"It's a metal-encased wall like every other one here."
"Knock on it."
I did so. An air of sound piped in a high pitch, breaking into a rhythm of tones. "There's something behind this," I said, scrutinizing above and around to find any protruding shape of apparent hinges to indicate the humongous rectangle before was mobile by human effort.
"It can be automatic," Neo said, "If this is an alternative route for escape, an automatic door is more economical. At least, considering the hefty size of this door, that is, would have taken lesser time."
"Or if there are seven burly men in your group, you don't need one." I chewed onto my lip aversing at the manual effort, but when it moved by an inch, even the slightest, I looked back at Neo with the delight of achievement. He returned a flicker of an eyebrow in the expression of "yeah, yeah, got it", coming forward to give me a hand.
"You know physics, pushing is better than pulling. I push from this side, and you pull from there. Ready? On the count of three-"
>>>
For the next nine minutes, it was a taxing trudge through a shallow trench pathway. It led us southward, taking no turns and roundabouts in the midway so we were aware of where we might be heading. The humid ambiance innard asphyxiated my lungs. I trailed behind Neo with a slower pace while maintaining to keep up, rummaging through the pieces of documents we jumbled into our collection. The scrambled piece of paper inked with the name of that specific school still clouded my head.
Of all the relations I knew existed of BTS, my background or any element from my past could not have been anywhere close to their reach. The moment I stepped foot in this new land of my future livelihood, I ensured that the slight crumbles of my past self would go unknown. My department knew - parts of me, the parts I let the livings know. The name of that specific high school of scarring events was not listed in any of my official whereabouts for I had shifted afterward to a new school and completed my graduation there. BTS could know my real occupation, they could know that I was from this place and this school. But anything that was not documented? No. They weren't that influential to reach another state (or so I assumed) and collect information that would be none of their concern. Or was it their concern? What could be any other purpose for them to hold a promotional concert in my country? I never got to know when all the planning for the sudden change of venues took place. Other than the company, was there any other subtle influence behind this?
My comprehension could nowhere reach a foregone conclusion. Neo wasn't the one I could share this with. The slow wreck in my train of thoughts was rising up and up, but there was no immediate source of light.
>>>
A rush of blinding light coruscated the soddening air of the hole-cage at the opening of the door above. The long silence of ringing sound was turmoiled with chippers of birds from above. I pushed myself upward heavily, landing on the soft soil of sticky mud. I took my time to interpret the location. Around, tall haggard trees bunched closer in a maze, prop roots condensing to create a thick layer of soily green. A copse of underbrush concealed the door to the underground canal so well as if nature advocated for this route of escape. There was no sign of human civilization existing within the resolving limit of the eye. I settled dubious for a moment upon receiving the unexpected outcome of revelation.
"Wow. Where are we?"
"We walked for about fifteen minutes, so we shouldn't be that far from the dorm."
"But this feels like the abandoned other side of the city. I don't see a trail of a path here. Seems like they have not used the route in a long time. Does anyone even live around?"
"But there's a cabin over there, see? Looks like a cabin for sure." I gazed followed his direction to discover afar the one-room cabin he was talking about. Mosses adhered to its walls of concrete in such an intricate way, making it appear a belonging part of nature. We walked towards it. The shabby tiny deck before the door mottled with a somber coat of dust, termites lavishing the vestige of hinges of the door. Contrasting to the entire, a shiny new lock fastened the door tight, along with a moderately fresh two-step footprint passaging towards the entrance where we stood, from the right of the deck. It betrayed the very recent usage of a man in heavy boots.
"Open the lock."
"You sure? It can be an encroachment."
"Do it." He was acumen to get the hint already. And he moved faster to the business.
"It must be from last week, or before that," I said, analyzing the footprints. Neo was done with the lockpick.
Inside held a scruffy bed, a low bench with broad rectangles of tidy formed in the midst of the layer of dirt on it, and more negligible knick-knacks.
"These look quite fresh. Maybe the last time that person from the footprint came took whatever was on here with him." Neo opined, "The new lock on the door is odd. Who would even live here in this deeply tangled forest? I wonder."
"Yoongi."
"What?"
My eyes stuck on the motley of scribbles beside the door over the wood. The writings together built up an unintended design by the owner, advancing upward in a glitch till the roof which was touchable with an outstretch of hand. Within the botched, convoluted form, I could easily extract a few of the lines, for I already was familiar with those - "hey, what's your dream?", "it's either number one or a failure", "because the dawn right before the sun rises is the darkest", and...
"I can't live because I can't die." - to its side, a reverse italic scratch of handwriting in permanent marker-
Min Yoongi, 12/04/2012
Going down a list of people to one specific of them who could have written any of these - and I needed to know no more who used this cabin before.
"Momo's calling." Neo silenced the ringing phone, "It's been past the hour."
"Their meeting must have been over by now. Add her on the info of this location for our pickup point."
"Okay. I will go about."
"I'mma join you in a bit," I said.
The last hour of discovery- a journey to the basement, and a tunnel, then to this place with a standing cabin where one of the members stayed his pre-debut period- it sure had been a hectic duration for long. Despite all the stereotypical hideouts, this one dilapidating circumpass of wood had me the most enamored.
