Chapter 6
Apology

Dear Diary,

You can imagine how relieved I felt when Eunhyuk opened his eyes. The fall had knocked the wind out of him, made him passed out!

We finally got him on his feet. He was really groggy. His back and neck were sore, but he was lucky he didn’t break anything. Of course, he blamed me for letting the ladder tilt over. I tried to explain it wasn’t my fault. It was horrible. Telling them about the twin ghosts I’ve seen wouldn’t have pushed the ladder backwards, nor would’ve changed anything so I saved my dignity and stayed quiet in the end.

I don’t need them to think I was delusional too—one kid is definitely enough.

My heart is heavy right now. I don’t know what Donghae thinks of me after I’ve let him down twice. First, at the basement, and now this…

So many accidents, dad would say, and only I know why.

There is something in this house. Someone. They don’t want us here, but there is something keeping them from showing us the peak of their red eye. I don’t what yet, but I’m guessing it has to do with Donghae’s pregnancy; maybe they are not into hurting carriers. At any rate, whatever it is that’s keeping them now, definitely, won’t keep them forever.

The twins looked mischievous, I did not like them at all, dear Diary.

I am afraid they would hurt my family. They certainly did not hesitate to hurt Eunhyuk today, so there is no guarantee they wouldn’t show their teeth to any of the household members.

At first, with all the noises and the strange occurrences that happened ever since we came here, I kept telling myself that it is nothing—nothing but a creepy, run-down, old house anyway. But now, I do believe there is more than that to it… The things that are happening cannot be all just accidents. The voices we here at night. My bad dreams… I keep telling myself it is going to be over soon. But I’m not so sure anymore.

I don’t know how long I can go on without sharing this piece of knowledge. I’m really frightened, but I know I’m not about to scare my brother with just assumptions. Donghae has seen enough bull of whatever world that lay under. I can’t throw this into his face now!

For tonight, I will pray for him.

I will pray that he stays safe and away from those spirits.

I will pray that he will remain protected by his child—yes, this will be my prayer for tonight.

Donghwa closed his diary and tucked it into the drawer of his desk, then he walked over to his bed and tucked himself under its covers. He yawned wearily and focused his eyes on the gloom outside the window. He could see the tip of the oak tree from his spot. Luckily for him, there weren’t any ghosts looming over the top this night.

A few minutes had passed; their silence had put Donghwa to sleep effortlessly. Poor boy didn’t expect to jerk awake before his dream even started.

There were soft knockings on his bedroom’s door that died out the instant he jolted upright, confused. He was quiet for a long minute thinking it was just his imagination. After all, he had spooked himself even more by diving into the diary late at night writing all about assumed ghosts and haunted houses. But it wasn’t his imagination, and the knocks that woke him up returned to confirm his dread.

Three light taps on the bedroom door, and then a pause. Three more followed but the person behind that door was never coming in. Had it been a member of the family, they would’ve barged in and not bother—Donghwa was the youngest which meant less deference. But then, maybe it was Eunhyuk—the man did share his room last night afterall, and after what happened today, it is only natural for him to be extra polite to the Donghwa who just almost ripped the life out of his roommate by neglecting the ladder.

Trusting that was the case, Donghwa crept out of bed and walked silent steps until he reached the door and waited. Three more taps, softer than before that even this close, Donghwa had trouble hearing them clearly. He swallowed the spit in the mouth and noticed it was very dry right then.

With all his courage gathered, Donghwa grabbed the doorknob and jerked the door open wide, thinking he might catch those who dared play with him by surprise, but he was the one dumbfound when he was greeted by nothingness.

****

Donghae sat in the chair by the bed in his bedroom and watched his lover get some rest after the terrible fall down this morning. He could not get over the ladder incident, and he could not believe Donghwa stood there as if struck without helping Eunhyuk. Donghae was in the yard too, only too far to be able to do anything while it happened, even his screams would have never reached the duet, but he had seen everything. He had seen the negligence on his brother’s behalf, the terror on his lover’s face.

It was tragic, and he could not stop blaming Donghwa, even in his own mind. His brother was seen guilty, but Donghae did not believe his brother really wanted to harm Eunhyuk. Donghwa was never cruel, despite his many flaws.

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to kill your fiancé, Donghae,” his father said. Donghae had forgotten the presence of his parents in the room altogether. “I don’t know, maybe he got driven by jealousy or something. You know, Donghwa’s been single his whole life while you just reconciled with sweetheart. He’s just another stupid teen doing irrational, stupid things for absolutely no reason—you’ve been in his shoes too—so, try to understand him.”

Donghae nodded. He would try to understand, but he didn’t promise any forgiveness.

“I will go and talk to him about what happened. Knock some sense into him, and make sure things like that don’t happen again,” Misun said with a heavy heart. Donghae sighed. His mother was always worrying about everything, but right then she just looked ashamed. Donghae did not want her to beat herself up over it, but also thought it better if his mom taught her son some manners before things got totally out of hands. Donghae nodded and called after her. “Hey, Mom! Tell him I am letting him off the hook this time because Eunhyuk said to, and try to understand why he did what he did. ‘Cause if it is jealousy, then we can fix it, but if it’s something else, we definitely need to know about it. Okay?”

Misun hung her head and then closed the door behind her. She knew Donghae was right, even though he was freaking out and over reacting a bit with his underlying assumptions. Her son was not a murderer and she was sure of it, and the last thing she would want was for Donghwa to feel like an outcast in his own family. Misun knew she had to do something. She had to fix it. So she marched towards Donghwa’s room with full intention to twist his ear and make him prepare a formal apology.

