ɦ օ օ ժ ҽ ժ ★ 김태형 ✔

【３１】



Two hooded figures.

That's what we are, tiptoeing and tailing, hiding and lurking in the shadows.

It's not easy, remaining inconspicuous, but we manage to watch, from a distance, as Victor leads my mother in to a brick building surrounded by crumbling warehouses and shutdown businesses. Once he closes the door, I sigh in defeat.

"How are we supposed to know what's going on inside?"

Taehyung steps forward confidently, tugging my hand. "Follow me."

"What?"

Taehyung leads us around to the side of the building which is scrawled with obscene graffiti and overgrown weeds, pointing to something on the ground. A door.

"There's a basement." He hooks his fingers over the handle which is obscured by a tangle of vines, indicating that it hasn't been used in a while. I take one look at the dark gaping hole before me and shake my head.

"Nuh-uh. There's no way I'm going in. No way," I emphasize in Korean, but Taehyung is already climbing in.

"Come on, I've been down here many times, it's not that bad."

"Taehyung, your idea of 'not that bad' is my idea of 'very bad.' I'm not going to –"

Taehyung stretches out his hand, his eyes large and black. "Do you trust me?"

"Yah, who are you, Aladdin? What are you trying to –"

"Aria," his voice is a low growl that makes me stop. "I said, do you trust me?"

This time he repeats it in Korean, and I bite my lip before answering. "Yes, I trust you. A lot."

He cracks a grin. "Then take my hand."

So I take it, letting him drag me down into the underworld. Good thing there are stairs, but when we reach the bottom, I notice that there's something missing. Light.

"Stay close to me," Taehyung whispers, pressing my to his side as we shuffle forward. I hear drops of water and the scuttling of insects, among other noises, and each time, I cling closer to Tae, wondering if this is all worth it, because I am starting to regret coming here. But then I hear it. Voices.

"They're upstairs," Taehyung states the obvious, and suddenly I see light coming from beneath a door. My eyes adjust slowly, and I scan the basement, a large area that is mostly empty, save for a few pieces of furniture and a cabinet. What is this place?

"We can hear them better from up here, come on," Taehyung leads me to the door, and I gulp as we approach it, wondering if we would get caught, for it could suddenly swing open and all hell would break loose.

We press our ears to the cold wood of the door and sure enough, we can make out snippets of conversation between familiar and unfamiliar voices.

"What are they doing?" I ask Taehyung, and he frowns, a finger to his lips until he figures it out.

"They're playing a game," as he says that there is a round of raucous laughter, and I swear I recognize my mother's laugh amongst it. I shiver.

"Did they do the same with you?" I ask.

"They do it with everyone. It's a way of...testing them," Taehyung replies a little ominously, causing me to grow concerned.

"Testing?" I echo. "To see if they're fit to join?"

"No, to see if they are worthy."

"That's what I said."

"But mine sounds cooler," even in the darkness, I can picture Taehyung's smug grin.