“Um… I…” I rubbed the back of Jongin’s neck uneasily. The person in front of me was definitely not the person I needed to see.

A young girl, who couldn’t have been no older than my own little brother, stood on the threshold of Apartment 2D, her eyes glazing over at the sight of Jongin. I quickly assumed she found him so darn attractive.

“Are you an actor?” She asked innocently, twisting her left leg in cutely fashion. She blinked her eyes several times and I heard Jongin, who stood next to me, suppress a chuckle.

“Oh, uh… no, I’m not,” I replied dumbly.

“He’s better than that, actually,” Jongin was quick to add. I threw a glare at his direction, but it was too late to steal his thunder. “He can dance and sing and rap. How cool is that?”

The young girl contorted her face, unsure if what Jongin put out about himself was anything cool at all. I was the one that chuckled this time.

Not wanting to waste time with Jongin’s senseless ramblings, I asked the young girl if there was an elderly woman living in that apartment. I looked at the unit behind her and it appeared dark. The door in these units usually opened up to a foyer that was brightly lit and parts of the living room could still be seen from the outside. I should know; I lived in this building. However, from this point, I could hardly see anything inside.

“Uh, come inside,” she told me, stepping aside to let Jongin and me in. I looked back at Jongin, who gestured for me to step inside first. How reassuring to know that I’ve got a boyfriend (or ex, right?) who is willing to risk his girlfriend than himself first upon entering unchartered territories.

Cautiously, I entered the apartment. It was dimly lit and I was having trouble walking through the foyer without accidentally bumping into the tables full of useless knick knacks. Jongin followed close behind, his – my – right hand gently touching my – Jongin’s –  back, nudging me forward. I turned my head around to glare at him. What a wuss.

The young girl was starting the creep me out, like that girl from a Japanese horror movie Jongin made me watch with him and Sehun. She led us to their living room where she gestured towards the couch for us to sit and then wordlessly left the room. Jongin and I just planted our feet in the middle of the living room, if ever we needed to get the hell out of there as soon as some crazy happened. Jongin clutched my wrist.

“This place looks sketchy,” he said, turning his around to scan the room. The dim light came from a small lamp in the corner of the room. It emanated only enough light for us to see the strange things this elderly woman owned: Chinese-lacquered trunks, dusty encyclopedias with yellowed and frayed pages, rusty chain links, and dolls with their eyes poked out of them. I shuddered as well and held onto Jongin.

There was a strange bout of silence that consumed us and all we could hear was that distinctly high-pitched steady tinnitus sound that comes when there is absolutely no sound at all. For a moment, I wondered if the young girl had disappeared forever. The hair on Jongin’s arm began to rise up and I felt a cold sweat forming around his neck.