‘Who the is this guy?!’

‘Did you go out after your friends into that place?’ Sohee sounds exhausted at Minseok.

‘That’s besides the point,’ Minseok exclaims, pointing wildly at his front door which he had slammed shut very quickly to prevent Lu Han from entering his apartment. ‘Who is this guy?!’

‘That guy is the guy who saved your life you idiot,’ Sohee grumbles, still sleepy and very irritated at being woken up by her disgruntled and chaotic nephew at 2 in the morning. ‘Be grateful he was in the city.’

‘Why does he live across from me?’ Minseok demands. ‘What does he want?’

‘First of all your building had several empty units and it’s at a greatly affordable rate,’ Sohee yawns, ‘Second, I owe him a favour, and showed him this building literally a month ago. I knew you’d meet at one point but this was not quite how I imagined it. Third- he does not want anything. He’s there to keep an eye on you because I asked him to.’

‘Aunt-‘

‘You don’t think I’m not keeping track of you?’ Sohee retorts, ‘This little adventure you’re having with your friends has nearly landed you in some serious problems. I need you to be more careful- what we can see, what we can do- they’re not simple or easy or without repercussions. I thought I told you this.’

Minseok collapses onto his couch, still sending a glare at his front door.

‘You did not tell me the full danger of that hostel, or about the greenhouse which luckily has its own protector. Remember that if you can see them, they can see you too. And they will continue to do so.’

Minseok is still damp from the rain and now that his annoyance, shock, and mostly fear has abated, he’s starting to shiver. Starting to feel a little foolish, and a little lost.

‘I’m just really-‘ Minseok is alarmed to find his voice wavering, eyes burning.

He hears Sohee moving on the line, the sound of blankets being pushed off.

‘Minseok-ah, listen to me. It’s okay to be frightened. It’s okay to be worried about your friends. I know why you did this. You care about them. So please remember that I care about you, and the same way you want to make sure your friends are safe, I want to make sure you are too.’ Sohee tells him quietly, gently, ‘I know you’re strong, your mind, your heart- you’re so strong. But sometimes, you can depend on others, okay?’

‘Okay,’ Minseok sniffs out.

‘I also know Lu Han is a bit-…out there, but that’s just him riling you up. Trust me, he’s a wonderful person, and I know you’ll like him well enough.’

‘Okay,’ Minseok repeats again, toeing off his socks which were luckily not wet.

‘Now get some rest, and go talk to Lu Han tomorrow. You understand?’

‘Yes aunt.’

‘Good. Drink some ginseng extract tomorrow okay? I’ve kept a jar in your cupboard, the third one from the right to the sink.’

Minseok rolls his eyes but agrees.

Dropping his phone to the side Minseok slides down on his couch for a moment. His apartment is quiet and the whole building asleep. It was 2 am and Minseok is disoriented from the time he lost in that house. He’s never encountered something that intense, that combined with It. Looking down at himself, Minseok agrees that he’s been foolish, and that he’s definitely not been taking enough precautions or measures to protect himself.

Washing up and changing out into his pajamas, Minseok burrows his way into his bed. Before he puts his phone away to charge, out of curiosity, he checks on his call logs. There are no outgoing calls from his number.

Sliding it away, Minseok turns over on his bed, automatically yanking his blanket up to cover his ear, muffling the world around him as he drifts off into a fitful sleep.

*

Minseok is making himself breakfast when there’s a short knock on his front door. Unsure who to expect and also dreading the high possibility of it being his new neighbour, Minseok quietly steps up to his door and listens.

There’s no sound from outside.

Quietly, he steps away and goes back to his kitchen. He’s carefully placing his fried egg over his rice when there’s another knock. This time it’s a bit more urgent.

Nearly dropping his spatula, Minseok quietly rushes up to his door and listens.

Again there’s no sound- no movement, no shuffling of feet. He waits longer this time but there’s no follow up.

He steps away slowly, eyeing his door as he makes his way back. He’s halfway eating his breakfast when the door thuds violently. He upsets his cup of water, water spilling down to the floor. Heart in his throat, Minseok rushes to the door again and this time he yanks the door open to nothing.

There’s a flurry of rapid movement at his feet, and Minseok falls against his wall, dread crushing down around him before he realizes that there were cats at his feet.

‘Oh I should have expected this,’ a voice says, huffing a little, ‘I sensed something odd.’

Minseok can only stare as all the cats zoom into his apartment- there’s 3 of them, two black, and 1 large slightly messy looking orange tabby.

‘Don’t worry! They’re incredibly trained and won’t just pee on your stuff!’ Lu Han gives him a thumb’s up from the doorway.

‘…that was not my worry,’ is all Minseok manages to say.

‘Great! Good morning by the way! Have you had the ginseng extract yet?’ Lu Han asks before he eyes the door, ‘This piece of really is after you isn’t it?’

