“This is dumb,” Wheein declares.

 

Next to her, Moonbyul laughs. “Have you even seen yourself? You look dumber.” Staring down the length of the girl, she couldn’t believe that Wheein, through some mysterious magic power of hers, somehow managed to acquire a whole Ghostbusters costume. The Proton Pack that Wheein carried on her back was even almost as tall as her.

 

“Hey! This costume was very difficult to find, okay? But let me tell you something—” the younger girl fishes a binoculars-like contraption out of a large pocket “—my guy guarantees that this baby is 100% legit.” And with that she tugs it down her head, affixing the goggles securely on her face.

 

She also s a meter device at Moonbyul, who side-eyes it skeptically. “Aren’t you the one who’s scared of ghosts?” Moonbyul reminds her.

 

“No, I’m not.” Wheein replied indignantly. She gestures to the supposedly desecrated shack in front of them. “And I’ll be proving it here, at this haunted house!”

 

Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Moonbyul longingly gazes at the flashing lights and wild rides behind them, then reluctantly eyeballs the poorly decorated building splattered with the worst fake blood and skeletons she’s ever seen. 

 

Yeah, sure, she thinks to herself. At a fake haunted house.

 

            ———————————————————————

 

Moonbyul cannot recall the number of times Wheein has gone full foetal in the 10 minutes that they have been in the nightmarish attraction, but she is sure it has more than overtaken the number of fingers, thumbs, and toes she has on her body. And she’s including the fingers that are feebly clutching her pant leg.

 

“Wheein, I thought you said you were gonna prove your bravery here,” she teases. Wheein can only muster a whine in response, sounding like a wounded pup… so Moonbyul gently pats her on the head. 

 

Wheein’s Ecto-goggles are halfway down her face by now, perched askew. She takes Moonbyul’s hand now, and shakily gets to her feet.

 

They advance no more than two steps before activating yet another trap. Bloody hands shoot out at them as a girl dressed in white rises from the floor.

Wheein instantly screams and goes full hedgehog, while Moonbyul emits a squeal so loud and at such a high pitch it could almost serve in echolocation. The female ghost grins as she starts to  shuffle off, her job done for now. 

 

“Hey, but wait!” Moonbyul calls after her. The ‘ghost’ turns around, cocking her head in inquiry. “Could you help me with this kid?” She points to Wheein, curled up and refusing to move further.

 

The woman tries to stifle her laugh. She raises her hand to cover , and her sleeve slips down, revealing a fair and slim arm. Her giggles escape her, and she has to brush her hair away from her face to wipe at the teardrops that are forming.

 

“Oh, but miss ghost,” Moonbyul stares at her, rather enraptured. “You’re actually really pretty.” She’s especially taken with the little mole under the lady’s right eyebrow.

 

The faux ghost blinks in surprise, and then grins widely, her eyes forming perfect crescents. “Um, thank you.” Her voice has a melodious lilt, and Moonbyul decides it doesn’t suit the atmosphere of the haunted house. She seems to belong more in a musical, or perform at one of those impressive concerts that idols have. She definitely has the looks to become a popular idol, Moonbyul thinks. 

 

But she is digressing, and Wheein has ceased whimpering to glare at her from the floor. “Is it really necessary that you flirt with every girl you see?” She rolls her eyes at Moonbyul’s nod.

 

“Excuse me,” the faux ghost interrupts their banter, sounding confused. “I think your friend’s caught up with you.”

 

“Friend?” Moonbyul and Wheein both look up, then look at each other, then back at her. “But… it was just the two of us today.”

 

The girl gulps nervously, and raises a trembling finger to point behind them. “T-then… who’s that?”

 

The couple drags their feet, tentatively turning around, to meet white, blank eyes. There standing is a woman, short-haired and curvaceous, entirely pale and translucent. Wheein has to force her line of sight down, to where the woman’s feet are floating inches off the dusty, wooden planks of the floor.

 

Wheein takes in a deep breath, to let it out in a loud yell. The pale woman replies with an equally loud roar, which results in all four females screaming at each other, before madly running off in opposite directions.

 

            ———————————————————————

 

“Miss ghost,” Moonbyul gasps, doubled over from exhaustion, “why are you screaming?”

 

“I can’t… actually deal with… horror stuff…” The woman in question is coughing madly, unused to sprinting at such a speed. “And… my name’s… Solar.”

 

“Stop… flirting!” Wheein pants. She has abandoned her Proton Pack far behind her, and her Ecto-goggles are hanging around her neck. All three of them are sitting on a coffin, conveniently placed in the middle of nowhere, which reflects what they currently are: lost.

 

In her defense, Solar insists that she still doesn’t know the full layout of the haunted house yet, considering that she had just started work yesterday.

 

“But who’d have guessed that this place was actually haunted?” Moonbyul wonders, first to recover from the fright. “Hey, Wheein, now this feels more Ghostbuster-y, huh?” She pats the younger girl on her back.

 

“Ah, your name’s Wheein!” A whispery voice says from within the coffin. The three girls scramble to their feet, terrified. The lady ghost from before pops out, smirking. Wheein and Yongsun freeze where they stand, and Moonbyul can only mutely gape.

 

“You’re pretty cute, hun,” the ghost continues. “I’m Hwasa, by the way.”

 

“T-t-t-t-” Wheein cannot form words, so Hwasa waits patiently. “T-thank you, uh, Hwasa.” The ghost flashes a thumbs up.

 

Hwasa gestures at the goggles around Wheein’s neck. “You don’t need those to see us, you know. And we choose who sees us” — she vanishes on the spot — “and who doesn’t” — and reappears directly in front of Wheein.

 

Wheein has gotten over her fear by now, and grins back. “That’s pretty cool! Tell me more!” She settles back on the lid of the coffin, and Hwasa floats back to sit next to her.

 

“Um, you two,” Moonbyul interjects. “I think I’ll take Solar back out, because…” Hwasa glances at Solar, who’s still shaking and uncomfortably bare-footed.

 

She nods, and gestures to her left. Overhead lights blink on, greatly brightening the room, in comparison to the nightmarish gloom before. “Just follow the lights, you’ll be out soon enough.”

 

Moonbyul thanks the ghost (she’s pretty y, Moonbyul thinks to herself) and ushers the petrified Solar out. “We’ll be waiting outside, Wheein!”

“Your friend’s pretty relaxed, leaving you alone with an actual ghost,” Hwasa comments.

 

Wheein shrugs in response. “This was my idea, after all. And you seem like a cool kind of person.” Scooting closer to her new-found friend, she chirps, “So, tell me more!”

 

Hwasa raises her eyebrows in surprise. Person, huh? she thinks to herself. Haven’t heard that in a while. Wheein’s puppy eyes melt her ghost heart, and she can’t help but be endeared by the human.

 

“Sure. For starts, you think that ghosts would be wearing, like, a white dress or something, right? But nah, we wear whatever we want. You know, us ghosts have a sort of world of our own, with shopping centres and…”

 

Their conversation lasts until past midnight, by which time Moonbyul and Solar have to drag Wheein out of the building before the amusement park closes. Hwasa and Wheein wave to each other, and Wheein loudly announces as she leaves: “I’ll be back tomorrow!”

 

As a solitary ghost in an amusement park, Hwasa has no companions of her own, and is used to watching the sun rise and set by herself. But today, she finds that maybe, just maybe, staying in this form for just a little bit longer wouldn’t be so bad. Just for Wheein.