Park Chanyeol was already at the dessert shop when I arrived. He quickly waved me over and I stopped right in front of him. I particularly chose this place because it was two blocks away from school, so not many students from our school passed by. Even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to see us easily because the shop was in the second floor of a building.

“You’re pretty fast.” I pointed out, thinking back to how much I hurried out of my classroom as soon as we were allowed. But then here I was, still arriving later than him.

“I was already waiting outside the school gates when Junmyeon called me. I thought you guys met outside the school so I hurried all the way here.” He grinned as he explained and I took notice of the beads of sweat trickling along the side of his head. I nodded at him, a little impressed by his effort. I guess he was excited to talk to his brother. Without any further delay, we stepped inside the shop.

“Welcome! Can I get you anything?” The server/cashier greeted as we made our way towards the counter to order. “We currently have a promo. If you order two regular sized bingsu’s you get a free serving of toast with a flavour of your choice.”

“Really? Great!” The boy beside me grinned in excitement, making me chuckle.

“Yes. It’s a promo for couples. Would it be okay if we took your picture and posted it on the bulletin board as part of the promotion?” The server asked, smiling back at him.

“Wait. What?” I blurt out in panic. Why was everyone mistaking us for a couple? “No! Um. I mean, we’re not a… couple.” I wave my hands to emphasize my point, and the server’s mouth forms an O in understanding. He makes a small apology, and I proceed to give him my order, trying not to look embarrassed.

I turned to Park Chanyeol expectantly and waited for him to give his order, and I noticed him looking taken aback. When he realized I was staring, his face straightened and he turned to the server. I turned to look at Chanshik and he was giving me the same look, except his hinted at disappointment. As if I had done something wrong.

As we walked towards a booth at the back of the shop, I couldn’t help but notice that both of them were sulking. I mean, they weren’t even trying to be discreet about it!

“What?” I snapped when we finally took our seats. Chanshik was seated right across me, beside his brother. I knew there was a problem because they were being obvious about it, but why couldn’t they just say it instead of frowning around?

“You just wasted a perfectly good chance to get free food!” Both of them complained, pouting like tiny puppies left by their mom. My eye twitched at the sight of it and I half-scoffed, half-laughed in a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

“First of all, I’m very sorry that you weren’t able to get a free, partially burnt, slice of bread.” I addressed Chanyeol first, my voice laced with sarcasm. “I’ll bring you one on Monday. And you.” I turned to Chanshik. “You’re not even going to eat!”

The two of them started to grumble to themselves, so I spoke again, “And can we please focus? We didn’t actually come here just for food, did we?” That finally caught their attention and I watched each boy deal with the embarrassment in their own ways.

“So. Where do we start?” I looked at them in anticipation. They were the ones who needed my help after all. I was just here to help them communicate.

“Can I…uh, ask something?” Chanyeol hesitated as he spoke. I nod at him encouragingly, until he continued, “How do are you doing this?”

For the next few minutes, I talked about how I was developing the ability to see and talk with the departed, and how it was an unusual gift/curse that has been passed down to the women in my family for generations.

Chanyeol did not speak a word as I gave detailed account of all the events leading to our fateful encounter, starting from my run-in with Chanshik on the streets, to his stalking me to convince me to help him, leading to my finding out that he was already dead, to my confessing everything to my mother and learning about my developing ability, up until the latest incident in the cafeteria.

Even as I finished talking, the Chanyeol remained quiet, his facial expression brooding. I peeped at Chanshik in case he had anything to add or say, but he seemed as if he was waiting for his brother to speak first. Without anything else to declare, I decided to eat my dessert in silence and let either of them decided when to break the silence.

“Um.” Chanyeol finally cleared his throat, “Can we try that thing again?”

It took me a few seconds to realize that what he meant by that thing was him holding me by the wrist so he could see Chanshik. I was just about to bring my hand out on the table when the younger twin interrupted, “Actually, can you guys try something out for me, first?”

My eyes went to Chanshik who instructed, “First, tell him to touch your blazer, instead.” I relayed his message to the elder Park who immediately obeyed. Then I watched as Chanyeol looked around him before shaking his head at me.

“Nothing.”

“I see.” Chanshik cupped his chin, engaging himself in thought. “Okay. This time, ask hyung to touch your hair.” So we went through another round of experimentation only to yield a negative result.

Chanshik bit his lip as he buried himself deeper in contemplation before speaking again, “How about you try having him touch your skin somewhere other than your arms.”

I looked at him cautiously, thinking this could be another bout of his teasing; but I saw nothing but seriousness and inquisitiveness in his face. So I sighed and, after contemplating on how to comply with his suggestion, gathered my hair to expose the side of my neck towards Chanyeol.

“Chanshik says to try touching somewhere other than my arms.” I explained.

From the corner of my vision, I saw him blink, his ears turning red. Nevertheless, Park Chanyeol bit his lip and brought his fingers in contact to my exposed neck. I swallowed nervously at his touch, but we got our first positive result when his face turned towards the spot Chanshik was sitting in.

“Alright. So now, we know that hyung can only see me when both of you engage in skin contact.” Chanshik declared in a matter-of-fact tone. Then faced his brother and added, “You lucky bastard.” I rolled my eyes at this while Chanyeol laughed. What's up with that?

“Oh yeah.” I interrupted, suddenly remembering something. “I have something to tell you.” I addressed Chanyeol, who responded by looking at me expectantly.

“What is it?”

“Chanshik wants to tell you that ‘The wolf is among a pack of monsters.’ Or something along those lines.” My face breaks into a grin as I finally deliver Chanshik’s message, who proceeds to clap for me in mock-praise.

“So proud of you.” He states in a deadpan expression.

“Whatever. At least I did it. Can I leave now?” I shot back jokingly, at which I felt the grip on my hand tighten. I gave Chanyeol a sideways glance, and smiled to reassure him I was just kidding. Soon I felt his fingers relax around my wrist.

“Wow, look at you two lovebirds.” Chanshik comments in a tone he tries to disguise as casual, but still comes off as teasing. Both Chanyeol and I shoot him unamused looks. His jokes were getting so old that they weren’t even embarrassing anymore.

“Actually, I have another question.” Both their eyes looked towards me, making me hesitate for a few seconds whether or not I really wanted to ask the question I had in my mind. But eventually, my curiosity won over my hesitation and I spoke,

“How did Chanshik die?”

A/N: Finally! This is the last part of the Seventh Encounter. :D And since I've run out of reserve chapters to upload, it'll probably take me until tomorrow to update again. I really tried to give Chanyeol more lines this chapter. I hope I succeeded with that. Still, I noticed the story's progress is starting to slow down due to this really long encounter. So I'll try to quicken the pace a little by the next few chapters. 

Anyway, how do you think Chanshik died? Got any theories? :D :D