Andromeda

VI.

 We drove for a long time in eerie red light. When leaving the train station, I had decided to challenge the boys, asking them what good red light on my phone would be if there were lights on in the car.

As it turned out, I was the person that looked like a fool, because all of the lights in the car, headlights included, were covered in a red paper.

Granted, I'm sure to everyone around, all three of us looked ridiculous.

Seokjin drove and I sat in the passenger seat, watching as the business of the city faded as we went along. The vegetation became more wild and ill-kept. The houses became more decrepit and eventually, empty and abandoned.

As soon as I saw an old house that had a tree growing from the inside out, I knew we had entered a different world.

Of course, I had already known that to some amount. When I had looked on my map at home, the address hadn't actually led to anywhere. Wherever it was that Andromeda lived, it wasn't even important enough to have a spot on a map. 

Civil twilight began to set in, bathing the world in a set of rosy colors that made everything seem idyllic. Seokjin seemed to relax, and the two boys went back to their vocal sparring in Korean. Occasionally they would speak in English to get me to try to join their side in whatever it was that they were arguing about, but I only smiled and told them that if they thought they were so great, then they could defend their personal genius by themselves.

They both laughed at that.

When the sky was darkening a bit more, we finally reached our destination. I didn't realize it at first, though. And that's because the place that we stopped at was a giant old shopping mall.

Seokjin parked the car in one of the many parking spots near the front and the two boys got out.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, noticing that there were only two other cars in the parking lot.

Seokjin laughed from somewhere near the back of the car, where a few bags from the grocery store in the city had been put. "We're here."

I stared at the monstrosity of a building. "You're saying people live here?"

"Yup," Namjoon said, popping the p.

"You guys are so weird," I said quietly, finally opening up my car door and stepping out. I shivered. It had gotten much cooler after the sun had gone down. Spring was in full effect, but winter was still clinging on with its icy fingers when the sky went dark. I also shivered because a creepy feeling was crawling up my spine. Now that the banter had quieted down and I found myself standing in a large, almost empty parking lot so ignored grass was growing out of the cracks in the pavement, illuminated only by the full moon and red headlights, I felt nervous. That moment was unlike anything I had ever experienced before in my usual city life.

"Coming?" Seokjin asked me. The two boys were standing a distance away from the car, their hands full of plastic grocery bags. Apparently, this mall didn't have a food court.

I nodded slowly and followed them. My chest still felt tight due to apprehension as we walked to the door.

"You don't have to be so nervous," Namjoon whispered to me. My face felt hot.

"I'm supposed to not be nervous about entering an abandoned mall in the middle of nowhere? What if the police come by and learn that a bunch of kids are just living in their old mall?"

Seokjin turned around and pushed open the door using his back. "Andromeda owns the mall."

I think my mouth fell open a little bit open at that. "She just casually owns this old mall?"