Chapter 5

-The Boy-

Siyeon looked from the boy to Bora several times as she watched panic rise within the shorter girl. Everyone knew that Bora was terrified of ghosts, and this wasn’t the best news for Bora to hear. But Siyeon figured that she needed to know that there was a ghost staying in her apartment.

There wasn’t any way to sugarcoat this. There was a small ghost boy bouncing around Bora’s bed excitedly. Bora was known for one-night stands, and Siyeon was very grateful that Bora would never bring them back to her apartment.

“Siyeon… please tell me you are joking…” Bora said with a terrified whine. Her eyes were wide with panic as she clutched Siyeon’s wrist slightly stronger than intended.

Siyeon winced, causing Bora to release her wrist quickly as she looked pleadingly at Siyeon, but the girl just shook her head and looked at the boy. It didn’t change the fact that he was still there.

“I wish I could say that… why is he here?” Siyeon asked as Bora took a couple of steps backward out of the room.

“How the hell would I know!?!” Bora shouted as Siyeon smacked her shoulder.

“language! There is a child here!” Siyeon scolded as Bora rolled her eyes. She was getting scolded for swearing in her own apartment, and that irked her a bit.

“it's my own damn apartment I can do what I want!” Bora shouted and received another smack from Siyeon as her eyes went wide at the powerful strike.

“ouch!” Bora screamed as she held her shoulder. How could someone that had spent months in the hospital hit so HARD!

Bora held her arm as she pouted, but Siyeon just shook her head at her friend. This wasn’t the time to pout. There was a ghost jumping around on her bed right now.

“why is it here, damn it?!” Bora asked as Siyeon rolled her eyes.

“How the hell would I know?” Siyeon asked before Bora smirked and smacked Siyeon’s arm in retaliation.

“language!” Bora said smugly as Siyeon growled in frustration and pulled out her cell phone and dialed Yoohyeon. As the only one that has been looking up anything related to the supernatural, she was Siyeon’s best bet.

-Yoohyeon-

Handong was sleeping soundly until Yoohyeon’s phone went off with the annoying ringtone that her girlfriend loved. Handong groaned as she rolled on top of her girlfriend to grab the phone off of the nightstand and quickly shook Yoohyeon who didn’t stir even when she felt like she was being smothered.

“wha?” Yoohyeon asked as she lifted her head slightly. She was so hungover that she was only able to open one eye properly as her head pounded.

“phone…” Handong said as she tossed it onto Yoohyeon’s chest. The still somewhat drunk girl fumbled with the phone for a bit before successfully answering the call and putting it to her ear.

 “Hello?” Yoohyeon asked hoarsely when she heard Siyeon begin to shout. Yoohyeon quickly pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the offensive thing that just made her headache ten times worse.

“no yelling!” Yoohyeon shouted before putting the phone back to her ear. It worked because Bora stopped screaming, but the muffled sounds on the other side just made Yoohyeon think that Siyeon was just covering the smaller girl's mouth.

Siyeon squeaked a disgusted sound as she looked at her hand while Bora smirked. She had Siyeon’s palm. It successfully made the taller girl retract her hand.

“Eww!” Siyeon said as she wiped her hand on her pajamas and scowled at Bora, who only smirked smugly.

“sorry, Yoohyeon. We have a problem and need your knowledge of ghosts or whatever this is…” Siyeon said as she looked over to the ghost, who was still sitting on her bed with a happy smile on his face.

“what do you need me for exactly?” Yoohyeon asked as Siyeon explained the situation. It was hard for Siyeon to believe that she was seeing a ghost, but Yoohyeon took it surprisingly well. Mainly because she and the others already knew of Siyeon’s new ability, but Siyeon didn’t know that yet.

“ok. Send me the address? I will bring Handong. Can you call Dami and Gahyeon? It may take a bit for Gahyeon to get there because she lives the farthest while Dami is the closest, I believe…” Yoohyeon said after peeking at the address as she stumbled while trying to hop on one leg while struggling with her pants.

“oh, believe me, Gahyeon getting here won't be a problem…” Bora said smugly as Siyeon rolled her eyes.

“you know Dami is going to kill you, right?” Siyeon said as Bora shrugged.

“All I did is drop Gahyeon at Dami’s apartment. Handong and I know nothing about how Gahyeon got into her bed and undressed…” Bora said as Siyeon rolled her eyes while Yoohyeon paused and raised a suspicious brow at her girlfriend, who looked like the most innocent person in the world as she smiled sweetly at Yoohyeon.

The younger girl pointed silently at Handong, who just smiled. Yoohyeon wasn’t mad at her. She just wanted the details in the car later.

“ok, give me all of the details, and I will look it up while we drive,” Yoohyeon said as Siyeon explained. She completely missed the ‘we’ because she was too focused on the situation as she went over everything.

