-two weeks ago-

Hello and welcome to the 6:00 evening news. My name is Oh Sehun, thank you for joining us. A man experienced quite a scare today as he fell into a frigid lake whilst ice-skating. The man, who does not want his identity to be reveal, was skating on the frozen lake when the thick layer of ice suddenly gave way and cracked, causing the man to fall into the lake. A resident of a nearby apartment witnessed the incident and called 911. Rescue workers managed to save the man from the lake just in time. The man suffers from mild hypothermia but is otherwise unharmed.

-

Jongin rouses slightly from his sleep feeling unusually cold. He alarm hasn’t gone off yet and he’s determined to fit in as much sleep as he can before he has to face the annoying blaring sound. He curls into himself as much as possible to fight off the sudden chills that he’s getting. He hears the patter of rain hitting his window and he mourns for his sanity when he’ll be attempting his commute to work. 

Another few minutes pass and he attempts to furrow himself further into his blankets. It’s in the middle of the summer and his apartment has possibly the tiest air conditioning known to mankind. This realization confuses him and unwillingly he starts to awaken. He’s more aware of the tormenting rain outside and his annoyance propels him even further into a state of consciousness. 

He opens his eyes in an inexplicable rage as he realizes that precious sleep was taken from him too soon. He lets out a frustrated yell and almost jumps out of his bed in shock when someone that isn’t him yells back. He looks to his left where he heard the yell and sees a transparent figure lying beside him. This time Jongin actually jumps out of his bed.

He hits the ground with a painful thud, too scared to actually notice the dull throb in his backside.

“WHAT THE ?!”

The figure flails in response to Jongin’s outburst and a yelp can be heard. Jongins stares incredulously as he makes out what seems to be another person in his bed. In the glow of the morning light he can clearly make out the boy’s body, hair tousled with sleep and clothing that looks like it would be uncomfortable to sleep in.

The transparent figure looks equally as startled as Jongin although for a different reason.

“You’re not Baekhyun.”

Jongin stares. “What?” he makes out intelligibly.

“Baekhyun. Short, a little taller than me although I’ll never admit it. Flappy ears, loud, annoying?”

“No? Is this some kind of weird hallucination because if it is I’d very much prefer if I could go back to sleep until my alarm goes o-“

At that moment loud heavy metal booms through the room, jump-scaring both parties.

“Turn that off now,” the figure demands with a frown, hands covering his transparent ears.

Jongin scrambles for his phone, turning off his 7:15 AM alarm with a scowl.

“That is such a god-awful alarm. How can you go through the day knowing that you’re waking up to an abomination every morning?” The person asks.

“It’s the only thing that actually wakes me up,” Jongin defends, “And who are you to show up in my bed uninvited and make snarky comments about my life choices?”

“Kyungsoo, you friendly neighbourhood ghost. To whom do I owe the pleasure of snarking?”

“Jongin. And wait WHAT? GHOST?” Jongin most definitely did not get enough sleep.   

“I guess that would be the most simple thing to call me. Ghoul, poltergeist, specter, take your pick.” Kyungsoo gives him a sunny smile despite the raging fear building inside Jongin.

“Did I just share a bed with a dead person? Oh god I’m going to puke.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Spare me from the drama. First of all, sharing a bed with me is not that repulsive. Get over yourself. Secondly I’m not dead, at least not yet. I can feel that my body is still alive somewhere, I just don’t know where it is.”

Jongin stays silent, still very much afraid of the supposed ghost sitting on his bed. Kyungsoo notices this and takes it as a cue to continue his story.

“I don’t have many memories about my life before becoming a ghost. Baekhyun was the only one that could see me and he let me stay with him for about two weeks. He helped me try to remember what happened to cause my spirit to separate from my body but no luck. I only remember my name and what I ate for breakfast every day. Now I’m somehow here so I guess you’re the one who will help me find my body.”

“Wait a second, no one said anything about me helping you,” Jongin deadpans.

“Fate said so and I don’t think you want to piss it off. Besides, you can see me which means you’re the only one who can help me.”

“What about that Baekhyun guy?”

“I don’t know where he lives. He worked from home and he never brought me outside so I don’t even know which side of town he lives on.”

Jongin rubs at his temple, too tired to say anything else.

“Great, thanks for helping me,” Kyungsoo says, swinging his feet over the edge of Jongin’s bed.

