THE HAUNTING IN BAE MANSION: PART II

For those who knew her, not one expected Bae Jihyun to be widowed at such a young age of 30. Some considered it as such a great misfortune to have befallen on her. Most people, however, thought that it had been a blessing in disguise.

After all, she had struck gold!

When her husband passed away due to complications of multiple cardiac arrests, all his land titles, deeds and his inheritance was automatically transferred to her as mandated by law and his last will and testament. That included his dream house for the two of them and their supposed family, a three-story modern Victorian mansion. The walls were pristine white, giving contrast to the blue tiles of the roof. The interior was equally grand, made with the finest marble flooring and top-class timber, decorated with the most luxurious chandeliers and decors from all over the world. The entire complex of the Bae mansion stretched to over 30 hectares and was said to best the Blue House, current residence of the country's president, in size and grandeur.

It is also here where our current story is taking place. When we last left off, our seven boys had their first encounter with Bae Suji, the landlady's niece and their one-way ticket to freedom from debt and rent, ala Ju-On/Grudge style. Let us backtrack a bit to the happenings a few hours prior before retuning to our present storyline...

-----()()()()()-----

"Hello boys! It's nice to see you again!"

Everyone turned their attention towards the mansion's 70-inch LED TV screen, where their landlady, Bae Jihyun came into view, dressed in an intricate black and gold Alexander Mcqueen evening gown. This time, she was making her video call from her luxurious chartered plane and was currently being served with red wine from her in-flight butler.

"Hello Auntie Bae," they (with the exception of Howon) responded, some cheerful, some downright bored. In the end, her attention still fell on Hoya, no matter how hard he tried to avoid her.

"Cat still got your tongue, hmm, Howonie?"

Hoya gave a very uncharacteristic squeak the moment their landlady addressed him and ended up globbing like a fish, his words failing him. Dongwoo only laughed at his housemate's sad plight. "Auntie, please don't , he's been through a lot today. And is there somesort of special occasion today? You're rather dressed up for a video call."

"You look even more lovely, if I might add," Woohyun suavely added. "The color really brings out the sparkle in your eyes!" 

"Where does your journey bring you this time around, Auntie?" Sungjong piped.

"I found new love in Dubai! He's a really great man. In fact, I'm heading right there now! He's taking me out to a dinner date at the world's most luxurious hotel-- isn't he just so romantic? I can fall for him all over again!"

"The Burj Al Arab?" Woohyun scoffed, watching as their landlady continued squealing like a highschool girl. "Pssh, that's nothing if he doesn't own it. If you wanted a chaebol heir for a hotel line, there are a lot of eligible bachelors here in Seoul. You've got one right here too."

"Could you take me to expensive restaurants 365 days in a year? Could you take me on overseas trips 365 days in a year? Could you get me new designer outfits 365 days in a year? Do you think you could live up to that standard, Woohyun-ie?" she challenged, and even with her nostrils flaring, she still looked fabulous. Woohyun cringed at each of the heavy demands she was making. "You too, Lee Sungyeol, don't you even think about possibly wooing me."

The tallest member paused midstep, flashing his usual gummy smile out of guilt.

Myungsoo smiled wryly at her reply, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hey. Are you really out there looking for love or for money? You've got plenty enough on your own."

"This kid, seriously! I'll ignore that since you're so handsome," she cooed, the mere mention of the word 'handsome' upsetting the boy. "Anyway, my current love life aside, the reason why I called-- I've decided to quit running the mansion. So, the seven of you will have a whole week to pack up and leave. And of course in that span of time, you'll need to pay the six months' worth of rent that you owe me."

The fact that they were about to be evicted saddened them. Despite a short three-month stay, Bae mansion was home to them now. But as boarders, there was nothing they could do if the landlady wanted her home back. They should even consider themselves lucky she was giving them a grace period and wasn't booting them out on the spot.

"Since I'm such a kind-hearted landlady, I'll give it at half the price. 750 million won!"

Sungyeol almost fainted at the price. "In total?"

"What do you mean 'in total'? Each, my dear boy! Your rent is 750 million won each!"

"WHAT?!?"

Where on earth were they going to find a whopping amount of 750 million won each on such short notice? Sungyeol out eventually, not before screaming in horror. Dongwoo was nice enough to fan the younger boy until he regained his consciousness. Sungjong was also on the same verge of fainting, dizzy from the staggering amount swimming in his head while the only sound Hoya managed to make despite the scariness of their situation was a strangled choke.

