Warning: Surprisingly long chapter ahead. Okay. Maybe not that long. 

As if the whole day hadn’t been stressful enough, fate had decided to throw me into a situation I could not wrap my head around.

“Hyung?” Chanshik’s voice shook as he cautiously called out to his brother. Meanwhile, I felt like my brain had just stopped working. What is happening? The feeling of nausea I had earlier was beginning to come back.

“Chanshik, is that—is that really you?” Park Chanyeol looked like he had just seen a ghost—which he had, if you think about it. And the realization of it hit me like a rock.

“Y-you can see me, hyung?” Chanshik looked like he couldn’t believe what was happening and neither could I. My eyes darted back and forth between the two, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, the situation felt as if I was intruding on something and I forced myself to look at the floor.

“But, you’re… I mean, this is… How?” Confusion was evident in Park Chanyeol’s voice, but I swear I could hear a hint of hope that made my heart swell.

“I’m not really sur—wait.” My head turned towards the sound of realization in Chanshik’s voice. His eyebrows were scrunched up, and he was looking towards where my hands were connected with his brother’s. I felt my cheeks heat up at the sight. “Try letting go of Paran’s hand.”

The other boy looked at him in confusion but complied. It didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for him to grip my wrist again, and I flinched slightly at the sudden increase in pressure. Puzzled by what just happened, I look up to find the Park Chanyeol giving me an intense gaze.

“What are you?” I blink at his question, suddenly unsure what to answer. What am I really? A spirit medium? Definitely not. A seer? No wait, that’s different. What about—

“Hyung, that’s a pretty rude question.” My thoughts were interrupted by Chanshik’s comment, and I realized that he was right.

“You know, Chanshik’s right.” I yanked my arm out of Park Chanyeol’s grip and sent him an admonishing glare. “You’ve been asking me the same questions over and over again. Why do you even need to ask me that? What do I look like to you, huh?”

“No—I mean” I step back as he tried to hold on to me again. This was my chance to get back at him for his outbursts during the first time we met; and it wasn’t like I was still angry at him for that but I didn’t want him to think I was just some tool he could use to talk to his brother. Seeing me dodge him, Park Chanyeol halted in place and looked at me with an offended expression that, I must admit, made me slightly guilty. “I’m sorry. I just… I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Hm.” I hummed in dissatisfaction. I suppose he looked like he was really sorry so I decided to forgive him easily. In a way, I guess I could understand what he was feeling. I would probably be confused, if not angry, too if my twin died and then someone started telling me she’d been talking to them. In the end, none of us could really comprehend this absurd situation and how any of it could be possible.

“So, can I… um… touch you?” Chanshik snorted at his brother’s awkwardly phrased request and I felt my face redden. Nevertheless, I my hand out towards him, but directed my gaze elsewhere to hide my burning cheeks. Once I felt his fingers wrapped around my wrist, I let my hand drop to a more comfortable height, and then I turned to Chanshik—who was now smirking at the two of us.

“You guys look so cute together.” This brat!  

“I swear, Chanshik. If I hear another word from you…” I warned him in an attempt to overcome my embarrassment. He immediately responded by pretending to zip his mouth shut, but the expression on his face indicated he was still feeling very humorous. I decided to ignore it, since I already got what I wanted—which was for him to stop making the situation any more awkward than it already was.

“Paran?”

I whipped around to face Jae-eun, looking at me and Park Chanyeol in curiosity until her line of sight fell on our hands. When I realized the compromising position we were in, I immediately withdrew my hand hiding it behind my back as if I’d just been caught stealing.

“I-it’s not what you think it is!” I blurted out without thinking, and I immediately regretted it because I realized how I only made myself sound defensive. Jae-eun just stood there with narrowed eyes, as she looked back and forth between Park Chanyeol and me.

“Jae-eun, have you found—“ I felt my anxiousness grow as Yaehee appeared behind her. opened in shock when she saw us, but I noticed that she was mostly staring at Park Chanyeol. When I followed her gaze back to the boy beside me, I thought I saw a hint of recognition in his eyes. It piqued my interest and I made a mental note to ask about it later.

Meanwhile, the three of us (four if you counted Chanshik but none of them could see him now) stood planted in our respective positions, a pregnant silence hanging in the air. That is, until someone cleared their throat.

“I-uh- I’m going to go back to the caf. Meet with me later?” Park Chanyeol’s eyes met mine briefly as he posed the question. Then he walked off without waiting for my response. Which meant that I was left with my two friends, who were now staring at me like hungry wolves.

