He was awoken by the knocking on his door the next morning. It was Siwon at the door telling him that breakfast was ready and everyone was already up. Forcing himself up and after brushing his teeth he made his way into the kitchen where the others were quietly chatting. Before sitting down he glanced at Taeyeon and the necklace she wore. He remembered the first time when he’d asked her about the necklace and she’d told him it was from someone important. Changmin was important? Leeteuk felt like laughing at that thought.

“Why aren’t you sitting down?” Zhoumi questioned.

“I am,” Leeteuk replied sitting down next to Siwon.

Leeteuk glanced up to see Taeyeon silently eating as if she didn’t care about anything else and she probably didn’t care about anything else. After breakfast he couldn’t help overhearing Yoona trying to convince Taeyeon to walk around with her. Before he could hear the rest of the conversation Jang Hyuk interrupted him.

“Dude, lets go clean the pool.” he suggested.

“The pool?” Leeteuk repeated. “I’m not swimming in there.”

“We should still clean it anyway. It looks disgusting,” Jang Hyuk said, “we’re probably going to go swimming in there some time soon. We can make the girls and the others help us.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not? It’s your grandma’s, isn’t it? Even if we don’t use it we could at least clean it up for her. Your grandma is so old, how can she clean it?”

“She can hire people.” Leeteuk shrugged turning around to walk away but Jang Hyuk grabbed his collar pulling him out back.

In a few minutes Leeteuk joined by the others were busy trying to sweep up the weeds with the long nets they’d found somewhere. Before they were able to clear the pool Siwon and Yoona finally walked out onto the deck to help. Glancing around Leeteuk saw that everyone was outside…except for one person, which didn’t surprise him much. Taeyeon was no where in sight.

“Wow, you guys got it cleared in no time,” Siwon commented walking over.

Leeteuk leaned against the handle of the net and glanced at Yoona, “Where’s your friend?”

Siwon’s expression changed when he looked at Leeteuk.

“Unnie?” Yoona repeated. “She’s out.”

“To where?”

Yoona tilted her head toward Leeteuk with a small frown.

“Is something wrong?” Siwon asked.

“What are you guys talking about?” Gyuri walked over.

Leeteuk turned to look at the distraction that had just arrived and turned away from them all.

“Why is there a crowd forming over here?” Junsu teased walking toward them.

They all turned to glance at each other excluding Leeteuk, who set his eyes on the pool.

“How do we drain the pool?” Zhoumi called out. “Why are you all gathered over there?”

“Why aren’t you guys talking? You’re making the atmosphere awkward,” Gyuri stated looking at each of their faces then turned to look at Leeteuk’s back.

“Are you guys listening to us?” Seungho yelled.

“What’s up with you guys?” Jang Hyuk questioned with a frown nearby.

“It’s nothing,” Leeteuk finally said turning around, “lets go look for an electric outlet to get rid of this water.”

Walking pass the group he didn’t miss the curious stare Siwon was shooting at him. He hoped Siwon wasn’t jumping to any silly conclusions regarding his question to Yoona earlier.

;;;;;

Taeyeon stepped into the yard glancing everywhere around her. The sunlight shone down on her through the empty air and the shadows of the trees moved back and forth on the ground as the wind brushed by. The storage shed stood alone welcoming her and the door remained closed. No one was around. If Dark was there she couldn’t hear him.

“Hello?” Taeyeon called out while passing by the house. “Is anybody home?”

No one answered her. Taeyeon paused for a bit to wait for Changmin to appear, but no one came down the steps of the house. Turning her attention ahead she recalled Changmin telling her that his uncle lived toward the back. If she walked farther down she’d be able to spot the white home he lived in. Taeyeon stopped before the door a while later and knocked on it.

“Excuse me,” she said, “are you home?” then she pressed her ear against the door. “Is anybody there?”

“There’s no one in there,” a voice said from somewhere behind her.

Taeyeon quickly spun around to see the monk standing underneath the shady trees. He held a small smile on his face.

“Hello there. What brings you here?” he asked walking over.

Taeyeon quickly greeted him as he stopped to open the door.

“I didn’t expect you to come so soon,” he commented when he opened the door, “come in.”

