“It doesn’t make sense.”

Donghae exclaimed, gripping his mug of hot chocolate closer to him as another ferocious thunder roared loudly outside. The weather was terrible outside as if it was a sign to the trio, a punishment for calling the spirits. After Sungmin had asked about Heechul and the pointer moved, spelling the word alive, a flash of lightning and a loud booming thunder went off near the lake-house and Ryeowook and Donghae begged for Sungmin to end it. Sure enough, as soon as Sungmin ended the prayers, a rainstorm poured heavily and now, the friends were stuck in the lake-house for the night.

Sungmin grabbed blankets from his room and handed them to Ryeowook and Donghae, making each of them hot chocolates. It seemed that none of them were getting any sleep. They were all spooked out after experimenting with the Ouija board and so, instead of sleeping in the guest rooms separately, they were all cramped in Sungmin’s room in the lake-house.

“If Heechul’s really not dead, then...” Sungmin thought out loud, “Whose dead body was it? The one that was found at his old house.”

“Spirits can lie too, you know.” Ryeowook interrupted Sungmin and then quickly added as to how he obtained the information, “I googled.”

Sungmin sighed while Donghae sipped onto his hot drink, quietly staring into space. He was exhausted but the thought of falling asleep scared the hell out of him. What if he had a nightmare about ghosts or something? Or what if something creepy happened the minute he closed his eyes? He forced his eyes opened, not willing to sacrifice his life if he ended dup falling asleep.

Sungmin noticed how Donghae was forcing himself awake and then chuckled, “Just go to sleep, Hae.”

Donghae shook his head, yawning. “What if something happens when I fall asleep?”

“Ryeowook and I will take care of it.” Sungmin answered as Ryeowook nodded.

Donghae shook his head, “Nah. You’ll need my help.”

Sungmin chuckled while Ryeowook smiled at how adorable sleepy Donghae was.

Ryeowook leaned against the bed frame, eyes roaming over his friends tired faces and then Sungmin’s room. Nothing changed much, everything was pretty much in the same place from the last time Ryeowook came down here. Sungmin’s lake-house was where they would always go to with Heechul whenever they wanted to hang out by the lake, away from the bustling city.

“This place brings back good memories,” Ryeowook reflected, smiling as he thought of all those times they laughed at silly jokes whenever they hung out.

Donghae looked around and nodded in agreement, “It does.”

Sungmin agreed as well, “I haven’t been here much ever since Heechul disappeared. This place has too many memories and just the thought of coming down here hurts.”

Ryeowook reached out and squeezed Sungmin’s knees, offering him a smile but said nothing else.

“Well,” Donghae begun with a small smile playing on his lips, “Five or ten years from now, you can think of us whenever you’re back here. You can laugh thinking about how we were cowards crying and begging you to stop talking to the dead.”

Sungmin laughed, “It was kind of hilarious.”

Donghae laughed softly while Ryeowook broke into a grin. Okay, it was kind of funny how badly they were reacting while Sungmin completely stayed relaxed and composed talking to the spirits.

“I bet you missed New York, don’t you Wookie?” Donghae questioned all of a sudden, nudging Ryeowook. “Your life in New York probably was a lot simpler wasn’t it?”

Ryeowook thought about this. Yes, he did missed his life in New York. It was simple and peaceful. But… He often had the feeling that something was missing in his life.

“New York was fine.” Ryeowook admitted. “But I didn’t know why… I always felt lonely while I was in New York. Even if I was surrounded by my friends, I’d feel lonely without knowing why.”

“You probably missed us.” Donghae teased, nudging Ryeowook once more.

Ryeowook smiled, “I guessed I did.”

“Did you really?” Sungmin asked, surprised since all of them had stop contacting after Heechul disappeared and went on their own way. “But we stopped talking after Heechul disappeared.”

Ryeowook shrugged. “I guess… I’ve always thought that we had each other’s backs. Even when we stopped talking, I knew that if I was in trouble, both of you would help in a heartbeat. I never felt that way with my other friends in New York.”

Both Donghae and Sungmin were silent for a long time as they thought about what Ryeowook had just said.

“We went through so much with Heechul back then,” Sungmin said, breaking the silence, “That I guess being protective of each other has become a part of us now.”

Donghae nodded in agreement. “I’ve never thought about it that way but now that you mentioned it… Even when we stopped being friends, whenever any of my teammates or the cheerleaders talked about any of you, I’d tell them to shut up. I guess I was always defending the both of you without realizing it.”

Sungmin frowned, “What kind of were they talking about us?”

“You know,” Donghae shrugged his shoulders, as if it was nothing much. “How they thought the both of you were the ones that killed Heechul.”

“What!”

“I told them off.” Donghae waved his hands, “You just don’t have to worry. It’s a small town. Everyone suspects that it’s either one of us just because we were with him that night.”

Ryeowook sighed. Sungmin’s frown slowly faded realizing that Donghae was right. Even his decathlon team had assumed that it could either be Donghae and Ryeowook and Sungmin had told them off too, telling them that they had no idea what they were saying. Sungmin’s phone suddenly beeped and Ryeowook’s and Donghae’s face paled.

“It’s not H.” Sungmin sighed in relief as he checked his phone.

“Who is it from?” Ryeowook curiously asked since it was four in the morning.

“Just… Someone.” Sungmin answered with a frown.

“Mr. Kim?”

Sungmin looked up to his two friends and nodded, sighing. They knew so there was nothing to hide.

“What does he want?” Donghae asked.

“Nothing. Just asked me if we could meet.”

“Are you going to?”

Sungmin shook his head, putting aside his phone as he hugged his knees closer to his body. “No. I told him that we’re over. H knows about us and… I can’t risk his job because of me.”

Ryeowook patted Sungmin’s hands, giving him an encouraging smile. There was nothing to be said. Sungmin’s eyes were glazed as he talked about Mr. Kim and it seemed like he really was heartbroken about ending whatever relationship they had.

“When did you meet him anyway?” Donghae asked, oblivious to Sungmin’s feelings.

“Donghae,” Ryeowook scolded, “Sungmin isn’t in the mood to talk about Mr. Kim.”

Donghae raised his hands, looking confused and Sungmin laughed. “It’s okay, Wookie.”

“I met Yesung before school started…”

And then slowly, everything was revealed. From how they met to their one-night stand and how Sungmin felt when he discovered that Yesung was his teacher. Slowly, the boys started talking and revealing their hidden feelings, talking about their lives before H happened and the boys that they were seeing.

They laughed and poured their heart out all night, just talking and listening to each other’s stories. It was refreshing, getting to know about each other even more. One would think they would run out of topic to talk about but they were apart for years and it seemed that only now were they finally catching up on the time lost.

As the sun finally rose, they got up and cleaned up. The silly fear of ghosts was long gone and now, they were just exhausted and sleepy. Unfortunately, it was a school day although it was Friday so they changed into the extra clothes Sungmin had left in his closet and then went off to school from the lake-house.

***

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Donghae asked as they got out from Sungmin’s car, noticing that there were students crowding around the school entrance. Ryeowook and Sungmin shrugged their shoulders, confused and followed after Donghae who had a bad feeling. Crowds at the school entrance usually meant trouble and trouble usually meant that his soccer teammates were involved.

Sure