Seulgi gave Jimin a furtive glance as he stood in front of a glass alcove containing a single urn with a marble plaque on its wall that has an inscription of Park Yong, A mother, a wife, a friend. You will always be remembered.  

Jimin had been silent as they boarded the bus after buying the flowers and Seulgi just followed in equal silence after that embarassing moment with the darn flowers. She had guessed that Jimin was going to a cemetery after he told her they are for his mother and out of respect, left Jimin to his own thoughts. She’s not sure if that would be a good thing since she is definite that Jimin is recalling that moment when his mother died.

And what became of him after.

But what can she say? It’s not like she knows how to comfort people. She is usually the one being comforted and she’s not sure if Jimin would like to be comforted anyway.

She should have just left to take care of her own issues but somehow, she felt like it would be rude to leave all of a sudden. And she felt that she doesn’t want to leave him alone to go through this. So she just followed him. And besides, he didn’t told her to leave like he usually do so that made her think that maybe… Jimin wanted someone with him.

Maybe.

Her eyes roamed the niches absent-mindedly then detected a movement on her right so she turned and felt open. There is a horde of spirits hovering a bit farther from where they are standing. And they all seemed clumped together and yet being blocked by an invisble wall or something.They are just  floating there with anguished expressions, though she couldn’t tell if that was really anguish considering their grayish skin is sagging and practically melting, their eyes completely black with no pupils, and their hair seemed to blend in with their skulls. They were horrifying to look at but Seulgi had to thank the gods that they are not sprayed with caked blood or something.

Eeeek! She spoke too soon. She just spotted a spirit with a severed arm between two souls that still seemed normal enough though they also have that greyish pallor. These might have been those souls from bodies that just recently died.

Seulgi immediately turned to Jimin biting her lip not wanting to continue looking at them and at the same time, wondering if it’s a good idea to interrupt his silence as he stared at the letters of his mother’s name on the inscription. But he has got to know there are souls around so he would be alert. “Um…” she silently started. “Just so you know… there are… so many souls like…floating by the window over there.”

Jimin turned his head to look at her and Seulgi tilted her head to the direction of where the souls are hovering around. Jimin only glanced at them before turning back to his mother’s urn looking unperturbed. “I know. They’re always there. There’s less of them now.”

Seulgi glanced back at the scary translucent form of the spirits and flinched as she met a spirit that seemed to have their eyes gouged out of them. “Don’t they scare you?” Because it’s scaring her a bit.

“Not anymore,” Jimin answered.

“Huh,” Seulgi just said, her breath just whooshing out of . Her eyes studied Jimin’s profile then traveled down to the weird bracelet strapped on his wrist.

His repellent.

The charm that prevent spirits from going near him.

That piece of jewelry he has that he probably value more than any other jewelry he has. Her eyes returned to his profile, quietly studying him as she recalled how he had thought she was some kind of evil entity who had extreme powers that can bypass powerful amulets and possess him. He was furious but now that she thought about it, she might have detected a note of fear in his eyes at that time as well when she unintentionally possessed his body.

She wondered if that witch girl’s explanation of that soulmate nonsense had given him some kind of assurance that his amulet is still working and the only reason it wasn’t effective on her is because her soul is a part of his.

Which is as ridiculous as the first time she had heard it.

But then again… it made sense, if she had to think about it.

Ugh! She gave herself a mental slap. Is that idea acceptable to her now because she had admitted to herself that she is having a stupid crush on Park Jimin? She shook her head with a grimace.

Whatever. I don’t have to think about it. It’s ridiculous. That’s that.

Jimin gave her a perplexed look and she immediately returned her composure racking her brain for some subject to talk about so they could focus on that. “So you always see these souls around whenever you visit your mom?”

He nodded. “The first time I visited here, there’s whole crowd of them here. They couldn’t come near me so they just take point in sorrounding me.”

“Why?” She asked before her brain gave her the logical explanation for that.

“To take a chance,” Jimin answered it anyway. “In case I let my guard down.”

“So… they’re always here? Waiting for you to be… weak or something?” Man, these souls have one hell of a patience.

Jimin lifted a shoulder. “Maybe.” His voice went silent. “Or maybe they just don’t know where else to go.”

Seulgi’s eyes went to his face and it was etched with resentment and guilt at the same time. And for some reason, she could understand exactly what are the words behind what he said.

I helped some souls too. I’m not a complete .

He knew he had the gift and yet he’s unable to use it thoroughly because it gradually turns into a curse whenever he does. He had helped a soul… maybe two… maybe more… but maybe he already reached his limit. And he could only do so much.

“You have a gift, Jimin,” Seulgi told him softly. “No matter how hard you try to deny it. You hated it so much… but you hated it more because you couldn’t use it to help them.” She met his eyes. “Am I right?”

