Chapter 18: Sister

Upon hearing her words, Chorong gasped. Luckily, the other four girls didn't hear her and were casually walking around like it was nothing. The older girl who could see the shivering in Bomi's eyes, quickly held onto her hands tightly. Her legs were shaking, Bomi was not going to take another step furthur. The other girls who noticed this, turned around and wondering what was wrong.

"Unnie, what's wrong?" asked Namjoo worriedly after seeing Bomi's pale expression.

"It appeared again didn't it." said Eunji, getting a gist of what happened. She had attempted to convince Bomi to visit the grave many times and it was obvious that seeing her like that wasn't a first.

"What do you mean unnie?" asked Hayoung in curiousity.

"If i said it, all of you would run away from this place." said Eunji with a straight-face, she knew what was going to come but she wasn't afraid. When her same-aged friend told her that she could see ghosts, it didn't even make Eunji worry one bit. Anything paranormal didn't matter to the Busan girl, because she believes that it is unreal and just a myth.

"Just say it unnie. We won't run." said Naeun, gently holding onto Eunji's hand for comfort.

"Bomi can see ghosts. Well, not exactly all of it but she can see her's sister's ghost. Usually, she can't enter here because her ghost is always standing in the front." said Eunji , boldly pointing out the empty space in between.

The girl's reactions upon hearing that were different, Namjoo and Naeun gasped in fear and shock whereas Hayoung felt indifferent. The maknae stared at the empty space and tilted her head in interest.

"Do you think she can see me?" asked Hayoung innocently.

"Hey, shouldn't you be scared of ghosts like your unnies?" said Eunji breaking into a laughter, while Namjoo and Naeun hid behind Eunji.

"But isn't that kinda cool that Bomi unnie can see ghosts. I would love to have that ability and talk to them." smiled Hayoung walking towards Bomi who stayed frozen.

"Hayoung-ah, you aren't scared?" asked Chorong.

"Bomi unnie, this is nothing. So what if you can see your sister's ghost, it's not like she will attack you or anything right? Nothing to be afraid unnie, come on let's go in." said Hayoung boldly, holding out her hand to the older girl.

Both Chorong and Bomi were quite surprised at Hayoung's actions, the maknae was brave, fearless and wasn't afraid of anything. She definitely beared similiar traits to Eunji, who looked on with a motherly smile.

"Hear that Bomi-ya, listen to our maknae and step inside. There's nothing to be afraid." said Eunji.

"Bomi-ya, she's right. There's nothing to be afraid." smiled Chorong, taking a glance to the younger girl whose expression lighten up.

"Hey, if our maknae's that brave then what does that make us unnies huh?" said Bomi, finally smiling as she grabbed Hayoung's hand and took a step forward. For the first time in many years, Bomi finally entered the cemetery. When she looked up, her sister's ghost was missing. It was gone.

The girls continued to walk along the path that lead to Nomi's grave located at the far end, surrounded by a small garden. All of six of them paid their respects, bowing however, Bomi stood there staring at the grave. She hadn't seen her sister's face in awhile, staring at the little portrait engraved on the stone brought the same fear back.

"Hey Bomi-ya, this is an achievement. I'm proud that you managed to finaly visit your sister's grave." said Eunji, patting onto her same-age friend's shoulder but noticed that something was wrong.

"Bomi-ya?" asked Chorong in worry. She wondered whether she had seen her ghost again or probably, something even worse. Suddenly, tears rolled down the younger girl's cheeks as Bomi went down on her knees. The girls were surprised at her sudden behaviour.

"Unnie, I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for making you angry, I'm sorry for not being there when you needed someone. Even though it's too late now, I hope that you can still forgive me so...please stop haunting me. Please...stop....I don't need your revenge...please let me live a peaceful and happy life..please...." sobbed Bomi, who was down on her knees in front of the grave. In her eyes, her sister's ghost was right in front of her. No one would see the ghost except her, but the sister stared at Bomi.

The image of her, was exactly the same as Bomi had remembered. But strangely, her ghost wasn't angry. Instead, after Bomi finished speaking, the ghost smiled. With that one smile, she slowly dissapeared into thin air. Although Bomi didn't knew what that meant but, her very smile made her heart lighter. Something heavy was lifted off her shoulders.

"Bomi-ya...." said Chorong who couldn't bear to watch the sight any longer. Her heart was in pain seeing the younger girl sobbing, her tears rolling down her cheeks and the girl who was in pain and fear. Without hesitation, she immediately ran and pulled her into her arms. Like a wailing baby, Chorong consoled the younger girl who cried and cried.

The day Bomi went to visit her sister's grave, was the day she cried her heart out. It was tears that signified her freedom from her sister's haunting, it was as if her sister's ghost would no longer haunt her anymore. Even though the others didn't know what was happening as they couldn't see the ghost, they understood Bomi's situation. 

~X~

[One day later]

After the whole ordeal of yesterday, Bomi was back to her normal self. It surprised her parents, even her father who came back from work to see their only daughter smiling brightly and joking around with the girls. It was as if, a curse had lifted upon her and there was nothing else troubling Bomi anymore. Everyone was elated, overjoyed that the unnie they knew, was back. The girls were scheduled to return back to Seoul that morning but Chorong had insisted that they spend a few hours properly exploring Suwon, Bomi's hometown before taking the public transport back.

They decided to explore areas in which Bomi went during her childhood, as a means to revive her memories. Walking past a small, empty playground, Bomi and Eunji reminisced their childhood memories together.

