Holiday special collection

🎃 Halloween Special: The Heartbeat That Got Caught

"Please check that the smart band is securely fastened to your wrist," the escape room staff member said as he fastened the clasp around our wrists. "The 'Lab of Horror' theme tracks both of your real-time heart rates. If your combined heart rate gets too high, the room's defense system will temporarily shut down, and you'll lose precious time, so be careful."

I looked down at the sleek digital screen on my wrist. A steady 74 BPM glowed there. I turned to look at Hyunjin. He tapped his own band and flashed me a screen showing 72 BPM, then grinned brightly.

"Don't worry," Hyunjin said softly in his usual clear, confident voice. "It's really hard to scare me. Just stay right next to me."

The heavy iron door slid open with a hiss, and we stepped into a dim high-tech laboratory filled with beakers of green liquid, blinking computer monitors, and the low hum of fake cooling fans. We dove straight into the puzzle. Hyunjin was astonishingly sharp, connecting the glowing wires in an instant to power up the main console.

Then, all of a sudden, a sharp hissing sound rang through the room. A fake zombie prop slammed roughly against the glass right beside me.

"Aah!" I screamed, jerking backward.

My smart band let out a shrill beep, and my heart rate flashed in bright red on the giant digital display hanging on the wall. 115 BPM.

Hyunjin's eyes crinkled as he burst out laughing. He came over beside me and teased me playfully, pointing back and forth between my wrist and the monitor on the wall. "Look at this," his voice was full of mischief. "It just touched the window and you're already about to have a heart attack."

"Anyone would be startled!" I grumbled at Hyunjin, who was checking my wrist, and looked at his number. His monitor was perfectly calm at 76 BPM. "How can you stay so calm?"

"I guess it comes from training," he said with a wink, patting my shoulder affectionately. "Come on, we'd better solve it fast before the next jump scare."

We breezed through the next two rooms. Hyunjin's calm energy eased my nerves. Even when weird sound effects echoed from the vents, my eyes kept drifting to his solid back and his silhouette rather than the scary props. Thanks to how fast his brain worked, we cracked the final password for the main computer with 3 minutes left on the clock.

"Now all we have to do is scan our bands at the exit panel to sync the final data," I said as I walked toward the door. Hyunjin walked over to my side. We held our wrists together against the glowing scanner. Before the exit door opened, the monitor on the wall displayed our final stats one last time.

Me: 98 BPM
Hyunjin: 132 BPM

I blinked, staring at the screen with a completely disbelieving expression. I looked at his wristband, then back up at the wall. "Wait... 132? Hyunjin, the last zombie was 10 minutes ago! Why is your heart beating so fast?"

I turned toward him. The playful, relaxed smile that had stayed on his face all night was gone. Under the lab's faint green lighting, his cheeks were flushed red. He kept his gaze averted, staring fixedly at the exit door handle.

"Hyunjin?"

At last, he looked down at me and let out a quiet, breathless laugh. Scratching the back of his neck with one hand, his voice fell into a soft, honest whisper.

"I wasn't scared of the zombies at all," he said, stepping just a little closer to me. As the distance between us shrank, the number on the display above my head started to rise too. "It was because I was standing this close to you... and the time left kept running out... I guess in the end I couldn't hide it."

He reached out and gently wrapped his hand around my wrist, just above my smart band. His touch was warm, and I could feel a faint tremor in it.

"Looks like the monitor doesn't lie," he said with a soft smile, staring straight into my eyes. The look made my insides tingle. "My heart's been like this ever since the moment we came in here together."

Before I could even answer, the exit door clicked open, and the bright lobby welcomed us. Hyunjin still didn't let go of my wrist. Instead, he let his hand slide down and laced his fingers with mine, squeezing firmly as he led me out of the room. His face was full of a triumphant, pleasantly flushed smile.