Jongin sputters, trying to get coherent words of protest out but Kyungsoo’s already gliding across the floor and through Jongin’s closed door. Jongin stares wide-eyed at the door. He must be having a bad dream.

-

As Jongin sips his morning coffee scrounging through newspapers five days later he can confirm that he is not dreaming. Falling snowflakes dance outside his window as grey clouds cover the rising sun. Kyungsoo is sitting cross-legged on the kitchen counter and studying an article written over a week ago. Occasionally he’ll ask Jongin to flip the page for him which the latter does without a word. After getting over the initial shock of realizing that he’s actually living with a ghost, getting used to Kyungsoo proved to be a challenge. When Jongin found a stable job as a college professor he left his roommate days behind. Kyungsoo is the unexpected roommate that leaves him perpetually tired everyday. Truthfully Kyungsoo isn’t much of a handful. He has his moments of quick witted verbal attacks pitted against Jongin but aside from that he’s respectful and diligent.

The problem, Jongin perceives, is not actually living with Kyungsoo but living with his stress. Despite the sass and apparent relaxed demeanour Jongin can feel the stress raidiating off of Kyungsoo. This inadvertently pushes the stress onto Jongin as well and coping with it isn’t easy. Despite searching daily for what possibly happened to Kyungsoo the pair still know nothing about where Kyungsoo’s body potentially could be. All the hospitals they have contacted inform them that there is no Do Kyungsoo checked in as an inpatient.

Jongin finishes off his cup of coffee and heads to the sink to wash it quickly.

“I have today off,” he starts, working at his cup with the dish sponge, “and I know you haven’t been outside yet. I thought maybe we could take a short break and head out. I haven’t eaten breakfast and there’s a joint I like down the street.” Jongin rises the cup puts it in the drying rack. He turns to face Kyungsoo who gives him a pointed look.

“I can’t eat.” He points to himself. “I think it has to do with the ghost thing.”

“Fine, I guess we won’t go out then.” Jongin grabs the newspapers he was reading and walks in the direction of his room.

“WAIT, I never said I was opposed to sitting with you,” Kyungsoo protests, hopping off the counter. “You’ll just look weird talking to yourself.”

Jongin laughs. “Were you born during the Ice Age or something? I’ll just use my earbuds and pretend that I’m talking on the phone.”
Kyungsoo grumbles at Jongin’s insult and slinks towards the front door, leaning against the wall with crossed arms and a pout on his face.

“Cute,” Jongin mutters, putting the newspaper down in favour of grabbing his puffy winter jacket.

Jongin experiences a bad case of shivers as Kyungsoo walks through him in retaliation.

-

 The temperature outside is still frigid, pedestrians bundled up to brave the gusts of wind and squalls of snow. Jongin’s favourite brunch place is decently busy with half of the booths occupied by customers. He waves at Chanyeol, the owner of the joint, before finding and empty booth and slipping into one of the sides. Kyungsoo joins him on the other side and waits patiently as Jongin removes his winter layers. Jongin puts in his earbuds as he studies the menu in front of him.

“You said the only things you remember are your name and what you ate for breakfast everyday,” Jongin recalls as he scans the list.

“Dry cereal with milk on the side,” Kyungsoo replies immediately.

Jongin looks up from his menu and raises his eyebrow.

“Your judgement is not welcomed here,” Kyungsoo continues, “and stop looking at me. You’re supposed to be eating alone whilst on the phone, not judging poor ghosts about their tasteful breakfast choices.”

Jongin sighs in surrender and looks back down at his menu. He rattles off his order to the waiter that comes and then pulls his phone out to look at the screen. He pretends to fiddle with it as he starts to talk again.

“I’m sorry you’re hitting so many dead ends in this search for your body,” Jongin says truthfully.

There’s silence before Kyungsoo replies. “I’m sorry too.”

There’s more silence as both men stop to feel the gravity of the situation. “I’d be lying if I said that I’m not constantly freaking out,” Kyungsoo admits, “on some days I feel weaker. It’s as if my body wants to give up living. It’s been occurring more frequently as of late and I honestly don’t know how much time I have left until it finally gives up.”

“There must be a reason why you’re still here with me,” Jongin says firmly, “You believed so much in fate when we first met. You can’t stop now.”
Kyungsoo laughs hollowly. “I was joking about that. It’s really hard to shake the thought that I may die at any time and I may not get any closure as to why.”

