The movers came and left, taking a couple of hours out of the family's day with them. After the second load of belongings were situated in the living room, Junsu managed to slip away, leaving his parents to bicker about furniture arrangement.

Junsu made a beeline for the apple tree, in hopes of finding Yoochun again, but was disappointed when he found no trace of the other boy. He gave a small pout, inwardly berating himself for getting his hopes up. Of course he has a life and other things to do than to sit around talking to you. He thought.

He ended up taking a seat on the swing anyways and enjoyed the shade for a little while before his gaze drifted west and he found himself staring at the small forest of apple trees that Yoochun directed him to the day before. He hopped off the swing, taking one glance at the house before taking off in the direction of the trees.

There was a soft breeze blowing through the trees. They stood out in the middle of the flat prairie-like landscape, acting as dual barriers for the farmers hard at work, protecting them from both sun and wind.

He sauntered up to a tree with low branches. The trees here seemed to be oblivious to the changing seasons as they looked ripe enough to eat even though it was only the beginning of summer.

It didn't seem to make any difference in the flavour though; the fruit was absolutely delicious, Like candy. Junsu concluded after sinking his teeth into one. He took the opportunity to wander around as he continued working on his apple. It appeared that beyond this wall of trees there was another full empty field and then another block of trees after that. On all other sides surrounding the house, it was just farmland. The house was literally just in an isolated chunk of prairie land. Junsu sighed. It's not even like I have any friends around here to lose in the first place.

He squinted up at the sky, using one hand as a visor. It was getting warm, the fields beginning to roast in the afternoon sun. He picked two more apples and made his way back to the house.

He was assaulted by arms wrapping him around him and suffocating him. He heard his mother's panicked voice in his ear.

“Su, where have you been? We getting really worried!” Junsu detached himself from his mother's hug and took a step back.

“It's no big deal, I wasn't even out that long!” He said flustered.

“N-no Su, You've been out there for at least an hour and a half and we couldn't see you and we tried calling you too...”

“But you never answered.” His father finished sharply, making it sound like an accusation. The man was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

“I didn't hear you, I'm sorry.” Junsu hung his head.

“What have we told you about wandering?” His mother said sounding a little exasperated.

So now they care about me. Junsu thought with a bitter edge. “I was still on the property,” He snapped defensively. He stabbed a finger towards the kitchen door. “I was just picking apples. And besides, it's not like you guys would care with me being gone anyways.” He added under his breath. His mother looked confused.

“What are you talking about, Junsu? Of course we care.” Junsu avoided her eyes and sighed.

“Here.” He said, planting the apple in his mother's hand. “I got this.” And he stalked past her. He did the same when he passed his father in the doorway.

“Junsu-” His father began, obviously not finished with the lecture but Junsu kept walking.

“I'm going to my room now if that's okay with you.” He said, not waiting for an answer.

Junsu was fuming. Care about me now. He thought savagely. They wouldn't have given me the time of day earlier; disappearing this morning then chewing me out for not being around when they decided to re appear. And now; they did it again. I want to escape the choking air of this house and here they are on my back again. I want them to stop treating me like such a kid!

He had just reached the staircase when something at the bottom stair caught his attention. It was his blue backpack full of all of his favourite books and his postcard collection; marking all of the places he had been in his life. Seated beside the bag was Min. He stooped down and scooped them up, his eyebrows creasing in confusion.

I was so tired last night; I must have forgotten my bag down here.

He continued up the stairs until he nearly tripped. He stumbled with a curse and looked for the offending cause. His confused frown only grew when he identified his bedsheets, blankets and pillows set out neatly at the top of the stairs. They were folded with such precision Junsu doubted it could have been even his mother who could spend five minutes folding one single bed sheet.

After untangling his feet, he entered his room and sure enough found his mattress bare.

Groaning with irritation, he dropped his bag and bear on the floor and went to retrieve the bed clothes. Am I not even worth a single trip up the stairs?