Jimin’s brows were furrowed deep and it took a couple of minutes before he said anything. “Most of the souls that refused to rest and stays in this world turns rabid. No matter how good they are when they passed… they will still feel the hunger for life. To feel. To be human again. And day by day, that hunger turns feral until it’s the only thing that’s controlling them.” He paused before he continued. “I didn’t even know where my mom’s remains were when she was cremated. The last thing I had remembered was her telling me to look for Nam Miso before dying. And then… these souls… they all descended on me and… I could only probably count seconds when I came about before they started coming on me again. I had been in and out….”

Seulgi nodded in understanding. “And the only time they left you alone was when your body could no longer take the exhaustion.” He had told her that the first time he was opening himself up to her.

Jimin nodded. “Taehyung’s family took care of my mom’s funeral while Jungkook and Taehyung were always trying to locate me and getting me out of whatever imprisonment I was in everytime they found me. They didn’t believe I was crazy.” He smiled at the memory of his friends arguing with some officers inside a hospital where he was brought into. “They just thought I couldn’t take my mom’s death and it was the result of an extreme depression.”

Seulgi smiled. “They’re good guys.”

“They are. I owe them a lot,” Jimin said. “When I left Busan, I took my mother’s ashes and placed her here. And they were everywhere.” He touched his bracelet. “If I didn’t have this bracelet, they would’ve swarmed at me. One soul caught my eye. She… she reminded of my mom.” He pointed to a compartment that is near his mother’s. “She was there. I always see her family whenever I visit my mom and she was just watching them looking at them as if she was in pain. And I thought… if that was my mom, I would’ve done everything to hear what she has got to say. I decided to help and asked her if there is a message she wanted to give to her family or something that she wants me to do for her.” He gave a smirk at the recollection of him yelling that at the soul as she was far from him and she couldn’t come near him. “I became her messenger. Of course her family is skeptic but they listened. I think her husband is the only one who believed me. Apparently relaying the message isn’t enough for her. I didn’t realize after that that she was following me. She was studying my patterns, where I go after work, where I eat…. Even wondering why spirits couldn’t come near me… or what power I had to be able to communicate with the dead.

And when I was most vulnerable. There was one time I fell asleep at work and my bracelet got caught on one of the DJs bag and it fell off my wrist. I wasn’t… as good with Repudiation then but I was able to reject her after I realized it and… when I came about, I was in the line for train tickets going to Daegu. And there she is. And a lot of them. I forgot all about my training and I just… I panicked. I ran. I was able to get away from them and took me a couple of minutes to calm down to get to the Radio Station to check where my bracelet was. After that, she was like… haunting me. Always lying in wait. I think she was able to get inside me for about three times and two other souls when they caught me sleeping. That’s when I realized it and Nam Miso drew the runes inside my apartment. And I practiced Repudiation like hell.” He scoffed. “I even had the runes tatooed on my back but…” He gave a slight chuckle. “… I’m not really sure if that works.’ His smile faded as he remembered another one. “Of course that should’ve made me learn my lesson but no. I still had to let another soul use me. It was a kid, I guess fifteen years old. I saw him at a shool entrace and I still see a light around him and I thought he was still alive, he was just a lost soul. I located his body inside a hospital. He was already brain dead and the only thing that is keeping him alive is the respirator. That day was the day his family decided to pull the plug. I let him use my body then. And It took me three days to reject his soul. Nam Miso said it was because his soul was still alive and full of energy, Including the fact that I willingly let him possess me, that’s why it’s difficult for me to reject him. And when I saw his soul, there’s no longer any light around him. His family already pulled the plug while his soul is inside me which made it harder to reject him because his soul no longer has any connection that depicts life. I didn’t know what he did with my body in those three days but that wasn’t enough for him. He lunged at me, wanting to possess me again but since he’s already dead, his energy is already seeping and it’s easier for me to reject him.” He sighed slowly. “I realized then that this… gift… isn’t really a gift for me. It was a gift to the otherworld. I’m not just their medium. I’m also their passage.”

“I’m sorry….” Seulgi could only whisper though she’s not sure why she is sorry. Sorry that Jimin had to go through all that? Sorry that a lot of souls had taken advantage of him? Sorry that she is bringing up the most traumatic period of his life?

He sighed again. “I’m just bringing my history with me here in Seoul. What happened to me in Busan was a nightmare but here I am just repeating it. I guess… I guess I did it because I thought… I thought if there is some open medium out there who happened to see my mom, I would want them to help her too.”

Silence followed them and Seulgi doesn’t know what to say after that revelation including the part where he told her that he hasn’t seen her mom’s soul when she died. She was glad Jimin is disclosing a part of him to her but then again, she doesn’t want him recalling that memory that pained him so much.