There’s a pregnant pause. Jongin’s food arrives and he picks at it, unsure of what to say to make Kyungsoo feel better.
“You know I recently almost died too. I know it’s not really the most encouraging thing to say but I managed to escape death. I believe that you will too. Even if you were joking about it maybe fate has big plans for you.”

That earns him a chuckle and Jongin takes a bite of his meal. The talk for a bit and Jongin works his way through his breakfast. The T.V. in the corner is playing the local news and Jongin looks at it occasionally instead of directly at Kyungsoo to look less suspicious. As he’s finishing up his meal a headline runs across the bottom of the screen. “Seoul resident Do Kyungsoo reported missing by his publisher Kim Jongdae. Anyone with information is asked to call the police immediately.”

Jongin freezes in his seat. “Kyungsoo I think we may be one step closer to finding your body.”

-

They both agree that calling the police would not be a good idea. No one else can see Kyungsoo and if Jongin shows up to inform them that he met Kyungsoo’s ghost he’ll most likely be kicked out or, even worse, get arrested. They managed to find Kim Jongdae’s phone number after looking through many publishing companies’ websites. Jongdae picks up on the third ring.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Kim Jongdae?”
“Speaking. How may I help you?”

“My name is Kim Jongin. I think I may have some information on Do Kyungsoo.”

There’s a bit of static when Jongdae doesn’t speak for a moment. “Did you call the police about the information you have?”

“Err well no. It’s kind of complicated…”

Kyungsoo snorts. “Ghost problems are not that complicated.”

There’s more silence and static through the phone. “Kyungsoo?” Jongdae asks. Jongin can hear the surprise in his voice. “Is that you?”

Jongin removes the phone from his ear and presses the speaker phone button excitedly. “He can hear you,” he informs Kyungsoo, “Jongdae can hear you!”

“He can?” Kyungsoo asks uncertainly.

 “I can!” Jongdae’s voice sounds through the speakers. “Kyungsoo I’m so glad you’re ok. Where are you?”

Kyungsoo glances at Jongin. “It’s hard to explain…”

“You have to come see it for yourself,” Jongin cuts in, saving Kyungsoo from having to explain the situation.

“What do you mean?”

-

Two hours later Jongdae is sitting on Jongin’s couch and staring at Kyungsoo with a similar expression Jongin first had when he encountered Kyungsoo in his bed.

“I did not expect my day to end like this,” Jongdae says in a daze.

“Yeah get in line,” Kyungsoo replies, sitting beside Jongin on the armrest of his reclining chair.

“So you don’t know what happened to your body?” Jongdae asks. Kyungsoo shakes his head.

“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be in this mess right now. We need help Dae. I don’t remember much from before I woke up as a ghost. After meeting you I’m remember bits and pieces of our relationship but everything is still fuzzy. I’m hoping you’ll help me remember something useful to bring me on the right track. I’m feeling a lot weaker right now. If I don’t find my body soon I don’t think I’ll make it to the next week.”

“I’ll do everything I can,” Jongdae promises. “Maybe we should start with where you live.”

“That’s a good idea,” Jongin chimes in, “I’ll drive.”

-

Kyungsoo, as they find out from Jongdae, lives in a quaint little house atop of a small mountain at the edge of Seoul. Some of the winding roads go up the side of the mountain allowing drivers to see over the edge. One side of the mountain overlooks a lake, currently frozen over in the middle of winter. The trio chat more as Jongin drives up the winding roads. Kyungsoo is an only child and his parents passed away early. He tends to keep to himself, not bothering to reach out and make friends in favour of a quiet life. He loves to cook and he writes cookbooks, publishing them anonymously. Jongdae realized that something was wrong when Kyungsoo missed his deadline for the recipe that he was working on. He took the bus to Kyungsoo’s house only to find it empty. He then reported it to the police.

When they finally make it to the house, Kyungsoo stops. Memories rush through him as he looks at the house in front of him. It’s so overwhelming he closes his eyes for a bit, concentrating on bits of information that may be of uses. Suddenly he opens them and exclaims, “Eggs!”

Jongdae and Jongin give him matching confused looks.

“I needed to buy eggs,” Kyungsoo remembers. “I was working on the recipe for my deadline and I ran out of eggs. I went to buy some more.”

