It was as if he’d been waiting for someone else’s advice before he finally turned to open the door. A middle aged man with a beard growing all around his face greeted them. He was wearing a black poncho and indeed had a black umbrella. He didn’t look as mean as Gyuri had made him out to be. Eventually he smiled at them as if they were standing on his front doorstep instead of the other way around.

He let his eyes rover over everyone of their faces then finally said, “Ah…so I did get the right house. I recognize you from earlier, young lady.”

Yoona felt surprised when he nodded at her. “Me?”

“And…you,” he pointed at Siwon, “you, you, and you.”

Leeteuk stared at him as if he’d never seen an old man before in his life.  

“It’s really pouring out, would you like to come in?” Leeteuk finally asked.

“No thanks,” he waved his hand no, “I just wanted to come by and see if any of you were hurt.”

“Hurt?” Gyuri repeated.

“I almost ran you over with my car earlier,” he pointed over to Yoona. “And there was someone else…but I don’t see her anywhere.”

“Who?” Yoona asked.

“Aiya…never mind. I forgot how she looks like, but since it seems like you’re all fine I should head back before we get flooded today,” he said, “well then see you.”

They all watched as the old man turned around and headed down the stairs before getting back into his car. The rain looked deeper than it had when they had started making their way back earlier.

“What in the world was he talking about?” Junsu muttered when Leeteuk closed the door.

“A flood?” Seungho questioned. “Is it possible over here? I knew it was better for me to have just gone back home.”

“We’ll be alright,” Siwon pushed. “Why don’t we all go change into some dry clothes before eating lunch?”

“This day already feels too long,” Gyuri uttered before turning away from them all.

Taeyeon followed the others up the stairs and split up with Yoona before making her way to her room. When she opened the door she suddenly felt something heavy in her and a cold shock pass. Freezing on spot she took a big gasp and without knowing her eyes widened like two big circles. The moment, however, quickly passed by and Taeyeon turned around wondering what just happened.

;;;;;

Watching the rest go Leeteuk finally felt the cold seep into his skin from his soaked clothes. Leeteuk was ready to take a step forward and head to his room but a loud slap on the door stopped him. Whipping around he stared at the door wondering what he just heard. Ready to turn around and walk away he heard something even louder from outside the door. Feeling his heart leap wondering what could be there he slowly reached his hand forward then quickly opened the door to find nothing but the pouring rain falling down continuously. Turning to look right and left he saw no one. Suddenly from the corner of his eyes he saw someone in a white dress slowly making her way down the road and on impulse he stepped down from the steps. It was as if there was a magnetic force pulling him.

The rain was cold and sent goosebumps down his skin every time it dropped on him. His hair grouped up into large strands and he could almost barely see because of all the raindrops falling on his eyes. Leeteuk slowly edged his way forward until he was out of sight from the house and pass the bushes he’d driven pass when coming there. With only the rain echoing in his ears and his eyes only straight ahead he stopped when he heard a voice.

“I knew you’d come,” she said.

Leeteuk finally stopped walking and slowly turned to his left to see a beautiful girl standing before him. Her eyes big, her face small, a long straight nose with pink lips brightening up her features. Her hair seemed a bit soaked but her clothes seemed to be clean of the rain. Something familiar washed over him and shards of images dropped into his mind spinning. A hand in his hand, laughter in his ears, a girl and a boy running across the tall grass.

“I knew you’d come,” she sounded like she would cry. “I waited so long…I missed you…Leeteuk.”

She suddenly ran against him throwing her arms around his neck holding him close. Leeteuk was unable to explain it. He was unable to move or say anything. Who was she? This girl that suddenly appeared claiming she missed him.

“Come with me,” she said after stepping back.

Leeteuk searched her face for anything, just anything. Why didn’t he recognize her? She kept her gaze on him and smiled then took a hold of his hand leading him down a small path hidden behind the shrubs.

The soft mud seemed to spread underneath his feet as she led him down farther and farther. The glistening trees waved back and forth along with the wind as if welcoming him into their territory.

“Where…where are we going?” Leeteuk finally asked.

“It’s a secret,” she replied.

Leeteuk didn’t say anything anymore. The trees ahead thinned out and suddenly a small wooden cabin or storage shed stood before them. She turned around with a glowing smile before stopping in front of it. The cabin was old, but it also looked like someone had taken good care of it. The fine wood that it was built out of was still in good shape and was still strong. The windows around it were shiny clean and the dark tiled roof overhead hung down lowly. The heavy raindrops hung down from the edges of the roof slowly falling each at a time. When Leeteuk finally finished looking around he turned to her.

“This is our secret.” she told before pushing the door open.

;;;;;

When Taeyeon stepped down from the last step the commotion from the doorway dragged her toward the others. Gyuri, Yoona, and Seungho were standing by the open door.

“What’s going on?” she asked approaching them.

“Someone left the door open,” Seungho replied.

Taeyeon glanced at the closed door.

“Whatever, lets head back and eat lunch,” Gyuri said turning around.

After she walked away Taeyeon couldn’t help but turn to Yoona.

“Did someone walk out?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” Yoona replied. “Lets head back and eat first.”

Taeyeon followed Yoona down the hallway and couldn’t help but glance back once.

