“Hello?”

“Changmin,” Kyuhyun swallowed, holding the phone closer to his ear. He felt cold sweat drip down his back as the memory of his last phone call invaded his mind.

“Kyu? What are you doing up at this time?” Changmin’s voice sounded slurred with sleep. Kyuhyun’s eyes briefly flickered to the clock on the bedside table; two in the morning.

“Couldn’t sleep,” he replied, his voice tight. That was true; he’d tried his best, but he’d spent most of the night tossing and turning. He’d briefly considered going downstairs and making himself a hot drink, but that might alert his hyungs, and Kyuhyun wasn’t in the mood for more of their concern. He’d already embarrassed himself enough with his earlier behaviour; you knew it was bad when Heechul started looking at you like you might break if he blinked too hard.

“I was worried about you,” Kyuhyun added, after a moment of hesitation. “I just…the dreams. They can hurt you, can’t they?”

There was a moment of silence. “Did something happen?” Changmin asked at last. Kyuhyun could hear him shifting slightly.

“I was falling,” Kyuhyun replied, shuddering. “I got a phone call, and then there was someone banging on the door — a woman. And then I was falling.”

Changmin didn’t answer.

“I — oh god, Min, what the hell is going on?” Kyuhyun’s eyes clenched shut, and he felt a strange, stinging sensation. “I’m so ing scared right now and — I mean, none of this even makes sense — ”

“I know,” Changmin murmured. “Kyu, I know, I’ve been through it too. It — none of it makes sense.”

“It’s those ing woods. I know it. This all happened after that day.” Kyuhyun’s eyes flickered to the door; he’d been doing this frequently, terrified that he would see that dark shadow once again creeping into his room. The thought made him recoil, and his stomach twist in an uncomfortable, sickly way.

“I figured as much,” Changmin replied. He sounded exhausted.

“Can you come over?” Kyuhyun questioned. “Or — or maybe I could come over — ”

“Kyu, it’s two in the morning,” Changmin reasoned.

“I don’t want to sleep,” Kyuhyun replied softly. “And — and I’m worried about you too. What if you fall asleep and something happens to you? I mean, that ing bashed in your face the last time — ”

“Wait, what?” Changmin sounded far more alert with these words. “Who exactly are you talking about?”

“The woman,” Kyuhyun replied, confused.

“It was a man’s voice on the phone,” Changmin replied. “Not a woman.”

“I know,” Kyuhyun agreed, “it was a man who called me too — but I…whoever’s doing this, I think it’s a woman. She grabbed me — when I was falling, I mean. Her face…” He swallowed, shuddering.

There was a moment of silence.

“Let’s meet up tomorrow,” Changmin told him at last. “Minho, too. I mean — I get that he doesn’t really…believe. But he was with us too, so it’s unlikely that nothing has happened to him. Maybe he’s hiding something from us. Or maybe it hasn’t started yet, and if that’s the case, he needs to know what’s going on.”

“Minho’s an arse,” Kyuhyun muttered. Despite these words, he silently agreed; Minho needed to know in case something bad happened. The rapper may have been acting strange as of late, but he was still one of his best friends.

“Can I hang up now? You’re keeping me from my beauty sleep.” Despite trying to sound amused, Kyuhyun could hear the hesitance in his friend’s voice.

“Don’t go to sleep,” Kyuhyun blurted out, without thinking. “I mean, even beauty sleep wouldn’t be enough to help you,” he quickly amended. Even as he did so, he was aware of how weak his voice sounded.

“Shut up,” Changmin retorted.

There was another pause. “…Night,” Kyuhyun said at last.

“Goodnight.”

The call ended. Kyuhyun clutched the device for a moment, aware of how loud those slow, steady beeps sounded against the silent backdrop.

…

“…You guys are ing with me, aren’t you?”

Kyuhyun clenched his jaw. “No Minho,” Kyuhyun snapped, resisting the urge to punch the rapper (and that urge was strong). “I have better things to do than to with you. This is seriously happening.”

“So a ghost came to your room last night?” Minho questioned. He was sitting crossed legged on his bed, with his arms folded across his chest. An expression of amusement was etched across his face. “Wow, and it’s not even Christmas.”

“God, would you shut up and actually consider the fact that — ”

“What? That you’re being haunted?”

“We aren’t making this up,” Changmin murmured. “Both of us are experiencing the same things — ”

Minho cut him off. “Right, so Kyuhyun gets a phone call right after you tell us about your phone call. Kyuhyun starts having dreams after you tell us about your dreams. See a pattern here?”

“It actually happened!” Kyuhyun snarled. “You want to check my goddamn phone history? The calls are on there, and I guarantee you that the same number will be on Changmin’s phone — what?” He frowned, realising that Minho was staring at him strangely.

“…You have the number saved on your phone?” Minho asked slowly.

“Yes…” Kyuhyun’s brow furrowed. “I mean, it’s in my history…”

Minho sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead. “Oh god, seriously Kyu? Why the hell haven’t you called the back yet?”

