A/N: I'm so so sorry for the late update. I'm nearing the end of the quarter and have to focus on this super important paper and my math grade OTL However I wanted to get this chapter out so I didn't leave you all hanging for too long. 

Thank you for being so patient~ And apologies for any mistakes that I missed while editing. If you see something that doensn't make sense always feel free to let me know and I can either explain it or fix it :D 

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Saem sat awkwardly at her low table. She watched Jackson stir whatever soup he was making. When she led him into the apartment he took one look around and then set towards the kitchen without a word. Watching him, Saem couldn't help but feel awkward. She wouldn't say she was completely sprung on him, sure he was good looking, but everyone knew Jackson came from a pretty wealthy family. And here he was in Saem's barely functioning apartment. He had taken off his uniform jacket and hung it on the coat rack near the door before rolling up his shirt sleeves and chopping whatever vegetables she had in her fridge.

Speaking of her fridge, when Jackson opened it, he took one look, sent her a frosty glare that screamed 'how can this be all you have', and then pulled out the carrots and celery. Now he had a pot of broth boiling on the stove, with some leftover chicken and was dumping in the celery. Chubbi sauntered over to Saem and settled on her owner's lap, purring happily when she was pet. 

Saem pointed to the top of the microwave where she had two bowls. One of fruit and one of other veggies. "There might be potatoes in one of those bowls."

Jackson looked up and automatically started digging around before finding two potatoes. He sent her another frosty glare. "For someone who works at a grocery store you have like no food."

"I was supposed to shop after work..."

Jackson let out an exasperated sigh and quickly finished up the soup before pouring some in a bowl and grabbing a spoon. Carrying the soup he made his way over to the table and set the bowl down before sitting across from Saem. When the bowl was situated, he handed her the spoon and she took in gratefully. 

"So it's not what I originally had in mind, but it'll do for the amount of supplies I had." He quirked his brow with a pointed look at her when she didn't move to take a spoonful.

Saem smiled sheepishly and took a sip of the broth. When she swallowed the spoonful, her face automatically lit up. "Mm! This is good!"

Jackson shrugged watching her with slight amusement in his eyes as he leaned back to rest on his hands. "It's nothing special. My mom taught me a few recipes before I came to Korea. Soup is easy."

Saem shook her head in disagreement, she couldn't cook soup to save her life, but didn't speak as she continued to eat. She caught Jackson looking around her apartment again in interest. Feeling self conscious about it she asked him a question.

"You're from Hong Kong, right?"

"Yep," he replied looking back at her. "My mom and dad work out of the country a lot so I came here to live with family friends and study abroad. It was supposed to only be for middle school but I liked it here a lot and made a lot of friends so I decided to stay until I finished high school. I go back after I graduate."

Saem nodded. "You must be happy then, to go home?"

"Yeah but I'll miss Korea when I'm gone." He had a sudden wistful look on his face as he stared down at the table in thought. With a sigh and slight shake of his head he looked up and found her watching him. Giving her a grin, Saem looked back down at her soup and started to sip the broth again. Jackson let out a soft chuckle before looking at the clock on Saem's wall. He stretched out his neck before standing up. "I should probably get going. I said I'd leave after making you soup so..."

"Ah, yes." Saem also stood up, after moving Chubbi off her lap. As Jackson grabbed his bag and jacket, Saem opened the door for him. It was darker now and colder outside. Slipping on his coat, Jackson shouldered his bag and then stepped out the door.

"See you tomorrow then," he said politely.

Saem nodded and bowed before watching him hop down the steps and out of the gate. Before completely disappearing around the bend, he spun around and stopped to point straight at her. Saem stiffened slightly, her cheeks warming, and gave him an expectant look.

"You better eat all that soup," he said with a stern look.

Saem nodded once and then blinked when Jackson broke into a big grin. She returned the smile and his wave as he spun back around and stepped around the bend. When he was out of sight she shut the door. Looking at Chubbi, who was cleaning her paws on the bed, Saem sighed. "Chubbi, don't let me fall for that guy okay?"

Her cat only paused in her grooming to look up at her and meow before setting back to the task.

• • •

When Saem got to school the next day she hurried through the front courtyard wanting to avoid any attention from a certain boy. But honestly she didn't know what she was expecting, they only worked together and he only walked her home because he was asked to. That didn't obligate him to talk to her at school or even be aware of her other than at work. 

In the classroom, there were only a few students in the room since the bell wouldn't ring for a few more minutes. Youngjae was there at his seat already. When Saem sat down he looked over at her and smiled slightly. She returned the gesture and motioned to the book he was reading. It looked like a textbook of some sort.

"What's that?"