"Truthfully, my niece will be moving into the mansion starting from now on. I am planning on letting you stay, but I'd like for your cooperation, boys, to turn that girl into a magnificent, proper lady. She grew up in Gwangju, so she's a bit of a late bloomer. You see, my niece is rather difficult and shy. She prefers to be alone and is unwilling to reach out and make friends."

"Find someone else to do the babysitting for your niece," Sunggyu adamantly protested. "What is this? Hello Baby? A top star like me shouldn't be doing something as lowly as that."

Auntie Bae only pressed the back of her hand to her lips and let out a demure laugh. "I see you haven't gotten rid of that holier-than-thou attitude, Kim Sunggyu. You haven't even peaked in your career yet. Of course, I wouldn't be proposing this deal without something to compensate my request now, would I? If, and only if you successfully nurture my one and only niece into a lady, I'll let all of you live in my mansion until you and I settle on an agreement that it's finally time to leave... clear of your 750 million won debts, the rest of the rent free of charge!"

The boys' eyes shone with evident greed as they looked at one another. Sunggyu cleared his throat, speaking in behalf of the group. "Me and my err... associates... shall discuss this over before we give our final decision. One moment please." There was a scramble before chaos with words ensued.  It took yelling, finger pointing, random cries of agreement or objection, and a few whispers from Hoya into Sungjong's ear before they were all set. The seven turned towards their landlady.

"We accept your proposal," they agreed, ending with a respectful 90-degree bow.

Auntie Bae let out a loud sigh of relief. Now she could rest easy, knowing that her neice would be in good hands. "It's decided then! My cute little kitten's name is Suji! I already had her room prepared while you were all out this morning since she'll be arriving anytime today. However, let me warn you, should you fail, I'll triple the price of your rent!"

"WHAT?!? YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT EARLIER--"

"That would be all, boys! Ila liqaa'!" And with that, she had already signed off the video call before the boys could further protest. It slowly came to their realization that they've been manipulated by their evil landlady.

Despite that, Hoya still managed to let out a big sigh of relief. More than anything, he was glad that she was gone. "Whew, I thought she'd never leave..."

"You're seriously happy about that?" Sunggyu grumbled, stalking off and plopping down onto the nearest couch. "We've been screwed over by that hag of a landlady, for crying out loud, and I have a feeling that tripling the rent isn't all there is to it!" His words held some truth. Somehow, there had been that foreboding sense of impending doom when they really thought about the whole deal.

Sungyeol, being the ever-optimistic one, was eager to voice out his thoughts. “Why are we so afraid of losing? This should be a walk in the park for the seven of us-- how could we NOT do it? We’ve got our resident rockstar, Sunggyu-hyung." His words inflated Sunggyu's ego as he took the praises to heart too well. "One croon of that golden voice of his will definitely make her weak in the knees!"

Sungjong burst into an amused fit of laughter at that. "The only one weak in the knees here is him. He needs an inhaler after every two steps," he joked (half-insulted), earning him a pointed glare from the older one.

"We've got Dongwoo-hyung, only son of one of our country's political bigs... he has a fine appreciation for the arts, he bakes a mean soufflé, he cleans, he's classy and sophisticated-- and he's an all-around nice guy!"

"Too nice, it's not human," Myungsoo murmured, shaking his head, and Dongwoo's big smile dropped. "It doesn't help that he gets scared of practically everything."

“Errr... moving on, we’ve got Woohyun, chaebol heir to the Nam Group's hotel and resorts line, and our charming casanova. He's so sweet, our princess is bound to have some insulin shot prescription after he's done with her,” Sungyeol continued before dropping his tone to that of contempt. "Though I don't get how girls actually like him, he's such a tactless hat."

Woohyun wasn't having any of it, turning to both Dongwoo and Hoya. "Hold me back before I give in to the thought of hitting this guy." The taller house member only shrugged and continued on with his little monologue. Dongwoo and Hoya really had to grab Woohyun by the edge of his blazer before he could even think of running off.

"Hoya here's taking over the two of the biggest medical centers in South Korea. He's got an amazing jawline, the brains... most especially the body to die for-- a triple threat that's bound to win any girl over."

"Sure, if he can actually talk to the girl first. Imagine, a medical director's kid with selective mutism," Sunggyu snorted, and the younger one narrowed his eyes, giving him a skeptical, scornful look, which some of his housemates have so aptly coined as his b!tch face.

"No one asked for your sass, gramps," he snarled.

"And look, this is coming from our resident Sass Master."

"Eh-hem. Cut your argument for later boys, because we need to get a move on to the best housemate ever, Lee Sungyeol! He's tall, he's good looking, he's hunky-- he's every girl's dream boy!"

