I should not be here.

That sentence stayed on her mind the moment she stepped into this place. The Neo Culture Technology Inn is a trap. With its gorgeous and intricate designs, beautiful artworks, and ethereal workers, it is a paradise. But if people have taken the time to look deeper, they could see the ugliness underneath the beauty.

Jiu knew she should not be snooping in such a gigantic place with dangers lurking around. But she needed to, she needed to find out the reason her mother came here and why she disappeared. Even if her mother warned her to stay away from here, she did not listen. The recording her mother left scared her. She decided to listen to it again now that no one is after her.

“Jiu-ah. If you ever find this or if I ever send this to you, I want you to promise me you will listen to what I am about to tell you.”

“Your father and I never hated you, we wanted to protect you. “She” did threaten to take you away if I ever got pregnant.”

There was a picture she found in her mother’s journal. It was not surprising to learn her grandmother is actually Lee Siyeon, the owner of the Inn. Jiu did not like Siyeon based on what she heard about her. Apparently from asking questions, she learned Siyeon gave her mother a hard time here. It just made Jiu feel better that she was given her mother’s surname and not her father’s.

Siyeon is just the first Lee that she met, there were more out there. The other two Lee members are Lee Dami the maid and Mark Lee the pianist and lounge singer. Jiu believes the Lee family practiced witchcraft because they all look so young. She especially thought of Siyeon being a witch due to her still looking the same in that picture she found.

“She never approved of our marriage so we found a way to get married secretly. We stayed hidden during that time…but I think she found him. I-I-I do not know where he disappeared off to. All I know is he was staying here the day he disappeared.”

Jiu wanted to listen to more until she heard a door shutting in the distance. She remembered she was hiding from someone. Whoever it is, she did not get a good look at him. All she knows is that he is not a guy in a costume doing this for fun. No guy would be doing that for fun when he is wielding a sharp weapon and threatening to gut her if she continues hiding.

Jiu crouched down and slowly tiptoed her way to the other side of the room. She did this earlier and her legs still ached from this. Despite how stupid she looks; this method did help her avoid running into the bad guy. Although she was tempted to look behind her, she chose not to. Nothing good ever came from looking behind you when you happen to be in a horror movie moment.

While she was still crouching, Jiu tried to look for any useful items around her. She needed to find something that she could use as a weapon or use it as a distraction.

Jiu’s eyes gleamed when she found something. “Gotcha.”

Her hands reached out to grab a small music box.

“Please don’t be too loud,” Jiu whispered, winding up the music box. “Please don’t be too loud.”

Looking at her surroundings and hoping she will not be found. Jiu placed the music box down and quickly dashed away. She spotted a pair of scissors on a table that she grabbed. She quickly hid in an empty closet, leaving it a bit open to peek. Hopefully, the guy was not behind her and saw her hide.

A few seconds later when the music box started playing, he appeared. Jiu covered to hold her breath and stop herself from making any sounds. The guy is just staring at the music box, tilting his head from left to right. Jiu was really tempted to stab him with the scissors now. She only hesitated when she saw him turn to look at the closet.

Scared, she held onto the door with her hands slightly shaking. The guy walked closer to the closet and Jiu held her breath when he put his head against the door. It felt like forever when he heard nothing and chose to walk away. Jiu still stayed in the closet, she wanted to think about what she noticed about the stalker chasing her.

It was from her mother’s roommate where she learned her mother asked for a drawing from the man next to her room. When the artist named Rowoon questioned her mother about the drawing he drew for her, she got mad. At least that was what Rowoon told her when she questioned him.

“I did not mean to upset her with my questioning. While I was curious, I was concerned.” Rowoon said.

“Why?”

Rowoon looked around and gestured Jiu to lean closer towards him.

“The man she asked me to draw, I have seen him before.”

Surprised, Jiu grabbed his hand. “You have? Where?”

Rowoon took her hand and lead her to the East Wing of the Inn. Jiu was confused until Rowoon stopped in front of a portrait of the Lee family.

“There’s the man I drew for her,” Rowoon said, pointing at the portrait. “The man is Lee Young Heun, the oldest of Siyeon’s children.”

Jiu was in shock at that discovery because of Lee Young Heun…is her father. Her father went missing for 12 years when she was only 14 years old. She finally found him except he did not look sane nor did he look human. If her mother came here and she mysteriously disappeared, was her father behind her disappearance?

“What did they do to you, dad?” Jiu whisper as her eyes watered.

Still in shock, Jiu reached in her jacket pocket for a key she found earlier. It was a key to a special elevator she passed by when she was on the 1^st floor. As she got out of the closet, Jiu took her shoes off. She wanted to leave the shoes behind as a distraction but also to leave it behind in case she made too much noise.

A thunder flash blinded her temporary once she got to the staircase. Averting her eyes, Jiu was unprepared for the surprise waiting for her. Lee Young Heun jumped towards her, wielding a staff. Jiu made a mistake when she chose to backup to avoid the hit. Her back hit the handrail and she ends up making herself fall off the stairs. Before she out, she heard Mark’s voice saying “Ten!”.

The name was familiar because her mother’s roommate mentioned the name to her.

“There was a guest that only appear at night, they call him “Ten”. We saw him one time when we got on the elevator. I remember Yoohyeon seem to look kind of spook when she saw him. At first, I thought it was a look of fear but now that I think about it, it was a look of recognition.”

Jiu realizes how right she was when she described the NCT Inn as an ugly place hiding underneath a paradise.