“alright. I will bring help too!” Yoohyeon said as she hung up. Handong groaned, knowing exactly who she had planned.

In the car, Handong went over Bora’s plan and how in unfolded as Yoohyeon cackled in the passenger seat only to regret it seconds later. Her hangover was not gone yet, and it reminded her of it as her head pounded severely.

On the way to Bora’s apartment, Handong swung by the ‘guest’ that Yoohyeon had planned, and soon they headed over to the apartment.

-Gahyeon and Dami-

Right after Siyeon hung up with Yoohyeon, she immediately called Dami. It didn’t take long for the girl to answer, and she sounded completely calm, which was the complete opposite that both girls expected.

“Hello?” Dami asked as she calmly answered the phone. She was expecting a call and wasn’t sure who was behind their positions this morning. Siyeon clearly wasn’t the one, though, because she remembered flashes of Siyeon ranting about Minji in an even worse drunken state than Dami, so it left Yoohyeon, Bora, or Handong.

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but we have a bit of a situation… there is a ghost in Bora’s apartment…” Siyeon said as Dami’s eyes went wide. The last Dami knew Siyeon didn’t know that the people that she was seeing were indeed ghosts.

“um… ok. What do you need me to do?” Dami asked as Siyeon told her Yoohyeon’s plan. Or what little of it that the taller girl was willing to spill. Siyeon had a bad feeling about this, but it was better to get this over with quickly than wait.

Siyeon didn’t know much about ghosts. What if he turned into a bad spirit because Bora wasn’t paying him enough attention or something? She didn’t want to leave Bora in a dangerous situation.

“ok. Gahyeon and I will be on our way.” Dami said as Siyeon looked at the phone and wondered exactly what happened when those two woke up.

“Gahyeon is there?” Siyeon asked, playing dumb as she waited for the quiet girl's answer.

“yes. I guess she wouldn’t give them her address. I woke up to find her passed out on my couch.” Dami said coolly. It was so frustrating to Siyeon. The girl was normally so calm even in tense situations, so Siyeon didn’t know if Dami was being serious or lying.

“ok, well, can you head over here? Bora is probably going to start shrieking again soon…” Siyeon said as she rubbed her temple as Dami agreed and hung up.

“It seems Siyeon now knows that she can see ghosts, and one just happens to be making itself comfortable in Bora’s bedroom,” Dami said as Gahyeon looked down at her. They were in the middle of an intense makeout session when Siyeon called, and Gahyeon had no idea how she could seem so calm while answering the call.

“but things were just getting fun…” Gahyeon said with a pout as she leaned down and kissed Dami softly. Their position was the result of Gahyeon forcefully shoving the taller girl onto the sofa.

Dami would usually complain because she was usually the one who would lead in a relationship, but right now, she couldn’t think of why that would ever bother her as she looked up into Gahyeon’s eyes. Dami had to admit that she liked seeing this unexpected side of Gahyeon.

With a sigh, Gahyeon let Dami up, and they quickly got dressed and went over to Bora’s apartment. They had agreed not to let the others know about their relationship yet. They wanted to go at their own pace without the others interfering, and with how nosey the girls were when the two arrived, they knew that they made the correct decision.

“um… who is this?” Dami asked as she looked at a blonde woman that was standing there with a smirk. Dami had never seen her before and had no idea why she was there but knew that she couldn’t be the ghost. Siyeon had said it was a little ghost boy, not a blonde girl dressed like a fortune teller.

“This is the great and powerful-“ Yoohyeon started to speak before the blond cut her off.

“you can just call me Taeyeon.” The woman said with a smile as Yoohyeon looked offended.

“hey! You said I couldn’t call you that and that I had to call you by your full title! The great and powerful Taeyeon!” Yoohyeon said as Handong rolled her eyes, and Taeyeon laughed.

“I just wanted to see if you would actually do it,” Taeyeon said as Yoohyeon pouted.

“told you…” Handong mumbled beside Yoohyeon as the taller girl elbowed her.

“so, I can just call you Taeyeon?” Yoohyeon asked as the girl shook her head.

“nope. You have already started calling me that. Wouldn’t it be rude to stop?” Taeyeon said with such a straight face that Yoohyeon couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious, so she walked over to Handong to sulk.

“anyway… I heard someone saw a ghost?” Taeyeon asked as everyone pointed to Siyeon.

“Thanks, guys. That was the fastest you have ever ratted me out…” Siyeon said as Taeyeon smirked. She liked this girl.

“have you been seeing spirits long?” Taeyeon asked as Siyeon shook her head.

“It started after I woke up from an accident. Do you know why this is happening to me?” Siyeon asked as everyone looked at Taeyeon expectantly.

