"Maybe I can help?" A male voice spoke.

Sunggyu and Hoya immediately looked to their sides. Myungsoo was standing calmly in the middle of the pink hallway.

An uneasy feeling settled in Sunggyu's chest. "How do I know you're not going to turn into that ghost woman?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about. It's my first time seeing you two like this." Myungsoo responded quietly.

Hoya glanced at Sunggyu. "He turned into the ghost before?"

"Yeah then tried to steal my soul before Dongwoo saved me." Sunggyu replied.

"How do you know it was the real Dongwoo?"

Myungsoo spoke up. "His soul is trapped like mine, but the two of us have some freedom to move around this house as ourselves. The woman can take on our forms because she's holding our souls as prisoners, so the me you saw before was obviously her since my figure changed in front of you."

Sunggyu nodded slowly, still a bit on edge. "Okay...then why is it just you and Dongwoo floating around like this?"

"Sungyeol and Sungjong completely gave up and let themselves be completely under the woman's control." Myungsoo replied with a bit of sadness in his voice.

"...that makes sense...when I tried to escape and Hoya grabbed my hand, they were stopping me from getting away because I told them I was going to set them free and kill the ghost." Sunggyu glanced at the side wall.

Myungsoo's eyes rose. "Oh that's not good."

"Why not?" Hoya asked.

"The woman knows what her prisoners are doing. She can sense where we go and who we talk to. I'm clearly breaking a rule talking to you two right now and will get the same punishment as Dongwoo. But now that Sungjong and Sungyeol know that you want to kill the woman, they'll relay that information to her and she'll attack."

"Attack? You mean do something other than steal our souls?" Sunggyu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, something far more painful. Once she has your soul, she'll show you all the pain she ever experienced when she was alive and you will feel all of it happening to your own body."

"Oh my god..." Hoya glanced at Sunggyu.

"It's excruciating." Myungsoo lowered his head and sighed. "The pain she holds onto is the key thing that keeps her here."

"Wasn't it the souls she gathers? That's what you--I mean she, told me before." Sunggyu said.

"Our souls make her more powerful, but if her pain is removed completely, she'll pass on." Myungsoo replied.

"How are we supposed to remove her pain? I don't think talking to her about her problems is going to be very effective." Hoya said.

"I'm not sure..." Myungsoo admitted quietly. "All I know is that she likes Sunggyu hyung."

Sunggyu shivered. "Don't remind me. Why does she even like someone like me?"

"Maybe you look like someone she liked when she was alive?" Hoya shrugged.

"That's not likely." Myungsoo shook his head. "She was a bit of a loner when she was alive. She didn't have many friends and all she cared about was working all the time. She was never interested in a relationship."

"Why not?" Sunggyu asked.

Myungsoo opened his mouth but then became very still, as if he was listening to something very carefully.

Hoya blinked and took a step forward. "Myungsoo? Are you okay?"

The walls rumbled and shook, causing the lights to flicker on and off briefly.

"...I'm in a lot of trouble." Myungsoo sighed.

Sunggyu and Hoya tried to steady themselves as the hallway continued to shake.

"Why is the hallway shaking? I thought you said this was like our safe zone in this house?!" Hoya looked at Sunggyu.

"I didn't know then and I don't know now!" Sunggyu retorted.

"It is to an extent." Myungsoo said, remaining completely still. "But if you go through a hallway entrance or zone out, you won't be safe anymore."

"Yeah we figured that out a long time ago!" Sunggyu leaned into the wall to keep himself from falling over.

Suddenly, Myungsoo bent over and let out a pained groan.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Hoya called out through the loud rumbling.

Myungsoo's head dropped and his body stumbled to the side, hitting the pink wall roughly. He sunk down to the floor and remained limp.

Seconds later, the hall slowly quieted down and stopped shaking. Hoya immediately ran to Myungsoo's side and shook his shoulder.

"Myungsoo are you okay??" Hoya asked.

As Sunggyu moved away from the wall, Myungsoo's head slowly rose and his gaze met Hoya's. Myungsoo only smiled with narrowed eyes.

Sunggyu's heart stopped in his chest. "Hoya, get away from h--!"

