Word count : 1950

“it's fascinating to hear your heartbeat because I do not have one”

℘

Jungkook rolled on the soft carpet as he watched Seokjin came to the living room with a tray on his hand. Probably some food. Suga was sitting on the couch with his eyes closed while Namjoon walked behind Seokjin. Then the door opened and Jimin stepped inside with wet hair and soaked clothes. It was raining outside. He then jumped onto Hoseok who was changing the channels on the TV. “Yah Jimin! You're ing wet,go away!” Jimin giggled and slowly sat down beside Hoseok. They were always like this on weekend. Staying at Seokjin's house and watching movies and of course,eating. “Hyung,I'm freezing.” Jungkook murmured to Namjoon,who passed the blanket to the younger boy. “Jungkook?” Namjoon spoke softly,as Jungkook looked at him,eyes wide.

“Yeah?”

“You can still see them?” The black hair boy nodded,as his eyes flickered to the kitchen. A girl was there,with long,messy black hair covering her face. A loose dress wrapped her body,which covered with patches of blood. Her legs and arms were pale,like porcelain. He quickly looked back at Namjoon,who immediately understood what he saw with the look in his eyes. “It's getting worse. Usually I saw just the shadows,or hints that they were there. But now,I can see their full form. Like they know that I'm used to them.” Seokjin listened to their conversation,chewing a candy in his mouth. “I'm worried. You live alone. I'm afraid the spirits will do something bad to you.” He chuckled and wrapped his shoulder with the maroon towel. He buried his face in the fabric,smelled like Seokjin. “Nonsense. They are not that brave,hyung.” He looked back at the kitchen. Nothing. Maybe she went to the other house. “But what if—”

Namjoon stopped when sleeping Jimin waved his arms aimlessly. “Yoongi hyung~ Kiss me nowww.” He then burped and his arms slowly went down,as he snored again. “He's drunk.” Seokjin exclaimed with a laugh. Namjoon scoffed and looked at Jungkook,who was looking at the empty air. “Kookie,pass the remote to me.” Hoseok asked as the younger boy threw the remote to his lap. He then turned to his left,and he flinched when his nose met the previous girl's. Her wet hair was framing her oval,pale face. Her eyes were staring at him,they were red. Her nose was cold,so cold that Jungkook could feel himself shivering. Her lips were pale and wet,like she just get out from water after a very long time. She was crouching in front of him,with their noses still touching. “Kookie?” Hoseok called out as he stared curiously at the boy. He was looking at the empty space with wide eyes and his fingers were shaking. “Jungkook?” Namjoon tried to call again,his voice was hoarse,as he started to notice the reason Jungkook was like that. Jungkook couldn't take his eyes away from her red ones. They were piercing at him.

“Help him.”

The spirit spoke slowly,her voice was surprisingly like she was on the verge of crying. Jungkook started to notice that her dress was soaking wet,her hair too. Water droplets were dripping from the tips of her fingers. “Who?” Tears fell from her eyes. “My brother. Help him. Please,I beg you.” Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows. “Why? What's wrong with him?” The spirit kept sobbing,but her eyes still glued on his. “I wanted him to go up in peace. Please,help him.” Go up? The spirit brought up her fingers and touched Jungkook's soft cheeks. That sent chills to him,but it somehow made him feel,quite calm. “Please.” Then she vanished into the thin air. “Jungkook? Who are you talking to?” Seokjin asked,his face was pale,along with the other 2 guys beside him.

“Hyung,I think I need to go home.”

℘

The road was surprisingly a lot colder that night. Jungkook stuffed both of his hands inside his hoodie's pockets. He kept walking,as a rustling noise came from the tree near him. He didn't bother to look up but the noise continued which finally made him to look up. He gulped. There was a girl,maybe around the age of 6,sitting on the branch. She was smiling at him,with pitch black eyes and bleeding lips. He quickly turned away and kept up his pace. He turned left and arrived at his small house. He unlocked the door and stepped inside,switching on the lamps. He plopped onto the couch and closed his eyes,a sigh escaped his lips. Help him. His eyes fluttered open. The girl's voice kept appearing in his mind. He ran his fingers through his hair and got up,heading to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of orange juice.

He gulped the juice a little before putting it back into the fridge. Sour. The taste made his throat hurt. He turned around,and he froze. There was someone,no,a spirit sitting on his kitchen counter. But he was not standing still because he was afraid,but the spirit made his heart beat faster,in a different way. It was a boy,maybe around his age. His hair was the colour of hazelnut,his bangs resting on his forehead. His hair looked quite messy but that strangely made him look more attractive. His eyes,they were not red or pitch black,but gray. His eyelashes were long. His lips were red,they looked so inviting,so soft,Jungkook felt like he wanted to kiss those—stop.

Jungkook what were you thinking. Gosh. His skin was pale,but looked more alive. More alive than what spirits' skin were supposed to be. His hands were playing with Jungkook's pot on the stove. He didn't seem to notice that Jungkook was staring at him. He was wearing a loose t-shirt and jeans. “Umm,hello?” He dropped the pot on the ground with a loud metal clanking sound (?). His eyes looked at Jungkook,he looked like he was afraid. Jungkook melted a bit in the inside when those light gray eyes looked at him. “You can see me?” His voice was deep,and it felt like lullaby in Jungkook's ears. “Yeah. I can see things like you.” The spirit slowly went down,carefully placing his feet on the floor. “I'm sorry for bothering you. I—I'll go now.”

