Dalia's apartment didn't feel so sprawling when we were in the living room. But as I follow these girls down the lone corridor, I realise just how deep the place goes. This apartment might just take up the entire floor.
The walls here are a similar dark grey and there are numerous doors that line them, all shut and unwelcoming. I feel a cool swish of air brush past the back of my exposed neck and shiver. Being outside made me feel sad but the eeriness here makes me feel like there's something watching me.
A door creaks behind me and I whip around, torn between hoping it's a human being following me and not something supernatural. I hate being here alone but I had to wait for Summer and Maria to round the corner before following them.
The girls had been lost in a heated conversation, they never noticed someone behind them and I used that to my advantage.
Thankfully, there is a room at the end of this interminable walkway and they go inside. Which leaves me alone in the dimly lit hall. I wait a couple of heart beats and a swish of cool air pools around my feet.
Someone died here. Dalia threw herself off this very floor. It's not hard to believe she left something behind. Or maybe she never left to begin with.
A spark of fear causes my heart to catapult into my throat and I force myself forward towards the open door. I hide behind it and listen to the girls frantic voices. It's a relief that I'm not alone anymore.
"It has to be somewhere here. She must have hidden it." I recognise the high pitched girly voice that belongs to Maria.
"We looked a hundred times already. Don't you think the police would have found it when they did their search of the place?" Summer's voice is filled with panic. She sounds much more frantic than she was in the lift with us. "She must have hidden it."
"The bitch hid everything. She even dissed us in her lyrics while she smiled at our faces before the fucking release," Maria berates in anger.
I hear the sound of drawers being pulled open and then Summer's heels clicking on the floors like she is pacing back and forth.
"Yeah, she really screwed us over." Summer mutters.
"Screwed would be putting it mildly. And we'd better find it before anyone else does or we'll be in deep shit. Can you imagine the headlines?" Maria replies, her voice dripping with venom.
Maybe they're talking about someone else entirely because I don't remember Dalia dissing her group mates in her songs. She has released some solo hits in the past and yes the lyrics in some of them were an obvious diss, but no one guessed those to be aimed at her very own members.
The girls always portrayed such a united front. Everyone -including myself- saw them as the bestest of friends, even sisters. I remember their interviews, vlogs and the reality shows where they acted out challenges together.
Dalia always looked happy, the other girls as well. It feels like I had been looking into a snow globe with the prettiest view but now there are cracks in the glass marring the image. It doesn't look so pretty anymore.
So maybe the girls didn't actually get along. Maybe it had all been an act.
But why would Dalia screw them over? Nothing makes sense and yet here we are standing in Dalia's apartment, me hiding behind a large wooden oak door listening in as her group mates rummage through her stuff. The question is what did she hide?
And why are these two so worried about it?
"Did you hear something?" Summer suddenly asks making my breath still. "No one followed us, right?"
"No ones going to bother about the ditzy girls who have been screwed over by their company, Summer. Everyone's too busy using this opportunity to fake sympathy for someone they barely knew and take turns to stroke each others ego."
Screwed over by their company.
Wow, Hyeon had been right about their contracts. Looks like PT entertainment did chose Dalia over the others. I don't know if these girls are guilty or not but I definitely feel sorry for them. Imagine working your entire life towards a goal and then achieving it to a level of success most can only dream of, only to have it snatched away because of one person.
The resultant bitterness I feel makes me wonder if this is motive for murder. And as if the contracts weren't enough, now they are looking for something that could possibly incriminate them. These girls are starting to look pretty suspicious. Hyeon obviously thinks so but I'm a bit more wary.
First of all they didn't even notice someone following them. Now they are talking loud enough for someone like me to eavesdrop. They clearly aren't very aware of their surroundings.
"You're not going to find it. We've already looked, remember? She obviously hid it elsewhere. We should go. The rest are probably already here and we don't want to look suspicious."
Well too late for that, Summer.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. If the cops didn't find anything then we probably wouldn't either." Maria replies, her voice much smaller. "I can't sleep. Can't eat. Can't do anything knowing that it's out there."
"Just be thankful it hasn't come up. Maybe she hid it so well, no one would ever know."
I hear Maria's muffled sigh and then the clanking of heels against hardwood floors.
Shit! They're coming my way fast. My shoes are soft soled so I manage to dart out of the hallway soundlessly but I don't have enough time to run to the living room without them catching me. I turn the knob to the nearest door and bolt into the darkness.
The door barely clicks shut when I hear the girls talking to each other as they pass by. I turn around and slump against the door, feeling relief flood my veins. That was really too close for comfort.
The familiar chill I felt before hugs my bare legs, crawling up my arms and neck. I look around at the room I am in. Slivers of light pass through the blinds and cast shadows throughout the room. All of the furniture has been covered with pieces of white cloth.
