The weather outside looks cold, cloudy sky gives a sad appearance in Soul, Korea. Taemin is on the road since last night, his affairs in the back seat of his old Ford Mustang. He may have acquired this house two months ago, but he had decided to leave last night from Tokyo with no one knowing..ah yes the concierge of the building where he lived knew, but it's not like anyone was coming to see him, these last few days nobody cared about him.

He knows it was coward of him to be gone without warning but who care ? nobody wanted to be near him since the accident and honnestly it's was okay. He just wanted to be alone.
Alone with his guilt.

He finally reached the street from his new home. Arrived in front of his driveway, he stopped his car and put the handbrake. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door of his car, his bag in hand and headed home. He heard leaves crunching under his feet and the sound of his breathing when he noticed the house. She seem to need a bit of work. The paint was cracking, plants have invaded the walls, and faded leaves was covering the ground hiding from his eyes the grass under his feet.

Arrived at the door, he turns back to look at the garden.
Now it was his home.++

Taemin has finished climbing the stairs to finally open his new bedroom. The first thing he notices is that it was dark. White sails were on the furniture and the light went inside only through the holes of a damaged component. He removes the veil that covered an antique desk near the door, and posed his bag on it carelessly passing by. Going to the window, he opened it and before he managed to grab it ,the blue shutters fell and smashed in front of his door.

A new thing to repair.

Loud child's cry from the street made him look up. It has to be the childrens of his neighbors. A child of ten years and one not exceeding fifteen. They started to have fun, when the biggest of the two refused to give the ball. The second one jumped to take it back but he was too small. He feels a nostalgic smile to his lips and he looked away.
Returning to his first goal, he turnd to look at the light illuminating the room somehow old, it would need to be decorated, but it could wait.

He will have to settle his affairs now.++

A cold beer in hand, Taemin passed his door and sat on the stairs outside. He notes again that they are far from clean, but it was not as if anyone was going to yell at him to put his there. The night was not completely dark, he could see the half-moon over his garden illuminating his vision, letting him see what he was going to do tomorrow.

First a blow the leafs. They covered entirely his garden and this for a while apparently. Then comes the corner of the house. he has to cut the grass too high where snakes had to be. He didn't fear them, but he did not like them either. In the afternoon if he had time, he would go to the supermarket to buy something to brighten his garden, his ex-wife Kate loved roses before...

Taemin took a good sip of beer thinking that it was the thorns she loved rather than the rose itself. The hell, he will buy tulips.

Returning from his thoughts he saw a shadow in his garden. It was not properly speaking in front of him, it was on the ground, reflected on the high grass, like when someone was walking under the sun, and our shadow follows us. He looks up to see who was in his garden, fearing to be already found by his family or friends, his new life lasted for as long as the flowers. but there was no soul in there. He took a deep breath, the shadow has to be made by one of the objects in the corner, that's what he says while drinking a new time.

But he knew very well that if there was no one in the garden, there was no object either. He put it under the influence of alcohol.++


He wakes up in the middle of the night.
He doesn't know if he just opened his eyes now or if it's been a while he stares at the ceiling. He raised his upper body on his elbows to look at his room. It was silent in the dark, the only thing he noticed was that the door of his room was open, but he was sure to have closed it.

Must be a Lock problem.

The clock indiqued it was four in the morning. The day was about to get up, and he was almost sure that he will not manage to fall asleep again, he tried already, it's was always like that since that famous night.

So he sat on his bed, in the dark, waiting for daylight to come finally shine. ++

The sun was not even high in the sky and he had already took a bath, took a croissant in mouth and was in his car. Now he was at the entrance of a supermarket that seemed empty expect for two cashier. he took a basket in the corner and headed toward the fruits and vegetables.++

It was when he picked apples carefully that he feels observed.

"It's red" said a women's voice.
He looked over his left shoulder. It was a woman of forty years, brown floating curls on her shoulders. He frowned a little lost, what did she say ?

"I beg your pardon ?" he asked.
She looked at the apple in his hand."This apple is red. The others are green in your bag."

It took a few moments to understand the meaning of his words. he looked at the apple in his hand and realized that lost in thought, he'd picked them in the wrong box.

"Oh look at the apples so you have young man they are all so ugly !" she took his bag from his hands. "Let me pick them for you."

It was Kate who bought apples in the past, was what Taemin was thinking while the woman was looking for good apples.
"Do not bother please, it's okay for me." he said raising his hand.

She looked up at him slightly surprised.
"You are the one who moved to the house of the family Cheng right ?" she asked.

He nodded.
"So here to welcome you."

She handed him the bag, he took it a few second later.
He didnt say thank you, neither goodbye.

He just left.++

He was mowing the tall grass that adorns the garden when he felt someone behind his back . Since he returned from the supermarket, dozens of neighbors came to him wishing him welcome. When they asked what he was doing in his garden and he replied that he was going to plant flower,he had almost all the same reaction; doubt and terror, as incredible as it may seem someone even fainted. But none had said what shocked them as they wished him a good day with a big smile, so convincing that he would have believed it if they had at least went nearer than the portal of his house. Apparently the person behind him was not so easy to scare.

"Mr Taemin Murakami ?" asked a man's voice.
He grimaced when he heard his name pronounced in full. This was surely not be a courtesy visit. He turns off his mower slowly, in time to tackle a smile on his face and turned toward the voice. The man before him was definitely a police officer . In his thirteen, he was wearing a uniform with a badge of the police, something was off about him...but what ?

"Sheriff." he said while bowing his head.
The agent merely nodded.
"We didn't expect you before spring."

Taemin tilted his head, Was that a problem ? "Is it a bad thing that I have come earlier?"
Why the police officer looked so ... bothered ?

"I didn't say that Mur ... e .."
"Taemin is enough" he cuted off.
"Taemin." repeated the officer. "I was just curious, I came to welcome you."

Taemin simply nodded waiting for him to leave, but instead the policeman looked at his home.
"You're properly.. installed ?"
Taemin nodded again.

"The neighbors .." sighed the policeman.
"I have a feeling that they don't really like my house." Taemin said grim.
"This is because all the owners before you said that this house chased them."

What ?

Did he heard right ? "Excuse me..the house chassed them ?" He repeated incredulously.
The policeman scratched his neck.
"I was asked to not talk to you about it, but this house ... how did they say, have the mark of the devil."

"What do they mean by chased ?" Asked again Taemin.
"I don't know, they have never really been able to explain. No surnatural manifestation, just the feeling of being watched ... discomfort, inconvenience, feeling that they should not be in this place .." he looked at Taemin's blue iced eyes . "Really all is right?"

"Yes, officer," Taemin looks up to see the window of his room, "All is well."

The policeman looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Then..have a good day."
"You too Sheriff."

He turned back at the mower when someone patted him gently on the shoulder.
"Anything else sir ..." he began, turning around but stopped.

Because the garden was empty.