Unsolved Vlogs Special Episode: The Phantom of the Theater

Hey demons! It's ya boi(s)!

 

 

 

 

‘Something is haunting me.’

Are you sure?’

‘I’m positive,’ Minseok replies in a low voice as he stands some distance from the food stall Baekhyun and Jongdae were ordering their breakfasts from, the sun shining all around him. He’s exhausted.

Is it residual energy from the former hospice?’ his aunt asks calmly.

‘I don’t know,’ Minseok replies back honestly, glancing back at his two friends who have to wait for their turn, merrily talking to each other. ‘I- I saw it last week. It was…it was watching me. It said it was waiting.’

It spoke to you?’

‘Yeah I-‘ Minseok exhales out slowly, ‘And just earlier this morning- I’m with the others and-‘

Minseok-‘

‘-and there were these three ghouls- ghouls or poltergeists, they were seeped into this apartment unit but they- they were frightened of me. Of whatever is…is attached to me. They were so frightened and then they breached past, their fear was so massive- they just- they were trying to talk to it- they told it, or me, I don’t know, to leave them alone and then- and then it ate them.

The line is quiet. Baekhyun and Jongdae wave cheerily at him from the line and Minseok waves back, arms heavy, his head aching no matter how many pain killers he’s had.

Do you have your charms on you?’

‘Yes,’ Minseok replies quickly and adds, ‘But they’re…-they’re not working, they’re smudged.’

Minseok…’

‘It’s…I think it’s playing with me.’

His aunt is silent over the call, clearly thinking hard.

‘I haven’t been able to sleep,’ he confesses, voice small, ‘I’m so tired- sometimes I almost catch my mind slipping, almost like I’m…I dunno, gonna fall asleep but I know I’m not- the other day, I just…got so mad, for no reason- it lasted barely a second because I just- I just knew it wasn’t me- it felt wrong.’

The line is silent again.

You’re out?’ his aunt asks him eventually.

‘Yeah.’

Don’t go back to your place,’ she orders him, ‘It won’t be safe for you.’

‘But-‘ Minseok frowns. His apartment was blessed and protected and sealed. He was looking forward to returning home to safety.

Minseok, don’t go back home. It’s waiting for you to be less alert. You’re already exhausted, it’s trying to lure you into somewhere, you cannot be alone.’

‘I don’t want to risk putting my friends in danger by being with them,’ Minseok argues, glancing over at Baekhyun and Jongdae who were now ordering their turn.

I will send you the address of some of my friends there,’ she replies, ‘They will take you in for the next couple of nights or so.’

‘Okay,’ Minseok exhales out slowly.

You’re gonna have to wait for a while though,’ she tells him, ‘Is there a public place you can stay in? Outdoors?’

‘We’re still working today,’ Minseok tells her.

…Minseok, you’re going to wear yourself out.’

‘It’s keeping me distracted to be honest,’ Minseok confesses, ‘This is genuinely helping me- I thought I had it under control but last night-‘

You’re getting too tired- stay strong, this is-…there’s something wrong with this. I’m going to contact my friends immediately. Is your phone charged?’

‘It is.’

Good, keep it that way, I’ll call you as soon as I get confirmation.’

‘Thank you,’ Minseok wants to sag down onto the floors.

And Minseok.’

‘Yes?’

I already told you, you need to tell me when these things happen.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Minseok internally winces.

Eat and drink well- stay hydrated, got it?’

‘Got it, thank you.’

Minseok pockets his phone and exhales out slowly. The air is cool, and his breath makes white clouds appear before him. The morning sun isn’t too strong, but it feels nourishing against him. He looks around for a place to sit, something he was meaning to do anyways. The place they were headed to was close to a school. So this area was filled to the brim with stalls and restaurants and cafes catering to students. And wow, did Minseok need sustenance.

After they said their goodbyes to Yongsun and Moonbyul, they headed straight for here, knowing they would need to head directly for their next location shot. Minseok is almost grateful for this back to back filming despite his exhaustion. He does not want to be alone.

They’re close to a sort of park, and Minseok wonders if they should go out there to sit under the sun for a while, and maybe even nap. Maybe he could manage that out here.

Suddenly, a cold shiver presses close to his neck- a rasping breath, a wet sound right at his ear and-

Cold fingers finger up the back of his head in a painfully and terrifyingly familiar way. Minseok has felt this before. Minseok knows this cold, he knows this strange damp paralysis-

‘Hyung! Let’s go to that café there! I think it’ll be warm there!’ Baekhyun appears from his left and Minseok is terrified he’ll get hurt. And maybe that showed because Baekhyun instantly frowns worriedly.

‘You okay hyung?’

‘Yeah, sorry, I just got spooked,’ Minseok replies, taking the still very warm egg and onion pancakes from Baekhyun, ‘Did you ask them to add the cheese?’

‘Yeah of course,’ Baekhyun steps closer, pushing his hand to his forehead, ‘You’re cold.’ He says with a frown before he fumbles into his pocket and procures a face mask, ‘Here hyung, I think you should protect yourself- all that news about viruses right now. I think maybe you’re immune system is taking a hit?’

‘Thanks for saying I’m infectious,’ Minseok accepts the mask with a smile.

‘Infectiously handsome,’ Jongdae chimes in as he nods to their side, ‘That looks like a nice warm café where we can plan the itinerary for today!’

‘Lead the way,’ Minseok smiles, turning around to a lightly populated street.

‘Do we even have enough mics for today?’ Jongdae asks as he hurriedly steps ahead to push open the eatery door for them.

‘I guess they can share? Aren’t there 17 of them?’ Baekhyun frowns before quickly smiling at the servers as they greet them from the reception.

‘There’s 13 of them,’ Minseok replies, the warmth of this place was going to be dangerously sleep-triggering for him if he’s not careful. They find a table by the windows and sit down. Minseok is grateful the chairs are comfortable but not too comfortable. 

‘Why am I thinking 17 then?’ Baekhyun mumbles with a funny pout.

‘Because they’re called 17,’ Jongdae elaborates, carefully placing his stall bought food on the table before reaching into his pocket for his phone. He quickly scrolls through his emails before pulling up the correct one.

A server comes up to them and places several stacks of the menu before them.

‘It’s too early to eat meat- and I am not drunk either so,’ Baekhyun pushes away the meat option for the grill and picks up on the noodles instead, ‘Hyung, you should have the broth, then I think we should get you some meds.’

Jongdae looks up from his phone with a frown, studying Minseok who sat next to him. And like Baekhyun, he places his palm over his forehead.

Minseok finds it quite endearing.

‘You don’t have a fever,’ Jongdae observes, ‘You okay hyung? You’re kinda pale. Well, paler.’

‘I think it’s what Baekhyun was saying,’ Minseok says as lightly as he can as he peruses the menu, ‘I thought I was getting through this winter without getting sick, but maybe the last weeks are gonna kick my .’

‘We have to be careful,’ Jongdae declares, ‘With all this talk about a virus, let’s be safe!’

‘Don’t worry,’ Minseok smiles as he absentmindedly selects a nice big bowl of ramyeon, ‘I won’t infect you two. I just need a good night’s sleep, and our next location shot is in 3 days, plenty to get better.’

