five;

“I think I get this. You’ve been following me around these past few days, stalking. Then you lured me into coming here with you. Now what? You’re kidnapping me and asking for ransom money next?”

She giggles. “First of all, you came here on your own will. I never forced you or anything. Second of all, that’s not a bad idea.”

“What, kidnapping me?” he asks.

“Yup. And the money part.”

“Too bad. I’m not that rich.”

“In that case, I will need to kill you then. Since you know about the whole plan.”

“Actually, I came up with the plan.”

She bursts into laughter, and he follows right after. “You know what? We make pretty good partners-in-crimes. We can make a whole lot of money,” she jokes.

“We sure do.”

He likes this feeling. Loosening up, being silly, and laughing at the smallest things. It has been a long while since he has felt this way. After spending so much time locking himself in either the studio or his house, getting away from all of those stressful things brings some sort of delight and joy. He wonders if this is the freedom that everyone talks about.

“Thanks for bringing me here, anyway.”

Fantasma has brought him to a small village not too far from Seoul. It is almost like a ghost town, since there are not much people who live in the village. Most of the younger generations moved out to the big cities like Seoul, leaving only the elderly people behind.

Both of them are lying on the beach just metres away from the village, feeling the sun on their skin with their eyes closed. The weather is perfect, despite it being a little cold.

Junhyung glances at Fantasma, questioning himself about her. Somehow, for some unexplainable reasons, being with her does not feel strange. In fact, he feels comfortable spending time with her, as if that is the most normal thing to do.

“Why are you staring at me that way?” she suddenly asks, startling him.

“How did you know I am staring at you?”

She smiles. “I just know.”

 “Aren’t you cold?” he asks. She is still wearing the same dress.

“I’m fine,” she answers.

He gets up and takes off his jacket, and puts it on her.

“You don’t have too.”

“You’ll catch a cold. Besides, I still have my cardigan.”

For a moment, they both fall silent. She stares at him, sighing. Her face looks intense, like she is thinking hard about an issue that concerns her. “Can I ask you something?” she finally speaks, breaking the stillness.

“Sure.”

“About, uh, about the girl. Bomi.”

“What about her?”

“You never answered my question before,” says her. Cautiously, she asks again. “How did she die?”

He furrows his eyebrows. His forehead creases as he falls into a deep thought. “I don’t remember,” he finally replies.

“You don’t remember?”

He tries to recall the piece of memory which seemingly has been forgotten. Still, no matter how hard he forces himself to remember, all he can see is the image of him, Doojoon and Bomi together as little kids. “It's more like… I can’t remember.”