The girls stood in a row in front of the window, staring out at the water before them. There was a set of stairs that led directly from the porch to the beach. The water lapped against the sand, reaching out towards the house but falling just short of the bottom of the stairs. Jinsoul felt a chill run down her spine. Something about this house felt off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.

            “I am definitely jumping in that lake before the summer is over,” Haseul said, finally breaking the silence.

            In response there was a hum of agreements and laughter as the girls relaxed and started to move around. Now that the room was flooded with light, Jinsoul could see the layout of the house. To the left, behind the sitting area, was a breakfast bar in front of a huge kitchen with an island in the middle. To the right, behind the dining room table, was a set of stairs leading up to the second floor. Jinsoul looked up toward the landing of the second floor, trying to remember what it looked like. A vague memory of walking through a small, dark corridor played in her mind before she snapped out of it when she heard her name being called.

            “Jinsoul!”

            Jinsoul whipped her head around, following the voice to meet Jungeun’s eyes.

            “Should we get our stuff out of the car now?” Jungeun asked.

            “Y-yes! Yes, let’s go do that.”

            Jinsoul shook the memory from her head and led the way to the car. The plan was to drop off all their things in the rooms and head to town to get new sheets, cleaning supplies, and food. As they made their way back inside with their luggage in tow, they trudged up the stairs in a single file line. Jinsoul flipped the lights on to reveal a small parlor just ahead at the top of the stairs. A faded blue loveseat with matching armchair sat surrounding a mahogany coffee table on a grey shag carpet. There was a clump of white residue on the table, and when Jinsoul looked to the ceiling, she saw a pull for what she could only assume was a ladder that would lead to the attic. Once everyone arrived on the second floor, Jungeun stepped forward and turned to face everyone.

            “Okay, everyone remember what Jinsoul’s mom told us? There’s three rooms, so we’re gonna have to pair up,” she said, scanning the faces of her friends before stopping on Kahei.

            Jungeun’s eyes narrowed and a smirk began to form on her face, but as she opened to speak, she was cut off.

            “Kahei, you should room with me,” Jinsoul said.

            Kahei’s expression had become flustered from Jungeun’s piercing stare, but Jinsoul’s offer brought color back to her cheeks as she visibly relaxed. Haseul and Jiwoo only needed to look at each other to know they would be rooming together, as they had been for years. That left Jungeun and Sooyoung the last to pair up.

            The rooms were separated by a small hallway. Two doors on the left side led to rooms identical in size, but nearly opposite in color scheme: the first room was painted with navy blue and silver accents, while the second room had burgundy and gold accents. Each room also included a large vanity, wardrobe, and wooden bed set, each painted to match the room’s color scheme. Connecting the rooms was a bathroom complete with two sinks, a privacy room, and a full tub. Across the hall was the master bedroom, nearly double the size of the other rooms with an adjoining bathroom. The walls were painted hunter green, and dark oak furniture similar to that found in the other rooms occupied the space, creating an earthy feel. A quick rock-paper-scissors tournament determined Haseul and Jiwoo would get the master bedroom, much to their delight.

            They left their luggage in their rooms and headed out to go shopping. They returned hours later, the car fully stocked with more snacks than anything else. As they were loading everything in, Jinsoul wondered if she’d have any actual meals for the rest of the summer. Jungeun and Jiwoo were determined to bring everything in one trip, and so each of them carried at least 10 bags in each hand, making their cheeks puff out and their fingers cramp once they had dropped it all inside. As soon as the front door closed, they decided to clean the bedrooms first. They decided on a time to regroup, gathered everything they needed, and got to work.

            Once Jinsoul’s room was cleaned to her and Kahei’s satisfaction, they ventured out to the parlor to find Haseul sprawled out on the loveseat and Jiwoo in the armchair, scrolling through her phone.

            “How do you guys like your room?” Jinsoul asked.

            “It’s cute. I like the brown and green, it makes it feel fancier,” Haseul said as she stared up at the ceiling.

            “Yeah, this house is a lot nicer than I remember.”

            Jinsoul looked up to follow Haseul’s gaze and upon seeing the hatch in the ceiling, she felt another shiver.

            “Do you guys feel a little creeped out by this place or is that just me?”

            Haseul and Jiwoo shared a look, and Haseul sat up straight in the loveseat.

