TW: Mentions of suicide

Jimin hadn't always been able to see ghosts. The first time he'd ever been able to see one was when he was around seven. At the time, he had still been an immature kid who hadn't been aware he was seeing things others couldn't see. The first ghost he'd ever encountered was during a family vacation to a secluded resort. His parents had rented a furnished house in the woods that was right next to a large lake and surrounded by trees. There rented house was next to a few other houses that could be rented as well. That summer, only two others had been in use, and neither of those families had any children. One family consisted of a newly married couple who had gone there for their honeymoon. The other family consisted of a grandma, grandpa and their three grown-up children who were there to enjoy a small family get together before the youngest got married and the eldest had a child. So, Jimin and Jihyun were the only children there. Since they were young, they loved being outdoors and being in the middle of the woods meant lots of places to explore.

The two siblings would often run around playing near the lake. Their parents would keep watch from the balcony of their rented house. And the two other couples who'd rented houses nearby would also keep an eye on the children whenever they saw them outside, not wanting anything bad to happen to them. However one day during their vacation Jimin and Jihyun fought over something rather trivial, and Jihyun refused to play with Jimin anymore for the time being.

Jimin was angry with his little brother and was just fine not playing with the younger. But his parents didn't like when they fought, so they were restricted from going outside until they made up. But neither of the siblings wanted to make up, so they remained inside. However, while Jihyun was watching TV and their parents were taking a nap, Jimin snuck out without informing anyone. He went to a section of the lake the two had found earlier on in the trip, it was a spot that was sort of hidden from view, which would make it harder for their parents to see what they were up to when they were being mischievous.

While Jimin just walked around he found a long stick and picked up. Being the creative little child he was he began to imagine the stick was a sword and the trees were the demons threatening the kingdom he was the knight of.

"Be gone you demons!" He yelled waking at the surrounding trees with the stick and pretending to dodge blows thrown by the invisible enemies. As he was playing by himself he suddenly heard someone behind him laughing. Turning to look around he found a tall man, with silver hair, blue eyes, and a warm smile, leaning against one of the trees. Jimin stared at the man somewhat afraid, despite the serene expression the other had, as his parents had always warned him to stay away from strangers.

"You look like you're having fun." The man said smiling at Jimin kindly trying to show he meant no harm.

"Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers," Jimin whispered backing away. The stranger laughed and nodded.

"And your mommy is right. Listen to her about that, not everyone in this world is kind." The man warned in a light tone as the smile remained on his face.

"Then I shouldn't talk to you," Jimin stated confused.

"Hmm if you think I'll hurt you then you shouldn't. But I really don't mean any harm. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to play with me? Isn't it lonely playing all by yourself?" The man asked. Jimin nodded a little at that.

"Yea...but Jihyunie is being a meanie! We fought and now he refused to play with me and called me a baby, but he's the real baby! He's five and I'm seven!" Jimin stated pouting and recalling their argument earlier.

"Ah..I see. What did you two fight over?" The man asked smiling fondly at Jimin as he came closer. Jimin didn't even notice the other was coming closer as he began to rant about Jihyun and their petty argument, exaggerating all the details. The man chuckled as he offered Jimin a solution to the problem and Jimin stared at him in awe realizing the solution could work.

"Thank you, mister!" Jimin said cheerfully. The man just nodded and ruffled his hair before picking up a stick from the ground.

"So want to have a sword fight little one?" The man asked and Jimin nodded eyes shining and forgetting all about his mom's advice not to interact with strangers. He began playing with the man who entertained Jimin for most of the afternoon. It wasn't until he heard his mom calling his name in a panicked voice that he even realized that a lot of time had gone by.

"Oh no! I'm going to be in so much trouble!" Jimin said as he heard his mom call him. He was now worried about being punished as he shouldn't have left without permission.

"You should go." The man said to Jimin.

"But mom is going to be so mad at me. I wasn't supposed to leave without telling her or daddy." Jimin said in a guilty voice.

"Oh is that so? That's not good little one. Your mom must be so worried about you now. Hurry go to her, she won't punish you, trust me. Just run to her now and apologize. But don't mention meeting me ok?" The man said pushing Jimin's shoulder lightly to get him going. Jimin pouted turning to look at the man one last time before running to where he heard his mom calling.

