Padma

Chapter 6

-Areum's pov-

I groaned as I tried to sit up. My back was aching from last night. I jumped off the build-in bed and folded it back up.

"I have to go home." I whispered out loud to myself.

As I opened the door I checked to see if anyone else was up. It was quiet. The cold breeze made me shiver. I started walking towards the long driveway. I saw a red truck and quickly ran to it.

From afar, I heard the door open. I couldn't get the door to budge, so I went and hid behind it. I looked up and saw Woozi stretching. He was so cute with his bed head. His eyes glanced over to me, causing myself to duck. Unluckily, I somehow managed to hit my head against the car.

His footsteps came closer. I moved slowly as he approached. After seeing no one, he stepped away and turned his back to the car. I let out a deep breath I didn't notice I was holding.

The door opened again. I quickly hid again. This time it was S.coups with Woozi.

"Hyung, I'm telling you, someone was here earlier. I'm not going crazy." Woozi said to S.coups.

"Are you sure? You've been out of it lately. You know, since the whole memory loss thing. And what did you two see yesterday?" S.coups asked him.

"It's nothing. Just check for me." His voice getting softer.

"Alright, show me where." S.coups finally gave in.

I popped my head up as soon as they approached the car.

"Areum?" Woozi called while stepping closer to me.

"Stop Jihoon, I wanna go home." I cried.

"Don't you think we want to too? We were all stuck here together for a reason. Just stay here...with me. It's dangerous, don't run to the school anymore." He softly spoke.

"I can't do this anymore. Just let me-" S.coups ran towards me. I ran to the other side while he jumped over the truck, but got caught. Woozi went over to help him, and this was my chance to escape.

I ran back to the school parking lot. I looked behind me to see S.coups not a few paces away. I started speeding up. Once again the cars started appearing. Everything that happened yesterday was happening again. It was like dèjà vu all over again.

No matter what I tried, I couldn't stop what was happening. It was like I was the puppet being controlled by my master. S.coups looked as confused as I felt. I saw him try to run across to me, but a car appeared on front him, causing him to step back.

He mouthed something to me, but my mind was lost. I tried to stop but continued to run, until I reached the house again. As I reached the house, the strings that held me up, were cut off and I fell onto the floor.

S.coups came to my side; helping me up. "Why didn't you understand me Areum? It seemed like you couldn't hear me at all. I tried running to you, but something, like a force was holding me back." He exclaimed.

"Wait...you didn't see the cars?" I asked out of breath. "What cars?" He asked while looking back at the parking lot. I looked too, and there were no cars anywhere.

"What's going on Areum?" He finally asked. I sighed, "Something's not right here S.coups.-" "Call me Seungcheol." He added. I nodded.

"Anyways, like there's something I feel like I need to do. And earlier when we were running, all these cars started appearing, but no one saw them but me. Then while I was running, I was trying to stop but I had no control over my body. It felt like I was a puppet and someone was controlling me. As soon as I stepped foot on the driveway to the house, the strings felt as if they were cut and that's when I suddenly dropped. Whatever I need to remember, hopefully comes back." I said in frustration.

"Talk to Woozi." Was all he said. "What? Were you even listening to what I was telling you or-" "No literally. Talk to Woozi. Hopefully you know what I mean." He shrugged then went towards the house.

I sighed then walked down the driveway. "Seungcheol said you needed to talk to me?" A voice asked from behind.

I quickly stood up and saw Woozi standing behind me. He came closer to me and I backed up a bit.

"Yeah. I need help..." I cautiously said.

He kept taking steps towards me. This is something he's never done before. I backed up against the garage door until I couldn't move any further.

"You're scared. You're scared I'm going to give you away. You're falling for me." He spoke. "No. You're wrong. You can go ahead and give me away." I replied.

"You're scared that you won't be able to find out what you need. Then he's going to have to give away something so precious. You're afraid that he's going to blame you for everything-" "Aren't you 'him'? Why are you talking in third person?" I suddenly realized.

"How can this be? You're not afraid! I can't tell what you're afraid of! How did you catch me?" He started taking a new form.

I quickly pushed myself off the garage door and stepped closer to him. He backed away. "Now you tell me if I'm wrong. You're afraid of disappointing your leader. If you fail this then your soul will be taken away. And you can go ahead and tell Professor Wang, I remember." I spat causing him to disappear into thin air.

"Areum? Seungcheol wanted you to talk to me, is that right? Are you alright?" Woozi came from behind the door.

"Is it really you Woozi?" I asked.

"Yeah..I think. Why? What happened?" He asked.

I ran to his arms and he only stood there. "What's wrong Areum?"

"I remember now."