"All I ever wanted to do was leave this town and create a better life for myself and my family...If it weren't for the blackout, I never would have realized that my best life was living next door to me all along."
...
After an unexplainable phenomen...
Murky: characterized by thickness and heaviness of air
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....
"Every time that damn bell rings, I jump," Namjoon fret, staring at the large church bell.
Taehyung nodded. "It only ever brings bad news."
Jimin's face was fresh with tears as he nodded his agreement. The front doors of the church suddenly burst open as Yoongi ran outside. He immediately sought out Jimin and began to check him over. "You're okay?" he asked earnestly, wiping a calloused thumb over his tear-stained cheek.
Jimin attempted in vain to swat his hand away until he gave in and collapsed against Yoongi's chest. "How can I be okay?" he wailed. "Someone was murdered a few miles away from my house. Someone I knew. I heard her screaming," he sobbed. "I could hear everything and it was awful."
"I wonder if the killer waited," Taehyung whispered. "Until she was alone."
Yoongi looked at him, his hand still threaded through Jimin's hair soothingly as Jimin cried into his chest. "What makes you think that?"
"The women of this town tend to stick together," Taehyung explained. "Every Sunday before service they head down to the central river to wash their clothes together. They're rarely alone." Taehyung gulped. "Usually my sister and Bongcha-noona are the last ones there. Only this time..." He fidgeted with his jacket string. "Eonjin-ah left early."
"Why?" Seokjin inquired, rather harshly.
Taehyung gulped. "Last night, our clothesline somehow snapped. Eonjin-ah headed back early to repair it while still giving her clothes enough time to dry."
Seokjin turned to Namjoon with a cold expression on his face. "Suddenly, the winter weather doesn't seem that daunting. Want to head home early?" he half-heartedly suggested. Namjoon was too busy watching Dawon walk inside the church with her family to reply.
"Is this going to be a church service or an informal meeting?" Taehyung wondered aloud. Jimin shrugged, while Taehyung decided that he agreed with Seokjin.
The winter weather had since been warned as the most dangerous thing to come, but suddenly, something far more dangerous loomed in the distance.
....
Reverend Park didn't bother opening up the sermon with hymns or a lesson. Instead, Sheriff Hak was waiting behind the pulpit as people poured in. All eyes turned towards the back as Yang Ada walked in, holding her newly born baby in her arms. Her head was held high, but her cheeks worn red from crying. The loss of her mother coupled with the absence of her husband could not be doing wonders on her and the baby's health.
"Please, everyone," Sheriff Hak addressed. "Take a seat."
The pews filled up as everyone squeezed in around each other. Taehyung glanced around until he spotted his family. Deciding he would rather be standing in the back on guard, he refrained from taking a seat. Jimin went to obediently sit upfront by his family, but that didn't stop him from stealing glances to the back where Yoongi stood next to Taehyung.