“well, I could tell you that you must have had a brush with death that brought you closer to the void, and due to that, you are starting to see ghosts…” Taeyeon said as everyone listened intently.

“But I won't because the reason is most likely that someone in your family can see them. The accident triggered the ability to surface, but you wouldn’t be able to see them without someone in your family being born with the ability.” Taeyeon said as Yoohyeon pouted. She liked the ‘closer to the void’ answer better.

“so, this is happening to me because someone in my family can see ghosts too? Why wouldn’t they tell me?” Siyeon asked as the woman shrugged.

“How would I know what your parents were thinking? But maybe they didn’t feel the need to scare a child that wasn’t showing any signs of the ability?” Taeyeon said as Siyeon nodded. It made sense. As a child, Siyeon frightened easily.

“ok. Enough talk. Let's look at this ghost!” Taeyeon said as Siyeon nodded and led the woman to Bora’s bedroom.

When Taeyeon walked into the room, she instantly spotted the boy looking happily at her. But he seemed to be waiting for something.

As Bora walked in, the child's eyes lit up as he watched her with a smile. Taeyeon looked over to the smaller girl who was hiding in the doorway and then to the child. There was definitely a past between the two, and she needed to know that first before they could figure out what he needed to be able to move on.

“ok… this child… does anyone know who he is?” Taeyeon asked as Siyeon and Bora nodded.

“well, tell me the story. I need to know the backstory so that we can try to figure out what he needs to be able to leave here.” Taeyeon said as Bora shoved Siyeon, signaling for her to explain.

“the boy used to live in the same apartment complex that Bora and I lived in…” Siyeon said as Taeyeon raised a brow at the two girls.

“I wondered why you two looked so close…” Taeyeon teased as Bora laughed.

“her shy would never be able to handle me!” Bora said with a laugh as Siyeon scowled at the smaller girl before continuing.

“ANYWAY… the boy was known to have a heart condition, and he also seemed to have a crush on Bora. It was sweet. He would wait for her to come out of her apartment and shyly give her things. One day Bora walked out of her apartment to find him collapsed on the ground. She called me over, and we did CPR until the paramedics arrived, but there was nothing we could do…” Siyeon said as she looked at Bora, who frowned at the memory.

The boy reacted to her change in mood as he frowned and slowly walked over to Bora and tried to take her hand. But Bora just felt her hand getting cold and automatically put her hand in her pajama pocket to warm up.

“hmm… did you see that?” Taeyeon asked as Siyeon nodded. Everyone else was completely clueless, however and were getting frustrated.

“what? What happened?” Yoohyeon asked excitedly as Siyeon turned to her friends and explained.

“When I explained what happened, it seemed to bring back those memories for Bora. He didn’t like her looking upset and tried to hold her hand.” Siyeon said as Bora jumped and stepped back.

“he tried to WHAT?!?” Bora asked as she hid behind Gahyeon, who was rolling her eyes at her boss.

“he may be here due to you, Bora. Do you blame yourself for his death?” Taeyeon asked as Bora’s expression darkened. She didn’t like remembering this because she DID feel like it was her fault.

“if I had just gone outside earlier, I could have possibly saved him…” Bora said, but Siyeon and Taeyeon watched the child shaking his head. He disagreed with Bora’s statement.

“Siyeon, can you hear them too?” Taeyeon asked as Siyeon looked at her with a startled expression.

“well, I have never heard them say something…” Siyeon said as Taeyeon rolled her eyes.

“Have you ever asked them something that required an answer?” Taeyeon asked as Siyeon thought back and shook her head.

“no… can they talk?” Siyeon asked as Taeyeon nodded.

“they can, but not everyone can hear them. To be able to hear them, you need to have more than one family member that can see ghosts. If you can hear him, then you are going to be more of a help than I can be. I can only see them.” Taeyeon said as Siyeon nodded and knelt down in front of the boy.

“do you remember me?” Siyeon asked as the boy nodded. Getting him to try to speak might be difficult Siyeon thought as she chose her next question.

“do you remember your name? can you tell it to me?” Siyeon asked as the boy nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

“well?” everyone asked as they waited for Siyeon to speak anxiously. Even Taeyeon was waiting excitedly for the nurse to speak.

“his name is Sungjae, and he says he doesn’t like the pretty noona to be sad because of him...” Siyeon said as Bora looked shocked at Siyeon.

“he said that?” Bora asked as Siyeon looked up at her and nodded before looking back to Sungjae.

“Why are you still here? Why can't you move on?” Siyeon asked as the boy smiled happily. He was finally getting to say what he needed to say for years.

“I wanted to say thank you for trying to save me. But it's not your fault. I died before pretty noona ever opened her door. It's not her fault.” Sungjae said as he looked up and smiled at her happily.

