Jongin knocked on Sehun's apartment door with the heel of his foot, chips in his right hand and soda in the other. "Sehun?" He called out.

No response. He maneuvered the top of the chip bag between his ring and middle finger and knocked properly with his knuckles. "Yo, Sehun?" He tried calling again.

After a few seconds, he heard approaching footsteps and the door swung open. Sehun stood there in his tall-and-thin glory, clad in loose jeans and a hoodie. Around his neck was a gaming headset. He stepped back to let Jongin in. 

"Hey, what's with those?" He pointed to the headset, eyebrow up. 

"These?" Sehun looked down at his neck. "I was thinking, since the club.... I thought maybe I should try out a few horror games. Wanna play?"

The club was slowly becoming a regular occasion. Two full weeks in, the five have been meeting more than usual, taking in their usual Tuesdays and Thursdays and now Wednesdays too on behalf of "training their newbies". 

Jongin nodded. "Yeah, sure." Probably not a good idea, considering his dreaded fear of anything ghostly or supernatural. But hey, he was easily convinced into doing stupid things with, and/or for, friends. And Sehun was one of his best friends. (At least, he thought so. It's only been a few months, but Sehun's mostly emotionless face has never given away his true opinions yet. Yet. He's anticipating it soon.)

Sehun led him to his room, where his laptop was set up on his desk. He stored away the headset in his top drawer. "I want to hear it too, so I'll turn the sound up." He clicked the volume button a few times and told Jongin to sit down. "Pick one. Ao Oni? Ib? Neverending Nightmares? That one's a demo though. Don't really want to spend money for the full version. Plus, I'm into pixel horror more, I think. It's cool though."

Jongin had never heard of a single one of those game titles, but he said, "Um, the second one."

"Ib? It's a great game. Seriously good plot," Sehun sounded so natural talking about these things. Maybe it was just the weekend effect on him; he was casual and loose. Jongin could get used to this.

"I'll watch you play first," Jongin told him, eyeing the summary and cover art of the game. Pixel horror, Sehun had said. Shouldn't be that bad. He simply wanted to make sure he wasn't getting himself into anything that could mentally scar him. That's all.

"All right, if you say so." He sat down on the chair and clicked PLAY. "I found the free version online. Downloaded it yesterday."

"Chatty, aren't you today?"

Sehun reddened. "Really? Am I? I don't know. I'm kinda excited about this. It's really...interesting. The club, I mean. Ghosts. I like the... concept, I guess." He skipped the prologue and talked about the game as he moved his character, a little girl, around the room. "It's about this girl called Ib, and she and her parents go to this museum for this special art exhibit. Freaky happens, and she ends up going to the world in the art." 

Jongin nodded along with his words.

He was fine for the first few scares. Okay, that was a bold-faced lie. He positively shrieked when a hand banged on the glass behind poor Ib, trapped in the museum. And the real action was yet to begin.

"You wanna go now?" Sehun asked him.

There was no backing down now. He's a man. "Sure, sure." He took the headset and adjusted it around his ears. There was no music, but Sehun directed him for the first bit and once he entered the nightmarish world, he felt goosebumps run along his arms. He was doomed. Goodbye world. 

Half an hour into the game, he threw down the headset with a scream and jumped out of the chair. Sehun held back his laughter to pick up the discarded headset and sit back down. His shoulders shook with the effort, and despite biting his lip and mustering up all his willpower, a few giggles managed to escape his lips. 

"Do you want to try a different game, then?" He asked, clicking out of the screen. "This one has ghosts in it, not monsters." 

Jongin curled up on the floor, his head in his knees. "Save the ghosts for the club, Sehun. The club."

"What the hell are all those?" Jongin pointed to the stack of papers on the desk. Junmyeon looked up from behind them.

"These," he waved his hand over the mountain of letters, "are requests."

"Requests?"

Sehun walked in a second later. "Sorry I'm late. I had to talk to a teacher." 

"It's fine," Jongdae waved to him. "Anyway, I suppose we should explain this to you two. It's a big part of what we do here." 

Sehun stared at the pile. "You mean that?"

Jongin turned to him. "It's not just me, right? That's insane, right?"

Sehun nodded vigorously.

"Like I was saying," Junmyeon closed the cover of his laptop. "These are requests. Don't get me wrong, we don't get these often. If anything, we usually get about one or a two a month. The school is not a place adults want to be known for for being a popular haunting spot, therefore no one's usually here to witness anything strange. However, recently things have been a bit out of place, which is why we have you two. And thus, the letters we've been holding back for the past month are out."