He puts down the menu and on the table before him, a pair of elegant and slender hands rest, almost crossing over each other. The nails are bruise-coloured, the skin pale, veins that seem to move dark and inky under the skin.

It’s manner is patient- waiting on Minseok.

‘I think we should order the barley tea as well, I heard it’s good for the immune system,’ Baekhyun says, reaching over the pair of hands as he shuffles to the next seat closer to the window. Minseok dares to look up and it’s just Baekhyun.

It’s playing with me.

‘Anything that is a tea is healthy for you,’ Jongdae deadpans.

‘You’re not wrong,’ Baekhyun nods solemnly as a server reappears.

They order and Baekhyun produces his compact laptop and Jongdae his tablet.

‘All right let’s get things into order.’ Jongdae claps his hands together once.

Minseok shakes himself out of his exhausted mental drag and leans in closer to pay attention. In all honesty, he probably needs the reminder because he’s hazy on the details.

‘So we’re headed for the BH-PE School of Performance Arts buildings.’ Jongdae begins, ‘Specifically the second building- this is where their theaters are set up- basically it’s for the theater kids.’

‘Listen I don’t know about you but I have a fear of theater kids,’ Baekhyun states.

‘You would fit in perfectly,’ Jongdae declares at once.

‘Is…is that a compliment.’

‘If you want it to be?’ Jongdae grins before continuing, ‘So we will be investigating the whole building- there’s two floors so to speak, the bottom floor is divided into 3 theater rooms, and the top is divided to accommodate sound and light control rooms. We have 3 separate hotspots so to speak-‘

‘-it should be cold-‘

‘-and there are sightings of shadowy figures, sound of footsteps, flickering lights, things being moved- all the good stuff, basic stuff,’ Jongdae leans in, wiggling his eyebrows, ‘But, we also have physical touches- people have felt a hand or something touch their feet from under the chairs, in both the audience and during rehearsals or meetings. Some people have felt hands trying to grab theirs. But this one is the one that really pushed our guests to contact us.’

‘Full body apparition!’ Baekhyun declares loudly just as their server comes to bring them their food, giving them a slightly judgmental look. Flushing a little, Baekhyun takes the dishes with too much enthusiastic politeness, making the server even more confused than before. For a while they don’t speak, just slurping up their noodles, relief flooding them as hot food settles into their empty stomachs. Their tea is brought in as well, and feeling better, they resume their talk.

‘You were saying full body apparition?’ Minseok asks, wiping his mouth with a tissue.

‘Yeah, seen by the members of the current performing unit at BH-PE,’ Jongdae explains, grabbing his tablet again, ‘So basically, this happened during the end of the last semester. They were celebrating end of the winter term, and before cleaning up the stage, they decided? To play hide and seek?’

‘…is that what kids do for fun these days?’ Minseok asks hesitantly.

‘They’re not that much younger than us,’ Jongdae laughs, ‘Sure they’re high school kids but-‘

‘-high school kids that would love to make things up I’m sure,’ Baekhyun snorts.

Minseok finds this amusing.

‘You think they’re lying? On the basis of their age?’

‘I’m just saying,’ Baekhyun shrugs, ‘Kids make things up all the time. And it’s kinda popular to have a haunted theater anyways.’

‘How is having a haunted theater a popular thing?’ Jongdae demands incredulously.

‘It is!’ Baekhyun hotly argues, ‘It’s a talking point, and theater kids man! They’re weird!’

‘Anyways,’ Jongdae rolls his eyes, ‘These three saw the same ghost, sitting on top of a set of drawers inside one of the store rooms. They have mannequins at the theater store, so they first assumed it was that, but that storeroom was specifically being used to store only the furniture and decoration props, not the mannequins or dummies or dolls.’

‘This is all too convenient,’ Baekhyun scoffs.

‘Oh it’s what I thought first too,’ Jongdae grins before he taps a few times on his screen and angles his tablet to show them the display. ‘Oh- a new business email! But not now! So I thought I’d dig into the background of the place first.’

‘Oh no,’ Baekhyun looks up with big eyes, ‘Oh no I should have expected this, you found something you think is-‘

‘-this area once used to be part of a suburban housing area,’ Jongdae smiles gleefully, ‘It was however, torn down and remade, to incorporate the motorway, new roads, and a whole new infrastructure. But it was not the easiest or smoothest of processes. There was a fire, construction failure, accidents- a recently finished building collapsed due to poor design, even an earthquake- a lot of went down in this area, concentrated in the area where the school is actually, like, more than usual- I even did a statistical chart on this-‘

‘-you used maths to confirm a haunting?’ Minseok asks incredulously.

‘-you used maths to confirm a haunting?’ Baekhyun asks hysterically.

‘-and this area has a 28% higher cases of accidents in general, compared to other places slash areas during around that time,’ Jongdae sounds very pleased with himself, ‘I did a lot of research guys.’

‘You’re truly a journalist,’ Minseok smiles, giving him a one-armed side hug, ‘Good job.’

Jongdae beams proudly, shoulders up high.

‘Okay okay- so,’ Baekhyun hurriedly butts in, ‘Moving on please, we don’t need your head inflating anymore than it is.’

Minseok laughs, leaning back on his seat and pushing the chair back just a little to stretch his legs. But at his feet, crouched on the floor, a pair of hands rests over bent clothed knees. Black seeps out of the crouched and hidden figure, fingers slowly tapping along, as though merrily listening in on their conversations.

Minseok barely controls his jump-reaction, moving to adjust his seat instead to cover his sharp movements, looking above and away from the sight beneath the tables. But now he can smell it- he can smell it and he’s taken back sharply to a moment in time far back, memory pushed far and deep, unable to forget, but entirely ignored.

Bile rises up his throat and Minseok can’t move faster as he suddenly stands, pushing past and around a startled and worried Jongdae, blindly making his way to the restrooms.

It hurts as he throws up, his throat convulsing, his lungs on fire, his nostrils burning.

‘Hyung?!’ Jongdae’s startled voice worriedly calls through the small 2-stall restroom. Minseok hasn’t locked his stall but Jongdae, ever thoughtful, hasn’t pushed through just yet. ‘Hyung, can I come in?’

His skin clammy, sweat clinging to his forehead and temples, dampening his hair, Minseok manages to upright himself from where he was half kneeling on the floor. He absentmindedly thinks that it’s at least a relief the restrooms were clean. With a weak and shaky hand, Minseok opens the door, attempting a weak smile.

Jongdae’s face is pinched with worry. He helps Minseok out of the stall and towards the sink. He switches the taps for him, reaching over to the other wall to pull out an insane amount of paper towels. Minseok stares at the water flowing for a few seconds before he realizes he’s supposed to freshen up. He splashes his face with water and rinses out his mouth several times as well.

He doesn’t need to look in the mirror to know he looks like crap. He also doesn’t need to look at the mirror to know it was standing there at the back of the stall, abnormally tall shadow bent over at an angle against the ceiling, pale long hands held together as though delighted.

Jongdae is gentle as he helps Minseok wipe at his face and hands. The hand wash smells strongly of antibacterial solution and it makes Minseok feel better.