“Is your car still in the garage?” Jongdae asks. Kyungsoo hurriedly runs through the door of the car and through the closed door of the garage. Moments later he reappears with a look on his face.

“It’s not there. If we find my car maybe we’ll get closer to finding my body,” Kyungsoo says, hope clear in his voice.

Jongin hums his agreement as he re-starts his car. “Chances are, if your car ended up in a repair shop or an impound yard, it’ll be in the city.”

Jongdae is already making phone calls as Jongin starts the drive back down the mountain. Kyungsoo looks out the window as he tries to remember more about what may have happened to him. As Jongin makes a particularly sharp turn, Kyungsoo notices a broken rail guard closed off by caution tape.

“STOP THE CAR!” Kyungsoo yells. Jongin immediately slows, pulling over to the side and turning on his emergency lights.

“What is it? Do you remember something?”

Kyungsoo doesn’t answer and runs out of the car to the edge of the cliff. Jongin and Jongdae exit the car too, stepping over the caution tape in pursuit of Kyungsoo. They reach the edge of the cliff and peer over at the frozen lake below. Kyungsoo looks at them, his eyes glazed over and unfocused.

“My body,” he slurs out, “It’s in there.”

There is a momentary flicker and then suddenly Kyungsoo starts fading away.

“KYUNGSOO!”

 -

“Hello and welcome to the 6:00 evening news. My name is Oh Sehun, thank you for joining us. There was a frightening moment today as rescue teams attempt to pull a car out of an icy lake earlier today. After a long hour they manage to get it out with the driver still inside. We have been informed that the driver is still alive but unconscious in hospital. The identity of the driver has been confirmed to be missing man Do Kyungsoo. Police have released in an official statement that Mr. Do’s car appears to have been hit by another vehicle in what seems to be a hit and run. The impact of the collision sent Mr. Do’s car over the edge of the cliff and into the chilling waters. The police are now looking for the other driver. More information will be given as the story develops.”

-

Kyungsoo registers a subtle beeping that sounds far away. Everything feels so heavy. He tries opening his eyes but his eyelids feel equally as heavy as his un-cooperating limbs. It takes a lot of effort and time before Kyungsoo manages to crack his eyes open a sliver. Bright lights attack his retina and he immediately shuts them again with a groan. He feels something uncomfortable in the crook of his elbow and his curiously gets the best of him. He opens his eyes again, squinting as his eyes adjust to the light. He looks at his arm and spots an IV attached to him arm. Momentarily confused he tries to remember what could have put him in the hospital.

At that moment a nurse comes into his room and smiles when she sees that he’s awake.

Before she can say anything a name comes to Kyungsoo’s mind and he blurts out, “Jongin!”

The nurse laughs as she starts checking his vital signs. “Mr. Kim is here, he just stepped out to get some food. He should be back shortly.”

A little embarrassed by his sudden outburst Kyungsoo nods as the nurse checks his blood pressure.

“How…how long have I been here exactly?” Kyungsoo asks.

“It’s been 6 days since you were brought to the hospital. You were found inside your car that had fallen into a frozen lake. We estimate you were in the water for about three weeks before you were pulled out. Mr. Kim has been in every day to visit you,” she says with a grin, writing his vitals on a clipboard. Kyungsoo blushes.

Just then Jongin walks in with a container of food. He sees that Kyungsoo is awake and he rushes immediately to his bedside.

“KYUNGSOO! You’re awake!”

“He was asking for you too,” the nurse chimes in, hanging something else on Kyungsoo’s IV machine.

Kyungsoo’s blush deepens. “I was not,” he mutters childishly.

Jongin looks up at the nurse and wiggles his eyebrows. “Please do continue.”

Kyungsoo’s quiet life suddenly doesn’t feel very quiet anymore.

a/n 

Kyungsoo's car falling into the ice caused fissures in what would've been perfectly fine ice to skate on. (that is why Jongin fell into the ice while skating). Baekhyun saw Jongin fall into the ice from his apartment which is why #1 he call 911 and #2 he can see Kyungsoo. The events are related and fate works in funny ways.

(also I know it's not physically possible for Kyungsoo to be alive for three weeks after his accident haha. His spirit being separated from his body has to do with the preservation of his life. It's not really touched upon in the fic, I apologize)