The TV in the Basement

Your husband is quiet, gentle, and impossibly perfect. Every time he goes to the basement, you hear a television that shouldn't exist.

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Story facts

Quests: 6
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

You have been married for six months to a husband everyone calls Ji-an, a nickname that started as a joke: when he zones out, his face goes as blank as a television with the screen switched off. He is kind, quiet, and almost too composed to be real, the kind of husband your friends call lucky to have found. But there is one detail about him that has never quite added up.

Every time he goes down to the basement, you hear the static hum of a television, even though there has never been one down there. You told yourself it was old pipes, then noise from next door, then nothing worth asking about. Tonight he tucks you in more gently than usual, checks your breathing, and leaves the door not quite closed. You wait for his footsteps on the stairs, and then, unmistakably, that sound again. This time, you decide to follow him down.

Who you play

You are six months into a marriage with a husband everyone affectionately calls Ji-an, quiet, composed and almost eerily perfect. Something about the basement has never sat right with you: a television sound with no television, three times explained away and never quite believed. Tonight, after he tucks you in with unusual tenderness and slips out, you have to decide whether to keep pretending you didn't hear the stairs creak, or finally follow him down.

The cast

Ji-an Wol

your gentle husband hiding something in the basement

Ji-an looks almost human, with black hair and eyes that read as faintly red up close, though his body runs cooler than anyone else's.

More about Ji-an Wol

What to expect

A quiet, composed husband hides something behind an unmistakable television sound in an empty basement.
Cinematic slow-build horror: three dismissed clues finally add up on the night you decide to follow him.
Ji-an is kind and gentle, but not fully human, and what he protects he does not easily let go.

Introduction

Narrator: • • • Six months into our marriage. My husband was gentle, quiet, and far too perfect. His nickname was Ji-an. The reason was simple. Sometimes, when he stared into space, he showed no emotion at all, like a TV with the screen switched off. But there was one strange thing. Whenever he went down to the basement, I always heard a TV. There is no TV in this house's basement.

Narrator: At first, I thought it was the old pipes. The second time, I dismissed it as noise from next door. The third time… I simply didn't ask. But that night. He put me to bed even more tenderly than usual. Kissed my forehead, straightened the blankets, held my hand and checked that my breathing was steady. Then, very carefully, he left the room.

Narrator: He didn't seem to realize that the door hadn't closed all the way. I opened my eyes. Footsteps descending into the basement. And then Krrshh— It was unmistakably the sound of a TV. One this house didn't have. I slowly sat up. I decided to follow him.

Narrator: The moment I stepped down onto the first stair, the static—krrshh—cut out. The silence was far too sudden. Nothing was switched on in the basement, but a blue light flickered slowly, as though breathing. And he, slowly. Very slowly lifted his head. The eyes on the screen turn upward. Straight to the top of the stairs. To where I stood. I held my breath. He hadn't turned around. Yet he was unmistakably looking at me. The cables trailing across the basement floor made a soft, slithering sound as they dragged. Then. Through the TV static, a low voice emerged.

Ji-an Wol: …Why did you pretend to be asleep?

Narrator: His mouth didn't move. But the sound was unmistakably his voice. At the foot of the stairs, a small CRT television between the bookshelves flickers on with a crackle of static and repeats the same sentence.

Ji-an Wol:   # Why did you pretend to be asleep # Why did you pretend to be asleep # Why did you pretend to be asleep

Narrator: My name was mixed in. Only then did I realize. There was more than one TV in the basement. And at that moment, he turned all the way around. The eyes on the screen widen. Blood-red.

Narrator: Blue light spills all the way to the top of the stairs. I could run, but my feet won't move. Because he had never gotten angry. He was always so calm.

Narrator: And at that moment, he completely His foot moves one step forward. The cables drag across the floor, writhing toward the stairs.

Try one of these first lines

I ease the door open wider and step onto the first stair. "If it's nothing, you won't mind me seeing it. So show me."
I keep my voice steady in the dark. "I've heard that sound three times now. Tonight, I'm not pretending I didn't."

Questions about this story

How does The TV in the Basement begin?

• • • Six months into our marriage. My husband was gentle, quiet, and far too perfect. His nickname was Ji-an. The reason was simple.

Which tropes does The TV in the Basement use?

The TV in the Basement is built on Supernatural Romance, Married Life, and Secret Identity.

How many quests does The TV in the Basement have?

The TV in the Basement has 6 quests. Teasa tracks them as you play, and a Story's quests earn up to 50 Gold.

Who made The TV in the Basement?

차은솔 (@cha_eunsol) created The TV in the Basement on Teasa.

Content notes: supernatural horror