Sinb smirks triumphantly as the man practically tosses his luggage down the stairs in a hurry to leave his place of residence – well, now former place of residence – that he barely stayed in for the past month. He didn’t even make it ’til his next rent was due.

And Sinb knew she was the reason behind it.

It’s not her fault she doesn’t want to be disturbed.

Sinb very much liked to be the only resident of the room she was currently staying in and she would do anything in her power to keep it that way.

Sinb peeks over from the room window down at the room where the landlady of the building stayed, watching with a smug look as the man practically breaks the door down at his incessant pounding and watches with interest at the heated exchange between the landlady and the man.

It didn’t even last for more than 5 minutes as the man left, shouting profanities at her and the building in general.

“Your building is haunted, why don’t you just burn it down already!”

He yells with finality before tugging his heavy baggage with him, even tripping over his own foot briefly before scrambling up and leaving the space completely.

Sinb just nods in satisfaction, watching the landlady heave out a deep sigh before looking straight at the room Sinb was in, straight into her eyes. However, instead of being angry, she just shakes her head and heads back to the room.

For anyone else it would seem weird that Sinb wasn’t getting scolded. It wasn’t the first time after all, there were many who came before her latest roommate, all leaving because of the same reason. At that point, anyone would find it obvious that Sinb had something to do with it.

But Sinb knew she would never get caught, no matter how many times she bothers any future residents of the room.

The reason was simple.

Because she’s a ghost.

There’s no simpler explanation for that and, as long as she claims the room, she won’t allow anyone else to share the same space as hers.

 

Sinb was just lazing around inside the room when she hears the familiar sound of a car pulling up in front of the building. It wasn’t a big deal to most people but with the length of time Sinb’s stayed within the confines of the building, she’s practically ingrained into her brain the different kinds of sounds the building residents’ vehicles have and this one was definitely unfamiliar to her.

It could only mean a few things. Either one of the residents have a new car, borrowed a car, rode a cab home or had someone fetch them home.

Or there’s the other possibility.

There’s someone new moving in.

Pushing herself off the floor, she dashes over to the window and finds her suspicions confirmed almost immediately.

It was a new resident and that didn’t bode well for Sinb.

Because as far as she remembers the only vacant room in the building was hers.

Sinb huffs, it’s been barely a month since the last resident ran off with his tail between his legs, why the heck can’t the landlady get the hint? Why does she keep on renting out the room? Doesn’t she know the power of rumors? If people keep on talking about the place being haunted, she’s gonna lose residents sooner or later. The only reason the other residents stay as long as they do is because Sinb doesn’t bother them.

No matter, she will continue fighting for her peace and if it includes throwing out the new resident out the window, then she’ll do it.

Not that she could though. Her incorporeal body can only do so much.

Nevertheless, the plan will remain the same. Scare and annoy the heck out of the person and force them out. Sinb wonders briefly if she can break her previous record of 5 days since first say of residence.

She can only hope this person’s a big scaredy-cat.

 

Fortune favors the bold.

At the moment Sinb was stationed near the window, trying her hardest to eavesdrop on the conversation between the new tenant and the landlady– it was a woman this time– and grins widely the moment she manages to catch a few words being shared. Not that she found the woman’s voice pretty, but that’s besides the point.

“I’m going to have to warn you in advance though.”

“About?”

“The room you’re staying in.” the landlady heaves out a sigh as she looks up at the window of the room, “It would sound weird coming from me, but if you want to change your mind about staying here, you can do so now. I’ll even give you back the money you paid in full.”

“I’m afraid I don’t…” she tilts her head in confusion.

“Huh. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” she shrugs while the woman just tilts her head in curiosity, “A lot of that place’s previous residents say it’s haunted.”

Sinb could visibly see the woman stiffen at those words, “H-haunted…?”

“I’ve received many complaints about some ‘thing’ disturbing them every single time: their stuff being misplaced, things broken, noises in the night, anything you can think of.” she says, “It’s exclusive to that room since I haven’t heard any of the other residents complain about it in theirs. But, if you think you can handle that… Anyway, if you come here and complain about the same thing, don’t say I didn’t warn you. That, and you’re not getting your money back.”

“…Are you sure that’s the only room available now?”

The lack of response from the landlady was enough confirmation for the both of them.

“But this is the only place I can afford.” the woman says, practically talking to herself at that point, as if convincing herself to think about it when every single fiber of her being wanted to back out, “And it’s the most ideal location too… but the ghosts…” she makes a sound akin to a whine, “I don’t have enough time to find a new place so I’ll just go with it. It can’t be that bad? I hope?”

To Sinb’s ears, she sounds as if she was almost begging at that point, which she was sure she was doing and the ghost couldn’t be happier to hear that tone. Kicking her out within a few days would be a breeze.

Sinb decided to tune out the rest of the conversation and decides to start thinking of a plan to kick her out as fast as she moved in. The sooner the woman is gone, the faster she can have her room and peace back.

The woman surprisingly took her time since Sinb didn’t hear the sound of footsteps by the door at least until half an hour later and one can only know whatever went on during that time. However, that gave the ghost more than enough time to devise a plan that’ll get the new resident scramming the moment she sets foot into the room.

It was simple. Just lock the door as soon as she gets in, wait for her to start begging to be let out and then open the door and hope that would be enough to make her leave for good, if that wasn’t enough then Sinb’s sure to have other plans.

She eagerly positions herself right behind the door just as she hears footsteps stopping right outside and the sound of keys fitting into the knob. Despite being a ghost, Sinb wasn’t like any other ghost that could pass through walls and teleport someplace they like. She can touch things as well as any living creature, it’s how she manages to pull off any prank in the first place. Heck, if she didn’t know people couldn’t see her, she wouldn’t have realized she wasn’t human.

And so to avoid getting hit by the door, it was only normal for her to take a step back and let the woman come in.

Only, the woman didn’t.

Sinb blinks in confusion before looking up, finding it weird that the pair of feet stayed frozen right at the doorstep and when she did, she could see the woman looking right through her.

But before that, this woman was amazingly pretty.

Still, it makes her wonder what in the world made her stop in her tracks like that. Was there something behind her that looked surprising? She was sure that the room was cleared of things a day after its previous resident left, so there shouldn’t be anything worth of note in that room. Still, she looked behind her, seemingly at what the woman was supposedly looking at only to find nothing there. So what in the world…?

“Did I get the wrong room?” the woman spoke, causing Sinb to look right back to the human and watch her checking the room number on the key, then the number displayed on the door, “But it’s the same. There must be some sort of mistake then.”

At that point, Sinb couldn’t comprehend what was going on, “Huh?”

“Are you the owner of this room?” the woman looks back up again and stares straight through her.

It was only after a minute of complete silence that Sinb realized she wasn’t staring through her.

She was staring right at her.

This human was actually looking at her?

…That completely flushed Sinb’s plan right down the drain.

 

Sinb could only stare at the woman across her in silent disbelief, not knowing what to make of the situation that they’ve found themselves in. The woman had gone ahead and went back to the landlady to confirm the living arrangements, and when she was sure that the room that she had entered was the right one, she had gone ahead and asked about her existence. Of course, being a ghost, she didn’t know what she was talking about, but had gone ahead and made the right conclusion about it.

“So you can see our unwelcome resident huh? Good for you.” she told the tenant.

What part of it is good?! Even as she watches the woman start unpacking her stuff before her, she could easily tell she was avoiding her like a plague when she realized that she wasn’t human, but she could easily see that she wasn’t a stranger to the circumstance. The woman kept on mumbling to herself about her luck with ghosts and why she always has to live with one, which pretty much confirmed that any attempt to scare this woman into leaving her alone was already off the books.

She’s already tried to strike up a conversation with Sinb, but the ghost wasn’t in the mood to respond so it’s all they’ve done for the past hour: Sinb watching her unpack and Yerin trying to do her thing without being too conscious of her presence.

“You’re not the type of ghost who hurts people, are you?” the woman suddenly swivels around in a panic.

Sinb doesn’t bother replying, not knowing if this woman would even hear her if she does.

“I guess that’s a no?”

She raises a brow, “Doesn’t silence usually mean yes?”

“Oh so you can talk after all.”

Damn it.

“Wait, does that mean you do hurt people?” she suddenly backs off, beginning to shake in fear that Sinb took pity on her and just denied her question. The amount of relief that settles on the person’s face upon hearing her answer was huge.

“I’m Yerin by the way and I hope you let me stay here for a bit.” she tells her, “Any other place was too expensive or too inconvenient, so it’s a really big deal for me to get a place for this cheap. I promise I’ll stay out of your way.” she quickly adds, “I’ll rarely be even be here except during weekends or at night when I need to sleep–”

“You sound like you’re used to this.” Sinb couldn’t help but interrupt, finding her behavior slightly peculiar.

“What is?”

“This. Talking to ghosts like me, but at the same time you look scared of us.” she explains, talking to something you’re scared of sounds weird to her.

“I’ve met some nice ones. Unfortunately, most aren’t really welcoming.” Yerin grumbles, “So I’m on my guard the entire time, but you look nice, and you told me you don’t hurt people so I think I can relax.”

“Just for the record, I still don’t like sharing this space.” she points out.

“I heard. From what the landlady told me, you’re quite territorial about it.”

“So now that you know, it’s better if you find somewhere else to stay.”

The way Yerin stares at her after her statement makes her feel like she just said something ridiculous.

“Wouldn’t that be bad for you?” Yerin blinks.

“What? Why?”

“Oh, you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“The landlady told me if you manage to kick me out she’s going to turn this into a storage room.” the woman explains, rendering Sinb speechless for a couple of minutes before she jumps up in disbelief.

“She said what!?”

“She says it’s going to be a hassle trying to keep a room no one can stay in.”

She bites her bottom lip at the new information she just received. Given, she can still stay inside the room, but since she’s not a completely incorporeal form that is able to pass through objects, making the space a storage room will be a huge blunder to her. She’d like to sleep comfortably on the bed as much as possible, but that would most likely be taken away.

An easier option would be to just transfer rooms, however, that wasn’t an option Sinb can even consider because for some reason she is stuck in that room.

She can’t even remember the last time she was able to see the world outside, whenever she tried, there would be some sort of force field impeding her attempt at stepping out the room. The only way she even has an idea what the outdoors looked like was from the view of the window in the room or from images seen on the television.

It gets tiring at some point.

“You’re not just saying that so you can keep the room, are you?” Sinb narrows her eyes at the woman suspiciously. She wouldn’t be surprised if she would result in that method.

“Nope. She said so as soon as she handed me the keys.” Yerin answered, “Besides, I can see you need the room too, so I was just giving you a heads up.”

Sinb groans, leaning back until she was lying down on the room’s floor, staring at the ceiling blankly for a while. There were a lot of downsides to having this Yerin woman stay with her, but then again, she did say that she won’t be around that much because of her work, whatever her work is, which would also mean that she would have her room to herself most of the time (she refuses to acquiesce her rights to the room’s ownership). This woman didn’t really seem so bad anyway; at least she won’t have to move around carefully around her since Yerin can also see her.

“You won’t do anything like have this room purged of spirits or anything like that, right?” Sinb asks, just to make sure.

“That only works on evil spirits and you’re far from looking like one, so those things don’t really work on you.” Yerin clarifies, causing the ghost to pause for a bit in thought before finally deciding that she has more to gain from letting the woman stay than kicking her out. In fact, she has no choice but to let her stay.

