An honest lie | Kim Taehyung (editing*)

- Worries -

XXI

Ceasing right before entering, Eda looked through the glass door of her edifice and watched Taehyung driving off until his car's figure disappeared after a turn.

She shut her eyes, sudden uneasiness stiffened her muscles thinking about the past events. She was worried. Very worried.

While speculating hard on her decisions, a buzzing sound coming from her left hip made her reattach to reality. She turned her head and took her phone from her baggy sweatpants' pocket. After seeing who it was, she sighed heavily and slowly answered while looking outside at the pub where she and the detective were just at, a couple of minutes ago.

"Hello?" She spoke with a low and grim voice. "Yeah... I'm on my way." She put it back and slowly made her way to the stairs, the sound of her bike's chain echoing through the entrance. But just as she was about to reach them, she heard a cracking noise, and immediately after, a sound of a door opening.

"Oh, crap!" She whispered yelled to herself in panic, looking around to find a spot to hide. She rushed her bike behind a wall and hid it with herself, trying to make less noise as possible.

On the other side of the wall, a door of an apartment opened as an old lady with short white hair and cute wrinkled face, came out gaping around the place with anticipation as if waiting for someone to walk past her. It was her neighbor, always ready to catch her and start a conversation with her, or even better said, a lecture about her antisocial life.

Eda carefully peeked from her side and bit her lip. After what felt like an eternity, the old lady started giving up her hopes, reluctantly moving back while shutting the door. Eda sighed, relieved that she didn't have to face her for at least one day. But as she was about to leave her hideout, someone entered the building with packages and boxes in his arms, making enough noise for the old lady to aggressively bust the door open and make Eda abruptly back away in shock. But luck was against her, as her back bumped on the wall and her bike slipped from her hands and dropped on the side exposing its figure from the small wall, as well as making a lot of noise.

Eda slid down, shut her eyes, and pressed her lips in frustration, waiting for the lady to call out to her.

"Eda dear, is that you?" She walked closer to the wall and spotted the unfortunate young woman sitting on the floor, slowly nodding her head defeatedly. "Oh, it is you! What are you doing on the floor silly?" She asked while giggling.

Eda opened her eyes and started searching around her while tapping her hands on the ground. "Ms. Concetta... I- eh... I think I lost something." She stuttered unable to find a good excuse to be rid of her.

"What did you lose?"

"The inability to think apparently..." she muttered under her breath reserving an interrogative expression from Ms. Concetta. "I mean- my... eh.. ear!" She smiled nervously and shrugged while shaking her head and scoffing.

"Your ear?" The woman was utterly perplex at her behavior.

Eda looked behind her and caught the mailman putting boxes on the floor and lightly peeping towards them. "I mean, my ear... ring. Yeah, earring." She stood up and faked looking around to find the inexistent object.

"Eda..." the woman uttered with concern in her voice.

Eda turned to her with a apprehensive frown. "Yes?"

"You're not wearing earrings." She sighed as if implying some sort of meaning to her words.

The young woman tilted her head. "It was another..." she cleared her throat. "...earring. One that I wasn't wearing." She pressed her lips.