Draft

Tae stirred softly at the sound of plastic scraping. Her unconscious body regained consciousness. She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. When he finally did, Tae opened them. It was dark all around. The room was dimly lit by the light of a candle in the middle of the room. The sound of the wind still rushing at high speed could be heard from outside. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was!

'Good morning butterfly!'

A man's voice reached his ears.. she couldn't understand what the voice said to him. While searching for the man with the deep voice, his eyes fell on Jungkook sitting on the divan. Tae got up with a start. She looked at himself once and looked around, trying to understand the situation. All his clothes were in order. From what she could see in the candlelight, it seemed like a bedroom. Tae tried to remember what had happened to her. She got out of the car and came downstairs, then saw Jungkook behind her... Tae's body shuddered as she remembered Jungkook's appearance at that time. She looked at Jungkook in shock. Jungkook was packing several large canvases. It looked like an art canvas.

"Where am I?" Tae said in a frightened voice.

After finishing his handiwork, Jungkook looked at Tae. Tae was even more surprised. Jungkook's appearance back then was nothing compared to what he was now! Jungkook was still as gentle as he had been on the first day.

"In my room. If you suddenly lose consciousness, look at me as if you've seen a ghost," Jungkook said with a shrug.

"What time is it?" Tae said tiredly.

'Eight-thirty.'

'What?' Tae almost jumped up. She started looking for his mobile phone. Jungkook was looking at Tae. He seemed to understand what Tae was looking for. He took Tae's mobile phone out of her pocket. Inan was disappointed when he got the phone in his hand. She had forgotten that her mobile phone was turned off.

Restless, she urged Jungkook, "When you finish your work, let's go quickly. Dad is thinking a lot."

Jungkook was gazing at Tae as if in love. In the faint yellow light, sweet Tae, with her hair down to her back, looked like a white fairy. It was as if a fairy had lost her way and entered his eternally dark world and mind.

As Tae was about to leave the room, his hand felt tight. She frowned and looked back at the owner of the hand with a questioning look.

Tae shook his hand and asked, "Why are you holding my hand?"

"I assumed it would be dark. The room is not in a good condition. There is no reason to think otherwise."

Jungkook said contemptuously. He turned on the flash and turned off the candle. He left the room with the packed bags in his hand. Tae, who was behind him, noticed the condition of the room with surprised eyes. Chairs and tables were scattered around the room, lamps and wall lamps were all lying haphazardly on the floor. It didn't seem like there could be anyone here at all!

"Is this really your house?" There was surprise in his voice!

Jungkook replied curtly, 'Huh.'

"Is there no one else at home? Where are your parents?"

After a moment of silence, the other party replied, "No."

Tae couldn't understand Jungkook's answer. Does Jungkook have no parents or does none of them live here? Tae couldn't understand the answer to any question, he said no. But she didn't bother. She wasn't worried about Jungkook. For now, she was worried about his father. Ifaz Saheb's blood pressure dropped again due to tension!

Jungkook carefully moved the furniture to make room for Tae, and as he descended the stairs, he repeatedly turned the light on and said, "Carefully..slowly..step carefully..slowly.."

To Tae, it felt like Jungkook was helping a child cross the road. She forced a smile and said, "You're shining your light at yourself. You'll get yourself into trouble if you tell me to be careful..."

Tae had to fight the wind to get into the car. The wind was so strong that she felt like it would blow him away! Luckily, Jungkook was there! She saved herself by grabbing Jungkook's shirt.

As the car started moving, Tae looked at Jungkook with hesitant eyes. Jungkook said without looking at Tae,

'What?'

"Can you give me your mobile phone, please? I'll call my father."

'What will you say over the phone?'

'Strange! What do you mean? Dad is dying of tension, I'll just tell him I'm fine!'

"I'll deliver it to your house. You'll see it when you get there."

'You can't say no to mobile phones...'

As soon as Tae finished speaking, Jungkook handed over his mobile phone, "I don't like talking too much."

Tae grabbed the mobile phone and said, "You're the one who's talking too much."

Tae couldn't reach Ifaz Khan when he called. She basically couldn't get the network. Frustrated, she returned the mobile. She put her hand on her forehead and looked outside. At other times, she would have enjoyed this heavy rain. But now the situation was different.

Seeing the large canvases in the back seat, Tae said, "Are you an artist?"

'Huh'

'I knew it! I understood after seeing your art. Are you going to deliver these? Do you sell them?'

'No, these are for the exhibition, they will go there.'

'Wow! Was that why you were in such a hurry to come home?'

'Huh'

'Well'

Once again, the silence descended on the car. The road was so deserted! It seemed like this place was far away from the city. Not a single car could be seen. There were no street lights on the road. The big trees covered the sky so much that even during the day, it seemed like the sky was invisible. The car crossed the forest and entered the main road. Now that it was on a familiar road, Tae felt a little lighter.

Breaking the silence, Jungkook suddenly said, "Keep your distance from the boys."

Suddenly, hearing these words from Jungkook's voice, Tae looked back.

'Excuse me?'

Keeping his eyes on the road, Jungkook said, 'You are quite careless in choosing friends. You mix with whoever you mix with after researching them.'

'How do you know about my friend? And who are you to say these things?'

