For the next few days Hoseok was a mess. He had barely eaten or slept. He had called in sick to work and had spent his time looking for Riley. He went to the train station every night until the last train arrived, but she was never there. When he went home, he left the curtains open and the light on in case she decided to come back.

Five days had passed and Hoseok was close to giving up. He was sitting on the train platform a little earlier than normal, a few other people were milling around on the opposite platform. He let out a sigh, his head falling backwards until it hit the wall behind him. He saw something move across from him. He slowly looked over and there she was. She was sitting on the opposite platform. He jumped to his feet, and ran to the edge of the platform. “Riley! Riley!” he yelled.

Her head snapped around to face him. “Hoseok…” she breathed. Hoseok couldn’t help himself, a big smile on his face. The sudden action coupled with his lack of food and sleep made him lightheaded. His hand clutched his head as the world started to spin around him. Riley looked on in panic as he lost his footing and slipped off of the platform into the path of an oncoming train.

“Hoseok!” she screamed. A few people from the platform had seen Hoseok fall and were scrambling to help. She concentrated on Hoseok's limp frame, hoping she had enough strength to move him. She heard the awful screeching of the train as the driver tried to slow down. “Please, please, please!” she chanted.

Hoseok's body suddenly flung itself out of the path of the train, lying in-between the two sets of tracks. She let out a cry of relief and floated down to his side. “Hoseok! Hoseok!” she cried as she knelt beside his unmoving body. Her instinct was to try and shake him awake but her hands just passed through his body. Eventually his body was lifted from the tracks and he was rushed to hospital. She stayed with him the whole time, watching over him and blaming herself. “I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to you.” She whispered over and over again as the ambulance sped through the busy streets.

After he had been admitted to hospital and the doctors had completed their checks. Riley was relieved to hear that he would be ok. His family had been contacted as soon as he arrived and his teary eyed mother had arrived soon after he was admitted. Riley stood in the corner of the room, watching Hoseok's mother cry over her injured son. She couldn’t help but wonder if anyone had cared for her like that when she had been alive.

Even though she felt guilty for intruding on the intimate moment, she couldn’t make herself leave. She stayed with Hoseok long after his mother had left. It was the middle of the night when Hoseok finally opened his eyes. Riley was by his side in an instant. “Hoseok, can you hear me?” It took him a minute to adjust. He pulled the tube out of his nose and frowned at the needles in his arm. “What happened?” he asked, as he looked around his hospital room. Riley let out a relieved laugh, happy to see him awake. “You passed out at the station, you fell onto the tracks…” Hoseok turned and faced her. “Riley…” was all he said. His hand reached out for hers, hovering just over hers.

“Why?” he said, his voice thick. “Why did you leave?” he asked, his gaze focusing on their hands which were now side by side. Riley let out a sigh, her happiness from a moment ago completely gone. “You know why Hoseok. I don’t want you wasting your life trying to help me. You have your entire life in front of you.” Her voice suddenly turned angry. “But you won’t if you don’t take care of yourself! I heard what the doctors said. They said that you’ve not been eating or sleeping properly. That’s why you passed out.”

Hoseok looked a little guilty. “All I could think about was finding you…” Riley would have blushed if she had been able. “You idiot. You could have died today, do you understand that? If I hadn’t moved you out of the way…” Hoseok smiled up at her, “You moved me? Your ability must be improving!” Riley sighed at his attitude. “Not the point, Hoseok.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Riley smiled at him. “Just please take care of yourself.” She said, her tone caring. “Then don’t leave me.” Riley was startled by his frank words. “Don’t leave me. I’ll do everything I can to help you, in the meantime. Stay with me, please.” He pleaded. Riley's gaze dropped, her head nodding the tiniest fraction. Hoseok resisted the urge to hug her, knowing that he would most likely end up hugging the floor.

“You should get some more rest.” Riley said and Hoseok shook his head. “I’ve been asleep for half the day it looks like.” He said pointing out at the dark night. “Let’s go for a walk.” He said, throwing off his covers and slipping on the slippers that had been left by his bedside. The hospital had provided him with a bathrobe which he slipped over his hospital issued pyjamas. Riley couldn’t help but chuckle at his appearance. “That’s a good look on you.”

“Shut up.” He said with a grin as he grabbed the IV stand and they started walking. They wandered around the hospital, Hoseok remembering not to talk to her when other people were around. No one questioned him as they wandered around. They went through a set of double doors and Riley froze. “What’s wrong?” Hoseok asked, his tone laced with concern. Riley clutched her head as she was hit with a bolt of pain. She cried out in pain and fell to her knees as image after image ran through her head.

“Riley! What’s happening?” a panicked Hoseok asked as he dropped to his knees beside her. She grit her teeth against the pain as the images came faster and faster.