‘I think we need to take you to a clinic,’ Jongdae says seriously, voice low and gentle, ‘And then, we take you home-‘

‘No,’ Minseok shakes his head adamantly, ‘I don’t want to go back home.’

Jongdae looks doubly worried.

‘Hyung’s not-…I’m not feeling well,’ Minseok manages to explain, ‘My aunt is uh, probably going to come over later today, I already spoke to her.’

Jongdae nods slowly, crumpling the used paper towels in one hand absentmindedly.

‘I know you said you know your limits,’ Jongdae says evenly, ‘But hyung…it’s not just today, are you sure you’re okay? Is something wrong?’

Minseok looks at Jongdae- really looks at him for a few seconds.

He knows he can’t tell them. It had nothing to do with their personal beliefs, and everything to do with their safety and the sanctity of their minds, of their being.

‘I’ve been stressed over some things, with family,’ Minseok tells him, ‘Uh- an old…relative of the family, has returned. Someone that has caused us a lot of problems. So I guess…my head is kinda…busy, I guess. Sleeping has been difficult, so I haven’t quite been able to rest.’   

Jongdae can clearly tell Minseok is not telling him the full story but he accepts it nonetheless.

‘Working right now is actually distracting me, it’s helping out a lot, I feel like I can actually think- when I’m with you guys,’ Minseok tells him honestly. It gets him a small smile from Jongdae. ‘I guess, after all of last night, not sleeping too well, a kinda weird morning schedule and eating something quite heavy- my system just rejected it. I’ll feel better now.’

‘Like when you’re drunk and you throw up?’ Jongdae tilts his head a little to the side, his smile a little wider.

Minseok chuckles, sniffing wetly as he pats at his cool face a few times, ‘Yeah, something like that. Ugh, I hate throwing up.’

Jongdae laughs a little, eyes crinkling.

‘For today, I’m just saying,’ he adds as he too washes his hands quickly, ‘You don’t have to come in with the cameras, I know you’re tired- just monitor us with the audio. For the rest of the tour, just sit back.’

‘I’ll see,’ Minseok smiles as he hands Jongdae a few paper towels.

‘Okay let’s go- Baekhyun is probably nearly crying from agitation.’ Jongdae grins, wrapping his arm around Minseok’s shoulders as they walk out of the restroom. The door shuts behind them but not before it screams at him-

WAITING-!’

Baekhyun is a nervous agitated mess definitely close to tears. His exhale of relief makes everyone in the store stare at him. Their server comes to check in on them, clearly worried Minseok would blame their food for food poisoning or something. Minseok explains he already had an upset stomach and did not blame them the slightest.

They stop at a convenience store to pick up antacids and water. Baekhyun doesn’t let go of his arm as Jongdae looks up the closest clinic in the area. Minseok lets them shuttle to the closest clinic, just down the street in fact, and in there Minseok is given hydration salts and medication for cramps and nausea. A large figure shadows him in the glass reflections of the medicine display cabinets around the store, just out of sight- just out of form. Minseok ignores it.

‘It’s like you’re pregnant!’ a still worried hysterical Baekhyun declares.

Jongdae decides to take control of the car and Minseok gives in and settles in the backseat. Next to him, stuffed and leaking black shadows like soot is it. Minseok ignores it again.

The drive up to the school and Jongdae parks carefully, tongue sticking out a little as he does so. Minseok’s whole body feels a little numb, and also like he has pins and needles running at a low frequency under his skin. If he didn’t know better, he would think he was definitely catching something.

‘Hyung, don’t carry the heavy things, we’ve got this,’ Baekhyun tells him firmly before he gets out of the car.

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun get out of the car and before Minseok can react or understand what was happening, the doors slam shut and Minseok knows he’s locked in. He has his back turned to the inside of the car, feels tendrils of shadows wrap around him like a hug- but it’s oppressive, and the stench is back and Minseok swallows hard.

Exhaling slow and sitting up straight, Minseok defiantly unlocks the door with a firm clicking sound and steps out into the sun. But the shadow gets out with him, hovering now, directly behind him.

‘Okay we got everything,’ Jongdae smiles at him as he carefully lowers the hood of the trunk. ‘Just take it easy hyung.’

Minseok can only nod.

Getting permission to film at the school was even more complicated than when they had to process permission papers and permits for filming at the DK Hostel. But Jongdae had smoothed that process within an hour where he amiably spoke to over 5 different people, rapidly sent off emails all prewritten, and cinched their permission with smooth enviable ease. They submit their printed letters of approval and permission from the administration to the school guards who give them “guest” lanyards. They enter the main school building, slightly empty during the weekend though Minseok can hear the occasional laughter, scraping of chairs, and footsteps echo about the place of students participating in club meetings and other similar activities.

‘Schools all smell the same,’ Jongdae sighs.

‘Unsolved Vlogs!’ a happy cheer goes across the hallway and suddenly there’s too many teenagers.

Their sheer energy is overwhelming. As is their height.

‘Oh wow-‘ Jongdae manages to get out when Baekhyun loudly cheers with them.

‘Aye it’s Seventeen!’

‘Guys let’s greet our friends!’ one of them proclaims. A few of them were in their school uniforms, but almost half were in casual clothing and looked older than the others too. Minseok guesses they’re the seniors, still helping with the drama clubs and theater activity.

‘Seventeen right here!’ they chorus loudly, and in harmony. Minseok belatedly notices they’re all wearing name-tags tied to their chests. They must have been rehearsing.

‘Damn, we should have something like that too!’ Baekhyun exclaims delightedly, turning to the two of them, ‘Guys- what should we-‘

‘No,’ Jongdae says firmly with a comic frown.

‘Boo!’ Baekhyun scoffs, making everyone laugh.

‘It’s so nice to meet you all,’ Minseok smiles at them, ‘It’s odd though, being back at school.’

‘You wouldn’t believe it, but he’s our hyung,’ Baekhyun butts in, thumbing at Minseok’s direction.

Everyone gives him a wide look of awe and shock.

‘Oh before we start, I need these to be signed by the staff here?’ Jongdae holds up the papers he printed, ‘And I need a Mr. Choi Seungcheol, Mr. Lee Jihoon, and a Mr. Kwon Soonyoung to sign these too.’

There’s a loud and boyish chorus of ‘ooh’s and ‘aah’s that makes Minseok grin. The teenager who had greeted them loudly first, his name-tag informs Minseok that he’s…Hoshi? He lets out a whoop and slinging an arm around a very short boy, who despite his very young features, was not wearing a school uniform, and drags him forward. His name-tag reads Woozi. Then a tall teenager also steps forward, already extending a hand out to Jongdae to shake as he bows, has his name written as S.Coups and Minseok can see the confusion in Jongdae’s eyes, clearly unsure as to who he was addressing.

But the confusion is short lived as they merrily show Jongdae the way down the hallway.

‘Let us help you with your stuff!’ one of them steps forward. He has a sharp long nose, a very cheerful countenance, and was lanky and tall, ‘I’m Seokmin! Lee Seokmin! Nice to meet you!’

‘Hi-‘ both Baekhyun and Minseok begin but they’re drowned by a flurry of introductions.