“What do evil spirits even look like?”

Yerin looks up amidst her unpacking with furrowed brows, “Shouldn’t you know that?”

“Of course not, I can’t go anywhere else besides here and I’ve had no fellow ghost buddies coming over for the past years.”

“Wow, that sounds kinda lonely.”

“Just because I prefer being alone doesn’t mean I’m lonely. It’s not like I have a choice anyway.” Sinb shrugs, trodding over to the center of the room and sitting cross-legged on the floor.

The statement seemed to have gathered Yerin’s attention since she abandoned whatever it was she was doing and took the vacant space right in front of Sinb, looking eager to hear the rest of what the ghost has to say.

“What do you mean you don’t have a choice?”

Sinb just huffs, refusing to answer, but apparently Yerin has a knack for sniffing out what the answer was as she managed to get it in the first try.

“So you can’t get out of here? Is that why you keep on kicking out the residents instead of transferring places?” Yerin asks interestedly.

“This is my spot to begin with.” Sinb insists, “Let me just remind you I’m allowing you to stay here just for the meantime. And anyway, for someone who’s scared of ghosts, you sure talk to me a little too much.”

“You’re not an evil spirit, so it’s fine.”

“That’s not the point–”

“And besides, you’re kind of pretty, so of course I would want to talk to you.”

Rendered into silence by what she just heard, Sinb could just tell that she was starting to regret allowing this woman to share the same space as her.

 

Turns out Sinb didn’t really find it as bad as she thought, not when she finally gets to eat good food since forever.

It was only normal for Yerin to find it weird. Where do you even find ghosts that will eat normal food like a human being? Even Sinb was sure that wasn’t normal for a ghost. Merely existing as a non-human non-incorporeal being was already not normal in anyone’s books, so why not add more to the list?

“You’re surprisingly a good cook.” Sinb remarks as they sit around the dining table, eating, and completely oblivious to the look of disbelief Yerin was sporting on her face, “What? Is there something wrong?”

“I don’t even know where to start with that.” she replies, “How in the world are you eating?”

“I have a mouth and a stomach?”

“You’re missing the point.” Yerin deadpans.

Of course Sinb understood what it was she wanted to know, it was just fun to mess around with her and couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a snarky reply.

“I don’t know.” she finally decides to answer properly, “I just can. One day one of the residents left their food on the table and thought it looked good so I took a bite and found out I can eat so I’ve been stealing their food since then.” she grins widely, “You should’ve seen the look on their faces when they couldn’t find the cake they were saving for themselves for dinner.”

“…I want to say that’s not nice but I’m not completely innocent on that matter.” Yerin grumbles, “Do you even feel full after eating a lot?”

“I… guess?” Sinb pauses to think about it for a while, “Though I’m not really sure since I only take a little at a time so I’ve never had a chance to find out if I can get full after eating a lot.”

“We need to find out then.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Yerin glares, “I need to find out if I need to buy a lock for the fridge since you might end up stealing everything.”

“Hey! I’m letting you live in my space so the least you can do is leave me something to eat.” Sinb retorts.

“I’m actually paying for this space, you know.” she points out, “To keep it from being a storage room.”

“I– well–”

“So that you can continue staying here comfortably.”

Sinb opens to say something, anything against the woman’s points but soon realizes that there wasn’t anything she could do and just ends up whining, finding herself on the losing side of the argument and then ends up glaring at Yerin who was laughing at her state.

Yerin jumps off her chair once Sinb starts going after her.

“You know, you’re actually kind of cute sometimes.” Yerin tells her amidst her laughter.

The one advantage Sinb had over the woman was her unlimited energy, and so the chase was over before she knew it, finally getting Yerin to surrender after a long while of chasing her around without showing signs of stopping anytime soon. Yerin finally called it quits after a while and promised Sinb that she would make sure she kept her fed at the very least.

“Anyway, I have to wash up.” Yerin tells her, “I need to be early for work tomorrow since it’s my first day.”

Sinb watches Yerin enter the bedroom, emerging not long after with a towel and a set of pajamas as well as her skin care kit and heads straight to the bathroom which was the door just across it. Yerin opens the door a little bit before pausing in her tracks, seemingly in deep thought as her brows were furrowed quite deeply. It was then that the woman looked up and stared straight at her, a frown on her face.

“Don’t you dare try to peek.”

“Wh–”

Sinb’s words never made it to Yerin’s ears as she had entered and closed the door behind her, the bathroom door’s lock clicking loudly in the now silent room. Flabbergasted, Sinb just stares at the empty space before her.

“W-Who would even want to peek at you!?” she yells, flustered.

In the end, Sinb finds herself fidgeting in discomfort at random images popping up in her mind every once in a while.

 

Living with Yerin didn’t seem as bad as Sinb thought.

This is saying a lot since she couldn’t even stand a single second with the other former residents. Yerin, on the other hand, kept true to her promise. She was gone most of the day during weekdays, letting Sinb have the room all to herself and getting her well-deserved peace and quiet.

Not to mention that Yerin would make sure to leave some food for her so she can have something to eat during lunchtime. Granted, Sinb didn’t know the concept of hunger, but there was no way she was saying no to free food.

Also, being alone for quite a while has taken its toll on her that she didn’t realize Yerin’s presence has somehow improved her mood. It’s been a while since she’s actually conversed with someone, and forgot the joys of it.

It’s always a joy how Yerin would come home every night, sharing stories of what happened at her workplace (she found out she works as a retailer at a small fashion store not far from where she resides) and they would hold long conversations over dinner.

Being restricted from leaving this room, it was the closest she can have to experiencing the outside world and so she always looks forward whenever Yerin would come home from work.

But wait a second, doesn’t that sound like a dog waiting patiently for her owner to come home?

“Hey.” Sinb calls.

“Hm?”

Yerin looks up from her current position on the floor, spread-eagled on a Saturday morning. Sinb was sitting right beside her, the both of them just enjoying a Harry Potter marathon that they’ve planned.

“Why’d you move so far away if you’re just getting a small paying job like what you have now?”

“Oh, that.” Yerin goes back to laying down, “Huh. That's a good question.”

“You sound like you don’t even know the answer.”

“Not really. Well… it’s more a trivial reason to be honest. Me and my step mom just didn’t see eye to eye when it came to some things and so I left.” she replied nonchalantly, “Deep inside I guess I wanted my dad to choose between her and me.”

“That doesn’t sound as trivial as you make it out to be.”

“Really? Because when I look at the big picture, it’s just a kid throwing a tantrum, except I’m an adult and obviously being childish.”

“But if that’s true then it wouldn’t have gone to this point right? Kids throwing tantrums would just leave to stay at some friend’s place…”

“This is the adult version then.” Yerin chuckles a bit, before resuming a nonchalant expression, “I’m fine as is anyway. The job pays well despite it being small, how else would I afford all the food you’re eating?”

“Hey!”

Sinb pokes her side, causing the woman to jerk in response.

Not one to be deterred, Yerin makes a move to retaliate, aiming to do the same. Naturally, Sinb was not one to back down and immediately slaps her arms away to prevent her from doing so.

It soon turns into a small scuffle between the two, a hint of giggles escaping their lips that grows into full blown laughter as the two resume their small game, the movie long forgotten in the background.

It was only when heavy knocking on the door interrupted them that they realized they were disturbing neighbors.

“…This is your fault.”

“Who told you to do it too anyway?”

“There’s no way I’m letting you get away with it after all.”

Yerin and Sinb turn to face each other before exploding in laughter.

“Don’t worry about my circumstances, Sinb. It’s not as bad as it seems… Or are you feeling guilty because I’m spending money on you?” Yerin grins teasingly as she leans forward to get a better look at the woman’s face.

“Guilty?” Sinb scoffs, “Yeah, right why would I– why would I feel guilty about anything. You should be thankful I’m letting you stay here! So the least you can do is provide for me too.”

“Sure~” Yerin just laughs at Sinb’s pitiful attempt at trying not to sound so concerned, “But never mind about me, is it fine if I ask you something?”

Sinb raises a brow, “It’s rare for you to ask permission first. What is it?”

“Well, you don’t need to answer if you don’t want to.” she says, “I’m just curious how’d this happen to you?”

“This?” she gestures to herself.

Yerin nods, “Ghost and all.”

Sinb sports a look of understanding, realizing that she was asking how she became a ghost and was perhaps indirectly asking her how she died, hence the permission before asking.

To be fair, it’s been a while and she was surprised Yerin didn’t ask as soon as they met so Sinb didn’t mind answering.

Though she wasn’t sure if Yerin would be satisfied with her answer.

“I don’t really know how to answer that, to be honest. I just woke up and realized I’m like this.”

“So you don’t have any memories of what happened to you at all?”

The woman shakes her head with a frown. Now that she thinks about it, why doesn’t she remember anything?

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I am.” she agrees, “But it’s not like I can ask around to find out. After sometime I just got used to living like this.”

“Huh. That’s true.” Yerin turns her attention back to the television, just in time to see a certain character conversing with the male lead, “Good thing you didn’t get trapped in the bathroom and ended up like Myrtle here.”

The ghost turns to the television and shudders at the thought, “You’re disgusting.”

Her roommate just laughs.

 

“Oh wow, the cherry blossoms have been blooming really prettily the past few days.” Sinb mumbles as the two of them sit around the dining table and having dinner. The news was currently covering the blooming cherry blossoms around the surrounding area and warning people with pollen allergies to be careful.

“Are they pretty?” Sinb turns to her roommate who tilts her head at the question, “The cherry blossoms I mean.” she clarifies.

“Oh, they are. I see some on my way to work… You’ve never seen them?”

“Well I know what they look like.” Sinb shrugs, "But since I can’t go out I don’t really know what they look like in person. I was just curious why people make it such a big deal.

“I see…” Yerin mumbles, analyzing the woman carefully, “Hey, if you were given a chance to head out, what would you do?”

“That’s a sudden question.” Sinb chuckles, “I’d probably go exploring. Just go wherever, get lost…” she then grins mischievously, “And since no one can see me, I’ll probably go grab something and run away with it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re better off stuck here.” she nods in finality.

“You were asking what I wanted to do!” Sinb pouts, “And besides, it’s not as if I’m really going to do it. I guess I’ll just go take in the sights or something.”

“…Do you miss it?”

“Being outside? Not really.” the woman answers, “You can’t miss what you’ve never had. I’m having enough fun here anyway. I’ve been okay by myself for a long time, what difference does being outside make?”

Yerin doesn’t answer, watching as the woman just takes another big spoonful of food and chews on it heartily.

She thinks of the times that she had to sneak around just to have a taste of food.

She thinks of what Sinb must have gone through whenever there were tenants that couldn’t see her and how they must have bothered her.

Yerin wasn’t sure if she was being a bother herself but she’s gotten quite used to staying with the woman. Not to mention it’s actually pleasing to come home to someone waiting for her and having nice conversations over meals after a stressful day at work.

She can’t imagine how it must have been if Sinb was all alone and the room was empty. Sure, she did say she liked the peace and quiet, but she’s missing out on the joys of having friends. Having alone time is important, but so is having connections. Having a balance of both is like getting the best of both worlds.

Just like how she thinks she’s missing out on the joys of being outside.

Sure, Sinb did say she didn’t need it but still…

 

“Auntie, does the room I’m staying in have any history?”

