Class had finally been released and at that moment everyone was rushing to gather up their stuff and scurry out of class in hope that maybe if they left fast enough the teachers wouldn’t care enough to pull them off to the side for things they did during the class period. Students from each and every class began to pour into the halls like a tsunami of chatter and disoriented voices mingling into a cluster that devoured everything from the marbled floors to the busted lockers, those who were to slow to escape the waves were only engulfed in them and bumped from place to place.

By the end of the day, MJ was left with more questions than he had answers and oh, how it confused him. He stood outside of the school with his backpack in his hands, Sanha posted at his side with the sleeves of the others hoodie tucked down over his hands and his head ducked lot still in slight terror of the events that happened only hours ago.

“What was that thing?” He’d ask, referring to the bracelet that seemed to have expose his inner-form and it frightened him to think that a mortal could hold such a thing like an accessory.

MJ held his silence simply for the fact he didn’t even have an answer but he was determined to figure it all out, or pester Jinwoo until the other cracked under the pressure and spilled everything. One way or another, he was going to figure all this out but all those thoughts were set aside by the sudden appearance of his friends.

Eunwoo and Rocky both knocked MJ off his feet by running at full force from the swinging doors, followed by a confused Moobin carrying not one, not two, but three backpacks just and regretted his choice of agreeing.

“Can you two, I don’t know, give me a warning next time you dive-bomb me..” MJ murmured from the ground, the two laughing boys atop of him before high fiving one another as Moonbin took a spot besides Sanha.

“Sanha, is it..? Can.. you take one of these?” He’d whisper, the demon pausing before simply nodding, taking one of the supposedly heaviest bags and holding it to his chest.

“Minhyuk.. Dongmin..” MJ groaned out from beneath the small pile,”Get off.” Surely, his tone must’ve sounded like an angry mothers, but it worked at least. The two laughing boys got to their feet, being sure to help the other up as well.

“Is your cousin joining us for Fright-Night?” Rocky piped up with a smile, dusting himself off while looking to Sanha with curiosity.

Please, no.

“I don’t think he’s into that kind of stuff, y’know? I think I’m probably going to just bring him home, that’d be a lot easier for him to handle. He’s-..” Before he could even finish, Sanha took this as the opportunity to stay out of that glass prison for as long as he could, despite knowing that someone knew what he truly was. It’d take a lot more than confusion and terror to keep him in that void.

“I think I’ll go.” He’d chime and at almost an instant would be struck with a dangerous stare from MJ himself as if demanding him to take back what he just said, but the defiance was strong with this one.

“I don’t.. want to be home alone.” Sanha piped up, and oh, how MJ looked like he was about to kick him in the shins for using his own absolute lie against him.

“Oh, I think it’ll be fine if he joins us! I mean, the more the merrier.” Eunwoo said as he straightened out his jacket as the other two agreed with him.

“Yeah! Plus, it’d be nice to have someone new to convert into this little cult we have going on.” Although Rocky was joking, he had to admit the things they did were pretty cult-like without the sacrificing and sacred rituals. At least they thought.

“We’d have to ask Jinwoo first, you know how he is with people just.. showing up to his house and he barely knows Myungjun’s cousin at the slightest. Sure, it’d be nice for him to join us though the decision is still down for Jinwoo to decide..” Having shot down the the two’s brick walls of joyfulness and having built MJ a house of glass by seeming like he was on his side it made him feel absolutely right. At least now he’d be able to put this damned demon back into his mirror and not worry about him physically for a couple of nights, all would be well-.

“He can come.” The said boy called out from behind the group.

And just like that, Myungjun’s glass house was crumbling right before him into nothing but clusters and shards while the walls of the duo were repaired and stronger than ever. He stood no chance.

“As long as he leaves his shoes at the door and doesn’t try to physically destroy my house, he’s welcome to join us. Now, let’s get going, go get your stuff and I’ll meet you at my house.” Jinwoo would sigh out while walking on off to get his bike, his group casting him the slightest of glances at his messy hair and blush colored marks along his neck and face, his hoodie a bit messy. Having never seen their captain is such a way, it sparked more than enough theories, but for some reason.

