Chapter 8: Revealed

          Soo-Young was rushed to the hospital by the ambulance as soon as possible. Key and Taemin were both in a state of panic while Yuri still had a hard time digesting the news of Seohyun’s death. How can she even believe that? Seohyun stayed with her last night! Things aren’t making any sense right now. Even Soo-Young being rushed to a hospital doesn’t make any sense right now.

          “Wait, what do you mean that Seohyun is dead? She was just—,” Yuri asked over the phone as Yoona cried on the other line. She just watched as the medics lifted Soo-Young on to a stretcher.

          “We’ll explain later. For now, get in the ambulance,” Key demanded and snatched the phone Yuri was holding to turn it off.

          “You know about it already? What is going on?!” Yuri pulled at her hair in frustration.
          “Oh, just get in the ambulance already!” Key said, forcefully pushing Yuri into the vehicle.

Hours later…

          Soo-Young slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was in a white room with the scent of anti-bacterial air freshener. She was lying on a cold hospital bed with about three pillows supporting her back. Feeling rather weak, she sunk down under the sheets and sighed.

          “What happened to me?” she asked herself and closed her eyes.

          When she opened her eyes again, she saw Seohyun standing by the foot of her bed with a sad, worried smile. Seohyun was glowing like fluorescent lights and her body was a bit translucent, making Soo-Young think that she was dreaming. Soo-young still had no idea that Seohyun was nothing but a ghost.

“Eonni, are you alright?” Seohyun approached her with sincere eyes.

          “AHH!” Soo-Young exclaimed. “When did you get here?!”

          “Hmm…,” Seohyun thought for a second before answering. Finally she said, “Your friend Eunji asked for me to show you why I’m really here.”

          “What are you talking about?”

          “Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay. I tried to warn you. Burgers can kill. That burger you ate last night was spoiled…”

          “Huh?”

          Suddenly, the door to her hospital room opened and Yuri came in. Seohyun disappeared into thin air.

          “What the heck…?” Soo-Young’s jaw dropped in shock after seeing Seohyun fade out to nowhere.

          “Soo!” Yuri ran to her when she saw that Soo-Young was awake. Then she slapped her face and said, “How could you be so careless?! Do you know why you’re in the hospital right now? It was because you were food poisoned! You must have eaten something bad again! Good thing you did not die and will be released from the hospital by later this afternoon! I can’t have my friends die before they turn seventy!”

          “Ow, you didn’t have to slap me…,” Soo-Young mumbled.

          “By the way, the food-stealing ghost case was already solved. They already know why your food was disappearing and who had been causing them to disappear.”

          So then, Yuri explained everything that the Sherlock Team found out throughout the night. She told Soo-Young all about how Seohyun got into an accident after the McDonald’s day out, and that she had been in a comma with her spirit wandering the whole time. It was highly possible that Seohyun was out for revenge on Soo-Young for what had happened to her. If it was not for revenge, then why else would she cause this much trouble? As for suddenly becoming tangible from a form of a silhouette, the Sherlock Team still could not understand that enigma. Ghost laws are not exactly defined in science.

          Soon, the whole Sherlock Team, including Eunji, entered Soo-Young’s hospital room. They all looked tired but felt accomplished by what they had figured out. The case was pretty much solved. Now all they have to do was figure out how to stop the ghost from haunting Soo-Young. Onew suggested onions and garlic and spending more time in church, or just saying sorry. How do ghosts stop haunting people anyway?

          “Oh right, Soo-Young Eonni, you missed your driver’s exam,” Eunji frowned.

          “It’s okay. I don’t think I can drive today after everything that has happened. However, I do need to call someone…”

***

          “Can you tell me to find strength? With your sparkling eyes, can you raise me up?” ringtone played as Yoona stared at Seohyun’s dead body with tears in her eyes.

(Way to Go! - SNSD)

Jonghyun already left her hours ago but she was still there. She just could not believe that her best friend was already gone. I will miss you, Seobaby. I really will. I don’t know what I would do without you…, she cried some more.

Finally, she answered her ringing phone. “Soo-Young Eonni?”

“Yoona,” Soo-Young greeted with great concern over the other end of the line. “Are you okay? I heard about Seohyun…”

“Yes, her funeral is tomorrow,” Yoona said in a sad, low voice.

Soon, Soo-Young also started bawling as she talked on the phone. Seohyun had always been there for her, even though she was a bit annoying with her proper way of life sometimes. Now Soo-Young felt guilty. She should not have forced Seohyun to eat that burger. Now Soo-Young will be haunted by Seohyun’s ghost forever…

At the day of the funeral, Soo-Young, along with her friends Yuri, Jessica, Taeyeon, Tiffany, Sunny, Yoona, and Hyoyeon all wore black and cried their eyes out at the loss of a good friend. The Sherlock Team also joined them in paying their respects.

“Seohyunnie, please forgive me,” Soo-Young cried. “I didn’t know any better…I’m just really so sorry…”

Suddenly Seohyun’s ghost appeared before Soo-Young, starting her out of her wits. “Hello Eonni. Don’t react too much. The others can’t see me this time.”

“Seohyun, I’m really very sorry! Don’t kill me; don’t haunt me. You know how scared I am when it comes to ghosts!” Soo-Young even knelt down to apologize.

Seohyun’s ghost stooped down and looked at Soo-Young’s face with her pretty, caring eyes. Then she softly spoke, “I wasn’t trying to kill you or haunt you.”

“Then why were you scaring me and taking away my food with your scary shadow?”

“I’m sorry my silhouette scared you in the darkness, and I’m sorry I had to make your food disappear. I just had to protect you. I did not want you to end up like me, you know, dead. All I tried to do was to keep you from eating too much junk, especially spoiled, left-over burgers. But you never listen to me so you ended up in a hospital.”

“So you weren’t taking revenge?”

“Of course not! Why would I? I love you and the other eonnis too much, even when you guys were being unreasonable. When I died last night, your friend Eunji prayed for the case to be solved, so I was able to communicate with you without looking like a scary phantom. Now, I just told you everything. All I was trying to do was to protect you. Please promise me one last time that you’ll eat less junk food, okay? Yuri Eonni needs you to be there for her.”

“Gosh, why—even as a ghost—do you always make a fuss over proper living? Okay, I promise.”

“Yay, now I can rest in peace! Take care Soo-Young Eonni,” Seohyun said as she prepared to fade away. “Oh wait, one more thing. You really should tell Eunji that I was the one who sent her the weird message. I just needed to get her to go home. Her father was about to catch a cold, but I don’t think she noticed it. That cold might get worse today. Okay then, take care!”

          After the funeral, Soo-Young explained everything to everyone, including the others who were interrogated. The case was now solved. The Sherlock Team has done it again; well, at least they got most of the mystery right.

          “Hahaha…I’m so glad this stupid case is now over. Who knew it would be just a ghost trying to warn you of food poisoning? This whole thing has been ridiculous. That’s one for the records. Anyway, I’m so freakin’ tired, I can just die right now,” Key said as he flopped down on a soft chair. Then he turned to Eunji and said, “You should really go home and check your dad.”

THE END

By the way, when Eunji got home, she found her father sneezing non-stop. Seohyun was right; her father did catch a cold.

Well, then that's the end of the story. Thanks for reading. Btw, it's almost Seohyun's birthday! Happy birthday Maknae!