It was a dare, a stupid dare that he had to lose. Jooheon groaned as he clutched the flashlight and stepped into the old abandoned house by the edge of the forest where his grandfather’s country house was located.

 

“Go on hyung, we will be here if anything goes wrong.” Soonyoung shouted and Jooheon groaned, hating his brother for setting this up.

 

“Don’t worry too much hyung, we won’t leave.” Jihoon, Soonyoung’s bestfriend-borderline-boyfriend called out as well but it did nothing to appease the fear raging inside his body, he was that scared.

 

“It’s just an old house.” Jooheon chanted as he opened the door and stepped into the house, sneezing the moment the musty air hit his nose. He was really scared but he had to go to the bedroom upstairs and open the window to wave at his dongsaengs to complete the (stupid) dare.

 

He took shaky steps towards the rickety stairs, clutching the flashlight tighter as if it will turn into a light sabre if he’s in danger. He heard noises and soon ran the light across the floor, squealing as his eyes met those red dots that belonged to an overgrown rat. He placed a sweaty palm on top of his chest to calm his heart from beating too fast lest he’ll suffer a heart attack on the spot.

 

He cursed several times as he went up the flight of stairs, feeling very eerie with all the darkness that surrounded him and squeaking of the floorboards under his feet. As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw three doors to his right and two on his left, He figured that he should take the one on the right, musting up his courage and walked towards the closest door and opened it. He braced himself for the unknown but sighed in relief as he entered the barren room, a few hints of rodents and spiders taking residence in it but all seemed harmless. He then walked towards the window, opened it and cursed at his  dongsaengs who gave him thumbs up.

 

Jooheon has completed something he would never ever do again. He managed to take a deep breath before traversing back towards his dongsaengs who would be probably eating their faces while still lying to everyone that they are just friends. He sighed then exited the room only to shriek like a girl as he saw a blur of white. He squinted his eyes after he calmed down and saw the white was actually a human figure, a girl with stark black hair and a pale face that would spark alarms in his head.

 

“Who are you?” Jooheon dared to ask and the girl in question tilted his head to the side in a curiosity.

 

“ you can see me?” She asked and Jooheon nodded. “That’s peculiar.” She replied, then walked towards a room. “Your friends are waiting for you.” She said then completely disappeared making Jooheon’s heart beat fast and adrenaline ran through his veins, he just had seen a ghost.

 

“ you won’t believe what I saw!” Joohoen blurted out but soon backed away from the two bodies who are obviously engrossed to what they were doing. “geez, go get a room.” Jooheon muttered before dragging his brother off of the smaller kid’s body.

 

“Hyung!” Soonyoung screamed.

 

“Just confess already, I don’t mind you two together, but seeing you both like this without confirming your status is creepy.” Jooheon berated the brother who nodded.

 

“I would want to hyung, but Jihoon’s you know.. Jihoon.” Soonoung replied and Jooheon sighed.

 

“I’ll let this slip.” Jooheon said then turned to look at the abandoned house. He regretted it though because he saw the white figure looking out of the window, eyes trained onto him like a predator. “Creepy.” He muttered to himself and walked away.

 

------

 

It was peculiar for Minhyuk to be seen, and it has been a long time since she had been in this state that she couldn’t help but wonder. Three centuries had passed when she had last lived freely and that seemed like a distant past that she’ll never forget. She used to be a mythical before she was cursed for something she committed out of rage but she knew, her eternal pain is nothing compared to unjust death her lover had endured.

 

----

“You saw what?”  Soonyoung asked as they ate breakfast.

 

“A ghost.” Jooheon replied but the two shorter boys just laughed at him “I am serious.” Jooheon replied and threw the piece of toast towards his brother.

 

“I am just having a hard time believing in such petty things.” Soonyoung replied and Jooheon sighed.

 

“I know what I saw okay.” Jooheon was frustrated.

 

“Okay, why don’t we go back and let’s check if there are really ghosts in there.” Soonyoung suggested.

 

Jooheon knew he should just let the ghost incident slide but he had to just tell his stupid brother about it and now he had no way out.

 

“Sure, let’s go tonight.” Jihoon piped up and Jooheon had no fire exit to rush into to escape this.

 

And so Jooheon was again gripping the flashlight tight as he walked up the stairs in search of the female ghost. Jihoon and Soonyoung sure loved adventure but Jooheon wished that it would not involve ghosts and haunted houses. Jooheon went inside the room he had previously explored and screamed as he saw the same figure, now gazing out into the moon that hanged low tonight. Soonyoung and Jihoon rushed to his side but failed to see the figure that Jooheon was pointing at, only saw the blank space.

 

“She’s there!” Jooheon reiterated, pointing to the window sill as the girl looked back at him, calm and collected, void of emotions even.

 

“There’s nothing there hyung.” Soonyoung said and Jooheon groaned in frustration.

 

----

 

Indeed she was surprised when the boy from last night saw her again, despite the other two not able to detect her presence. She sighed, hugged her knees to her body and closed her eyes. Even though her body was cold and her memories are already fading, she was still curious about the boy, why does he look familiar?

 

 

---  

“Why didn’t you saw her?” Jooheon asked and the two shrugged their shoulders.

 

“I already asked Wonwoo to come, he’s such a geek about urban legends.” Jihoon informed them and Jooheon nodded as he plopped down the sofa, waiting for this Wonwoo guy to appear.

 

The boy did, but Jooheon did not expect a handsome and stylish boy to come; when Jihoon said geek, he pictured high waist khakis, knitted vest and spectacles.

