Chapter 4: 4. "Since when?

I ignored him and walked towards his terrace. "Don't ask too many questions. You're so talkative!," I muttered. I was already freezing, so I was lazy to listen to his words.

Erick's mother immediately sent me in and lent her daughter's clothes. She asked what had happened, and I had to tell the truth that someone was pacing my doorstep.

"You know him?" Erick asked curiously.

"Negative, I don't know him at all, but I think I've met him before" I recalled the incident this morning before leaving for school.

"This morning, when I was about to leave for work, someone was standing in front of the gate of my house. However, when I chased after him, he was gone. It seems, it's the same person, I can't see it very clearly because it's just a glimpse."

I didn't have people worry about me. When I saw the worried look on Erick's mother's, I honestly didn't like it. I preferred other people to be indifferent to my problems because I believed I could solve them.

"Tha, this is just a suggestion, but please don't be angry" Erick seemed hesitant to say it. "You'd better not go back to your house for a while, go back to the city, instead. I'll try to check it every night—after I get home from work, to see if anyone still visits your place or not. As for cleanliness, let my mother take care of it," He finally said.

I shook my head. "My house in the city is very far from where I work, Ery. You know, it takes almost two hours by bus, so what time do I have to leave?" The reason I stayed at my old house was because it was closer to my workplace.

Erick furrowed his brows, looking thoughtful. "Living here is impossible," He said, doubtfully. The distance between our houses was nothing. It felt like we were not moving because the distance was not more than ten buildings. Her house was on the edge of the main road, while mine was in a small alley beside the market. "But, no problem, you can sleep in the guest room."

I looked at the man in uncertainly. "How if we ambush him right now?" To be honest, apart from being worried and confused, I was also very curious about what that person was doing. He seemed to be watching my house.

Finally, Erick and I decided to go out of the house, intending to catch the person red-handed. His mother actually forbade us, but we were so curious that it made us both stubborn. She nagged at us like a mother nagging her child who was caught playing a prank on a neighbor's child, but we simply ignored her nag. We kept walking towards my house.

The man had gone. The street in front of my house was empty and dark, not a slight of his existence. We agreed to check more closely. I looked around in case the person might be hiding, or he had left. This small alley was one way leading directly to the river.

"Looks like he's gone" We looked around again, even going so far as to point the flashlight at my neighbor's yard, and still found no one.

It was almost three in the morning. I was kept awake with this problem. "I'll go home, and sleep. He's gone anyway," I said as I unlocked the gate.

"Are you sure?!" Erick looked unsure of my decision. "If anything happens, call me right away."

I nodded and asked him to go home soon because I knew he had work tomorrow. "I'll call you if anything happens," I said, "Thank you."

After seeing him walking away, I looked around to confirm again that there was no one. When I was sure enough of my observation, I pushed the gate of my house open. Something felt strange in my hand when I pushed it. I took out my phone to help me see. There, there were rust stains forming a palm of someone's hand.

Confused by what I saw, I confirmed it again by shining my cellphone's flashlight towards the gate of my house. That's right, the rust stains were palm-shaped and so neat. I was astonished that the other part of the iron looked like it hadn't rusted, in contrast to that part. I tried to think that maybe this gate was indeed old, and it was natural to rust, even though the shape of the palm refuted my logic.

Mickey was sitting on the living room table when I arrived. "Why so long?!" he immediately jumped at me after I locked the door of the house. "Did you see anyone outside earlier?" His question stopped me from going to the kitchen. The tubby saw it too.

"I did," I replied, "I went to Ery's house because I saw that person standing in front of the fence, it was so long that I was worried. I was planning to stay for the night there, and my clothes were wet too. However, out of curiosity, I chose to go home. accompanied by Ery, but that person was gone when I arrived. Did you see him clearly?" It might be that Mickey knew something since he was at home.

"No," said Mickey. "I only saw him from your bedroom window, so it was hard to see clearly. He was there for a long time," he explained.

"Since when?" I asked.

"Just a few moments after you left" Mickey's words surprised me.

"That's really a long time" I didn't know what that person was doing in this house, even for a long time. "Why don't you just go to Ery's house, if you're scared?! What if that person is dangerous" I was worried if something happened to Mickey. He's the only one I had in this house.

"He was just pacing up front," Mickey said. He didn't seem concerned. "Lighted a cigarette, sat down and paced again." Didn't any neighbors find out and throw him out, or what? Or, they were really afraid to go out the night after the Summer case.

I was silent for a moment, retracing the behavior of that person while in front of my fence. 'Cigarette?' That's right, I also saw that person lighting a cigarette earlier. I quickly ran outside with my flashlight, signaling Mickey to follow me.

At the gate, I looked around in case there were traces of discarded cigarette butts or something related to that person. "Mickey, help me!" It was three in the morning, and I hadn't even slept at all.

"Why don't you just wait until noon, so you can see it more clearly?" I ignored Mickey's idea and kept looking.

I had to finish what I was curious about and "Found it!" I was unsure if this thing belonged to that person, but it looked brand new. I took it carefully and put it in a small container.

"Tha, don't be grubby!," Mickey warned.

I held the small container in my hand. "I'm not dirty, I just wanted to find out who the owner was and who was the person pacing around earlier" I felt a little relieved at the thought that I would soon find out who the person who had been haunting me today was. "No one can mess up with me."

…

Using a friend's connection at my college, I sent him a sample of cigarette butts, so I could find out who he was. I was quite happy today, even though I barely slept. After sending the used cigarette butts to my friend, I immediately got ready to go to school.

"Why so early in the morning?" Erick asked in an annoyed tone. I knew he also lacked sleep because of my arrival this morning. "Do you really want to count the pebbles in the schoolyard?" However, he was always the one I could rely on despite his sharp tongue.

I narrowed my eyes, looking at him irritated. "Sorry, I'm still sane for that!" He drove me this morning because I left my bike at school yesterday. "Ery, can you stop for a moment when we arrive at the old shop?"

Eric looked at me, confused. "Which one? The one near the bridge?!" I nodded in response.

…

The location of the shops I talked about is only about fifteen minutes by bicycle from my school. It is located in a small alley, with cast and potholes along the road as far as I can see. And I was sure it was the place that was presented in my dream yesterday. I just wanted to make sure what really was in there, why the manjis were also present, and they asked me to stay away from that place. I knew that if I had to stay away from it, it would be dangerous for me, but I wondered why I could not go to that place.

When we arrived, Erick had to park his car on the side of the road because he couldn't go in. The streets were narrow and had been badly damaged. "I'm coming," he said quickly as I was about to leave.

I just cleared my throat as I kept walking. Saying 'no' was useless. He had followed me, somehow.

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