‘I’m Kim Mingyu! Ehe, it’s nice to meet you!’ this teen is even taller, to Baekhyun’s obvious dismay as he cranes his head up to smile at the boy. He picks up the heaviest tripod stand easily.

‘I’m Boo Seungkwan!’ a cheery and somewhat mischievous looking teen states with a lot of energy. Minseok imagines he’s definitely in the singing part of the team with how clear and smooth his voice was. And loud. ‘There’s too many of us and we should get going! We can do introductions on the way there!’

There’s loud laughter and protests at Seungkwan’s words but everyone follows through.

‘Wow, this equipment is cool,’ a voice says close to Minseok. He looks young and excited.

‘I’m Lee Chan,’ he bows quickly and deeply before holding up one of the smaller satchels, ‘Why are these called dead-cats?’

‘Oh-,’ Minseok looks at the windjammer, ‘You know, I have no idea to be honest. I only ever call them windjammers.’

‘It’s such a depressing name,’ Chan frowns. He has a nice boyish face, and seems to have a remarkable bounce to his steps.

‘Do you guys use and operate camera equipment?’ Minseok inquires, ignoring the shadow that has seeped down through the cracks of the door, creeping up close just behind- not quite far, not too close.

‘Some of us do,’ someone else butts in. His hair is silky and long, tied away to a low pony-tail. ‘Yoon Jeonghan at your service, I was the one sending the emails.’

‘Oh, it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for being so clear and detailed.’ Minseok smiles (up) at him.

‘Not at all in fact-‘

‘Do you actually see ghosts?’

Suddenly up in his face is Chan again, eyes practically sparkling, ‘I just never believed in them before Wonwoo-hyung saw them and-‘ it’s like he reaches out into the void and pulls up a tall lanky (they were all so lanky what the heck-) teenage boy whose glasses slip down his nose. ‘-I know Wonwoo-hyung would never lie!’

‘Uh, hi, yeah, Jeon Wonwoo,’ he pushes up his glasses, smiling shyly and ducking his head quickly.

‘Ah, you’re our witness,’ Minseok smiles at the boy, pulling up energy to study the boy.

‘Uh yeah,’ Wonwoo seemed quite shy, his general demeanor not as energetic as the others around him, ‘But so did Myungho-hyung. And Hoshi too.’

He points to a tall boy Minseok hadn’t immediately noticed, walking just a little behind him. He smiles brightly at him, under his arm one of the tripods.

‘Xu Minghao, but the others call me Myungho.’

Minseok smiles and says in his best Mandarin, ‘It’s nice to meet you Minghao.’

Everyone falls about in loud ooh’s and aah’s again and someone is shoved? Pushed? Jumps? To his side. Another very tall boy as they step out into a connecting hallway. It’s nice and sunny out, and Minseok catches sight of some students clearly training out in the winter-dried grass of the sports fields outside.

‘Oh!’ the young boy declares with a lot of comedic stylization and a clearly purposefully awkward accent that sets everyone laughing again, ‘Such beautiful words this early in the day! I, Wen Junhui, am delighted!’

Minseok laughs. So does the shadow lurking at their feet.

‘But do you see ghosts? Actual ones? Like, the spirit-box, is that really a genuine thing?’ one of them asks, eyes wide with obvious interest, walking backwards as well and addressing both him and Baekhyun who is overshadowed by the tall teens. ‘Oh, I’m Vernon, Choi Vernon. Hi!’

‘Well,’ Baekhyun begins. Minseok can’t see him but he can tell Baekhyun is smiling very hard, probably vibrating a little from the excitement he was getting off of the rowdy boys all around them. ‘As you might know, I believe that there are definitely things that cannot be explained- spirits, ghosts, demons- I believe they exist, in many forms, and shapes, and uh, manifest in different ways I suppose.’

All of the boys look at Baekhyun with a kind of stunned awe.

‘Do you think we can have American ghosts here?’ Mingyu asks with so much seriousness Minseok is not sure it’s meant to be a joke or not in all honesty.

‘For the last time, I do not have American ghosts following me around,’ a boy in the back declares with a sigh.

‘That’s Joshua,’ Jeonghan introduces for Minseok, ‘He’s from America. So we think if we see any foreign ghosts, it could be because of him.’

‘…I don’t think ghosts work like that?’ Minseok laughs.

‘What do we know of ghosts and their nature?’ Junhui remarks wistfully.

‘They’re murderous! Shakespeare-sunbae-nim says so!’ Seokmin declares with a lot of confidence.

‘You can’t just assume all ghosts are murderous because of one man, and one play he wrote about-‘ Joshua cries out as Wonwoo butts in and says with a kind of genuine desperation, ‘Guys! The ghost was not American!’

They open the doorways with a burst of laughter and onto a sort of gymnasium area that was clearly used more for storage than anything else.

The theater is in the second performance arts building, the entire ground floor dedicated only for the theater majors. They were entering through the back, so to speak. Also, it was most definitely haunted.

It’s tinged with sadness though- something Minseok was not expecting. It’s sad, and it’s lonely. It felt strangely innocent too. No malice, no hatred, no anger- just loneliness, some fear, and mostly, a lot of sadness.

Minseok tries not to notice how the shadow dissipates as they enter the place. At least for now, it wasn’t hounding him.

‘We thought you would appreciate filming on the stage itself, for the introductions,’ Jeonghan is telling him as the others clamber all around Baekhyun, all talking a mile a second. Even the quiet ones, Minseok notes, all have something to say. ‘Good sound, good lighting, and obviously, good backdrop!’

They hadn’t bothered with the extra lights today, seeing as Jeonghan had stated they would set up their lights for them.

‘Thank you,’ Minseok smiles at the teen, ‘You’re making our jobs much easier! We really appreciate it.’

‘Not at all,’ he smiles beatifically.

‘Here is our main theater!’ Seungkwan proclaims, grandly opening the heavy double doors to a studio theater. It’s impressive. Large, spacious, with high roofs and a 2 level seating system as well. The main stage is just a little raised, edged with teleprompters, 2 ramps, and the walls mounted with neatly boxed in and partially concealed speakers.

‘Wow,’ Baekhyun intones loudly, ‘You guys have a much better theater than we do and we’re a university!’

And it’s true actually.

But Minseok is instead distracted by the very obvious ghost of a young girl, maybe 12-13 years old, standing by the seats, looking straight at him. Her posture is odd, a little hunched as though anticipating something, hands over her chest, hands grasped. She seems startled, and then her whole face contorts in fear and she vanishes as she quickly backs away. Minseok can’t help but look behind him, worry and fear flooding him, his memory from the other night of the three ghouls being consumed flashing before his eyes.

Minseok cannot tell what type of spirit was here, but clearly it wasn’t malevolent or aggressive. If anything, Minseok could help the spirit possibly find rest and lead her if she was lost. But now he’s afraid. This thing was on him, and he brought it straight here.

A sudden jolt of panic overtakes him and Minseok feels the need to run.

‘Hey! We meet again!’ Jongdae merrily calls from the other side as the other doors across them opens with a flourish.

‘Seventeen right here!’ the one with the S.Coups name-tag proclaims brightly.