“Is he dating that one guy from earlier?”

Sanha was the only one to voice it, and boy how it sparked quite the storm as he could feel the way almost all eyes were staring right through him in a disturbed manner, but Jinwoo’s stood out the most since it felt almost as if he were going to die right then and there just from a crooked glance and just for a split second all eyes narrowed back to their captain vacant in thought.

They didn’t know what to think or feel at this point and wanted a damn answer and staring intently at the latter from the distance seemed to be the only option that would keep them from being pushed in front of a bus or set on fire during a ‘accidental’ burner incident in Science Class.

“No.” Rocky chimed on in.

The sigh of relief was almost more insulting than the staring, but Jinwoo could have cared less considering he was already down the street by now without any words to spare, no goodbyes, no waving, just nyoom, just gone and ready to be home again at this rate.

“Jinwoo and Seunghwan just have this awkward rivalry going on, Sanha, I mean, it’s possible that it can be like some dramatic movies where two enemies fall in love and by the end of it have a forbidden relationship, but.. They have this sense of hatred for each other and none of us ever really got to know why, it popped up one day and stuck around ever since. Seunghwan lives to torment Jinwoo and Jinwoo lives to knock him down, in a sense.” He’d continue on before setting down one of the two backpacks he held, stretching his arms out to help relieve the straining feeling.”It’s strange.”

Eunwoo nodded his head in agreement while picking up his bag and holding it by a strap,”Honestly, we don’t know much about it either and we’ve been friends with him since he transferred here a few years back..” Though the confession was suppose to lead to an answer, all it left was more god damn questions in the back of Sanha’s head.

After a couple more minutes of discussing and vacant chatter, they all said their temporary goodbyes as one by one they all took their leaves. Moonbin, MJ and Sanha all got onto their bus with a slight hassle, considering Sanha wasn’t recognized by the Bus Driver,  Rocky waited patiently talking with his friend until his mother came to pick him up and after all of them were gone Eunwoo began walking his way home, Jinwoo probably being in the comfort of his own home at this time.

MJ had managed to find a couple of empty seats on the bus to hunker down into and pulled Sanha down besides to him by the window to assure that the boy didn’t try to do anything or, well, move. Better safe than sorry at this point.

“I’ll give you ten dollars to bring the ouija board.”

God dammit, Moobin.

“Is my life worth JUST ten dollars to you?” MJ let out a scoff, ashamed that kid he spent his whole life growing up with will only off ten dollars for him to practically risk his life. That wasn’t even enough to buy himself anything nice for his funeral.

“Would you be offended if I said yes?”

“Yes.”

“Then no, your life is not worth just ten dollars.”

“If a demon comes out of that board, I’m sacrificing you to it first.”

Sanha just kind of sat there looking from one boy to the other with brows knitted in slight confusion, why would these two want to mess with such a cursed object as if it were just a toy to be used for amusement? Hadn’t MJ have learned his lesson after messing around with a book and summoning him, from the comfort of his own realm, into this one?

Is this what humans did on their spare time?

“Have you ever used an ouija board, Sanha?” Moobin questioned, breaking through the other’s train of thought and causing MJ to turn his head to stare for a moment.

“Yes,” Nodding his head in response, Sanha slowly tucked his hands into the pocket of the hoodie. This sparked more clustered thoughts into MJ’s head.

“Anything happen? Everytime we use ours Eunwoo is always moving the planchette, so we can’t really tell for sure if something does happen.”

Oh, if only he knew.

“It’s.. strange, I contacted a young lady named Aline, she seemed sweet and never wanted to hurt anyone, she was just lonely. She managed to keep in close contact with the board, even the looking glass you could see her brown eyes within it. Things got colder, and with time she was suddenly feeling as if she had been drained on all life. It didn’t matter how much the.. planchette moved, whatever letter it landed it, it felt like a cry for help but there was nothing on one could do. It was like a demon had attached themself to her and slowly she became drained.”

His voice began to falter off into silence, almost like Sanha had nothing more to add onto it. Though the question could’ve been answered with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, the story added more of an effect.

