~ Chapter 1 ~

<> House <>

“Junsu darling, can you run back out? I think I left the peanut butter in the car.” Junsu sighed, dropping his backpack of personal belongings on a sheet covered couch in the living room and made his way out the side door in the kitchen. 

Moments later, he returned and sank into one of the chairs at the harvest wood table, too tired to move. “Shoes!” His father barked from behind a waist high pile of boxes as he trooped by and placed them into the living room that seemed to become more spatially inadequate as the day slogged on.

Junsu didn’t budge. They had moved in at the break of dawn that day and by mid morning, the hours of hauling impossibly heavy cardboard boxes to and fro was taking a toll on him. So this is what it feels like to die. He thought grimly.

“Come on Junsu, hurry up, there are still plenty of boxes in the car. Get up and be of some use!” His father called out on his way back out the door.

Junsu rolled his eyes stumbling to his feet and followed him out.  

Three 10-pound loads later, Junsu’s father loosened the leash on his son and Junsu was finally free to explore around after receiving a safety briefing from his father and a “be back in time for lunch” from his mother.

The property was a chunk of what used to be farmland - apparently. To the eye of a suburban 14 year old, it looked more like an overgrown maze rural field. The one thing that did draw his eye however, was a single tree with a swing on it; one of those old fashioned tire swings that hung from a branch. Junsu squinted as it seemed to swing in the wind. He frowned up at the blaring sun; it certainly didn’t feel like there was any wind. He wouldn’t have been surprised if the field spontaneously caught fire from the still dry air.

Then how is the tire swinging? He wondered idly, as he kicked his way through the field. At least the shade of the tree looked promising. He looked up to see that the swing had stopped moving and hung motionless from the branch. Junsu shook his head. It must have just been the heat, he rationalized, it was pretty hot out after all and the heat can play tricks on the eye – or something like that. Whatever.

As he approached the tree, Junsu quickened his steps and sighed in relief at the promise of good shade.

Once having reached his destination, he crouched over forward with his hands on his knees to catch his breath, leaning against the trunk for support. He closed his eyes and felt the slightest of breezes ruffle his hair; it felt amazing. So there was wind up here after all. Having once regained his breath, he walked around the tree, wanting to take in every detail. He was always like this; “the Eye of an Artist” as his mother called it.

The tree was enormous:  great swooping branches scooped down to make it an ideal climbing tree. The trunk looked to be about three times Junsu’s arm span and looking directly up below the lush canopy, he could barely see the sky for all the bushy leaves; it was no wonder it was impenetrable to sunlight. Rounded roots protruded from the ground, lined with rows of soft squashy moss, nesting an ideal napping spot.

He arrived back in front of the swing and pushed on it; watching it swing back and forth, like a pendulum.

A chiming ring attracted his attention back in the direction of the farmhouse. He looked over and saw his mother standing beside the house, waving a bell above her head. Rolling his eyes at his mother’s erratic ways, he abandoned the swing and braced himself for the sweltering journey back.

The heat hit him like a ton of white-hot metal. In the field there was no breeze whatsoever, leaving it as dry as a desert. It was really no wonder that all plant life had turned a deep-fried brown.

By the time he reached the house he was sticky with sweat, and exhausted from the return trip that seemed exponentially longer on the way back.

He wrenched open the kitchen door and deposited himself into the nearest appropriate sitting surface which happened to be a dining chair. He rested with his eyes closed, and his head tucked over his arms, relishing the cool air.

“How does the property look, Junsu?” His mother asked as she bustled around the kitchen, swiping dishes from boxes and placing them in large wooden cabinets that hung on the walls.

“It’s okay I guess” he said, with his eyes still closed, “but it’s just…” He trailed off.

“Not home.” His mother finished for him. He lifted his head and looked over at her. She paused what she was doing and faced him. “Su, I know you’re not happy about this move, and I know it will take a lot of getting used to, but can you give it a little try?”

“It’s what you say every time we move,” Junsu retorted. “Every time you tell me to ‘give it a try’, and that ‘it will be the last time we move.’ I’m fourteen now, I’m not a little kid anymore and I know it’s all a lie.” He saw the instant hurt that flashed over his mother’s face and felt a twinge of guilt at his blunt rudeness, but not what he said. He knew he was giving his parents a hard time over the move but he truly meant what he said.

His parents were realtors; always moving around, it’s what they did and not once was he asked for his opinion on their lifestyle. They would pick some old rustic house to move into and then fix it up to sell. Once the repairs were made and a decent sum of money could be pocketed from it, they would sell it to the person who offered the most money and they were off again. It was a vicious cycle that repeated over and over again. As soon as he settled into a new school and made new friends, they had to move again and he hated it.

“All I want is to be able for us to just pick a house and live in it.” He said feeling tears of frustration prick his eyes like needles. He was just done – sick of it all. “I just want to stop moving and finally be able to make friends I’ll know I’ll be able to keep.”

His mother cooed and came over to him, rubbing his back in soothing circles and twirling his hair through her fingers; something she used to do a lot when he was younger. He hated to admit it when he should be all grown up, but he still enjoyed the sense of security he found in his mother’s comforting. 

They stayed like that for awhile, Junsu sniffling back a few stray tears while his mother whispered softly in his ear. “I just want us all to be normal.” He mumbled.

“I know, Su, but there are some things that are just beyond our control.” She said softly. She returned to the kitchen and reached deep into one of the many cardboard boxes that littered the counter and pulled out a glass container. She popped open the lid.

“Chocolate chip cookie?” She offered. Junsu smiled as he accepted the cookie. “That’s more like it.” She said with a wink.

Lunch was for the most part uneventful, simple sandwiches made from the majority of the waning food supply they brought with them. “We are going to have to go into town tomorrow and stock up.” His mother commented.