The man had been right, Jimin's mom didn't punish him when he ran to her and apologized for going out without telling them. Instead, she made him promise never to run off like that again and looked relieved more than anything else to see him safe. Jimin wanted to tell her about the man he'd met in the woods but he'd asked Jimin not to, so Jimin kept it secret. The only one who spoke to about the meeting was his little brother once they'd made up.

The next day the man was nowhere to be seen and Jimin wondered where he'd went but forgot about it quickly as he played with his little brother in the lake. Sadly, Jihyun caught a cold that day and so the next day Jimin was on his own yet again. Jimin was by the lake again playing in the little bits of sand that was there while his father talked on the phone and watched him from the balcony. As he played in the sand, he heard someone approach him. He looked up and saw the man again. The man smiled at him and Jimin smiled back waving happily at him. There was something different about him this time though, but Jimin couldn't tell what was different.

"Hey, there little one." The man said coming closer and crouching down next to Jimin.

"Why do you call me little one?" Jimin asked the other looking up at him.

"Well, I don't know your name now do I?" The man asked chuckling and Jimin giggled realizing he hadn't told the other his name.

"Jimin. My name is Jimin!" Jimin said happily.

"Well then, nice to meet you Jimin." The man said ruffling his hair.

"What's your name mister?" Jimin asked curiously.

"Hmm, you can just call me grandpa." The man said.

"But you're not my grandpa?...and you don't look so old," Jimin said innocently, causing the man to laugh yet again and nod.

"Ah yes I forgot. Well, just pretend I'm your grandpa for now?" The man asked and Jimin just shrugged going along with it.

"Ok," Jimin replied and went back to building his sandcastle.

"What are you building?" The man asked watching Jimin intently.

"Castle!" Jimin answered brightly as he continued to build. The man merely nodded and continued to talk with Jimin. Jimin answered as he continued working on his sandcastle.

"Jimin! Who are you talking to?" Jimin heard his dad ask him a few minutes later after he'd hung up the phone. Jimin looked back at his dad confused and then looked at the man next to him who smiled mysteriously and held a finger to his lips shaking his head.

"Uh...no one?" Jimin answered back uncertainly.

"Ok...well come inside, it's time for lunch." His dad said as he headed inside.

"Daddy can't see you?" Jimin asked confused.

"He can. He's just playing a game with you ok? All adults will play this game with you, they all pretend they can't see me"

"A game? What kind of game?"

"It's an adult game. Don't worry about it Jimin, you'll get it when you grow up too. Now off you go!" The man said motioning for Jimin to go inside. Jimin nodded and went back inside to have lunch all the time wondering what kind of game this was, and why adults would play it. It seemed kind of mean, to pretend you couldn't see someone.

Over the course of the rest of the week, Jimin saw very little of the man, and only ever when he was alone. Maybe he should have been suspicious of that, but he never was. Instead, he thought it was all because others were pretending not to see the man. That was until Jimin saw the man by the lake one day and ran up to him, his little brother in tow.

"Grandpa, what are you doing so close to the water?" Jimin asked the man not noticing Jihyun's confused look. The man didn't respond, he didn't even look at Jimin, he continued to look out over the water before suddenly walking into the water ever so slowly. Jimin just watched in confusion and asked the man again what he was doing.

"Hyung...who talking to?" Jihyun asked in his small voice causing Jimin to turn to him.

"What do you mean? I'm talking to that man who's in the water." Jimin replied.

"What man? No one there?" Jihyun said confused.

"Don't you see him? Or are you pretending like all the grown-ups do?" Jimin asked growing irritated. Even Jihyunie was playing the game? How did his younger brother even know the game?

"Hyung...no yell," Jihyun said not understanding why his older brother was yelling at him, they weren't fighting right now.

"Sorry," Jimin said to the younger feeling guilty then he looked back at the lake to see the man was now up to his neck in water and still going. Jimin yelled at him to stop and began to panic thinking the man was going to drown.

He let go of his younger brother and went into the water to get closer and yell at the man to stop, thinking maybe the man hadn't been able to hear him from the shore. Jimin ignored his younger brother who is yelling at him to come back because neither of them had learned how to swim very well yet. He only planned to go a little ways in but before he knew it he was up the water was up to his chest and when he took another step forward his feet were suddenly no longer on the sandy bottom of the lake. Suddenly he plunging down into deep waters. Jimin screamed and tried to use the techniques his father had been teaching him this summer but the current here was strong and he couldn't fight it. He was beginning to drown and as he did he out.

