The Flower of the Dark | k.th

.Thirty-One.

JIEUN's POV
I crouch down to pick up a fake donut. It's blue with yellow sprinkles. How on... wherever I am..can this be a clue to something? A clue to what?

"Hey," I call for Taehyung, "what do these donuts and airplanes mean? I don't understand how these are clues."

Taehyung, who is to my far left, glances from an airplane he had been studying, to me, then back to it again. He begins to say something, "1972. December 18." His voice is soft as he speaks. "A plane crashed, causing the death of all the passengers and the pilot inside. I forgot how the plane crashed in the first place." He keeps his gaze sternly on the small, plastic toy airplane. "There was one man, Jung... something. He was... looking for someone. I don't know who, but I doubt he ever found them."

I ruffle my hair, holding up the blue donut and trying to take in everything the man had said a moment ago. "So what about this?"

"That." Taehyung puts the airplane back down on the floor, where more donuts of different colors lay. "I think he worked at a donut place...yeah, I'm pretty sure he did." The dark haired boy walks to one of the black walls and puts his hand through it. He takes it back out, not showing too much difficulty while doing so.

Curious, I stand up from my crouched position, and head for the wall nearest to me, which happens to be right behind me. I stare at my hand for a few seconds, wondering what should happen to it if I do touch the wall with it. Taking a deep breath, I near my hand to the black nothingness.

But I stop as soon as I hear Taehyung's words.

"What are you doing, Jieun? You can't touch the wall unless I know it's safe for you."

I turn to see him and he's already on the other side of the room.

He starts again, "One of these walls has an entrance to the next room. Each room represents someone who has or will pass away. I have no idea why they would be included in this, but who knows."

Our eyes meet as he walks to the wall on my right.

"What do you want now?" He asks defensively.

I shake my head. "I want to see my dad for one, but this maze thing is confusing me."  I realize that the donut is still in my hand, and set it down. I guess I can look around for a bit.

Something hard pokes my foot as I take a step forward. Moving my foot from out of the way, I notice a small red and white pill. What's this? I pick up the pill and call for Taehyung. "Tae! Do you know what this might mean?"

His eyes grow wide at the object in my hand. "Where did you get this?" He snatches it from my hand and examines it. "I didn't see this. Good thing you found it." He turns away from me. "Okay, so now all you have to do is sit down and try to look pretty. I got this one."

He bites into the pill and smiles devilishly towards one of the walls.

Good thing he doesn't know that was under my shoe.

Before I get to sit down like he suggested for me to, Taehyung says my name. "Jieun, let's go. It's this way." Hesitantly, I follow him.

When we near the wall, the dark haired boy stops suddenly and keeps me behind him. "I will be right back." He says, and goes to grab the plastic airplane that is steps away. As soon as he comes back, our attention is refocused on the wall.

"Did you find the right one?" I ask him in a small voice, feeling as if anything could lunge out at any second.

I tense as he reaches out to the wall. He stops for a second and looks at the airplane in his right hand. He steps back, readies his arm, and chunks it at the blackness of a wall. In silence, we wait, not moving a single muscle. Nothing happens except the loss of an airplane.