“But then I realized being selfish is not really a bad thing for people with abilities like me,” Jimin continued.

Seulgi glanced at him as she heard a tinge of humor in his voice and saw him with a small smile on his mouth.

And she damn felt really happy about that small smile.

“Well, you weren’t completely selfish, to be honest. Why did you say you would let me use your body when I most needed it? Aren’t you scared I’d turn out like that kid?”

Jimin looked at her pensively. “Hard it is to believe myself but I think I already… trust you.” He looked like he was questioning himself for that.

opened in a big O. Now that is a revelation. A big one. “Oh. My. God. I think I witnessed my first miracle.”

Jimin gave a scoff as he looked at the smiling picture of his mother.  

“Well, one thing I can say,” Seulgi said. “There’s nothing wrong with being selfish.”

“No doubt you believe it,” Jimin answered without a pause. “Considering you’d probably been selfish your whole life.”

She gave him a glare. “If i could possess you right now, I would’ve punched myself before you could kick me out.”

Jimin chuckled and Seulgi could feel her heart flutter as she watched him. If he could always laugh like this instead of frowning all the time….

Hold up!!! Seulgi’s smile immediately disappeared. Don’t even dare to think about the next sentence on that thought! Don’t even dare, Kang Seulgi! “I’m gonna go and spy on my uncle now,” she said abruptly. Yeah that is the best idea right now.

Jimin looked at her, the smile turning into a warning look. “Are you sure you could handle your emotions?”

“I thought you trust me now?”

“Not when it comes to handling reactions to a shocking news.”

Seulgi glowered at him. “I just heard your sob story and you don’t feel a twinge coming from me, what are you talking about.”

“No, I didn’t feel much.” A thoughtful expression crept up on his face as he remembered her reaction after he bought the flowers. “But I felt it earlier when I said you were jealous.”

If her face could flame up…. “What?! No, I didn’t react to that!” She denied vehemently.

“Aaaand I’m feeling it now.” His eyes narrowed at her in warning. “Watch it.”

The audacity of him to give her a warning when he was the cause of her involuntary tension. “Yeah i’ll watch it if you shut up.”

Jimin tilted his head looking baffled as if he’s trying to figure this out. “Are you… sensitive to that word?”

Seulgi just exhaled sharply giving Jimin a dry glare before turning around without a word, going through the wall after a loud annnoyed huff.

Jimin watched her disappear, a thoughtful crease appearing between his brows remembering her reaction when he bought the flowers. And her thinking it was for Chaeyoung.

Jealous….

Jimin shook his head as he scoffed erasing that thought as fast as it appeared. Nah. It couldn’t be.

Spying on her uncle that day isn’t as productive and as useful as she thought it would be. If she hadn’t heard that he was hiding her unconscious body, she wouldn’t even have any idea that it was him.

He was solely focused on work. Endless meetings, endless paperworks, endless reports and for a second there, Seulgi had wondered how her uncle could even manage all that without a rest. He looked so driven that it made him even more intimidating.

And evil.

She kept her glaring eyes on her uncle as he opened up another folder to look through, completely oblivious of a vindictive soul burning a hole through him. She had followed him all throughout the day and it amazed her, though not one she’s willing to admit, how it doesn’t seem to exhaust him. But then again, that’s probably the perks of being satan’s pawn.

She watched him reprimanding an employee with an error on a report with a very calm demeanor and yet it made him even look more scary that the employee had burst into a panic attack as soon as her Uncle left the room. No one even dared to look at him in the face as he passed by and all seemed relieved they were ignored by him. When he was in a meeting, he was just intently listening, his eyes unwavering at the presenter who seemed to be getting more and more nervous as he speak that he eventually trips over his own words every five minutes. At the end of the presentation, her uncle had only said one sentence that seemed to leave the meeting room so menacing that the speaker looked like he was about to be executed right there and then.

“Do you think that is the best idea?” Her Uncle had just asked, his mouth in straight line, his eyes hard and sharp.

His uncle’s question left the room in complete utter silence for so long that Seulgi yelled at the presenter. “Just answer him, goddamit!” It was a bright idea in Seulgi’s opinion regarding a project of a creating a mini mall which would target teenage audiences. It had sounded ridiculous to Seulgi at the beginning but the presenter had explained the idea concisely, in between his stammerings that is, that Seulgi has been nodding in agreement at the end of his speech.

“I… uh….” The presenter had been stuttering.

“Talk to me if you already found the answer.” He stood up and left the room leaving the people just closing their eyes; some in relief, some in consternation.

“Aish!” Seulgi just said in annoyance before following her uncle again.

It had been like that the rest of the day. And she had even found that she is not the only one who hated her Uncle. Some employees were name calling him behind his back, whispering about rumors they heard.

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