Then as though he owned the place, merrily ushers Minseok back inside and closes the door after himself.

‘Well, it’s good to see that the wards are holding up well!’ Lu Han exclaims, looking about before walking over to Minseok’s sink. He retrieves a bowl and a spoon and holds it up to Minseok. ‘I am hungry!’

Minseok stares between Lu Han and the doorway for a while before stepping back into the kitchen. He spoons out some rice for his new neighbour and Lu Han scurries away to the table.

‘Any nightmares? Bruising?’ Lu Han asks as he sits on a chair, crossing his legs up.

‘Uh-,’ Minseok looks over Lu Han, still really unsure how to feel about this absolute stranger. Well, not so much a stranger. Lu Han had spent most of the journey back last night telling Minseok his whole life story. Honestly Minseok doesn’t remember most of the excessive fine detail but he knows enough.

Lu Han was his age, and came from a long line of mediums, shamans, clairvoyants, and soothsayers. He was raised by an accountant mother and a medium father so his childhood was honestly all over the place. He was mostly raised by his two great-aunts who were both absolutely ungifted in this sort of field and Lu Han used to pretend there were ghosts so he could get off chores around the house after school. However he loved his great aunts dearly and loved his childhood with them. He would sometimes follow his dad to his appointments where his skills as a medium was requested. And he would sometimes go with his mum to her office where he would watch her industrially fill out spreadsheet after spreadsheet. He loved both his parents a lot, but also found both of them a tad bit overbearing in their own field. Which was why he chose to study astrophysics: a subject that required both math and science but not in a way that pleased his mother, and going forward with his instincts and gifts to make money rather than for free like how his father said was the only true and pure way.

‘But hey man, you gotta capitalize on your gifts right?’ Lu Han had added with a bright grin.

And capitalize he did. Lu Han was very comfortably rich and could easily sponsor himself and his chosen field of education which he was actually genuinely very interested in.

‘I’m so excited about what’s happening with gravitional lenses man, if we’re able to calculate the rapidity by which the universe is expanding, we will be able to make a measurement of it- we will be able to measure infinity as it progresses- through time, space, and mass!’

Lu Han offered psychic reading.

A lot of it, he said with a bright smile, was observation. Observation and paying attention.

‘Nearly all humans are self-obsessed. We always talk about ourselves, the environment around us? It’s our individual extension of self, right? If you study someone long enough, see how they interact with their surroundings, you know exactly what kind of person they are. Of course there’s like, tells to people. Once you know where to look, it’s super easy.’

But he also did this. Providing and placing wards. His specialty. He wasn’t trained formally- he didn’t know the chants or mantras or words of power like Sohee did. He simply ‘believe in myself. Religion is all about faith isn’t it? Faith in a powerful force that will listen to you, that you should serve, and they in turn will grant your prayers? But in the end, aren’t we the masters of our own fate? Am I not, in the end, my own god? The decisions I make are my own and the results of it, are my own. Therefore I control it. I’m not going to pray to god for good grades, I need to study for that right? So I believe in myself- have faith in myself. And that’s what I do with all of this too. I have faith in myself.’

And Minseok is inclined to believe Lu Han might be a tad, well, narcissistic. Or maybe egotistic would the correct word. But he can’t quite say that either.

‘I thought I heard something in the hallway,’ Lu Han tells him, picking out some of the kimchi and dropping it into his bowl of rice. He grabs Minseok’s shaker of sesame seeds and starts to shake it over his rice, ‘Ku over there started hissing, and then Ma followed too, and well, Mon over there doesn’t really care.’

Lu Han looks at Minseok expectedly, like he was waiting for Minseok to react a certain way. But honestly Minseok is mostly focused on the excess of sesame seeds in Lu Han’s bowl of rice. Instead, Mon, the large tabby, makes his way over to Minseok and lays at his feet luxuriously.

‘So what was it?’ Minseok asks.

Lu Han is still giving him expectant looks but replies, ‘Your buddy from last time. What’s that about by the way?’

Minseok hears Sohee’s voice in his head, telling him to trust Lu Han.

‘Sohee told me you exorcised me the other day,’ Minseok says instead, ‘What did you see?’

Lu Han groans, shoveling the rice into his mouth with relish and swallowing before replying, ‘Man, I hate exorcisms you know? It’s not really what I do, which is why it didn’t work the way it should have. But here we are!’

Minseok gives Lu Han an expectant look this time and the latter rolls his eyes before replying, ‘Something really wants you man, obsessed, I’d say. This is an entity that has latched itself onto you- feeding off of you, but not quite like, the typical way I’d say?’

Minseok grimaces, stomach bubbling. He pushes his plate away, leaning back and away from the table.

