Something warm caressed his forehead repeatedly. A hand? He thought. Then he remembered. He was trapped in some bloody dimension. Did they get me? Am I dead?

"Wake up."

He heard somebody's voice. It was soft, like a female's. He tried to listen some more but she didn’t speak. Instead, he felt someone poking his cheek. Slowly, he turned his head sideways, wincing a little. He opened his eyes to a pair of brown orbs looking right back at him. It took a while before he realized it was the new girl. Sad.. No. Sadna? Sara?

"He's awake. What time does this school close, again?" the girl inquired.

"It's already closed. But that's okay. I know a way out," said someone behind him.

Jiyong looked at where he was lying at. Someone's lap. The he shifted his gaze towards the owner of that lap. Seungri's lap! And as if his hair was set on fire, Jiyong got up so abruptly, he felt dizzy.

"Hyung, you're hurt. Don't move too much," says Seungri.

"Argh… What the hell maknae. Why'd you give me a lap pillow?!"

"Geez. You're welcome Jiyong hyung. I tended to your wounds. I'm glad that you had a peaceful rest even though it was so uncomfortable for me," retorted the maknae with sarcasm laced in his voice.

"Well you shouldn’t have let me sleep on your lap. It's disgusting," said Jiyong.

"As much as I would like to watch you guys bicker, I'd really appreciate it if we'd leave and go home. It's already dark and I don’t like dark," Dara cut in.

Seungri stood up and went towards Dara. Jiyong, finally realizing the situation, darted his gaze all over the room. And surely, he found a lady standing in the corner of the room barely wearing anything with her body covered in unidentifiable black smudges.

"Dara noona, are you okay? You seem a bit pale."

"Let's just leave, please. Your friend is okay now," said Dara.

"But we have to talk about what happened," said Seungri. "You barely said anything when hyung was out."

"Fine, we'll talk. Just not here, okay?"

Dara dragged the two outside while she made a call. She told her brother she didn't need to be picked up earlier using joining a club as an excuse. She opted to ride with driver Jang knowing it would take a while for that Jiyong guy to recover.

And the said driver has been waiting for her for hours now.

Seungri brought them towards a maze garden at the back fence of the school. It was oddly familiar to Dara but she didn't ponder on that. Her attention was on the countless number of ghosts parading in the area. Some moving shadows were at the ground as well.

"Seungri, let's not go there," she pleaded.

"It's the only way out unless you'd rather climb the fence with the cctv."

Swallowing her fear best that she could, she clutched unto Seungri's arm and told him to go on. But Jiyong couldn't move. He was petrified. After all, this was the first time he's seen them so many in one place.

Dara, feeling empathic towards the guy despite her own fears, grabbed Jiyong's hand and pulled him on. Seungri, being kept in the dark, just thought his Dara noona was afraid of the dark. As they hastily made their way (for Seungri knew the place like the back of his hand), Dara leaned towards Jiyong and whispered,

"Hold my hand and don't let go."

Confused and scared to his wits, Jiyong obediently did as told. Soon enough, they were out of school and in front of the waiting car. Dara ushered them in and told driver Jang to head straight home.

"I suggest you call home now. We're going to have an impromptu sleep over," Dara said.

"Mom's out of the country. I'll be fine without calling home," said Seungri.

When Jiyong didn't speak, he added, "Jiyong hyung's parents won't care where he is as long as he doesn't cause trouble."

"What about your dad? He'd be worried," Dara tells Seungri.

"He has another family. My parents divorced."

Dara stared at Seungri. Wordlessly, she reached for his hand.

"A lot has happened, noona. To be honest I did blame you before. After all, all the misfortunes started when you disappeared on me."

Jiyong sat in silence as he watched the two interact. How do they know each other? What is going on? Where did Jin Ae go? A lot of questions popped in his brain. But he decided to keep mum. The atmosphere was too fragile. He decided to ask later.

The drive seemed so long. It was already half past seven when they arrived at the Park mansion. By the door stood Teddy Park with his arms outstretched. Dara ran towards his embrace as soon as she got out of the car. Seungri and Jiyong followed.

"What took you so long? I was worried," said Teddy.

"Sorry oppa. I had fun chatting with my friends while snacking at a café, I didn't notice time went by so quickly."

The two boys behind her looked at each other as they heard the lie she concocted. Then they felt a powerful glare being shot at them by no other than the brother of Sandara Park.

"They'll be staying for the night. We have a group project," Dara said.

"Second day of school and it's group projects already?" asked Teddy with brows roused.

"Yep. We'll be in my room. Bye oppa."

With that Dara left, dragging along the two boys behind her. A staircase and a few doors later, they arrived in her room. She closed the door softly and put her bag on the shelf by her door.

Dara's room was, in a word, clean. Not a thing was out of place. The queen-sized bed was neatly arranged, with a couple of pillows and blanket neatly stacked. She had a lamp on each of her side tables, an alarm clock on one. The shelf by her door was filled with books, the top part had a collection of trinkets neatly arranged beside her bag. The floor was wooden, covered by a huge carpet rag. Her desk had a laptop, a lamp, and nothing else. Thick curtains draped over the windows. Other than these, her room was bare.

The two boys stood awkwardly in the middle of it all, taking in the sight. No fluffy toys, no dolls, no posters, no nothing.

Dara marched towards the bed and sat down.

"When your done staring, I'll start telling you what you want to know," she said.

Both boys looked at her. Seungri spoke first.

"What exactly is going on?"

"I can see ghosts," she said.

Seungri was about to retort when he the image of his Jiyong hyung covered in bruises and cuts flashed in his mind. He closed his mouth.

"Your friend can see them too" she pointed at Jiyong.

Seungri darted his gaze at Jiyong and his grew bigger as Jiyong nodded his head.

"Is that why you've been acting really weird lately hyung?"

Again, Jiyong nodded. Then, like reflex, he scanned the room silently looking for any signs of them.

"They're not here," said Dara as if she read his mind.

Jiyong looked at her with his brows knit. Seungri also looked at Dara, wodering what she was talking about.

"My room is a safe place. As a matter of fact, the whole house is a safe place. I don't really remember why but I do know I made it happen."

Again, silence. Dara shifted her position and sat cross legged on the bed. This time, Jiyong asked the question.

"Since when did you start seeing them?"

"Nine? Ten years old? My memory's a bit hazy. I'm not really sure."

Silence. Then another question.

"How do you get used to them?"

"You don't," Dara replied.

"But you seemed so collected back at school. At least, more than I am," said Jiyong.

"I'm a good liar and actress, that's all."

"Wait, this is too much to take in. Are you guys telling me that you're being haunted by ghosts?" cuts in Seungri.

"Not me. He's the one being haunted," Dara pointed at Jiyong. Softly yet somehow disgustedly she added, "by a little girl named Jin Ae."

"Haaa… Okay, then."

Seungri sat on the floor silently. More questions filled Jiyong's mind. If he was going to get answers, now would be the best time. He walked towards Dara. She was the only one who understood. They had the same circumstances. Well, almost. The night was young. The conversation was just starting.

I have a month of hell left to finish school so i think i'll enter a semi-hiatus after this one. I'm so busy, I barely sleep three hours a night. But since i greedily wanted to know what happened next, i just had to type this story instead of reading my notes. lol

I'm such an awful story teller, even I don't know what i'm writing about. Oh, well.

When and If i have time, i'll try to update this story. Thank you for the comments and for staying with me so far. I would like to hear some feedbacks to know my weak points. Thank you so much~!