The Always Beating Heart

Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Pictures

Slowly I open the trapdoor and climb to the top of the ladder. Once I'm up and set my feet on the floor I take a good look around. Moonlight streams in through the window reminding me that it's dark outside, and it gives the room an eerie glow. A layer of dust covers everything. There's boxes covered in spiderwebs making it look like it hasn't been touched in years, yet another reminder that I shouldn't be here. Old equipment and even some trophies line the walls on shelves or were placed messily all over the floor in piles.

Those must be from Appa's idol days.

I go through box after box, letting my fingers run over the dust. The first box has some books which I sit next to and look through hoping to find my phone, instead, I am slightly disappointed as I, once again, come out empty-handed. However, my eyes filled with wonder as I looked over the book titles again, this time taking the time to read the descriptions before placing them neatly back into the box.

"Demian"

"Kafka on the Shore"

"Norwegian Wood."

"Me Before You" h-huh I didn't know Appa like romance novels too.

"Those Who Walk Away From Omelas" Oh! I think Appa said that he used this one as an inspiration for one of his songs... What was the song called again? Big day? Spring Break? Spring Day? Eh, whatever.

"Breaking Out of the Man Box: The Next Generation of Manhood" I felt the tips of my ears blush as I read the description of this one, Appa sure is weird...

But I couldn't deny that Appa and I both had a love for books.

The box second has some scarring photos, Ew Appa dressed as sailor moon! I shudder as I rush to skip over the box in a hurry, my hurry, causing my foot to hit against the box, dust flies into the air making me cough and wave a hand in front of my face while the other rushes to lift the hem of my shirt to cover my mouth as I had seen in movies.

Ugh... I guess people call me destruction monster 2.0 for a reason... I waited for the dust and dandruff to settle again before letting go of my shirt. My eyes flutter around the room once, again as I take in the creepy but cozy surroundings.

Maybe I could ask Appa if I could clean this out and make it a hangout place for me and Yoonji. But I doubted he would say yes, he always seemed to not want me to go here, going as far as to lie about it when, by the looks of it, it was perfectly safe after all there are a ton of boxes up here.

The other box was slightly smaller than some of the ones I had looked in so far, when I opened it I saw it had some albums.

eBay potential... maybe?

I smiled evilly at the thought of making my own money to spend. Even though my dad was fairly rich he never let me or him spend very much money, saying that money should always be used responsibly regardless of how much we owned.

I slumped against the box as I took out some of the albums, finding the names hard to read in the dark corner, the moonlight not being able to reach as far, unlike the other two boxes before it. So I grabbed an old nearby flashlight I saw rolling around the floor giving it a couple of quick taps on my hand, watching it flicker to life in the cold room. It nearly blinded me at first but my eyes quickly adjusted and I began to read some of the names of the album out loud,

"Map of the Soul: 7? You Never Walk Alone? Did Appa come up with these names? He's so cheesy."

(M/A/N Kokoro... how dare you to make fun of BTS T^T millions of us Army's would DIE to have those albums *sobs in poor*.)

I put the albums away carefully, as to not damage them if I do choose to sell them, before moving to explore the rest of the room.

I ran my fingers over the old trophies in awe, I knew my Appa and samchons were super famous by the number of times we've been recognized whenever we go out but I didn't know he was that amazing. With the sudden rush of admiration for my father, my guilt began to skyrocket.