It was a week after that particular dinner. Yerin had just gotten back from work and met the landlady by the entrance and thus she decided to pick that opportunity to ask her.

“Your room…? Ah! You’re the one staying in that haunted room, correct? You’ve done well staying that long.” she chuckles heartily, probably happy to finally not have to deal with another complaint about the particular room any longer.

“She’s actually really sweet when you get to know her.” Yerin smiles.

“That’s good to hear. I can’t remember the headaches I’ve had with the previous tenants.” she shakes her head with a sigh, “Ah, right, you were asking about the room correct? It wasn’t always like that. I think it was… yes, sometime around 4 years ago.”

Yerin tilts her head in question and urges the landlady to explain, “You say our little resident is a woman, yes? Then it must be her.”

“What happened?”

“Four years ago, one of the former tenants of that room didn’t wake up out of nowhere.” she sighs, “She was a very lucky woman. I was going room to room to collect unpaid rent since she hasn’t paid hers and I found her collapsed on the room’s floor. The doctor told me that she’s been unconscious for more or less three days. If not for the fact that she collapsed just three days before I needed to collect rent, I wouldn’t have seen her and we wouldn’t have gotten her to the hospital in time.”

Yerin listens attentively to the information, finding everything believable so far and knows that she needs to go check it out for herself if the person was Sinb or not.

“Is she still in the same hospital where you brought her to?”

“I’m not sure about that. Her parents had arrived that time and they looked like the well-to-do type of people. The place I brought her wasn’t the best of hospitals, so I’m sure that they must have transferred her to somewhere better. Still…” she then turns to Yerin, “Are you planning to find her, child?”

“Yes, I wanted to make sure so…”

“It seems you’ve really grown to befriend that girl. I wouldn’t want to be too hard on you, but you see… she’s a ghost now, isn’t she?”

“Yes?” Yerin asks in question, not getting her point.

“What I mean is, since she’s a ghost, I doubt that she would still be alive.” the landlady shakes her head sadly as realization slowly sets in Yerin’s features, “I guess that she’s still looking for something and that’s why she’s still here. It must be sad… especially since she was quite young. Well, I have to go. I don’t know what it is that’s keeping her anchored here, but you’ll do her a big favor by making her feel loved until she decides to pass on.”

The landlady pats her shoulder in an assuring gesture before making her way inside. Yerin stays rooted to the spot, forgetting to thank the lady for her time and just lets her words echo within her mind.

It was as if a bucket full of ice was poured down on her head.

How could she forget such an obvious thing? What in the world was she hoping to achieve with what she was doing in the first place?

Ghosts all exist because of the same reason: that the person’s soul is unable to pass on which is why they remain walking amongst the others.

And that doesn’t exempt Sinb.

Still… It was a very hard pill to swallow, how Sinb could actually be dead. A certain part of her couldn’t seem to accept it, especially when she can see her, hear her, feel her.

Sinb, in every sense of the word, is alive to the point that her being labeled as a ghost all seemed like a sick joke.

Her heart felt heavy, almost as if the enthusiasm that she was harboring for the past minute all drained into the negatives. And with that heavy heart, she trudges over to her rented room. The sound of silent footfalls approaching snaps her out of her thoughts before she realized that she had somehow unlocked her door and was face to face with Sinb who was staring back at her with curiosity and a tinge of concern.

“…Hey.” she greets the woman, trying to mask the disappointment in her tone with a smile.

“Hey.” Sinb greets back before taking a step closer, “Busy day at work?”

“A little.” Yerin's expression softens, already finding herself used to the way Sinb would indirectly ask her if she was okay, “Hungry yet? I bought your favorite.”

“Famished.”

“Good. Let me just wash up for a bit and I’ll join you.”

She nods in agreement, taking the take out boxes from Yerin’s hands and setting up the table for dinner. Yerin stares at her figure for a brief moment, reveling in the warmth of how she was received upon her return and how domestic everything felt– like it was second nature for them to act this comfortable around each other.

Not one inch of Sinb’s being screams ‘ghost’ to her.

But she keeps getting reminded of the fact that Sinb might not be staying forever.

With a silent sigh, she proceeds inside the bathroom before Sinb notices her worsening mood.

Torn between keeping Sinb with her or giving her the closure she needs, she’s never been faced with a tougher decision than before.

 

“Yerin.”

Said person looks up from her spot on the floor. She was currently hunched over a map of the area, taking note of the different hospitals nearby. Beside her was her phone, with different hospitals pinned on it while she marked them out on the map.

“Hospitals? Are you sick?” Sinb says when she notices what she’s been marking. A worried look passes over her face as she kneels beside the woman– leaning close to check as if just staring at her face would give her the answer she needs.

“I’m fine. Uhm, this is just in case, you know. It’s better we know where to go just in case we get sick…”

“Don’t you mean you? I don’t get sick, you know.”

“Oh, right.” Yerin laughs sheepishly, “Sometimes I forget you’re a ghost…”

“…Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yep!” Yerin turns to her and forces a smile, before turning back to the map, “I’ll be staying here for a while so I need to know the important places too.”

“Huh, that makes sense. Do you mind if I join you?”

“You don’t need to ask! Come on.” Yerin pats the space beside her, telling the woman to scooch on closer, “Here, you can use my phone and check out the places you think are nice.”

Sinb falls silent as she scrolls through her phone. Yerin sneaks a peek and sees the woman lingering on every single image that catches her attention, an expression of curiosity encompassing her features and a hint of amazement every once in a while.

She smiles, focusing back on the map.

Perhaps this may hurt her in the long run, but the very least that Sinb deserves is the freedom to do what she wants.

 

Yerin managed to grab the name of the hospital that Sinb was brought to and made sure to ask for permission from her boss if she could take a day off during a weekday. She wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to achieve with this and it was quite far fetched how there was a certain hope in her that wanted to find Sinb in the same hospital after all these years.

“Excuse me.”

She approaches the receptionist easily visible from the entrance. Thankfully, the nurse seemed to be the nice type as she greets her with a smile.

“Hi, how can I help you?”

“Yes well… I’m Jung Yerin, I’m currently searching for a friend of mine that’s been missing for 4 years now and I just received information that she may have been admitted here?”

“…That’s a very vague description you have there Miss Jung.” the nurse frowns a bit. She can’t really fault the woman since she didn’t have much to go on, “Unfortunately, we can’t reveal patient information to just anyone unless you brought proof, it’s for their privacy and safety after all. Do you have a name of the patient and proof with you?”

“Yes, her name’s Hwang Eunbi. As for proof, she sent me this letter as well as a friendship ring.”

It was a huge of luck on her part when the landlady actually kept her information as well as some personal effects of Sinb during her stay. Her parents never bothered to claim them and so she’s left them in storage, gathering dust.

The ring wasn’t actually a friendship ring, but it was one of the items the landlady kept.

As for the letter, well, it wasn’t that hard to make the woman write something for her with a fingerprint as a signature since the woman doesn’t remember how to sign her name. She did get questioned on what the letter was for, and Yerin answered that it would remain as a keepsake for her in the future.

Sinb didn’t think much of it since they would do random things like it whenever the mood struck, in return, she asked Yerin to make a letter for her as well.

“Well… I can’t verify the authenticity of this, but it’s good she used a fingerprint to sign the letter. Just a moment please…”

She waits patiently as the nurse returns to her screen and begins typing rapidly. After a while she starts looking to and from the letter to the screen, seemingly comparing something and with a resolute nod, she smiles and turns to Yerin.

“Looks good. You’re in luck too.`` She says, “I’ve been working here for a year and a half but everyone knows about this patient here… It must have been hard for you too…”

Yerin breathes in deep, a sense of hope filling her entire being at the positive note in the nurse’s tone. At the same time, her heart begins pumping rapidly, out of excitement or nervousness, she feels unsure, but the fact that Sinb was here, that alone was enough to make her feel euphoric.

Logic would have it that ghosts are souls of the dead, but that small sliver of hope that she held onto kept her from giving up. After all, she’s seen a fair share of ghosts throughout her life, and Sinb was just completely different from all of them.

She thought her being dead might not be the case.

And now she found her answer.

“She’s been in a coma for four years.” she tells her, “…You’re really a great friend if you’ve been looking for her all this time.”

“We were pen pals.” Yerin smoothly replies, a lie, but there’s no way she would not call herself Sinb’s friend, “So we’ve never seen each other in person. When it was time for us to meet, we just lost contact and so I thought it was just her cutting off connections… But she didn’t seem the type of person who would do such a thing so here I am, I guess.” Yerin smiles before bowing thankfully to the nurse, “I owe you so much for this, thank you.”

The nurse's face softens, “That’s so sweet~ well, I won’t delay your meeting. I sincerely hope she wakes up for you. Room 603. She doesn’t get that many visitors so I’m sure she’ll be very happy with your visit.”

“I will. Thank you very much again Nurse…?”

“Oh, you can call me Joy.”

“…Nurse Joy?”

“Yep! Like the pokemon nurse like many people are asking. It’s just a nickname, but I like it.” she laughs, Yerin joining in, “Do you know the way there? Just take the elevator to the sixth floor and it’ll be on the hallway to your right.”

“I understand. Thank you once more.”

Yerin bows lowly, already taking steps towards the elevator, nearly crashing into a person in her excitement but she nevertheless manages to head inside the elevator and press the button for the sixth floor.

Room 603 was amongst the first doors that came into sight as soon as she stepped out of the elevator and nervously made her way towards it.

She fidgets slightly, gently laying her fingers on the knob and pulling it down before sliding it open.

The woman didn’t know what to expect but the sound of the machine beeping, the snow white curtains fluttering along the gentle breeze, as well as the peaceful silence that met her… and finally, the familiar figure of the woman on the bed.

She was clothed in a white hospital gown with white sheets covering her until the waist. The mask on her face did nothing to hinder Yerin from recognizing her, though to be frankly honest, she looked more alive as a ghost than finally seeing her in person.

However, it was only normal given that she’s been in a coma for the past four years. Yerin can’t even begin to imagine what that felt like.

“I’m here… Sinb.” Yerin lets out the breath that she’s been unconsciously holding in.

 

“I experienced something weird earlier.”

“Something weird?”

“Yep. I sort of heard your voice, but you weren’t there.”

“Oh? Aren’t you just missing me too much, Sinb?”

The woman immediately makes a face, “D-Don’t be too full of yourself. Know what, nevermind. I was probably just hearing things anyway.”

Yerin laughs before slinging an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close, “What was it? What did the voice say?”

Sinb tries to push her away, “Not telling.”

“Aww come on! You already started, might as well finish it.”

“It’s not that big of a deal anyway. Hey, you’re getting too close!”

“You weren’t complaining before.”

“I’m complaining now.”

Yerin pouts in reply but doesn’t make any attempt to remove her hold on the woman, “On a serious note though, what did the Yerin you heard say?”

Sinb stays silent. A small peek makes Yerin assume that she was debating with herself whether to tell her or not.

And finally making up her mind, she answers, “It’s not that much but it did make me think you were home or something. You said “I’m here Sinb.” Or something.”

Yerin nods in understanding, finally removing her arm around her shoulder and taking a seat beside her. They were currently on the bed, the sky pitch black as night settles in. Having finished dinner, the two decided to just watch the first thing that piqued their interest on the television and indulged themselves in conversation.