When they finally stopped she was breathing hard. “Riley…” She turned to face him. “I remember my accident.” She breathed. “I was out with some friends, they wanted to go to a club but I had to get up early the next morning so I went home. I was in a taxi… a drunk driver hit us and ran us off the road. The driver… oh my god the driver died. I was stuck in the car. I remember being upside down… then nothing.”

Hoseok wanted to hug the girl in front of him. To comfort her. To say or do anything to take her pain away. But he couldn’t find the right words to say. What does one say to someone who just remembered how they died?

Hoseok let out a frustrated sigh and looked at the girl in front of him. He frowned as he looked at her. “Riley.” He said his voice laced with panic. “Your hand!” she lifted her hand and noticed that it was becoming transparent. “What the hell?” she looked up at Hoseok as if he could explain. She jumped to her feet. “What’s happening to me?” she checked the rest of her body and noticed that her whole body had become more transparent.

 Hoseok jumped to his feet and looked around, as if anyone could help. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out! We just have to…” he suddenly stopped talking. Riley looked up at him, his gaze fixated on something through the door next to them. “Hoseok?” she asked but he ignored her and moved to the door. “Oh my god.” He said, his voice barely a whisper.

“Hoseok. What is it? You’re scaring me!” Hoseok turned and faced her. “It’s you.” Riley's eyebrows shot upwards. “What do you mean it’s me?” Hoseok pointed through the small window on the door. “It’s you! Riley! You’re not dead!” he said excitedly as his panic turned to shock and to happiness. Riley jumped to her feet and peered through the window. She gasped in shock as she saw herself lying on a hospital bed. More tubes and wires coming out of her body than she could count.

“Maybe this is why you couldn’t remember anything? Because you’re not actually dead! Your body is right there!” Hoseok said excitedly. “We should go in.” Riley said warily, the sight of her own body off-putting. “This is so weird.” She mumbled as Hoseok opened the door and they went into the room. They took a moment to absorb the information. They noticed that there was fresh flowers by her bedside, and many cards and photographs of friends and loved ones.

Riley let out a sob as she approached her body. “I can’t believe this…” Hoseok checked her chart. “Your name is Rachel.” She frowned, “I think I like Riley better.” she said with a weak chuckle. She turned back to her body and felt a strange sensation take over her body. It felt like her whole body was vibrating. The heart rate monitor attached to her body started beeping rapidly. “Riley. What’s happening?” Hoseok asked as panic once again settled over him. “I don’t know. I feel strange.” She said as her ghost body started to become more and more transparent. Hoseok looked on in horror as she became almost invisible, the heart rate monitor going crazy in the corner. She turned to him, her face almost gone. She whispered his name and then she was gone.

Hoseok ran to her side. “Riley! Can you hear me? Riley?” he looked down at her hand then back to her face. He slipped his hand into hers, a small sob escaping him. I’m actually touching her… he smiled down at her as her eyelids started to flutter. “Riley. Can you hear me? Please, open your eyes!” he pleaded as his hand ran down her face, enjoying feeling her warm skin under his palm. Her eyes fluttered for a few moments before slowly opening. She took in her surroundings, her gaze finally landing on Hoseok.

He smiled down at her. She gave him a weak smile back. “You seem familiar, do we know each other?” Hoseok's heart fell. She can’t remember me? He cleared his throat. “It’s me. Hoseok.” Her brows furrowed as she tried to remember. Hoseok was devastated. The moment was broken when two nurses came into the room. They were surprised to see him but even more surprised to see Riley awake. They fussed over her, Hoseok being pushed into the background as they messed with the wires and tubes attached to her body.

Hoseok couldn’t decide how he felt. Part of him was happy that Riley was alive and that she had returned to her body. But now she couldn’t remember him. What did that mean for them? Could he convince her what happened? Should he try to befriend her?

He stood by the doorway, a sad smile on his face as the nurses continued to fuss over her. He started to slip through the doorway when Rachel’s scratchy voice sounded. “Hoseok!” He could barely hold his tears as he turned to face her. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes as well. She whispered two words to him. “I remember.”

*** 6 months later ***

Rachel stood in her and Hoseok's kitchen making cookies and fighting off Hoseok who was intent on stealing all of her chocolate chips. She slapped his hand as he once again stole a few of them from the bag on the counter. “I swear to god Hoseok I will beat you up if you keep stealing all my chocolate chips!” he chuckled at her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his head on her shoulder.

All of Rachel’s memories from when she was a ghost had returned after she woken up. They had been inseparable ever since. They had started dating a couple of weeks after she was released from hospital and they had moved in together after dating for half a year.

He sometimes still called her Riley instead of Rachel, but neither of them minded. Whenever their friends asked about it, they said it was just a nickname. They never told anyone about what had happened, mainly because they thought that no one would ever believe them. They kept the memories of that time as a special memory between the two of them.