When Taehyung entered his apartment, he 'locked' the door by pushing the nearby shelf in front of it.
Thoughts about food had vanished from his mind. Instead of feasting on his takeaway meal, he switched on every light in the entire apartment, shut all blinds and turned on every TV. The mix and mingle of different voices gave Tae a feeling of security—the illusion of not being alone. Staring at his TV screen in a stupor, he lay in bed and waited for his panic to subside, for Mr Lee to come and kill him, for his friends to return home.
None of these options came about.
However, after another hour of starvation, the feeling in his stomach got so strong that Tae feared the empty organ would digest itself out of desperation. Wrapped in a blanket, Tae walked to the kitchen and shoved the cucumber-kimchi salad into his mouth, while warming up the remaining dishes in the microwave.
The microwave's loud ding! signaling the fried chicken was ready threw Tae almost off his chair. The Styrofoam box containing the salad fell to the floor.
"Okay, this is going too far!" Taehyung scolded himself. "You almost got a hear attack after hearing the microwave's dinging sound! Don't you know how silly this is? There's nothing to be afraid of! You're just not used to living by yourself after all that time!"
He went to the nearest mirror, looked into his own eyes and continued his monologue: "Tomorrow you'll go to the supermarket and buy some groceries. This takeaway food only makes your skin look dull. Then, you'll go back to 7-Eleven and buy a phone charger. Oh, right, you also should report the attempted burglary to the security guy."
The terrified look in his own face sparked another bout of anxiety. "B-B-But... what if he calls Mr Lee to repair the window?"
"Then you'll show him who's the boss!"Tae replied to himself, nodded and walked back to the kitchen.
Wonjoon climbed off the scaffold. The look on his face said everything. Still, Soojin asked, "so?"
"What?!" Her brother snorted.
"Did you find out where that guy lives or not?"
Woonjoon snorted once more, turning it into a rough, nasal sigh. "BTS' apartment. I could hear voices through the broken window panel. At first I thought it came from the TV, but… the sounds were too layered."
"Are you saying…" Soojin's forehead wrinkled so much that she reminded Wonjoon of their late grandma. "He's not alone?"
"Duh, if one member of BTS is home, don't you think the others are too? Why would they leave one member at home! That would make no sense!"
"But the mail on Eric Nam's tablet said—"
"I know what the mail said!" Wonjoon shouted a little too loud. Swallowing the volume, he continued, "perhaps their plans were canceled last minute, but the mail had already been sent!"
"Could be true," Soojin replied, still not convinced. "But what do we do now?"
"Hit the hay," Wonjoon mumbled and walked toward the van. "We'll break in another apartment early this morning."
Soojin nodded and followed him.
Leaning back in the passenger's seat, Wonjoon couldn't help to admit that Soojin's skepticism was valid. Something about the situation just didn't add up…
*12 Days Left Until Christmas Eve*
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