The sound of typing fills the dark room. Her dark eyes glued to the bright screen, Jieun isn’t aware of how long she’s been writing. That is until there’s a knock at her door, causing her to glance at her clock. She lets out a long sigh as she slowly stands. School. Great. “Jieun? Are you up?” Her aunt calls out. One of the rare times she remembers her niece's existence. Usually, she passes out drunk in front of the TV or is at work. They don’t see much of each other, to be honest. 

“Yes, I am,” She begrudgingly responds as she shuts her laptop and turns off her desk lamp. She quickly gathers up her things and heads for the shower. If she’s lucky, perhaps her bullies will ignore her today. She doesn’t exactly have friends or is the most popular person at school. Ever since elementary school, Jieun has been the target of bullying. Especially after her secret came out. Her secret? She loves true crime and solving the unsolved ones. Not only that, but she also has a blog dedicated to them. Luckily, no one at school found the actual site itself; it remains her safe place.

Once she steps out of the water and dries herself, she dresses as fast as possible; snatching her bag and heading out the door. Jieun walks her bike for a moment before starting to ride it toward the school. As soon as it’s parked, she makes sure to chain it up tightly this time. There’s been a few times in the past when some of the other girls stole her bike and left it in some river. This is her third bike this year.

The student slowly peeks her head into an aisle, keeping an eye out for anyone else. When seeing no one, she quickly goes to her locker and puts in the combination. She shoves her books into her bag before delicately setting her camera inside. When hearing the laughter of THOSE girls, Jieun locks up. She slinks behind another row of lockers. Their talking is loud enough for her to sneak past and toward the exit. Once she’s outside, she lets out a sigh of relief and clutches her bag tightly. It to be on edge all the time.

“Did you hear about that house?”

 “Ugh...you mean that ugly abandoned place everyone’s talking about all of a sudden?”

“Well, it’s not sudden! Tonight is the anniversary of the death that occurred there. Some juniors said they heard weird noises coming from inside! Like ghosts!”

Jieun pauses, glancing over at one of the girls. A death?

“Ghosts? Really?”

“Totally. Their murders were unsolved, so it makes sense why they’d still be here!”

Jieun grabs her camera, replacing it with her textbooks. After locking it up, she slowly turns to the girls. “Excuse me, what’s this about a haunted house?” She asks.

One of the girls shrugs. “Some old house. The family died, like, twenty years ago.”

“And it was...never solved?” 

“Nope.”

The student fiddles with the strap of her camera. She hasn’t had a case in a few months. “Do you...know the address?”

Her fellow student laughs as she grabs a piece of paper from her notebook and writes something down. “Are you planning on doing a One-night challenge?”

“One-night challenge…?”

“People will sometimes attempt to stay all night at a haunted place.”

“Oh, really…?” Jieun smiles tightly when the address is handed to her. “Thank you,” She mumbles and bows weakly. With the paper in hand, the student stares at it as she approaches her bike. 

“Hey, ! Looking for some dead bodies, freak?”

Jieun looks over, groaning when seeing her usual group of bullies. She doesn’t have time today. Quickly yanking off her chain, she stuffs it into her bag before mounting her ride; taking off before she can be approached. She needs herself focused, not thinking about those bimbos.

Jieun comes to a sudden halt. Her eyes fixate on the old, abandoned house. Taking a deep breath, she decides to stash her bike in the small alley beside it, besides some trash cans. The student looks around as she makes her way toward the porch. When seeing no one, she pulls out her lock picks. She tries to focus more on getting the actual lock picked as opposed to the idea of getting caught. Jieun pushes the old doors open just barely enough for her to squeeze her body and backpack through. She peers out once more before shutting it behind her and taking a step back. Letting out a sigh, she turns to look at the home now and all of its abandoned glory. It’s evident that it used to be a really pretty house. And, like other abandoned places she’s been to, it has a coldness to it; causing her to zip up her jacket. Light green wallpaper and old wooden floors, the furniture present but thrown about. She’s surprised to see the lack of graffiti as well. Most of the time, these places are broken into and spray painted. 

Jieun sets her bag down, ping it and pulling out her camera. She hangs it around her neck before starting to snap some pictures. She turns to the left and toward the left side of the home. There’s a door that is slightly ajar, seeming to lead into a kitchen. Before going into the kitchen, to the right, is some sort of storage. Jieun pauses and looks to the side, at all of the old photos. A man and a woman stand with a boy between them. The teenager looks like he’s only been a year older than herself. After snapping another photo, she moves on to the rest of the house. The kitchen, bathroom, stairs leading to the upstairs. She slowly walks up them. The wood creaks under her weight and she has to wonder when the last time anyone has used them. She takes more pictures one room at a time, leaving the teenager’s room for last. Or at least she assumes so. Posters, blue, old sports equipment. She chuckles at all of the trophies, gently rubbing the dust off them with her sleeve. “Quite the overachiever, aren’t you?” she squints and tries to see the name; unable to despite how much she tries. Shaking her head, the girl takes a step back and lifts her camera. It’s only then she notices the old-fashioned tv. 

“Wow,” She huffs while approaching it. “This thing seems...1980s. What the hell was a teenager in 2001 doing with this in his room? Hand-me-down?” Jieun smiles a bit, taking a picture of it. Glancing at her watch, she decides that’s enough for today. It’s the next step that’s hard; actually getting any real information on anything. Crime scenes, the family, their names, how they died. The student steps out of the room and begins to walk back toward the steps. Jiseun’s about to reach the stairs when something slams hard into her shoulder, causing her to fall back. There’s a loud thump on the railings. Her eyes grow wide and her heart beats fast. She uses her feet to push herself up against the wall as the wood boards creak. Footsteps approach the teenager’s room and when the door shuts on its own, Jieun’s quick to her feet, down the stairs, and out the door.

Jieun doesn’t stop shaking until she reaches the comforts of her bedroom. And even then, she finds herself pacing back and forth. “It’s an old house, a really old house,” she chants to herself. She smacks her hand to stop trembling as she undoes the tie to her uniform. After tossing it to the side, she falls into her bed. The student takes a few deep breaths as she subconsciously rubs her now sore shoulder. Jieun finally grabs her camera and sits up to rest her back against the pillows. She stares at the photos, pressing through them and carefully examining each one. Her brows furrow as she stops at one in particular. The one in the kitchen. She slowly rubs the screen with her thumb, over what seems to be a thick white streak.

Clicking to the next screen, another white streak; but in the corner; in front of the fridge. She clicks through all of the rest. None of them have this except inside that room and it’s always in the same location.  “What the hell?” Jieun stares at it before shaking her head and setting it down. It’s probably some strange reflection from the light outside the window. She’ll go back tomorrow and really start her investigation. The student gently slaps her own cheek a few times before standing and heading for the shower. She’ll sleep early tonight. Or, after earlier events, attempt to.