When Jimin came to, he was back in bed with his parents sitting beside him. His dad was standing by the window glaring at the lake while his mom sat in a chair with her hands covering her face. Jimin groaned as he moved slightly. HIs body hurt and he was finding it difficult to move around. When his mother heard him groan her head shot up and she shot up and looked at Jimin.

"You're awake!" She said loudly, tears coming into her eyes as she leaned down and hugged him tightly. Jimin groaned again as his body ached from the sudden hug.

"Don't hold on so tightly honey, we don't know if he's got any other injuries yet." Jimin's dad said looking at Jimin worriedly.

"What happened?" Jimin asked when his mom pulled back after kissing his cheek.

"That's what I'd like to know Jimin. We told you to never go into the water without us, so why did you?" Jimin's dad asked looking quite upset.

"He was going to drown," Jimin said frowning as if the answer was obvious.

"Who was going to drown?" Jimin's mom asked looking shocked and panicked.

"He told me to call him grandpa," Jimin answered.

"Grandpa?" Mr. Park asked confused.

"Yea, the man you both pretend not to see and keep asking me who I'm talking to. He said you do that cause of a game, but daddy I don't get it, what kind of game is that?" Jimin asked.

Jimin's mother and father looked at one another, worry clearly written on their faces. Jimin's mom looked back to Jimin and tried to explain something, "Jimin, honey, there's never been any man by you. You were always talking to yourself."

"No, I wasn't. He was there! Why do you all keep ignoring him like that? It's mean!" Jimin said growing upset.

"Jimin!" His dad said in a warning tone, "Don't yell....we're not ignoring anyone. No one was there Jimin."

"But he was! Jihyun was pretending to! But he must have seen him! The man said it was only an adult game!" Jimin insisted.

"We already spoke with Jihyun, he told us you were seeing things." Jimin's mom said frowning.

"I'm not!" Jimin yelled as tears of frustration made their way to his eyes.

"Ok honey...ok, can you describe the man? And what you've been talking to him about?" His mom asked.

"He was tall...had silver hair and blue eyes...and...he always wore the same clothes. He also talked a lot about his wife...he said he didn't want to leave her. He talked a lot about his family... He said his daughter was going to have a baby soon.and that it was going to be a boy...and other things." Jimin answered trying to remember the things the man had told him.

"Wait...did he ever say what his daughter's name?" his dad asked.

"Uh..." Jimin thought and then nodded, "He called her Mina."

"Jimin...that's the name of the young woman from two houses over who's pregnant. She's here with her parents, and her father just recently was hospitalized this week. He has silver hair and blue eyes...Are you trying to say you saw his ghost or something?" his mom asked.

"What? No, her dad was old." Jimin said but as he thought about it he realized that the man had looked a lot like the lady's father. And as the week had progressed the man had been looking more and more older.

"...Jimin how long have you been seeing this man?" Jimin's dad asked.

"I don't know...just this week?" Jimin said very confusedly.

"Alright...I think you should rest son. Go to sleep." His dad continued pushing him down onto the bed softly and covering him with the bed sheets. Both his parents kissed his forehead and then closed the lights before leaving the room.

Jimin stayed up thinking. He didn't get it. The man had looked like the lady's father now that he thought about it but he was a younger version of the lady's father. But no one could see him, and they seemed serious about not seeing him. His mom and dad weren't playing a game. But why did the man lie? Was he really a ghost? Ghosts were supposed to be scary though, weren't they? The man was never scary, just mysterious. Jimin didn't know what to think anymore.

They ended their vacation early and returned home a couple days later. And when they got home, Jimin noticed there was a lot of people in their city that everyone would ignore. It confused Jimin, and when he talked to those people who everyone would ignore, his parents would frown.

After observing their child for a couple of weeks, Jimin's parent's decided to send him to see a psychologist. And with that, things took a turn for the worst. In the psychologist's office Jimin had claimed to see a young woman who looked much like the psychologist and when the psychologist asked him to ask the woman for a name, Jimin had ended up saying the psychologist's sister's name. Horrified the psychologist had suggested Jimin be sent to a mental asylum. It didn't take much to convince Jimin's parents to send him there and so a week later Jimin found himself someplace new with no way of leaving. He was scared being all alone and he still didn't understand why things had become like this.

However, he learned. He learned that the people he was seeing weren'