Luhan was so engrossed unpacking that he hadn’t noticed nightfall until the booming sound of birds taking flight outside startled him. He had his iPod on shuffle; the music blaring to keep out the silence in his mind; and without a doubt, the sound helped ease his earlier anxiety.

He glanced at his watch: 18.10. Ever since arriving at the house, apart from the occasional chocolate bars he snacked on – without questioning glances from members and staff, to his satisfaction – Luhan hadn’t eaten a decent meal since midday. His stomach let out an unsightly squeal and he instinctively placed a hand over his belly, frowning.

‘OK, OK…,’ he mumbled to appease his growling stomach, pausing the playlist. ‘Dinner’s coming.’

He ambled out of the bedroom and towards the staircase which comprised of narrow slabs of wood built as a freestanding, slanted ladder. It looked like a solid structure at first, however trudging up and down the staircase produced more moans and creaks than he imagined… and talking about sounds in the house, the old man certainly wasn’t kidding when he made mention of them. They happened often. Creaks and moans sometimes clearly from within the house, and other times, from the pine branches that swayed in the cold wind outside.

He wasn’t convinced about the squirrels as yet considering he hadn’t seen any thus far, and unsettled by the combined of the house and pine trees, Luhan turned to his blaring playlist.

He walked into the kitchen and made a beeline for the refrigerator, pulling open the top door to reveal a handful of store-bought groceries. The said items included: canned beans, cup ramyeon, instant noodles, a tray of neatly-packaged pudding, and what he was certain was Jongdae’s leftover japchae in a steel throw-away plate.

Luhan hadn’t foreseen the escape this far ahead, which explained the poor variety of foods he was stuck with on the mountain. Well, he said to himself, reaching for a can of beans. The best plans are the unexpected ones.

He pulled out the steel can from the fridge and closed the door, immediately revealing a dark form behind it that made him jump out of his skin.

‘Jeez Louise…!’ he shouted in fright; the back of his foot connecting with the hard wooden leg of the counter behind him painfully as he jumped back.

‘What the…,’ he clenched the front of his shirt in an attempt to calm his racing heart at the sight of the old man. ‘You almost gave me a heart attack!’

‘Hmm,’ the homeowner mused; his eyes wandering around the white fluorescent-lit kitchen in slits as if he were observing the area carefully. ‘Listen up. I forgot to mention one more thing earlier 'bout the house. Most important, in fact.’

Luhan swallowed the tense lump in his throat before recomposing himself. He swore the old man almost sent him into cardiac arrest for a second there showing up the way he did… not to mention the paranoia. Luhan quickly stopped himself from imagining the possibility of it being someone else entirely. Maybe someone like M—

‘There’s a black box in the attic in case of emergencies and all that,’ the man started, pulling the younger boy’s attention towards his thumb that he began jabbing towards the ceiling.

‘I don’t want no dead bodies in this house, ya hear? Installed it 'cos of the bad line, but don’t go messin’ with it or else there gon’ be trouble, ya hear me?’

Luhan frowned. Black box…? He didn’t know precisely what to think of the old, scraggly man’s piece of information, however, before he could ask him anything, the said elder trudged back into the living room. Which gave rise to another, more puzzling question as Luhan followed behind hot on his heels.

‘Wait, how did you get…’

The sliding glass door in the living room was wide open; dried leaves and grass strewn over the scraggly brown rug, and a biting cold gust of wind entered with the dirt. He’d been in the living room earlier and was certain he would have noticed if the door was open considering how difficult a thing it was to really miss. Flabbergasted, Luhan’s mouth opened and closed; incoherent disbelief written all over his face.

‘I swear this was locked…’

The old man snorted before leaving. ‘Maybe it was the darn squirrels.’

Despite the wet laughter that ensued; followed by a horrid smoker’s cough as the old man started towards his car in the dark; the latter wasn’t in the least amused. He could hear the buzzing in his ears as he stared at the unlatched door; the two glass panes overlapping about an inch over one another, revealing the gaping opening he was positive was no work of his.

Luhan was never the careless type, and he didn’t waste time getting the door closed again. He snatched the keys from the coffee table behind him and secured the lock, nudging it a few times to make sure it was fixed in place. Satisfied it couldn’t be opened any other way then, he proceeded to pull down the wooden slats over every window in the house before returning to the kitchen for his makeshift dinner.

Unlike the kitchen and bathrooms, the lounge and bedroom was decorated with warm white mood lighting. Somehow this design plan sought out to accommodate for the lack of natural fire in the larger living space, and even though Luhan had felt uncomfortable earlier with the old man's unexpected visit and the inexplicable open door, he quickly found a sense of calm in his surroundings.

It didn’t take him long to settle into the living room. With his laptop open and a fleece blanket he pulled out from one of the underlying cabinets in the master bedroom, Luhan sat with his legs crossed on the loveseat. Save for the heat from the battery of his running laptop over his folded shins, Luhan’s fingers and toes often curled up for warmth; a biting cold settling in his limbs despite the thick blanket.

Much like his earlier thoughts, the young man hadn’t foreseen the least bit of credibility in his escape. It was spontaneous. By chance. Something so impulsive – so instinctive – that the moment he caught glimpse of his scattered surroundings, he seized the gamble for escape.

The last time, however, he was not this lucky. He’d been pulled over and apprehended in traffic by private security courtesy of his entertainment agency… and boy, was it the biggest internet news in a long while. The story spread like wildfire within hours of Luhan being apprehended despite the higher-ups attempts