Daehyun’s POV

Taking one last deep breath, I slowly stepped into the underground room— where my mom would keep all old and no longer useful things.  The last time I entered this room left me a painful memory that got me shivering in terror every time I think of it. I couldn’t even define between nightmares and reality because even in my sleep, I had a dream of me in a dark and cold cellar and I was sitting in the corner while hugging my knees in fear.

As soon as mom knew about it, she banned me from setting my foot in the underground room, which is more like a jail to me.

“It’s nothing, “I told myself as I examined every corner of the room, unaware of the consequences I was going to face. “It’s not going to happen again…right? “

I gulped the feeling down my throat and shook my head. “Here I come. “ I encouraged myself before walking further inside to search something I’ve been curious about.

The room was once empty the first time I knew about it and now it was more like an antique store. I couldn’t help but to hold my breath because of the musty smell from the old furnitures combined with the dusts floating in the air.

As my instinct guided me where to go, I went to the darkest part of the room—although I hate dark places. Good thing I left the door opened; it helped me to see my surrounding with the light from outside of the room.  An old cello sat still in the corner exactly as I remember it to be.  Mom would always play it to me when I was little. After I turned fifteen, I could barely listen to a single note of her song, which broke my heart every time I think about it.

Next to the cello, I could see a chair with a wooden box on top of it.  That was the thing I was looking for. The dark brown colour, the golden padlock —nothing has changed except it was dustier than before.

No more second thought, I grabbed the medium-sized box and walked to the old sofa at the centre of the room. I sat down with the box on my lap. Before opening  it, I blew the dusts off. I was so excited to see the content inside.

Oh, I forgot about the padlock. Mom must’ve kept the key somewhere in her room because she was the one who organized the room.

I left the box on the sofa and went upstairs to find the key.  Somehow, I found myself letting out a small sigh of relief. Probably because of the air I finally breathe in again. It was a suffocating down in the room.

Her room was just across of mine and she wasn’t home; I sneakily made my way to her room and quietly close the door. I would call myself an intruder and a thief at moment like this, but it wasn’t like I’m not going to give it back. I’ll just place it to where it was until I finished using it. That’s not called stealing right?

She often put her things in the drawers so I marched to the dressing table. I looked into the drawers and unluckily, I found no sign of the key. It seemed like she knew this would happen. If I was her, I would hide it in somewhere unexpected like... in a compact powder or inside a perfume bottle. Maybe it was because I was her son that the way we think was the same. I hummed to myself as I looked around the room.

Perhaps it was something she would carry around like a smartphone or a purse?

I searched for her makeup box in the drawer and thought it was weird why she would keep these things. I fished out the mascara I saw. “Why would you keep this if you never wear it “I giggled as I imagined my mum applying the mascara, she would look really different considering the fact that she wasn’t the type to go out wearing makeup. I pulled the cap of the cosmetic then grinned satisfyingly. “Bingo.” I said as I gazed at the golden key I was searching for.

Without wasting any second, I took the key and cleaned up the mess I made. Just like how I entered the room, I twisted the door knob cautiously to not make any sound. As the door was opened, I walked on my tiptoes so that my footstep couldn’t be heard

Or else...that one person will see me.

“Hey!  Jung Daehyun. “

And there he was, he just called my name.

I’m caught, frozen at the spot. I’m so going to be investigated later. I mentally facepalmed myself and groaned inside.  “Why are acting like you just stole something?! “ I turned to see where the voice came from and I knew really well who the person was.

“You look stupid. “ Mark commented, leaning against the doorframe of his bedroom. His room was next to mum’s. I was unaware of his presence. Stupid me. I wished he di