            “We were actually talking about that while we were cleaning,” Jiwoo said. “I can’t tell if it’s just because it’s kind of old or because I was so scared earlier in the dark, but there is an aura of… weirdness in here. I can’t explain it.”

            Haseul nodded along with Jiwoo’s words and Jinsoul turned to Kahei to see what she thought.

            “I haven’t really felt any weirdness, just feels like an old house to me,” Kahei said, shrugging her shoulders.

            Jungeun and Sooyoung emerged from their room a few seconds later, Jungeun moving straight to Kahei’s side. She nudged Kahei with her shoulder and gave her a sly wink. Kahei turned toward Jungeun with a hint of a smile forming on her face. She opened to say something, but decided against it and instead looked down to hide the blush forming on her cheeks.

            Jinsoul turned to Sooyoung.

            “Sooyoung, how do you like the house?”

            Sooyoung was always very deliberate when she spoke, and she didn’t speak very often. She always seemed to think very carefully about what she was going to say before she said it. She surveyed the room, as if she was giving one last look-over before deciding how she felt.

            “It’s a very…” she paused, clearly trying to think of the right word. “Interesting home. I can tell your aunt put a lot of love and effort into making everything look and feel exactly the way she wanted. It just feels like everything here is here for a reason.”

            Jinsoul smiled to hear that. Now that Sooyoung had said it, the house really did feel like a personification of Aunt Duri. She was a little eccentric, but very particular in her tastes. Jinsoul had vivid memories of her constantly adjusting picture frames and rearranging the furniture so that everything would fit in with how she felt that day.

            “You’re right, I hadn’t realized that,” Jinsoul said. “She had a weird sense of design, but it is obvious she put a lot of work into it.”

            The group nodded along with Jinsoul until there was a loud grumble from Jiwoo’s stomach. Everyone followed the sound to Jiwoo, and Jiwoo looked down at her stomach before patting it with both her hands.

            “I’m hungry,” she said with a grin.

            “Let’s eat!” Jungeun shouted as she hurried down the stairs.

            Jungeun, Haseul, and Sooyoung worked in the kitchen to clean the countertops and dishes while Jinsoul, Kahei, and Jiwoo cleaned the dining room table and replaced the tattered tablecloth with a new one. As the girls in the kitchen started preparing instant ramen, the others explored the cabinets in the sitting room.

Jinsoul went straight for the TV stand, looking through the old VHS tapes inside. There were mostly children’s films with a couple of classics like Ghost and Dirty Dancing.

            “Patrick Swayze, huh?” she thought to herself. “He was a good-looking dude, I respect that.”

            She had almost gone through every tape before she found one labeled “10/31/2000.”

            She pulled the tape out and stared at the label, curious as to what might be on it. She looked up at the VCR and wondered if it would even still work. As she was reaching up to try to turn the TV on, she heard Haseul’s voice behind her.

            “SOUP’S ON!” she yelled, carrying bowls of ramen to the table.

            Jinsoul jumped at the sound, and quickly decided to look into this at a later time. She put the tape away and joined her friends for food.

***

            With full bellies and sleepy eyes, the girls decided to go to bed and make a game plan in the morning for all the repairs that needed to be done. The house quickly grew silent, and everyone except for one was sound asleep.

            Jinsoul laid on her back staring up toward the ceiling, unable to make out much in the darkness. She couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness she felt from the moment she pulled into the driveway. Now the longer she stayed awake, the more paranoid she felt. She could hear Kahei’s rhythmic breathing beside her and she used it to try to pace her own, but the tension in her body was just becoming worse by the second.

            Eventually, Jinsoul could make out a shifting blob in the darkness. It formed into a human-like shape with wide white dots for eyes and long limbs. Its body constantly rippled like it was made of water, and its eyes never strayed from Jinsoul’s. It was just hovering over her, slowly inching its way closer and closer until it was mere centimeters above her. She could swear she felt its hot breath on her face, looking directly through her eyes now and into her soul. She tried desperately to move, to close her eyes, to yell for help, but she was paralyzed to the spot. She could still hear Kahei next to her, but nothing could tear her away from the intimidating figure before her. After several minutes of pure agony, the figure reached out to grab Jinsoul by the neck and that was finally the moment she found the strength to move. She shot up from the bed, clutching and gasping for air. She looked around the room, searching for the figure but it was gone without a trace. Kahei was sound asleep next to her, unbothered and oblivious to what had just happened. Or what Jinsoul thought just happened.

It must have been a dream.