‘So, what’s all this about anyways?’ Lu Han repeats his question, reaching over to grab the rest of the side-dishes now that Minseok was clearly done with eating.

With some resignation and a lot of apprehension and a tiny glimmer of hope, Minseok tells Lu Han about his first memory. He tells him about the quiet touches of his hair, fingers smoothing out blanket covers, pitched yelling right at his ear, pressure over him as he slept, unable to stop it until he fell into the depths of a dark terrible sleep. He tells him about the different places he’s been to. About the greenhouse, the hostel- how he had been so young once more, but only temporarily- and he was himself once again. But then after that, he tells him about the dark tall shape, the return of the watchful eyes as he slept.

‘Oh yeah, you have a stalker,’ Lu Han concludes with a disgusted grimace. ‘This was is like, super obsessed. It’s gonna be tough getting rid of it. Idk if I can do it myself. We’re gonna need back up.’

‘Sohee?’

‘Not for this case,’ Lu Han shakes his head and waves a hand vaguely, ‘No offense to her of course, but her style won’t fit what we will need to do. I think I might know some people who can help.’

‘I do not want some massive exorcism ritual,’ Minseok frowns.

‘Calm down buns,’ Lu Han leans back and stretches his arms above his head, ‘For now you’re gonna have to really amp up your security. What do you think about getting a tattoo?’

‘Uh-?!’

There’s a rapid succession of knocks from his door and Minseok recognizes it instantly as Baekhyun. He takes this distraction very happily and darts out of his kitchen once more to get the door.

‘Hyung! You won’t believe what we captured yesterday!’ Baekhyun squeals, eyes bright and glittering.

‘Baekhyun-!’

‘Okay first of all the developers of this property are s-‘ Jongdae begins hotly.

But they both stop when there’s a loud meow and Ku, Ma, and Mon line up behind Minseok.

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun are instantly on the floor, arms outstretched as they both squeak out: ‘KITTY!’

The cats just look on with interest as Baekhyun and Jongdae drop their bags to the side and kick off their shoes, shuffling forward on hands and knees, making cooing sounds at the cats.

‘Hyung you didn’t tell us you adopted cats!’ Jongdae sounds offended.

‘Aren’t you babies adorable-!’ Baekhyun starts but then stops just as abruptly.

Minseok grimaces as he walks over to where his best-friends were kneeling. And sure enough, Lu Han is there.

How he moved to the sink, already washing dishes, Minseok has no idea. But he looks absolutely angelic, the light of the window behind him back lighting him beautifully.

‘Uh-‘ Baekhyun and Jongdae both stare up at Minseok and then back at Lu Han and then back at Minseok.

Lu Han lets out a small laugh, putting down the soapy plate and wiping his hand quickly on the front of his apron (when did he wear that?!), and waving at the two.

‘I’m Lu Han!’ he smiles brightly, ‘It’s nice to meet you two!’

‘Oh-‘ Jongdae blinks a little, as though taken aback, which was fair in many ways. After all, here was this stranger inside Minseok’s apartment, casually washing dishes. Said stranger is ethereally handsome. And there were 3 cats too.

‘Oh!’ Baekhyun stands up, ‘Uh- hi?’

‘You’ve met my babies!’ Lu Han exclaims, ‘This is Ku! That one is Ma, and that lazy bastard is Mon!’

‘Kumamon?!’ Jongdae exclaims.

‘Exactly!’ Lu Han claps before pointing accusatorily at Minseok, ‘He doesn’t know who Kumamon is!’

‘Hyung!’ Jongdae looks genuinely aghast.

‘Am I supposed to know? What a Kumamon is?’

‘Only one of the most famous mascots from Japan?!’

‘I don’t know much about Japanese mascots, sue me,’ Minseok frowns. ‘Also Lu Han this is Baekhyun and this is Jongdae-‘

‘Of course I know them!’ Lu Han declares cheerily, ‘I watch all of your episodes!’

Both Jongdae and Baekhyun flush with colour, immediately bashful at Lu Han’s comment.

‘Guys this is Lu Han. He’s a. Friend.’ Minseok manages to get out, ‘Of the family.’

If anyone is confused by this, no one says a word. 

‘He’s uh, moved in, down the hall,’ Minseok adds.

‘Hyung you have neighbours you know!’ Baekhyun laughs before traitorously adding, ‘He’s lived here for ages and doesn’t know a single neighbour by name!’

‘We don’t know all our neighbours either,’ Jongdae reminds Baekhyun before saying with the appropriate bow and formality, ‘It’s very nice to meet you! We hope you will enjoy your stay here!’

‘Yeah!’ Baekhyun adds, throwing in a belated greeting bow as though remembering he had forgotten to do so. ‘Did you just move into the city or just moved areas?’

‘I actually just got into the country a couple of months ago! I’m here to study!’ Lu Han tells them, Ku who had leapt up into his arms gently.