Everyone cheers back at him and Baekhyun is merrily cheering with them too.

‘Here, please look,’ Jeonghan is saying, gesturing to the stage area where they’ve set up two seats for Baekhyun and Jongdae, and only three other seats. ‘We decided, no one needs to see all of us at one go, so only the VIPs will be doing the interview. A few of us will head on to the audio rooms upstairs to handle the lights. Where would you like to set up the cameras?’

‘Oh uh-‘ Minseok can’t help but glance about wildly before saying quickly, ‘Can you show me to the restroom?’

‘Of course,’ Jeonghan replies smoothly before calling out, ‘Chan! Show our esteemed guests where the restrooms are!’

‘Got it!’ the youngest cheers, bouncing forward towards Minseok. ‘I’ll show you the way! Please follow me!’

Minseok ignores Baekhyun’s worried look as he follows after the young teen.

They head up to the walkway on each side of the theater and towards the doorways there. The restrooms are right there and Minseok thanks Chan, making sure the young teen is back when he shuts the door to the restroom and faces the empty men’s toilet.

‘,’ Minseok whispers, looking around and seeing nothing. Quickly he reaches into his pocket and it’s then that he realizes his phone is not on him. He knows for a fact he had secured it in his long jacket pocket. The pocket was protected with a buttoned flap. There was no way it could have fallen out.

Who are you?’

Minseok nearly jumps out of his skin.’

Theoretically he knows that under any other circumstances, he should be freaked out. The spirit of the girl is standing inside one of the partially open stalls, half of her face visible. She’s wearing some sort of night dress. It looks handmade, with large patchwork pockets on it. It’s covered in soot and charred in some places. Smoke and ash smudge her feet, and Minseok is aware of the smell of something burning.

Minseok crouches at once, making himself eye-level with the young spirit.

There’s something else here,’ she tells him.

‘I know, I know,’ Minseok is exhausted and afraid and panicked, ‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I’ll take it away. Can you hide?’

She seems to perk up at that, stepping forward a little. Half her hair is chalked with ash and soot. There’s dark powdery smudges all around her nostrils and mouth. When she smiles, her teeth are blackened by the soot and ash. A trail of smoke follows her.

‘I love playing hide and seek!’ she declares. ‘Sometimes, some people see me. Will you come find me?’

‘Yes. Just stay hidden as best as you can, in the safest place you know here,’ Minseok pleads, ‘Okay? Make it super difficult!’

Shouldn’t you hide too?’ she asks, coming to do a small crouch in front of him as well. ‘I think it hates you- it wants to hurt you.’

‘I know,’ Minseok can feel sweat on the side of his face, he wipes at it quickly, ‘But I’ll be okay. Go do me a favour, and hide as best as you can, okay?’

She nods and quickly stands and runs out just as some tries to walk into the restroom.

‘Eh? Why’s it locked?’

Minseok hurriedly turns, composes himself and opens the door.

‘Oh!’ Seokmin and Joshua are there, ‘Hello!’

‘Hey, yeah, I wasn’t thinking and I locked the door,’ Minseok laughs it off. ‘Sometimes my brain switches off.’

‘I feel that,’ Seokmin nods earnestly.

Minseok steps out and to his horror, as though an active audience, the lurking spirit sits on the folded seats, just a little behind where a few of the young teens were already sitting. It’s hands are together, as though in anticipation. Minseok takes a deep breath and walks out.

‘Hyung!’ Jongdae waves as though Minseok can’t see him. ‘Everything has been set up so well for us! It’s like we don’t have to do anything!’

Minseok laughs.

‘You guys are amazing, but I’m worried you might have overworked,’ Baekhyun says.

‘Have no worries!’ Chan throws a fist up from where he’s risen to stand, the shadow eagerly lurking right over his shoulder, hands so close to touching him. ‘We have so much passion! Passion will drive you!’

‘You don’t have a driver’s license sit down.’ Minghao grabs him and forces him to sit down before shuddering and asking, ‘Did we not have the heater switched on? It’s freezing in here.’

‘We would never forget the heating for our special guests,’ Seungkwan exclaims at once, ‘You’re probably near a draft hyung.’

‘I was gonna ask too,’ Wonwoo puts in quietly but everyone hears him.

He has about 5 hot-packs thrown at him from various people.

Minseok guesses the reason why it was here right now was because it was interested in the three teens who initially saw the ghost. The little girl wanted to play with them, which was how they all had seen her. They had probably been seeking, or actively running around to hide. They had, as Kyungsoo would put it, a shine to them. Not strong enough to see- and anything they say would probably be written off as part of the crowd, a visual blur that blended with its surroundings, feeling cold when things were nearby, maybe even some senses being triggered like smell.

He’s sure that if asked, he would have a few people saying they smelt smoke in this theater.

They finish setting up very quickly actually. During this period they come to find that S.Coups was in fact Seungcheol, Woozi was Jihoon, and Hoshi was Soonyoung. Minseok guesses they have their personas as actors/performers at the theater and were known as such.

Soon, they’re all appropriately mic-d, new clothing items, even some makeup hastily thrown around, and Wonwoo, Soonyoung, and Minghao are all seated, hands politely above their knees. Jongdae and Baekhyun are also seated, and when Minseok gives them the go to sign, they begin.

Minseok takes a seat provided to him by an ever polite Jeonghan. The shadow hasn’t moved, just watching, hands rubbing together at the finger tips slowly. If Minseok concentrates, he can hear its strangely moist yet flaking skin rub against each other.

‘Hello everyone!’ Baekhyun says cheerily, ‘Welcome back to another episode of Unsolved Vlogs!’

There’s loud cheering from behind them. Minseok had set up one of their smaller cameras to shoot the literal behind the scenes footage of the other teens. It’s angled so that even the boys up in the audio/light booth could be seen. They’re aggressively waving their arms in response.

‘We are here at the BH-PE Performance School’s Theater for a very beguiling sighting!’ Jongdae continues, ‘Quite matching I would say, seeing as we are in a theater, and a spirit has been sighted, it’s like-‘

‘-the Phantom of the Opera!’ Baekhyun declares.

Unprompted, as though practiced for this very moment, from behind them, Seokmin stands and suddenly belts out an impressive line from said production.

Everyone breaks out into applause as Seungcheol and Jihoon try their best to reign in the others, yelling apologies for causing a ruckus. But Jongdae and Baekhyun are cheering him too.

‘Please do not encourage him,’ Jihoon pleads sincerely.

‘As you can see! There is no lack of talent here in this school,’ Baekhyun pumps his fist to more cheers. Once they’re able to calm down, they continue again.

‘So our good friends here invited us to investigate, will you please introduce yourselves?’ Jongdae gestures to the camera.

‘Hey guys!’ Soonyoung starts at once, his hands coming up to form? Paws? He’s removed his large name-tag, revealing a massive tiger face etched to the front of his sweater. He’s wearing a tiger-print beret as well. Minseok senses a pattern- literal and figurative. ‘It’s my time yeah, it’s Soonyoung or, y’all plebs will know me as Hoshi! Performer extraordinaire, and is he-’ he suddenly stands up, does a funny breakdance unprompted on the floor and finishes with a pose, staring straight at the camera, ‘-bothering you queen?’

