I skipped down the stairs feeling light and happy after the night I had just spent with Yugyeom. He was so...everything. I wasn't sorry that I'd slept with him. It wasn't like I'd been saving myself, but that also didn't mean that I wanted to throw my v-card away on just anyone. What we had seemed to be kind of...I didn't even know, but it made me feel warm inside, and I liked it.
Yugyeom had kissed me goodbye outside our doors before he'd gone off to play grocery boy, and I was now off in search of food. I wandered down into the kitchen and snared myself some toast, sitting at the breakfast bar next to Youngjae, smiling a greeting to him, and Jimin and Bambam, who were sitting on the opposite side.
"You look like you had a good night" Bambam teased, making me laugh a little and blush. Jimin's eyes widened and he leaned in, taking my face in his hands.
"Oh...my...god!!" he nearly squealed at me, looking me over, as if inspecting me for damages. "Are you ok?" he asked, his face serious. I giggled and pulled away a little.
"I'm...really good" I said, giving Jimin a little smile and grinning at Bambam.
"How was it? Tell me all about it!" Jimin demanded, leaning in for the details.
"Not here, Jimin!" I giggled out. "Besides...a lady doesn't tell" I said, making everyone laugh as I primly nibbled on the corner of my toast and looked away. I could tell that Youngjae got the gist of the conversation, even if he could only hear half of it.
"So what does everybody have going on today?" I asked, looking around the group.
"I have to push off here in a minute to head to school" Youngjae said, "but JB is still busy sleeping, as per his usual, and Jackson and Mark have class today, too" he added.
"You all go to school?" I asked, mildly envious. I'd been planning to save up a little for college before everything had kind of....taken a turn.
"I'm in school for performing arts" Youngjae said, smiling big, his giant smile lighting up the room a little bit. I couldn't help but smile back. "Jackson and Mark are in the same program, but they're rappers, not vocalists like I am" Youngjae added, seeming proud.
"I'd love to hear you sing, sometime" I said, really meaning it as I spotted Georgie, and went over, putting food and fresh water in his little feeder for him. "Jimin is an amazing singer, too" I said, over my shoulder. "It's a shame that you can't hear him..."I lit up a little and smiled at Youngjae, as I patted Gerogie and returned to my seat, "but I have albums that he made when he was alive! Just find me, when you have time, and I'll let you listen" I said, smiling proudly over at Jimin, who blushed and laughed a little when Bam reached over and stroked his back.
"So how did your night go, guys?" I asked, waggling my brows teasingly, deciding Bam needed a dose of his own medicine. To be honest, I hadn't really been aware if they were even still on the other couch by the time Yugyeom had taken me upstairs last night.
Bambam smiled down at where he was holding Jimin's hand on the counter top, and Jimin laughed softly. "It was...really good" he said, giving a sidelong grin to Jimin who was radiating mood vibes. I giggled a little.
"You guys are super cute together" I said, smiling between the two of them.
"I gotta go guys, see you later" Youngjae said, fist-bumping Bam and holding his hand out to the spot where he imagined Jimin was sitting, making me laugh as he side-hugged me.
"Bye!" we all called.
We sat in companionable silence for a minute before the whole business with the mysterious door resurfaced in my head. "Um...guys...can I ask you a question?" I said, looking at them hopefully.
"You kinda just did, honey" Jimin said, making me wrinkle my nose at him.
"Bad joke, Jiminie....bad, bad joke" I said, giving him a pained look and giggling when he flipped me the bird.
"Sure, go ahead" Bambam said, leaning forward a little, interested.
"Well...when Agatha gave me a tour of the place yesterday I saw this door down a short hallway, kind of by the corridor that leads to all the bedrooms?" I said, unsure why I was so nervous. Bambam and Jimin both nodded for me to continue. I cleared my throat and picked up Georgie, petting him and snuggling him into me when I felt him snuffling at my feet. "Hey, buddy" I cooed, smiling and kissing his soft fur as he wagged his tail and puppy smiled at me. Jimin and Bam cleared their throats in unison, reminding me I'd been in the middle of a story.