MJ himself was surprised, amazed that this creature could form such a semi-decent lie, but it felt to real and he felt as if there was more to it that the other couldn’t share with them. It was just a cold feeling.

Moonbin on the other hand looked rather saddened,”I never thought a spirit could have that much control over the board, to be honest, or that they COULD control it..” He’d murmur on out, flopping back into his seat as the bus began to move.

The two in the seat shared nothing more than stale silence before MJ carefully placed a hand on Sanha’s arm.

“Was that a true story?” He’d question, only to receive no answer or even a glance from the demon for a moment.

“An ouija board isn’t a game to play unless you know what to do, they have rules that shouldn’t be broken.” Pulling the hood down slightly over his face, Sanha drifted off once more without an explanation.

Just for a moment, MJ felt sympathy for the demon even if there was nothing to be sympathetic of, just the way the hyper demeanor died down in a matter of seconds concerned him but it was none of his business. For now, at least, though one question lingered.

What role did Sanha play in the story?

The silence between the three went on for a good while, or at least until they were dropped off at their bus stop. Moobin took a turn down the street to head to his house to get a couple of things before he’d meet up with the others again at Jinwoo’s house, not wanting to show up empty-handed, leaving Sanha and MJ behind in heavy atmosphere while walking on to MJ’s house.

“When we get to my house, I’m going to give you a pair of my older brothers clothes, alright? I don’t think mine would fit you very well since you’re..”

Taller. Taller would be the right word he was looking for.

“I thought you’d rather put me in the mirror again.” Sanha blinked, confused once more considering it was a demand earlier but now he was suddenly free to interact with the group?

“I want to, but, you already dug yourself a grave by using my own lie against me in the process of it all. Plus, even if I did put you back into mirror you’d still follow me and I don’t think it’d be a good idea to have you hoping from mirror to mirror in someone else’s house.”

“Well, you have a point there..”

MJ would chuckle at the comment, perhaps the first time Sanha had heard such a joyful sound from the small, demon summoning fool. It was strangely comforting and he had no idea why but oh, he loved the sound of laughter; something he was deprived from in his realm.

“How sensitive are the horns?” He’d question aloud, entering the house calmly, closing the door behind them before making his way up the stairs.

“Well, if you’re planning on grabbing them, I will have no other choice than to break your hands.” Sanha claimed, following along behind him.

“Since you’re, well, here, you’re going to have to hide them. If you haven’t noticed, humans don’t have fangs, glowing eyes, horns, claws, we’re basic yet complex at the same time.” MJ hummed out while entering his brother’s old and abandoned room, everything neat and tidy, not a single article of clothing on the floor and the corners of the bed tucked in. It differed much from MJ’s own room.

Completely.

A normal person’s first instinct would’ve been to just ing dive onto the bed and sprawl themselves out atop the covers, but, Sanha was not a normal being at the slightest and looked more confused than anything else in the world as he watched MJ pull out a small bundle of folded clothes from the drawers. A pair of old jeans, a white shirt with thin dark blue stripes and a beanie in hope that maybe it wouldn’t irritate his horns before moving on to get a pair of shoes that might actually fit the demon considering strangely enough, no one had noticed he was wearing only socks.

No one cares enough to look at your feet in Highschool. No one.

“Give me back my hoodie and put these on, it’ll make you look less like a sociopath and more like a normal teenager who sits at Starbucks with a Macbook and eats about four scones and drinks nothing but pure coffee because of finals.”

“What?”

“Nothing, get dressed.”

And with that comment he left the room, hoping Sanha was at least functional enough as a living being to know how to get dressed.

MJ entered his own room with a sigh passing through his lips, grabbing the chair at his desk and dragging it on over to the closet to reach the box hidden on the top shelf behind a couple of old and discolored action figures from over the years. (Safely) Stepping off of the chair he brought the box over to his bed and dropped it onto the covers, considering on if bringing any of this stuff to Jinwoo’s house would be a good idea.

It was a terrible idea, but that’s what made it a great one.