"So what do people say in these 'requests'?" Sehun looked awfully calm for something Jongin found to positively ridiculous.

"They ask us for help. Maybe they saw something move on its own, or heard something when there was no one around, or something along those lines. Point is, they want us to get rid of their problem," Junmyeon told them.

"Which is our problem." Jongdae hopped off from his desktop seat. "Our club isn't supposed to be widely known. Nor do we want to be widely known. If anything, we'd rather not be acknowledged at all."

"Plus," Junmyeon dragged his hand down his face, "sometimes we get prank letters."

Jongin's eyes seemed to brighten. "Prank letters? For real? Let me see!" He grabbed the nearest white envelope and ripped it open.

All watched as his eyes scanned the page. They waited for him to react as his face changed from serious, to confusion, to disbelief, and back to confusion.

Jongin stared at it with a puzzled expression. "I don't think this is a prank letter." He turned to Sehun. "You know who this sounds like? Sounds like that kid Chanyeol. Don't know what that he's on, but it sounds like him. Doesn't it?"

Sehun gave him a look of puzzlement of his own. Typical Jongin, social butterfly. "No. No I don't. Is that kid in our class?"

"Sehun, he's a sophomore."

"Then why are you even asking me?"

"Well... I... I just thought...."

Sehun crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "You thought what?"

"..."

"Yeah, Jongin. That's what I thought too."

Jongin quietly put the letter back in the pile.

Jongdae and Junmyeon glanced at each other before going on. "So, anyway," Jongdae said. "As we were saying...."

"Yeah...." Junmyeon picked up the next letter before placing it on the desk beside him. "Anyway, we sometimes accept them. If Jongdae here approves." He jerked a thumb at the boy.

Lu Han suddenly appeared next to him, making Jongin jump. "Hi everyone!" He said perkily.

Everyone replied with "hello, Luhan" (Jongdae), "hey, Lu, where were you?" (Junmyeon), "hi Lu Han hyung" (Sehun), and "oh, uh, hey. Hyung" (a bit jumpy Jongin). Lu Han waved before answering Junmyeon.

"I was taking a walk. Had a memory flash last night, but I can't remember it anymore."

Junmyeon puckered his lips. "That's a pity."

Sehun fidgeted with his shirt hem. "A little too many new things today. I'll ask later."

"I suppose we'll explain eventually," Jongdae made a note in his notebook.

"So, uh," Jongin fidgeted, "what are we gonna do today?"

"Well, I was thinking..." Jongdae adjusted his thick black rimmed glasses and picked up a letter. He appeared preoccupied with the requests. "We could try...to see if...any of the letters..." His voice drifted off.

Jongin waited for an answer. When none came, he nudged Jongdae gently on the shoulder. "Uh, hyung?"

"What? Sorry." He handed the letter he'd been looking over to Junmyeon. "I approve of this one."

Junmyeon pinched his eyebrows together in mock disbelief. "How rare."

The co-president glanced over it. "Sounds like us, actually. Busy. From the student council president? I thought that kid was, you know. Sane."

"Are you saying we're not, hyung?" Jongdae stared at him.

Junmyeon looked up. "You know what I mean."

Jongdae used his hyung's shoulder as an elbow-rest. "Just remember, hyung. Here, I have more authority than you."

"Like I was saying," Junmyeon rolled his eyes. "Sounds like us. I can't see why he's complaining about this ghost though. I don't see a problem with it around."

Jongdae pointed to a line on the paper. "He clearly says so right there. Guilty conscious."

"Not to be rude or anything but please cut the crap and tell us what it says," Jongin sat down on a desk.

"Ahem," Junmyeon cleared his throat. " 'Dear Club EXOrcists,

From some secret sources, I've heard you're a club for getting rid of spirits in our school. It'd be great if you could come help me, I think there might be something in the council room. You might've heard of it? Rumors go around, but I never thought they were true.

Sometimes I'd stay late at school to finish up the work from that day. On occasion, I've...accidentally fallen asleep before, and when I wake up the work will be done in a pile and everything would be perfectly made up. I've looked up once or twice and thought I'd seen a figure leave the room.

It makes me feel guilty to not do all this myself though (pardon me, I'm a bit of a perfectionist.) I never believed in ghosts before, but I don't know anymore.

Thanks anyway,

Do Kyungsoo - sophomore'

I can't see why you like this one though, Jongdae. It's not as...extraordinary as the things you've accepted before."

"It's mostly because I know him personally."