Ten minutes later found him lying spreadeagled on the bed clutching his bear tightly as if it was his life line. He wanted to stay angry at his parents for always badgering him and scolding him for the smallest things, but he just couldn't. His mind kept drifting back to Yoochun. They really hadn't said much- in fact they had barely met, but there was something about him that Junsu just felt drawn to. It could have been because he was the first human being his age he had seen in what felt like ages here, or possibly because he was actually being nice to him. Here he was thinking all these things and yet, he barely knew the boy.

It was a little strange how his mother claimed there weren't any kids around here, yet Yoochun appeared out of thin air. All these questions and queries floated through his head and it felt like his skull was going to explode. But he knew the solution. He reached into his bag and pulled out a red pocket sized book labelled Question Book.

He pulled out the pencil he always carried around and began scribbling in it.

He hesitated; unsure where to start. After a little bit of thought, he lined the pencil with the paper again and started with the most pressing thought in his head.

Will I be able to keep Yoochun as a friend?

He skipped a line, leaving room for a very small answer.

He found a small trickle of tears pool in his eyes, but he blinked them away furiously.

He quickly distracted himself with writing another line.

What time does Yoochun get up in the morning?

He skipped a line.

How hard am I to take care of?

He lay back on the bed, feeling much better now that the chaos in his head was organized onto lined paper.

He lay there for a time, not thinking about anything in particular, but began to grow restless after awhile. He sat up and tucked the book under his pillow and got up and deciding to explore a little.

Junsu decided to start with the first room to his right—the second door after his own room.

He was met with a closed door—latched shut with age. But with a lot of physical persuasion, the door finally yielded to reveal a room that was easily the smallest room in the house.

But what it lacked in space was compensated in content. A large spanning bay window consumed most of the opposite wall overlooking the eastern sky. To his left, there was a sprawling vanity. The intricately chiseled details in the wood hinted that the piece might have once been an elegant work of art, but the rich colour of the wood had faded to a worn out brown and the mirror was so old and dusted that Junsu could barely make out the outline of his reflection.

He went over to the bed which was made perfectly, without a single wrinkle or crease in the covers. He wanted to try it out but stopped when he noticed the signature carpet of dust on the bed that could be seen throughout the house. He looked behind him and saw the trail of footprints leading from the door. He in a breath; the room would have been absolutely spotless had it not been for all of the dust. He didn't know a thing about the people who used to live here, but he was certain that his parents would never have let any room in that house to get that filthy, no matter what the circumstances were.

He recognized the same antique style desk that was in his old room along with a matching bedside table.

He tried the closet, but to his dismay, found it closed and it became apparent, that nothing he could do was going to open it.

He bit his lip, feeling something almost akin to guilt for disturbing a place that had obviously hadn't seen human presence in years., leaving behind footprints no less. He left the room silently, closing the door carefully behind him, not wanting it to slam.  

The next room beside the bay window room was the bathroom. It had been fully remodelled, complete with a new bathtub, shower and sink. It was a bigger bathroom than in any of the other houses he had lived in.

The next room was more of a walk-in closet that served as the linen closet. It had sprawling dust free shelves as well as a new washer and dryer. He sighed in relief. He had a hard time envisioning Min hanging on a clothes line on display for anyone who cared to know he still slept with teddy bears. Junsu found himself at the door of the third room. He tried the wooden door but it did not budge. He wrenched the door knob and threw himself at the door none too quietly. He figured the door must have surrendered three inches before something else blocked it from opening any more. He stuck his face in the three inch crack and peeked in to see as much as he could.

The first thing he saw was the lack of light in the room. It was so dark he was hardly able to make anything out but the bare outlines. From what he could tell, the room was packed to the ceiling with furniture. Even if he had gotten the door open, the room was so disorderly that he knew he wouldn't have been able to take more than two steps in any direction. Tables, chairs, what looked to be a bed frame were all stacked with a small layer of dust; thinner than he had seen in the room with the bay window. So this all must have been moved fairly recently then. He thought to himself. He extracted himself out of the doorway and latched the door behind him.