Yerin had just returned from her visit to the hospital, timing it so that it looked like she got off work. Sinb’s statement seemed to coincide with the exact same time when Yerin greeted the unconscious Sinb in the hospital when she saw her for the first time in the flesh.

On the way back, she’s been contemplating on whether to tell the woman about it. She got a confirmation that Sinb is a unique soul that isn’t like others, that she’s alive and well and just asleep for a long time, so she was wondering if telling her about it would be considered as good news or bad news.

She finally made her decision after thinking about it deeply.

“I’m sure that was me talking to you.” Yerin tells her.

Sinb raises a brow, “You weren’t here though. It couldn’t have been you.” she shrugs, “I was probably just hearing things.”

“Sinb.”

The ghost once more turns to Yerin to find the woman wearing an uncharacteristically serious look, one that she doesn’t see everyday, especially on a person like her.

“I’m sorry.” Yerin begins to say, confusing Sinb further.

Before the ghost even got to ask, Yerin begins to tell her everything that’s been going on for the past days. Her discovery of Sinb’s identity, her search, the days of planning that led up to the point where she finally meets Hwang Eunbi in the flesh.

The whole time Sinb just stares, almost looking like she wasn’t listening to what she was saying anymore, but Yerin pushed on, thinking that the woman deserved the truth at the very least.

“So the fact that you heard my voice, there’s no doubt that the person I saw was you.” Yerin finishes, waiting with bated breath as Sinb just stares blankly.

In Sinb’s case, she didn’t know what to think.

It was just a normal day for her and all of a sudden Yerin drops this huge bomb out of nowhere without even giving her the slightest hint of a warning. So her name is Hwang Eunbi, she fell unconscious four years ago in the very same room she was in, and Yerin had gone around looking for her and happened to find her in the hospital that the landlady took her to.

Everything was clear, but her feelings weren’t.

‘What in the world is she trying to achieve with this…?’

Why would Yerin go through that effort? What would finding her body do? She’s a ghost! Normally people would immediately assume that she’s dead but Yerin went on a wild goose chase without knowing if she’ll even find her alive.

‘Is she…’

“Why?” Sinb mutters out loud, face devoid of emotion, but the dazed expression showed her still deep in thought.

“That’s…” Yerin pauses, unsure how to answer.

“Were you trying to get me to move on?”

Yerin bites her lower lip, “Yes… But it’s not what you think–”

“What else am I supposed to think?” she cuts her off, betrayal visible in her features, “For you to pour so much time and effort on a nearly fruitless search, weren’t you looking for what’s keeping me here? You were looking for a way to get me to pass on, right? Do you want this place to yourself after all…? I’m– Do you hate me?”

The other woman’s eyes widens as she jumps to her feet, approaching Sinb but the ghost took a step back, “Of course I don’t hate you!”

“Then why do all this!?” Sinb gestures with her hands wildly, her body beginning to shake as emotions she’s never felt before begin to fill her mind and rendering her brain into a mess of wires she couldn’t untangle, “…Yerin, do you not want me here anymore?”

The older woman heaves out a sigh, staring at Sinb straight in the eyes and taking a minute before saying, “Yes. But again, it’s not what you think.”

Sinb frowns, wanting to just get away from the place but of course…

“Sinb, you’ve been staying here your whole life. You don’t even have memories of your past, but even I can clearly see that you want to experience the world outside.” she explains slowly.

“Sure, but I’m having enough fun here!”

“Me too. But don’t you want to step out of this place?”

“I–” Sinb purses her lips, unable to deny the fact that she’s very much dying to get out, “But still…”

“Sinb, you’re still alive.” Yerin places her hands on her shoulders and with a smile she continues, “That means we have a chance.”

“…What would you have done if I was dead?”

“Oh. That’s…” Yerin pauses and removes her hands from her shoulders, “To be frank with you I didn’t really think you were. I mean, there’s the idea, but my gut feeling told me that you’re not dead.”

Sinb sighs, amazed at the amount of positivity Yerin has and wished she could think as positively as she does.

“But to answer your question, I would have asked you first.” Yerin says, “In the end, it’s all about what you want to do. If I think I’m capable of granting your wish, then I’ll do it.”

Sinb sighs again, deeper this time, “Why are you such a good Samaritan? If I was really dead and then I told you I want to pass on, you would be all alone here.” she flicks the woman on the head lightly, earning a small yelp in return, “You better be thankful I’m still alive or I would have haunted you even if I passed on.”

“Ugh, please don’t. Ghosts are not the nice kind when they’re out for blood.”

“…You’re going to have to tell me all about that later, but for now,” Sinb sits cross-legged on the floor and gestures for Yerin to do the same. Once she was settled, she stares at the woman seriously before asking, “…Did you take a picture when you saw me?”

Yerin freezes, “Damn it.”

“You had one job Yerin!”

“Shut up, I was just overwhelmed!”

Sinb laughs, before her expression slowly softens. It was as if she just realized at that moment about everything Yerin went through just for her, “You did a good job in finding me.” Sinb grins, “Thank you.”

“Wow. This is the first time you thanked me for something.”

“Excuse you? I thank you everyday for the food… and the other things! In fact, you should be thankful I didn’t kick you out the first time we met–”

“I know, that’s why I was trying to get you out here in the first place.” Yerin chuckles at Sinb’s sad attempt at covering up her embarrassment.

“R-Right.” Sinb nods, before pausing a bit in thought, “I can finally get out of here, huh.”

“We’ll have to find a way to wake you up first, but don’t worry, I’ll do everything in my power to achieve that.” Yerin playfully flexes her biceps and nods resolutely with Sinb laughing at her exaggerated way in showing her determination, “Have you ever thought of what you’d want to do once you’re out of here?”

“I told you I just wanted to go exploring first, right?” Sinb asks back, “So maybe just that. How about you?”

“Me? But I can go out anytime.”

“N-Not that. I mean– I-I don’t know about the outside, and I might not remember. You said it’s been years since I last was awake so, you know, things might be different–”

Yerin keeps silent for a bit as Sinb strings together a few words and tries to make her point across and thankfully, Yerin was quick on the uptake.

“…You can just say it straight if you want me to take you out on a date.”

“I said exploring!” Sinb squeals, “So of course I need a guide–!”

Yerin chuckles, “Of course Sinb, whether it’s a date or exploring, we’ll do whatever you want.”

“I said– you know what, fine. Let’s go on a date. I bet those TV shows are just making it bigger than it seems. Why are you smiling like that?”

“Oh, sorry.” Yerin wipes the smile off her face immediately, “It just saves me the effort of having to ask you out in the first place.”

“…What?”

She flashes her a sweet smile, “I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Despite saying all that, Yerin didn’t have the slightest clue on how to wake Sinb.

In the first place, if it was easy to wake people from a comatose state, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. At the very least, Sinb’s state is different, Yerin could see her soul and so there must be a way somehow. However, she wasn’t an expert on the matter thus there was only one way for her to get information.

It wasn’t an easy search, but the landlady has helped her once more by recommending a local shaman. Due to Sinb’s actions for the past years, she’s found a need to do an exorcism on the room a few times and consulted the very same shaman. However, like Yerin said, exorcisms only work on evil spirits and Sinb wasn’t one so it never worked.

It was a Sunday and Yerin had gone out to visit this said shaman whose business has apparently not been doing that great since her failed attempt at exorcizing Sinb. She didn’t know exactly who else to ask without being branded as crazy so she might as well give it a shot.

Of course, she made sure to inform Sinb about it just in case she didn’t make it home in time for dinner.

As for her roommate, the woman’s been uncharacteristically silent since their conversation a few nights ago, so Yerin decided to take this chance to give her some space.

Yerin soon finds herself heading up the stairs of a small building. She was instructed that she’ll know the shaman’s place when she sees it so she was slightly expecting a silent neighborhood or even the countryside but apparently the shaman preferred living in the city.

Sure enough, the smell of incense immediately penetrates her senses the moment she reaches the top of the stairs and the sight of an open door with string fringe curtains decorating it came into her view.

There was no doubt that this was the place.

“Oh? A customer?” Yerin jumps a few feet in the air at a voice suddenly popping up from behind her. When she turns, there was no one.

She groans in annoyance, but it sounded more like a whimper.

“Of course… Ghosts, shamans, they must be friends.” she grumbles to herself, entering the establishment.

“Hello?” she calls out in greeting and finds a woman hunched over something on the floor, her black hair forming a curtain around her head and hiding her face from view. Before her was a figure of a man seated on the mat provided.

“Just one second, I’m trying to read my fortune. Just take a seat and I’ll be with you shortly.”

“The seat’s already taken though?” Yerin tilts her head in wonder.

“Huh?” the woman looks up at her, then to the figure on the mat before heaving out a sigh, “Why are you here again?”

“That looks fun.”

“It’s not for fun, now go. Your mom’s looking for you.”

The figure clicks his tongue and slowly fades away from their sights, rendering Yerin speechless at what she just witnessed. Now it was just the two of them alone in the room.

“So you can see them too.” the woman says, “That’s good, at least I won’t be called crazy this time.”

“You’re a shaman, you’re supposed to see them in the first place.” Yerin shrugs as she settles down on the mat, “Are you Choi Yuna?”

“Just call me Yuju.” the woman stretches out her hand for a shake which Yerin receives, “What can I do for you? Fortune telling, exorcism, summoning? Name it, and pray that I succeed at it.”

Yerin just chuckles at her words, “I’m not here for that. More like a consultation if that’s fine.”

“Ah… You’re probably going to ask about ghosts aren’t you? It’s quite a burden helping them pass on after all. A lot of people come here for the same thing.”

“Well, yes and no?” Yerin smiles sheepishly while Yuju tilts her head curiously because why else would Yerin be here for if not for the supernatural?

Yerin then begins to explain to her the situation, making sure to leave out some personal details for Sinb’s privacy. Yuju stays silent the entire time, listening intently in order to have a good grasp of her predicament.

When Yerin finishes, she hums to herself.

“That’s quite a complicated situation you have there. As a matter of fact, I think this is the first time I encountered something like this.” Yuju says in mild amazement, “I can offer some advice but since I’ve never seen it work, I can’t guarantee its success.”

“It is quite a strange case so I’m not surprised. Still, any help would be appreciated. I’ll even compensate you for your services.”

“That’s fine. I don’t think I’m needed for it anyway.” she waves her off, “Basically, the important fact here is that your friend is still alive and the goal here is to guide the soul back to the body. From what I’ve heard, it looks like your friend’s soul separated from her body without knowing the way back. But the fact that she managed to hear your voice is proof that they are still connected, but it’s not enough to fully navigate her to return. Your friend doesn’t have any memories, yes? That means all that she saw from the moment she fell unconscious until her soul separated is the room that she is in.”

“Is that the reason why she can’t go out of the room?”

“It’s the most likely possibility from what I see. Your friend must have been on the brink of death and fallen unconscious and the soul has begun its separation from the body, but the landlady intervened and managed to save and retain the remaining soul inside the body.” Yuju continues on, the entire time being deep in thought to the point that she was talking to herself, “It’s why most of the consciousness stayed in the room while your friend’s body remained in comatose.”

“Then wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring her body to the room?”

Yuju shakes her head vehemently, “It would be ideal, however your friend is on life support, right? It’s the only thing anchoring her here, so I would advise against doing so. On the other hand, what you can do is guide her soul there.”