"Ah. I see. Then couldn't he have asked you for help by himself?" Junmyeon put this 'Kyungsoo''s letter aside and swept the other letters into a cardboard box with his arm.

"No one knows I manage the club, hyung."

"Really?" Sehun asked. He felt a bit like he was intruding on their conversation, but he wanted to participate anyway. Bonus points for him for effort. "I mean, don't you need to go to the club fair at the beginning of the year?"

Lu Han raised his hand (probably didn't mean to) and said, "Junmyeon and I go. I show myself to the student body for those two hours. Jun says it helps attract people to our stand, but I don't know why."

Sehun nodded, staring at his fluffy hair and big eyes. He could guess why.

Jongdae scribbled a note down. "If you don't like it, we can use Jongin next year. Should be about the same effect."

Jongin and Lu Han glanced at each other, confused. Jongin spoke first. "I... what? Do I want to know?"

Junmyeon shook his head. "Probably not." He continued, "Anyway, do you want to go see this kid? He should probably be in the council room about now, right?"

"Yeah," Jongdae finished his notes. "Let's."

"Ah, hey Jongdae," The lone boy there raised his head at the sound of the five of them entering.

"Nice to see you, Kyungsoo," Jongdae smiled. 

"Yeah. I guess you got my letter," Kyungsoo smiled back, pink lips in a heart shape. His eyes weren't, per say, wide, rather they had a lot of eye-white. He was short with a nice complexion, a very studious figure at the head of the council indeed.

"You could have found me yourself," Jongdae sat down on one of the desks in the "U" arrangement. 

"Sorry," Kyungsoo replied sheepishly, rubbing the nape of his neck. "I figured since I haven't seen you in a while, I didn't want to ask you for a favor right away like that." He looked around at the club.

"You know Junmyeon, right?" Jongdae raised a hand to gesture at him.

Kyungsoo nodded. "Yeah."

"This is Sehun." Sehun gives a wave. "That's Lu Han." Lu Han had shown himself upon entering the room and waved shyly. "And that's Jongin. Jongin?"

It took a second for Jongin to snap out of his daze. He was still standing by the door, his eyes trained on the student council president. "Yes, hyung?"

"Do you want to come in?"

"Oh, uh. Yeah." He quickly walked over to where everyone else was, the tips of his ears pink. Sehun raised an eyebrow at him.

Jongdae looked back at Kyungsoo. "Anyway. I thought you didn't believe in ghosts?"

Kyungsoo shook his head. "I don't. Well, I didn't. I don't know. What do you do when you see one for yourself? It changed everything!" He threw his hands into the air with exasperation. 

There were countless papers scattered on his desk, mostly work to be done and schedules for planning future events. Kyungsoo pinched his brows at everything in front of him, reaching for it with a hand and then stopping a second later. 

"I feel guilty if my work is done by someone -- something -- else," He told Jongdae.

 "I see," Jongdae nodded inquisitively. "Then why don't we drop by tonight?"

"Excuse me?"

"It comes late in the evening, doesn't it? So then why don't we all pay a visit? You aren't required to come, of course. You hired us, so we'll handle it."

Behind everyone's attention, Lu Han shifted his weight onto his other foot at the sound of the word "hired". It felt odd to him. Could a ghost be hired? He'd have to come up with a punch line for that later.

"Yes, you're right," Kyungsoo bit his lip. "But, but, as the student council president, for all purposes, I tried to stop you from entering the school after hours but you all were too stubborn to listen."

They all nodded in unison. They understood what Kyungsoo was trying to do.

"And," the small boy continued, "I was dragged along too. Totally not because of my own curiosity, but because you all are extremely...persuasive." He looked each of them in the eye before nodding out of satisfaction to himself.

Jongdae cracked a smile. "Of course."

Sehun scrolled through his phone lazily and crossed his legs. He was sitting on a railing near the side of the school, waiting for Jongin to come back from the bathroom and for the rest of the club to join them. The sun was setting behind him and he struggled to see the dark screen through the light.

"Uh, hey? Sehun?" Someone leaned over to look at him. Sehun jumped in shock. Black hair, coal black eyes, dark circles, sharp lips, and a thin body. "What are you still doing here?" Everything about him was so dark, but his skin paled in contrast.

What was his name again? He was a student in Sehun's class. Something like... Hwang? Huang? Ji Teo? Zi Tao? Yeah, that was it. He was a Chinese transfer student, one of many in the batch of transfers from this year. What had Sehun been thinking? Who the heck is named Ji Teo?