When she got to Donghwa’s room, she found that it was empty. The door was open and the bed unmade, but her son was nowhere to be seen. She went inside with knitted brows and took a stroll around the room to see if anything was strange. The sound of door closing caught her attention and she turned to the door just in time to see Donghwa walk in.

“Gosh, you scared me!” Donghwa said, clutching his little heart with his right hand.

“You scared me!” Misun widened her eyes to mimic him, and then smiled warmly. “Cm’ere,” she said, extending a hand.

“I did not push the ladder.” Donghwa sighed and reached for her hand anyway, closing the remaining space between them. “Did not push it, we know! But you did not hold it either. Baby, you know how old this house is, and all the equipment including the ladder is all rusty and unusable.” Misun caressed his cheek and he nodded.

“I’m sorry,” said Donghwa after a long pause. “I got distracted, I guess. Going to new places will do this to you.”

His mother smiled wide. Donghwa could see the relief in her eyes. “I’m not as bad as they think, Mom.” Donghwa held both of her hands and pressed them to his chest to assure her he had a beating heart too. “I admit I was a little happy when Eunhyuk was in pin… but that wasn’t because I hate Eunhyuk, it’s because I love Donghae. I didn’t want to see him get hurt again, that’s all it was, that’s all it will ever be. I don’t want to kill anybody—you tell Donghae that.”

Misun was quiet. She now knew Donghwa had heard the conversation in the next room. But it didn’t feel right to lecture him over his behavior. He didn’t give her a chance anyway, because he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head and bid her goodnight. Misun watched her son climb back in bed and close his eyes. She shut the lights on her way out, but Donghwa reopened them again when she left. That night, he knew he wouldn’t get any sleep, so he picked up his diary and wrote again.

****

Later that night, Donghae went to bed quite late. The house lay in a deep darkness. He couldn’t see if the moon shone in the sky or if a street lamp lit up the road outside. No light penetrated the thick veil of trees surrounding their house. No cars passed by. No wind stirred the leaves on the trees. Donghae listened for the sounds of night birds and insects in the yard. But all was quiet until a faint scratching sound broke the silence.

Donghae froze, listening.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

What is that? Donghae wondered, raising his head from the pillow slowly so he could hear well.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

“Must be rats,” he whispered to assure himself. But the voices were in his room. . Those little demons always scared the crap out of him—he still couldn’t get over the basement incident. He pulled his cellphone from underneath the pillow and called his lover. He listened to the wee ringing, and in no time, the phone was picked up.

“Baby?” Eunhyuk’s raspy voice greeted him.

“Hyuk-ah,” Donghae said with pity, for waking his tired lover up.

“Hm? What’s wrong, love?” Eunhyuk sounded asleep, so Donghae was quiet, still debating if he should make a big deal of stupid noises when his lover was in this condition. “I just missed you,” he said instead, and the house let out a long, groan.

“What’s that?” Donghae said, sitting upright in his bed and pulled the covers around him for protection. He didn’t know if the unseen came back to haunt him, ‘cause if it did, Donghae was not ready.

“Shhh! Don’t panic, it’s an old house. It’s probably nothing,” Eunhyuk tried to calm him down a bit. He quickly changed the subject. “Tell me what are you wearing?” Donghae bit his lip and looked at his clothes, the momentary distraction worked, and Donghae told him he was dressed in a satin, white pajamas.

“Want me to come over?” Eunhyuk said in his thin, strong voice. “You would?” Donghae melted into glee, he no longer felt scared, but excited. He would never know how to manage that, his smiles could not be constructed and he only knew how joy felt like whenever Eunhyuk was around.

The scratches came back again. Donghae stood up, suddenly afraid because he’d thought the sounds were coming from right above his head. He looked up at the ceiling, and the scratched grew harsher still.

He thought the attic, which he hadn’t seen it yet. But he remembered passing the narrow stairs that led up to it. His father said he was working on it this morning and that it had been fixed with the help of two handymen. So, what’s all that noise up there?

“Hyuk-ah, don’t hang up. Stay on the line, and come here quick—I’m scared.” But there was no answer on the other end of the line. Damn it. Donghae put the phone aside and left bed. As he paced the room, waiting for his lover, he heard the scratch noise shift above him. To Donghae’s utter horror, they no longer sounded like scratch noises, but real, solid footsteps.

He stopped walking and listened. The mirroring steps stopped only a second short. He started walking again and the sounds resumed, making Donghae eliminate the suggestion of a possible break in. The idea of a robber coming into their rotten house was stupid to even think of, but Donghae didn’t have any better resolution. And he doubted a thief would go into the attic when he could’ve walk in through any of the doors.

“Ah.” The baby twisted inside Donghae and he wrapped his arms around it. It was obvious his fear was bearing transferred to his infant too, and it was frightened too. “Shhh, it’s okay, it’s okay. The house is old, it’s probably nothing,” he repeated Eunhyuk’s word softly to assure it.

Donghae gasped sharply the baby was kicking his ribs. He had to sit down from the pain. “Ah. Calm down,” he begged the infant. “You’re hurting daddy.” But the baby won’t stop kicking. Donghae cried. He barely lifted his head at the sound of his lover calling his name. “What’s wrong?” Eunhyuk almost toppled over him in his rush and fear.

“The baby,” Donghae managed to say before a shriek ripped out of his throat, loud enough to wake the house up. Eunhyuk didn’t know what to do; he jerked the bedroom door open and screamed for help.