I step on the break, stopping right in front of the old, two-story school building with a rather short tower—you’d mistake it as the third floor if you don't see well enough. I still remember the first time I went there: a call from old Mrs. Hong, the headmaster, saying that there were series of ghost sightings around the school land.

Now, it isn't the best place to introduce Sora to Inmates, but it's the nearest one. And seeing that it's already half past nine in the evening, near is what will do. Sora has been really noisy about seeing Inmates for four days, right after we met—and she talked to—a Weeper. She thinks she can just chat with any ghosts and now has this burning curiosity toward the Inmates, the only type of ghost Hunters don’t bother to kill.

“We’re here to see one Inmate, you get it?”

I park in front of the rundown school. 

Sora unbuckles her seatbelt. “Jeez, this is, what, the tenth time you’ve said that?” she huffs.

“Well, you can’t blame me. You seem to get stupid when it comes to numbers. Remember that Weeper on Thursday? You said you’ll talk to it for five minutes,” I say, crossing my arms. “No, you spent thirty minutes. You might as well have known her family history by now.” It seems to me that she's having trouble following orders. She seems to think 'bad' is 'good' and should poke it with a stick. I'm sure one of these days she’d get hurt because she won't listen.

“What are you going to do if I do know, anyway?” she challenges, mirroring his gesture.

I squint my eyes and lean forward, “I can always not give you a call and leave you out from all these fun.”

Again, she mirrored him. “You’re not going to do that. You like it that I’m here.”

I have to disagree with that. "Please, don’t flatter yourself,” I say. I get out of the car and head to the gate of the school.

Sora trails from behind. “How do we get in?”

“Easy," I say. I jump over the fence, landing on the other side of the gate. "It's not high."

"Isn't this breaking and entering?"

I shrug. "Maybe? Don't worry, I know the headmaster." I do, though I doubt she'd still be as friendly if something goes wrong and I end up turning the school upside down.

Not going to happen, though. One Inmate and we're out of here.

"Just jump over," I urge.

She climbs the gate, then at the top she stops. "If I fall--"

"I'll let you fall on to your ," I finish for her.

"Kai!"

The edge of my lips tugged. "Alright, I'll catch. Just do it."

She does, and fortunately, no catching involves.

We get into the school building. The wooden front door lets out a screeching sound as it opens.

My hand roam around the wall. “Brilliant, now we only have to find the switch because it’s—” I press a button that suspiciously feels like a switch. Rows of lights illuminate the building. “—Dark.”

Boring hallway, grey-painted walls, red lockers, white tiles, nothing new or exciting. I thought they would redecorated the place, give some color or something. The school is just the same from my last visit.

“Now, let’s catch some Inmates, shall we?”

Thirty minutes passed and there is no sign of a single Inmate. We checked every room within the building, including the one I was very sure there would be an Inmate. Nada.

“Are you sure about this school? It looks real bad but this is like the most un-haunted place I’ve ever been,” Sora says.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I retort. “Sixty-something years old building, no single renovation over the years, fat with teenagers from dusk to dawn, and …” I sweep a finger across the wall. Thick dust sticks on it. “Dirty—don't they ever clean the place?” I ask to no one, spacing out before I turn back to Sora again. “So, this place is the best place ghosts would reside in. Especially Inmates. Schools in general have numbers of Inmates--past deaths, former land, et cetera.”

Inmates linger around places that mean a lot for them, places that hold their memories. Many said that they are guarding the place, but I think they just want to be among the living, refusing to accept the fact that they're dead. I don't agree with that; not crossing over is just wrong. Nevertheless, Hunters respect the Inmates. If they don't make a scene, we won't kill them.   

“I don’t get half things you were saying but, I think I’ve just seen someone passed by,” Sora points at an end of the hallway.

I grin, “Then we shall follow it.” I dash, yanking Sora along with me. It will take forever with her short legs.

At the end of the hall, there is a classroom and a janitor room across from each other. I'm about to go for the locked classroom, but I catch something from my peripheral view. The janitor room is not locked. There is a gap, as if someone just opened it and forgot to shut it close. Inmates don't need to open a door. I'm not even sure if they can touch something. They aren't like the Damneds.

I'm so not liking this.

“What is it?” asked the girl on my left, shaking my hand that still squeezes hers.

“Nothing,” I say. I spin around so that I'm facing the janitor room. I push Sora lightly to my back. “It just seems like … there's something.” I push the door open with my foot … only to jump two steps back. “What the hell?”

