Chapter 45: Quest for Taesung (Part 2)

Fahami's POV:

The woman looked very surprised. She cleared her throat and said, "Why are you looking for them?"

Her gaze held a curiosity. I didn't know why I was having a bad feeling. Something was wrong. First the restaurant owner, then the villagers and now this lady. Their gazes told me that they believed it's a haunted house, but it couldn't be haunted for no reason. Taesung shared lots of his secrets with me, but he never said that there's a rumor about his house.

I smiled politely, "You see, I am a colleague of Taesung. We work together in a restaurant. He said he would come back in three days, but he hasn't returned in a week. The restaurant owner was worried, so he sent me to check on him. Have you seen him here?"

I had to lie. If I simply told that I was close to Taesung, and he had run away, and I was looking for him, I had a feeling that the lady wouldn't tell me about him. The lady still looked a bit astonished when I mentioned, we worked together.

She looked around her nervously as if she was worried someone might hear her. Then she came a little closer and whispered, "Look young lady, I don't know your owner but tell him that Taesung isn't a good boy. He had," she paused for a second then again said, "He is a murderer."

I didn't know how my facial expression was, but something about my expression impressed the woman. She smiled a bit and said, "You didn't know, right?"

I shook my head.

She started saying, "Taesung killed his father when he was just fifteen. We all knew it. We also heard a rumor about him killing his mother too. And because of that, his father was so rude with him. Later he also killed his father. We heard his sister was a witness, but she didn't say anything in the court and the case was disclosed due to lack of evidence."

My whole body felt numb. What she said couldn't be true, no, it couldn't. Taesung was a very kind person. I had seen it with my own eyes. There wasn't any way that he killed his mother. He loved his mother. I had seen the longing in his eyes. But, did he kill his father? Was it true? Why didn't he ever tell me about it?

When I didn't reply anything, the woman said, "They were our neighbors. After the incident, lots of reporters came to talk with the boy, but no one found him. He just vanished in the thin air. Later, his sister also left this place."

I stared at the woman. I didn't know what to say to her.

' Get your head straight. All of these could rumor. Only Taesung knew the real answer. You came here to find him, so do it. Stop wasting your time.'

Right! I came here to find him. I looked at the woman and asked, "How do you know all of this?" My voice was firm, my gaze was piercing. But the woman didn't buzz. She seemed to know what she was talking about.

"Every member of this village knows. I know better because they were my neighbor."

Then it hit my mind, "Do you have any key to their house?"

The woman looked surprised, "Are you planing to go in that house? But it's a haunted house. Aren't you afraid?"

I smiled at her, "The real ghosts lives inside the people. We should fear them more."

She looked puzzled, "Okay, I have a key. The daughter of the house left it under a flower pot. My children found it one day while playing."

I was suspicious if it was really her children or herself? She seemed to be a gossip magnet to me. I didn't insist on knowing if it was her or not.

I smiled politely and asked, "Can you give me that key?"

The woman looked hesitant, but I knew the best cure for it. I opened my purse and handed her some money, "Please, I need the key."

This time she didn't look hesitant. She looked at the money, eyes gleaming. Then she looked up and said, "Follow me."

She gave me the key but obviously, not for free. Even after giving the key, she demanded more. I didn't care how much money I had to spend. All I needed was Taesung and I would spend my last penny to find him.

The door was locked, but spiderweb created an extra layer of protection. It seemed no one came here in a long time. I was debating whether I should waste my time for this or should I actually start looking for him. But the woman's words lingered in my mind. What she said couldn't be true, but I also needed some answers. I needed to know what had happened to his family.

I opened the door and went inside. The inside was the same as the outside. The whole house was poured into darkness. There wasn't any person except for dust and spiderweb in the entrance. I coughed roughly as soon as I inhaled the smell and dusts. It smelled like a damned place. I turned on my flashlight and looked for the electrical switch to turn on the light. However, it seemed odd wasn't in my favor. There wasn't any electricity in the house. So I looked for the window and opened it.

I searched in the whole house but didn't find any clue about the murder, not about Taesung's mother and sister. While I was standing in the middle of a room and my eyes roamed around to find something important that would lead me to the clues, suddenly an old photo frame caught my attention. I walked up to the table where it was located and grabbed the photo frame. It was a little dusty and old. The scenery was pretty much unclear, but one thing was clear to me. This photo was a witness of a moment between a mother and her son.

I removed the dust from the frame and saw a beautiful woman holding a baby boy. I would misunderstand if I didn't recognize that smile. That same boxy smile Taesung would show when he was happy and excited. The woman looked at her baby with so much love in her eyes. The scene melted my heart.

' My poor Taesung, he lost everything.'

I couldn't see the picture clearly. My vision was getting blurry because of my damned tears. My tear drops fell one by one on the frame. I clutched the frame in my chest and cried.

He lost everything and I, I made him lose me too. I made him leave. I made him go away from the thing that made him happy. I was so selfish!

' Oh Taesung, my Taesung! Where are you?'