Instead he only heard silence in reply. When he finally turned to look at her he found that she had fallen asleep because of the lack of sleep Yoona had caused her last night. Leeteuk hadn’t realized that he had been so lost in thought for such a long time that she had taken the opportunity to drift off into dreamland. He felt relieved, yet a bit disappointed that Taeyeon had not been awake to hear his confession in which he had brought up so much courage to say. Inching closer to her so that their shoulders practically touched Leeteuk leaned his head against hers afraid that if he tried to rest her head on his shoulder she’d wake up.

;;;;;

So, if they said they didn’t speak of her anymore she must have been alive while a few years back. The monk must have known her. He must have. Yoona was sure of that fact.

After the others had gathered around the coffee table in the middle of the room to play some game boards, Yoona had remained on the couch with her arm propped up on the top of the couch, hand under her chin.

The rain had not ceased one bit. It felt like one of those cold nights when she was left alone at home with nothing to do and not even her brain could come up with something interesting.

Someone really hated them if all those things had happened to all of them purposely. Did that mean that that person was behind it all? This woman was a spirit still lurking around the area…but why? Was there something she wanted? Or did she hold some type of a grudge? And why was she targeting them? Or was it the mansion itself?

“Oppa,” Yoona said leaning forward so that she could talk to Siwon who was sitting in front of her on the ground.

He was so immersed in the game that he jumped when she talked right into his ear.

“Unnie and Leeteuk were talking about the third floor yesterday,” Yoona started, “would there really be no way to get there?”

“Who knows? The mansion is too huge for any of us to figure it out,” Siwon explained. “Are you sure you don’t want to play? I’m a millionaire by now.”

He smirked at her before returning back to the game and yelling at the others. Leaning back into the couch Yoona sighed. Had Leeteuk found Taeyeon by now? She hoped that the two of them were somewhere dry.

;;;;;

Taeyeon awoke to find her head leaning against Leeteuk’s chest. Immediately sitting up she found that the both of them were still in their sitting positions. Her neck ached as she struggled to get up and it felt almost impposible to force her knee caps to allow her legs to bend as she got up.

The rain seemed to have stopped outside because she was not able to hear any sound of the rain pounding. Standing up Taeyeon made her way toward the door with the confident thought that she’d leave Leeteuk behind. When she stopped a foot away from the door she couldn’t help but turn back to glance at his sleeping figure. Leaving him alone would be just like what her parents had done to her. If she just walked out alone she’d be just as cold and that thought bothered her the most. Glancing at the ground below her feet she finally turned around and walked back toward him.

“Leeteuk,” she called squatting a bit so that she would be able to clearly look at him. “Wake up. It’s dark, we should get back.”

She put her hand on his shoulder without much hesitance and shook him a little. Taeyeon watched as his head fell rolled from his shoulder to his chest and with much surprise he opened his eyes. He glanced around lost a bit at first before his eyes landed on her.

“I think the rain stopped,” Taeyeon said.

“Oh…oh…” Leeteuk stretched a bit and got up.

Taeyeon watched as he walked toward the door, pulled it open, then followed him outside. The sky had become dark and the van was still visible from where it had been stuck earlier. Stars, which glistened in the sky, were their only light as they walked away from the shed.

As she walked behind him Taeyeon found her eyes drifting to his strong back. Maybe he wasn’t as tall as Changmin nor was his back as broad as Changmin’s, but his back looked supportive and there was something about it that Taeyeon quickly liked.

Leeteuk came to a slow stop as they reached the van and seemed to observe it before saying, “Should we try pushing the van out first or should one of us go in and have the other push?”

“Which way would work faster?” asked Taeyeon.

He tilted his head up toward the sky to think then turned to look at her, “Can I trust you not to drive off and leave me behind?”

Taeyeon felt a smirk crawl at the corner of her lips even though she had no intention of leaving him behind. Leeteuk tossed her the keys and Taeyeon caught them surprised. Very soon she was seated in the driver’s seat running her hands around the soft cushioned steering wheel with scenes of driving off appearing in her mind. Bringing herself to reality unwillingly she scrolled down the window to glance back at Leeteuk, who was readying himself to step into the dirty mud patch.