Yerin’s brows furrow at the suggestions, “But she can’t get out of the room.”

“Only because she has no memories of the outside whatsoever. What matters at this point is the intention to return. In order for her to do that, she has to know the exact way back. What you can do is show her the path there. Make sure that the path contains many landmarks that aren’t easy to forget, map it out carefully and have her memorize it by heart.” Yuju lays down the instructions, “We have no idea what will happen if she gets lost so don’t do it until you’re sure or if you’re brave enough, take her out the same path little by little until she knows the way there.”

“That certainly makes sense.” Yerin agrees to the shaman’s reasoning, “Will it be easy once she’s within arm’s reach of her body?”

“I’m not very sure. I’ve read something related which is astral projection but it’s not an assurance that it will work. If you’re still interested–” Yuju smiles at the eager nod from the woman, “What matters is the intention. She only needs to think of the body as her own and control it like she’s been able to the entire time. It might be difficult since it’s been years but if she really wants to return, then she should be fine.”

Yerin breathes out a relieved sigh at the instruction, finding it easier than expected. Though she was warned that it wasn’t a sure way to achieve the expected results, at least she had the method and all she can hope for is for everything to go smoothly.

Yerin decided to stay for a little bit when Yuju grew interested in some of her encounters with ghosts and the two shared a pleasant conversation for a while.

“Maybe you can take me to meet this friend of yours. She must be really special if you went through all of that just for her.” Yuju tells her when it was time for her customer to leave.

She smiles fondly in response, the thought of the woman immediately being a mood booster, “She is. She might be quite the cold person at first but she’s actually a very energetic girl once you get to know her.”

“I look forward to that time then. Call me if you need any more of my help.”

“Are you sure you don’t need payment?”

The shaman refuses, “I never really provided service and anyway, this is just a part time job I do for fun on weekends. It shouldn’t matter much.”

“I see, well I’ll make sure to contact you if ever we can meet up with my friend in tow.”

“I wish you luck.”

“Thank you.”

 

“So we’re going to be doing this every weekend from now on.”

Sinb stares at the schedule that the woman laid out in front of her. The planner mostly composed of them going out on walks and with it is a map that has markers leading to the hospital with various notes and checkpoints placed along the path. Yerin practically made it into a two month-long project. She also said that extensions can be made if necessary and that they didn’t need to hurry as long as Sinb was comfortable.

The ghost couldn’t help but feel warm at the amount of care and consideration Yerin had for her and she doesn’t even get anything from this.

“Is this alright with you?” Yerin asks with uncertainty when she noticed that Sinb hasn’t reacted to her plan just yet.

“Won’t you be tired?” Sinb asks with concern, “You already work the weekdays and then you plan to use your weekends… Maybe we can take a break every once in a while? I’m not in a hurry, so we can just take it easy.”

“Oh, that’s true.” Yerin sticks out her tongue playfully, “I guess I was just really excited to finally be able to hang out with you in the outdoors.”

Weird. For as long as Sinb can remember, she’s always felt a little cold since she doesn’t have the bodily function of staying warm, so why was it getting warmer?

She clears “W-Well, you gotta remember to rest up too.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll always have enough energy to go on walks with you. Anyway, you haven’t answered my question, is this good enough for you?” she gestures to the plan.

“I’m good with it. But are you sure it’ll work? I’ve never been outside–”

“That’s what we’re going to test out first.” Yerin jumps to her feet, whipping out her phone rapidly.

Her roommate just stares, “Where are you going?”

“We’re experimenting.”

“…Experimenting?”

“If you can step out of this room, then that means you can go anywhere.” she explains, “Yuju said that the intention is important. As long as you can visualize or see where you are going, you can go anywhere.”

Yerin approaches the ghost and gently grasps one wrist in hers, pulling the ghost up from the floor while Sinb just stares, slightly nervous and unsure.

“But I’ve already tried and it didn’t work.”

“That’s why we’re giving this one a try first.” Yerin assures her, grasping both her hands in hers and shakes it as a way to calm her nerves. Yerin then first steps outside the room, taking a picture of the hallway on both sides and shows the images to Sinb.

Once she was sure the woman has gotten a good look, she pockets the device and grasps her hands in hers once more, “Visualize what it feels like when you step out of the door. Visualize what it feels like with the door behind you and your foot on the outside.”

They walk to the doorway, “You can close your eyes if you want.”

“I–” Sinb pauses nervously. There was some kind of fear that’s keeping her from agreeing to the idea so readily.

“Take your time,” Yerin squeezes her hands and speaks in an assuring tone, calming her down somewhat, “If you want we can do this some other day?”

“No, I’ll do it.” Sinb says determinedly. She was scared, true, but the fact that Yerin went through a lot of effort just for her was enough encouragement for her to push through despite the fear, “Don’t… Don’t let go.”

“I won’t.”

She heaves out a sigh, looking out the door into the hallway, “Okay.”

She closes her eyes, doing as Yerin says and imagines herself walking through the doorway, her foot taking a step forward as she does so with Yerin’s hand within hers. She imagines herself making it to the open door, and finally taking a step outside onto the cemented hallway, the doors of their neighbors to her left and right. And finally, she thinks in her mind of her swiveling around to find the door behind her, and her being outside of the room she’s been cooped in for the past years.

“You did it…”

Sinb’s eyes shoot open.

And just like how she visualized it, she stood before the door to their home, her feet planted securely on the ground of the hallway with Yerin shakily holding her hand but with a huge smile on her face.

“I’m… out?” she whispers, mouth agape at what was happening.

“You did it, Sinb.” Yerin’s voice shakes, clearly overwhelmed by what she just witnessed. Having seen Sinb almost everyday bidding her goodbye as she left for work but with a tinge of loneliness in her expression everytime she left– this feeling was close to witnessing a paralyzed person walk for the first time.

The emotions surging forth was more than enough to render Yerin into tears.

“Hey, hey, I should be the one crying here.” Sinb approaches her side immediately, “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry, I’m just…” Yerin sniffles, wiping away stray tears flowing out of her eyes, “I’m really so proud of you.”

Touched by the overwhelming amount of support that Yerin has for her, Sinb wraps her arms around the woman and brings her in for a hug, patting her head gently in an affectionate gesture.

“This happened because of you too unnie. You should be proud of yourself as well.”

Yerin just nods, leaning against her but refusing to lift her head as she was still busy wiping her tears. The ghost just chuckles, before tightening her hug, waiting patiently until Yerin calms down, and praying that none of their neighbors walk down the hallway because it would definitely be a weird sight if they were to see them. Well, just Yerin since they can’t see her.

When Yerin finally manages to regain her composure, they tried walking back and forth the room and into the hallway, and Sinb decided to take it up a notch and walk up and down the hallway while reporting to Yerin every now and then since the latter would question her every second if she was feeling anything strange.

The only feeling she felt was utmost exhilaration at the new discovery. The solution was so simple and yet it took her four years alongside Yerin’s help to do a simple task.

And now she can do more. The thought alone brought her unending excitement.

Sinb was about to go up the hallway one more time when she noticed Yerin unusually silent on the side. With a glance, she saw the woman looking like she was just watching her but the slightest drooping of her eyes were not invisible to her. Sinb gave herself a mental slap on the face for being so inconsiderate.

The woman traveled huge distances to get her answers, stayed up the entire time to plan their journey to the hospital and stayed with her as she got her fill of joy at having experienced being outside. Of course she’s tired.

“Yerin-unnie, let’s go sleep?” she jumps to her side, shaking the woman awake. It made Sinb feel guilty but decides it was better than delaying her from getting her well-deserved shut eye.

“Oh. You’re done? You sure you don’t want to go for another spin?”

“I can always do it some other time. It’s getting dark, so let’s call it a day.” Sinb gestures to the darkening surroundings.

“Alright, I’ll just go ready the bed–”

“I can handle that. You wash up and go to sleep.”

Their sleeping arrangement has always been the same, Yerin on the bed and Sinb on the foldable mattress and sometimes they would switch depending on the day of the week. For this day it was supposed to be Yerin’s turn on the floor but Sinb has no plans on letting the woman sleep there.

“But it’s my turn…?”

“I just feel like sleeping on the floor tonight unnie. Let’s just go. Come on.”

The half asleep woman was gently dragged back into the room, Sinb closing the door behind them silently. She helps Yerin wash up as the older woman starts to look too sleepy to move and when Sinb finally manages to tuck Yerin in, the woman immediately falls into deep slumber.

Instead of preparing for sleep just like she told her, the ghost just knelt beside the bed, taking her time to just stare at the sleeping woman’s serene expression at the same time relieved that she was finally getting her well-deserved rest. It would be nice if Yerin got more sleep, but unfortunately it is a work day the next day so she had no choice but to wake up early.

A small smile creeps up her own face and she leaves it be despite not knowing the reason behind the smile.

Brushing a stray hair off her face, she whispers, “Thank you, unnie. You worked hard today so sleep well…” she pauses for a bit before continuing, “Let me take care of you from now on.”

 

Yerin awoke to a nice smell. When she checked her clock, it was still a few minutes before she needed to get ready for work but she usually woke up earlier since she needed to make breakfast for her and Sinb.

So imagine her surprise to find her roommate in the kitchen setting up the table and placing a plate full of delicious looking food on the space for her.

“Oh, you’re up. Breakfast is ready.” Sinb greets her with a grin while Yerin just stares in bewilderment.

“…I need to wake up.” she mumbles, heading back inside the bedroom.

The ghost just rolls her eyes at the woman’s antics before dragging the woman back to the kitchen, “Stop being so dramatic and just eat.”

Sinb holds her shoulders, forces her down on the chair and hands her a pair of chopsticks.

“Is… Is there an occasion? Is it your birthday? Is it my birthday?”

“August is months from now.”

“Then?”

“It’s not my birthday.” she clarifies, “I don’t even remember when that is. It’s just breakfast unnie, not a cake. Now eat and get ready, you’re going to be late.”

“…Right.” Yerin clears , still not being able to get over the sudden royal treatment, “Huh. This feels nice. You’d make a great wife Sinb.”

“Ugh, no.”

“Why? You don’t want to marry me?”

“…Just eat your breakfast already.”

Yerin grins, thanking her for the food while watching Sinb go around before joining her, “I didn’t hear a no.”

“I am not cooking for you again.” the younger woman threatens while the latter only reciprocates with a wider smile, knowing she wasn’t serious. Still, she thanks Sinb for the effort and proceeds to dig in and go about preparing for the day.

It wasn’t long when she finished and just as she was about to head out the door, she turns to the ghost, “Do you want me to buy anything on the way? Or do you want anything for dinner?”

“Not really. I’m fine with whatever.”

“If you say so. There’s a new chicken place that opened recently so I might just buy take out.” she then puts on her shoes, “Alright, I’m going. I might also visit the hospital today so I’ll be home a little later than usual.”

Sinb nods in understanding, “Okay. Stay safe.”

“Will do, see you.”

And with that Yerin leaves the room, once more rendering the entire place silent at the lack of the older’s presence. It was always the same thing and there wasn’t any problem in being alone, but nowadays it’s been quite lonely whenever she just paces around the room by herself.

It’s funny because Sinb would have reveled in this kind of atmosphere months ago.

Normally, she would also decide to laze around or sleep more, but for that day she had a few things in agenda. The first being to clean the place.

