Wufan was a simple man, really. Most days he woke up at 10am, got ready in about an hour, and left the house for brunch at the nearby diner by 12pm. He would spend an hour having the Special while waiting for his partner and assistant Jongdae to arrive with the Task of the Day.

Some days, though, their roles were reversed. 

"You are late. Again," was the first thing Jongdae said when Wufan reached the diner. Jongdae waved a fork of omelette at him, dropping bits of it everywhere and drawing dirty looks from their waiter.

"I'm not late," Wufan interjected. "You're early." Their little banter was about as fresh as a-month-old corpse, and the lines were heard so often even the diner chefs could mouth them word for word in the kitchen. He settled across the smaller man in the booth, pointing at the white board scribbled Today's Special to the exasperated waiter eyeing them from the counter. 

"What do we have today?" asked Wufan conversationally while he stole a strip of bacon off Jongdae's almost clean plate. 

Jongdae swatted at Wufan's hand irritably before he pulled out his trusty little black crocodile-skinned file and flipped to the page where it was carelessly dog-eared. "Kim Junmyeon. Called last week about being haunted at work. The standard -- old cinema with at least 80 years of history, rumored to be the hot spot for couples to commit joint suicide about a decade ago. Been losing business for a while." He chortled. "Thinks if we chase the ghosts out he'll get more business."

Man, one of Wufan's least liked assignments was to exorcise ghosts. A grin curled onto Jongdae's lips at the look on Wufan's face and the smaller man reached over to irritatingly pay Wufan's hand. "I know, I know," he crooned with a chuckle. "We'll make it quick. 15 minutes tops." He patted a black Nike duffle bag next to him. "Got the equipment here. Garlic, powder and all that ."

"The 'blood'?"

"Yeap. In a little vial," replied Jongdae as the waiter approached them with Wufan's food. "Should be enough unless you want to offer your own blood."

The waiter paused, a wary grimace evident on his face. Wufan arched a bushy eyebrow at the man who seemed to make no move to disappear from their table, only jerking back to the kitchen when Wufan tapped loudly on the table. 

Satisfied when the waiter left them alone, Wufan reached across the table to grab the black folder peeking out from Jongdae's duffle bag and flipped it open, eyes scanning the other's tidy handwriting on their client. Dude. He was about their age and he thought ghosts existed? What a joke. Did he watch too much Casper or something?

Brunch didn't take more than half an hour when Wufan typically gobbled up his food. The two of them were on their way to the theatre in no time, in Jongdae's dingy grey car. 

"Christ, can you drive a little slower?" snapped Wufan, gripping the handle so tightly his knuckles turned white. For a car that looked like it belonged in the 80s, it sure moved like it was flying into the next millennium. Then again, he had an assistant whose reckless driving skills could probably land him a job in Formula 3.

They reached the cinema after a 2 minute shouting match with the driver of a red Ferrari, a near accident with a tree that “suddenly appeared” (Jongdae’s words) and a wrong turn that brought them to a shady neighbourhood. Wufan was practically perspiring in the cool autumn air when he stumbled out of the car in front of Renoir Cinema.

“I’m never taking your bloody car again,” he muttered darkly only to receive an amused chuckle from Jongdae.

“That’s what you say until you have to take the subway,” was his assistant’s cheerful reply. Wufan shuddered to himself at the reminder. Ugh, subways. He hated the crowded trains with its recycled air and the sweaty bodies that pressed against his but he hated it even more when Jongdae was right. Wufan narrowed his eyes at the other and stalked into the cinema with the duffle bag, ignoring the laugh from the other man.

“Mr Kim Junmyeon!” he called with a wrinkle of his nose at the musty smell of the theater. Wow, this place really is old. No wonder business is bad. It was so terribly maintained he wondered if it really came as a surprise to the cinema owner that nobody wanted to come.

A short man dressed in an argyle sweater vest popped his head out from a hidden door at the side of the cinema, his eyes darting around nervously before he stepped out.

“Are you the Ghost Whisperer?” he whispered so quietly Wufan had to move closer to hear. He fixed a close-lipped smile on his face – the professional one, not the gummy one – and nodded.

“You look pale, Mr Kim. This ghost must really be troubling you,” he said sympathetically.

 The cinema owner nodded vigorously and looked so desperate Wufan really felt sorry for him. Even though there were no such things as ghosts and this Kim Junmyeon was really being a superstitious coward.

A sudden loud creak interrupted their conversation. Kim Junmyeon jumped about three feet off the ground and lurched towards Wufan, fingers tightly gripping his arm.

“Did you hear that!” the smaller man screeched.

