Part 1: An Intruder (in this place).

Hakyeon can’t help feeling a sense of pride as he folds up the last box. He didn’t have much stuff since he’d moved here from living in a university dorm, but he was kind of glad for it since he’d gotten moved in only one day.

Humming, he looks around his new apartment. Well, it was new to him anyway. In actuality it was really old and probably needed to be torn down. He’d bought some cheap, second-hand furniture for the lounge room but other than that he’d either already owned it or it came with the apartment.

Groaning because his back hurts from lifting things, Hakyeon sinks down onto the couch, throwing his feet up on the coffee table. After living in a dorm for three years he was used to it being noisy from yelling and music and doors constantly opening and closing. All he can hear now however is the jagged humming of a neighbour’s air conditioner and the thumping of the washing machine that had come with the apartment. He’s just thinking he could totally get used to the quiet when–

“Can I come out now?”

The scream that leaves Hakyeon’s mouth is very loud and very, very girly. It’s actually more of a squeal. If the neighbours heard it they’d probably think it was from a five year old girl.

Hakyeon launches himself over the back of his couch, surprising himself with his own agility. For a second he lets himself be terrified but then he takes a deep breath and reminds himself that he lives alone now and he can’t rely on someone else to come save him.

Slowly Hakyeon peaks over the back of the couch. He isn’t sure what he’s hoping to see since a person in the lounge room would be bad but no person would also be bad since that meant they were hiding somewhere.

“Hello?” Hakyeon calls.

The voice had definitely come from inside the apartment, somewhere close too, and all he can think about is every horror movie he’d been forced to watch over the years and how yelling ‘hello’ nearly always got you killed.

“Hi,” a nervous voice yells back and Hakyeon’s mouth falls open.

He doesn’t remember any of the killers in the movies ever actually replying – except in the way of jumping out and murdering the person instantly. He freezes, is he supposed to respond?

“Are you okay?” the voice questions.

Hakyeon is decidedly not okay and he doesn’t appreciate the source of his not-okay-ness asking if he is.

“No.”

“Oh,” the voice mutters. “Um, well sorry? C-Can I come out?”

“Out from where?” Hakyeon demands.

He kind of wished he had a weapon of some kind. Okay, he really wished he had a weapon of any kind. For a second he even considers picking up and wielding the coffee table but he’d struggled to get it up the stairs so he doubt he’d have much luck.

“Don’t freak out.”

Slowly a face that is kind of faded and a little bit see-through starts to appear from the wall on the other side of the room. Hakyeon freaks out and then he passes out.

“You okay?”

For a moment Hakyeon wonders how one of his housemates got into his room but then he recognises the voice and everything comes flooding back. The fog clears from his mind and he sits up and then stands up in the space of two seconds.

The face is now an entire person - if that was a person – who is cautiously standing in the middle of the room, expression worried. Their body is as transparent as their face but more than anything they looked washed out, like all the colour in their clothes and hair and skin was fading.

“What are you?” Hakyeon demands.

“A-Are you sure you’re okay? I think you hit your head.”

Hakyeon thinks he hit his head too going by the throbbing headache and apparent hallucination before him.

“What. Are. You?”

The person shuffles nervously and clears their voice. “I’m a ghost.”

“Ghosts aren’t real,” Hakyeon shoots back instantly.

The ‘ghost’ looks like he’s torn between being annoyed and being desperate for Hakyeon to understand. He takes a deep breath – Does he even need to breathe, Hakyeon wonders – and then lets it out slowly.

“My name is Han Sanghyuk, I used to live here.”

There’s a heavy pause during which Sanghyuk meets Hakyeon’s gaze, an amused glimmer in his eyes. “But now I ‘dead’ here.”

Despite still freaking out a little Hakyeon can’t help the groan that rips its way from his throat. Sanghyuk grins when he sees Hakyeon try to stop a chuckle and he wonders how long it’s been since he’d smiled this way.

The amused air slowly clears away and Hakyeon eyes the ghost curiously. He can admit that the ghost is pretty good looking, especially when he looked past the out-dated clothes and hair style. The ghost’s smile is what makes Hakyeon actually admit that he was kind of attracted, which was a little unsettling.

No longer afraid, but still a little unsure, he slowly makes his way out from behind the couch. Sanghyuk watches him with a soft smile, currently trying to appear calm. Now that the laughing is over it grows kind of awkward.

“Sorry for scaring you,” the ghost apologises.

“Sorry for screaming, I’m Hakyeon.”

He’s not sure he really is sorry but whatever, Sanghyuk looked sincere so the least he could do is try to reciprocate.

Hakyeon clears his throat and sits down on the couch. Sanghyuk blinks a few times and then sits on the coffee table. Or it looks like he’s sitting, after a few seconds Hakyeon realises he’s just kind of floating slightly above it.

“So,” Hakyeon begins. “This is awkward.”

Sanghyuk nods in agreement. “How old are you?”

“Twenty one.”

“Ah.”

“You?”

“I was twenty when I died so… yeah.”

“How long have you been…”

“Dead?” Sanghyuk finishes the sentence when Hakyeon trails off. “Almost ten years, I think.”

Hakyeon tries to keep the surprise off his face but fails.

Sanghyuk laughs. “It’s okay, you can still talk down to me. I really don’t mind.”

Just talk to me.

“Do you want to watch TV?” Hakyeon asks.

He doesn’t want to admit that his heart started doing weird things when the ghost’s face lit up in pure joy. Hakyeon flicks on the TV and pats the spot on the couch next to him.

Sanghyuk is kind of glad he can’t physically cry as he joins Hakyeon because he totally would have.

“Have lots of people lived here over the years?” Hakyeon wonders, hoping that isn’t insensitive.

Sanghyuk’s smile turns sad.

“Not many since I died. Also everybody leaves the moment they realise I’m here,” Sanghyuk says sadly. “Are you going to leave too?”

Hakyeon kind of hates the dull ache that rises in his chest and he decides in a second. “No… And I can’t really afford to anyway.”

Sanghyuk hesitates. “Thank you,” he mutters.

“What for?” Hakyeon asks, surprise.

“Not running away.”

The ache moves to his throat and Hakyeon looks away so he can blink away the tears that appear in his eyes without permission.

“No problem,” he whispers.

You have some options:
1. Stop reading now for the vaguely happy one-shot experience (this is your last chance to be remotely happy). 
2. Read Part 2 to be set up for the 3 different endings.