“I’ll go,” said Junsu’s father. “The front porch is in worse condition than we thought and we’re going to need more nails to restore it. It looks like the other family never got around to doing it.”

The rest of the afternoon passed like that: mostly consisting of directions, small talk and sweat as they continued to load all of the boxes from the car and moving truck. By the end of the day, all the boxes were in the house, their temporary food supply running at almost zero and the three of them absolutely wiped from the day’s strenuous labour.

Apparently, this was only the first load of furniture out of the expected three loads and even with the work of four other moving assistants, they barely managed to get everything inside before dark. Once everything was moved inside, the truck departed with promises to return sometime before lunch the following day and the family was left to their own devices.

Afterwards, the family settled down for a light supper of heated up rice and a few vegetables that Junsu did not recognize. Afterwards, too exhausted to keep on working, they began settling out sleeping arrangements.

With a box of his bed sheets and blankets in one hand and pillow in the other, he made his way up the stairs to his pre-decided bedroom.

Out of the seven bedrooms, Junsu’s was the first on the right at the top of the large wooden staircase. It was fairly sized and had a spectacular view of the field and the tree just beyond it. The decision had been made on rooms earlier that day - another decision he had no say in - Junsu found himself appreciating his room more and more, particularly because this one was positioned directly across the hall from the master bedroom, so he could fall asleep with his parents’ room in sight.

The sun, having long since set, Junsu was more than ready for bed.

He peeked out the huge bay window, ignoring the prickling sensation that something was lurking on the other side of the glass. He staved off the urge to throw the curtains closed, telling himself that his fears were baseless and childish.

 Without a doubt it would be a view that he would come to appreciate more by day than at night. With the moon faintly outlining the details of the tangled fields, he couldn’t help but find the scene a little eerie: the shadows seemed to all blend into the landscape, forming abnormal shapes and shadows.

His breath caught in his throat when he caught sight of something that he didn’t remember being there before. He squinted to make it out and even then, the features weren’t distinct but it looked to be a fully clothed scarecrow. It stood erect in the middle of the field; the same one he would have had to pass through to get to the tree earlier. Junsu wondered how he could have passed it by without taking any kind of notice. It stood out against the rest of the landscape for some reason that he couldn’t quite place - maybe the odd choice of clothes it was wearing? Jeans and sweatshirt that looked too modern to be worn by an average scarecrow.

Junsu passed it off with some reluctance; it was probably just some parting joke the other family was playing - they apparently had a son a couple of years younger than himself. How immature he thought to himself. Joke or not, he couldn’t deny that the scarecrow was definitely creeping him out, and if he wasn’t mistaken, the thing was facing him. The face that wasn’t clear before now stood out crystal clear with the moon shining right on it. It didn’t look like that a second ago…

Enough, Junsu decided. He snapped the curtains closed and flicked on the light in his bedroom, grateful for the brightness and began making his bed. After finishing, he changed into a fresh pair of pyjamas and set off in search of the bathroom. He wandered through the large hallway, peering through the keyhole of each door opening only a select few, unable to find enough courage to open each one individually and be faced with a dark shadowy room.

Five minutes later he succeeded, and was pleasantly surprised to find a completely modernized bathroom with a spacious shower and bath, not something he expected to find in a house so old. He brushed his teeth and left.

The light was still on in his parent’s room by the time he slid into his bed. He had never been so happy to be sleeping in his own bed in his life. Even though settling into new houses never got any easier, over the years Junsu just got used to it, adjusting to each house more quickly than the last. But this house seemed different for some reason. Probably because it was in the middle of nowhere; separated from the road on one side by a thick barrier of trees and completely exposed by open fields on the other side. This house was also by far the largest they had been in with plenty of shadow room for goblins and ghouls to be hiding in and watch his every move…

He palmed his forehead lightly, chiding himself for being so childish. Things like that didn’t exist and it wasn’t like it was the first time he had been in a strange house. He reached for the second light switch beside his bed and was about to turn it out when his mother came in. She was holding something in her hand.

“Hey Su,” she said as she made her way to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I brought you a friend I think you might want.” She handed him a stuffed bear. He’d had him since he was three. The bear was about of a foot in height and covered head to paw in frizzy brown fur. He had named it “민” (Min.) His mother tucked Min under the covers so that it lay next to him.

He began to protest that grown boys didn’t sleep with stuffed animals anymore but she cut him off.

“No one likes sleeping alone in a strange place.” She pulled the covers up over his chin like she did when he was six and kissed him on the forehead. “Goodnight Su, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight.” She got up and flicked off the light on her way out; leaving the room nearly black, save for the small pool of moonlight that filtered through the curtains.

He rolled over onto his side, snuggling deep under the covers and tucked his hand under his pillow - his mother joked that he would one day find a spider under there –and felt himself slowly drifting off. He hesitated before rolling over but decided that it didn’t matter and retrieved the bear beside him and rolled back over, tucking Min securely in the crook of his elbow and the last thing he remembered was watching the light in his parents’ bedroom flick out before he succumbed to the heaviness in his eyes and sleep dragged him under. 

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Okay so this is the first chapter up!  ^^ 

I know it’s kind of slow, but unfortunately you’re just going to have to hang in there.

Like I said earlier, I’m probably going to come through with another round of edits later but it shouldn’t entail anything major. I’ve been writing for most of the day so I’m going to take a break from this after I’m done posting this.XD

I really hope it doesn’t disappoint. ^^

Yoochun hasn’t been introduced yet, (sorry) but he definitely will be later – maybe next chapter? And I’m well on my way to writing chapter two. ^^ So it shouldn’t be too long a wait.

Please tell me what you think and any comments/suggestions/concerns/questions just let me know!

Until next update ♡

Rainy