Wufan resisted the urge to tell him his screaming probably scared the ghost away and pasted a concerned expression on his face instead. Before he had a chance to reply, the curtains on the stage fluttered as though a huge gust of wind passed through it. Kim Junmyeon shuddered beside him.

“I see him!” Wufan said suddenly, pointing at a random spot on the stage. “There he is! He’s… angry.” Wufan frowned and stepped closer to the stage. “Mr Kim… have you had this cinema for long?”

“A-about a year. Why?”

Wufan sighed sadly and shook his head. “Well, he’s not happy,” he told Junmyeon, waving in the general direction of the stage. “He used to come here with his girlfriend years ago and he doesn’t like how rundown this place has become.” The curtains fluttered again, as if responding to Wufan. “You need to renovate this place, Mr Kim.”

Kim Junmyeon bit his lip. “That’s… it? He’ll leave if I agree?” He twisted his wrists anxiously. “Can’t you just – exorcise him instead? That would be cheaper than getting this place redone.”

Wufan really wanted to roll his eyes. What a cheapskate. Well, don’t blame him if he still didn’t get anyone coming to this lousy excuse of a cinema.

“Of course I can,” he said instead and smiled pleasantly before reaching into his duffel bag. “You might want to stand back.”

Pulling out a (blunt) sword, Wufan attached the string of garlic at the hilt of the sword and pointed it towards the stage. The stench of the garlic irritated his nose and he knew he would smell like it for the entire day. This was why he hated doing exorcism. He rambled off a string of words in Chinese – that really made no sense, but Kim Junmyeon didn’t know that – and swished the sword a few more times before throwing a fistful of powder in the air. Ignoring Junmyeon’s gasp when he fell to his knees, Wufan pretended to cut the sword across his palm. Kim Junmyeon jumped when the door at the back of the cinema slammed shut in perfect timing and taking the opportunity when the other glanced away, he grabbed the vial of fake blood from his coat’s pocket and stood up.

“Take this, Mr Kim,” he commanded, placing the vial into the cinema owner’s hand. “Bury it somewhere far from this place.”

“W-w-what is this?”

“The spirit of the ghost haunting you,” Wufan said calmly, not looking at the other as he packed the sword and garlic back into his bag. “That will be $1,000. It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

-

A thousand dollars richer, Wufan walked out of the cinema with a bright grin on his lips. He had to give it to Jongdae. How did he manage to move so quickly from the stage to the door? He ought to consider giving his assistant a salary raise. He was getting real good at this job.

“I can’t believe he fell for that.”

Wufan chuckled. “When have they never—” he began to say, until he glanced up and realised with a start that it wasn’t Jongdae who was talking to him. He arched an eyebrow at the pale man glaring at him with folded arms. Was he wearing a hospital gown? Oh whatever. That was the least of his worries. This guy could blow his cover.

“Who are you?” he asked cautiously.

“The ghost haunting the cinema.”

There was a long pause before Wufan let out a loud guffaw. He continued to laugh for the next 30 seconds while the stranger continued to glare holes into him. Oh god, what is this world coming to? “Ghosts don’t exist—”

“Oh yeah?” the stranger burst out and launched himself towards him. Wufan’s eyes widened but he didn’t have time to move away before the stranger came at him. He braced himself for the impact but then the stranger passed through him.

His heart stopped.

No ing way.

“WHAT THE ?” he screamed. “WHAT THE ??”

“What the ?” Jongdae asked confusedly, appearing from the cinema’s entrance.

“HIM!” Wufan shrieked, pointing at the smirking ghost sitting on the roof of Jongdae’s car. “H-h-he just… he’s a ghost!”

Jongdae raised his eyebrow at the other. “Uh, Wufan, you can drop the act now. Mr Kim isn’t here.”

“NO, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND,” exploded the taller man. “There’s a ghost sitting on your car.”

“Very funny.” Jongdae rolled his eyes and walked around the car to the driver’s seat. “Come on, I’ll send you home so you can shower. You stink.”

“THERE’S A GHOST—”

“Shut up—”

“HE PASSED THROUGH ME—”

“WUFAN! STOP.” Jongdae shot him a look. “You’re acting strange! I’m tired of talking about ghosts. Say anything else and you’re taking the sub.”

Chuckling, the stranger floated off the roof of the car to stand next to Wufan. “Awww,” he said mockingly and attempted to pat Wufan’s shoulder only for his hand to pass through him. Wufan shivered at the cold sensation on his shoulder. “Looks like your assistant doesn’t believe the Ghost Whisperer can see a ghost.” 

A/N: This chapter is to introduce what Wufan and Jongdae do! More Kray interactions in the chapters to come. Leave a comment please~