He was so immersed that he was startled when he heard a set of footsteps creak up the stairs. Without thinking, he whipped into the bathroom with and closed the door behind him. He leaned with his back against the door, ears straining for any more noise. He heard the footsteps grow louder and then fade a little as they passed by the bathroom door. He wasn't sure why he had been startled so easily, but regardless of what it was making that sound, he certainly didn't want to be spotted. He listened a little bit more, then he picked up a sort of whistle which he recognized in a heartbeat to be his father whistling a song they had heard on the radio, yesterday.

He felt his knees go weak with relief and he slid down the door so that he was sitting on the floor. As if his father was a century-old ghost, he snorted. If that was the true then his son would be a 6-year old wimp who was afraid of a new house; obviously of which neither was the case.

He jumped a mile when he heard a loud rap on the door. He covered his mouth to muffle his shocked squeak when he heard his father's voice through the door.

“Junsu, if you're done in there, I would kindly like access to a shower.”

“Okay, Dad,” Junsu said, trying to keep his voice steady. He forced himself to breathe deeply through his nose and out his mouth, willing his heart to stop pounding.

Once he finally managed to get a grip of himself, he scurried out with his head down, embarrassed to have been startled so badly only to have been all but caught.

He made a beeline for his bedroom and waited for the bathroom door to close before he finally resumed his investigation.

He continued at the fourth door from the staircase. It was closed at first but opened up easily enough. The inside was moderate in size, with a desk that was so cluttered there was literally no surface space showing. Junsu inspected the desk but was careful not to touch anything. It appeared to be piled mainly with books, but there was a drawing pad, but the book was closed. Around it, a few pencils, both coloured and normal ones for writing were strewn about the desk, as if the person who used them last was in a hurry and had tossed them there.

The desk was messy desk was eye catching, but what jumped out to Junsu was the sprawling book cases that lined the walls. There were two on either side of the door and were positively massive. Whoever lived in this house must have been building that collection for years although he couldn't help but thing that it was a little bit of a waste; putting it in a guest room when a breath taking library could have been constructed instead.

All of them were the old antique style he had never seen up close except in book stores. His eyes glossed over the gold lettered titles on the spines, feeling excitement bubble in him. If this house was equipped with a miniature library, no matter what kind of books there were, then maybe his stay wouldn't be so bad.

Finally tearing his eyes away from the books, he he continued to explore the rest of the room. In addition to the bookshelves, there was also comfortable couch that was covered in a blanket of dust as well as a spacious bed with a faded checker spread. It would have been very quaint and homey had age not gotten to it first.

Junsu saw a crack of light filtering behind two veils of mossy green curtains. With one knee he balanced on a couch cushion and strained to draw the curtains to the best of his abilities. They parted to reveal a a cracked wooden board that was used to cover the window. Junsu wasted no time shoving the couch aside and tearing off the board which came off quite easily, costing him only one minor splinter in his finger.

His labours were not in vain for the view of the window proved worthwhile.

The window was located just above a heavy settlement of trees, many of which have surpassed the house in height, leaving the window almost completely covered in a second layer of green leaves. Junsu realized immediately why the board was up: it wasn't to make the house seem more desolate than it already was, but serve as a screen. The window was no more than a rectangular hole in the wall. The other family must not have gotten around to that either. Junsu thought, and he made a mental note to alert his parents to that. He concluded that there was nothing more to see and he left, latching the door behind him.

The fifth door was the master bedroom and Junsu decided to skip that room altogether; his father was out of the bathroom now and probably somewhere in there. Later. Junsu thought.

He opened the door to the next room; the sixth from the staircase. The room was one of the select few rooms in the house that was modernized. The room was a bright cheerful green. The rest of the room was for the most part bare, leaving only a fully made bed and a large picture hanging from the wall in a gold frame. There was hardly any dust in this room, so it would make sense if this was the son's room.

Closer investigation revealed that the picture was actually a photograph of a riverbank. It looked like something painted out of a fairy tail; large willow trees sweeping over a babbling creek. Large stepping stones protruded from the water, forming a smooth path to the other side, landing on a sandy bank. The photo appeared to have been taken in the summer as the water was dappled gold and green from the lush leaves.