"Oh, I don't know about hunky. More like trashy, money-hungry scrawny tube man to me," Woohyun spat under his breath, his words filled with so much poison. "What sick person even refers to himself in third person..."

Sungyeol intentionally raised his voice to drown out Woohyun's mumbling. "L over here has looks akin to that of a Greek god and is textbook definition of a cold city man-- an all-around cool guy! And... and... well, he keeps to himself a lot..."

"That's pretty much it about him, Sungyeol, don't even try," Hoya finished, doing Sungyeol a complete favor. Myungsoo only looked away, crossing his arms-- after all, this wasn't the first time he's heard this insult thrown at him, and frankly he's grown immune to it by now. Hoya let him off the hook for that, his attention grabbed by none other than Sunggyu, who had deliberately coughed out "King of Shade" to spite him. Sungjong motioned for Sungyeol to keep talking, knowing he had to interrupt the two before they tried to air the other's dirty laundry out.

"And if she's a noona, we're in luck. No one could possibly resist Sungjong's cute, boyish charms! Noona-killer extraordinaire!"

"I think she would be jealous of him, though, I mean look at Sungjong. He's prettier than most girls I've ever seen!" Dongwoo pointed out too happily, it sounded like the biggest compliment anyone could ever get instead of a snide insult. Sungjong only patted the elder's shoulder at his attempt-- Dongwoo was really too endearing to hate or make fun of.

Now that the highly unnecessary introductions were over, the six were still at a loss as to the point that Sungyeol was trying to drive at. He gave an exasperated sigh, looking at them like they were a bunch of Neanderthals that were slow on comprehension.

"Look alive, people! What I'm saying, is that given our resources and connections, pooled together on top of that, how can we possibly fail? Appreciation for the arts, eloquency and public speaking, proper etiquette, education and sports, conduct, beauty tips and fashion, we've got it all covered!" Everyone started to brighten up, seeing the truth of Sungyeol's words. Looks like they weren't in such a disadvantageous position after all. "With the right teamwork, that free rent is practically--"

Lightning cracked through the night sky, followed by an earth-shaking clap of thunder. Rain eventually hammered down against the rooftop, it was so heavy, the noise was almost deafening.

"--ours?" Sungyeol ended with an uncertain squeak.

That was certainly not a good omen.

(back to the present storyline...)

A good 30 minutes after that whole Grudge fiasco, the electricity had yet to come back on. Everyone was still too shaken by earlier's scare to casually wander into the basement for the generator. Also, the Bae "princess" was still fast asleep on the couch, unmoving, with her hood still on, her longs bangs covering her face from any view, and her arms crossed over her face. The seven had mutually agreed to move to the dining area, freaked out by the sight, and so that Hoya could get over his initial shock of finding out that it was a real girl.

For a while they sat there, quite stumped on how to go about with their current situation. "What is that girl?" Sungyeol murmured, finally breaking the unnerving silence.

"Thanks to her, your whole plan just went down the hole! It's impossible to make her a lady," Sunggyu replied, crossing his arms in anger.

"Are you saying we'll just give up on it, then?"

"Hell no! There's no way I'm paying that gargantuan of an amount, and I'm pretty sure none of you present here want to either despite how well-off your family is! What we need to do right now is to put our brains-- or whatever's left of it for some-- together for a good, working, temporary, plan before Grudge here even manages to wake up," Sunggyu grumbled. He was right. Paying 750 million won each, triple the amount even if they failed or gave up, was too scary. For sure, they couldn't pay up. Probably generations and generations after them would live in sheer poverty due to the astounding size of the debt.

"I'm really no good with anything horror. I can't even handle watching just the ending credits of scary movies," Dongwoo whimpered in fear, still affected by the scary appearance of their landlady's niece. "What do we do?"

"We could umm... set her up with some nice guy?" Sungjong suggested. "Maybe that'll help her to lady up."

"We could have a whole line of waiting men, but do you honestly think that anyone in their right minds would be willing to date her after they've met her?" L muttered. He wasn't looking at them, his elbows propped up at right angles on the table, as he rested his forehead on his clasped hands.

"That's where this guy comes in! She's all yours, Woohyun! Didn't you say you were going to woo her?" Sungyeol nudged.

"Nah, she's really not my type."

"The last time I checked, you didn't have a specific type!"

Touché. Woohyun cleared his throat, racking his brain for a good counter. "Didn't you say you wanted to marry into richness? Then she's practically yours, given that she's the landlady's niece!"

"The last time I checked, I didn't like rich scary princesses of darkness or whatever otherworldly evil realm she came from either!"

