The very front of her hair was almost touching the floor.
Jeff stared dumbfounded at the scene, unsure of how to face it later.
Should he kneel and beg, begging the woman to let him go?
Or should he use the most aggressive and threatening tone to make the woman stay quiet and then leave?
It seemed that... the first option was more suitable for him.
The hair had touched the floor.
Gradually, the woman's forehead appeared in Jeff's line of sight.
Just a little bit down, a little bit more,
just a tiny bit,
Jeff could see her eyes.
But it also meant that the woman could see him hiding under the bed.
Jeff held his breath. His anxiety and tension had peaked to the point where he'd already forgotten to breathe. He just stared intently at her constantly lowering forehead.
Then,
the woman stopped moving.
It seemed that she was also very scared, scared of what would happen if she saw someone under the bed.
Although she knew that taking a look would be the best way to dispel her doubts and fears, she just couldn't bring herself to do it...
Her hair hanging on the floor began to rise.
Her forehead disappeared from Jeff's view.
The woman lay down on the bed again.
And she began to gasp.
Jeff finally realized that he seemed to have been holding his breath for a long time, opened his mouth, and began to gulp air silently.
He felt a bit dizzy, and tears started to secrete in the corners of his eyes. He wanted to cry. He wanted to return to the street. Even if he had to face the cold wind, he could sit on the flower bed, smoking and spitting freely. And he can even spit very loudly and exaggeratedly without any moral conscience!
He didn't know how much time had passed.
The bed was now silent.
She
should be asleep, right?
Jeff estimated the time. He knew that if the woman's husband and children came back, he probably wouldn't be able to escape.
He was already so scared with just one woman here. When the man came, he would probably lose all his courage.
She was asleep.
Then...
Should I
go?
Jeff began to slightly shift his position. He was already lying diagonally under the bed. Now, he carefully turned over onto his back, and then slowly began to wiggle out his upper body from the bottom of the bed.
This wiggling feeling made Jeff feel like he was a huge... maggot.
His left hand was pressed against the floor, his right hand was on the edge of the bed, and many parts of his body began to exert force, allowing him to slowly pull himself out from the bottom of the bed.
The first thing to come out was Jeff's head.
Earlier, the reason why he had turned over face-up first was that when leaving the bottom of the bed, he wanted to make sure that his line of sight could always catch the movement on the bed.
If he crawled out face-down and the woman suddenly screamed,
Jesus,
Jeff thought he would go crazy from fear!
Slowly moving outward,
he saw the edge of the bed.
And he saw the woman's hand hanging off the edge.
Slowly moving out,
He saw her hair.
She should be asleep. She should be sleeping soundly. Sure it is.
It's just that her sleeping position was not good. For the reason that her husband was not home, she should be sleeping in the center of the bed!
Continuing to carefully move outward,
Jeff's body suddenly stopped.
Because he saw that the woman's hair was some distance from the bed, which meant that the woman was not lying down... but was leaning over the edge of the bed and looking up.
Who would sleep like that... with their head raised?
So, she should be awake now, looking... at the floor in front of her at an angle.
And if he continued to move out,
his line of sight might collide with hers!
For a moment, Jeff felt his scalp tingle. He wanted to simply pull his whole body out from the bottom of the bed, but... but he didn't have the courage.
Finally, feeling extremely frustrated, he slowly moved back under the bed.
When his head was once again hidden by the bed, his pounding heart finally began to settle.
The space under the bed gave him an incredible sense of security as if he had returned home.
At that moment,
the sound of a car engine came from outside, followed by the engine shutting off.
Next, he heard the front door open on the first floor, accompanied by a child's laughter.
The man and the child had returned.
But Jeff didn't feel like he was doomed... He even felt that he... was relieved.
He even looked forward to being found, then he could just rush out.
Or perhaps, he was beaten up by the man. Or he was caught by the police who arrived later.
No matter what, even being in a police station's detention cell would be much better than his current situation.
A series of footsteps began to come up the stairs.
The bedroom door was pushed open.
Jeff's face was directly facing the door.
The first thing he saw was a boy's sneakers. This kind of sneakers he would have loved to get when he was about five or six years younger. They were quite expensive, and wearing them would make a person seem a lot more confident.
Next,
he saw a pair of men's leather shoes, delicate, not the kind that had been polished, but new leather shoes.
"The show today was really good."
"But, I felt a bit sleepy, Daddy."
"Haha, when you grow up, you'll understand. How about this? Next week Daddy and Mommy will take you to the zoo, alright?"
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Mommy, did you hear that? Daddy said he'll take us to the zoo next week."
"Yeah. Yeah. Alright, George, go wash up. It's time for bed. Honey, take your son to wash up, and I'll help George make his bed."
A pair of red high heels walked in from outside.
Jeff couldn't help but feel that the atmosphere in this home was warm. It would have been wonderful if he had such a warm home in the past.
"Alright, Go wash up. I'll adjust the radio. It should be broadcasting the securities news now."
The man seemed to fiddle with the radio antenna for a moment, and the crackling static that had already blended into the night suddenly grew louder, then disappeared.
"This is a beautiful evening story, isn't it? Everyone, wherever they are, has a companion by their side, and no one is alone.
Thank you for listening to tonight's Roja Storytelling Club. The next program on our station is securities news. I believe you're about to make a fortune again..."
From the radio,
light music began to play as a transition between the two programs.
A fortune... haha, a fortune.
Jeff found it ridiculous. He wouldn't have gotten himself into this situation if he hadn't listened to his friend and sold his father's house to buy a stock that was certain to soar.
At this moment,
the family of three had been standing by the door, with the father leading his son to the bathroom, and the mother heading to the third floor to make her son's bed.
This was his chance. If he left the bottom of the bed now, rushed downstairs, opened the door, and dashed out, he would be safe and free!
Jeff made up his mind,
and was about to push himself up with both hands.
Suddenly,
his body,
froze.
An image flashed through his mind.
That's the woman who had come in from outside, returning with her husband and child. Then the woman who had been lying in bed all along,
Who was she?
Wasn't she lying on the bed?
How could the family of three who had returned earlier not have seen her?
"Hush."
From behind his head, a faint whisper, accompanied by a slight chill, brushed the back of his skull.
Jeff slowly turned his head, somewhat astonished.
Under the bed,
right behind him,
he first saw a pair of legs, and then, a face.
No,
he only saw a pair of legs and the face in the middle of them.