Chapter 62: Strange
Hoàng Tuân picked up pace, walking faster and even began to run.
But no matter how fast he went, that person always stayed right behind him, neither too far nor too close, always within sight whenever Hoàng Tuân turned around.
The man followed Hoàng Tuân all the way to the staircase, watching him climb up, and then he stopped following.
After realizing that the man was no longer behind him, Hoàng Tuân rushed to the front door, panting heavily, and knocked on it.
He knocked several times, but there was no response.
Is nobody home?
Hoàng Tuân felt a bit strange.
He could still hear the sound of the TV in the living room from outside, but no one came to open the door.
Isn't my sister, Hoàng Lan, watching TV at home?
Hoàng Tuân felt puzzled, so he took the spare key from under the doormat and opened the door.
Inside the living room, there was nobody, just the sound of a TV commercial playing, and a half-eaten orange on the table.
"Hoàng Lan? Thiên Nga?"
He called out twice, but there was no response, and he didn't know where they went.
He went over and turned off the TV, then put the leftover orange in his mouth, and lay down on the sofa, thinking about the unfamiliar man in the vest.
That man had been following him on the street, but he didn't demand money, threaten him, or attempt to kidnap him. So, what did he want?
Could it be a pervert stalker?
The thought scared Hoàng Tuân.
Thankfully, he ran fast, and when he looked at that guy's sly face, dressed up like a gangster, it was evident that it was just a performance from life.
It was almost certain that what was shown on TV had some basis. In general, people who dressed up in vests and wandered around outside were not good people...
...
...
After a while.
Hoàng Tuân, sitting alone on the sofa, felt a strange and inexplicable discomfort, so he decided to take a shower and go to bed.
First, he put the comic book back on the shelf.
Hoàng Tuân put on his slippers and walked to the bathroom, grabbing the aluminum handle and pulling the door open.
The sound of the door colliding with something echoed.
As soon as he opened the door...
He saw a familiar figure squatting in the corner of the bathroom, facing away from him, trembling with both hands hugging her shoulders.
Her long black hair was slightly messy, hanging down on both sides.
It was Trần Thiên Nga...
Outside, it was already dark, and the house was dimly lit. Hoàng Tuân pressed the bathroom light switch, but it didn't turn on. He pressed it a few more times, but it still didn't work.
The light must be broken.
Hoàng Tuân felt a strange uneasiness for no reason. He looked inside the bathroom, not knowing what the person in front of him was doing. Her odd posture made him feel a little uneasy.
Is she my cousin?
She should have heard me knocking on the door just now.
Even if it's inconvenient to go outside and open the door because she's in the bathroom, under normal circumstances, she should still respond and let me know that she's at home...
...
Since Hoàng Tuân entered the house until now.
At least ten minutes had passed.
He looked at Trần Thiên Nga's hunched back, as if she had been sitting like that in the corner for this whole time.
Why does Thiên Nga want to sit like this? Is she having an argument with Hoàng Lan?
"Thiên Nga, did you see Hoàng Lan?"
Hoàng Tuân inquired, not wanting to intrude on the awkward situation in front of him. So he stood in front of the bathroom door and asked from outside. His voice wasn't loud, but Trần Thiên Nga was close enough to hear.
After his question.
Trần Thiên Nga still sat there, not saying anything, her back turned toward him, showing no reaction.
"What's wrong?" Hoàng Tuân felt something was off.
The eerie sight in front of him made Trần Thiên Nga seem like a wooden doll, unmoving.
Hoàng Tuân felt a little frightened.
Thinking that Trần Thiên Nga might be his cousin, Hoàng Tuân gathered his courage and approached her slowly, preparing to see what had happened to her.
The bathroom floor was quite wet, with a few strands of hair stuck on the damp floor. It looked like someone had just finished washing their hair and hadn't had time to clean up.
Due to the house's design and layout, there were no windows in the bathroom. As a result, the room wasn't well-ventilated, and Hoàng Tuân could smell a strange odor, as if something was burning...
"Welcome... welcome to watch... the antique hunting program! Here... the man we invited... is..."
At this moment, the TV suddenly turned on in the living room. There seemed to be some signal issue, and the voice was somewhat interrupted. Occasionally, some ear-piercing sounds mixed in, causing Hoàng Tuân's steps to falter.
"Didn't I just turn it off?"
He clearly remembered that when he entered the house, he immediately turned off the TV that was playing commercials. Due to his mom's advice to save electricity, he also had the habit of unplugging the TV.
In the empty room, besides the sound of the TV, there was the sound of Hoàng Tuân's heavy breathing.
He felt a little puzzled, but he could sense that the uneasiness did not originate from within him, but seemed to be an instinctive reaction.
He thought that maybe he should find a place to hide or go back inside the room, wait for his parents to return, and let them handle it.
No, it shouldn't be like this.
Hoàng Tuân tried his best to calm down, telling himself that this was his home, so there was nothing to be afraid of. He continued to approach Trần Thiên Nga.
He intended to check on her first and then go back outside to see what was happening with the TV.
The sound of slippers touching the wet floor made Hoàng Tuân increasingly closer to Trần Thiên Nga.
He stood behind her, leaning down to pat her shoulder gently.
"Are you okay?"
He asked in a low voice.
However, Trần Thiên Nga still didn't respond. She kept her head low, and from the side, Hoàng Tuân could only see her long black hair covering half of her body, with a few strands brushing against the floor.
Hoàng Tuân couldn't understand why this happened when he went outside and changed a comic book.
This kind of thing happened again when he came back home.
While worrying, Hoàng Tuân pondered for a moment, wondering if Trần Thiên Nga might be suffering from some illness that caused her to collapse at this moment.
He took a step closer.
He intended to get a closer look, and if his suspicion was correct, he would immediately call for help.
Inside his body, as Hoàng Tuân and Trần Thiên Nga got closer, he seemed to feel something restless, as if something was teasing to burst out of his body.
Vague.
It seemed as though a voice was speaking to him.
It seemed to be saying something...
"Leave?"
He brushed off the sudden discomfort in his body, thinking that his anxious state might be affecting him and causing these feelings.
Hoàng Tuân reached out his right hand, preparing to lift the long black hair covering Trần Thiên Nga's face.
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
"What are you doing?"