"English workbook. I like studying more out of school hours."

"The kid who sleeps through every class...likes to studying?" Saem asked in exaggerated shock.

Youngjae grinned slightly bashful. "Believe it or not, but yeah."

Saem shook her head, a smile still on her face. Setting her backpack and lunch bag on her table she started to organize her supplies for the day. Realizing she forgot breakfast this morning, she dug around in her bag and pulled out a granola bar. She must not have secured the thermos fully because when the bag opened the smell of soup wafted out.

Youngjae caught the scent and frowned slightly, recognition showing slightly on his face. "What's your lunch today?"

"It's um, soup today," Saem said.

"Huh, smells like something a friend of mine used to make..."

Saem figured now would be a good time to play naive and put in a name drop. She let out a laugh that sounded forced even to her own ears. "Well, unless you're friends with Jackson Wang...." 

She wanted to slap herself at that fake trail off. This was horrible.

Either Youngjae didn't notice or he didn't care. Instead his frown deepened slightly. "Jackson? How did he go from making fun of you to making you soup?"

Saem stammered for an answer but then figured the truth wasn't bad at all for an answer. "We work together now and I wasn't feeling well so our boss asked him to walk me home. He found out I lived alone and offered to make me soup."

Youngjae let out a curious sort of laugh as his frown turned into a look of wonder. "Sounds like how he used to be..."

Remembering that she wasn't supposed to know how close they were she spoke up. "Do you know Jackson sunbaenim well?"

Youngjae must've caught what he'd been saying and blinked with a little shake of his head to clear his thoughts. "Uhm, no. Not really."

Lie.

But Saem went with it, giving a nod and then dropping the subject. She finished what she was doing and then realized she still hadn't seen BamBam since last night. If she was being honest she was a little worried. However the bell finally rang, pushing away thoughts of the boy.

• • •

At lunch, Saem went back to Mr. Jang's office as he did his rounds. She lounged in his desk chair, slowly spooning soup into . Her thoughts once again wandering to BamBam. She realized she didn't know the specifics of his accident. Not that she had any right to know or was she entitled to it. It was BamBam's story to tell when or if he ever did. But she couldn't stop this new found curiosity about it. It was even worse that he wasn't around for her to ask him himself.

She wanted to know what had happened to the young boy that had caused his friends to stop talking to each other. She remembered BamBam telling her his real name was Kunpimook Bhuwakul. Keeping that in mind, she scooted over to Mr. Jang's computer. He'd always let her use it when she was bored so she didn't feel awkward about turning on the monitor. 

When it booted on, Saem opened the internet browser and typed in the spelling of BamBam's real name to the best of her ability. She must've gotten it right because the first article to appear read:

Foreign Exchange Student From Thailand Involved in Devastating Crash

Saem hovered over the link and pursed her lips before clicking on it too fast to give herself time to change her mind. When the page loaded, the first thing she saw was the photo of two crunched cars.

She hesitated for a second but then scrolled down to the article.

A foreign exchange student in Korea from Thailand has been critically injured in a car accident. The student, known as BamBam, was in the car with friends when a drunk driver veered and hit their vehicle. Due to the angle that the drunk driver hit the student, he was inflicted with the most injuries. When first responders arrived at the scene they had to pry open the door to reach the boys in the impacted car. 

BamBam was taken to Seoul Hospital and is in serious condition. Two other boys who were injured were also taken to the hopsital but are expected to be discharged in the morning. The drunk driver survived but is being taken in for questioning. 

We will be release more when updates come through.

Saem searched the page and found another link that mentioned the car crash. Skimming the article, she found it to say most of the same things with extra updates. The driver was put to jail and the update that caught her eye the most read:

BamBam has reached stable condition but is currently in a coma. Doctors don't know when to expect him to awaken.

Saem had been so ehocked by the news she hadn't heard the door open. Or heard the person approach her until he spoke.

"Noona, why are you looking up articles about this?" Saem startled and spun around in the chair, Yugyeom's face as slightly stricken as he read over her shoulder.

Blinking, Saem quickly spun around and quit out of the window. When she spun back around she found Yugyeom watching her face with suspicion. Movement behind him caught her eye and she looked over his shoulder to see BamBam had finally appeared. He also looked stricken and pale, but for some reason Saem knew it was for a different reason.

"Noona, why are you reading those articles," Yugyeom asked once more, this time sounding a little impatient.

Opening to say something, Saem realized she didn't know what to say. 

"Tell him," BamBam said. Saem was about to snap that she couldn't but then realized she didn't have really any other thing to say.

"Yugyeom-ah," Saem started. The boy looked expectant. Standing up, Saem motioned to the chair. "You might want to sit down."