I pivoted around the small interior. The smell of staling wet wood lingered in the air, and in the core of my mind lingered a younger Yoongi: a plump little boy doodling around this cabin in a fresh mind full of thoughts for music. Then, alongside, a past of his lingering onto him, the reason for which he might have been hiding here - an allegation to never get exonerated from. My instinct strongly told me so, this was the place. But Namjoon? They escaped jail together. Was he here too?
I turned over the trashcan kept beside the bed with an initial expectation of finding nothing inside it. A load of bottles, a few wasted cans, and a couple of papers. Age-old, obsolete that maybe the member didn't bother to clean them up in his last-time visit here. One thing did attract my eyes. A browned piece of paper with rawly written English alphabets, having more space in between the letters like written by an amateur learner. Yoongi's for sure. Namjoon's name was written on it. You are my best friend. It said, allowed me a snicker.
Lifting up the bed mattress encountered me with a couple of more things. A few fliers, amongst which rested with my need. I curiously picked it up.
It was a hospital bill dated from last year. Patient's name - Kwang Joohyun. As mentioned in the bills, CSK Foundation had paid for her bills. I felt like I had heard the name of the foundation somewhere before, but nothing immediately clicked my mind. Also, I wondered who the woman was. And why Yoongi had this. From the way it was tucked under the bedsheet, he must have had forgotten about it long ago.
"Y/N," Neo peeked inside, "the car's almost here."
"I'm done here. Let's go." I followed him outside.
"This way is the street that goes out towards the nearby city. Because of the newly constructed highway, people don't use this unpaved route anymore. But an escape route from the dorm to this part, such smart planning. No one would ever know. Dang, I am amazed."
"How long will the car take to reach?"
"A minute, they said."
>>>
Jitters from the ups and downs of the road hindered my intention of relaxing on the seat. I stared out the window back at where the cabin was, altering my thoughts from the high school mention to Yoongi's former little hideout in the unknown. The woman from the hospital bill was a piece of random but interesting information. I also had to inquire about it.
"Why would even someone run a shop here when no one even comes this way?"
"Hmm?" I looked out Neo's side of the window. An old sedate lady sat before the shop, fanning herself with a newspaper.
"Right. Why would...they?" I stared at my phone screen, time flashed an hour of the mid-afternoon. I said, "Drop me near the company's main building. I got a missed call from the manager. I need to check-in. And Neo, can you take these documents to the base and hand them over to Momo? And tell her I will contact her later."
"Alright."
"Oh, and-"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sure now. Tell her to pick my dress. Blue is the preference, grey will go too, not red at all though. We will pick up our chameleon friend at the dinner party tomorrow."
"Hot. Roger."
A little time back in the meeting...
- "I do support that Y/N L/N's performance is overall good, no one can deny it. She keeps up with her good work. But the trouble caused lately cannot be overlooked."
- "For you Jimin-ssi, you shouldn't have had made the rashed decision of moving her in your dorm without having a discussion with the staff, let alone keep the information concealed for an entire week. The media was almost at the door."
"I..." Jimin pursed his lips, looking down not knowing the smartest words to say back, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience." Namjoon looked at his fellow member. He wanted to help, but even though being the leader to take care of the members, neither did he have a good answer to justify the action that would satisfy the board members. He eyed Yoongi to be a help for he was the one of all seven, who had supported the decision in the first place. But the older chose to stay quiet.
- "Irrespective of the situation she was in, Y/N as a professional should have let the company know first. We could've taken better actions. But she didn't do it either. Who knows circumstances like this may even appear in the future and not that things can always be handled as soon as possible as it was this time. I don't think she is a good fit for the manager assistant position."
- "I vote in this case."
"But..." Jimin protested, "I said it was my fault, and...why does she have to take the downhill and lose her job?"
Namjoon advocated, "I think that as well. This was not just her fault and we are here to blame too. There should be another chance given."
"I have a suggestion, sir. If I may-" one of the board members said.
"The promotional concert is nearby. So, I think it might turn out a bit difficult for Sejin-ssi to handle the schedule without an assistant now since we won't be finding another employee in this short time. And considering that Y/N L/N is a native of C/N, she must come handier in this case."
"Wait, Y/N noona is from C/N?" Jungkook whispered to Taehyung.
"Yeah, didn't you know?"
"Oh..."
"You two, shush," Jin whispered to them.
- "What do you say, Sejin-ssi?"
Sejin, the manager replied vaguely, "I agree, sir. Y/N is a lot of help..."
Murmurs went around the table with the board authorities settling down with the new decision. Another board member said, "So, we can keep the decision on hold for now? Till the concert is done." The rest put their affirmation, nodding their head, discussing further on it. Jimin blew out a sigh slowly, reclining on his chair.
"Jimin?" He was taken aback by Yoongi's words.
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Yes, were you saying something?"
"No. You seem quite relaxed with the decision that Y/N won't be getting fired as of now."
"Ah...it's good news, right?"
"Maybe." Yoongi locked his eyes with him longer than one would, making him shift in unease. He quickly went with changing the topic, "Anyways, did he send any further information? Just that one school name - what exactly are we supposed to do this time?"
"Not yet. He said it's a small task this time. We have to find someone. Or something like that."
"Find someone? So no arms needed?"
"I don't know. Let's wait. The orders should be here in a day."