Opening the box he felt a smile creep onto his face as he all the junk he had held so dearly all these years, and a this point he felt like the keeper of treasure. A blue polaroid camera that has lost it shine, a walmart voice recorder with a smile drawn onto it by sharpie that has faded but hasn’t completely been wiped away, a thermal cam that looks in pristine condition compared to the other items, a bundle of flashlights that have initials written along them, a stack of small notebooks written with things like ‘Rituals’ , ‘Stories’ , ‘Haunted Places’ across the front, a deck of pictures from the polaroid camera of disfigured silhouettes and the group, some old crumbled and faded drawings he made as a child and last but not least; an ouija board buried beneath it all.

Though he smiled down upon the forgotten treasures of his items, a thought danced within his head that caused that beaming smile to falter away into a frown.

All he could picture was the kitchen of his house, his mother standing by the stove and his father leaning back against the counter with his fingers pinching the temples of his nose, as if in agitation.

“There is something wrong with your son..”

“My son? He’s your son too and there is nothing wrong with him!”

“Do you see the things he draw?! No normal six year old would draw such grotesque creatures, he gives them name, Miyong! He told his teacher that the monsters are always watching them, ready to eat the ‘bad kids’, what kid does that?”

“He’s a child, Myungdae..”

“NORMAL children are drawn to dolls, cartoons, action figures, silly shows and comic book heros, but Myungjun isn’t like them. Graveyards, ghosts, horror movies, monsters, he’s six years old for god’s sake..”

“He’ll grow out of it..”

“He needs help, and that friend of his isn’t much better.”

The voices grew disoriented as did the memory only for it to falter away into another one. This time, it was the school yard in fourth grade, sitting on the ground with pink chalk in his hand scribbling away monsters with sharp and pointed teeth, claws raised surrounding the silhouette of a person, being only ten at the time; his lines weren’t the best but he could always remember Jinwoo sitting on the ground besides him watching him with confused eyes. Just nine years old and ready to take on the world.

“What are you drawing?” The voice of Jinwoo asked, his squeaky voice laced with curosity.

“Eyeball.”

“That doesn’t look like an eye..”

“His name is Eyeball, he’s a thralian ripper.”

“A what?”

“Thralian ripper, the monster who comes out of the shadows and carries away the bad children to make them into soup and uses their bones to fill their dens.” That sentence alone caused MJ to snort, the memory continuing to play on as he stood to the side of him and Jinwoo’s younger self.

“Why do you call him Eyeball?”

“Well, he has only one eye and he has very good sight, but he’s also really squishy like one.”

Little Jinwoo withered slightly before letting out a laugh, for some reason it amused him.

“I’m Jinwoo, Park Jinwoo!”

“Kim Myungjun,”

 

The two shook hands, thinking it was apart of formal introduction as they had seen their teachers and parents do it all the time. At that moment he could notice the charm bracelet dangling from Jinwoo’s wrist.

“What’s that?” Little MJ pointed out.

“My mom said it was a protection charm, it’s suppose to keep me safe from the bad things..” Little Jinwoo would explain, jingling the charms with a wave of his hands.”I’m not supposed to take it off, but, it’s pretty!”

MJ smiling down at them with his arms folded over his chest but that happiness, on both the memory and rememberer faltered away as the chalk drawing was ruined by a stream of water, the dusty outlines fading leaving nothing more than scribbles.

Knowing it was just a memory, MJ himself could do nothing about it besides watch him and his friends younger self stare blankly up at the ones who ruined the chalk drawings.

“Weirdos..” The silhouette would grumble on out.”Why can’t you be normal?” The words, those damn words. Even though it was from the mouth of a twelve year old, it still hurt the two on a deeper level.

He watched the silhouette leave and vanish from sight in the abyss of his memories, turning his head slightly to peer at the two for a moment.

“My.. friend Dongmin likes monsters, too. He’s playing on over by the swings, c’mon.” Little Jinwoo then quietly took the other by the arm, pulling him off towards the playground and much like everything else, vanished from sight.