He’s met with scoffs and cheers and a singular boo from Jeonghan. Neither Jongdae and Baekhyun seem to know how to react.

‘Hello,’ Minghao bows neatly in his seat, ignoring Soonyoung completely, ‘I’m Minghao, I’m a performer and lover of the arts.’

‘Uh, hi, I’m Jeon Wonwoo, it’s nice to meet you.’ Wonwoo bows as well.

No one breakdances unprompted after that and so Jongdae and Baekhyun continue forward.

‘Will you do us the honour of telling us what you guys witnessed?’

‘Laying the scene so to speak,’ Baekhyun adds.

‘Uh, well, I guess I’ll start,’ Wonwoo begins. ‘It was the end of the school term, and well, soon the hyungs won’t be around to help us out even as alumni. We had just finished a play, and it we hadn’t gotten around to cleaning things up yet, so we thought, let’s all have fun, and play hide and seek.’

Baekhyun gives the camera a confused smile.

‘So we had already played a few rounds, and I was looking for a place to hide. In the back, there’s a lot of storage rooms. There’s some that are pretty well secured, but we already agreed not to hide in those. So I was thinking of slipping into the supply room. There’s this small room next to the supply room, it’s not used a lot, just keeps old paper stuff really-‘

‘-it’s the recycling room!’ Jun yells from the seats.

‘Yeah, the recycling room,’ Wonwoo nods. ‘So it’s not the best place to hide, there’s just cupboards and drawers in there. So I’m walking past, and I just look in anyways, and I see what I thought was a mannequin sitting atop the lower drawers.

At first I thought, maybe Jeonghan-hyung placed it there to spook us or something-‘

‘-we wouldn’t be surprised if he did,’ Minghao deadpans.

‘Hey! I take offence to that!’ Jeonghan yells though he has a pleased look.

‘Jeonghan-hyung has the face of an angel but is really actually a demon,’ Soonyoung tells them casually.

‘Anyways, so I ignore it at first and go hide. I’m caught a while later, and the people who are caught all need to come back out here in the main studio. So Jeonghan-hyung was already here, and I asked him why he placed the mannequin on the drawer in the recycling room. He said he had no idea what I was talking about but-‘

‘-but we’re generally suspicious of Jeonghan-hyung so he didn’t believe him,’ Minghao tells them. Both Baekhyun and Jongdae squint to look at Jeonghan who leans back on the theater seat, legs coming up to cross on the head of the seat before him, reclining quite elegantly with a demure smile.

‘During that time I was also looking for a place to hide,’ Soonyoung continues the story, ‘And my tactic is to kinda follow the seeker, so I know where he is.’

‘Hey, nice tactic, I should use that more often,’ Jongdae says with approval.

‘Please don’t encourage him!’ someone yells, probably Seungkwan.

‘Yeah! I know right!’ Soonyoung’s legs bounce a little, ‘So I saw Joshua-hyung catching Wonwoo, and I wait until they’re at the end of the hallway and I go to hide where Wonwoo had been hiding. I walk past the recycling room, and I see the, well, mannequin I guess, inside. I kinda let out a curse because I’m spooked, but I’m already walking so I just, again, assume it’s something Jeonghan-hyung did.’

Again, both Baekhyun and Jongdae look at Jeonghan with bemusement.

‘Around the last round, it’s getting late at this point, so we’re kinda tired but also kinda hyper I guess,’ Minghao continues the story. ‘We’re not even trying to be quiet anymore, it’s more like aggressive tag at this point and all the hiders are just running around openly.’

There’s a collective huff of laughter from behind them, as though they all remembered exactly how it went down and how enjoyable it had been.

‘And I’m trying to find a good place to hide because someone ratted my position out,’ he sends a glare out somewhere and there’s a wheezing laughter from the culprit in the back. ‘And I’m about to enter the recycling room but then I see that someone’s inside it so I’m like, yeeting out again-‘

Jongdae quietly mouths yeeting to himself.

‘-and then I guess, the next day, was when went down?’ Minghao looks at the other two sitting next to him.

‘Yeah, so we asked Jeonghan-hyung again, about the mannequin.’ Soonyoung tells them, ‘But he’s like, all shifty and grinning and denying things and honestly it was going nowhere until Scoups hyung pointed out that we didn’t have a mannequin that looked like that.’

‘Then there was a massive ruckus and we ALL trooped up to the recycling room, there was no mannequin, and we ran an inventory on the mannequins we had and none of them looked like the one we saw that night,’ Wonwoo says, ‘And it was like, we all had the same thought, but then-‘

‘-I said it had to be a ghost!’ Chan yells from where he’s sitting, ‘It’s the only explanation! We already have heard plenty of weird rumors! Like that time we found ash all around the floors of the stage!’

‘Oh yeah,’ Vernon pipes in, ‘Also when we’re sometimes sitting here, it’s like something’s touching our ankles, like a hand or something. I thought maybe someone was dicking around but-‘

‘-also-‘

But Minseok doesn’t catch what comes next.

There’s blurred movement and the smell of smoke is on him. A strange blob darts over the floors, shadows pulling around as though mocking and the little girl appears, running straight towards Minseok, blackened mouth stretched wide in a scream. She crouches next to him, shaking and scattering ash around them. Wonwoo sneezes and they all laugh as they bless him.

She huddles close to his legs, a cold wash floods him but it’s not an aching one. Minseok looks around him as casually as he can and it isn’t there. She’s crying under her breath.

‘-Jun-hyung and I were at the booth upstairs and we smelt smoke- not cigarette smoke but like, just really thick smoke,’ Seokmin is telling them.

‘Yeah we all thought they were displaying signs of a but-‘ Jeonghan teases.

‘PSA time!’ Jongdae suddenly announces, ‘Smelling smoke or toast is NOT a sign of a ! This is just some random thing people believe in but medically there’s no basis to it!’

‘Oh-‘

‘Besides, smelling toast would just be divine, wouldn’t it hyung?’ Baekhyun grins at him.

Minseok is worried his response is late but he gives it anyway. His eyes can barely focus on the small camera monitor.

‘Oh, absolutely.’

The little girl is gripping onto his trousers, ash covering the area around him.

‘I guess that can conclude this part of the interview,’ Baekhyun is saying, nodding once at Minseok and looking to Jongdae.

‘Yeah, though I have a question,’ Jongdae frowns, looking at them, ‘If you’re called Seventeen, why aren’t there 17 of you-‘

There’s an uproar of groans and cries and everyone bursts out into laughter a few seconds later. The little girls high pitched cries mixing in.

It’s coming.’ She cries out and vanishes, the odour of smoke strong.

Minseok is panicking and he knows he’s not doing a good job of pretending to be normal. Because Baekhyun is instantly on him.

‘Hyung? You’re sweating, and you look super pale,’ Baekhyun looks over him worriedly. ‘And don’t say anything about the shoot today. I refuse to hear it.’

Minseok quickly takes him to the side, not wanting to draw the attention of the young teens around them, all talking about. Baekhyun must be able to tell because he pretends to be fixing his mic pack with Minseok at once. Jongdae is there too, mic pack in hand as well.