Despite being roommates, Yerin took on most of the chores and always insisted that she can do them herself. Despite wanting to help her out, the older woman practically hoarded the cleaning supplies and thus is unable to do any cleaning whenever she was out. But this time, Sinb was prepared.

Without another thought, she grabs the supplies hidden underneath Yerin’s bed and drags them out

“Okay.” she nods her head resolutely with her hands on her hips and looking ready to tackle the final boss of a dungeon, “Let’s get cleaning.”

 

The week passed by and before they knew it, it was once more a weekend. The both of them had woken up early in anticipation for this day though Sinb would have preferred for her roommate to sleep in and get some more rest, but apparently she was too excited to stay in bed.

The thought sends a warm shiver through her system.

After breakfast, Yerin dons a cute outfit and when Sinb asks she replies that it was a “rehearsal for when they go on a real date” that left Sinb a stuttering mess as she trails behind the woman while they review the path to the hospital. They were still inside their home, with Yerin pacing around and making sure she got everything right and when she was finally satisfied, she eagerly turned to Sinb.

“This is the moment of truth.” Yerin pumps a fist and her roommate couldn’t determine whether she was encouraging her or herself, perhaps both, “Are you ready to go?”

Sinb smiles, following Yerin out of the room. She never seems to get over how easy it was now to go through the doorway as compared to just weeks ago.

This was all because of Yerin.

“Alright Sinb, keep your eyes on the path and don’t stay away from my sight. Don’t get distracted by people and remember all the landmarks and–”

“Yerin-unnie.” Sinb cuts her off when she noticed she was babbling and was borderline panicking, “I’ll be okay.”

Yerin sighs, “Sorry, I just don’t want to mess this up… I don’t know what’ll happen to you if something goes wrong and I’m not willing to take that risk.”

Sinb smiles, holding her shoulders and gently squeezing them in comfort, “I just need to visualize walking the path, right? And I can go to places I can see. Everything will work out fine as long as we do this together.”

The older woman huffs out a breath before nodding, “You’re right.”

“You’re so weird sometimes, I’m supposed to be the nervous one.”

“I take offense to you calling me weird.” Yerin deadpans, “Anyway, we won’t achieve anything just standing here. Let’s go?”

“Lead the way.”

The plan for the day was to get as far as the park. By foot the hospital was quite a distance away, around 20 minutes by car which would equate to nearly two hours of walking. Since they first needed to familiarize Sinb with the path, the park was their first stop which was supposedly 20 minutes on foot. Sinb was actually quite surprised that Yerin didn’t push farther than that.

Just as Sinb said, being able to visualize herself walking the path as well as being able to see where they were going allowed her to be able to go to places without any difficulty. In fact, it almost felt like they were just out on a stroll.

The path to the park was easy enough that Sinb was confident she could get there the second time without any guide.

And before she knew it, they had already and it was just an hour after breakfast.

“Are you sure we won’t be going any further than this?” Sinb asks her as they take a quick break on one of the vacant benches.

“The goal for today was get you accustomed to the outside.” Yerin tells her, “But it’s like you’re used to it.”

“Huh. Now that you mention it…”

Sinb looks around her. The park was fairly small, and since it was still early there were only a few people loitering about. Tall trees, green grass, animals and pets scampering about, the sound of chirping birds as well as idle chatter from people making their way to her ears. The sun wasn’t too strong on their skin and the wind felt nice.

All of this was supposedly a new experience for her, someone who hasn’t been out for four years and devoid of memories from her past, and yet everything was so strangely familiar that it was like second nature to her to be surrounded by this environment.

“…Are your memories coming back?” Yerin asks with uncertainty. She wasn’t sure whether it was okay to ask, so she was being careful.

Her companion shakes her head, “Nothing comes to mind… Everything just feels familiar. Like I’m frequently here and I already know what to expect.”

“I guess you came here a lot when you were awake.”

“Maybe.”

They both fall silent, just looking at a distance and observing the scenery before them. The silence was far from awkward and it was just like how they were at home, enjoying the peace in the presence of the other. They were almost sure that they wouldn’t appreciate it as much as when they were by themselves.

“Running on the grass.” Sinb suddenly says, causing the woman to turn to her.

“I remember the feeling of the grass under my feet…” she mumbles, already standing up and rushing forward. For a ghost, all her clothes stayed intact and she can will any article of clothing anytime she wants and the sight before Yerin manages to take her breath away.

With the sunlight illuminating her figure as she ran to the middle of the park, the breeze sending her hair fluttering about her and a wide smile on her lips as she spreads her arms and dances around– just the sight of Sinb actually enjoying what freedom feels like, Yerin couldn’t find a better accomplishment.

All of her planning had led to this moment and she couldn’t feel any prouder of what she’s done.

That, and Sinb just looks ethereal when she’s happy and the older woman vows to herself to keep the smile on that face for as long as she can.

The joy on the girl’s face was everything.

“Unnie! Come on!” she calls for her cheerfully and Yerin was more than willing to acquiesce to her request, the two frolicking around and chasing each other around the park, giggles turning into full blown laughter and not even minding the tiredness when the both of them finally collapsed on the grass. Lungs heaving as they try to catch their breaths, their gazes meet and a round of laughter erupts once more, with Yerin sitting up and looking down at the younger woman.

Sinb couldn’t help but swallow audibly at the sight of her roommate with the sunlight forming a small halo around her head while she looked up at her.

Just where has she been all her life?

Or maybe her ‘not life’, whichever works.

“Feeling okay?” Yerin asks, chest still heaving.

“…Never been better, but now I’m craving for something sweet.”

“That’s understandable. I envy how you don’t feel thirsty at all.” Yerin pouts, “Wait here, I’ll go buy us something.”

“Come back quickly.” she waves as Yerin pats off the grass stuck on her dress and walks away with a wave of her own. Sinb doesn’t keep her out of sight, like every single movement was worth something watching. And no matter how normal everything in her actions seemed, she somehow couldn’t get enough of it all.

It was around a minute of staring at the woman who was currently waiting for her turn at the vending machine when she noticed the murmurs of some people passing by where she sat.

“Did you see that?”

“I did. Looks like she didn’t drink her medicine…”

“Goodness, where are her guardians? They should be keeping an eye on her. Who knows if she’ll hurt anyone?”

Sinb was curious what they were talking about– or rather who it was they were referring to. From what she heard, it looks like they saw someone dangerous but they’ve been here for a while and she hasn’t seen a single person that looks that way.

“A shame too. She looks very beautiful.”

“I guess you really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

She catches them staring and takes the opportunity to follow their line of sight to figure out who they were referring to since she was curious, but all she got is confusion when they saw them staring in Yerin’s general direction.

Said woman was already making her way back with two cans of soda in her hands.

Sinb once more stares back at the two people talking, they can’t be referring to Yerin, can they?

But it seems that she was indeed the topic of their conversation as they muttered something along the lines of getting out of there as her companion approaches and watches as they practically turn tail and run when Yerin was close enough.

What in the world was wrong with them? Yerin? Dangerous? What part of her screamed that way when she looked so ethereal walking towards her, it looked more like the grass that she’s walking on would sprout trees and butterflies along her path.

“Sinb, you okay?”

The ghost wordlessly accepts the drink, still in thought.

“Hm? Yeah, I guess, just tired.” she responds, deciding not to bother Yerin with what she witnessed.

“That’s a first. You never get tired but I guess it’s a side effect of being outside for so long when you’ve been cooped up in the room your whole life.”

Sinb just nods, guzzling down the drink and wincing at the feel of the fizz down .

“Should we head back?” she suddenly proposes catching Yerin by surprise.

“You sure? You don’t want to explore more?”

“I’m sure.” Sinb replies despite wanting to stay outside a bit more, but she was more concerned with the people going around and branding Yerin as dangerous for no reason and surmised that it was better that they go back just in case they do something to her, “Let’s go.”

“Is something wrong? You’re looking kind of antsy.”

“I’m fine. I just feel like heading back.”

Yerin doubts it was the real reason but decides to comply since she was never sure what the side effects of staying outside for too long can be for Sinb. The last thing she wants is for something to go wrong and her not knowing what to do if it happens.

They passed by the two women gossiping and it irked Sinb how they didn’t even bother hiding the wary looks they were throwing her companion. It made her almost want to throw her already emptied drink at them. Almost. She already handed it to Yerin so she can throw it in the nearby trash bin.

Regardless, the incident with the two gossipers faded into the background during the walk back, with Sinb slightly amazed how fast they got back home.

“It was that near?” Sinb couldn’t help but remark as they walked down the hallway to their room.

“They say that the trip feels longer if you don’t know where you’re going.” Yerin says, “Because you don’t know if you’re already near your destination or still far but since you now know the way, it’s easy to realize it when the surroundings are familiar.”

“I guess that makes sense.” the ghost nods in understanding, amazed at the information she just learned.

Nearing their room, they notice a figure of a man coming their way from the opposite direction. He held a plastic bag in his hand, with the familiar sound of soju bottles clinking within it every time he takes a step.

He seemed to have caught bits of their conversation as he started laughing when he was close enough.

For the record, Yerin never had a chance to interact with any of her neighbors since she was outside most of the time and so she couldn’t find any reason for the person to be laughing at her or be happy to see her.

“Listen to you talking to yourself. You’re the ghost girl, right?” he says.

“Excuse me?” Yerin stares, Sinb doing the same.

“I don’t believe it one bit. That old lady probably just keeps saying there’s a ghost in that room of yours to spook the residents into leaving and her keeping their downpayment.” he goes into a rant, completely ignoring her, “And then you come along saying it’s real because you just want the cheap rent right? Nice job keeping up the act. I would learn from you, but I don’t want to be branded as crazy.”

Yerin couldn’t even find a retort at how ridiculous everything was. Just one second ago she was enjoying a talk with Sinb and the next second they have this man hurling offensive words when she didn’t even say anything to him.

“You take that back right now…”

Looking to her side, Yerin freezes at the sight of Sinb glaring at the man so intensely she was sure that if looks could kill, he’d be finding himself in the morgue the next second.

On the outside, she looked indifferent, but months of living with her already taught the older woman just what she was like when angered and at that moment, she looked beyond furious.

Yerin places a hand on her shoulder, “Sinb–”

“Look at you talking to yourself again! You should do stand up comedy you know?” he shakes his head in dismay before making his way past them towards his own room, “Go to a hospital, you obviously need help. Drink your medicine or something–”

He wasn’t able to finish the rest of his statement when he topples forward, Yerin too late to react seeing Sinb plant a foot on his back and kick him with all the strength she can muster. The plastic bag full of bottles crashes onto the floor, a loud shattering sound echoing throughout the empty hallway.

Yerin was just in time to pull Sinb back before she dealt another blow.

“You take that back! Yerin-unnie isn’t sick!”

The man was on his feet immediately, face red at what just happened. Since his back was turned, he wasn’t able to see that Yerin did nothing and thought that she was the one who pushed him. Bottles of soju forgotten, he stomps over to where Yerin stood and the woman took that as a sign to start running.

Thankfully, they were just right beside their room and the door was already unlocked. After managing to drag Sinb inside, she slammed the door in the man’s face and locked it, making sure the deadbolt was in place. The person refused to be deterred and pounded his fist on the door, demanding Yerin to come out and other gibberish that she didn’t bother paying attention to as she hurriedly phoned the landlady to ask for help.

