“What do you think; this ivory one or this beige one?” Mrs. Jung held up two cans of paint in her hands, wanting Krystal to compare them and choose which would be the perfect shade for the living room and the kitchen. They were at a hardware store in the morning shopping for painting stuff and as much as that sounds exciting for Krystal, there’s something in her mind she can’t lay off.

  When she saw the shadow last night, she immediately out and before she did, she caught a glimpse of the shadow moving, as if trying to stop her from fainting. Krystal didn’t know why it did and that’s why she can’t forget about it. She was terrified and when she thought that the horse would actually work out for her, boy was she wrong.

  “Or maybe that pale rose-coloured one?” Mrs. Jung eyed a can of paint on a shelf behind her daughter. “No, the ivory one is pretty,” Krystal then managed to squeak out, and by the tone of her voice, Mrs. Jung knew something was off. “Is something wrong, honey? You seem… upset,” Mrs. Jung then placed back the beige one back on its shelf and Krystal shook her head.

  “If it’s the house you’re upset about then I’m sorry, dear but; I don’t want our family to live in a broken and contaminated house,” said her mother as she placed her hand on Krystal’s shoulder. “It’s not the house, mum, it’s just that…” Krystal then said but trailed off with her words and a thin line formed on Mrs. Jung’s lips.

  “If you don’t want to talk about it now, then okay,” she said with a little smile and Krystal just raised the corners of and slightly nodded. “Now let’s go and look for you and your sister’s room colour,” said Mrs. Jung as she and Krystal continued on their little shopping adventure, and hopefully that Krystal can forget about the shadow.

  For a while, at least.

  “You better have bought the right colour,” said Jessica as she jumped off the dining table after she had wiped the ceiling fan when Mrs. Jung and Krystal returned from their little shopping trip. Jessica rummaged through the stuff they’ve bought and squealed excitingly after she found the can of teal paint and took a paintbrush as she started moving to the staircase.

  “Whoa there, missy,” Mr. Jung halted her eldest daughter before she could even lay her feet on the first step. “We start from the living room first, and then we’ll do at each other’s rooms,” he then later explained as Jessica slumped her shoulders and frowned at her father. “Fine,” she just said as she put the can of paint back on the floor.

  “Krystal and I would start painting the kitchen while you and daddy would paint the living room, alright?” Mrs. Jung later suggested as she took off her cardigan and hung it on a hook. Krystal exhaled satisfyingly after she heard that she would be working at the kitchen; she didn’t want to be near her bedroom anymore but she knew that sooner or later, she has to go back in there again.

  Maybe the shadow man won’t come already or maybe that she was just hallucinating last night? The last thing that she remembered before she out to sleep last night was that she saw the shadow man holding up his hands as if he wanted to halt her. She hoped that he would be gone but she knows that he wasn’t because she could feel that presence.

  Jongin, on the other hand, didn’t expect that she would first notice his shadow right away. He wasn’t too careful last night but at least he was relieved that she knows about his presence. Wait—why would he be relieved? He scared the girl out of her own wits; he should be hiding in the music-box right now. But he hoped that Krystal would know that he meant no harm and that she would slowly started to accept him.

 Jessica tied her hair up into a top-knot as she rolled up her sleeves and slightly shivered. No matter how reluctant she was about painting the living room, she still had to do it so that she would finally paint her own room otherwise, it would be the plainest room in the house. She uncapped the lid using a screwdriver she asked from her father and started painting the walls white first before she could proceed painting ivory over it.

  The ghost looked at the eldest as he sat at one of the steps of the stairs and left his feet dangling. He was utterly bored right now and he didn’t want to go and check up on Krystal because he knows how bright the kitchen is and he’s afraid that she would freak out again if she saw his shadow. Jongin then decided to have a little fun on his own in the house.

  While Jessica was lazily dragging the paintbrush over the walls, she felt a scary tingling vibe behind her. It’s as if somebody was mocking her; sticking out their tongue at her and making fun at her behind her back. She carefully glanced behind her and saw her father was painting at another wall and she knew her father wouldn’t stick his tongue out to her; he was too serious for that.

  “Krystal,” Jessica randomly called out, feeling a bit eerie about the living room. “What?” the youngest then popped out of the kitchen doorway as she looked at her older sister confusingly. “Did you… by any chance, made fun of me behind my back?” Jessica later asked and Krystal furrowed her eyebrows.

  As much as she loved teasing her older sister, she would never make fun of her even when she’s with her friends. She respected and loved Jessica very much and wouldn’t have the heart to talk about her without her knowing about it. “You know I wouldn’t do that,” Krystal then said sincerely and Jessica believed her.

  “Oh, okay, thanks,” she only just said as Krystal widened her eyes at how weird her sister was starting to act as she went back to her mother and continued their paint job. Jessica then lay off that being mocked feeling aside as she began painting again. Then there it was again, she honestly felt that somebody was sticking out their tongue at her, swirling even at it as she started having goosebumps on the back of neck.

  Jessica ignored that feeling over an hour and distracted herself by revising her speech for a project at college and even let’s her father listen to it out loud, too just in case she might have done something wrong about it. Forty-five minutes has passed, and both living room and kitchen were done painted white. What’s left now is to leave it dry and at the same time, painting white at their bedrooms.

  “Are you okay?” Krystal then asked her sister as she noticed that she looked paler than usual. Colours have faded out of Jessica’s fair skin and she looked like she’s forced to watch a kid’s show 24-hours straight. “Y-yeah, just… really beat,” she then later admitted and that made Krystal’s lips curled. “Let’s paint the rooms next,” Jessica shook it off and headed upstairs as