‘What’s wrong? Hyung, you look terrible- are you okay?’

‘I uh- I don’t feel so good,’ Minseok tells them, ‘I’ll rest in the car.’

‘I’ll walk you,’ Baekhyun frowns as Jihoon and Jeonghan approach them, both having caught on that something was up.

‘Hey guys, we’re gonna take a short break,’ Jongdae is telling them, stepping a bit to the side, ‘Minseok-hyung hasn’t been feeling well the whole day.’

‘Yeah, I’m sorry,’ Minseok says with what he hopes is a reassuring smile, barely able to look Baekhyun or Jongdae in the eye.

‘No, what? Hyung,’ Jongdae frowns, picking up on his strained tone.

‘I think the nurse should still be there,’ Jihoon pipes in as the others from the second floor come down. ‘Maybe you could rest there?’

Once it’s said, Minseok knows Jongdae and Baekhyun won’t budge unless he goes to the nurse.

So he’s taken to the nurses office by Baekhyun, Seungcheol, and Chan. Minseok and Baekhyun had explained it as a weird stomach flu. Both the teens gave him sympathetic looks that are painfully genuine.

The nurse is a matronly looking middle-aged lady who has probably seen too much and barely makes any comments as Minseok is made to rest on the narrow bed. She stirs him up some electrolyte and Baekhyun watches as he eats the medicine they bought at the clinic. The matron brings a hot-water pack to place over his abdomen, wrapped in a towel. She also brings a blanket to cover him with.

‘We’ll be back soon hyung,’ Baekhyun tells him, ‘Please rest okay?’

Minseok nods. He doesn’t need to act like he’s resting. Reclining back on this bed was absolutely wonderful and it’s taking all of his strength not to give in. He couldn’t. Ash still clung to the fabric of his pants and Minseok cannot allow what happened yesterday to repeat again.

He waits a whole 10 minutes after they leave before he gets up and asks the nurse where the restroom is. She directs him down the hall, a knowing look on her face as though she knew he was going to bolt. He gives her a sheepish smile.

Minseok can feel his pulse on his skin in a way that reminded him of a low-grade fever. His bones were aching, the soles of his feet incredibly sensitive and painful. He tracks his way back towards the theater. He pauses at the entrance, listening closely. He looks around the place absentmindedly, noting how the sun was low in the sky now the shadows on the grounds long and darkening. The outdoor lights have already been switched on and the air is much colder now. His mind reeling with too many thoughts and at the same time nothing made sense to him. With difficulty, he pushes the door open and enters the same wide space being used as storage.

‘Miss? Are you here?’ he calls out quietly, eyes scanning the place as best as he could.

He hears nothing. He’s thinking of maybe doubling back to enter the building from the other entrance, avoiding the others that way. But just as he turns about there’s a scratching sound right above him.

Whipping his head up, Minseok finds himself face to face with an expanding blackness above him, drooping down like some great force pushing through a net of shadowy webs and in that bulk of force, a pair of eyes-

Minseok falls, his feet giving way. A sharp pain shoots up his left wrist up to his shoulder as he braces himself but he can only stare.

…meeting again-‘

Minseok can’t breathe, he can’t move.

It was back. It came back and Minseok should have known he should have been more careful he should have-

…play again…’

It overwhelms Minseok, now blanketing him in darkness and Minseok is floating and yet weighed down, like he was falling. But he can’t- he won’t. He couldn’t. He tries to move but he’s too restricted too exhausted too-

-missed you-‘

There’s sudden eruption of light and Minseok falls, spinning in the process but he doesn’t feel himself hitting the ground or anything. There’s a roaring rush of sounds- a horrible gale blows all around him, static like screams erupting all around him, at him. Anger, fear, hatred- Minseok finds himself slipping into unconsciousness against his will. He can see it now, the layout of that old familiar room, a place he had purposefully forgotten, a place he no longer dreamt of now but he was there again and the bed is there and so is it-

‘-ing -!’ a voice curses, ‘How the are you heavier than you look?!’

Minseok is barely able to gather enough willpower to open his eyes. He’s being half-carried, half dragged. They’re outside?

‘,’ the voice grumbles again, ‘-should really do weight training-‘

‘Who- who are you?’ Minseok barely manages to push himself off of this stranger. Looking about with spinning vision, Minseok realizes the stranger was dragging him across the car park in the fading daylight. Minseok staggers, barely able to stand upright but he cannot let some stranger just take off with- well, with his own person. It wasn’t even that dark out yet and he was not going to allow someone to kidnap him so easily like this.

The stranger is quick to hold his hands up to his chest as though to say he’s not a threat.

‘Hey, hey, it’s okay, you were passed out and your shadowy buddy was about to eat you up-‘

‘What?!’ Minseok gets out, vision clearing just a little.

The stranger is tall and slender. His hair is a carefully dyed light blonde. He’s not wearing a whole lot of layers, just a long coat like robe- almost as though he’d thrown his clothes on haphazardly.

Minseok is a second too late in realizing he’s falling backwards. He lands heavily and the stranger is on him at once, pillowing his head with his hand.

‘Woah, you’re okay now, I’ve got you now-‘

This is doing nothing to help Minseok feel better but he’s so exhausted.

‘You’re lucky your aunt could track your location,’ he says. He smells clean, like sea salt and sage. He smells safe. ‘You can sleep if you want, I’ve got you protected for the moment.’

‘What-?’ Minseok asks in a daze, his vision swimming, darkness slowly dissipating and instead there’s a gentle but warm light- almost like morning sunlight. Minseok feels the cold sores ebbing from aching bones. His nausea is dissipating and his head no longer felt like lead.

The stranger simply smiles, eyes briefly sparkling as though lit from within. Minseok only just realizes, very belatedly, how his very being seemed to glow.

‘My name is Lu Han,’ he introduces himself with a small wink, ‘Ahn Sohee sent me.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

 

 

DaeDroid: Oh to be young and full of energy

 

minghaoFrogagenda: No but seriously why are they called Seventeen when they have only 13 members???

 

167 is average height: Istg at this point tjey’re editing the footage right? I keep seeing thos ign orb eyes randomly please can anyone else see them or am I going crazy???

 

GrimArtandStuff: LMAO THEY’RE SO CHAOTIC OMG

 

Im Just A Kidult in a Capitalist World: I HAVE BEEN TO THEIR MUSICAL BEFORE THAT GUY WHO BELTED PHANTOM OF THE OPERA CAN SING LIKE THAT FOR A REASON, HE PLAYS ARTHUR IN KING ARTHUR HE’S ING AMAZING

 

Bocchann: I don’t see the eyes a few people have mentioned but I see? I dunno, something blurred moving once a while in their videos. I thought it might have been a video thing or camera thing but when I showed it to my buddy they didn’t notice what I pointed out so I too have questions

 

Gen-Z’s are a whole different breed they’re literally speaking in memes, tiger boy there is a living meme

 

Mareete: Low-key, just saying, if even ONE person said they saw the ghost of a young girl lingering on top of some office drawer I would genuinely gtfo. I wouldn’t need 3 of my bros and a youtube paranormal investigative team to tell me somethings up

 

Pixel Me Good: Is it just me or that kid, uhh Hoshi, or uh, Soonyoung? Have way too many tiger motifs on him

 

Indigo_salad: Shakespeare-sunbaenim…I need to let that sink in for a moment. Also why do we even need mannequins in the first place.

