Driving through the quiet streets of Seoul in the middle of the night allowed Siwon to relax and let his mind wander. Siwon still wasn’t too certain if he had imagined the exchange in the office with Yuri. Maybe he was too tired and looking at old case files fuelled his imagination? Or maybe he had unknowingly dozed off on his table and had dreamt of it? But one thing for sure was that he could not deny that her touch sent shivers through his body. This was probably the first time in years that anyone (or anything in this case since she was dead) had any form of physical contact with him.

He entered the estate where he lived at. As a bachelor with no girls to bring on dates or friends to go out to make merry with, Siwon had invested all his hard-earned salary in a comfortable apartment. This was the fruits of his labor, something he was proud of.

His car pulled into his designated parking lot which was situated under a large tree. Stepping out onto the pavement, he ensured that he had securely locked his car before heading towards the lift. Along the way, he gave out a loud yawn and rubbed his eyes which he could barely keep open by now.

He waited for the lift door to open as it came down from the tenth story. His eyes wandered around the lobby, scanning the location he was all too familiar with out of boredom. His sight fell on the security counter where the night shift ahjussi had his head rested on the table. Siwon shook his head but decided to cut the poor guy some slack and let him have some rest. After all, the residents were not in any imminent danger.

But what strike him as peculiar was the other security ahjussi with his back turned against Siwon as he sorted through files leaning against the wall. There was almost never another guard on duty at the same time, at least not at this hour. His uniform also appeared unfamiliar to Siwon. Siwon was about to step closer to the security ahjussi when he felt a hand on his. Siwon jumped up in fright and almost gave out a loud yelp.

“It’s me.”

Siwon cautiously turned to his left and was greeted by that same lovely face he had thought he imagined earlier. He noticed how lovely her eyes looked now that they were in closer proximity.

“What are you doing here?” He asked before giving her hand a gentle squeeze. She felt real and there was even some warmth in her. He wasn’t imagining this.

Yuri let out a sheepish smile.

“Let’s talk when we get to your apartment.”

Siwon wanted to take another look at the mysterious security ahjussi but was dragged into the lift by Yuri before he had the chance to. They rode in the lift together in silence before Siwon looked down at their locked hands.

“Don’t let go of me.” She cautioned.

Siwon nodded and said not another word until they were in his apartment, seated on his couch.

“Were you following me?” He asked.

Yuri kept her lips pursed as she let go of his hand and stood up from the couch. She walked around the living room, examined the television that was mounted on his wall, headed to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator to examine what he had stocked inside. Pulling out a bottle of champagne, Yuri held it close to her chest and grinned.

Siwon noticed that she was barefooted yet dressed in a short, body-hugging black dress that showcased her curvy figure. His mind flashed back to the crime scene photo that he had seen briefly on his computer screen. This was what she was wearing when she had passed away.

“Would you mind if I open this?” She asked with a playful smile on her face while still holding on to the bottle of champagne.

He nodded without hesitation. To be honest, he doesn’t remember how long that champagne had been in the refrigerator. It probably came along in a Christmas gift basket his subordinate from his previous department had given to him. Siwon never saw the need to drink the champagne since he was always alone at home, what fun would there have been?

Yuri placed the unopened bottle on the kitchen counter top and sighed.

“Too bad I probably can’t drink it.”

Siwon was starting to get moody and cranky because he was exhausted. He wanted answers. He wanted answers now.

“Why are you here? I said I would help you but we have to wait till the next morning to retrieve the evidence.”

As if sensing that he was starting to be in a foul mood, Yuri put on a hundred-watt smile on her face and hurried to his side, sitting next to him.

“I’m going to tell you something but promise you wouldn’t get mad at me.”

He looked at her with curious eyes before a reluctant nod.

Holding up his hands in hers, Yuri started to speak as cautiously as she could.

“Remember how I asked for your permission to appear to you? It turns out… that by saying yes to me, youhadinfactsaidyestoseeingallotherghostsaswell.”

Yuri spoke as fast as she could to get the main point across and then closed her eyes shut to avoid seeing his reaction. She was scared to get him involved in this mess with the dead. If she had known this would happen, she would have caution him before engaging his help.

“What? , hell no…” Siwon asked in disbelief. He definitely caught what she had said. But it sounded so absurd he couldn’t quite believe his ears.

“You now have the ability to see and feel not only me, but other ghosts as well. That security dude you saw earlier on, the one mindlessly sorting the files for no good reason, he is dead. You saw his spirit.”

Siwon suddenly felt sick to his stomach. His head started to spin trying to process what he had just heard. He had seen a ghost, not realizing it was one, and he had almost tried to approach it! No wonder there was a weird grey shade on the dude’s skin. Siwon had thought it was just due to the poor lighting.

Taking in a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down before clarifying what he had heard.

“So what you’re saying is I see dead people? I have the sixth sense? And they can touch me?”

Increasing her grip on his hands, Yuri nodded with a grave expression on her face.

“Most of them wouldn’t even look normal to you. You wouldn’t want to have seen the security ghost face, that’s why I appeared to stop you. He has an eye missing and a large wound across his face.  Not all ghosts look as beautiful and normal as me. I choose to appear this way because I don’t want to scare you.”

Siwon struggled free from her grip and clutched onto the couch seat.

“I’m sorry, but I would rather not help you then. I don’t want to see these horrible things. What if they decide to harm me?”

Her face sank.

“I’m sorry Siwon but there’s nothing I can do to stop these. I didn’t know this would happen until a senior soul collector told me about the consequence. The only way you can stop seeing ghost temporary is if you let me touch you. Because only by having consensual physical contact with a ghost, can you drive the others away.”

Siwon thought about that for a moment. That would mean that to keep himself safe from the malicious spirits, he had to keep this spirit by his side 24/7. Siwon wasn’t even sure if he could trust Yuri not to harm him but at least for now she didn’t seem to have any ill intentions. But having someone by his side just wasn’t what he was used to. Never mind that she is dead; the fact that he could see and touch her like she was still alive made him treat her like a human being.

He looked up at her, as she turned her face away from him to avoid letting him see the sadness in her eyes. She felt guilty to get someone involved her mess, but there was no other way she could think of to find justice. She had chosen him to be the special one to help her after slogging five years to get this reward. Dragging him into this mess and putting his life in danger wasn’t what she had intended to do.

“Yuri,” he called her name out in a gentle, weary voice before placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’ll help you. It’s just for ten days only right? I’ll get through this. I’ll just hold on to you if I’m afraid or feel threatened.”

She sheepishly turned to face him and smiled.

Siwon was glad to see her smile again. In fact, it made him felt relieved. He didn’t want to see her sad.

There were no ghosts in Siwon’s house so he didn’t need to be afraid and could go on living like normal. But to keep him safe, Yuri decided to sit by his bedside as she watched him sleep. But unexpectedly her eyelids started to get heavy as well and she fell asleep by his side.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone for the support thus far! I will reply to comments later on when I'm free! Hope you enjoy this chapter!