Jonghyun stayed back, making excuses, waiting for the rest to leave, discarding his shoes before closing his eyes as he rested back, his legs folded on his chair. The day had passed with one freight after another and the last one had stopped for urgent maintenance. Jonghyun had no choice but to assist because of the shortage of personnel at their station. There was grease on his shirt, possibly somewhere on his body as well. He was really tired but in no way regretful because he had gotten to learn something new in the process.

His day’s satisfaction was bitter, though, thinking of the promise he had been forced to make. It pretty bad that it was his nature to take promises seriously. He could have just gone home, no spirit could follow him till there. Maybe he could have read his grandmother's creepy, fancy journal, and make a talisman to ward spirits off. He didn’t know if they actually worked, and to be truthful, he didn’t expect them to. But now he hoped that they did. Or he could just push his troubles on the next day every day, somehow get by-

He realized he had been thinking of useless things so he opened his eyes, to call out to Kibum so he can just get it over it and go home.

The moment he opened his eyes, he found Kibum standing in front of him, hands folded, staring at him intensely. It scared the out of him for some reason but he calmed, eyes moving around the room and settling upon Taemin who was gazing at the signal box and Onew who was leaning near the window, looking upon the tracks.

“He’s awake.” Kibum commented and everyone’s attention was diverted to Jonghyun, “I’m going first.”

“We never said we would...” Taemin replied softly, clearly wanting to say something more, but deciding against it as he dropped down and continued to stare at the signal box solemnly.

“Whatever.” Kibum took a step towards Jonghyun, “Okay, so what is the procedure of setting a spirit free? Do you draw stuff and gather other mediums and chant stuff? Do you need some ingredients or belongings to throw in some holy fire? I can give you my address, just tell them you were my friend-”

“Wait.” Jonghyun interrupted him, annoyed, “Nothing of that sort.”

“...then?” Kibum dropped his folded arms, slightly lost, “...that’s what they do in movies. Don’t they?”

“Hyung,” Taemin commented, “...you must have watched some pretty ty movies when you were alive.”

Kibum ignored his comment looking at Jonghyun crossly, “Don’t temme you don’t know how to do this.”

“Hey, I didn’t know ghosts were affected by lifeless objects on choice, so expecting me to know how to free you was a pretty farfetched thing for you to assume.”

“Point.” Onew chuckled, and Jonghyun looked at him, slightly surprised at his soft, melodic laugh. His mien seemed less intimidating, and there was finally a flicker in his blurry eyes. Onew’s laughter faded upon noticing Jonghyun’s eyes on him and he turned away, back to the window, and Jonghyun turned back to Kibum, soon distracted by the conflicted anger he saw in Kibum’s mien.

“Then learn how to do it.” Kibum demanded, “You are not-”

“Not necessary.” Jonghyun sighed. He had never been able to learn anything from his grandmother because she had died before his birth, but her journal had been passed down to him, of which he had read a few pages. He knew the reasons behind souls unable to depart, and those very reasons hid the way to free them. "There are parts of us,” He began explaining what he remembered, trying to frame himself clearly, “...emotions that run deep into our souls, that remain unresolved upon death. No one ever dies resolved, but not everyone’s soul roams the world. The reason why some are still stuck amongst the living is because sometimes these unresolved emotions are too strong. What a soul needs to move on is peace, acceptance...a closure of some form. These unresolved emotions hinder that. You need to make peace with yourself, truly accept your death and its consequences.” Jonghyun finished, pretty much satisfied with his explanation, “That is the only way for you to move on.”

“What could these unresolved emotions be?” Onew asked softly.

“Regrets.” Jonghyun answered, “Vengeance, strong worries, and desires.” He turned to Kibum, noticing how his face had fallen. “To figure out what in you is unresolved, and what kind of closure you need, you’ll have to tell me everything-”

“I don’t want your help anymore.” Kibum whispered with strain and he vanish