Changmin shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, well, I’m sure he just — ”

“Do you have the number as well?”

“…Maybe.”

“Oh , I am surrounded by idiots,” Minho groaned. “Just call him! Tell him to back the off! I mean seriously, how hard it that?”

“God Minho, it isn’t that easy,” Changmin snapped. “Look, it was disturbing okay? I don’t want to know who made that call.”

“Why? Afraid that the call might be coming from inside the house?” Minho’s lips twitched.

“Arse,” Changmin shot back. “This isn’t a horror movie. This is real life…and that makes it a hundred times worse.”

“You guys are freaking yourselves out over nothing,” Minho told them, rolling his eyes. “Ghosts don’t exist — and even if they did, I doubt that they could actually hurt you. Like you said, this isn’t a horror movie.”

Changmin sighed loudly, and stood up. “I’m going to pour myself a drink,” he replied, seeing Minho and Kyuhyun’s inquisitive looks.

“I’ll come too,” Minho replied. He turned to Kyuhyun. “Coming?”

“Nah,” Kyuhyun replied, chewing on his lip. “I think I’ll just stay here until you guys get back.”

“Not worried that the ghost might pay you a visit?” Minho inquired.

“ off.”

Laughing, the rapper left the room. Changmin hesitated at the doorway, shooting Kyuhyun a concerned glance.

“Go,” Kyuhyun told him firmly. “We can’t stay glued to each other’s side for ever.” With an amused smirk, he added, “actually, that would probably be more horrific than this whole ghost situation.”

Changmin snorted and left the room.

Kyuhyun hesitated, and then his hand inched towards his phone.

…

“So you’re not going to budge from this whole ghost idea?” Minho questioned, setting his cup down on the kitchen table.

“No,” Changmin replied. “And it isn’t an ‘idea’. It’s reality.”

“Uh-huh.” Minho didn’t sound convinced.

“I’d be worried if I were you,” Changmin told him. “This started happening to Kyuhyun and I after that day in the woods. You were there with us.”

“And I’m perfectly fine,” Minho told him, unconcerned.

Changmin shrugged. “Yeah, but for how long?”

Minho opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted as Kyuhyun entered the room.

“Hey Kyu, I thought you said you were…” His voice trailed off as he caught sight of the strange expression on Kyuhyun’s face.

“Kyuhyun?” Changmin questioned, concern in his voice.

“…I called,” Kyuhyun said, his voice soft.

“What?”

“The number. I called the number.”

Changmin’s eyes widened. “You — you called?” he choked, paling slightly.

“Who was it?” Minho questioned, evidently surprised. He hadn’t been expecting Kyuhyun to do it.

Kyuhyun stared at them blankly.

“Kyu?” Changmin pressed. There was apprehension, and a hint of fear in his eyes. “Come on, tell us. You’re scaring me. Was it really bad?”

“…There wasn’t anyone there,” Kyuhyun muttered. “It — it just rang.”

Changmin exhaled. “O-oh,” he choked. “That — uh — why are you acting so…strange then?”

Kyuhyun blinked. Minho felt a strange feeling in his stomach as he stared at his friend; nervousness. Discomfort. Kyuhyun’s eyes flickered to him, and Minho realised that there was something akin to hostility in the elder’s eyes.

“…Kyuhyun?” he asked hesitantly.

His friend through him an object in response. Minho caught it, without thinking, and glanced at it. His eyebrows raised.

“Your phone?”

“That’s not my phone — it’s yours,” Kyuhyun replied stiffly.

“This isn’t my phone,” Minho replied, examining it. It looked cheap, like those disposable phones you picked up at the supermarket. He felt Kyuhyun’s eyes on him and he glanced up; the maknae’s jaw was set, and there was a dark look in his eyes.

“I called the number like you said,” Kyuhyun said, cooly. “No one picked up though. Because, well, I guess the owner was out of the room at the time.”

Minho stared at Kyuhyun uncomprehendingly.

“Although,” the maknae smiled bitterly, “I did hear something. Another phone ringing…from inside the room.”

“What are you trying to say?” Changmin asked incredulously.

Kyuhyun locked eyes with Minho first. “You can make whatever changes you want with modern technology — make your voice deeper, higher, feminine as — but ultimately, you’ll still sound like you. I knew there was something familiar about it.”

He didn’t pause; didn’t leave a moment for anyone to process that information. Kyuhyun ripped his eyes away and turned to Changmin. His entire form was trembling.

“It was Minho,” Kyuhyun said, his voice shaking. “Minho was the one who made the phone calls.”

...

AN:

...Surprise?

So yeah - hopefully I didn't make that too obvious, I was trying to work my way towards a plot twist. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! And I know Minho hasn't had a chance to have a chapter in his point of view yet, but that's because I didn't think there WAS much I could do with him at this point without giving this little twist away. There will be a lot more Minho-focused chapters in the near future.

Thank you to all my readers, and everyone who has supported this fic!