All the while Sinb just helplessly watched her as she dialed on the phone with shaking hands, face pale in fear and couldn’t help but dread the fact that she was the cause of her current state. It was the very first time Yerin looked scared, it couldn’t even compare to when she found out there was a ghost in her room. This was genuine fear– for herself, for her safety, for her life and Sinb absolutely detests herself for making it happen.

“Yerin-unnie…”

“Please– Please send help.” Yerin’s voice cracks as she finishes explaining the situation and thankfully the landlady was quick to phone the police who were already on their way.

The receiver clatters against the table as Yerin tries to place the phone back properly in its place, but her hand was shaking so badly it was becoming more impossible to accomplish the more she listens to the incessant pounding of her neighbor on her door. Curling in on herself, she gives up in putting the receiver back and just covers her ears to drown out the sound as she wills herself to calm down.

She didn’t even realize her companion had made her way to her side.

She jerks when a pair of arms wrap around her figure from behind. An embrace that felt cold to the touch but made her chest feel warm when she realized who it was.

“I’m sorry…” Sinb says, muffled as she buries her face in the woman’s shoulder. Her tone was laced with guilt despite Yerin not blaming her for anything.

Yerin slowly finds herself calming down, feeling Sinb embrace her tighter.

“I’m sorry.” she says again, her voice sounding like she was holding back tears.

“It’s not your fault Sinb-ah.”

“It is. If only I didn’t lash out–”

“It’s okay.”

“But you’re not– you’re not okay.” she breathes in, refusing to raise her head, “I caused this. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”

“Help is on the way and I’m okay. He’s not a big guy and the door is sturdy. He won’t be able to do anything.” Yerin continues to assure the woman as if she’s the one who was panicking earlier and not her.

Sinb sighs, her arms tightening around the woman protectively, “If he does anything to you…” she didn’t bother saying the rest and Yerin was more than sure she can figure what finished the sentence.

It also warmed her heart how concerned Sinb was, not to mention the incident outside. It was supposed to be Yerin that should have been offended by what the man said but the younger was the one who lost her temper first. And though it wasn’t the smartest move, it showed how much she cared for her.

“If only…”

Yerin turns her head slightly upon hearing her roommate mumbling to herself.

“If only he could see me, this would never have happened.”

Sinb came to a realization once she heard what the man said. Everything from the park to the way back made sense, and she feels like smacking herself in the head for forgetting such a thing in the first place.

She’s a ghost.

No wonder people were giving Yerin weird looks in the park. No wonder they thought she was crazy. No wonder they thought that she was dangerous and needed to be taken to the hospital– all because Sinb forgot that no one else could see her. To the normal person’s perspective, Yerin must have been talking to herself, laughing by herself, running around the grass and chasing something imaginary by herself.

How could she have forgotten such a vital thing?

And yet, she couldn’t help but blame Yerin for making her feel so alive… and normal.

All because Yerin treated her like any other human being, she forgot what years of being a ghost felt like.

“If only I was back in my body, people wouldn’t be treating you like this.” she mumbles angrily, at herself for causing this mess and for the people who judged Yerin without bothering to hide it. Do people nowadays not know respect?

Yerin didn’t say anything, saddened by her roommate's current state. She couldn’t imagine it, but it must be difficult for her right now.

“We’ll get you back.” she just says, earning a nod from the woman, still refusing to detach herself from the embrace.

It wasn’t long until the pounding finally stopped, a bunch of noise from outside alerting them of a scuffle going on that was followed by three short raps on the door along with a voice saying that they were the police.

Sinb took a peek through the keyhole to make sure before telling Yerin that they were telling the truth and that the landlady was with them.

They then listened to Yerin’s story while one officer kept the man from causing trouble. Sinb stood by her side, keeping her separated from the man as an added insurance. After gathering statements and checking the security camera footage, the police came to the conclusion that Yerin was quite a distance away when the man fell, clearing her name and blaming the entire thing from the man tripping on his own feet. It doesn’t excuse the act of violence and danger he posed to Yerin and so he was brought to the police station in cuffs.

They had assured her that she won’t be seeing the man anytime soon.

“Most of the residents here don’t believe in your friend.” the landlady told her after clearing the area of nosy neighbors after they gathered around curiously. They stood just outside her room, Sinb refusing to leave her side, “You’ll have to excuse their behavior around you.”

“It’s understandable. People don’t believe what they don’t see after all. Though I sometimes forget she’s a ghost every once in a while.” she laughs it off, her roommate clutching her hand, still feeling guilty.

“Is she here?” the landlady looks around, referring to Sinb.

“Right beside me. She’s kind of sorry the whole thing happened, I hope we didn’t cause you too much trouble.” she answers with an apologetic look. Trouble within the building that she was managing was bound to stir up some rumors that can affect its reputation. She’d feel bad if the residents leave because of them.

“Oh, don’t be. He’s always been a troublemaker and if you ask me we’ve always wanted to be rid of him. If anything your friend is a blessing in disguise.” she laughs a little, “Rest assured, he won’t be coming back here anymore. Is your friend allowed to go outside?”

“Yes. Thank you for all the help.” she bows, Sinb doing the same even if the lady couldn’t see her.

“That’s good to hear.” she nods in approval, “I’ll be going first to finish up some things. You two go and rest, I’m sure it’s been a tiring day.”

“We’ll do just that. Thank you again.”

They wait until the landlady walks away and boards the lift before heading inside the room, Sinb continues to latch onto her and refuses to let go even as she was preparing dinner for them.

Yerin notices how she’s been quiet the entire time, slightly downcast most likely from what just happened. She doesn’t exactly know what’s going through her mind but decides to leave her be, thinking that she was just shaken about everything as she was.

Somehow managing to finish making dinner with one hand, they gather around the table to eat. Normally, they would sit opposite each other but Sinb chooses to position herself beside her.

Yerin doesn’t mind.

“Will you be okay to go out tomorrow?”

She nods and they resume eating in silence. She figures her roommate will talk when she’s ready and doesn’t push it.

It took around 30 minutes after they ate with Sinb offering to wash the dishes when Yerin finally decides to ask.

“…What’s on your mind Bi?”

Sinb pauses in the middle of wiping the dishes dry and turns to her, “I caused you trouble today…” she begins to speak.

“But it didn’t turn out worse, right?” she answers, “And like I said, it’s not your fault. It was his for being rude and violent.”

“That’s true but… I can’t help but think that I’ve been causing you trouble all this time.” Sinb mumbles, abandoning her chore and just wringing the cloth in her hands as she continues, “All I do is laze around in the room while you do almost all the chores, work just to provide food and even go as far as investigating what happened to me and using your weekends just to help me back. I’ve– I’ve done nothing in return for all of this. And now this.” she breathes in deep, mood somber, “What did I ever do to deserve your friendship when I’m always on the receiving end?”

Sinb leans against the kitchen counter, unaware of how Yerin takes a few steps closer towards her. So the surprise when she feels arms wrap around her figure was not unexpected.

“Unnie?”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something, you know?” Yerin muses, patting her head fondly. Normally Sinb would swat her away but she was too comfortable to pull away from the embrace.

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t want to be your friend because I wanted something from you. I like doing things for people because helping them makes me happy, and that applies to you as well all the more because of circumstances.” she smiles, resting her chin on the woman’s shoulder, “Your companionship is more than enough and it’s only because you’re here that living in this room became tolerable. I’m not used to being alone, you know, especially since I’m always haunted by ghosts so the fact that you’re here with me is way more than enough.”

“But–”

“And I don’t trust you with the chores anyway.”

“Hey!”

Yerin chuckles, Sinb slightly amazed at how the sound reverberates in her chest due to their close proximity. It was a tingly sensation, one that didn’t feel uncomfortable and made her want to experience it all the more. Her words of indignation die in and just appreciates the laughter that spreads from Yerin to herself like a contagious disease.

“Anyway, you did it for me, right? I owe you for that.”

“W-Well he was taking it too far… I personally think he deserves to be pushed down the stairs.”

“…Are you sure you’re not an evil spirit?”

Sinb just slaps her shoulder, earning a laugh from the older woman.

“Well, if you want to make it up to me somehow since it doesn’t look like my words did a good job in convincing you, you can do something for me.”

Finally pulling away, her roommate narrows her eyes suspiciously at the wide smile on Yerin’s face. An expression that she knows means she’s up to no good.

That night, Yerin hums to herself with a wide smile on her face as she fixes the bed, getting ready to sleep. Sinb stands by the bedside just watching her and awaiting further instructions.

When Yerin finally slips under the blankets and is lifting up the other end, beckoning for the younger woman to join her, Sinb moves, taking up the space beside her and lets Yerin wrap her arms around her waist while resting her head on the crook of her neck.

“…Are you sure this is all you want?” the ghost asks.

“I normally couldn’t sleep without hugging something, so you’ll do.” Yerin replies, stifling a yawn, “Goodnight Bi.”

“Night.” she mumbles back, raising her arm slightly, having the urge to her head to lull her to sleep but decides against it since she might wake up the woman. Letting it drop back on the mattress, she closes her eyes and feels herself dozing off immediately at the warmth and comfort of her roommate.

 

The following weeks went like a blur for the two as they went with the same pattern: Yerin working on the weekdays and heading out during weekends. The hospital was actually a couple of hours by foot, as she refused to use public transportation due to the risks.

After all, the goal was to get Sinb there by getting her familiar with the path because Sinb needed to know where she was, thus going on anything that makes the surroundings look like a blur, aka transportation, is a big no no.

Yerin had planned it in a way that the whole conquest would take them two months at most. Her priority was, of course, to get Sinb acclimated to the outside and have her enjoy the surroundings. But a certain ghost decided to change that schedule up a bit and now they have already reached their destination on the first month.

“The landlady said it wasn’t a big hospital but it has seven floors like this?” Sinb says incredulously, staring up at the structure in disbelief.

Yes, her roommate decided to speed up their timeline.

When she realized that the hospital could be reached in three hours, Sinb decided to go farther than their daily checkpoints, telling Yerin that she can easily memorize the path now. That was proven true when she had reached the hospital with no problems.

But Yerin wasn’t quite happy since it defeated the purpose.

Still, she had to prioritize what Sinb wanted. It made sense that she would want to be back to her body as soon as she can.

“Well. We’re here now, so let’s go?” Sinb tells her eagerly while Yerin stares back blankly.

Like the original plan, the walk to the hospital was three hours at most and so anyone who doesn’t exercise regularly would find the trip tiring. They also have to take into consideration the trip back, so that would total to almost six hours of walking and Yerin wasn’t the athletic type.

“Y-You okay, Yerin-unnie?” she asks when she sees the woman’s state.

“Review the entire path for me?” Yerin says instead, taking a seat on a nearby bench and stretching her legs while rolling her feet which were sore from all the walking they did. It was one of the times where she feels jealous of Sinb’s incapability to get tired.

The ghost takes a seat beside her, reciting the whole journey, complete with landmarks and directions, with her eyes closed as if she was walking through it all over again.

Once Yerin confirms that she has the entire thing engraved in her brain, she nods in approval and stands up, Sinb mirroring her eagerly.

“It’s already lunchtime. Should we go eat first before heading in?” she asked her roommate who seemed to hesitate for a bit.

“Oh, uh, I’m not hungry. But you can go and eat. I’ll just wait for you here.”