In the large kitchen where they were arguing just minutes ago stood everyone else silently. Siwon in front of the sink rinsing some vegetables, Jang Hyuk by the stove, Zhoumi chopping up some bell peppers, and Junsu sitting quietly by the table. The sight couldn’t have amazed Taeyeon anymore.

“What’s on the menu for lunch?” Gyuri questioned walking over to the counter.

“Whatever we can cook up,” Zhoumi replied.

“Who’s the cook?”

“Him,” Zhoumi pointed to Jang Hyuk.

“Really? This’ll be one strange meal,” Gyuri commented.

“Shouldn’t you be doing this then?” Jang Hyuk questioned.

Gyuri laughed, “Can’t get my hands wet right now, sorry mister.”

“Where’s Leeteuk?” Yoona questioned looking around.

Everyone else finally turned to glance around.

“Is he still changing?”

Siwon set the bowl of veggies on the counter next to Gyuri, “Finish these, will you? I’ll go see if Leeteuk is in his room.”

With that Siwon walked out of the kitchen leaving the rest in the atmosphere full of questions. They awaited in silence as they waited for Siwon to come back with Leeteuk. Meanwhile the only noise they heard were Jang Hyuk placing a pan on the stove, Zhoumi’s continuous slicing, and Gyuri picking at the veggies Siwon had left with her. Taeyeon’s mind soared the quiet air while she and Yoona stared on at the rest. It was quite a while before Siwon returned. Everyone turned to him expectantly.

“Where’s Leeteuk?” he asked them.

Setting down his knife Zhoumi continued to stare on at Siwon. “Shouldn’t we be asking you?”

“I looked around and couldn’t find him.”

“He’s not in his room?” Jang Hyuk questioned.

“I said I looked around and couldn’t find him.” Siwon repeated.

“Don’t get aggressive with me.” Jang Hyuk warned.

“Don’t start a fight now,” Gyuri stated aggressively herself.

Taeyeon glanced from each person to the next.

“So Leeteuk’s missing,” Junsu said from where he was sitting. “And right after you went missing.” He turned to look at Taeyeon. “Should this be a bit coincidental?”

“What do you mean?” Yoona asked.

Junsu turned away with nothing more to say.

“Taeyeon has nothing to do with this,” Yoona said. “Seungho said someone left the door open after we all walked away. Leeteuk must have gone out somewhere.”

“In this pouring rain?” Gyuri asked.

“Is he crazy?” Jang Hyuk said.

“Anybody would think he’s crazy,” Gyuri nodded his head.

“We’re not going to split into search teams again, are we?” Zhoumi asked as if tired of it.

Taeyeon looked on at them and finally said, “Some of us should go out to look for him, the rest will stay here and notify us if he comes back.”

They were all quiet while staring on at the other.

“I’ll go out,” Siwon offered.

Yoona stared on at Siwon as if still angry but said, “Me too.”

“I can go too.” Seungho told.

Everyone glanced at each other daring for them to speak up.

“Don’t you dare look at me,” Gyuri threatened. “I am not stepping back out there with you jerks.”

“I’ll go,” Taeyeon suggested, “you can stay.”

Gyuri turned to look at her without a word.

“Ok, remember to notify us if he does come back.” Siwon repeated. “We’re going to head out now.”

Without a word in the cold kitchen Siwon, Seungho, Yoona, and Taeyeon headed toward the front door after grabbing their sweaters. The rest remained in the kitchen.

Stopping before the front door Siwon turned to the rest. “We should split up into two person teams.”

“I’ll go with you.” Seungho offered.

Siwon nodded, “Seungho and I will search the area farther away from here. Yoona, you and Taeyeon stay close to this area. After 30 minutes we return if we haven’t found him then we’ll rethink of another plan. Got it?”

The rest nodded before Siwon opened the door ready to step out into the cold. After stopping by the bushes at the end of the driveway Taeyeon watched Siwon and Seungho hurry off before turning to Yoona.

“We’ll start over there,” Taeyeon said pointing to the area where the girl had hugged Leeteuk from earlier.

;;;;;

A table sat to the right of the boarded room with a vase full of yellow flowers underneath a waterfall painting. And to the left were a small table with a furniture piece behind it. Nothing more and nothing else than this remained there. It was pretty empty.

“It’s empty, isn’t it?” she asked turning to Leeteuk.

He nodded. As he walked in she closed the door behind him.

“Leeteuk, what have you been doing when you were away?” she asked walking into the room while he watched her.

“School,” he replied. “Do you…live around here?”

She stood still in her spot with her back to him for a long time before she finally answered him. “No. I’m not from around here but I feel like I belong here.”

“Where are you from?”

She paused. “I don’t remember.”

Leeteuk almost frowned. “You…don’t remember? How can’t you remember?”

She turned her gaze to the ground before she turned around, “It feels like…I’ve been here so long that I don’t recall my home. But you…can be my home…can’t you?”

“What?” he asked confused.

***“I almost ran you over with my car earlier,” he pointed over to Yoona. “And there was someone else…but I don’t see her anywhere.” -->and who is this someone else that this man saw?

***She's finally appeared to Leeteuk!

***And sorry for the late update. I was busy and have been struggling with writing.