for a long moment.
Then someone from the west gate squad shouted, "Better alive than buried under rubble!"
A few voices rose in agreement.
Others shouted back, accusing them of cowardice.
The hall dissolved into chaos.
Seo-jin's hands curled into fists at his sides.
This wasn't just fear.
It was division.
Rot, deep inside the heart of Lotus.
**
Ko slammed his fist down on the table, the crack echoing like a gunshot.
Silence fell instantly.
"I won't force anyone to stay," he said roughly.
"But if you leave, you leave everything behind."
No coming back.
No second chances.
Seo-jin watched the faces around him.
Some looked away.
Some nodded grimly.
Some stared at Ko with something close to hatred.
Ha-eun stood near the medic packs, her face unreadable.
Seo-jin caught her gaze — and saw the flicker of doubt there.
He looked at Min-ji.
Her jaw was set, her eyes burning with quiet rage.
"We're not leaving," she said, loud enough for others to hear.
Seo-jin nodded once, firm.
Whatever happened, he was staying.
Min-ji flashed him a quick, fierce smile.
For a moment, it felt like a shield against the crumbling world around them.
**
Night fell heavy and thick over Lotus.
Seo-jin sat on the rooftop again, knees pulled up, staring at the ruined skyline.
Min-ji sat beside him, a half-eaten ration bar in her hand.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
Finally, Min-ji broke the silence.
"You ever wonder if we're stupid?"
Seo-jin turned his head slightly.
She bit into the ration bar, chewing thoughtfully.
"Staying. Fighting. Holding onto ruins."
Seo-jin considered.
"I think it's stupid," he said slowly.
"But it's our stupid."
Min-ji laughed — short, real.
"I'll take that."
They lapsed into comfortable silence again, the city groaning quietly beneath them.
In the distance, faint gunfire echoed.
**
Below, movements caught Seo-jin's eye.
Groups slipping through the shadows.
Not guards.
Not patrols.
People leaving.
Abandoning Lotus.
Seo-jin watched them go without saying anything.
Min-ji did too, her face unreadable.
Somewhere inside, Seo-jin felt something crack.
But he didn't look away.
Not this time.
The next morning, the numbers were thinner.
Breakfast was quieter.
The usual clatter of trays and muttered jokes had faded into a brittle silence.
Seo-jin moved through the mess hall, feeling every pair of eyes that tracked him.
Some were relieved.
Some resentful.
Some just tired.
Jae-hwan slouched at a corner table, juggling an apple in one hand, whistling off-key.
"Guess loyalty's not as fashionable as it used to be," he said lightly as Seo-jin slid into the seat across from him.
Seo-jin just grunted.
Jae-hwan bit into the apple with a loud crunch.
"Not that I blame them," he added, more seriously. "Everyone's got a limit."
Seo-jin looked down at his untouched food.
His stomach twisted at the thought of eating.
"Still," Jae-hwan continued, "kinda nice knowing who's willing to stick around when things get ugly."
He said it casually, but there was an edge underneath.
Seo-jin met his gaze.
Neither of them smiled.
**
Training drills went badly.
Fewer people meant bigger gaps in the defense.
Mismatched squads.
Tired fighters.
Short tempers.
During a sparring session, one of the new recruits lashed out too hard, shoving another trainee to the ground.
It wasn't serious — a bruise, maybe a cracked rib.
But the way they squared off afterward, faces flushed, eyes wild —
Seo-jin stepped between them before it could escalate.
"Enough," he said sharply.
Both men glared at him — but backed down.
For now.
Seo-jin caught Min-ji's eye across the yard.
She gave a slight nod, approval flickering in her expression.
Holding Lotus together wasn't Ko's job alone anymore.
It was everyone's.
**
That night, a meeting was called in secret.
Not by Ko.
By those who wanted to leave.
Seo-jin found out by accident — catching a whisper as he passed near the old storage rooms.
He paused, listening.
"They'll get us all killed."
"We should cut a deal with Crimson Shield. They're not interested in us. They want Ko."
"Why should we die for one man's pride?"
Seo-jin's blood went cold.
He moved away silently, heart hammering.
Min-ji found him later, sitting on the rooftop again, his hands clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.
She didn't ask what happened.
She just sat down beside him.
After a long time, Seo-jin spoke.
"They're going to sell us out."
Min-ji was quiet for a beat.
Then she said, "Let them try."
Seo-jin looked at her.
The fierce, reckless glint in her eyes.
The stubborn defiance.
It anchored him somehow, against the rising tide of anger and fear.
He exhaled slowly.
"Yeah," he said.
"Let them try."
The betrayal came two nights later.
Seo-jin was on perimeter watch with Min-ji and Jae-hwan when the alarms started.
Faint at first — then sharp, panicked.
Gunfire rattled across the far side of the compound.
Seo-jin spun toward the noise, heart dropping.
Not an external attack.
An internal one.
"Shit," Jae-hwan muttered, already moving.
Min-ji grabbed Seo-jin's arm.
"Storage rooms. That's where they gathered."
They sprinted through the broken halls, boots slamming against the concrete.
Chaos exploded around them.
Fighters clashed in the narrow corridors, not against Crimson Shield —
against each other.
Seo-jin caught sight of Ha-eun grappling with one of the deserters, blood streaking her cheek.
Ko stood near the main entrance, shouting orders, rallying the loyal fighters.
Lotus was tearing itself apart.
**
Seo-jin barreled into the heart of the fighting without hesitation.
He fractured the ground under a group of rebels, throwing them off balance.
Min-ji moved beside him, fists flashing, fragment bursts knocking attackers back.
Jae-hwan fought dirtier — tripping enemies, disarming them with quick, brutal efficiency.
The halls became a blur of noise and violence.
Seo-jin ducked a wild swing, countered with a fracture to the ribs.
Someone grabbed his arm from behind —
he twisted, drove an elbow back hard.
He barely registered who he was fighting anymore.
Friend.
Enemy.
The lines blurred.
All that mattered was survival.
**
In the central hall, Ko faced the ringleaders — those who had plotted the betrayal.
Seo-jin stumbled into the room just as Ko cracked a rebel's jaw with a savage punch.
"You think they'd spare you?" Ko roared at them.
"You think surrender would save you?"
The rebels hesitated.
Seo-jin saw it.
The fear.
The doubt.
The realization — too late — that they had gambled everything and lost.
Some dropped their weapons.
Others tried to flee — only to be caught, tackled, pinned.
Seo-jin sagged against a pillar, breathing hard.
It was over.
For now.
**
Lotus held.
Barely.
In the aftermath, Seo-jin sat outside the medical bay, head tipped back against the crumbling wall.
Min-ji slumped beside him, her knuckles split and bloody.
Jae-hwan sprawled on the ground nearby, whistling tunelessly, a rag pressed to a gash on his shoulder.
They were battered.
Bruised.
Exhausted.
But they were still here.
Seo-jin closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the chill of the night seep into his bones.
Lotus wasn't whole anymore.
It never would be.
But the people who stayed —
They were family now.
Not by blood.
By choice.
By fire.
Seo-jin opened his eyes and stared up at the broken stars overhead.
Tomorrow would be worse.