chapter nine            

"really?" hyusu gawked as kymin recounted the events of the day. "really." the latter leaned against the kitchen counter. at the stove, ji-ae tilted her head thoughtfully as she busied herself with the dinner preparations. "speaking of which, weren't you supposed to come back only after dinner?" ji-ae had apparently heard the story of how she was abducted by her best friend. "yes, I'm meeting him in fifteen minutes. I had to wash up first!" hyusu grinned. both ji-ae and kymin looked at her cheekily. "aish.. are you both a couple?" kymin teased, retreating to her bunk and avoiding  the pillows the former threw at her. ji-ae could only shake her head at her two childish dorm-mates.

"AHHHHHHHH - " hyusu gave a shrill cry as the blanket she had tried to grab sat up on its own. kymin keeled over in shock. "what's happening!" ji-ae hurried out of the kitchen, frantically unravelling her apron. "the- the blanket!" both the younger girls pointed to the pile of moving bedspreads simultaneously. before ji-ae had time to investigate, a head popped out from under it. "chae-chaebyul?" hyusu hic-cupped. chaebyul's hair was matted with sweat, covering most of her face. "what are you doing here? weren't you at the library with eunji?" ji-ae made her way towards the girl. "I-I was cold. I don't f-feel well. excuse me!" chaebyul leapt out of bed and ran for the bathroom. "was she here the whole time?" kymin asked disbelievingly. ji-ae had worry etched over her face. soon enough, the eldest had whipped up some herbal soup and was prepared to send chaebyul to the sickbay at the drop of a hat. 

in the bathroom, chaebyul huddled in a corner, revisiting her encounter with the library ghost. she had thought that the ghosts would at least leave her alone here. she sat in silence for the next ten minutes, attempting to calm herself down and make herself presentable before she had to go out and face the rest of her dorm-mates. there was blood on her bottom lip, courtesy of her biting too hard on it in her nervousness. a light knock on the bathroom door alerted her that there was somebody on the other side of the door. "chaebyul? are you okay in there?" it was ji-ae. "ah - yes I'm okay. I'm just going to get c-cleaned up!" chaebyul squeaked. once she made sure that chaebyul was okay, hyusu gestured goodbye and skipped out the door. 

the dormitory door creaked open again, and without bothering to look, kymin bellowed, "did you forget something?" there was a stunned silence before kymin turned around and realized her mistake. eunji stood at the door with a puzzled expression on her face. the boy beside her looked at her, perplexed. "uhh - hi. I thought you were hyusu." kymin did an awkward wave before slinking away into the kitchen. "did - did you happen to see chaebyul?" eunji stayed by the door, evidently only dropping in for a moment. "she's in the bathroom. I think she's not feeling well." the voice sang. realization crossed eunji's face as she set the books and stationery on the table - chaebyul's. "no wonder she left so hurriedly." she reasoned. "tell her that I left her stuff on the table!" eunji yelled as kymin popped around the corner and gave her a thumbs-up. satisfied, she pulled jungkook back out into the corridor. rounding the corner, both younju and tiffany waved to her. eunji smiled back.

dinner was a quiet affair with only three of the dorm-mates seated around the long table. chaebyul was unusually quiet. kymin launched into her account of the proceedings of her day as ji-ae encouraged chaebyul to dig in. at the mention of minah joining dance, chaebyul snapped out of her trance and joined in with a look of bewilderment. "she joined dance w-willingly?" chaebyul put aside her worries for the moment and queried. "uhh - I don't think it was out of interest.. did the freshmen have any assignments today that might have prompted her to.. you know.." kymin mimed dancing and promptly knocked over her glass. ji-ae looked at her in exasperation. "we had to do a research paper on the arts.." chaebyul remembered. "hmm.. talk about the scarily motivated." kymin coughed out while ji-ae gave her another glare. astonishingly, chaebyul gave a slight nod as she retreated back into her subconsciouness. 

at snax n sarnies, zitao and hyusu had just ordered some roast chicken as well as a side of cookies and milk. "how's your first week going?" zitao prodded the younger. hyusu smiled and reassured him that it was going well. "how about your.. Ability?" zitao leaned in and whispered. hyusu pondered for a moment before replying, "so far I've only seen two in our dormitory - they're attached to two other girls - guardian angels probably, they're quite friendly.. but.." zitao stopped shovelling pieces of chicken into his mouth and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "but..?" he coaxed, looking gently into her eyes. "but - but I met a strange apparition in the library.. I don't know if he means any harm.." zitao dragged his chair over to hyusu, putting his arm around her shoulders. "you know that if you need help - company or whatever, I'll be here for you right?" he looked into her eyes. "hmm?" hyusu beamed and nodded. "don't worry, I'll know where to find you."

in the cafe opposite, eunji and jungkook were seated at speedy's, having grilled steaks and juice. "how are your dorm-mates?" jungkook inquired through a sip of his orange juice. "I'm the closest to chaebyul, since we're same-aged friends and basically go to classes together. there's a really caring unnie in our dormitory, ji-ae - I feel loved even though we're four whole years apart; she looks out for everybody. there's hyusu - who's getting more enthusiastic by the day; she was so quiet when we first met." eunji mused. "and there's kymin - she hasn't done anything yet, but I'll bet you she's our troublemaker. ahh - and there's.. minah.." she trailed off. "what about her?" jungkook peered at her curiously while trying to detach the meat from his fork. "is she bullying you?" jungkook instantly straightened up, his eyes betraying the concern he had for the girl. "it's - it's not like that." eunji tried to explain. "it's just that the rest of the dorm-mates, including me, don't really interact that much with her because she's not in the dormitory much." jungkook nodded and relaxed against his chair. "I see."

back at school, in the dimly-lit dance studio, a girl danced alone, her feet moving lightly across the wooden floor; a picture of gracefulness. minah had learnt the choreography in under two hours. the instructor had complimented her during class and she had seen the looks of awe on the seniors' faces. it was her own little secret. even though she did not seem like the type who would invest in such 'idle hobbies', as her mother calls them, minah had actually studied dance when she was younger, choosing to keep it from her parents and peers. she knew that her parents would disapprove of her wanting to dabble in the arts, but she felt that it was relaxing. she told herself it was okay; it was the only treat that she allowed herself. she risked joining the class under the pretence of her research paper on the arts mainly because she wanted to experience the art fully. she believed that dancing alone in a dimly-lit studio wasn't that gratifying. staying back with the instructor after class, she had managed to perfect at least the feet movements and co-ordinated her hands. she lacked artistry but the extra three hours she had alone in the studio solved that problem. it was almost ten when she decided to take a rest. swiping her ipod from the speaker-dock, she sat in the corner and produced her towel - and a bottle of water from her bag. a giggle escaped her lips as she remembered the scene from the class six hours earlier. she recalled the instructor staring dubiously at kymin messing up the dance moves and couldn't help but give a slight chuckle. her laughter died in as she got startled by the rare sound. pulling her lips up into a smile, minah looked at herself in the mirror.

it's funny how much difference a smile makes.

co-author's note:     heyyy so I'm done with chapter nine! (: I liked the chapter before better.. but I'm trying to pave way for some of the scene requests *winks* I guess I'm going to make them meet more spirits on their own before letting them find out about one another's abilities.. more fun.. right? I promise the guys will come in soon-ish.. a few more kinks and then they'll be in!