“hello Seunghoon hyung”

The familiar voice startled Seunghoon. The already gigantic butterfly in his stomach felt like it grew exponentially and conjured tiny little ant friends on the back of Seunghoon’s neck, trailing down his spine. The loud tenor saxophone now seemed a bit distant, swallowed by the soft familiar voice.

He looked behind him with caution (he’s a grade A scaredy cat) – and there he was. Song Mino was sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing a rolled-up white shirt with the top two buttons undone, light khaki pants, his black hair slicked back, his feet bare, one of his hand inside his pocket. Seunghoon would gladly testify that this is the finest Mino had ever looked – except that Mino is actually already dead and this sudden apparition is not funny and Seunghoon could care less about what Mino wore.

“What the actual holy crap ,”

“Calm down with your swearing, Jesus!”

“WHAT THE ACTUAL , DON’T COME CLOSER!” Seunghoon’s scream was loud enough, he thought, to wake up all sleeping babies in this building. He stepped back rapidly and crashed into Mino’s bookshelf, hitting his head on the edge of the shelf mid-way.

“Stop making a scene!” Mino exclaimed while smiling, showing off his perfectly lined white teeth.

“What the you’re dead, and I’m afraid of ghost, so don’t come closer!” Seunghoon patted the back of his head as he signaled Mino to not come closer by frantically waving his free left hand.

Mino burst into laughter instead, clearly dismissing Seunghoon.

“Okay, fine, relax, I’m stepping back if that calms you down. Ah you should’ve looked at yourself hyung, it’s too funny,” he said as he walked away to stand near his window. He still had the cheeky smile etched on his face, and the last sunbeams of dusk showered his (literally) otherworldly face.

“You should’ve looked at yourself. You’re ing dead and I’m talking to a ing ghost,” said Seunghoon.

“Oh of course I’ve looked at myself, I look dazzling don’t you think?”

“Shut up”

“And you don’t have to be so rude to keep reminding me that I’m dead. Gone. Departed. No more. I know that. And no, I’m not a ghost. I can still touch things,” said Mino as he advanced his steps closer to Seunghoon, looking like he was planning to grab Seunghoon’s hand to prove his point.

“NO STOP! STILL! DON’T COME NEAR ME. This carpet is a buffer zone, do NOT trespass,” Seunghoon went hysterical once more.

“See, I can still touch things. Although it doesn’t feel as vivid as it was before… This coat was my favorite, it’s a nice and warm cashmere, you should use it if you want, I think it really complements your bright wardrobe,” Mino was touching his wardrobe – and the coats and jackets moved.

“You know what, I think the last thing I need is a fashion advice from a ghost”

“If I get a penny every time you mention the word ghost or dead, I think I’d be rich by now. Do you think the canteen in heaven would accept pen–”

“I think I’m going to vomit out of distress now”

“Okay, I’ll shut up.”

“Good.”

Seunghoon had locked his gaze to ghost (?) Mino ever since he appeared out of thin air. Mino looked at him back and Seunghoon swore those eyes were real and alive. This is a creepily funny scene.

They stayed in silence for what seems like eternity for Seunghoon – he was scared and afraid (what do you expect when your dead best friend suddenly shows up and scares the out of you?) but he also felt warm on the inside (what do you expect when your dead best friend suddenly shows up and you’ve missed him and his lame jokes terribly?). He wanted to ask a multitude of questions – but he decided he’ll start with the basic:

“Are you dead?”

“One penny. Yes I am.”

“So I’m talking to a ghost?”

“One penny. Nope. I’m not a ghost.”

“So I’m mental?”

“No, you’re not.”

“So how do you explain your dead self talking to the alive me if you’re not a ghost and I’m not crazy?”

“That’s two pennies at once, thank you. Well you brought me here yourself! That question I’ll leave it to you to answer.”

Seunghoon was taken aback by his answer. His mind was racing as to find what he did before – and his quick wit won him again as he made a quick step and took the lime green Book that was lying on the carpet. He scanned every little details of the Book – the front and back cover, the pages, the binding – to check whether any black magic or voodoo was involved.

His puzzled expression must’ve been too readable from the outside, as he heard Mino coolly said,

“It’s less about the Book but more about what’s in it.”

“You mean you’re–”

“Uh huh.”

Seunghoon is famous for his witty comeback in interviews and varieties. In real life behind the blitz and glitz of the screen, he’s also a clever and canny person – which explains why he did the thing he was about to do next:

Thump. He closed the little green Book abruptly.

Mino vanished. Seunghoon blinked rapidly as he couldn’t believe what he just saw in front of his eyes. He opened the Book again and Mino materialized, in the same spot with the same pose (to Seunghoon’s irritation, one of his shoulder was leaning against the cupboard and his right foot crossed in front of his left foot and both of his hands inside his trousers’ pocket), looking straight at Seunghoon with a little smirk that Seunghoon had to restrain himself from throwing encyclopedia to his face for bluffing even after his death.

He closed the Book and opened it again and repeated it so many times that Mino started yawning and stretching his back in every frame when he reappeared, making the scene looked like it came from some old and sloppy motion picture.

“Will”

“You”

“Stop”

“Doing”

“That”

“Please”

“Hyung”

Mino said word per word at every chance he could when he reappeared. When Seunghoon finally stopped and opened the Book, Mino exclaimed,

“There you go! It was an unnecessarily annoying method of proving that I’m not a ghost, but hope you’re satisfied and we can start talking now.”

“What the .”