Little did they know that they had barely any time to think up of their next course of action. Someone was already starting to stir in the living room where they had left her.

-----()()()()()-----

Bae Suji awoke to find herself surrounded by several lit white and red candles. Her body felt like one giant bruise, it was hurting all over, externally and internally, no thanks to the unecessary long tumble she took down the staircase. There was no possible way she could have survived after that.

"Am I dead?"

Yes, that must explain why her body felt so heavy. Speculating about how she had died excited her. She must have broken her neck during the fall for that to happen-- or, or maybe one of her vital organs had been pierced by a broken rib or bone, leading to her untimely death due to the blood loss and organ malfunction. Rubbing her eyes, she brought herself to a sitting position to take in more of her surroundings. The whole place was practically littered with the same candles.

"Then where am I? Is this... hell?"

She was thinking of a more earthy, rocky place, every inch of it blasting and burning with fire and lava that was ten times hotter than the sun. Strange, scary beasts with several heads would be abound, walking the lands. Tormented souls in chains would be crying out in pain and repentance, their pleas unheard to the master of the Underworld. Even though, the thought of being in hell made her giddy with glee.

"This must be the reception area! I never imagined hell to look like Auntie's manor though..." she whispered to herself in conclusion, getting up from the couch to look for any signs of ghouls, beasts or skeletons. Sighing, she plopped down onto a free space on the floor. Death, who would come to channel her to the actual fiery hell proper was taking quite awhile. From what she had seen in movies, the grim reaper was usually there, already waiting when the deceased soul woke up.

Maybe he went to take a bathroom break or something.

Impatient, Suji decided to pick one of the candles up, bringing it to the darker, emptier hallway. Tilting the candle, she began pouring the wax all over the floor, patterning it up into some sort of occult circle-pentagram used for calling out to spirits and demons. If no one was coming for her, she was just going to have to summon them here herself. Just when she was about to hum a few incantations, she heard a muffle of footsteps at a far end.

"Mr. Reaper!" she exclaimed in silence, turning to meet him. Her voice caught in .

"Oh hey, Suji-ssi, you're awake!"

If only her bangs weren't covering her face, he would have seen her expression molt from pure elation to downright disappointment. It didn't help that Jang Dongwoo had been smiling at her so cheerfully... until he realized whom he had been talking to. And then he spotted the little artsy masterpiece that Suji had created onto the floor.

Needless to say, the Jang heir came running back for his dear life into the dining room, screaming his head off. He only momentarily stepped out to check if it was still raining hard, so they were startled when he came running in like this. Woohyun had to break his momentum before he could mindlessly ram himself into the wall. Gritting his teeth, he managed to catch the older boy by mid-torso as he whizzed past him. Dongwoo was inconsolable, babbling and chattering incomprehensible words as though he's seen the Grim Reaper or something.

"Dongwoo! Dongwoo, hey, get a grip of yourself!"

"ASDFJKL@#!$%!!!!"

"What? Speak clearly, will you?" Sungyeol snapped.

"^%!@$LKJFDSA!!!!"

"Dongwoo. We can't help if you're not making sense, alright?" Hoya eased.

It took him a few more gulps before he managed to properly speak his mind. "SHE'S AWAKE! SHE'S AWAKE!" Dongwoo wailed, causing Hoya to clam up at the news that a female was up and about. "A-AND THEN SHE DREW-- HALLWAY-- IT'S SO SCARY!"

What was that girl up to now? The seven had mutually decided to begin the manhunt, with Sunggyu and Sungjong bringing up the lead and both Dongwoo and Hoya rounding up the end. By the time all seven of them were at the hallway, the horror princess was nowhere in sight. The aftermath of her failed occultic summoning attempt was still evident on the hallway floor course, making their blood run cold.

No wonder why Auntie Bae needed a baby sitter. She had either a really creepy occult-loving niece or psychotic niece who had just escaped from the asylum, and they've been fooled in to taking the job for her. Lord, why weren't they just given a socially awkward NORMAL girl to deal with?

They were walking through the living room with their phones held out for extra light. By this time, Suji had tried to retreat to the solace of her room but failed miserably. It was too dark upstairs for her to see. She raced back to grab another candle and when she picked one up and turned around to run back upstairs, she had almost ran into the whole group. The candle she was holding shone, illuminating her from below, giving her a very ghoulish, creepy look.

It was safe to say that the Bae mansion was hosting a Screamfest for that night-- just in case the neighbors got bothered and decided to call the police for disruption of peace and order.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Both parties dove behind their respective couches, cowering in fear of each other, unsure of their next move to make. This was turning out to be such a nightmare. Over at the boys' side, they were in the middle of calming down their thudding hearts, feeling their lives shortened off by ten more years. Despite that, they still managed to hold a mini-conference amongst themselves.

