Annabelle’s Point of View:
“What are we going to do, big sister? I’m so scared!” Mira cried out to me, and quickly ran to my side. We all stood up from the bed, and I quietly instructed my sisters to hide behind me. I was also scared, and I could swear that my heart was racing faster than theirs, but being the eldest, I had to be brave and protect my younger ones.
“Sister, maybe it’s a thief,” Millen suggested with a bold voice, and without waiting for my response, she looked around the room, and picked up my old baseball stick.
I looked at her in awe, wondering where she’d gotten her boldness from. On noticing the strange way I was looking at her, she shrugged her shoulders and winked at me, a ghostly smile on her face.
Although the atmosphere was tense, I couldn’t help but smile back at her. She made a bold attempt to walk towards the door, but I quickly held her back, and gave her a disapproving look.
“What is wrong with you, sister? Someone has to put the thief in his rightful place.” She growled out, trying to be as quiet as possible.
I shook my head sadly at her. Indeed, Millen is a very brave lady, but sometimes I do wish she could think deeply before acting.
“Your reckless behavior might get you injured. Follow my lead, sweetheart,” I whispered to her, and Mira quickly chipped in.
“Big sister is right, your reckless behavior might get us into big trouble. Please, listen to her,” Mira begged with a hushed voice, and with a defeated grimace, Millen sighed and sat down on a nearby sofa.
“I am so sorry for getting you guys into this mess.” Megan, who had been quiet all along murmured, and bowed her head remorsefully.
“You really should be!” Millen mumbled, murmuring some angry words to herself.
“This is not the right time for that, girls. Also, it is not Megan’s fault, no one is at fault,” I replied with a gentle voice, and quickly dragged the stick from Millen before she could protest.
I quietly tiptoed to the door, gave my sisters a reassuring smile, and left the room, making sure that the door was locked. My heart was racing fast, and I tried to think about how to defeat the thief.
As I stepped out of the room, the creaking of the floorboards beneath my feet seemed amplified in the silence. I held my breath, my grip on the baseball stick tightening. I moved forward, my eyes scanning the shadows for any sign of movement.
Suddenly, a faint rustling noise came from the living room. My heart skipped a beat. I approached cautiously, my senses on high alert.
As I stood by the door of the room, I saw the shadow of a figure near my television, surrounded by a big fancy bag.
“Who are you?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice steady. The figure slowly turned, and I saw a pair of gleaming eyes.
I couldn’t see the person clearly because the room’s curtain was obstructing my sight. My instincts screamed warning, but I stood my ground, ready to defend my sisters and our home.
“I said, who are you? And who gave you the permission to enter my house?” I screamed in my frightened voice, pretending to be brave.
“Hey, calm down. I mean no harm. The door was left open, that’s why I entered. I didn’t want to disturb you with my knocking,” a sweet, muscular voice said with a light chuckle.
And surprisingly, his voice sounded familiar. It was like I knew who he was, but as I tried to think of his name, nothing came up, and I sighed in defeat.
After noticing my failure at recognizing his voice, the strange figure moved toward me, humming a sad tone. Although his voice sounded familiar, I still couldn’t help but raise the stick in case he tried anything funny.
His steps were slow, deliberately teasing me with his presence. Immediately, he shifted the curtain and entered the hallway. I was traumatized, and I nearly hit him with the baseball stick.
“Hey, beauty goddess, calm down! Your stick might make me lose my head.” He exclaimed in shock, and quickly bent down before the stick could hit his head.
“Wait, what? Kim Jo?” I was surprised, and I stared at the cute man in front of me in bewilderment.
“Hey, Bella, what’s up?” He greeted me casually with a broad smile on his face. I was too surprised to respond, and I kept looking at him, still traumatized over the whole incident.
The smile on his face didn’t fade, instead it got wider, and he moved closer to me, closing the gap between us. He bent down, took my right hand and kissed my back.
I kept looking at his face, tongue-tied. Although I wanted to control it, I still couldn’t help but feel thousands of butterflies in my belly when his lips touched my hand.
The door was pushed open, and my three sisters entered, looking scared and anxious. My sister’s sudden appearance brought me back to my senses, and I quickly took a step backward and cleaned his kiss off my hand.
“Sister are you alright-” Mira paused in her question when she saw Kim Jo, the anxious look on her face was quickly replaced with a shy one. “Oppa, what are you doing here?” She asked with a gentle smile, her cheeks burning red.
I scoffed and shook my head. Mira had had a crush on Kim Jo since she was a little kid, and although Kim saw her as his little sister, that didn’t stop her from acting clingy towards him. Before Kim could reply to my sister, I interjected.
“Why did you enter my house without knocking? You got us really scared! We thought it was a thief.” I yelled at him with a deep frown, and he furrowed his brows in surprise.
“Oh my! I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to get you scared. The door was opened, and I decided to enter…. To surprise you,” he explained, trying to defend his action.
While I gave him an ‘it is alright’ expression, Millen scowled. “It’s not your fault, it’s that of a certain teddy bear.” She looked at Megan, a grimace on her face, and left for the kitchen.
I sighed softly, wondering how I was going to make Millen friendly towards us, her sisters.
Megan looked downcast at Millen’s words, and I wanted to assure her that it wasn’t her fault, but I knew my words wouldn’t stop her from blaming herself.
She took a deep breath and sat on an armchair in the living room. She took her teddy which was on the side table, and started dialoguing with it. Mira, Kim, and I looked at her curiously, wondering what she was telling the teddy.
“Is she alright?” Kim Jo asked. He looked at me momentarily, before turning his gaze back to Megan.
“Don’t worry, she’s fine. She talks to her teddy bear whenever she feels down. According to her, that’s the only thing that can listen to her throughout the day, and it never gets bored of staring at her. Also, it never leaves her side, they’re always together,” Mira explained to Kim, her gaze slightly lowered.
“Oh, that’s truly strange,” Kim Jo reasoned thoughtfully, his hand under his chin.
“You want to know what’s strange?” I asked, staring at Kim, a frown on my face.
“Of course, my beauty goddess,” he answered with a seductive voice, as he moved closer to me.