Inhye walked across the rooftop away from Jaebum and towards the exit. She clicked on her mother’s image from the list of contacts and hoped nothing bad had happened.

“Ah, finally. Your father and I are going back to Seoul for a few days since some issues popped up with the business. Keep an eye on your brother and try not to wander around too much, okay?” the woman said, not even sparing a hello. Inhye’s parents owned a small chain of restaurants that had a few different stores located out in the capital and that’s how they made a living. The girl wasn’t too interested in the business and never really questioned anything when they brought it up. She let out an okay and said goodbye to her mother, letting the woman say her farewell before hanging up. Inhye felt a bit nervous at the thought of being left alone with her younger brother in a new house in a new place, but shook it off. She grabbed the knob of the door and attempted to turn it, but nothing happened. The girl tried again, thinking it was just a bit rusted, but the thing wouldn’t budge. Inhye huffed.

“It won’t open,” she said as she turned around, but no one was there. The girl looked all around the space, but the boy was nowhere to be found. He did say he was a ghost, so maybe he could vanish, or walk through the walls? Who knows. Inhye felt like she was going a little crazy doing one last glance over the roof top, making sure that no one else was really there. She turned around and grasped the knob again, feeling it turn a bit. The hope was quickly squashed as it became jammed and once again unmovable. Inhye gripped with all of her strength and forced all of her effort into turning the knob, causing a bit of strain in her muscles, but it didn’t budge.

“Are you serious,” she said to herself. The girl let go of the knob and stepped away from the door. She walked over to the side of door and peered at the space to the right, seeing nothing in the corner. She walked over to the left side and saw nothing over there as well. Inhye turned around and examined the still empty rooftop. The girl looked up at the sky and watched the thin clouds slowly travel across the bright blue sky, softly protecting her from the hot sun. She looked over to the tree tops below the building, watching a few birds fly from their nests and out towards the neighborhood surrounding the school. Inhye closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose and held the air in her gut, hoping to suffocate her frustration. She turned towards the door and laid her hand on the rough silver knob.

“Please open,” she whispered at the door, as if it would help. Gripping the thing, she made sure to have a firm grasp as she attempted to turn it. Instead of being frozen as it was prior, the thing actually shifted a bit, but only with a lot of force. Inhye let out a breath and put her other hand on top of the knob and used her entire body to yank the thing sideways. It felt like she was rubbing two heavy metal plates against one another, causing coarse friction that would scratch both surfaces. With all of her energy focused on this task, the knob finally turned and the door opened. Inhye let the smile grow on her face as she let go and walked inside of the school.

As she passed through the entryway, she heard a faint jumble of sounds emit from the door’s frame, like several voices whispering something in a rushed manner in a foreign tongue. Her heart pounded in her chest as she stood on the step in front of the door. The girl looked at the door and it’s border, but nothing appeared out of the ordinary. She looked out at the empty rooftop one last time before closing the door. Inhye made her way down the few steps and stood on the speckled hallway tile, keeping her gaze on the door. She looked around and saw the rooms along the halls, full of students listening to their teachers. Now to make her way back to her class, wherever that was.

After telling a white lie to her instructor about getting lost between classes, the rest of her courses rolled by smoothly. Once the school day ended, Inhye casually said goodbye to the people she now considered acquaintances and left the building. Letting her arms hang by her sides, she took her time strolling down the path towards the middle school.

“Mom and Dad left for a few days, so your stuck with me,” Inhye said with a playful grin as she approached her younger brother who stood outside his school gates, waiting for her exactly as she asked him to earlier that day. The girl knew Junseo was a good kid, but seeing him actually follow through and do what she asked him helped relieve a bit of the stress she gained over the past few hours.

“But you can’t cook, we’re going to starve,” the boy whined as he followed his sister down the sidewalk. Of course food was the first thing on his mind. Inhye let herself chuckle before looking back at the boy.

“Do you want to go ahead and find some place to eat?” she asked, feeling her own stomach grumble due to not having eaten anything that day. The boy nodded his head. The two walked around the quiet city and soon stumbled up a small ramen shop. They walked in and were greeted by a gentle older woman who gave them an honest smile and a student discount on their meal. The older sibling prodded her little brother for details about his first day.

“It was okay, I already have a lot of make-up work,” he said honestly as he slurped long noodles from between his chopsticks. Inhye nodded as she ate, recollecting the amount of assignments her teachers gave her so she would be on track with the other students.

“Did anything else happen?” the girl asked, just making light conversation. The boy shook his head and kept his gaze on the bowl before him, enjoying his meal. Inhye sat with him and continued eating, her mind wandering off to thoughts of what happened on the rooftop that afternoon. She casually looked around the shop from their seats at the counter. The tables along the windowed wall were starting to fill up with customers since school just let out. The seat beside her was empty, but the rest in front of the counter were occupied with hungry customers enjoying their food. Inhye decided a vague conversation about the topic wouldn’t draw any attention.

“Hey,” Inhye said a bit hushed to her younger brother, waiting for him to lift his head and look at her.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked, a bit serious. The boy looked at her and rolled his eyes.

“You can’t scare me with that one anymore,” he said as he picked up his spoon to drink some of the broth. Inhye held back a smile, trying not to laugh at the fact her little brother was becoming immune to her tricks. But for the first time, it wasn’t a trick.

“I’m being serious. Do you think they’re real?” she asked, already having her opinion formed on the matter, but curious as to what someone else would think. The boy took another spoonful of liquid into his mouth before speaking.

“No,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because you can’t scare me anymore, okay?” he said, a bit of sass in his tone. Inhye let out a sigh and looked down at her almost empty bowl of food.

“Hey, I’m not trying t