Siyeon repeated his message as Bora started to tear up. She was soft for children and specifically had a soft spot for Sungjae. When he died, she was heartbroken and blamed herself, and that was why Sungjae couldn’t move on. He needed to thank her and tell her it wasn’t her fault.

“Bora, he wants to hold your hand. Can you hold out your hand?” Siyeon asked as Bora’s eyes widened in panic. She was terrified of a ghost touching her, but this wasn’t just any ghost. With a sigh, Bora pulled her hand from her pocket and held out her trembling hand.

Sungjae gently took it as Bora gasped. It was cold at first, but soon her hand felt warm as he smiled, and soon, his image started to flicker as he seemed to fade away.

“That was interesting…” Taeyeon said as Siyeon looked up at her in confusion.

“What is?” Siyeon asked as the woman looked over to Bora.

“he didn’t just leave. When he held your hand, he used some of his remaining essence and gave it to you for protection. He should be gone now, and he wanted you to be protected from the things you fear.” Taeyeon said as Bora looked at her hand. It still felt warm. It felt like he was holding her hand happily.

Her eyes began to tear as she closed her hand carefully and turned around. She was starting to get emotional, and it wasn’t the image she wanted to show the girls. She was their boss, after all.

“well, my work is done here! Don’t forget to pay me!” Taeyeon said with a smile as Yoohyeon pulled out an insane amount of money and handed it to Taeyeon, who then walked out of the house without saying another word.

“she was weird…” Dami said as everyone nodded in agreement.

“but she helped, didn’t she?” Yoohyeon asked as she frowned at her empty wallet.

“yes, she did. I didn’t know that I could talk to him. Dami? Did you see that man on the elevator?” Siyeon asked as Dami’s eyes went wide at the sudden attention.

“um… no. We kind of figured out you could see ghosts after that but didn’t know if we should tell you or not. We didn’t want to scare you…” Dami said as Siyeon nodded. She didn’t like being left out, but she understood why. She had just recovered from her fall after all.

The hospital must have many ghosts… if I can talk to them, maybe I can help some move on…” Siyeon said as Dami groaned.

“Siyeon… it's nice that you were able to help that boy, but getting involved with so many ghosts could be dangerous… remember that thing in room 413?” Dami said, but she could see the gears working in Siyeon’s head and muttered a soft ‘oh no…’ as Siyeon looked up excitedly.

“if I can get stronger at this, maybe we can get rid of that thing! Right now, it's like a shadow or smoke. But maybe if I strengthen this, I can see it better and be able to get rid of it before Minji has to stay on our floor!” Siyeon said excitedly as Dami and the others groaned. They could feel that they would all be dragged into Siyeon’s plans.

“as long as you get rid of them and keep them from me, I'm all for it!” Bora said as Dami groaned again.

“I will help too!” Yoohyeon said as Handong shook her head.

“no, you will not! You had a bible chucked at your head yesterday! You still have a bruise! If that thing happened to be a real bible, it could have possibly broken your neck!” Handong said as Yoohyeon pouted cutely.

“no!” Handong said as Yoohyeon crossed her arms and looked at her girlfriend stubbornly. Handong knew she had just lost. Yoohyeon was planning to do it anyway.

“fine! But you are not going to help alone! I'm with you, or you don’t help at all! Got it?” Handong said protectively as Yoohyeon smiled sweetly and nodded. She liked Handong being so protective of her.

The others smiled at how protective Handong was of her best friend and didn’t pick up on their relationship at all. But just like the others, Yoohyeon and Handong had no idea that their friends didn’t know that they were dating. They weren't hiding it after all.

“Siyeon? that Taeyeon girl mentioned that you must have family members that can see ghosts, right?” Gahyeon asked as Siyeon nodded.

“Is that why your parents never visited you when you were in the hospital and would have us video call them?” Gahyeon asked as Siyeon laughed.

It was no secret that her parents hated the hospital or any hospital, actually. They both had a huge fear of them. Her mother had always said that they were places where too much death happened, and soon, everything clicked.

That was why they never went to Siyeon’s hospital and would instead go to small clinics. There would be fewer ghosts.

“damn… that’s why?” Siyeon asked herself as Gahyeon shrugged. That was why she asked Siyeon. She wondered that exact thing.

“guess I need to call my parents later…” Siyeon said with a frown before smiling again. She now had a plan. A plan that could possibly keep Minji safe, and she couldn’t help but feel excited.

“oh god, I don’t like that expression…” Dami said with a groan. She knew that Siyeon would drag her into whatever plan she was making and sighed in defeat.

“I'm doomed…” Dami said as Gahyeon rubbed her back supportively.