It was supposed to be an easy, unremarkable life for Mina. Or so it seemed.
The unraveling began when her sister, Alicia, gave her heart to Kim Taehyung. A man revered and feared alike, a being carved from iron will and unshakable strength, his ever...
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Mina crept toward the rear of the house, her footsteps muffled by the damp earth beneath her worn sandals. Rain had fallen earlier, leaving the air heavy and the sky smudged with charcoal clouds. She had memorized Alicia’s instructions by heart, each step, each turn, each moment to hold her breath and blend with the shadows.
The gate in the backyard creaked faintly as she pushed it open with careful hands. Just as Alicia said, it didn’t lock. It swung lazily on rusted hinges, granting her entry to the overgrown garden. The house stood still before her like a sleeping beast, unknowing, unguarded, but not without secrets.
She tiptoed past the pots of wilted herbs and damp garden tools until she reached the narrow window beside the backdoor. Alicia told her it would be the easiest way in. Mina’s trembling fingers found the bottom of the wooden frame and gave it a gentle push. It stuck for a moment, then, with a breathless pop, slid open just enough to slip her tiny frame through.
No sound. No light. Just her heartbeat pounding like war drums in her ears.
She held her breath as she climbed inside, praying the house wouldn’t groan beneath her weight, praying the old lady was truly asleep.
But there was no turning back now. The door to this path had been opened by her sister’s hands, and Mina had walked through it alone.
Mina fumbled through the contents of her worn-out backpack with trembling fingers, her breath shallow from the rush of sneaking into a stranger’s home. The rain had soaked her sleeves, making everything inside damp and harder to feel. But at last, there it was. Cold metal and plastic, her flashlight. She flicked it on with a soft click, its trembling beam cutting through the pitch-black stillness of the old lady’s kitchen.
The scent hit her first, old wood and lemon polish, with a faint lingering of cooked fish and rosewater. Alicia’s voice rang in her head, crisp and cruel: “Go through the window by the backdoor, it’s small, but it opens. That’s where you start.”
But Mina forgot her mission almost instantly.
The kitchen was a wonderland.
Her eyes glimmered as she spotted the silver handle of the fridge. It creaked slightly as she opened it, revealing rows of food far richer than anything Alicia ever gave her. Without hesitation, she reached in and snatched whatever her tiny hands could grab, blueberry jam, a pack of sliced ham, soft golden buns, and a handful of glistening red grapes. Then from the pantry, bread, canned peaches, even a tiny jar of truffle pâté that she couldn’t pronounce but knew tasted like heaven. She didn’t place them in her bag at first. Instead, she tossed them one by one out the same window she entered, so she wouldn’t have to fumble with zippers in her haste to escape later.
Then, click.
A sound, followed by the lightest scuffle of paws.
