Jungkook wasn't actually paying attention to the screen in front of him. Sighing, he wiggled about on the sofa to find a more comfortable position. He always preferred the sofa at Yugyeom's house more than the one in his own house.

His best friend (pretty soon going to be labelled traitor at this rate) had promptly kicked him out an hour after dinner, while a gleeful Yoona waved goodbye as he made his short walk back to his house.

Jungkook's father worked nights and had already left, while his mother was six feet under and most definitely never coming back.

The TV droned on, a sitcom of some kind with terrible tasteless jokes and the same droll laugh track repeating in the background. He was used to being alone more often than not, and he liked the sounds of the TV to fill in the eerie silence.

It was also serving as a great distraction from the ghost of an elderly man staring at him with wide eyes from behind the window.

They had always wanted something from him. He didn't know whether to feel annoyed or plain angry. But he did know that there wasn't a day that went by when he didn't thank the heavens above for granting him enough power to create wards to keep the ers out. There was also not a day that went by when he couldn't scrub the memory of a ghost popping up in the shower cubicle with him. Most of the ghosts in this area knew that he would never help them. Yet, a few hopeful (not to mention delusional) lingered, like the old man with the angled broken neck pawing pathetically at the glass.

Jungkook jammed the button harder than necessary to turn the volume up.

That had most definitely been the weirdest dinner he had had in the Kim household. Yoona had flat out refused to talk to him. If he asked her a direct question she would tilt her head and just stare at him with a confused expression, as if she didn't understand a single word that came out of his mouth. The worst was when the little minx was sure that no one was watching, she would give him the most sultry bedroom eyes that made him feel very warm.

Of course, Yugyeom had spotted this silent exchange and instead of telling her to cut it out, he curled his lips and made slashing motions at his neck at Jungkook. His best friend had clearly picked a side. Yugyeom had made up his mind that Jungkook would be the one to chase after Yoona, not the other way around, and it just wasn't fair.

This continual character assassination had to be stopped. He'd actually been nothing but civil to the little she-devil since her arrival. They could at least give him a chance to be an before deciding he was one.

His eyes snapped to the window beside the flatscreen. He swore he had seen a flash of soft blue streak past in his peripheral vision, and boy was he right. Lo and behold, Yoona jogged down the street with her hands shoved inside her pockets.

“What is she doing?” Jungkook grumbled as he glanced at the clock. It was past midnight! The kid should be in bed, not frolicking around the in the middle of the night like it was damn Disneyland. It wasn't like Yoona had any friends here to meet up with. Where the hell was Yugyeom?

Jungkook kept a watchful eye on the girl as he fished around his back pocket for his phone.

He texted Yugyeom: what are you doing?

Yugyeom's response came ten seconds later: I'm busy. R2D2.

Jungkook rolled his eyes. That was the stupid code name Yugyeom came up with when he was preoccupied with a special someone, which meant he wasn't allowed to disturb him at any cost. Something about setting boundaries and some other nonsense.

Jungkook continued anyway: Where's Yoona?

At home,not that it's any of your business.Why?

Oh no.

Glancing up from his phone, Jungkook bit out a curse when he saw that Yoona's jacket was beginning to blur in the distance as she disappeared around the corner.

Liquid hot dread flushed through Jungkook's veins as he grabbed his jacket. He may have liked to live his life pretending as though he wasn't a clairvoyant, but he was never one to ignore his instincts. They were almost always correct, and right now they were screaming at him to not let her walk alone in the middle of the night.

If anything happened to Yoona, and Yugyeom found out that he had simply just stood by and done nothing, there was no limit to the torture methods Jungkook would have bestowed upon him by his best friend.

“The things I do for family,” Jungkook grumbled as he yanked the door open, keys jiggling noisily in his hands as he struggled to twist the tumblers into place and lock the damn door. Stashing the keys under the flower pot by the fence, he quickly rushed to catch up with Yoona.

Summer was almost at its end. The trees were just beginning to turn their leaves from cool green to a crisp symphony of burnt yellows and umber. The air was cooler with a tincture of earthiness - just a hint that brought to mind the cozy evenings and warm soups to come. He was used to the sudden, insidious temperature drops, and didn't so much as give a second thought to the goosebumps decorating his arms.

There were four neighborhoods, one for each direction bordering around Lake Chaepyeong at the heart of the city.

Yoona hadn't gotten far. She seemed oblivious to everything around her as she walked casually around the corner, including the presence of Jungkook tailing her. Her ponytail swung as she stuck the heads of her earphones into her ears, the bright green chord disappearing into the inner fold of her jacket.

Jungkook had been born with the gift (really a curse to be honest) of being sensitive to his surroundings. It was near impossible to catch him by surprise. If someone so much as glanced his way, he could feel their gazes like cold claws trailing up the back of his neck. If he was in Yoona's place, having someone follow him for about ten minutes, he would lost his mind right about now.

It must be nice to be so closed off.

Oh for gods sakes. Why was she heading towards the park near the lake? Tonight, it was deserted, having reached that awkward pause between summer and fall where no one really felt like celebrating the glory of summer and the almighty barbecue anymore. Jungkook sighed as he watched Yoona saunter past the rusted day-glo painted jungle-gym, hop over a sun kissed bench and head toward the dirt trail that cut right across the woods.

“Oh fantastic idea, you idiot,” Jungkook grumbled to himself as he willed his feet to move silently. Because what had horror movies taught his generation? That meandering through the woods in t