It's 3k words as an apology!!!! Sorry to keep you guys waiting I hope you like it!!

Shivering, Ji Eun falls onto her knees and into herself. It feels as if she has been torn apart from her body, in a perpetual state of emptiness.

“Why do they leave me?” she sobs softly to herself. “Why do they all hate me? I – Ky –”

Hyukjae takes out his phone shakily to dial the ambulance. He can barely keep control of his breathing as he recites the location out loud to the other end of the line, and the soft “stay calm” that comes in return is dullened. He puts his phone back in his pocket, breathing heavily.

Pulling him out of his state is a cool hand on his upper arm.

“Hyukjae…look.”

He turns reluctantly to where Ji Eun’s body lies, and gasps when he sees her sobbing violently into her palms. She’s slightly faded and is sitting on her heel, with her knees passing easily through her own dead body that remains on the ground. Her skin is a pasty white, almost comparable to Donghae’s complexion.

“S-She’s…dead,” Hyukjae says breathlessly. “But she’s…”

“A ghost,” Donghae finishes for him. “She hasn’t passed on yet.”

Hyukjae takes small, disbelieving steps towards the newly formed ghost and leans down ever so slightly. Ji Eun doesn’t seem to notice until Hyukjae tries to place his hand on her shoulder. Although it sinks straight through, she jerks back as if she’d been slapped a thousand times.

Her eyes look straight through Hyukjae and it gives him the chills. Ji Eun is in a completely different space and completely unfocused. It is simply heart-breaking to watch.

“H-Hyukjae?” she croaks after a while, eyes focusing. They are a pale brown like Donghae’s, almost a washed out version of what they had been. “W-What’s going…on? Why…?” Ji Eun’s words flow out like a stream a consciousness before she notices Donghae walking up to them, and she asks, skeptical, “Who…a-are you!?”

She seems extremely on edge, as if anything could throw her into another fit. Her hands in her lap are trembling slightly, and she looks at Donghae accusingly.

“This is going to be hard to believe, Ji Eun, but…” Donghae starts slowly, as to ease her into the news. Learning that you are dead, but not exactly, is not the nicest news to hear. “You’re a ghost. And I’m also a ghost. Hyukjae’s ghost, to be specific, and he is going to help me pass on… Normal people can’t exactly see us, so…”

A look of realisation dawns on Ji Eun before her face starts to crumple again, “so that’s…w-why…Kyuhyun!” she yells out before starting to hyperventilate. Her eyes are completely blown out, and she is shaking and does not seem to be able to focus on anything anymore. Ji Eun is at her limit.

Hyukjae widens his eyes and is pulled back by Donghae when Ji Eun starts flailing slightly, screaming. He feels Donghae’s hand slip into his and they move to the side of the street, a few more meters away from Ji Eun.

She is absolutely broken. From are desperate cries, “I just wanted to die!” and “Kyuhyun!” being two of the most common words.

Before Hyukjae can even comprehend the fact that she had been so depressed, or question her relationship with Kyuhyun, the sound of an ambulance grows closer and drowns out his thoughts.

It is a blur as the ambulance comes and they tape off the scene. The staff take Ji Eun’s body onto a gurney and pull her off, and Hyukjae looks away. It gives him a churning feeling in his stomach seeing her in that state.

They ask Hyukjae a few generic questions about what happened and how much he witnessed, and how close he was to her.

“I used to date her for around a year,” Hyukjae confesses to the woman. She looks sympathetic. Donghae only looks at Hyukjae curiously, their hands still intertwined. He squeezes Hyukjae’s hand slightly in comfort, who squeezes back but does not make any other move as to not seem crazy in front of the lady asking questions. “We were…kind of close? Ji Eun lived in my apartment and she… I had absolutely no idea she was thinking of…” he trails off and it sounds like his voice cracks. Donghae doesn’t need to look to know that Hyukjae had started crying.

“I’m sorry,” he says, wiping his tears with his other hand. “I had no idea. She was always in a difficult position, with her family and her income so she worked a lot, but other than that she did not like to talk about herself. I feel so terrible…”

The lady does not ask any question, but gives a few words of comfort to Hyukjae before walking off with the ambulance again. Donghae has witnessed many scenes much like this, and although the sadness and pain does subside, it never fails to shock him. Additionally, Hyukjae has been so incredibly kind this whole time and had not even thought of trying to get Ji Eun to pass over to gain experience. However, Donghae just knows there will be mediums that will feel the presence of a new ghost and come immediately in order to steal the experience first.

It’s confirmed when they hear footsteps of someone walking closer. There had been no one else on the streets prior to Ji Eun’s incident, and if there were, they probably would have left in shock. Though what they don’t expect is the horrified gasp and slight scream from the approaching medium.

“Ji Eun!” cries a voice that sounds strangely familiar. Both Hyukjae and Donghae look up at the new person, only to see Kyuhyun running towards the ghost of Ji Eun, still in the same place.

“Ji Eun!” Kyuhyun yells again. His voice cracks, wavering, and Donghae swears he’s never seen the medium show this much emotion.

Ji Eun looks up, much to Hyukjae and Donghae’s surprise. Her eyes lock on Kyuhyun and it feels so intimate that the pair feel almost intrusive. Ji Eun’s gaze holds so much emotion, so much heartbreak but she looks almost alive again, as if Kyuhyun was her only lifeline.

“Kyuhyun,” she says under her breath. It sounds almost instinctive. It feels like Ji Eun did not even notice the name left her lips. Kyuhyun falls to his knees in front of her, face painted in agony. They stay like that for a second, kneeling in front of each other in silence. It becomes almost awkward until suddenly Kyuhyun lets out a shaky exhale, a tear, and then brings Ji Eun in his arms.

Kyuhyun brings Ji Eun in his arms.

“That’s…” Donghae starts, as he notices that the ghost is not fazed. It is almost like she expects to be able to touch him. Donghae is speechless. He looks to Hyukjae, who is b with tears at the scene. There’s a furrow in his brow, seemingly confused as well as to why they can touch each other.

“I’m so sorry,” Kyuhyun cries into her shoulder, holding Ji Eun impossibly closer. Her arms are around him tightly, and her breathing slows. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t better to you. Please forgive me. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Ji Eun says, pulling back. They look each other in the eyes one more time before Kyuhyun leans in and kisses her softly, thumb running along her cheek so delicately that you would think Ji Eun would break under any pressure.

As Ji Eun starts to kiss back, Donghae swears she fades ever so slightly. She lifts up her arm ever so slightly, and then she is gone.

There’s a ch