The older woman raises a brow at her statement, finding it weird for Sinb to refuse food. But then again, she has been acting weirdly whenever they went outside. She didn’t talk as much, didn’t interact as much and even ignored her at one point. It got to the point where they just walked in silence with Sinb just focused on the path ahead of her.

When Yerin would ask her about it, all she got was that she just wanted to get back to her body as fast as possible and that she can just enjoy everything when she’s human. She decided to drop it after that, thinking it made sense, but right now it felt like there was something more to her actions than what she lets on.

Frowning, she sits back down on the bench and folds her arms across her chest, staring at her roommate sternly, “Sit down.”

Sinb follows, not used to seeing Yerin acting this way and she certainly didn’t want to know what would happen if she didn’t do what she says.

“We need to talk.” she tells her, “What’s really going on with you Sinb? Why are you in such a hurry? You don’t even want to talk to me unless we’re back at home.”

“That’s…”

“Did I offend you or anger you in any way?”

“No! Of course not, it's just…” she heaves out a sigh, “I just want to be human as soon as I can.”

“But it’s not all there is to it.” Yerin mumbles, unconvinced.

“I just thought if I become human again, they would stop talking behind your back whenever we go out.” Sinb finally admits. The incident has never left her mind even once and she knew that as long as she keeps on interacting with the woman where people can see her, they will continue judging her without bothering to know the whole story.

She feels that it’s unfair for Yerin to receive such treatment when she’s done nothing to deserve it. She can even go on a stretch and declare her to be the kindest person she’s met.

“I already told you it isn’t your fault.”

“I know that unnie, but I hate it, so I want to do something about it. If getting back to my body is the only way for them to stop, so be it.” Sinb faces Yerin properly, determination set in her features, “I’m tired of them treating you this way, so I’m going to be human again and show them that you aren’t imagining things and that I was really with you the whole time.”

“I think that’s actually quite difficult to achieve. They would believe you more if you threw something at them as a ghost.” Yerin laughs, but her expression softens after finally hearing the real reason from the woman’s mouth. In the end, it was all about her well-being. It sometimes surprises her how far they’ve come. During the first time, one would have to fight tooth and nail just to have Sinb admit she’s concerned for anything but now she’s like this cat that slinks by your side when craving your attention. Though still shy about it, but a little more honest than before.

“Let’s just go grab a few sandwiches for lunch then.” Yerin jumps to her feet, mood visibly lifting after their talk. Communication is key, after all, and it will never fail to solve problems if both parties just take the effort to listen and be honest with themselves, “Then we can go look for a secluded place to eat. Is that alright with you?”

“Can’t we just go ahead to the hospital? It’s right there.”

Yerin stares tiredly, “I don’t know if you realize this, but your room is on the 6th floor and we can’t ride the elevator there because the hallways all look the same.”

“…Wait, we’re climbing the stairs then?”

“Why do you think we never use the lift whenever we head out?” she grumbles, slightly miffed at Sinb never realizing it, “So before we start mountain climbing, I need energy and that means food. Now come on you. There’s a good sandwich stall nearby, I think I also saw an ahjumma selling gimbap–”

“Oh, can we have some cola for drinks?”

“Huh, I’m toning it down on the soda for a while… Maybe I’ll get one for you and just water for me.”

“You need something sweet for more energy.”

“That’s just a scam they say on the television…”

 

After eating their fill, the two finally make their way inside the hospital, the familiar face of Nurse Joy greeting her as soon as she enters.

They exchanged greetings, with Joy teasing her how she was acting like a girlfriend with how frequent she visits. That left Yerin stuttering a reply before the nurse just waves her off towards the elevators with a laugh. Though the two make their way to stairs instead.

“…Women can have girlfriends?” Sinb questions, still unaware of the outside world.

Yerin was slightly surprised but then remembers how Sinb practically woke up with no memories and only knows what is shown in the television. With their country being the way it is, any topic of controversy is scarce.

“Of course. I don’t think gender is a reason to keep yourself from liking the person you have feelings for.”

“And people don’t think it’s weird?”

“They do, unfortunately. Everyone has varying opinions on it.”

“And what do you think about it?”

Yerin raises a brow at the sudden interest but answers her anyway, “It’s normal.”

“Girls liking girls?”

“Boys liking boys, girls liking boys and vice versa, it’s all the same, it’s all love. Some people are just close-minded about it.”

“Huh… they sound like they’re no fun.” Sinb hums.

Yerin couldn’t help but laugh at the honest statement, “You’re right about that.”

“And you unnie? Do you like girls?”

The older woman almost misses a step on the stairs at the sudden question, not knowing how to answer as it has always been a sensitive topic for her. Heck, it was the very reason why she ran away from home in the first place.

But she knew Sinb wouldn’t judge. Not like the way they did when she finally admitted the truth to them.

“Yeah. I guess you can say that.” she mumbles hesitantly, looking to her side and waiting nervously for the younger’s reaction.

“Huh. No wonder you’re fun to be with then.” Sinb grins, “You’re one of the fun people.”

She exhales a breath that she unknowingly held in and lets a wide smile bloom on her face.

The feeling of being accepted really was unparalleled in this world of judgemental people.

Before they knew it, they were already on the fifth floor with Yerin not even realizing that she climbed all those flights of stairs with how much fun she was having in Sinb’s company.

Not to mention that the topic of their conversation has somehow stirred something within the woman, and already knew where this was going.

Her thoughts bring her back to Joy’s statement from earlier.

They might not be girlfriends… but she would definitely want to be one.

She didn’t even know when she first started realizing that the feelings she held for her roommate had bloomed and progressed into something more. Not that she could blame Sinb– she was just that attractive, all the more when she’s learned more about her all these months that she’s stayed with the woman.

Her memory might be incomplete, but her personality must have come from somewhere and she can’t imagine Sinb to act any differently to how she is now.

They reached the sixth floor after 20 minutes of walking. Yerin thought there wasn’t much to remember since the only thing Sinb needed to see were the signs indicating what floor they were on. But she wonders whether that all mattered right now since they were already there and it was almost the moment of truth.

They take a quick break at the top of the stairs after that trek before Yerin begins to lead her to her room, Sinb following obediently. There was an obvious hint of nervousness in her actions with the way that she fell silent in contrast to just a few minutes ago and the tension seemed to increase when they finally stopped in front of her door and Yerin took a moment to face Sinb to ask her if she was okay.

What she received was a hesitant nod.

“Hey.” Yerin gathers her hands in hers, rubbing them as a gesture of comfort, “I’m here. You’ll be fine.”

Her roommate continues to hesitate but after a look of encouragement from the older woman and a smile assuring her that everything will be alright, she finally nods and takes her place beside Yerin as she finally opens the door to her room. She unconsciously reaches out and clasps Yerin’s hand in hers when the door finally swings open and the first thing that enters her vision was the sight of the white walls and the white sheets of the bed placed on one side of the room.

And finally, there she was. As a ghost she never really did know what she looked like as she produced no reflection in the mirror whatsoever. That was understandable as light is supposed to be reflecting off of something to create an image but it doesn’t apply to her and now that she has a good look of herself she can’t help but remark–

“Wow, I look like crap.” she huffs at her current state.

“I want to say you’re not being nice, but that’s you.” Yerin shrugs.

“I look like I’m ready to snap in half if you so much as poke me.” Sinb grumbles, taking a seat while Yerin closes the door behind them.

“You know… that’s actually one of the reasons why I wanted to take it slow with our trip here.” the older woman takes a spare seat and places it beside her as they watch Sinb’s unconscious figure breathing through the machine connected to it, “If you were to return to your body, in your current state it will be a while before you completely recover and you’ll be deprived of the outside for a while.”

“…Is that why you wanted to enjoy the outdoors rather than hurry here?”

“Sort of.”

Sinb thinks back on all the plans that Yerin had for them, all the trips they would make. The fun they had at the park was just the tip of the iceberg, but because of her eagerness, all those plans have been dashed.

“Sorry…”

“Hey, you don’t need to apologize. I wanted to have a lot of fun with you, but it is your life after all. We do what you want and that’s brought us here.” Yerin places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it gently to tell her she isn’t angered about the turn of events in any way, “I guess you’ll just have to make it up by recovering quickly.”

“…When that happens it’ll be my turn to treat you to food.”

Yerin laughs, “I’ll be looking forward to that.”

Sinb turns to her, suddenly raising her hand and sticking out her pinky finger. Yerin just stares, knowing what it is but not what it was for.

“It’s something I saw on TV once.” the younger explains, obviously flustered but there was a hint of regret in the back of her head if she didn’t do this, “You do this when you make promises right? So that you have no choice but to fulfill them.”

Yerin keeps the smile on her face from growing any wider because of how cute Sinb was acting and she was having a hard time controlling herself from just glomping the woman in an embrace. She tentatively raises her own hand and locks Sinb’s pinky in her own.

Knuckles pushing against each other, their thumbs sealing the pact.

“Pinky promise.” Yerin whispers.

They revel in the atmosphere for about a minute, unknowingly indulging themselves in the comfort of each other’s company, Sinb finally gets up from her seat and approaches the bed with hesitant steps.

“So…” Sinb breathes out silently, “I just imagine myself being her, right?”

“That’s the plan.”

“…Okay. Here goes then.” Sinb reaches out to touch the unconscious body, expecting for her to be able to grasp her hand since she’s been able to do so for the past years. To her surprise, it didn’t and passed through her skin almost effortlessly, her incorporeal hand melding with her human self’s like it was made to do that.

Eyes wide, she can clearly feel the warmth and the feeling of the blood pumping through the veins. She can already feel herself being this person without even thinking about it. It was almost like her body was already welcoming her and had been awaiting her return.

Yerin watches this all unfold before her, how Sinb’s figure passes through and easily melds with her body. How she was practically being absorbed into it and a slight fear gripped her heart, watching Sinb’s incorporeal form disappearing slowly. She pushes down the urge to reach out, to tell her not to go because this was what Sinb has always wanted and she couldn’t find it in herself to be selfish and just tell her to stay the way she is.

It was all for her own good. It’s better for her to experience being alive.

“Unnie–”

Her tone was laced with fear, just like she was and the urge came back, stronger, to just pull her out and keep her in her arms.

“You promised.” Yerin can only say, her nails digging into her palms as she used all her willpower to keep herself from moving, “I’ll wait for you.”

That seemed to be the only thing Sinb needed to hear as she stopped her small struggle, bracing herself and finally letting herself be absorbed completely. The whole process only took less than a couple of minutes, but for her, it was an eternity and an endless struggle within herself.

Breathing out a sigh, she takes in the silence of the room. The fact that she was alone finally sinking in, and only then does she realize that she wasn’t even sure what to do from here on.

She didn’t really know what to expect, Yuju didn’t either so there was no one she could turn to for answers, so all she can do was take a seat and wait, and hope, and pray, that everything went well.

Her mind was completely blank, just staring at Sinb’s unconscious figure and half-expecting for her to move and show any sign of waking up, because honestly speaking, that was what she was expecting. But after hours of waiting, Sinb showed no sign of moving and minute by minute, Yerin was slowly losing to the fear that something might have gone wrong.

Still, she waited with hope that she only needed to be patient to see results.

Yerin didn’t even realize how long she’s sat there, so when the nurse finally came to inform her that visiting hours were over, she looked up at the clock and noticed the time.

…It was too long.

Sinb was taking too long.