;;;;;

“Where are you going?” Changmin’s mother questioned before he was able to reach for the doorknob of the front door.

“Taking Dark for a walk.” Changmin replied simply.

“Don’t,” his mother told, “I already locked him up.”

“What? Why! He needs air to breathe and space to run around,” Changmin stated.

“I need your help, so don’t go out,” his mother explained.

She walked away from the door and turned around when Changmin didn’t follow.

“What are you doing?!” she asked.

“Is something up? Why are you suddenly locking me in the house?” Changmin suspicious wondered.

His mother’s face tightened before she threatened, “Hurry up or you’ll never see that dog ever again! If you don’t follow me right now I’m going to sell him off so the jungle people can butcher him.”

Changmin frowned at his mother.

“I only bought him to keep you company in the first place. Don’t go saying this or that to me or I’ll tell your father,” she continued to threaten him. “I said follow me!”

Changmin opened his mouth to retort but his mother had already turned her back to him. Slightly turning to look at the door he turned around following his mother toward the basement.

It was true that his mother had bought Dark to keep him company. Because he was the only child…and ever since Leeteuk stopped coming by…and ever since that painful funeral years ago he had fallen depressed. To cure him of depression his mother brought Dark home for him to play with. His mother had become forlorn and strict and his father slowly drifted away.

Down the wooden stairs into the dark basement his mother led him toward a dozen crates. Grabbing a pencil and a notepad she turned to him.

“Open each box and count every apple inside. I want accurate numbers,” she told, “and after you’re done reseal the box so we can ship them out.”

“What’s the point of doing this?” Changmin questioned as she shoved the pencil and notepad at him. “The workers already boxed the apples after counting them all.”

“I don’t trust them, so I’m asking you to do it!” she hoarsely told. “Don’t talk so much. Your mouth isn’t for working.”

Helpless he turned around to watch his mother head up the stairs.

;;;;;

Taeyeon paused by the open doorway and glanced in to see that there was only a couch and a square table to her left. Just as the house was white the carpet was white as well. The walls, however, were of a tan color. It seemed like a mismatched place that she had walked into.  

“Should I take off my shoes?” Taeyeon questioned.

“Please do.” he told. “Would you like something to drink?”

“No thanks.” Taeyeon replied while taking off her shoes then finally walked in closing the door after her.

When she walked in she found a miniature Buddha to her right and in front of it sat a pot of rice with an incense stuck into it. The miniature Buddha sat on a red/orange colored table against the wall in a careful manner. The kitchen was farther down to her right and when the monk emerged Taeyeon wasn’t sure what to do. Was she supposed to pay her respect before sitting down or…

“Please sit,” he offered.

Taeyeon nodded without word and walked over to the couch to sit down waiting for him like a child. He sat down on the single couch next to her after setting down a cup of tea in front of him. She figured it must be freshly made because she could see the steam floating out of the cup.

“Taeyeon, right?” he asked taking her attention away from his tea.

“Uh…yea…” she replied feeling a little embarrassed for being so immersed in staring at the steam.

He smiled, “What brings you here?”

“I had some things…” Taeyeon hesitated noticing his careful stare then restated her answer, “there are some questions and things I’m curious about.”

He nodded understandingly, “Go on.”

Taeyeon hesitated like she had before with Changmin.

“Feel free to say whatever it is that’s on your mind,” he urged, “letting it all out will be good for you.”

Taeyeon pressed her lips together and told herself to say whatever it was she’d wanted to know all along.

***This is the first time I'm writing an insight about Changmin's life. His mother is suddenly locking him up in the house: Why? To keep him from meeting up with Taeyeon while she is speaking to the uncle. The monk will tell Taeyeon something hurtful and they don't want Changmin to be interrupting with the conversation. Mom and the monk both believe that their 'word of advice' will be beneficial to both Changmin and Taeyeon. How did they know? The monk had a feeling Taeyeon would stop by.

***Teukie is paying more attention to Taengoo xD

***I am going to watch the Last Exorcism with my brothers tonight! xD Wish me luck that I won't get too scared and hopefully develop some scary ideas for this story ^^