Inside the janitor room is an Inmate, hiding behind a man with scaled skin and bad smell—Damned.

“Heaven’s sake, not again!” I'm so through with fighting Damneds. And I suppose, so is Sora. I hear her sighing as soon as she sees what's behind the door. “I just want a nice, quiet night chatting with goddamn Inmate and you have to show up.”

The Damned growls.

“Right, arrrghh,” I mock.

The thing growls again.

“Come on, why are you hiding behind this garbage?” I ask the Inmate, before turning back to the Damned. “You might take that as an offense because god, you smell like donkey’s poo in a dumpster full of dog’s poo.”

“Ew!” ew-ed Sora, “Who's hiding behind him?”

“The Inmate, can’t you see her? She looks a bit like you: short and full of attitude.” My arm stretch to my right, creating a barrier between the ghosts and Sora.

The latter pushes my hand away. “I am not full of attitude! And how can you even tell she has an attitute? I can barely see her!”

“Well, you’re short. She short. I see the other characteristics right away.”

“What kind of analysis was that?”

“My kind.”

“Whatever!”

A growl stops us. It comes from none other than the ugliest creature here. “Hunter, I hate Hunters,” it growls.

Let me tell you, Damneds aren't famous for talking—they usually just attack—let alone expressing his undying hatred. “I already know you lot hate me, thank you. Now, I’m asking you, Miss Inmate, what are you doing with that?” I point at the Damned.

A furious hiss chimes from behind me, “He will save this place!”

I instantly turn around, to the source of voice. The Inmate has teleported, now standing behind us. Sora jumps back, knocking into me. I steady her back, now looking back and forth between the Inmate and Damned.

“What do you mean, ‘save this place’?” I ask.

It's the Damned that answers, “They’re going to demolish the school. I’ve come to help.”

I furrow my brows. There's something wrong with that statement. I turn to the Damned, daring myself to go within one finger away from him, leaving Sora in the middle of the hall. The Damned is few inches taller than me and twice my size. Definitely not my match, but it has to be. I glare at it. The Damned raises its brow at me. I scan for its Core: left hip.

“Help?” I scowl. I put a finger on the Damned’s chest and give a push before saying, “You don’t ‘help’!” I step back, next to Sora—in case the Damned would suddenly attack. I point at the creature, then turn to the Inmate. “Damneds, forever chasing after human vessel. ‘Help’ isn’t even in their dictionary. You should know better than this, Missy. He’s from your world after all.”

“Is that an insult?” the Inmate hisses.

I nod. “I’m glad you're insulted. It means you are not the same as that stinking thing,” I put both of my hands on the Inmate's shoulders. It passes like there's nothing but air. I keep my hands on my sides. “Miss,—”

“Kai.”

A hand lands to my shoulder, but I shrug it off. Must be Sora, anyway. I focus on the Inmate. I have to convince her to take my side. Fighting a Damned and an angry Inmate isn't on top of my list. “Miss, I know you love this place—”

“Kai.”

I shrug the hand off again. “But let’s face it. It’s your time. Your time to—”

“Kai!”

“What?” I yell, turning to Sora, except that the girl is not beside me anymore. “What?” I mutter, before my gaze found the black hair I'm looking. I spin around in reflect. Clearing my throat, I try to relax. "Let her go,” I say.

“No,” the Damned retorts.

Having been working alone my whole life and working with a partner only for a short time, I have never been in this kind of situation; a situation where my partner is held by the neck by a ghost, where my every move could be a wrong step. Sora is kicking and everything to get out of its grasp, to no avail.

“I said, let her go,” I say again in the same careful voice.

“She’d make a good vessel.”

I shake my head. “No, really, no. She’s a girl. Girls work in a complicated way. You won’t cope with her system. Ever heard of period? Yes, they have it. You definitely don’t want to deal with it.”

“Better her than nothing.”

I run a hand through my hair, then turn back to the Inmate. “See? That’s what he wants. What his kind always wants. A vessel,” I say. “This school is full of kids, oblivious kids. You should be protecting them, they’re part of this damned place! Now you’ve given him the access to enter. He’s not leaving until he gets a vessel.” I sigh, exasperated. “He might as well call his friends over to enjoy kidsburger.”

“Kai!”

Sora's voice alarms me to go to attack mode. I pull out my daggers, facing the Damned. “Let her go, ugly.”

“You can’t kill me without harming her.”

“For a Damned, you sure talk much.”

