Prologue

Whispers

In a small town near the woods, the dark night illuminated by the bright full moon. The night fell into silence as the darkness loomed and the shadows grew. Lights were closed and so were the windows as the town fell asleep.

But seven eyes were awake this ungodly hour. Because that night marked a memory from the past. Or was it really from the past, or were they mere imaginations? Was it a fact, or just a child’s tale?

Kim Seokjin stared out the window. The moon was beautiful and peaceful, in contrast with the constricting feeling in his heart. On the other side of the door he leaned on, he heard hushed voices. He heard his father said he wanted out of the relationship, and his mother begging his father to stay.

Kim Seokjin was no longer a blind, innocent child. He knew what was going on. His father was seeing someone else, and his poor mother desperately clung to him. But Kim Seokjin has accepted that. He closed his eyes once again and listened to the whispers of the wind.

In that very moment, his phone vibrated. He opened his eyes and read the text message, a chill runs down his spine.

Min Yoongi sat alone in his room. It was another lonely birthday. His day passed with no one greeting him, not that it was a surprise. His parents were too busy to remember, the servants couldn’t even bother him. And his friends were no more.

It’s not that Min Yoongi wanted to celebrate his birthday anyway, at least not anymore. A memory in his childhood flashed back to him for a quick moment before Min Yoongi willed himself to forget. He mustn’t let himself remember it anymore. It doesn’t exist.

It was all a made-up fantasy from their childhood. Nothing more. The wind blows and whispers in his ears. In that moment, his phone ringed a text notification. Min Yoongi glanced at it, and his blood ran cold.

Jung Hoseok was a bright man. Until that dreadful day came and ruined his life. He was loved by all and he loved one man. He thought he loved him back too. But it was a grave mistake to assume because one kiss shattered everything.

Jung Hoseok was a nobody. Nobody but a shameful disgrace to his parents, to his friends—a shameful existence. He no longer has a companion in this world and he hated himself for causing it in the first place. He recalled the night from years ago and wondered, why didn’t he die back then? But then he shook his head.

He can’t die back then because then was nothing but a mere imagination. No one remembers. Jung Hoseok will not remember it as well. He stared at his hands as he listens to the silence. By then he heard a whisper in the wind before his phone dinged in a notification. He took it, and a lump formed in his throat.

Kim Namjoon was an excellent student. But despite his excellence, his parents cannot see the good in him. His father was a Certified Public Accountant and has won many awards since elementary. His mother was orphaned at a young age and has been independent since then. She lived on her own and graduated to become a successful doctor without asking for help.

Compared to them, Kim Namjoon’s excellence is insignificant. He’s not good enough to impress them. So he aimed higher. But his body cannot keep up with all the stress. Closing his eyes, Kim Namjoon willed his headache to disappear. He needed to study to become better. He needed to be better.

A flash of images from the past came to him and he shook his head to clear them. There were short familiar whispers but Kim Namjoon told himself that it was all in his mind. Just then, his phone vibrated and as he checked the new message, his eyes widened.

Park Jimin was singing this late at night. His head was getting dizzy from skipping dinner and his throat ached after exhaustion and coughing up blood from earlier. At any moment now, his body would collapse. But Park Jimin forces himself past the limit.

He wanted to break himself. Because he wanted out of this life for good. But whenever he held the blade against his wrists, fear clouded his mind and he jerked away. He’s a coward. He craved to die yet he feared death. Low, high, Park Jimin sang the notes beautifully. He wanted to be perfect so that he won’t disappoint anyone. He feared what they must be thinking.

He feared a lot of things. There were whispers in his mind before he coughs up blood once again. Just then, he thought he heard its voice once again. But it was gone, ever since that day. His phone vibrated and Park Jimin read it. He felt like he was going to puke.

Kim Taehyung was practicing the script of their latest play. They were having Hamlet for this semester’s play. He was practicing Prince Hamlet’s lines, getting himself engrossed in the role. He wanted to be more than just a minor character this time.

So he’s going to do his best to impress the teacher tomorrow. Maybe, he’ll finally become a main character for the first time. Or at the very least, become a significant one. But as he went through the script, the ghost part came and Kim Taehyung remembered the past.

The past that was a long time ago. It didn’t exist, Kim Taehyung believed. And so, it won’t exist. But the whispers of the wind say otherwise. His phone vibrated and he checked the new message. But when his eyes laid on the words, he dropped his phone on the ground with a loud thud.

Jeon Jungkook shut his phone off. It was the umpteenth time that he was scouted by persistent club officers. He refused them all the time but they never knew when to stop. And so, Jeon Jungkook cuts off all his mediums of communication—telephone, phone, laptop.

He plopped himself on the sofa and opened a book he has read since he was young, and probably was the only book he has read without falling asleep. Even if the book was a love story between a man and a ghost, it was Jeon Jungkook’s all-time favorite. Because it made him understand that no matter how much you love a person, it’ll always end up in a bittersweet goodbye if you truly weren’t made for each other.

This book was never published, but Jeon Jungkook held onto it because the author personally gave it to him. Even after all these years, he clung to it. He closed his eyes and remembered the voices of the past, but all he heard were the whispers of that memory.

His phone rang and Jeon Jungkook’s eyes shot open. Suddenly the room’s temperature dropped down by a few degrees.

Didn’t he turn his phone off?

He hesitantly took his phone and opened the messages.

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Friends…Let’s play...in the...woods

If someone noticed the reference to #InARelationshipWithAGhost then yay!! I love you. Here's the prologue for this story. Hope that piqued your interest.

-Chrysallion