“Ok?!” she shouted.

“Step on it!” he also shouted loudly.

Turning around Taeyeon kept her feet on the accelerator and could hear the dirty noise of mud splatter against the side of the doors, while the wheels grinded against the soft soil being terminated below her. She thought she could hear Leeteuk groaning from outback before the van suddenly lunged forward and jumped onto the sidewalk. Taeyeon let out a scream of surprise at first then finally brought herself to brake the cars feeling amazed. Never had she felt something amazing as that. She thought it felt awesome when the force of gravity had suddenly pulled and pushed her. Leeteuk opened the door to find a smile of awe on her face.

“Scoot over,” he told. “Ugh! I’m so dirty!” he complained while climbing into the car.

Taeyeon glanced at his smeared mud pants. They’d turned from nice blue to a yucky poop color, but luckily it didn’t smell.

“You look excited,” Leeteuk pointed out, “I bet you must have imagined running away, huh?”

Taeyeon just sheepishly smiled.

It was in the middle of the night. Being isolated in the van next to Leeteuk was something that would have last occurred to her during the summer vacation. But what could she do about it now that they were both together in the same car under the same black sky heading back to the mansion? Yoona and the others were bound to be waiting for them and Taeyeon was sure they’d be upset with her for leaving, again. Oh well, it wasn’t like any of them knew how she felt.

“Say, you’re not in a rush to get back are you?” Leeteuk asked out of nowhere. “I want to show you some place before getting back. Just to relax a little.”

Taeyeon turned to glance at him then shifted her whole body so she could directly look at him. Propping her arm up against the window she said, “Haven’t you relaxed enough?”

“This is for you, not me,” Leeteuk pointed out.

“In what way is it for me?”

“It’s a nice place. I told you about it before.”

“You have?” Taeyeon wondered.

“It’s the field directly across from that flower garden you went to,” Leeteuk explained, “a large green field with a big body of water under a large tree.”

“That doesn’t sound appealing,” Taeyeon sarcastically muttered.

Leeteuk just turned to her and smiled, “It is appealing, you’ll see, we’re almost there.”

Taeyeon turned back to look out the window wondering where Leeteuk was taking her. The trees zoomed passed and looked as if they were running off the root of their legs. Green strips of land were never ending and Taeyeon was pretty sure that in the dark she could see the ponds of waters sparkle and shine underneath the illuminating moonlight.

Leeteuk finally stopped the car by the side of the road and got out. Without word Taeyeon got out after him glancing around while turning in a 180 degree circle.

“Where’s this?” asked Taeyeon.

Leeteuk shrugged, “Some place I’ve been before. Don’t know exactly when.”

“Right…I shouldn’t have bothered to ask, huh?” Taeyeon said aloud.

Leeteuk just turned around and smiled. Taeyeon suddenly wondered if there was something wrong with him at times. Sometimes it felt as if he really disliked her and at other times it felt as if he really wanted to get to know her more. Which was it?

Taeyeon stepped up a small hilly area before she saw the extremely large body of water before her and as Leeteuk said earlier there was the large fat tree that stood beside the water as if it were its guardian. While she took in the sight Leeteuk put his hands on hips satisfied with what he was seeing.

“Spectacular, right?” he half turned around.

Taeyeon didn’t reply. Then without saying anything Leeteuk walked over to the tree glancing up to the thick, fat branch that seemed to weigh hundreds of pounds overlooking the water. He reached his arms up, jumped as if he were testing something, then began hopping on his forefeet before he grabbed onto the branch with a kind of “Smack” sound. Taeyeon felt her eyes open wider in surprise and began walking toward him as he climbed onto the branch that stood 7 feet above ground.

“What are you doing?” she asked tilting her head up but could only see the outlines of his face.  

“Wah! It sure looks nice up here!” he said loudly enough for her to hear. “Wouldn’t want to miss this view.”

Taeyeon frowned and glanced around.

“Do you want to come up?” Leeteuk questioned.