“Just kill it!” Sora yells.

“Didn’t you hear? It can hurt you.” And it really can. Sora is now his shield. Unless I can teleport behind him, she's as good as dead.

“Oh, the hell with it,” Sora mutters. Then she does something I would put in the ‘ultimate gross things’ drawer. She sinks her teeth into the Damned’s arm, making the creature jerks away, giving a window for Sora to go back to my side.

I can't believe she just did that. Even I won't do that.

“What? Does he have cooties?” she asks, panting. It must be real thrilling to pull that trick off.

“What’s ‘cooties’?”

Sora shakes her head. “Nevermind.”

“If it means the deadly bacteria that would spread across your body within three minutes then …” There's a look of horror on her face, which I'd love to laugh at. “No, none of that. But I suggest you brush your teeth ten times more before going to bed. Now, I have to kill the thing.”

I march toward the Damned and attack. We wrestle inside the small janitor room. I'm not going to let him out. I find myself getting tired fast. The Damned might be a former soldier or ninja because he manages to dodge all my blows. I step back, holding up my hand. “Wait,” I pant. (I have no idea but he respect me catching my breath). All day going from house to house, killing ghosts, it tires me more than I realize. “Alright.” I charge again.

After some time attacking with no success, I yell in frustration, “What the hell are you made of?”

“I was a former boxer in my university. First place champion.”

I turned to Miss Inmate who's talking to Sora. I hope she's talking some sense into the ghost because I need a hand. If there is anyone who could help me, it's the Inmate. I'm not sure she’d comply—given it would take her back to Death and separate her spirit from the school. I rule out the helping-hand strategy.

I clear my throat loudly. It catches Sora's and the Inmate's attention. I tilt my head toward the Damned. I can only hope she gets the message, because the ugly ghost saw what I did and charge at me again.

When I glance back at the women, the Inmate is nodding at something Sora said. Then she vanishes, only to reappear behind the Damned. The thing is oblivious to her presence. I look at her with furrowed brows, my arms blocking the Damned's claws. I raise a brow, asking. Do you really want to do this?

The Inmate nods. She takes no time to enter the Damned. At first, it only stuns the creature. Then, very lowly, the Damned detaches itself from me. “I can’t hold much longer,” said the Damned, but I know it isn't him—it's the Inmate.

I lock my eyes with the ghost for a brief second. “I’m so sorry,” I say, then struck my dagger into its hip.

There is brief moment where the Damned seems to split into itself and the Inmate, like it's trying to set itself apart. To no avail, it melts, creating a black pool of liquid.

I watch as the liquid turns to smoke.

A small feminine voice chimes from behind me, "Her name's Kim Hana. She's a brave one."

I stop right in front of the three-story flat that looks even worse than my own. I'm not convinced someone as bright as Sora could live in a place so … grunge. The people who pass by the street don't look friendly at all. They must’ve thought Sora as an anomaly.

“Thanks!” Sora says, unbuckling.

“Are your parents okay with this?” I ask.

“With what?”

I point at the digital clock. “It’s nearly eleven. I wouldn’t be okay if my daughter comes home this late with some strange bloke.”

“You’re not a strange man,” she points out, grinning.

“I know I’m not. But your parents don’t know. What did you even tell them?” I figure she must’ve lied to them, because one can't just say ‘Hey, I’m going out every night with this man to hunt ghosts. I hope you guys don’t mind’ without sounding nuts.

Sora shrugs. “Research, school work, projects; they … are not home often anyway. They won’t notice how late I am.”

I nod. “Good enough for me. Go.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow!”

“Nah,” I answer quickly. “Sometimes, I let the ghosts have fun. Tomorrow’s day off.”

She doesn't say anything for a moment, then she nods. “Okay, good bye!” She opens the passenger door and heads toward the flat.

I don't believe it when good things happen, for example, Sora leaving without us having an argument. I know what she's thinking. I roll the window down and shout, “Do not, under any circumstances, come to my flat!”

Author's Note:

EXCUSE ME MISTER KIM JONGIN?! U THINK THAT'S OKAY?

I don't regret every single second I spend watching that gayo daejun show from opening to end, waiting for the moment kim jongin will come and wreck my life.

And yeah, I think that's it for today's author note. Keep loving Jongin, he's such a baby. Did u see when he bought cake for eris? And his cute instagram comments after the gayo show? AND HAVE YOU SEEN HIM WITH NAEUN? I JUST--

Father of the year.