Opening Doors

            Kyuhyun brought his dirty dishes over to the sink where Ryeowook was washing them.  “Would you like help cleaning up?”

            “Of course not,” Ryeowook said, smiling up at his guest.  “You’re paying me to make you dinner.  I expect all the prep work and clean up to be included.  You should use this time to work on writing some more.”

            Kyuhyun leaned against the counter and watched him as he scrubbed dishes.  “I would rather spend time with you.”

            Ryeowook smiled at his words, still looking down at his hands.  “But that’s not very productive, is it?  Leeteuk sent you here to work because he thought you’d be able to concentrate on writing your screenplay.  If he knew I was distracting you…”

            “Leeteuk clearly sent me here because the house is haunted and he thinks this will help me write my script.  What he didn’t anticipate was that I might take an interest in my host, but even if I spend my free time with you, I’ll still have plenty of time to get my work done.  But are you interested?  Or are you more interested in your neighbor?”

            “I already told you, I’m not interested in Yesung.  But he does have something that you don’t.”

            Kyuhyun tensed.  He didn’t like being compared to other men.  His last boyfriend had left him for someone that seemed better, but Kyuhyun doubted the man could have ever loved him as much as Kyuhyun had.  “What’s that?”

            “Longevity.  I’ve known him a long time.  And if I ever agreed to go out with him, at least I know he’d plan on sticking around for more than a month,” Ryeowook said, daring a quick glance over to Kyuhyun.

            “This is what you think?” Kyuhyun asked, feeling a little angry.  “You think I only want to sleep with you and that I’d walk away with no strings attached in a month?”

            Ryeowook bit his lip and looked back down at the sudsy water.  “That’s usually what guests want.  And you’ve been travelling around the world.  You don’t seem very eager to stay in one place for long, but I’m the type of person that wants more than that, Kyuhyun-a.  And being around Yesung reminded me of that.”

            Kyuhyun stormed off, angry.  He went back up to his room and continued to work on his screenplay.  He needed a night away from his little host to sort his thoughts.  He was annoyed at Ryeowook for jumping to conclusions about what he would do if they became involved together, but the longer he thought about it, the more he wondered whether Ryeowook was right or wrong.  Did Kyuhyun just want to sleep with him because he was lonely or was he beginning to take a real interest in him?  If he was taking an interest in Ryeowook, was that what he wanted?  Was he ready to be in another relationship again?

            This was why he didn’t bother going to sleep.  This is what kept him up late, halfheartedly writing his screenplay, but mostly thinking about Ryeowook.  For some reason, he couldn’t keep his mind off of him.  It was much more haunting than the threat of ghosts were.

            Kyuhyun stared at the apparition in front of him.  It looked at him with startled eyes, as if it were more afraid of him than he was of it.  He forced himself to take a couple deep breaths and to stand upright, locking eyes with the ghost. 

            “Yes…I can hear you.”

            The ghost’s lips parted in shock and he looked around, as if his thoughts were running away with him, trying to figure out what to say.  When Kyuhyun backed up a little more, the ghost held his hands out in front of him.  “Please don’t leave!  I won’t do anything to you.  I just want to speak to you.  None of the other humans can hear me.”

            “I know.”

            The ghost gave him a puzzled look.  “You know that you can hear ghosts?”

            Kyuhyun nodded.  “It’s not something I like to advertise.  I usually try to avoid the whole lot of you undead, if I can avoid it.”

            “I won’t bother you,” he promised.  “I’m not here to spook anyone.  I just can’t leave.”

            “Why not?  Don’t you see the light?”

            “I do, but…I won’t go into the light without Eunhyuk.  I’m Lee Donghae, by the way.”

            “Cho Kyuhyun,” he said, nodding his head.  “Your presence here is scaring all the potential guests away.  The owners are going to lose this house if they can’t get anyone to stay here anymore.”

            Donghae sighed heavily.  “I would leave if I could talk Eunhyuk into coming with.”

            “Why won’t he come?  Is it because of Bangshin?” Kyuhyun asked.

            Donghae shook his head.  “Bangshin would come with if we went,” he informed Kyuhyun.  “But Eunhyuk still feels wronged.  I accused him of cheating on me because I saw my costar kissing him.  As it turned out, he’d forced himself on Eunhyuk and I’d just walked in at an inopportune time.  But Eunhyuk wants the truth to be uncovered.  He wants his name cleared of all wrong, even though I’ve long since believed him.  So we will continue to linger here until that man dies as well.”

            Kyuhyun thought about this a while, considering their options.  The man must still be very young and would probably not die for a long time.  If that was the case, Ryeowook and Heechul would lose the guest house long before then.  “What if that man stayed here as a guest and I got him to admit the truth about what he’d done?  Would that be enough?”

            “Possibly!  Maybe!”  Donghae took a few steps closer to Kyuhyun, overly excited.  Kyuhyun quickly jumped away from him.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not trying to frighten you.  It’s just that I’m so excited by the idea of it.  I’ve been away from Eunhyuk for so long.”

            Now it was Kyuhyun’s turn to feel confused.  “What do you mean?  Aren’t you here together every night?”