The pull I don't trust.

A bitter wind swept through the forest, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and broken leaves. The place had fallen unnaturally silent.

Only the distant murmur of police officers disturbed the stillness as they searched every inch of the clearing.

The ground told a story words couldn't.

Crushed leaves.

Splintered branches.

Deep scratches carved into the soil—

as though something...

or someone...

had been dragged away against their will.

One of the officers slowly crouched beside the disturbed earth. His fingers brushed over a series of blurred footprints, nearly erased by time.

His brows furrowed. "They moved the body..." His quiet voice carried through the cold air. "And they were long gone before we got here."

...----------------...

Not far from the investigation...

hidden behind the thick trunk of an ancient tree

—someone watched.

Motionless.

Silent.

His eyes lingered on the ruined ground before he slowly melted back into the darkness, disappearing as though he'd never existed.

Elsewhere...

The distant scream of police sirens pierced the silence. The sound made Siju freeze.

Inside his room, he pressed both hands tightly over his ears, desperate to silence the memories flooding back.

Those strange noises...

the faint rustling...

the unsettling sounds that had echoed from Jungkook's room earlier. And the question he'd been trying so hard to ignore. Why had Jungkook hidden it from him?

...----------------...

Minutes passed.

Siju finally forced himself to stand.

His legs felt strangely heavy as he stepped into the corridor. The hallway stretched before him in eerie silence. At the very end stood Jungkook's room.

Its door... slightly open.

Almost inviting him inside.

He stopped outside the doorway..

For several long seconds, he simply stared. His heart warned him to leave. His curiosity pulled him forward.

Finally... he pushed the door open.

The room looked exactly as it always had.

Everything was perfectly arranged.

Nothing appeared out of place. Yet the silence felt wrong.

Too perfect.

Too clean.

As if someone had carefully erased every trace of what had happened.

"Everything looks normal..." he thought. "Then why does it feel like something is watching me?"

A strange suspicion settled deep inside him. Jungkook always kept his distance. Always hid something behind those unreadable eyes.

And today... that hidden truth felt closer than ever.

...----------------...

Then—

he felt it.

Someone was standing behind him.

Not a sound.

Not a breath.

Just a presence...

heavy enough to make every hair on his body stand on end. His heartbeat thundered inside his chest. He didn't dare turn around.

Because somehow... he already knew who it was.

A strange weight settled over the air, so heavy that the room suddenly felt smaller. The silence that had seemed ordinary just moments ago became suffocating.

His heartbeat skipped before pounding violently against his ribs.

Someone was standing behind him. He could feel it.

Watching him.

Waiting.

The faint ticking of the wall clock echoed louder than before. The curtains swayed gently with the evening breeze, casting shifting shadows across the floor. Each passing second stretched endlessly.

He swallowed hard, forcing himself to gather the courage to move.

Slowly...

very slowly...

he turned his head.

His eyes widened.

It was Jungkook.

Standing only a few steps away. His expression was unreadable. There was no anger. No surprise. No smile.

He simply stood there, his dark eyes fixed on Siju with a calmness that felt far more unsettling than rage. The silence between them grew heavier. Then, without taking his eyes off him, Jungkook tilted his head ever so slightly.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "So..."

His voice was low and composed, almost gentle.

Yet every word sent a cold shiver through Siju's body. "Do you always make a habit..."

Jungkook took one slow step closer. "...of walking into other people's rooms?"

.

.

.

...****************...

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