ᴏᴄᴛᴏʙᴇʀ 9ᴛʜ

Signs were posted all around the town for the annual gathering. They always chose to hold the gathering on the 9th of October, since the weather was just right. Eileen picked up one of the flyers and read it to herself and Jungkook.

"It's like a block party."
She summarized before she began to read the paper.

"It starts at six pm tonight, until midnight. Food
will be served by volunteers, but everyone in the community is responsible to bring one thing.
There should be a letter hung on your door,
telling you what you must bring to the gathering."

"Really? They're making us bring food?"
Jungkook narrowed his eyes.

"It doesn't have to be food."
She elaborated, continuing to read.

"No children allowed, as it will be dark outside. All people that coincide in the town, must attend."

"Let me get the letter off the door."
Jungkook interrupted, opening the back door. Jin got a separate letter, just as they did. He ripped the envelope open, and unfolded the piece of paper.

____________________________

Ｔｏ ｔｈｅ ｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔｓ ｏｆ ｌａｎｄ ｌｏｒｄ ｋｉｍ ｓｅｏｋｊｉｎ

Ｎｅｅｄｌｅｓ

____________________________

Eileen and Jungkook were both confused as they stared at the tiny writing. Why would they be asked to bring needles to a gathering. Plates and forks would sound normal, but needles was way off.

"Wait, I forgot."
Eileen hit Jungkook's shoulder.

"Forgot what?"

"To talk to Landlord Jin about Yoongi."
She talked about the boy, who was already out of their room. He left hours ago when the sun was setting and didn't come back. They had a feeling he was taking pictures of people like he usually would.

"We can't do that today."
Jungkook shrugged his shoulders.
"It's not good timing."

"Should we ask him to go to the store with us?"
Eileen asked, feeling sympathetic.

"Who? Yoongi?"
Jungkook muttered.

"Yeah, maybe we can take him out so he's not all alone everyday. I feel sorry for the kid."

"No no no, he's normal."
Jungkook pointed, referring to Yoongi.
"It's that psycho who isn't."

"Taehyung is his name, I believe."

"I don't care what his name is. If i see him,
he's gonna pay for what he did."
Jungkook cracked his knuckles.

"Jungkook, he has a mental illness. What do you not understand? He's done nothing wrong."

"You think I believe what that cop said. If he was so mental, then why has he been living by himself for so long. I think it's an accident for something else."

"Something else like what?"
Eileen asked.

"He's hiding something under that mask."
Jungkook muttered while grabbing his bag.

"Have you ever seen the guy's face?"

"No, but-

"Exactly my point. No one goes around wearing a mask and pretending they have a mental Illness if they aren't covering up for something else. Because I've met people who are actually mentally ill, and they don't just casually live at home while luring stranger into their house to play hide and seek."

Eileen just sighed. She couldn't compete with Jungkook's words. He was a really smart talker and usually beat her in every conversation. She couldn't
defend someone she knew absolutely nothing about.

"Let's not start any fights tonight, okay?"
She told him, not wanting Jungkook to confront Taehyung even if he saw him at the gathering.

"Alright, but if I see him in his little mask, I'm calling the police. If he's so called mental, he should be in an institute and not lurking in the streets at night."

"Let's just go get the needles."
She muttered, tired of this conversation.

They walked a couple blocks until they were in front of a small convenient store. It reminded her of the antique shop Jimin works at. She truly felt sorry for him, and wished she could see him to tell him that.

The small bell run as Jungkook pushed the door open. The woman at the front desk smiled as they walked inside, grabbing a basket from the stack.

"Why do we need a basket?"
Eileen lowered her brows.

"I thought maybe we should bring something small, like a plate of-

"Cookies."
She laughed at him while he refused to say his nickname out loud. It always made her day.

"Here, these are cheap."
She grabbed the pack and put it in the basket.

"And here are the needles."
Jungkook reaches over to grab the container of them. He wasn't sure how many they needed, but
he hoped it wasn't as many as the container had.

"I'll pay, you can wait outside."
Jungkook took the cash from her hand, and walked towards the older woman. Eileen pushed the door open, hearing the bell ring again. She sat on a bench and pulled a newspaper to her lap. She was a big fan of reading, but never had the time to do it.

She skimmed through the pages, that were talking about renovations planning to be done to the town. It's interesting, because this place hasn't been touched since it was first founded. The roads were cracked, the houses were dirty and broken down, and the grass was full and missing it's color.

She placed the newspaper back into its holder,
and looked around the outside of the store.
This town was infamous for its many signs. You
couldn't walk a meter without seeing a wooden
sign with something written on it.

Her eyes focused on one sign in particular,
which was by the public outdoor bathrooms.
The words were splattered in red paint, in a
rushed sort of handwriting. She narrowed
her eyes as she read the words.

_____________________

ᏔᎪᎡNᏆNᏩ

ᏟᎻᏆᏞᎠᎡᎬN ᏞᎬFᎢ ᏌNᎪᎢᎢᎬNᎠᎬᎠ ᎷᎪY ᏴᎬ ᏚᎾᏞᎠ ᎢᎾ ᎢᎻᎬ ᏟᏌᎡᏟᏌᏚ

_____________________

*circus lol

"What the hell?"
She whispered to herself as she
got closer to read the sign.

"I think—

Eileen let out a screech, calming down as
she saw it was Jungkook. He looked at her
oddly as he walked over to her.

"You scared me."
She held her chest as she panted.

"It's not Halloween yet."
He joked, hitting her with the side of the bag.
By the time they walked back home, it was half an hour until the gathering started. People were already seen setting up outside, and many others were already dressed up.

"What do we even wear?"
Eileen asked, digging around in her drawer.

"To be honest with you, I saw a lot of people wearing black clothing and masks. Maybe were supposed to wear costumes or something dark and scary."
He shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess I'll just wear a black dress."

"Oo, like cat woman?"
Jungkook raised his brows.

"Sure."
Eileen laughed, looking through her closet.

Her eyes were fixated on the leather dress that her friend back home gave her. She claimed she wasn't curvy enough to fit in the skin tight dress.

The dress definitely showcased her curves, which
she thought was too baring for this gathering. Meanwhile, Jungkook walked out of the bath
room in a suit and tie, smelling like cologne.

"What are you supposed to be?"
She raised her brow.

"I don't know, a business man?"
He chuckled.

"You ready to go?"
He asked, while looking at his watch.

"Yeah, are you?"

"Let's do this."
He locked his arm with mine as we walked outside.

Ｔｏ ｂｅ ｃｏｎｔｉｎｕｅｄ