"Who knows, maybe she'll decided to leave us alone because we came out as nice people to her? Then maybe she won't summon her otherworldly beings to feed on us. Even though you're scared out of your wits right now, we are going to welcome her and we're going to do it with a forced smile on our faces!" Sungyeol hissed, instructing everyone. 

"Don't be stupid! Girls can sense fakeness! Try to be natural, at least!" Woohyun argued.

"Can you when you actually manage to face her? I wonder," Sunggyu scoffed.

Sungjong pouted, not pleased with the older boy's words. "Hyung, that's really mean."

"Yah, do you all want to pay triple the rent or not?" Myungsoo scolded. "Cooperate. As much as I hate to admit, it's the best plan we've got right now."



Meanwhile, on her end of the couch, Suji's head was going into emergency operations as well. "Those are the people I'll be living with?" Suji thought to herself, fiddling with her fingers in panic. Even through her thick, long bangs, she managed to get a proper glimpse of those seven people, and honestly, what she saw did not please her.

"Auntie, why have you forsaken me? She knew that my housemates are guys, but she still made me come because I--I... But I'd never thought they'd be-- I-- I can't bring myself to look at such radiant creatures! They'll be the death of me! I'll melt if I look at even one of them for more than three seconds!"

Sungjong cleared his throat, deciding to man up and end this misunderstanding once and for all. "Suji-ssi? It's nice to see that you're up-- you took a really bad fall earlier. Are you okay?"

Suji thought twice before answering. "Y-Yes. I'm fine."

"We're sorry for all the screaming," Sungyeol attempted next. "You really surprised us there."

"I'm sorry too."

It was funny how they were all conversing at a distance, crouching from behind two couches. The seven wished they could sincerely stay like this because she sounded much... friendlier and human. Her voice came out softer than expected, maybe because they were expecting her to sound all dark and demonic-- which surprised them a lot. They knew better than to fall for it though and continued to keep their guard up.

"Anyway, let's all call it a night and save the formal introductions for tomorrow, alright? You must be tired."

"Thank you. I-I'll be heading to my room now."

"Okay," they chorused once again. "Please have a good rest."

Suji took it as her open ticket to book it out of there as quickly as she could, once again grabbing the candle before proceeding upstairs. This time, she carefully held her cloak with her free hand so as to avoid tripping once again. Once they assumed that she was upstairs, the boys crept out one by one from their hiding place behind the couch.

Sunggyu had to hand it to them. The conversation turned out better than expected. And the most important thing was that they were all alive to see the next day... for now.

It was at that moment that the lights flickered back to life. The electricity had come back on. Suji was barely halfway up the stairs when that happened and now that they saw her with better lighting, she didn't look as terrifying, not with her tattered and musty-looking cloak and wildly unkempt hair. Even the sorry state of her ratty shoes, which they managed to catch a glimpse of as she ascended the stairs, was somehow making them feel guilty.

"Oh, the poor thing," Woohyun almost cooed. He could somehow see now why Auntie Bae had asked them for help.

"This is awkward. What do we do?" Myungsoo hissed, voicing out the common thought of the group.

Their resident rockstar frowned. "Why are you all looking at me? I can't put you all out of your misery. Go say hi or something."

"Good idea!" Sungjong piped. "On three..."

"I was being sarcastic, dumb."

The girl could now feel seven pairs of eyes observe her as she made her way up, and not even knowing why she bothered to look back, she actually did. Panicked that she was actually them, the seven automatically stuck to Sungjong's suggestion since they were stuck in such an awkward predicament without a good plan in mind. "Welcome! It's nice to meet you, Suji-ssi!" they chorused as cheerfully as they could. Hoya managed to it in and give a friendly wave.

Everything was fine... until a lot of blood started dripping out onto the pristine marble floor, and it seemed to be coming from her face. The seven's happy faces broke into expressions of horror once again. They've honestly had too many jumpscares and heart attacks in one day. With a loud hiss, Suji pulled the cloak over her face and ran up to retreat into the solace of her bedroom.

The seven left behind didn't even want to think about where that had come from and began cowering in fear. By mutual agreement, they were all camping out at the kitchen that night.

"MOMMY, HELP!"

A/N: I apologize for the delay. School has decided to vomit all its pent up feelings on us students. Til next time!
PS: I think that actress Jeon Jihyun would make such a fabulous, fierce Auntie Bae! What says you?