At the bottom left hand corner of the picture, was a messy scrawl in what appeared to have been a signature. The writing however, was so illegible, Junsu was only able to make out “유”(“Yu”) before the rest of the signature was lost to scribbles.

“Huh.” Junsu said. He looked around the bare room, nodding to himself. It had apparently been part of some tradition for all the past residents to leave their beds behind or the previous owners were fond of lodging guests over the years.

He closed the door and was just about to move on when he caught the glowing green light coming from under the doorway. He snorted. The lime green stood out like a sore thumb in an old country farmhouse, especially when it was pouring out from a crack under a door.

The last door; the seventh, was locked. He tried it multiple times but the door just wouldn't open. No matter how many times he jiggled the knob, it simply wouldn't budge. He searched the door, looking for a lock – anything that could be preventing his entry. The slimmer his chances were of opening the door, the more anxious he was to know what was behind it. Finally he kicked it, his frustration finally getting the better of him; though it didn't do anything. He sighed heavily in irritation.

He began wandering the upstairs again, re-visiting each room for any things he could have missed. His boredom eventually led him back to the green room, for no particular reason other than the cheerful aura the neon walls produced. He sat on the bed, the first one he had encountered aside from his own that didn't look a century old. He sat on the black and white bed spread and kicked his feet; wondering to himself exactly what kind of person this boy had been. He wondered if he had met Yoochun too.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when his foot kicked something solid under the bed. He yelped and pulled his knees up to his chest and assumed something akin to the fetal position as he waited for some hairy monster to slither out from under the bed.

It didn't come though and after a about a minute spent in silence, Junsu deemed it safe to begin investigations.

Cautiously, he hung onto one of the rungs of the bed frame and peered under. What he found was not a monster, but a brown shoebox. Burning with curiosity, he hauled up the box and dropped it on the bed, making the mattress bounce.

He cracked open the lid and discovered dozens of pocket-sized Polaroid photographs.

He went to flip the box upside but decided the floor would be more adequate if he wanted to spread out a bit. He took the box and crouched on the floor and then overturned it, scattering its contents all over the hardwood.

He spread them out so that he could see the faces of the photographs. Most of them were scenery photos, some of the farmhouse, some were of the apple trees, and again – he noticed a multitude of river shots. Junsu held one up against the larger picture on the wall and the scenery seemed to be a perfect match.

“These all must have been taken by him...” Junsu mumbled as he studied the photo. Something seemed a little off about it: it was an ordinary shot of a running river- or it would have been had it not been for a blurry patch in the corner. It could have just been a light trick caused faulty angle though but there was something a little odd about the blur. It was almost as if it had the very rough yet unmistakable shape of a human figure.

He picked through the pile and found another picture taken by the river and it was the same problem. He found another and held it up to the other one, and again it had the a figure fading into the background yet undeniably there. He sat, frozen in horror and just stared at the two pictures until his father's voice pulled him from his reverie.

“I am going out now,” He called. “If you would like to come with me, we need to leave now.”

“C-Coming!” Junsu shouted and dashed out of the room, abandoning the pictures on the

floor, oblivious to the fact they would not be there when he returned.

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Okay so here's Chapter 2.5 again. ~sigh 

I lost all of my wonderful comments DX *sobs forever*

Thanks so much anyways for the people who DID comment and then their love got deleted... And then there are the lost subscribers...

Oh well, with any luck they will find their way back if they are still interested. Ugh, I'm just frustrated with asianfanfics because this isn't the first time it's happened. 

And also there's that weird formatting glitch thing that happened... *looks up* I give up trying to fix it. So sorry about that =P 

About the next chapter... ehm, it's coming... I just don't know when :3 I'm working on it but it may be awhile. ~Sorry about that~ =}

Oooh one last thing before I let you go: If anyone likes reading 2min angst, I have another story I know I shouldn't be tralala-ing with other stories, but it shouldn\t distract from Child's Play. it was a prompt challenge from one of my friends :D 

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