Before Sunggyu could finish his sentence, Myungsoo's hand wrapped around Hoya's neck. Hoya's eyes widened as he tried to pry Myungsoo's hand away.

"No!" Sunggyu tried to move forward but his entire body suddenly slowed down like he was trying to run through water. Then an actual hand grabbed the back of his shirt and he was pulled backwards into the purple and pink-lit room. He fell into his back with a loud grunt and his gaze was fixed on the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Woohyun leaned over Sunggyu, staring down at him calmly.

Sunggyu’s eyes widened and he immediately pulled himself up, backing away from Woohyun. “S-stay away!”

Woohyun blinked, clearly hurt. “That’s what I get for saving you just now?”

“Don’t play around with me, I saw you before. You’re her prisoner now!” Sunggyu exclaimed.

“Isn’t that word a bit harsh? Look, it’s really not as bad as I thought it would be. I’m not scared anymore about being in this house.” Woohyun shrugged one shoulder.

“Of course you’re not! I’m not stupid Woohyun, I know what you’re going to try to do now and I’m not having any of it. I need to get back out into the pink hallway and save Hoya.”

“There’s no hope for him now. She has him right in the palm of her hands.” Woohyun took a step forward. “Once that happens, it’s all over. Soon I’ll be able to sense him like I can sense almost everyone else. Wouldn’t it be cool to have that kind of power?”

“It’s not power!” Sunggyu stared at Woohyun unbelievably. “You’re trapped! You’re a prisoner!”

“No, we’re not.” Woohyun answered. “We’re more like permanent house guests; we have a house to live in and the ability to sense each other’s movements. As long as we take care of our mistress’s needs, we can live contently.”

“That’s slavery, Woohyun! Wake up!!” Sunggyu shouted, becoming more and more frustrated.

“I am awake.” Woohyun said bluntly.

Sunggyu sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Okay, obviously I’m not going to be able to talk sense into you, so if you don’t mind, I’m just gonna leave you alone in peace and quiet since you like it here so much.”

Woohyun shook his head. “I know what your intentions are, Sunggyu. Sungjong and Sungyeol told me. You can’t leave this room.”

“…what if I told you my intentions changed?” Sunggyu asked.

Woohyun didn’t answer.

“Yeah, they totally changed. You know what? I want to become like you and the others. Screw Hoya.” Sunggyu said using his best poker face.

“You decided that pretty hastily.” Woohyun mused.

“Well your description of being the woman’s ‘house guest’ made it sound a little more comforting. You inspired me to change my mind.”

Woohyun continued to stare Sunggyu down quietly.

“…and I have absolutely no problem with following the woman’s orders. She likes me the best anyway, right? So what better way to end all of this than by giving in easily?” Sunggyu shrugged.

“Yeah…she does like you the most.” Woohyun suddenly sounded a bit sad. “I’d be lying if I said I felt a little jealous about that…”

Sunggyu blinked. “You think she’s pretty?”

“Absolutely!” Woohyun’s eyes widened. “Her face is a good balance of cute and pretty and her hair is really nice.”

“So the pale, yellow eyes don’t bother you at all?”

“Those are her best features.” Woohyun smiled.

“Of course they are.” Sunggyu muttered under his breath.

“You don’t agree?” Woohyun’s eyes narrowed.

“O-of course I do!” Sunggyu straightened up. “I could look into them all day.”

“Me too.” Woohyun smiled again and sighed a little. “But there’s nothing I can do about it. You are her favorite, so as you said, the best thing to do is to give you to her. She will be very happy.”

“How is that going to happen?” Sunggyu asked.

“All we have to do is wait. She’ll come any moment now.” Woohyun responded.

About a minute of silence went by until the pink and purple lights started to flicker. Sunggyu subtly moved his hand inside of his side pocket and kept it there, glancing around the room and then at Woohyun.

Woohyun grunted and bent over like Myungsoo did, but instead of falling over, a black aura started to envelope Woohyun’s body until none of it could be seen anymore. Sunggyu watched as the ghost woman’s body rose form the aura. The aura slowly dispersed throughout the room and the woman looked up at Sunggyu, her pale, yellow eyes staring him down sharply.