Afternoon came and I finally hauled myself out of bed when my mom called me to go outside. I felt exhausted despite not really doing anything the whole day, but I didn’t complain when she asked me to step out to buy some stuff at the grocery store near our place.

“You have company.” My mom pointed out as I descended down the stairs. I knew she could feel Chanshik, even though she wasn’t looking at him.

“Mom, meet Chanshik. Chanshik, meet my mom.” It felt awkward introducing my mother to someone she couldn’t see.

“Nice to meet you Chanshik. Although I can’t really see you, I can feel you’re a responsible young man. Could you please try and keep Paran out of trouble?” She smiled at me playfully as she directed her words to no one (she could see) in particular. Chanshik snorted at this, and I shot him an ‘I-am-not-amused’ look.

After a couple more exchanges between him and my mother (mediated by me), Chanshik and I were finally able to leave the house. As we walked along the narrow streets of my neighbourhood, Chanshik and I had this sort of comfortable silence between us. Neither of us spoke, not because there was nothing we could think of saying, but because we didn’t feel the need to. We had decided earlier to proceed as we had initially planned. Tomorrow, I was going to have a serious talk with his brother.

I suddenly remembered I question I wanted to ask him; but as we turned around a corner towards the main road, we bumped into someone I knew.

“Oh, Yaehee!” I blinked repetitively in surprise when I saw Yaehee in my neighbourhood. I knew that she didn’t live around here so I was pretty curious about her sudden appearance, when I noticed her carrying my bag.

“I brought your stuff.” Yaehee smiled sheepishly, holding my bag with one hand and pushing a pair of glasses up her face with the other. Well that’s new. I quickly glanced at her get up and noticed that she was already wearing casual clothes. It was already pretty late in the afternoon, after all.

“Thank you. Really.” I shoot her a grateful look as I take my stuff from her.

“Jae-eun and I made copies of our notes and the home work. I put them in there, too.” She looked at me proudly and I can’t help but chuckle at how cute she is.

“Gosh, Yaehee. Are you trying to make me owe you my life?” I cried teasingly.

“Of course not, silly!” Yaehee laughed and hit my shoulder playfully. “But just in case, I call dibs on your kidneys.” She winks at me and we both burst out in laughter.

“Oh, but, Paran?” The sudden change in her tone from playful to cautious caught my attention and I stop walking and look at her face. And I could tell she was about to say something that was going to make me feel uncomfortable. “I was there… outside your house last night.”

“Oh.” My eyes widened in realization. “OH! You mean..?” I take note of her expression and confirm my suspicion.

“You know, if you need someone to talk to Jae-eun and I are always here.” She smiled sadly at me, and it made a tiny part of me guilty. I glance towards Chanshik instinctively, who had an unreadable expression on his face. And when I turn back to Yaehee, it appeared as if she noticed because she was looking at his direction as well. What?

“Paran?” Yaehee calls my name once again, and the fact that she hasn’t taken her eyes off the spot where Chanshik is makes me feel uncomfortable.

“Yes?” My voice breaks with nervousness.

“See you tomorrow.” She finally turns to look at me with a smile that leaves me feeling even more confused than I already was.

“Paran.” The sound of my own name was starting to get uncomfortable to my ears, what with it being repeated over and over throughout the whole day, and being followed by questions and statements I was never ready for.  

Chanshik looked like he was hesitating about telling me something. We hadn’t moved a single inch, even though it had been a few minutes since Yaehee left. Something about the short exchange with her earlier set off something between me and Chanshik. It’s as if the comfortable silence between us earlier was now replaced by a forced one. The kind of silence that exists when you want to say something but at the same time you don’t want to. Because what you’re about to say might suddenly change everything. And you’re not sure if you want that change.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that I didn’t want it.

So I decided to walk instead. Chanshik followed behind me quietly but I could feel that he was still thinking about saying what was occupying probably both of our minds at the moment. The only difference between us was that I had stopped entertaining those thoughts and he hadn’t.

We stayed quiet for the remainder of the trip to the store, with me trying to focus on the things I needed to buy, and with Chanshik stumbling (if a ghost can stumble) behind me lost in thoughts. The fact that he wasn’t even trying to be discreet about being distracted was starting to irritate me so when we were out of the store and away from other people’s line of sight, I spun towards him and snapped, “Well?”

I saw him jump a little in surprise, snapping out of his thoughts. He fixed me with a confused look which was even more annoying and I roll my eyes.

“Don’t play dumb. You obviously have something to say. Just say it.” I spat at him, not unaware that I was being angry over nothing. And the fact that even I know how petty I was being made me feel even more crappy.

Chanshik opened his mouth to speak and I suddenly feel nervous, regretting telling him to speak his mind. He closed his mouth without saying anything, to my relief and I was about to walk away when he finally spoke, “Are you mad at me?”

I looked at him, which was a mistake, because then I couldn’t look away in case he takes that for an answer. At the same time I didn’t want to respond to his question, so instead I just stood there to stare at him all the while trying to stop myself from huffing in frustration.

For what I felt was quite a long time, we just stared at the other that it felt like we were having a staring contest. And just as I was about to give up, Chanshik’s face broke out into a smirk. “Don’t worry. Even if your friend can see me, I’m not going to go ask her for help instead of you. I’m a very loyal person and I’m not going to replace you. So don’t be jealous, okay?”

I scoffed in disbelief. The is this kid talking about? I was not jealous. Disappointed maybe, because just as my mom told me I had this “special ability”, I go ahead and find out my friend might actually be able to do the same thing. Talk about being special! BUT JEALOUS? EXCUSE HIM, WHY SHOULD I BE?

I opened my mouth intending to give him a piece of my mind, when Chanshik started again. “Oops. Now I think you’re really mad. I’ll see you tomorrow. Be careful going home, noona.” I knew he purposefully drew out that last part to tease me. The little even had the nerve to wink at me! I really wanted to make sure he gets it, but the next time I blinked my eyes, he was gone. And I was left to stomp my feet and curl my fists tightly around the bags I was holding all the way home in anger. 

A/N: Early update because I suddenly need to go away for the day and I might not be able to upload this later. Also, yay for this long-ish chapter! Didn't bother to split it into parts because I thought it was fine this way. :D Not sure if I'm going to be able to give you updates for the next two days but I will try! Cheers~