"Oh, just for my parents. To come pick me up." They hadn't done that since grade school. But he was a level 70 liar.

Zi Tao smiled at him, the corners of his mouth handsomely curling upwards. "I see." He took a seat next to Sehun. It was slightly awkward; they hadn't spoken before. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all. So what about you?"

"I had a club. Basketball. Ran late today." Zi Tao did look a little sweaty, now that Sehun has looked more closely. And smelled more closely. Cologne, and sweat. It was somewhat enticing.

"Cool. I didn't know."

Zi Tao laughed. "Yeah, don't worry. I didn't expect you to."

"Zi Tao!" Someone shouted out from some meters away. A tall blond, still wearing his basketball jersey, was waving at them, his arm stretching impossibly high towards the sky.

"Yep!" Zi Tao called out. He stood and turned towards Sehun. "Well I have to go now. It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah. You too."

A smile. "Bye!" Zi Tao called out to him, jogging towards his friend.

Sehun was still waving when he heard Jongin return from his bathroom run. "Yo, Sehu-- Was that Huang Zi Tao?"

He came to a stop next to him. Sehun raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"He's in our class."

"...Right."

"Why are you still looking at him?"

Zi Tao's receding figure turned the corner. "...Huh?"

"Never mind." Jongin plopped down next to Sehun, right on the spot where Zi Tao was moments before. "So when are they getting here?"

"I dunno. I think in...now?"

"What?"

They looked over to see Jongdae and Junmyeon strolling towards them, chatting between themselves. Jongdae characteristically pushed up his glasses and Junmyeon laughed at one of his comments.

Sehun and Jongin observed quietly as the two took their sweet time getting to them.

"Are you maybe seeing what I'm seeing?" Jongin asked.

"That depends. Do you see two typically unaware shoujo manga heroes with no romantic experience?"

"Mmm, that sounds about right."

"Then yes."

Junmyeon raised a hand towards them when they were finally within speaking range. "Hey, how long have you guys been waiting?"

Jongin wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Not long. How long have you two been walking?"

Junmyeon looked stunningly confused. "Uh. Not long."

Jongin stopped abruptly. "Pity."

An awkward silence ensues. Eventually, it is interrupted by an impatient Jongdae. "Let's get going."

Junmyeon nodded slowly, eyes trained on Jongin's suspicious smile. "Yes...."

"Do Kyungsoo. What a pleasant surprise." 

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at Jongdae's entrance. He was still filing away papers, like the studious boy he was. The rest of the club greeted him with shallow bows and waves and, in Jongin's case, tripping over an invisible shoelace and bracing himself against a desk. 

Sehun looked over at him and mouthed, Smooth.

Shut up, Jongin mouthed back.

Lu Han walked in as casually as possible a second later, with an energetic "Hi!" directed towards everyone. He was greeted as well.

"Do you need any help?" Junmyeon took charge and walked up next to Kyungsoo. The latter shook his head wildly.

"The point is that i'm leaving work so you guys can see what I mean. Like evidence."

"Right."

Jongdae got out his notebook and pen. "When do you usually leave?"

Kyungsoo glanced up at the clock. "In a few minutes." 

He scribbled in his book. "And what do you take with you, if anything?"

"Anything important. Future planning specifics, maybe some paperwork from the teachers."

Scribble. "And have you seen this ghost's features before?" 

"Not his or her face, if that's what you mean."

Scribble. "And, have you--"

"Is this an interview or something?"

Jongdae head perked up. "No. These are details. And details can make or break a case." He continued staring at Kyungsoo with a scrutinizing gaze until the boy gulped and looked down at his papers.

Kyungsoo let him ask his questions.

The "few minutes" passed by to quickly and everyone was told to hide behind the teacher's desk at the front of the room. Lu Han sat on the desk itself, to no one's objection. Kyungsoo made sure he was near the edge so as to get a good look at his spiritual helper.

He appeared exactly on time.

"Did you guys see that?"

"Wow.... That was a little...."

"Yeah...."

"I mean, dramatic. I guess. Right?"

"Yeah, that's the word."

"Right, right. Fancy."

They were all staring at the ghost, who still hadn't noticed them.

He'd appeared in a sort of reverse-dissolve, little particles in the air gathering until his strong figure had been visible. His uniform jacket had been flapping in the nonexistent breeze and he'd model-strutted to the seat. He had quite the flare. His light hair was chopped at various spiky lengths and just reached his eyebrows. Slightly pointed eyes showed sincere focus and dedication to the work that had been left for him. He was in a school uniform -- their school uniform. Delicate pink lips gave the slightest pout when he reviewed the material. He was about to sit down when--

"Minseok?!" Kyungsoo shot up from behind the desk. The ghost's eyes popped at the sudden appearance. Kyungsoo's shaking hand rose to point at the spirit. "Holy... it is you!"

