Make Every Breath Count

Myungsoo allowed his feet to carry him, taking them wherever they pleased. The only thought in his mind was of finding Haneul and ensuring that she was safe. At that moment, all that mattered to him was the idea that she was still alive, that he wasn’t too late.

As he looked up at the buildings around him, he recognized where he was going. He recognized the restaurants that were closed so early in the morning, the apartments that were a little sketchy but held good people, and the stairs that led to the apartment of the girl who’d saved his life. The apartment where he’d been saved at the cost of her precious older brother.

He paused, wondering if Haneul was still home. He wondered if she’d even answer the door if she knew it was him.

Try. His gut kept whispering to him over and over, urging him up the stairs. As he pushed himself up the metal stairs, eyes trained on his shoes, he kept repeating the same mantra over and over to himself:

You’re not too late.

“You might not be too late if you hurry.” His gaze snapped to the figure that stood just outside the doorway, a sad smile on her face. “Your thoughts are loud, Myungsoo,” Boa murmured, her eyes showing hopefulness and sorrow at the same time.

He shuffled his feet, freezing where he stood, just a few meters away from the door. “Sorry. Did I wake you?” he asked quietly, struggling to look at the woman whose brother he’d accidentally condemned.

“No, I was awake. You missed Haneul by an hour, just so you know.” She shifted her weight leaning against the door. “Her thoughts were just as loud as yours are. If I tell you where she’s going, can you promise me that you’ll try to bring her back?”

Myungsoo nodded slowly. “I was going to try either way.”

Boa’s small smile grew into a grateful one, although her eyes still held a glimmer of defeat. “She’s headed to Eunkwang Girls’ High School. Where Hyori went to school when she was still alive. It’s about thirty minutes from here. Twenty if you run.” She crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at the floor.

Upon hearing where she was going, Myungsoo immediately took off, knowing exactly where the school was. He stopped at the top of the stairs upon hearing his name being called softly by the brunette woman who stood at her door.

“I don’t blame you. For any of this. They were always going to go out like this; saving someone else.” A tear rolled down Boa’s face, but she made no move to wipe it away. Instead, she grinned, the look on her face a forced, proud smile. “It’s just the way they were.”

Were. Past tense. Myungsoo tried his best to ignore it, knowing that Boa could hear everything that he was thinking. It’s so final. Like she’s already convinced that Haneul doesn’t have a chance. Or maybe she doesn’t. But trying would never hurt.

His mind sat on the word, hoping that it wasn’t too late, hoping it could be “she is like that” and not “she was like that.”

Hoping that he could give her a chance to be talked about in present tense.

“Hyori! Come out, please! We need to talk!” Haneul called, her hands shoved in her jacket pockets, a look of determination masking the fear she felt so clearly in her heart.

A whirl of wind blew through Haneul’s short, dark hair, causing her to spin around, facing the woman on the other side of the roof, whose true self she was seeing for the first time. Hyori’s eyes were sunken, shadowed, with her hair falling to her lower back. It looked as if she’d aged far past her death age of fifteen, but she still wore her school uniform.

“Hello, Haneul,” she practically purred, her lips curling upwards in a sinister smile. “What are you doing here alone? And why did you choose,” she sneered at the words, “this place as our official meeting spot?”

Haneul said nothing as the ghost drew closer. She simply glared. “How many,” she finally demanded. It wasn’t a question, but a demand for information.

Hyori paused for a moment, but shrugged. “I lost count. But I know it’s not enough. I haven’t gotten my life back yet.” She sighed. “I thought your friend Junyoung would be the last one, but I suppose suicide doesn’t really count as murder, you know? Maybe it goes to his score, but I’m sure it wasn’t tacked on to mine.” She paused, seeing Haneul’s glare grow darker, and allowed her lips to turn upwards. “Aw, are you upset? Is it ‘cause I killed your little psychic ?”

“He wasn’t anyone’s ,” Haneul spat in reply. “He was my friend, and you made him into a murderer.”

The ghost clicked her tongue nonchalantly. “Honey, you’ve got to understand why I did what I did. Doesn’t everyone want to live forever?”

“You’re dead.”

“Point. Let me rephrase.” Hyori vanished, leaving Haneul glaring at the now empty spot. A coldness crept around Haneul’s body, like a coil pinning her body in place. Her chilling voice echoed around Haneul, entrapping her in its deadly sweetness. “Don’t those who die deserve a second chance? A better chance?”

Shaking her head, the short-haired psychic felt herself shivering, but she wanted to remain strong. “Not you. Not a murderer.”

“Oh, you’re still on about this whole murder thing? Haneul, can’t we just get past it? Let’s be friends, okay?” Hyori’s voice was close now, and the coldness was making its way up Haneul’s body, from her arms to her shoulders, and still continued to creep upwards.

She could feel her entire body telling her mind to bolt, to flee from Hyori, who she knew was desperate at this point. She wanted to live so badly that she no longer cared who got hurt. Haneul was as easy to get rid of as anyone else had been.

“Can you answer me one thing?” she managed, her voice hoarse as she croaked out her question. “Why did you choose those people? Byunghun, Junyoung, and the Kim brothers? Why them?”

For a moment, Hyori’s only response was to hum softly, a tune that should have been reassuring, but only came through as menacing. It sounded dangerous when it was Hyori, but that was to be expected.

After humming for a while, she finally began to reply. “Do I need a reason?”

“Is it because of the boys who killed you?” For brief second, the chills that were working their way to Haneul’s neck stopped. “They drowned you in the river. Said they were just messing around, but when you died, they hid your body.”

“How do you…” Hyori’s voice was filled with anger as she reappeared directly in front of Haneul. The psychic did her best