“NO!” Jungkook suddenly shouted,causing the spirit to jump in surprise. “Why?” He asked,his eyes were wide,and he looked like a cute,antisocial puppy. “I mean,it's okay if you want to stay—I,I'm okay with that.” The spirit grinned,and Jungkook saw that his teeth were replaced with fangs. “I'm Jungkook by the way. Jeon Jungkook.” He exclaimed,his eyes glued on the spirit's collarbone. “I'm Kim Taehyung.” Taehyung. “So,why are you here in the first place?” Taehyung shrugged. “I don't remember… I woke up yesterday beside a dumpster,near this house. I realized I'm dead when nobody seemed to notice me and a car went pass through me. But I cannot go to afterlife,because I must know the reason I am dead,and I discovered that my corpse is not buried properly so I need to find it first.” Afterlife. The way Taehyung said the word like it was nothing made Jungkook shuddered. “You don't remember anything? At all?”

“No.”

Jungkook sighed. “I'm sleepy. Bye.” He said before stepping into his room,not noticing the sad look in Taehyung's eyes.

℘

He woke up when he felt something moving beside him. It was Taehyung,under the mattress,with him. “Taehyung?” He spoke with his hoarse morning voice,making the older to open his eyes and looked at Jungkook with a surprised look on his innocent face. “What are you doing here?” Taehyung got up into sitting position. “I just feel lonely. You know,being dead is making me emotional.” He looked down and played with his fingers. Jungkook felt his heart sank and he pulled Taehyung to lie on the bed with him. He wrapped his arm around Taehyung's shoulders and closed his eyes. Jungkook could feel a chuckle muffled on his chest.

℘

Sunday morning. Jungkook yawned and stood up,noticing that the spirit was not in his room. He walked out and looked around searching for the boy. His eyes wandered and stopped. There he was. Taehyung was sitting on the couch,his eyes glued on the black screen of the TV. “Hey,what are you doing?” Taehyung turned around and flashed a smile. “I'm bored.” Jungkook grabbed his towel and put it on his shoulder. “I'm going to my hyung's house. Wanna come?” He grinned cheekily and Jungkook returned it with a smile.

Some spirits were nice after all.

℘

“Seokjin hyung?” Jungkook knocked on the door while Taehyung stood behind him. The door opened and Seokjin was there,smiling. Jungkook made his way inside and plopped on the couch beside sleeping Jimin. “He had a hangover.” The eldest guy exclaimed from the kitchen. Taehyung sat on the floor,staring at Jimin. “You're really close with these two?” “Not only them. Namjoon hyung,Yoongi hyung and Hoseok hyung. They will come around 4 p.m.” Taehyung nodded and looked around the house. “Jungkook,what do you want me to cook?” Seokjin shouted from the kitchen. “What do you want?” Jungkook asked Taehyung. The spirit looked at the clock,9 a.m.

“Pancakes.”

℘

It was midnight. Jungkook was already in his bed,his eyes glued on the ceiling. Taehyung was outside,probably playing with his kitchen tools. Then the door was opened from the outside. Taehyung was standing there. Jungkook quickly jumped out from his bed when there were tears sliding down the spirit's cheeks,he was sobbing. “Taehyung why?” Taehyung walked towards Jungkook and hugged him,his sobs went louder. “I remember them. I—I remember why I was here.” That made Jungkook's eyes grew wide. “They killed my parents. And my sister. And then me.” Jungkook buried his hand inside Taehyung's fluffy locks. “They stabbed my parents. Then they brought my sister and I to the river and pushed us into the river. We couldn't swim. Then—I started to feel the air was out from my lungs and I—” Taehyung couldn't continue his sentence.

“—I was dead.”

Jungkook looked at Taehyung's gray eyes that filled with tears. He then pressed his lips on Taehyung's. The latter was shocked,but he slowly melted into the kiss. The kiss was slow,no rush,no hunger,no lust was applied on the kiss. Jungkook bit Taehyung's lower lip gently,drawing a moan from the older. Taehyung hold the hem of Jungkook's shirt and the younger put his palm on his waist,pulling him closer. Taehyung didn't want to stop,the warmth of Jungkook's body on his felt like heaven. Jungkook pulled away and swiftly put Taehyung on his bed,his own body on top of Taehyung's. He pressed his lips again on Taehyung swollen lips and closed his eyes. The kiss was rougher than the previous one. He then slowly Taehyung's neck,slightly biting the milky skin.

That night went on. Both of them didn't want to stop.

℘

2 months later.

“Kookie-ah,you can still see them?” Jungkook turned around to face Namjoon and grinned. “Yeah,but thats okay.” He could still remember that day. When he found a body beside the river which was under the bridge. The corpse of that beautiful spirit,Kim Taehyung. He could still remember the mix of sadness and delight in his eyes. He could still remember when Taehyung pressed his lips on the younger's,before vanishing into the thin air. He was gone in peace. And he could still hear the words he spoke the night before,after they had their first kiss in his room.

“It's fascinating to hear your heartbeat because I do not have one.”

He was the most alive spirit he ever saw. “You know,hyung?” Namjoon looked up,his mouth filled with popcorn. “Sometimes,certain spirits were nice.” Namjoon furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged,while the younger chuckled and continued watching TV.

“Yah Jimin! Stop kissing me! You little —”

Σnd.