SOOYEON
"Brother! I am going to confess today."
"Good", my brother replied casually while scrolling through his phone, lying on the bed.
I, being frustrated, aimed a blow with the pillow towards him. He caught that pillow and looked at me with annoyance.
"Iseul called me. I am going…"
He sprang up but then shrugged. Showing me a thumbs-up, my brother turned away.
"And you are coming with me!"
"No way. Cry or better yet, beg."
"I need some mental support. Please brother! Please brother! Pleeeeease!"
I pulled him off the bed and made him wear whatever was near (He was just wearing a tank top and shorts). And then pulled him out of the house.
NARRATOR
Haejun realised, and his eyes shifted to his sister's. Sooyeon's eyes were about to leak, but she wiped them with her sleeves when no one but her brother noticed. When he was about to say something to her, she slapped her hand over his mouth and said, "Wow!" and burst into laughter.
"You too, Sooyeon? It's not that! Jesus Christ! You don't believe me?", replied Iseul.
[...]
"We can start exploring now.", Haejun suggested, changing the subject.
"Exactly!", Iseul exclaimed in approval.
They started to explore the house when Haejun came across a door with a placard that says 'Don't u dare...' and a cranky voice flashed through his head.
"I suppose it is-" asked Haejun.
"It's her's. Beware," warned Iseul.
"Hey, Sooyeon. Where you looking at?" Joonwoo suddenly asked.
"We just had a small-scale thing. I think she is still cross.", said Haejun.
"Huh?! Oh yes. Yes. Wow!" Sooyeon answered in haste, and everyone stared at her.
Haejun broke the silence, "Wait! What about the attic? Is there an attic?"
"Oh, the attic? Is that a good idea?", replied Iseul.
"Then what are we waiting for?", Joonwoo suggested.
Now they stood in front of the attic door. A large brass door with a big lock.
"A haunted house?", Joonwoo remarked as he hid behind Haejun.
"Are you sure this is the attic?", said Sooyeon after a long pause.
"Yes"
"We need to break the lock", said Haejun. "Bring me a hammer, Iseul."
Iseul left and came back with a hammer, only to see that Joonwoo had already opened the lock.
Joonwoo proudly said, "I opened the door."
"It was rusted. Joonwoo pulled it and it opened.", Sooyeon explained to Iseul.
Joonwoo pushed the door open, and it opened with a huge creaking sound. Everything was dark inside, but there were a few sparkling objects which shone with the little light it could gather.
"Whenever I came here as a child, my grandfather would tell me about our ancestors. They were antique hunters, and this house belongs to him.", said Iseul, standing outside the door as awestruck as the others.
"So everything in this house is antique!" exclaimed Joonwoo.
"Oh… Yes, but some have been stolen and some are fake."
"Stolen?"
"I think the expensive ones have been kept away in a room. And-", remarked the excellent student, Sooyeon.
"This might be the room. It looks old. It smells like dust and- cough, cough", said Haejun, whose dust allergy just acted up. "It has spider webs all around, and it's" Iseul turned back and shot a glare at Haejun. He said, "I'll just have my medicine and come inside."
Suddenly, Joonwoo ran inside the room, seeing all that bling-bling. Moments after that, they heard a loud thud. The three friends got scared by the sound from inside. Haejun pointed the torch at the attic floor and saw Joonwoo on the ground. Sooyeon rushed in, followed by Iseul, while Haejun stood outside because of his allergy. Sooyeon helped Joonwoo get up.
"You shouldn't have rushed in.", said Sooyeon, worried.
"Wait! Let me fix the bulbs.", said Iseul.
Iseul brings a bulb while they wait. Haejun covers his nose and insists on helping. Haejun takes the bulb from Iseul's hand. He then starts fixing the bulb. "Iseul, switch on the light.", he said.
As soon as she switches the light on, the room illuminates and reveals a room full of antiques. Though the power of the bulb is not that high, the mirrors and shiny objects made it brighter. The attic was filled with unique and rare antique finds from all over the world. The shelves are lined with old books, photographs, and vintage trinkets. The walls are decorated with detailed paintings and antique mirrors. There is also a collection of expensive furniture and shiny jewellery. There were also broken or half-ripped or 'almost about to break with the slightest touch of a feather' things. Even the four high schoolers could understand the value of these 'things' with details inscribed on discoloured bronze plates under them.
They walked through the fine pieces of art. It felt like these had taken them back in time during…
On hearing a sharp cracking sound, Sooyeon looked down to find what was under her feet. The other three also looked down to see what made that sound. To everyone's surprise, there was a beautiful blue pendant.