Hongbin stood stock still at the sight of the figure behind Taekwoon’s desk. How had he not felt the spirit before entering the room? He shifted his focus from the face of the figure to his hands, which were resting softly on the shoulders of his new boss. The figure’s index fingers were slowly rubbing from Taekwoon’s collarbones to his neck and back down. Speaking of Taekwoon, Hongbin was shocked by the state of Taekwoon’s face. He had on the poker face that Jaehwan had mentioned earlier, but his eyes were leaking tears made of the tar that haunted his dream. He looked back to the figure who was still silent behind Taekwoon. The figure stared back at him, but he leaned down so his arms were wrapped around Taekwoon’s shoulders and his chin rested on Taekwoon’s head. “Help him.” Was all the figure said before vanishing.

“-bin? Hongbin, are you okay?” Hongbin shook his head before looking at Taekwoon, noticing that the black tears had faded from his face. “Huh?” “I asked if you’re okay. You introduced yourself and then you zoned out.” Hongbin rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I’m fine. I must be coming down with something, I didn’t even realize I spaced out.” Hongbin let out a nervous chuckle after that. Taekwoon stood up from his chair and slowly walked over to Hongbin. He rested the back of his hand on Hongbin’s forehead. “You don’t feel warm, but if you do come down with something later in the day you should see a doctor. I don’t want anyone to catch anything.” Hongbin’s cheeks went a little pink as he nodded his head. “Will do Mr. Jung.” Taekwoon removed his hand, his face still devoid of emotion. “Good.” Taekwoon said as he walked to his desk. He then leaned back on the desk, crossing his arms across his chest. “Oh, and you don’t have to call me Mr.Jung. You can if it makes you more comfortable but most people in the office just call me Taekwoon.” Hongbin tilted his head a bit. “Which do you prefer?” Taekwoon bit his lip before answering. “I prefer Taekwoon.” “Taekwoon it is then.”  Taekwoon gave him a small smile. “So do you have any questions for me?” Hongbin badly wanted to ask about the figure he had seen. He wasn’t sure how but the figure was connected to Taekwoon, and the connection was a strong one from what Hongbin felt. When the spirit was living the two must have been extremely close. But Hongbin knew he couldn’t ask, because he didn’t know Taekwoon that well and he wasn’t even sure what the figure wanted him to do. “I don’t think I have any. Jaehwan did a great job of showing me around so I guess I’m good for now.” “That’s good to hear. If any questions do come up don’t hesitate to ask. And welcome to the studio.”  Hongbin smiled widely before opening the door to leave the office.

Hongbin made his way to his desk before sitting down and letting out a huge breath. Jaehwan gave him a few pats on the back. “That good of a first meeting huh?” Hongbin rested his forehead on the desk. “I made a fool out of myself.” Jaehwan hummed in sympathy. “Yeah, he’s really intimidating at first. Don’t worry, he’ll warm up to you.” Hongbin nodded before he straightened himself up. “Can I ask a question about him?” Jaehwan nodded. “Do you know anything about him? Like outside of work?” Jaehwan hissed through his teeth. “Not much. He’s really private about what goes on outside of work. All I know is that he lives alone in his childhood home, and I had to get him really drunk for him to even tell me about that.” Hongbin nodded in understanding. “Okay, I was just curious.” Hongbin got to work after that. Or at least he tried his hardest to. The entire time he was working he kept thinking back to how the figure interacted with Taekwoon.

At the end of the day Hongbin walked back home still thinking about it. How did the figure and Taekwoon know each other? There were so many answers for that question. He felt like he needed a nap after all of the mental gymnastics his brain was doing to try and figure out how he would get the correct answer to his questions. He sighed deeply as he finally made it home. He flopped onto the couch, looking at the ceiling of his living room. Something else that had consumed his thoughts throughout the day was how the figure had died. The hospital clothes told Hongbin that either the figure had died in the hospital, or he visited the hospital frequently when he was alive. The fact that the figure changed his appearance in death told him that the figure didn’t want to look how he did when he died. But how did the tar play into it? Surely there weren’t any pits of tar lying around to drown in. So was the tar more of a symbol of something else that contributed to his death? Hongbin rubbed his eyes in frustration. There were too many questions. Hongbin decided the next day he would go snooping around some public records. Maybe there would be something about the figure there. If the figure was connected to Taekwoon, and Taekwoon was living in his childhood home, then maybe there would be something about the connection the two had in some newspapers. Hongbin got off the couch and made some dinner. He wasn’t the best cook but his grandmother had taught him enough to not starve to death. After eating his dinner and cleaning up after himself Hongbin went to bed. He was a little afraid of being visited during the night again, but maybe this time he would learn more about the figure.