"Back then when my sister passed away, I was always locked up in my house, afraid and terrified but Eunji came knocking on my door asking me whether I wanted to play with her." said Bomi.

"That time, I was visiting Suwon with my parents and I heard people talking about the incident. It's a small neighbourhood so word spreads fast, that's when I knew that there was a girl around my age who was hiding herself." said Eunji.

"She forced me, pulled me out from my house and the first place we went was this playground. That's how we started becoming friends." said Bomi with a smile, enjoying her happy memories.

As Bomi never got a chance to explore her hometown due to her trauma, this made the perfect time for her to fully absorb every single memory. She was thankful, especially to Chorong who suggested this idea. Soon, it was time for everyone to board the bus and headed back to their dorm. The girls were tired and decided to sleep while Chorong stayed awake, so that they wouldn't miss the stop. 

"Are you sleepy Naeun-ah?" smiled Eunji, looking at Naeun's lost face. To her, it was adorable.

"It's okay, I'll just-" before Naeun could even react, Eunji grabbed her and made her sleep on her lap.

"U-unnie..this is embarassing.." said Naeun, who felt shy of public affection.

"There's nothing wrong with this, just go to sleep Naeun-ah. You must be tired." said Eunji with a smile.

"Then what about you?"

"You are more important." answered Eunji.

"Um..unnies i'm here too you know..." said Hayoung who felt awkward sitting beside the two lovebirds.

"Come Hayoung, let's move away from this lovey-dovey couple." said Namjoo as she took her hand and moved to another side of the bus.

"Let's do that unnie." said Bomi with a smile after watching Eunji and Naeun.

"No, you're too heavy." joked Chorong.

"Then I'll just stay here then." grinned Bomi as she landed her head onto Chorong's shoulder, wrapped her arms around her arm.

"Better than you sleeping on my lap."

"I get to be closer to you anyway" smiled Bomi cuddling herself with the older girl.

"Unnie..." whispered Bomi.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything." whispered Bomi as she gently kissed Chorong's neck.

"W-What are you doing Bomi-ya?" said Chorong, slightly surprised by the sudden wetness on her neck.

"Kissing you obviously."

"But why there?"

"I can't reach your face. And you would probably kill me if i kissed you in public right?" pouted Bomi cheekily.

"You're right, fine Bomi-ya." said Chorong as she broke out in a giggle, accepting Bomi' actions as the younger girl stuck to her like glue.

~X~

The weekend trip to Suwon was over and it was back to the girl's normal days. Chorong had work, while the others had high school and college duties to attend to. Hayoung who is still under suspension, sneakily entered her school compound to attend dance practices. Even though Namjoo insisted that her injuries had not healed properly, Hayoung was stubborn and still wanted to dance. She missed her school life, her friends and dancing. The maknae had the responsibility to make the dance festival a great one, dance was her passion and she wanted to share it with the world.

The annual high school summer festival was only a few months away and Hayoung didn't want to miss it. Namjoo too, was part of the dance team and the two maknaes often stayed overnight at school to fix minor errors and practice. Recently, the two came back home soaked in sweat and often got scolded by Chorong for staying late, getting nagged that it was dangerous for a young girl to lurk at night. Many weeks went by and there was evidence that summer was coming, it was getting hotter and everyone was wearing thinner clothes. As Chorong lived with them for almost five months, there were still things that were quite new to her.

It was a weekend and Chorong came back from grocery shopping but the sight she saw, the moment she opened the door gave out a shriek.

"What? What's wrong unnie?" asked Eunji who was almost in front of her.

"P-put on some clothes!!" shouted Chorong, hiding her embarassment.

"But it's so hot unnie, we would die wearing our clothes." said Namjoo who casually walked around the dorm . This was like a cultural shock for the older girl, who could do nothing against them. It was still their home, so they had the right to do whatever they please. But secretly, Chorong had wondered whether Bomi was like that too as she carefully walked towards her room and slowly opened the door.

"Oh, you came back unnie! How was shopping?" asked Bomi who was halfway pulling out her shirt.

"D-Don't do that!" said Chorong, her face still red as she quickly pulled Bomi's shirt back down.

"What? Is there something wrong?" said Bomi, slightly giggling after seeing the older girl's blushed face. She found it extremely cute.

"I mean-why are you-everyone almost walking around the house...don't you find it embarassing?"

"We do this all the time whenever summer comes. It's normal. You should do it too." teased Bomi as she playfully tried to lift Chorong's shirt.

"Hey!" hissed Chorong as she hit the younger girl.

"Just joking unnie!" grinned Bomi.

As the two laughed, there was a knock on the door. It was Namjoo.

"Unnies, have you seen Hayoung anywhere?" asked Namjoo with a woried expression.

"No, what's wrong?" asked Chorong.

"She said she was going to the internet cafe right?" asked Bomi.

"I went there, but she was gone. Hayoung isn't answering my calls either."

"What?!"

"I'm sure she'll be back, she knows her way." said Bomi, trying to calm down the younger, worried girl.

Namjoo believed Bomi's words as they went on the day as usual. However, as the sky turned dark the maknae did not return home. Worried, each of the girls tried to call Hayoung but to no avail. This was a rare thing, as the maknae was always on time and told the unnies where she was, what she was doing. It was definitely worrying.

"What should we do unnie?" asked Naeun in worry.

"I have a plan." said Eunji.

[END OF CHAPTER 18]

A/N: I always seem to make it so obvious whose story is next lol, where did our maknae dissapear to? Thank you for reading and subscribing! I'll have the next chapter up soon! :)