He took her advice and then Saem started her story. About how she could see and speak to ghosts. How BamBam had appeared to her and asked for her help to get his friends back together. She let it all pour out, growing more and more worried about the younger boy's reaction to her story. When she was finished she forced herself to look Yugyeom in the eye. 

He took a deep breath before speaking. "I came to join you for lunch, but I wasn't expecting this."

"I know you don't believe me," Saem said helplessly. "And I know you think me to be insensitve for telling you all this. But please Yugyeom think about it. How would I know what to search or who to find? And what gain could I get from this?"

"But...BamBam...he's in a coma. He's not..dead!" 

I nodded. "I don't know how that works honestly. All my life I've been taught to ignore the things I could see. Because of that I don't fully understand everything. But I promise you Yugyeom, I am telling the truth. I would never play a joke like this."

He was silent again. Before giving up once and for all Saem tried one more option.

"He's here, you know," Saem whispered. And it was true. Throughout the story BamBam stood nearby, watching his friend's reaction. "Yugyeom, ask me something only BamBam would know. Something that there's no way I could guess. BamBam will tell me the answer and I'll pass it on."

Yugyeom looked down at the floor. His face was still pensive but after a moment he looked up at met Saem's gaze. "What singer is his mom a big fan of?"

Saem blinked and looked at BamBam who smiled slightly. Yugyeom followed her gaze but didn't see anything.

"Rain," BamBam answered.

Saem nodded and looked back at Yugyeom to pass on the answer. The latter nodded in reply.

"When we all went on our trip to Jeju what were the room assignments?"

"Yugyeom and I shared, Jackson and Mark shared, Youngjae and JB shared while Junior had a small room within theirs to himself."

Saem once again passed on the answer. Yugyeom nodded again. 

"That's right." His face took on a look of wonder and a tentative smile. "He's really here?"

Saem nodded, her hands were wringing themselves in front of her. BamBam held out a hesitant hand towards Yugyeom shoulder before looking at her. 

"He might not feel it. Some people do, some don't."

Yugyeom looked up quizically. Saem gave him a sheepish look. "BamBam wants to try and touch your shoulder. You may not feel anything though."

Yugyeom nodded vigorously. With that BamBam kept extending out his arm until his hand rested on Yugyeom's shoulder. The latter shivered slightly and looked at his right shoulder in wonder. "Omo! I...I felt it!"

BamBam grinned. "He's exactly the same. I figured he'd mature in high school but no." He sighed dramatically and Saem laughed slightly. When Yugyeom looked at her she repeated what BamBam had said. Yugyeom let out a slightly watery laugh in response.

"So..noona...all those 'Ghost Girl' rumors...?" Yugyeom looked hesitant to ask.

Saem shrugged. "They're true. Not that anyone really realizes that. But you'd think people would forget something that happened in elementary school."

Yugyeom nodded in understanding before lighting up. "I'll help!"

"Huh?" Both BamBam and Saem were caught off guard. 

"I'll help you get the rest of our friends back together. They're my friends too and it'd really make me happy to see us all together again. That way when BamBam wakes up we can all be waiting for him."

BamBam smiled and nodded at Saem. "It would move things along."

She nodded as well. "Okay. It'd be good to have a real person help me." Saem gave a pointed look to BamBam who laughed. Yugyeom smiled and jumped up.

"So what's our course of action?"

Saem grimaced. "Wing it until I can somehow get them all together."

Yugyeom rolled his eyes, "Noona, that's not going to work."

The bell rang then and Saem packed up her lunch bag. Yugyeom held open the door for her and she thanked him on the way out. As they walked back across the courtyard, Yugyeom looked up at the sky in thought. Saem waited patiently but eventually Yugyeom let out a frustrated sigh. Giving him a sympathtic smile, Saem patted his arm. "Don't push yourself. We'll think of something."

"I just...I wish we'd never made those plans..."

Saem figured he was talking about the accident again. She snuck a glance at BamBam who had a small sad smile on his face. Saem knew there was a lot she didn't know about the night BamBam got injured but she didn't want to push too hard to get the answers.

As the two of them entered the school building, they said their goodbyes and then made their way to their classes. The halls were emptying now and Saem quickened her pace slightly to avoid being late. BamBam trailed behind her and her curiosity won out. "Where have you been..."

When she looked over her shoulder to look at him he slowly disappeared leaving her alone in the hallway. Saem frowned and bit her lip, maybe he was upset she looked up the accident online? Stepping into the classroom she sat down in her seat as the second bell rang and everyone readied for the next class. Still deep in thought Saem barely paid attention to the lesson at all.