Lu Han had almost fallen to the ground when Kyungsoo had jumped. 

"Oh," the ghost, Minseok, spoke, his voice mellow and hollow. "Kyungsoo. Pleasure."

Kyungsoo walked around to stand in front of Minseok. "What are you doing here?"

Junmyeon jumped up too. "Ah!" He went to stand next Kyungsoo and, after a second's hesitation, put out a hand as if to shove Minseok. His fingers slipped right through his translucent form. "Didn't you get in a car crash after you graduated?" He turned to Kyungsoo. "How do you know him?"

"He was the student council president when I was still vice," Kyungsoo's voice drifted off as he continued to stare at Minseok, stunned into oblivion. 

Everyone stared at Kyungsoo, expectantly. It was obvious what he was thinking.

Processing... 3... 2... 1....

"Wait, you're dead!" Kyungsoo shouted out.

Minseok nodded, eyebrow cocked. "Yes. Yes, I am."

"Oh no...." Kyungsoo frowned.

"'Oh no'?" Minseok went back to the papers with a shake of his head, decidedly ignoring them.

"But, why are you here? And doing all my work?" Kyungsoo looked like he wanted to step closer to Minseok, but then the latter glared at him.

"Originally my work, mind you."

Behind them, a notebook clapped shut. Jongdae suddenly became the center of attention.

"Well, then," he started. "I think we're done here."

"Yup," Junmyeon nodded in agreement.

"What!?" Kyungsoo gapes at him.

Jongdae pushed up his glasses. "I mean, I don't really see any reason to get rid of him. Right, guys?"

Lu Han hopped off the desk. "Yeah." He tried to scurry out of the room before Minseok could notice that he's a--

"Wait, 'scuse me, aren't you a--?" Minseok pointed at him before being cut off by Junmyeon.

"WELL THEN! Any objections, you two?" He waved at Sehun and Jongin.

"Nope," They both replied.

The EXOrcists stood to leave.

"Wait! But what am I supposed to-- Hey, guys!" Kyungsoo sputtered, putting out his hands to stop them. Only Jongin turned back to bow and say goodbye. "But, hey! Jongdae!"

A pin dropped, both metaphorically and literally. He was left in the room with Minseok, who was flipping through papers.

"Hey, Kyungsoo."

"Yeah?" Was the ghost really going to try and console him? His eyes widened, sad and hopeful.

"You got the date wrong for Culture Festival."

"Oh...."

The club members waved to Lu Han as the four of them stepped off school grounds. The pairs took their separate paths.

"So," Sehun awkwardly stretched the word. "You and Do Kyungsoo, huh?"

Jongin gave him a weird look. "What do you mean?"

Sehun rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to me. I saw you staring at him."

"Oh, that," Jongin rubbed the nape of his neck. Should he tell Sehun? Ah, it. "Okay, well I have this thing."

"A thing...?"

"Yeah. I kinda... It's sorta weird... But, uh... Whenever I see someone attractive, I just kind of instinctively want to be friends with them."

Sehun blinked. "Oh. That explains it, I guess."

"I suppose so? Like, I just approach people that way. It's pretty strange admitting this, but that's basically my entire friend clique right now."

"Oh, uh, cool."

Jongin coughed into his fist.

They arrived at their apartment doors and bid good nights. 

Sehun performed his usual evening routine. Napping, homework, TV and dinner, showering, and changing into pajamas. 

He lied in bed, arms crossed behind his head, as he closed his eyes and let the sounds of the city enter his room. The peaceful drone of traffic and, in the background of it all, some neighbor's wind chime fluttered in the breeze, sending little bells to drift in through his half-open window. All in all, a pretty scene.

It was a few hours before he sat up, alarmed, blankets strewn about him. It had just hit him.

Jongin thinks I'm attractive?!

A/N This chapter is so weak, bruh. A sorry excuse of a thing, seriously. I sincerely apologize for this T_T Next chapter, my friends. I promise. OTL ugh, this is really.... I'll be editing this eventually, I just wanted to post it first. It was stuck in my drafts for way too long. Had to let it go hahaha

I WILL be editing this chapter over time though, I swear. Just had to get it out first.

Thank you dears <3