Taeyeon immediately looked up at him.

“There’s a stub sticking out at the bottom of the tree.” Leeteuk pointed down while directing her each step. “Step on it and reach your arm up.”

“I never said I wanted to come up.” Taeyeon corrected.

“Then why are you looking for the stub?”

“I was wondering what it looked like.” Taeyeon told before stepping on it. “Ok. Arm up.”

She was sure she saw him smile down at her before taking a strong hold of her hand with a tight grip and pulled her up. In a split second Taeyeon struggled up the branch with her arms pulling her up first, then with the help of Leeteuk who helped pull her the rest of the way up she finally landed on the branch sloppily falling against the uneven bark. The muscles in her arms felt sore and tired.

“What’s so great about this?” Taeyeon questioned massaging herself.

“You can see past the houses here,” Leeteuk told extending his arm out.

Taeyeon followed his arm with her eyes taking in the plain sight, which she did not seem to take pleasure of like he did. Taeyeon was unsure whether she should feel bad for the lack of reaction she showed or for not thinking that it was a beautiful sight. After having looked around Taeyeon finally turned to see that Leeteuk had been observing her carefully. She suddenly wondered if she had looked strangely absorbed in her surroundings for him to look at her with so much curiosity.

Suddenly feeling a fluttering heart with uncertainty of what was happening she could feel Leeteuk lean over ever so slowly before his lips touched hers then slowly began grasping hers as if playfully. Taeyeon felt frozen. She could not bring herself to do anything, but remained there like an idiot with rushing thoughts flowing through her mind. Why…did he keep doing this to her?

;;;;;

Changmin wandered his yard with Dark carefully trotting behind him. Once he stopped by the trail he’d walked by with Taeyeon the first time he met her he tilted his head up to the clear moon. With one hand on Dark’s head Changmin began wondering when he’d be able to get out of his cell.

The day before, his mother had convinced him to go to the city to deliver their goods to the supermarket with his father. However, it turned out that there were already people there ready to help his dad carry the load off the truck. Changmin wasn’t needed for anything. His mother had purposely kept him away from home again. Why was she doing this to him? Why were they so overprotective of him especially during this time of the season? Were the strange things beginning to happen around the house again? If so, why hadn’t he noticed any of it?

From the corner of his eyes Dark’s tail, which had been waving back and forth furiously, suddenly came to a slow stop before his tail curbed up and he began growling. The kind of warning a dog would give to a trespasser.  

“What is it boy?” Changmin questioned glancing at the black dog that didn’t seem to quiet down one bit. “Dark, what’s wrong?”

Changmin tried to keep his calm before turning to look around. No one was there. Only pitch darkness and the silencing moon hanging above him. Dark finally whimpered and sat down as if accepting that whatever was there wasn’t dangerous. Curious about what just happened Changmin spun around seeing no one again. A cold wind brushed against his face and seemed to make his light shirt fly with the wind passed by as if showing him the direction where it was standing. Once he took a step to his right turning around Changmin felt a hand brush against his face in a freezing manner.

Before him so transparently stood a woman in a white dress with a familiar face. A face he’d so deeply buried in his mind half a decade ago. Her long hair flowed with the wind gracefully and he saw her smile at him. He felt shock then heavy despair.

“I won’t hurt you,” she said.

Her voice was so clear he wondered if he was insane. Tears emerged from his eyes almost immediately.  

“You’re…still here,” she continued. “Why haven’t you left?”

Changmin felt choked up. He couldn’t speak. The tears dropped from his eyes instantly.

“Leeteuk…I can’t leave him.” slowly she withdrew her hand from his face and he felt warmth begin to climb onto his face. “I’m sorry.”

“No!!!” he shouted before his eyes opened from his weary dream.

Opening his eyes he looked about the room and sat up before rushing for the lights. Once he the light, face streaked with tears, he found the room empty. An exaggerated feeling of hopelessness hung inside him for so long that he felt literally sick.

***Changmin's scene...suspicious, isn't it? You can easily assume who the girl that suddenly visited him is --I really liked the scene for some reason.