Lastly, another one would cross his mind, except now they were preteens in Middle School, full of social anxiety and lame jokes. He’d pace his way down the shimmering white hallway, blinded by the moving gray silhouettes that passed him by in what felt like an endless loop of laughter and chatter with the inability to focus on whatever anyone was saying but little did he care. He’d stop at what looked like the school’s cafeteria, eyes dancing about his surroundings as he approached a table.They all looked around the age of thirteen to fourteen and not as deep into their friendship as they were now.

Eunwoo sat at the table with a camera in his hands, a brand new one at that and looked absolutely delighted to show it to his friends, even snapping a couple of pictures to show them how it worked. Rocky at his side, holding a notebook with the word ‘Stories’ written across it, writing down a list of haunted places for ‘studying’ purposes and Moonbin was being the only naturally productive one by doing some homework. All that was missing was Jinwoo.

“It’s not the most high tech or advanced but everything comes out so clean and clear! Kind of, but that gives it that spooky aesthetic. I heard that if you capture it at the right moment, you can get ghosts, or the picture will print out blank due to the activity blocking it or something.” Younger Eunwoo would chime proudly while holding his camera close to his chest, having laid the photos he had taken out infront of them for the others to see.

“I’m keeping this one.” Rocky insisted as he ‘discreetly’ swiped one of photos of himself off into his pocket with a laugh.

“Go ahead! I’ll probably take a bunch more this week- Dude! Do you think I could capture something in the music room that people keep saying is haunted?” Gasping, Eunwoo was more than happy; you could see the stars in his eyes.

“You might, if it truly is haunted, we could debunk it or prove it~!” Moonbin chimed on in supportively with a nod of his head.

MJ looked to his past self in thought for a moment, noticing how he was looking around the room in a hesitant manner before suddenly pausing.

Oh, no, he remembered this and honestly, he wished he didn’t.

The disoriented voices all came to a sudden hush as he slowly turned his body around to see what the group was now looking at and there.

There stood Jinwoo in the middle of the cafeteria drenched in milk and his tray of food on the floor, but his hands out as if he were still holding it, a blank look on his face though you could tell his lip was quivering from either misery or rage.

Whoever did such a cruel act began laughing and dear god, it became a chain reaction as the silence was now broken by the eruption of laughter which sent Eunwoo and MJ over the edge but Eunwoo was first act.

Without hesitation Little Eunwoo set down his camera and rushed on over to the scene, sliding a bit on the milk as he shoved away the figures away from his friend.”Leave him alone, Seunghwan!” He’d yell in annoyance and protectively stood in front of the latter only to be shoved back into him.

“What are you going to do about, Eunwoo?”

As his past self got up to run to his friends aid, MJ followed him in hesitation.

“You and your little group of rejects are only liked because people sympathize you and you keep to yourselves, you’re your own problems, you’re all bark and no bite, you are willing to make comments but when that person is right in front of you, you back down.” The imagery of Seunghwan snapped,”Do you really think you fit in, JinJin? You left us for this group of freaks? I expected more of you. None of you will never be normal, accept it.” MJ felt absolutely sick to his stomach.

For a minute, no one knew how to react at what happened next.

The imagery of Jinwoo got to his feet, pulling away from Eunwoo he stormed on over to Seunghwan and threw the bastard to the ground only to tumble down with him, hands gripping him by the shirt as tears brimmed his eyelashes.

MJ couldn’t quite make out what he was yelling, or what exactly was happening as everything became disoriented again, only hearing the calling of his name echoing distantly in the back of his mind.

“MJ?” A voice called out again, followed by a loud clap of the hands.

Snapping back to reality, MJ lifted his head and looked around in visible confusion for a moment.”Who- what-?”

“Are you alright?” Sanha questioned with a slightly awkward smile,”You were kind of distant for a moment there, uh.. I’m.. ready to go when you are.

“O-oh! I’m alright, I was just..”

Staring at the box for a moment.

“Lost in thought, we’ll leave in a few.”

“Do.. I look normal?”

MJ glanced to Sanha, drifting off again at the question, the word ‘normal’ bringing back scenes from his memories.

“You look like Sanha, you don't have to be normal."