 

“Sorry, Jun’s being a koala today.” The boy spoke in a low baritone and Jooheon wasn’t so sure what to expect anymore.

 

“I was not!” The boy named Jun, a foreigner by the sound of his accented Korean, spoke next to Wonwoo and Jooheon would not even question the possibility of relationships.

 

“So, you know about the house by the forest, and haunted one.” Soonyoung said and Wonwoo nodded

 

“Heard of the Gumiho?” Wonwoo asked and the others nodded. “But what about the Ghost of the gumiho?” Wonwoo asked and all of them shook their heads

 

----

 

A gumiho, a mythical creature known to feed on humans to fuel their powers, was a common myth told to children but they do exist and they do feed on unsuspecting humans. But mythical or not, gumiho are creatures are also able to fall in love, humans included.

 

Such was the case of a powerful gumiho named Minhyuk, an alpha female whose smile was alluring and her nine tails were as pale as the new moon. She had been infamous for luring men, using her charms to get them to fall her vicious trap that eventually led to their deaths, but when she met a shaman name Hojoon, she felt a little strange.

 

Perhaps it was his eyes, how tiny they were and turn into crescents when he smiled, or the dimples that adorned his handsome face. Whatever the reason was, Minhyuk wanted him more than a meal. Yet she knew that his kind, a shaman, was dangerous and so she hid herself and just looked from afar, admiring the perfect creature she had fallen in love with at first sight.

 

“Hey!” Minhyuk turned to meet him face to face and it was a surprise for her.

 

 

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Minhyuk responded.

 

“It’s such a beautiful night, why waste it?” The shaman responded.

 

“It does not justify your presence here.” Minhyuk said and the shaman sighed.

 

“I wanted to see you.” He confessed and Minhyuk bit back the surprise.

 

“I’d rather you not see me again.” Minhyuk wanted to end the conversation but the shaman had other things in mind.

 

“You could just feed on me.” Hojoon suggested. “I am serious.” He insisted.

 

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Minhyuk said unamused.

 

“You are really pretty.” Hojoon suddenly blurted out making Minhyuk laugh. “Your laugh is melodious too.” He added and Minhyuk found her heart beat a little faster than it should. “Why don’t we be friends instead?” He suggested but Minhyuk shrugged her shoulders.

 

“It is a thought that should not be entertained. I bid my goodbye to you.” Minhyuk said then left the shaman alone who smiles as he watched the graceful gumiho walk back towards the heart of the forest.

 

The shaman shook his head then returned to his house, feeling something in his heart that would be quite irreplaceable.

 

But the story took a bloody turn when the shaman’s corpse was found and the gumiho was bathed in the shamans blood. She was enraged as she took out people that crossed her path, until the head shaman cursed her, her powers drained and she turned into a ghost, locked in the shaman’s house.

 

 

----

 

“That’s some sick story.” Jooheon remarked.

 

“Well that was the urban legend.” Wonwoo replied and earned a chuckle form Jun.

 

“Why don’t we go there and check it out?” Jun suggested and Joohoen shook his head. “We could go later.” Jun suggested and all were nodding their heads while Jooheon paled at the thought of going back to the place again, third time in a row.

 

The group went to the house again at dusk, the teenagers where excited as they entered the house while Jun fidgeted as he clung onto Wonwoo. Jooheon noticed this and shrugged his shoulders as he walked behind the group. They were joking, teasing each other and scaring each other, almost making Jooheon squeal like a girl. The teens laughed at Jooheon’s expense and the eldest just shook his head as he walked up the stairs and squeaky floorboards were their background music to their  childish teasing and bickering.

 

Now Jooheon was getting the hang of entering the house and so he walked up to where he knew the ghost was staying, looking at the moon that hanged low. “Sorry to bother you miss; they seemed to be more curious than I presume.” Jooheon greeted the ghost who nodded at him.

 

“I won’t bother you anymore, promise.” Jooheon added and the ghost pointed to the door where a wide eyed Jun was staring at him.

 

“Visit me when the sun is up.” The ghost hummed. “It would be a little less creepy.”  She smiled meekly.

 

“Sure.” Jooheon shrugged his shoulders and went back with the group.

 

“She’s here isn’t she?” Jun whispered and Jooheon nodded. “Her presence is weak though.” Jun replied.

 

“Are you….?” Jooheon trailed off.

 

“Clairvoyant?” Jun finished and nodded. “not fully trained but I can detect most of them.” Jun said as they excited the house. “What did she say?” He asked and Jooheon sighed.

 

“She said to comeback in the morning, less creepy.” Jooheon replied and Jun smiled

 

“You should do that, it seems that she wants to tell you something.” Jun said and Jooheon nodded.

 

 

“Maybe in a couple of days, I need a day off from this house.” Jooheon replied and Jun nodded

 

 

---

 

a/n: I had to listen to White Girl for the entirety of writing this and just had to envision the emotions than ran through the song to help me translate this into a fanfiction. And yes I super adore black haired Minhyuk more than the blonde one because i have a knack for black haired idols (ahem Myungsoo, ahem Yesung) that has piecing gazes and adorable smiles.

 

And Jooheon... ah I love his hair up, black or red (he looks like Kagami Taiga to me XD).

 

Just a fun fact, Jooheon’s birth name was supposed to be Hojoon but changed it to Jihwan before settling to Jooheon. The name revision was due to his belief that his bad luck was correlated to his name.