I gave them an apologetic look and continued. "Anyway, when I asked Agatha about it, she just brushed it off and said that it was a storage room that she kept locked to keep JB's cats out...but it..." I sighed in frustration and looked up at the ceiling, not wanting to sound crazy, and also not knowing exactly how to phrase what I'd experienced with that door.
"Just take your time, hun" Bambam said, reaching across the bar and squeezing my hand as Jimin came around and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah, Aubs. Just breath, sweetie" Jimin said soothingly, squeezing me a little and smiling down at me reassuringly from where he stood at my side.
I nodded. "So...I was looking at this door and it was kind of...pulsing with energy...and I felt like there was something on the other side of it that was calling to me for help. I felt like something was trapped on the other side, and wanted me to free it, or something..." I said, shaking my head, baffled by the whole thing myself.
"Hmm...I've never experienced that with that door, myself" Bambam said, furrowing his brows and thinking about it. "I mean...I've never been in there, but it was more just because I wasn't interested in some stale old storage room. When I look at the door, it's just a door to me" he said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Do you want in there?" Jimin asked, giving me a serious look. "Because you know I'm your man" he said, giving me a mischievous grin, his sparkly eyes disappearing into slits when he smiled big, showing off his killer cuteness.
What he said was true. Jimin could get in anywhere, because he wasn't corporeal the way that living people were. I'd noticed that the door looked like it was locked with a deadbolt, something else that was weird about it. All of the other doors in this house had old time locks that would open with skeleton keys. I smiled over at Jimin.
"Ok, buddy" I said, nudging him playfully. "It opens with a deadbolt...so it should be pretty easy for you to just get on the other side and turn. Lets go snooping" I said, giving him a conspiratorial wink that made him laugh and almost fall over.
"Ok, never do that again" Bambam said, cackling so hard he almost fell off of his stool.
"When should we go?" Jimin asked, sitting back down next to Bam.
"Well...I know Agatha has a bridge game that she goes to pretty regularly with the ladies from her sewing circle..." Bam said. "What day is today?" he asked.
"Monday" I said, laughing when Jimin shrugged his shoulders. He was a spirit, he literally had no use for calendars.
"Ok, that's perfect" Bam said, smiling between Jimin and I. "She'll definitely have her bridge game this afternoon. Once she leaves, we can go take a peak" he said.
"But...what if there's something spooky in there and we end up being those people that unleash the demon on the house, like in the horror movies?" I asked.
Bambam laughed. "Please, honey...those people are always the least interesting characters in the movie" he said, grinning over at Jimin who was nodding in smug agreement. "We could never be those dull bitches" he added, making me giggle.
"Ok then...this afternoon" I said, smiling at them. "Thanks guys" I added, making them both grin at me.
"Of course, hun" Bam said, giving me a fond smile.
"Anything for my BSLF (best straight living friend)" Jimin said, making me laugh.
"I'm going to go to the office and see if there are any interesting jobs posted in the online want adds" I said, standing and blowing them kisses as I left the room.
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I spent the rest of the morning combing through the want adds. There were a few hopeful ones that I wrote down to call on. One for a waitress in a local dinner, and another was for a receptionist at the law firm on this side of town. Both jobs paid minimum wage, but I figured that now that I was living at The Academy, I would be able to save most of my earnings and maybe even start taking some classes at the community college in the fall.
I hadn't noticed that Agatha had come into the room until she leaned over my shoulder, startling me so badly that I yelped and turned in the chair suddenly enough to almost tip over. She laughed, her soft grey eyes sparkling impishly. "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to startle you" she said, not seeming sorry, more amused that she'd scared me, which was like her. She was easy going and always enjoyed a laugh, I could get behind that.
I smiled sheepishly. "It's ok. I was just really into this job search I've been doing" I said, showing her what I'd written down, as well as the college courses I'd been looking at, that were still on the computer screen. Agatha nodded, but her brow furrowed a little bit. "Dear..." she started, trailing off as if picking her words carefully, "I wonder if that isn't a bit...premature?" she said, sitting on a little stool to the side of the computer desk and looking at me earnestly.
I gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean?" I asked, honestly not understanding why she would have a problem with me working and going to school, when it seemed like everyone else in the house already did.
Agatha shook her head and took my hand gently. "No dear, I think that your plans are just fine" she reassured me, giving me a fond smile. "It's just that I worry that it may be too soon for you to go back out into the world" she said. "The police may still be looking for you to question you about...the incident that happened shortly before we met" she said gingerly.
I shook my head. "Agatha, I appreciate your concern, but I didn't do anything" I said, leaning in and giving her a level look, straight into her eyes. "The worst that can happen is that they question me, I play dumb, and they are suspicious, but they still don't have any evidence, and I'm in the clear" I said, feeling confident that this was so. The fact was that I hadn't killed that piece of shit who had been attacking me. I was innocent. As far as I was concerned, there was no reason for me to hide.
Agatha nodded and smiled at me, sitting up a little straighter and patting my hand as she stood. "I admire your gumption, young lady" she said, seeming to really mean it. "Go out there and live your life, and the devil take the hind-most" she said, giving me a cheeky smile as she breezed out of the room. "I'm off to my game, dear, tell the others they're on their own for dinner tonight" she called over her shoulder, her musical laughter trailing through the house behind her as she walked out, and closed the big front door behind her.
Bambam slunk around the corner not 2 seconds after the front door had closed, Georgie at his heels, looking like an operative in a bad spy movie, sticking to the wall, all in black, truly playing the part. I smiled at him, loving him more and more, the more I got to know him. "Ok, 007" I giggled out sending him an amused smile.
"Gotta be in character, hun" he said, grinning at me and adjusting his completely unnecessary shades, as Jimin rolled up beside him.
I was pleased to see that at least Jimin looked like his normal self...but then again, only 3 of the people in this house, including me, could actually see him, so....I grinned at Jimin and sent him a finger wave. "You ready?" I asked, standing and looking between the two guys.
Bam nodded, shifting his shades a little bit so that he could see, as we all filed out of the room, towards the stairs and the weird door. It wasn't at all bright in the house, right now. I wasn't ashamed to admit that I was going to fall over laughing if Bam tripped over something because he insisted on 'being in character'.
As we made our way up the stairs and down the short hallway, I began to have that same eerie, tugging sensation that I had gotten the first time I had seen the door. I looked at the door and it pulsed with the same energy as before, drawing me in, enticing me. I could practically hear whatever was on the other side reaching out to me for help. The question was weather or not it would be wise to comply...
I looked to Bambam and Jimin, who were walking with me, unfazed. "Do you feel anything weird here?" I asked. Bam and Jimin both shrugged their shoulders, but Georgie backed away a little and started growling, giving me serious pause. Georgie never growled....what the hell was behind that door? I walked closer, placing the palm of my hand against the door. It was warm...like there was a fire on the other side. I furrowed my brows and tried the knob, knowing that the door would be locked, I could see the keyhole for the deadbolt, but figured, what the hell. It didn't budge of course.
I turned to Jimin and smiled a little at his cocky attitude as he playfully polished his knuckles and sauntered toward the door, planning to be showy and walk through it, before unlocking it for us from the other side. I bent down and gave Georgie some reassuring pets, hoping to quiet his growling, but not having much success. I looked back after Jimin and my eyes widened as he walked right into the door and hit the solid object in exactly the same way I would, if I were to try that.
He yelped and fell back a little and Bam pulled him into his arms, every inch the concerned boyfriend, inspecting him for damage. "Oh my god, Jiminie! Are you ok, baby?" he asked, his brow furrowed with worry.
Jimin blinked and stood up straighter, walking toward the door, studying it. "I've never had this happen before" he said, looking to Bambam and I incredulously. "I can go anywhere! What the hell is going on!" he asked, seeming genuinely pissed off, like this was a personal assault on his 'ghostliness', or whatever. "There's some kind of barrier here" he said, shaking his head and leaning against the wall a little way away from the door.
"You can go anywhere, but not through there..." Bambam said, looking puzzled and then making a weird choking noise, going down on his knees in the carpeted corridor, his eyes rolling back so just the whites where visible, as he shook. Jimin and I were instantly on our knees beside him, trying to snap him out of whatever this was, trying to help in any way we could. He looked like he was in pain....