 

HideoKojimaIsMyDad: Why was the ghost hunting scene only shot from their GoPros? Was Minseok not there?

 

Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg: @ HideoKojimaIsMyDad:- Minseok was there for sure. Baekhyun called him at one part during the introduction interview part.

 

ThisisKahi: Omg! My old highschool! And yeah! That building was notorious! People kept saying it was haunted and not in the token-haunted-location kinda way but like, genuinely, the cleaning staff and guards used to talk about it too. I see they’ve changed quite a bit of things but it still looks the same! Its so good to see the juniors taking such good care of the place even during after school.

 

Today is March 89: That little behind the scenes extra at the end of all of them talking over each other but completely understanding each other is the level of communication we need in this world to obtain world peace

 

Baguette Au Pain: Why does this Jeonghan guy look like he would cause problems on purpose

 

Orange Is A Caramel: MY ALUMNI HIGHSCHOOL!

 

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: this was chaotic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

(Author’s Notes)

 

SEVENTEEN RIGHT HERE!!!!!!!!!!

Did I just make Sohee from Wonder Girls Minseok’s aunt? You bet I did.

ALSO AYO LOOK IT’S LUHAN

And I’ve been inspired to wrte this chapter with seventeen ever since their horror episode in GoSe where wonwoo minghao and Hoshi saw the same “mannequin” even though there was none in the footage or any female actors participating in the show. I was like, well, how perfect!

Also I just think it’d be perfect to have them on an episode like this haha

As its October I wanna write more for this but let’s see how things go!

Been unexpectedly busy this month and the last one too, haven’t had the chance to sit but decided I should write at least 400-500 words a day and here I am now

This chapter is a bit long as I have

13 extra members to put into the narrative in a cohesive manner but then again, have seventeen every been cohesive in their shows

Nopes

Also ilove it when k-idols call foreign figures “-sunbaenim”

I know it’s politeness but I can’t help but find it funny, like when Hyelin from EXID said ‘voldemort sunbaenim’ I think I cried

Also speaking of crying, I watched Haunting of Bly Manor and let me tell you when I said I was sobbing hysterically it wasn’t scary like the first season, in fact, I would hardly call Bly Manor scary. Spooky, sure, and thrilling, but not actually scary. And GOD the romance in it. I am DECEASED! Highly recommend!!!

ALL OF THAT

I WROTE THAT AUTHOR’S NOTE WAY BEFORE I AM POSTING IT

JONGDAE

His song broke my heart when I heard it I cannot express how much it hurt me, somehow the lyrics resonated so deeply with how I feel about him with everything that’s been going on I am just

Guys

I really wish, like he says, i desperately hope that he’ll be well, and I am not saying goodbye in any way or form, this is still a hello, and will always be a hello

A long, beautiful, and beloved hello

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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fajiha23 #1
I came back to this story after a few year. But sadly there no update... Well, its okay i will still re-read it again...
luv_kero
2416 streak #2
Chapter 35: Ahhh, love that MiMoSa showed up to answer some questions for the Autopsy!! :D The banter between all six of them is GREAT and there's so much meme energy from the boys in the beginning, HAHA. Love it and I'm VERY intrigued to find out what they have planned for the final episode!! :O And to see how things get progressively worse for Baekhyun in the future, LOOOOOL. :')
Rinininette #3
Chapter 35: Yaaaay the Autopsy! I am always happy to see an update since I am a subscriber I feel like a child during Christmas hahaha
The intervention of Mimosa is cute and the new Autopsy format in the car is interesting! I wonder where they will be going if the first autopsy is shot during their trip to the final location. Is the travel really long or is it a teaser for new projects? I hope Minseok also will be careful while driving because it could be rowdy while debriefing their previous visits!
(Maybe there be ghosts on the road if they are traveling at night huh)

Thank you for your chapter! I'll prepare myself for scarier things in the next ones
luv_kero
2416 streak #4
Chapter 34: Starting off this new season STRONG!! *o* It actually almost makes me feel nostalgic, knowing that the ghoul boys of BUN are currently airing their last season ever of Supernatural after wrapping up True Crime a few months earlier, so I'm glad there's still the hijinks of Unsolved Vlogs to keep us all entertained!! :D And WOW, it seems like the spirits are SUPER active this season, right off the bat, and huge props to MiMoSa for handling everything with so much grace and ease. x] Love these collabs so much and it's okay, Baekhyun, I laughed at your jokes, HAHA :')
ShadedShadows
#5
Chapter 34: Oof, i wanna know what happened to all those spirits. Why were they all muddy? Were they buried alive or something? But you'd think that would have been uncovered... And why did Minseok not want to look at their faces? Why did they seem to want to protect the girls? Were they abuse victims? Are the spirits all genders or not? So many questions!!!
Rinininette #6
Chapter 34: Wooow I am so confused? Minseok is a whole mood like it's creepy but not threatening so what to do hahaha
MiMoSa are adorable and Boo is really cute too, he got many friends to play with!
Jongdae is such a no nonsense person he is TAUNTING the ghosts to get the ball up? The audacity lmaoo
Thank you for your chapter, it will indeed be fun to follow their next trips, the season is starting with a strong episode full of strange happenings
luv_kero
2416 streak #7
Chapter 33: Wow, like some of the commenters said, I definitely wasn't expecting this really raw, insightful, heart-wrenching conclusion about grief and mental health when it came to the story of It and Minseok's grandfather. It was so sad reading his death scene and then it was such a harrowing whirlwind of events as Minseok was exorcised. :O Very gripping, and I'm just really glad that Minseok feels so much more at peace now that It has been purged and he knows the circumstances that it manifested under. >___<

Anyway, super excited for the upcoming season!! :D This one was phenomenal and I know it'll keep getting better, hehe ^^ And I relate a lot to the sentiment of experiencing very HIGH highs and very LOW lows this year. >___< Sending you lots of good energy and well-wishes, and hoping for the lows to level out so that there are only highs!! :)
fajiha23 #8
Chapter 33: Ohmygod... Minseok finally okay... No more demon following .. and, this story srsly the best! Can't wait for their new season... And i hope you doing okay author-nim...
Rinininette #9
Chapter 33: Woah I am relieved Minseok could feel peace finally get rid of the enormous grief which was stuck to him.
Mon the best boi, I really love the snippets of Minseok with a cat (it kinda makes me miss your previous work lmao)
I agree with one of the comments I have to be in hell to forgive all the harm the aunt and the uncle had done and even there I would still hesitate, maybe I would meet them there haha
It's suite fun our favorite YouTubers know about Minseok's story without knowing it's him. Maybe one day they will know everything...
I am glad you are satisfied with your future plot, new season means more fun!
Thank you for your chapter!
KwonDawon
#10
Chapter 33: I just want to know. Is Minseok ever going to tell BaekChen that he can see them??? Also I can relate with toxic family members so much. I hate the whole side of my mom's side because of the toxicity that they are.