Hongbin opened his eyes to a room he didn’t recognise. The room was much bigger than his, and instead of calming blue the walls around him were grey. The floor under the bed he was sitting on was full of toys. He heard a noise by the door, and the dog from his other visitation stood there. “So we meet again.” Hongbin said to the dog. The dog ran up to him and sat in between in crossed legs. The little dog rested his head on Hongbin’s calves. “Oh so we’re in the right place this time?” The dog let out a huff. Two boys ran into the room, laughing while they chased each other around the room. “You can’t catch me Taekwoonie!” One of the boys said. “Taekwoon?” Hongbin looked at the other boy in the room, and sure enough he looked like a younger version of Taekwoon. He had the same sharp eyes and round face. The biggest difference was his hair, since the Taekwoon he knew had silvery locks. But who was the other boy? When Hongbin got a good look at him he realized it was the figure as a child. So Taekwoon and the spirit had known each other since childhood? Hongbin continued to watch the scene in from of him. The boys continued to laugh and chase each other. But suddenly the boy playing with Taekwoon stopped running. He was clutching at his stomach, his eyes squeezing in pain. “Wonshik? Wonshik what’s wrong?” The figure,  who he now knew was named Wonshik, collapsed, and it sounded like he was struggling to breath. Taekwoon grabbed Wonshik’s shoulders, shaking him a bit before running off. Hongbin could hear him shouting, “MOM! Come quick something’s wrong with Wonshik!” Just then the room started spinning around him, changing from the messy room he was in to a hospital room.

Wonshik was laid in a bed in front of him, his breath still wheezing. He was wearing an oxygen mask and was on an IV drip. Taekwoon sat by his side, tightly grabbing onto his hand. There was a woman standing behind him, if Hongbin had to guess she was Taekwoon’s mother, slowly petting Wonshik’s hair. Taekwoon looked extremely distressed, which was understandable given what had happened. “Mom, Wonshik is going to be okay, right?” Taekwoon looked up at the woman, who smiled softly at her son. “Of course he is. He’ll get better, we just have to wait to see what the doctor says will help.” A man walked in at that time, but from what Hongbin could see he wasn’t a doctor. Taekwoon looked at the man. “Hi Dad.” Taekwoon’s father smiled at him. “Hey champ, how are you?” Taekwoon shrugged his shoulders. “I’m okay. I’m more worried about Wonshik.” Taekwoon’s father patted him on the back. “Don’t worry Taekwoon, Wonshik will get better. And when he wakes up the first face he’ll see is his big brother’s right?” “Big Brother? They’re Brothers?” Hongbin thought to himself. It made sense since he saw that there were no other adults in the room. Hongbin smacked his forehead from not realizing sooner that they were brothers. He looked back at the scene, their mother was speaking. “Wonshik will get better, and once he does we’ll do everything to make sure he doesn’t have to come back here. Okay Taekwoon?” Hongbin looked to the side of her and saw the older version of Wonshik, the version he had come to know, was standing next to his mother. “Liar.”

Hongbin woke up suddenly. he wasn’t sure what woke him up since it didn’t seem like the dream he was having was finished. He let out a sigh before covering his face with his hands. “Liar? What does he mean by liar?” Hongbin sat up in bed, stretching his arms out. The deeper he got into this spirit’s history the more confused he became. He had new information that made it a little clearer, like the fact that the spirit’s name was Wonshik and the connection he shared with Taekwoon was that of a sibling. But the Wonshik he knew was older, so he hadn’t died that day at the hospital. So how did he die? Was Taekwoon connected to his death in some way? And why did the older Wonshik call his mother a liar? What was she lying about? Hongbin looked up from his lap and froze.

Wonshik was sitting at the end of his bed.