”Jongin, can you tell me what’s wrong, why are you reacting like that?!” Serin hears herself yell because his reaction is downright terrifying. 

His other hand is on his face, and his gaze is empty and pale when he looks up at her. 

”Serin, I’m—” a tear escapes his eyes. ”I am so sorry.” 

Okay. This is not funny anymore. In fact, this stopped being funny long ago. She feels her skin rise and shiver in horror as Baekhyun sighs and walks up to her. Her first reaction is to back away a few steps in caution, causing a resigned chuckle from the latter. 

”Hey, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m here to instruct you, remember?” Baekhyun pats her on the back and gestures to a bench a small distance from where they were standing. ”Sit down. There’s a lot to explain and I’m sure everything must feel overwhelming for you right now.” 

Serin does as she is told, tenderly gripping on Jongin who has raised himself from the ground, though his face is yet pale. 

They all sit down, and Serin rubs her hands on her face in frustration. ”Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” 

Since her best friend doesn’t seem in any state to reply, Baekhyun snatches the letter from his hand and gives it to her. ”Read this through properly, please.” 

She does. 

And again, like the previous time, it seems like a normal birth certificate, except the fact that there is an additional part where her death is disclosed. 

”So, what is this? Some kind of death certificate from God or something?” 

”That’s exactly what that is,” he replies, and Serin releases a scoff. 

”Yeah right, so you’re telling me I’m going to die in a month or two?” 

”I’m afraid so.” 

”That doesn’t make any sense, where’s the exact date then?!” 

”It’s not authorised for you to see. If you’d know the exact day you die, you’d probably do everything to prevent it.”

He’s not completely wrong about that. 

”Still— this doesn’t make any sense, why so suddenly- I mean, I’m still young and—Jongin, this is all bull, right?” 

Her best friend merely gazes at her, before looking down again. It takes a few seconds before he actually speaks. ”He’s speaking the truth, Serin. The reason why only you and I can see him is because we’re both in some way linked to him. You are through the intermortial link, which is the one that connects a guide to its passer, and I am, because my family has been affiliated with the afterlife for generations, which is why I have a certain sensitivity to seeing otherworldly beings like this ghost.” 

”My name is Baekhyun, thank you very much.” 

”Wait, so that sketchy reputation your family has is because you guys can see ghosts and— and what do you guys do anyways?!”

”I’m too young to be doing much, I’m mostly studying, but the elders make sure that the balance between the world of the afterlife, and the one where every living being is in remains stable, and that people or ghosts don’t disrupt the peace by trying to avoid their death or cause the one of another person.” 

Serin slumps back in her seat in disbelief. ”I-I don’t understand, this all seems so sudden, so strange.” 

”Ok, here’s how everything works since your friend here seems too shaken up to explain properly,” Baekhyun begins, shifting in his seat so that he’s facing her. 

”When you die, there are three places you can go. If you die without regrets or a wish, you either go to heaven or hell, based on your actions and how much you have loved throughout your life. If you die with a strong regret, you will remain on earth until it is fulfilled. There are certain things you can become as a soul on earth.” 

He paused to catch his breath. 

”If a soul stays for too long, it will either become insane and attempt to hurt humans, or forget about who they used to be in their past lives. These cases are called lost souls, and eventually turn into what we call tormentors. Tormentors are the type of ghosts you want to avoid, and they’re the type your friend’s family fight and contain, because they can disrupt and hurt humans.” 

”If a soul remains sane, they will become a guide, like I am. You see, the world of the afterlife is heavily structured, and if a person were to die and merely thrown into it, it’d cause a lot of ruckus. In order to prepare humans for what comes in the afterlife, God instituted the system of guides along with the Dead Man’s Manual, a book with everything you need to know before you die. We are sent to guide each human—or passers, as we call you—about a month or more before their passing, though I’m sure you read that in your death certificate. Everything clear?” 

Serin stares blankly at the paper before her. It’s even signed, for ’s sake. Who signed this, God?! 

Nothing is clear, absolutely nothing makes sense right now. Serin is still at the part where she’s supposed to allegedly die next month, let alone the fact that Jongin’s family is just a huge crackle of mediums, that there are so called tormentors, and that Baekhyun is—what is it called again—a guide?! 

”Oh, and I forgot to tell you,” he starts, and Serin almost wants to laugh. 

”You forgot to tell me? After all of that dump of information, there is something else you forgot to tell me?” 

Baekhyun ignores her. ”Since you and I are linked, which consequently connects you to both the world of the living and the afterlife, you’ll also be able to see other ghosts and otherworldly beings. Guides, tormentors, y’know the whole package.” 

”That’s just terrific,” she hears herself spit out ironically. ”Is there any way to prevent my death?” 

”Not really.”

This time, it is Serin who ignores him. ”Good, because that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” 

***********

Jongin is usually a quiet person, but the silence that has swept through the air when she is about to bid him goodbye is almost unbearable. Serin tries to salute him, but before a word can escape her lips the male has wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a tight embrace. It’s nothing new to their friendship, but she knows that this hug holds a slightly heavier weight than others. 

But she refuses.

Serin refuses to believe she has so little time left to live. She doesn’t care what Baekhyun says. There has to be some way to prevent it. 

Jongin looks more resigned that she does when he lets go of the embrace, but he still nods sturdly. ”I’ll find a way,” he tells her. ”Whatever it takes, I’ll find a way to prevent your death.” 

She smiles, and nods too. ”We will.”

After that, it’s time to bid goodbye for the day, and he enters his large residence while Serin heads home. Baekhyun is nowhere to be found, which is strange since he accompanied them up to Kim's residence. 

But she decides to not think much about it as she arrives home right in time for dinner, and sits down to eat with her aunt. Baekhyun was a ghost after all, he could probably appear and disappear as he pleased. 

It isn’t until after dinner that her day takes a definitive turn. Once she enters her room, to be precise. 

Because somehow, Baekhyun is seated comfortably on the chair by her desk, examining her room like all was right in the world. 

Serin lets out a terrified scream, stumbling backwards until her hits the floor. The male jumps back at the loud sound, seeming a bit shaken as well. 

”What the are you doing in my room?!” She manages to sputter, but before Baekhyun can reply, there is a recurring stomping sound echoing from the staircase, and soon enough her aunt is by her door, looking extremely concerned. 

”What happened!?” she asks. ”I heard you scream.” 

Serin’s eyes travel between her aunt and Baekhyun a couple of times before she remembers that she can’t see him. 

Realising aunt Eunjung was waiting for her answer, she quickly clears . ”It’s, uh, I just saw a spider by my bed and I got scared. Sorry for alarming you.” 

The woman perks up. ”Oh, really? That’s a good sign!” 

Serin raises an eyebrow. ”It is?” 

”Yes, of course darling! Spiders are always good omens, especially seeing one in the evening, so don’t kill it! They won’t crawl in your mouth while you sleep anyways.” 

”O-Okay then.” 

Seeing nothing else much was going on, her aunt shoots her another smile and walks out of the door. ”Tell me if something happens!” 

Serin is quick to close the door once she hears her take the last step off the stairs, and then turns around to face Baekhyun. ”Care to explain?” 

He lifts a finger and opens his mouth. ”Righ, I was going to, of course. You know, since we’re both connected by the intermortial link—which is also why you can touch me and not go right through me, by the way—I will automatically appear wherever you are. We’re basically attached to the hip until you die, save for when you go to sleep, and do more private stuff like..I don’t know, sleeping? Because I do too, so yeah the night is pretty much ghost free for you.” 

”Ghosts sleep?” 

”Not like I need to, but you’d be surprised