to somewhere ( the haunted house )

Enter! New Student, Charles (Part 1)

Trigger warning: dead birds

For the first time in a long time, Harin woke up before her older brother Hajoon did. Her mother was quite confused, and asked, "What is it this time, Rinny?"

"I'm gonna go to Siwoo's place!" Harin exclaimed. "We're gonna study together." She finished her breakfast and picked up her schoolbag.

Of course, that was a lie, but how else would she be able to go to his house? What she was really going to do there was play some games and catch the live stream of the school news site. Siwoo told her that he'd give her booster packs of the trendy card game.

"Harin Choi!" the woman laughed, but it wasn't the lighthearted type of laughing. "You're gonna study? Study? With Siwoo? What a joke!"

Harin prepared for what her mother was going to do, so she grabbed her phone and ran out the house with her schoolbag in hand. She was specifically very good with running from her mother. She wasn't the fastest person ever (perhaps the fastest person she knows is Seungjin), but she was much faster than her mother, for sure.

The 6am sun was something that Harin hasn't seen in a while, and this was the first time in a while that she was going to Siwoo's house. They almost always meet at school, the park, or the library. By surprise, Seungjin was also walking to his house. "Hey, Harin," he smiled.

"Oh, hi, Seungjin!" Harin turned around, surprised. "You're going to Siwoo's place too?"

"Yeah, he promised some rare cards or something like that," he answered. "Oh, this song is playing. Hear it." Seungjin put an earbud in Harin's ear. He always left one earbud on his ear, and the other was for Harin. The girl smiled when she heard the song playing. They continued walking to Siwoo's home.

난 꿈을 꾸네 설레는 이 마음 가득히
(I'm dreaming with a fluttering heart)
널 바라보네 두근대는 마음 모르게
(I look at you with a pounding heart, without knowing)

오늘처럼 내 맘에 하얀 별이 내려와
(Like today, a star came into my heart)
너의 눈에 두둥실 비치네
(It's floating and shining in your eyes)

"This song is cool," Harin laughed. "It's old, but have you ever watched the drama?"

"Of course," Seungjin said. "It was interesting and funny."

They arrived at Siwoo's doorstep and Harin sighed. "I just remembered why I never go to Siwoo's home. There's always this weird aura in the apartment complex, but I think it's because he said something about his family living there for decades."

"You're not alone," Seungjin looked at Siwoo's door, knocking on it. "Sometimes, I feel something watching me while I walk by."

Harin got scared for a moment, but she smiled at him. "In that case, we gotta protect each other from people watching us!"

Siwoo opened the door and let them into his home. "Welcome, guys. My dad went to work just before you guys came over." Seungjin unplugged the earbuds, and the music stopped.

"So, you'll give us rare cards if we watch the live stream with you, huh?" Harin asked, and Siwoo nodded. So, he opened his laptop and went on the website.

"Pretty cool, huh?" the boy asked. "I never knew that the team was this techy."

After 3 minutes, the live stream started. "Hello!" an unknown girl greeted the screen. "Welcome to the 6th live stream of the Waterfall Junior High School Newscast! I'm Jady You, and we are streaming from the bedroom of Yura Han. We also have guests Sanggeol You and Kina Shin."