In a different voice, Jungkook said, "People are so bad these days. The hideous face behind the good person always escapes our attention."

'Could you please tell me directly what you really mean?'

'Nothing. I just warned you not to trust anyone. A few days of acquaintance is not everything. You can't get to know someone even if you've been together your whole life, let alone for a few days!'

'You mean my boy friends are bad?'

Jungkook didn't answer. Tae continued, 'You're the one who said not to trust anyone after knowing them for a few days. How can I trust you after knowing you for a few hours? What guarantee is there that you're not lying about my friend?'

"I have no animosity towards you that I would wish you harm. Just know that the way people show you is not always true."

Tae remained silent. She started thinking about his friends. Where? He didn't see any negativity among them. Why was Jungkook suddenly giving her such a warning?

.

.

Jungkook stopped the car in front of Tae's house. By then, the intensity of the rain had eased a bit. As Tae got out of the car, he said,

"Anyway, there were a lot of misunderstandings between us. I guess I created too much of a scene. I also said a lot of nonsense. I'm really sorry for that. Please don't take it personally," Tae said with a smile.

Jungkook glanced at Tae's lips once and then looked away.

‘And thank you.’ Tae got out of the car.

"Welcome," Jungkook said softly, without looking at Inan.

Tae said goodbye to Jungkook and entered the house. If she turned around and looked she saw a pair of eyes staring at her with unblinking eyes.

.

.

Tae's father continues to cry, hugging his daughter.

He said in a tearful voice, 'Where were you, my bear? Did someone come home so late? Shouldn't you have informed your father? Do you know how much I've searched for you? I went to university, I searched all your friends' houses, I searched all your restaurants, where were you, bear?'

Tae felt sad seeing his father crying. He consoled his father, 'My mobile was not charged, father, I was with a friend of mine, it was raining so much that he couldn't even drive properly. That's why we were sitting somewhere waiting for the rain to stop.' she said very carefully, lest she don't get caught.

Palak's voice was heard in the middle of this, 'So you couldn't call your friend's mobile phone?'

Tae glanced sideways at Palak, who was standing next to him. Palak was looking at Tae with angry eyes. His eyes were bright red. It was as if he didn't want to show his anger because Ifaz Sahib was in front of him.

Tae kept his voice natural and said, 'I gave it, but I didn't get the net.'

'Did you have a boy or a girl friend?'

"Girl, you don't recognize me, a friend from school." Tae swallowed. Her throat trembled repeatedly as she lied.

Palak didn't want to say anything more, but he said nothing. He was fuming with anger. The girl didn't know how upset Palak was after not finding any trace of her today! He was searching for Tae like crazy even in this rain. He was suffocating every moment thinking that nothing bad had happened to Tae!

Tae consoled his father and sent him to the room. Palak was still sitting on the sofa. His police uniform was quietly soaking wet. Tae took a towel and handed it to Palak. Palak didn't take the towel. When a person who had been naughty all day suddenly got angry, it felt like a catastrophe. Palak felt the same way.

Palak got up from the sofa and tried to grab Tae's arms, but he didn't. He didn't like being overly involved. He pulled his hair with one hand and calmed himself down. He sighed and said, 'It would have been okay if you don't give so tense. Tae, do you know how much sir worries about you? Today, you was supposed to go to a new restaurant with Sir. That's why Sir came home in such a hurry after finishing work! Then, even after the afternoon, you didn't come, Sir called me in the evening, he was so tense!!'

Palak paused for a moment, 'Tae, you are no longer young. Sir is also getting old. You know how much  risk is involved in the police job! On top of that, your stress! Learn to take responsibility for yourself, Tae. Be smart in situations like this.'

Tae remained silent. She felt very bad about herself now. It wasn't that she was at fault. But the lie she had made up was more her fault. So Tae couldn't say anything in return.

'Come on. Next time, be careful.'

Tae came into the room.

The head of the bed started rolling from one end to the other in regret. How much pain Dad has suffered! How much he worries about her! And is she putting tension on Dad instead? Damn it!

Tae sat up. Nothing was going well. Then his attention fell on the cartoon kept in the corner of the room. That day, he had left the cartoon half-opened. Tae got up and sat down again with scissors. As soon as he cut the scotch tape and opened the cartoon, he suddenly fell a little far away. A two-foot teddy was kept inside the cartoon. However, the reason Tae was scared was that the color of the teddy was pitch black, so she suddenly became scared. Usually, no teddy bear is so black. Tae carefully observed that the doll had been made black with black color spray. When he tried to grab the doll, the button on the stomach was pressed and the teddy laughed with a strange sound, what a spooky laugh. Who sent such a strange gift! Someone must have been playing a trick on her! Tae took the teddy and went to the balcony and threw it away. This is how she would throw anything that scared him. Tae slammed the balcony door shut.

The rain washed away the black paint, revealing the teddy's true color. Some parts were black, some were brown. A pair of wet hands came out of the darkness and picked up the doll. Examining the doll with sharp eyes in the flashing light, he began to spread the black paint on the doll's body with one hand. The mixture of brown and black made the doll look hideous. The doll looked at the closed balcony on the second floor with his hand. Then he pressed the switch on the doll's stomach. Again, strangely... The doll laughed terribly... a bone-chilling laugh...

To be continued...

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