He finally relaxed and then opened his eyes again, thankfully seeming like he was tired, but ok. "You guys..." he said, almost fearfully. "C-could one of you check the floor boards right in front of the door, please...." he said, pointing to the area he had in mind. He leaned forward and rubbed his temples. "Visions always giving me a giant fucking headache" he moaned, making me hug him and smooth his hair.
Jimin was already over prying at boards with his fingers, finally making a little sound of triumph as one came up. He reached into the little space beneath the loose board and came up with a modern looking key, brandishing it over his head like the trophy it was. I smiled big. "That's it!" I almost squealed, giving Bambam an excited look. He smiled and nodded, grimacing at the pitch of my excitement. I gave him an apologetic look and walked to take the key from Jimin, leaving Georgie to nuzzle him and try to comfort him, while I went over to my amazing BGGF.
"Jiminie, you are a freaking genius" I praised him, kissing his cheek and smiling elatedly.
"Hey, I'm the one who had the damn vision" Bam said grumpily, making us both smile, as Jimin helped him back to his feet.
"And you're amazing and talented and sexy" Jimin cooed, making him smile as he kissed his cheek.
"Ok, so let's try this puppy out" I said, walking back over to the door, feeling nervous now, registering Georgie's low growls over my shoulder as he stood with the guys.
"Yoohoo! I'm home early kids!" I heard Agatha breezily call from the living room, nearly at the foot of the stairs.
Shit.
All of our eyes widened as I scrambled to replace the key in the hole and make the board look undisturbed. I wasn't going to make it. She was going to know we'd been up to something when she saw us leaving this hallway. This was the only door it lead to. Fuck.
I scrambled for an excuse, but I was unexpectedly saved by JB, who walked up to Agatha and put an arm over her shoulders before she could walk up the stairs, turning her back to us, and giving us just enough time to scurry out of the hallway. "Welcome home, eomma" he said, giving her a warm smile and giving us a 'hurry the fuck up' kind of look, over her shoulder.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo07iK4FoBA
"What are you doing home so soon?" he asked, leading her off into the living room.
"My game was canceled" I could faintly hear her telling JB, as Bam and Jimin went to his room, and I went to mine.
Why would JB save us like that? How could he know he needed to? I sat on my bed and furrowed my brows. Then it came to me. He was precognitive. Maybe he'd gotten a flash of something? I made a mental note to myself to ask him about it the next time we were alone. Maybe whatever he had seen could help me in some way. Either way, I owed him big time thanks. He'd saved my ass. I didn't even want to think about what Agatha would have said and done if she'd caught me snooping. I really was just curious, and part of me felt really bad about sneaking around behind her back. Oh well, though. Something was going on. I knew for certain now. Why else would the key to that door be hidden under a loose floor board like that?
I looked up when there was a gentle knock on my door and called for whoever it was to come in. I smiled warmly and stood up when I saw that it was Yugyeom, back from his day of work. "Hey, babe" he said, pulling me into his arms and kissing me softly, smiling down into my eyes. "How's my girl?" he asked, making me warm inside. He'd just called me his girl...I loved that.
I grinned and pecked his lips again, loving the feeling of being held. "How was your day?" I asked, guiding him over to sit on my bed with me. He smiled and held my hand as we sat.
"It was good...I was wondering if you wanted to go some place with me tonight, though?" he asked, his pretty eyes sparkling and warm as they glowed down at me.
"Sure" I said. I looked down at the simple jeans and top I was wearing. "Do I need to change? What are we doing?" I asked, standing up, preparing to go and fix myself up for him.
He grinned and shook his head, standing with me and not releasing my hand. "You look beautiful, and what you're wearing is perfect" he said mysteriously.
"Where are we going?" I repeated my question, grinning up at him as he held me in his arms. I'd missed him all day. How cheesy. I giggled at the though.
"It's a surprise, giggles" he teased, making me play slap him. "Come on" he said, giving me a sexy little grin and leading me out the door by my hand.
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