“So,” I let out a nervous laugh in an attempt to clear the tension, “Should we go back and have lunch, too?”

Jae-eun narrowed her eyes at me like a hawk watching its prey, and I knew she was not going to let the situation slide that easily. I braced myself for a series of interrogations, when Yaehee spoke, “Okay. Let’s go.” Then she linked arms with me and led me towards the lunchroom, smiling as if nothing had happened. And as much as Yaehee’s behavior puzzled me, I felt grateful that she decided not to push it further. Jae-eun, on the other hand, followed us quietly; but not without piercing holes through the back of my head with her eyes. 

I pretty much expected the staring and whispering to intensify after the second time something like that happened, but as I stepped inside the classroom after lunch, there was complete silence. It made me even more nervous than earlier because these were my classmates, people that I actually interacted with on a daily basis (even if I wasn’t really close to any of them).

“Relax, Paran.” I almost flinched when Chanshik appeared behind me out of nowhere. I knew I should be getting used to it but there were too many things happening around me that my mind couldn’t keep up all the time. This time I didn’t respond to him, only taking out my notebook to scribble in it in order to distract myself from everyone’s unwanted attention. Soon enough, my classmates started going about in their own businesses and I was finally able to relax a little.

The rest of the afternoon classes went by painfully slow, partially because I was dying to get out of school and away from the curious looks of the student body. So as soon as the final bell rang, I jumped up from my seat, hastily throwing my stuff in my bag, and made my way out of the classroom—not forgetting to bid my ‘see you tomorrows’ to Yaehee and Jae-eun before I went. I could sense Chanshik trailing behind me and I smiled at the thought that I was  finally starting to get used to knowing when he was around.

“What the—“ I screeched to a halt as I turned round a corner in the hallway right beside the stairway, almost bumping into someone. When I looked up, I recognized the person to be one of Park Chanyeol’s close friends. Great. I thought to myself sarcastically.

“Oh. It’s you.” The recognition was evident in his voice and it made me feel a little irritated. I bowed slightly and uttered a small apology, not caring that it wasn’t necessarily my fault we almost collided into each other, because I wanted to get away from him as soon as possible. But then he spoke again, “Chanyeol was looking for you earlier. He was asking around which class you’re from.”

Hearing that from him made me stop in my tracks. “Would you know where he is right now?”

He grinned at me then he shrugged, and I noticed dimples forming on both sides of his face. I took the chance to observe his facial features and decided that he was good-looking just like the rest of Park Chanyeol’s group of friends. Still he had this sort of fatherly aura about him that made him seem like a pretty nice guy.

His smile slowly turned into a smirk making me realize that he had caught me staring. “I’m Kim Junmyeon. You can call me Suho.” A perfect set of pearly whites greeted me as he beamed.

“Oh. I’m—“

“Paran, right? Nam Paran.” He interrupted before I could even introduce myself, looking quite proud of himself. I almost cringed when he winked at me.

“So,” He took out his phone and my eyes widened. Wait. Was he about to ask for my number?

 “Puhahahat!” I blinked at him several times, puzzled by his sudden laughter.

“No. I mean… It’s just, you looked really afraid that I was going to ask for your number.” He explained between fits of laughter. Okay. Maybe not. It’s not like I felt disappointed. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t feel slight humiliated that he knew exactly what I was thinking, and that I was wrong.

“Don’t worry. I’m not the kind of guy who hits on his friend’s girl, after all.” Wait. What?  My eyes were probably the size of saucers when I gaped at him. Did he just--

“So, do you want me to call him? You guys could meet somewhere for an after-school date.” He wagged his eyebrows as he said this and it was all I could do to keep myself from face palming. Still, I put on a straight face and asked him to tell Park Chanyeol to meet me in the bingsu shop right in front of the bus station two blocks away from school. 

A/N: My longest chapter so far. Cheers! I'd been writing earlier this day in my notebook (in the middle of a lecture) and lo and behold, without realizing it I was able to write around 4 pages (around font-size 6). Haha. I still have some left to type but I'll probably be uploading them tomorrow or the day after (bcuz lyf, /heh). 

Enjoy~ ;)

P.S. There's a fifth part. I know. This is getting out of hand. Hahaha!

P.P.S. Did you know that the main character's name Paran (파란 ) means blue.? And her full name, Nam Paran (남파란) is supposed to sound like 'I'm blue.' I'd originally planned to use colors as character names in this story but then I forgot about it. OTL 

Oh well~