I notice the outlines of a piano on the wall in front of me and the shelves above it look like they are stuffed with notes and files. Shadows darken the floors and the room is so silent I can hear myself breathing.
The atmosphere here is anything but welcoming but I can't stop myself from walking to Dalia's piano that is so huge, it takes up most of the wall. I stare at the wooden casing, covering keys that have been touched by Dalia's fingers.
Images of her performance at the Tokyo Dome concert flit through my mind and a tear slides down my face. I lift up the dust coated cloth and caress the wood almost tenderly.
"Eun Young," I whisper as the pain in my chest grows tenfold. My thoughts are filled with the child prodigy I grew up admiring, the sister I never had but loved like one. The person who drove me to pursue my dreams.
So much talent, so much beauty, so much power.
I remember the crowds growing crazy for her at concerts, airports and just literally everywhere she went. People chanting her name like it was their very own prayer.
Dalia was so much more than life. She was everything and now she is...nothing. I look up and pull out a single folder with music notes scribbled over the binder. There are paragraphs scattered messily over each page and I have never heard of them before.
Could this be the stuff she was working on before going solo?
Will death be my punishment or my escape?
My heart is mangled, time to reshape
Knocks on the door
His shadow the fingers crawling on the floor
Forgive me Father for I have sinned
I had an affair with the devil and he now has me pinned
The room is colder now, my exhale forms a soft cloud. I hear a creak in the corner and suddenly don't feel like being in here anymore. I quickly place the folder back onto the shelf, sliding it between the others.
I don't realise I am shivering until I have left the room and shut the door behind me.
"What were you doing in there?" A sharp voice makes me whip my head to the side.
Loona looks like a million bucks in her faux fur coat and black leather mini skirt. Her heeled boots reach up to her knees and her light brown hair has been blown out into waves. It looks like she was heading down this corridor before she saw me and I wonder if she was going to the room her group mates were in just now.
She crosses her arms over each other and glares at me like I'd just been caught for trespassing. I guess I sort of was.
"Hmm.. I." What has happened to my brain? It feels muddled and I can't think of any excuse.
"Who are you?" She snaps. "You'd better tell me before I call security."
At hearing this I straighten up, coming back to my senses. "I'm a guest here. My names, Kang Jina. We met at the funeral." I quickly offer before she makes a scene. That's the last thing I need. Mr. Oh will definitely light my butt on fire if I got us into trouble.
Her eyebrows bunch together in confusion as she thinks and then recognition fills her pretty features. "Oh, you're Dalia's friend from Hadong. The trainee, right?"
I nod, resisting the urge to slump against the door again. My knees feel weak and the adrenaline coursing my veins leaves me shaky.
"What were you doing in there?" She asks again but this time her tone isn't as hostile.
"I don't know," I answer honestly. "I guess I just wanted to feel closer to her somehow."
It's barely the truth but she buys it, thankfully. Her face fills with sympathy. "You poor thing. You must have idolised her."
That would be putting it mildly.
Loona must be the friendliest of the bunch because she wraps an arm around me and walks us back to the foyer. I notice it is much more crowded in here now. There is barely any place to stand.
Mr Oh spots us from the refreshments table and he glares at me looking livid. He then notices the person next to me and his face quickly morph's into awed shock. Never thought Loona from Sweet Poison would save my life.
Her fingers tighten around my shoulders as she squeezes, gaining my attention. "Nice meeting someone from Dalia's past. What was she like when you girls were younger?"
I don't think words were enough to summarise what she was like. "She was a genius. Fun, loving, she drew everyone into her world--"
Loona scoffs, cutting me off. "Sorry must be my allergies. It seems like we both knew very different people."
"What do you mean?" I start to ask but Dalia's parents speak up, welcoming everyone.
"Nice meeting you, Jina," Loona whispers into my ear. "But if I catch you snooping around her stuff again, I'll end you."
She releases me and weaves through the crowd, occasionally smiling at other celebrities and famous folk, leaving me to stare on in shock. Feeling vulnerable I rush to Mr. Oh and we stand together in tense silence.
"Where the hell did you disappear to?" He asks me quietly.
"Making connections like you wanted." I answer.
We pretend to listen to Dalia's family members while they speak fondly of her but inside I am panicking. I feel somebody's gaze burning the side of my face with their intensity and turn slowly to see the three Sweet Poison members staring at me.
Loona whispers quietly while they listen on and when our eyes meet she looks away.
I don't know why but it causes a deep unease to settle in the pits of my belly.
Heyy, a slightly creepy chapter. Hope you enjoyed and what do you think of Dalia's group mates?