hey did you hear? Another student died at the beach.

I did, he went with friends, right? 

Yeah, they went to the one with the cave.

it's sure beautiful...but no one dares to go there anymore.

his name is Eunjoo...not exactly the most wise kid in the school.

oh yeah, another student got bit.

Seo Kangmi, she's in the hospital. She was lucky, a few seconds late and she'd be pulled inside.

A kid died there before, forgot his name...

me too, I only heard he got mangled by a speeding boat.

how is that possible?

They say he went out far into the ocean to get a beach ball that flew there by wind. It is believed he drowned before the propeller of the boart sliced him into pieces. And so his limbs and other parts ended up along the seashore. It was a long time ago so they must be bones by now.

That's a creepy school yet there are new students there constantly...

The teachers and employees couldn't tell them about it because they died before they could. And that happened way too much.

don't you think someone is behind all this?

Of course there is! I mean that's perfect timing.

What do you think it is? A ghost?

yeah right, ghosts exist.

as everyone expected, cold, silent, and no sun. Baekhyun explained to the principal what happened at the beach with the others, no one but the teachers and workers knew. They told them to never go to that beach again. And they never did.

When Baekhyun reached his seat in the classroom, he noticed that Luhan wasn't there. His seat was empty. So was Jiyoung's, but skipping school was normal for her. He turned to Jongin, who was writing fiercely into his notebook.

"hey, where's Luhan hyung?" He asked. Jongin dropped his pencil beside his book.

"oh," he said, "he went to the hospital to visit Kangmi. He recently called and said she'll be able to live. I guess he's going to stay there until school ends."

"that's good," Baekhyun sighed in relief. "I thought he died too."

"as a group, me and the rest of the boys never died," Jongin said, "and it looks like it'll be impossible for you to die."

"Hm." Baekhyun uttered. He turned to face forward. Jongin leaned over and poked his shoulder.

"hey, the field trip is in a few days. Just letting you know." He smiled and turned to the front of the classroom. 

"Oh would you look at that, two people are absent." Mr. Song said boredly when he reached the teacher's desk. Everyone became silent at that moment.

"Luhan and Kangmi are at the hospital." Jongin said, loud enough for the whole class to hear. Mr. Song shot him a steely glare.

"Did not need to know that." He said. Jongin quieted and shrunk in his seat. Mr. Song placed a book down on his desk. 

"The class field trip is in a week. Be sure to let your parents or guardians know about that." He reminded the class as he flipped through the pages.

"oh and by the way," he added, "do not be expect to see Eunjoo anymore."

*                   *                   *                    *

Baekhyun was one of the first kids to run out of the classroom as soon as Mr. Song dismissed them. 

Baekhyun speed walked down the hallway. He was just about to pass the stairs when he suddenly bumped into someone and almost lost his balance. 

"Ms. Lee!" He gasped when he looked up to see who he ran into.

Ms. Lee smiled, her eyes slightly narrowing into crescent moons as she did. "We meet again."

"Ms. Lee, are you going to the field trip with us?" Baekhyun asked like a little kid. He was answered with a nod.

"I am," Ms. Lee said, "I'm anticipating it." Baekhyun felt happy once she said yes.

"have you ever gone on one like this one?" He asked. 

"Yes, every year, the 9th grade students go to a mansion with many rooms with the teachers. Each student gets paired up with another student and they share a room. We stay there for 2 nights and then return back to school." Ms. Lee informed.

"Sounds fun." Baekhyun smiled to himself. Ms. Lee kept her smile for about 5 seconds.

"Oh! Almost forgot," she started rummaging through her bag, "this will come in handy once we're there." She said as she pulled out something small and placed it in his palm.

"What is this?" Baekhyun examined the object. 

"It's a lighter. I feel that you'll eventually going to need it." Ms. Lee said. She squeezed his shoulder and left, her high heels making a pleasant clapping sound. 

Baekhyun got curious and lit up the lighter. Baekhyun's eyes widened and he blinked a couple of times to see if he was hallucinating. He wasn't. The flame was black. A black flame? He thought. He never knew black fire existed. The flame danced gracefully on the lighter. It was pure darkness, yet it gave off light. 

"Strange..." He whispered and turned the lighter off. He dropped it in his bag and proceeded outside.

 When he got outside, the first person he saw was Jiyoung. She sat on a bench under a tree, motionless like a statue. The only thing moving was her hair and her chest, moving up and down. 

Of course, Baekhyun ran over to her. 

"Jiyoung! Look what Ms. Lee gave me." He got the lighter out and handed it over to her. After staring at it for a short time, she room it out go his hand and lit it up. When she saw that the fire was black, her eyes enlarged.

"no way..." She whispered, "it's a death flame."

"death flame?" Baekhyun echoed. 

"It's impossible, I thought death flames didn't exist." She murmured. Baekhyun sat next to her and watched the fire.

"why? Is it a myth in the ghost world?" He asked. Jiyoung nodded.

"there's a legend in the underworld that if black fire was used on a demon or a fake, he or she would disappear into nothingness. Either way, everything would change. I don't know how, but in a good way." She said.

"You know so much." Baekhyun said as she turned the lighter off and gave it back to him.

"of course, I've been familiar to the underworld for