‘That’s cool! What are you studying? Where?’ Jongdae asks as Minseok ushers them to the dining table.

‘I’m studying astrophysics at KITM,’ Lu Han beams, dropping Ku down to go back to the sink to finish his washing.

‘…isn’t KITM a graduate school?’ Baekhyun asks, looking up with a faint frown, as though confused.

‘Yes it is!’

‘You’re doing your masters? Oh but-…’ Baekhyun squints at Lu Han, ‘Oh no- are you like Minseok-hyung, you just look young but you’re like, 50.’

Lu Han laughs, delighted as he thoroughly washes out a bowl. Minseok busies himself with preparing tea for his friends. He’s not sure if Lu Han would want any but seeing as he had presented him as a family friend, it would be rude and odd not to include setting up a cup for his supposed family friend.

‘That’s very flattering! Thank you! But no I’m not doing my masters, I’m doing my PhD!’

Jongdae and Baekhyun’s eyes nearly drop out of their skulls.

‘A PhD-?!’

‘Is there a PhD for astrophysics?!’

‘Yes! To both questions!’

‘Woah,’ Baekhyun and Jongdae both still looked incredibly stunned. Minseok turns his back to his friends to roll his eyes to himself.

‘That must be expensive,’ Jongdae frowns, ‘I mean, I know well enough how expensive our tuition is, and it’s not like we’re studying a field related to science at a doctorate level.’

‘My part time job gives me good money,’ Lu Han replies as he finishes rinsing off the last of the bowls, ‘I am very lucky to have been blessed like this.’

‘Oh my god please hook me up with whatever your part time job is,’ Baekhyun kneels on the floor, sliding down from his seat. ‘I need enough money to get me a PhD and an apartment like this too.’

‘Why do you want a PhD?’ Minseok asks, bewildered.

‘I want enough money to afford a PhD, not actually study one,’ Baekhyun frowns, ‘That’s a different level of rich I most certainly am not.’

Minseok can barely hold back his eye roll before turning his back again, reaching for the electric kettle that just finished boiling.

‘Seriously I’m with him,’ Jongdae thumbs down at Baekhyun.

‘Oh, I don’t think…either of you could do it? At least, not authentically,’ Lu Han says apologetically.

‘What do you mean?’ Baekhyun tilts his head to the left a little.

‘I mean, I’m a psychic, so…’

Minseok looks around because he has to see their facial expressions.

‘You’re…a what?’ Baekhyun tilts his head to the right, smile still on his face.

‘A psychic!’

‘…ah.’ Jongdae blinks a few times before looking at Minseok expectantly, as though to explain this mess Lu Han has been unfolding from the kitchen.

‘Oh-OH!’ Baekhyun suddenly sits up on his knees, ‘That’s so cool! That’s amazing! What kind of psychic are you?’

‘I use all sorts of mediums to perform a spectrum of ceremonies,’ Lu Han explains, wiping his hands on a towel before walking over to the dining table again. ‘Of course, I read fortunes, cards, face, hands- I do aura readings too. But I mostly focus on divination-‘

‘Oh my god-‘

‘-and retrocognition.’

‘…what’s that?’ Baekhyun asks, tilting his head again.

And now everything makes sense.

‘Well, if divination is to gain insight into a situation, or possibly into the future, retrocognition is basically the opposite. We look into the past.’

‘Oh!’

‘Is that uh, useful?’ Jongdae frowns, clearly wanting an explanation but not wanting to sound aggressive or rude.

‘Very!’ Lu Han nods, ‘Many people bring items that belonged to lost loved ones, in hopes I can maybe find a connection to their memories with the object, or maybe even gain some insight into strange heirlooms that might be causing issues in the spiritual balance within a household. Maybe even look into a past buried deep within your mind, look into memories that are lost and yet ones that come to haunt you.’

‘Ah.’ Jongdae again looks at Minseok as though begging for an explanation to this.

‘Ah!’ Baekhyun’s eyes are shining. ‘This is so cool! I’ve always wanted to do a divination session but I’ve never found someone I thought I would trust! You’re Minseok-hyung’s friend! So I trust you!’

Minseok wants to scream. There’s a sharp glint in Lu Han’s eyes that goes unnoticed by both Jongdae and Baekhyun as he says, ‘I understand your mistrust and doubts! There are so many who pretend to do what has been taught down to me for generations- a science that is disregarded for its lack of theoretical and mathematical foundation. People who would take advantage of others. But to completely disregard the seat of responsibility so many of us carry within ourselves as we do our jobs. Because I believe, that I can help people more with what I can do, by reaching out to them through divination or retrocognition rather than lecture them on physics.

Does the account of comfort and love from a once cherished belonging of a lost love one weigh less than a hypothetical theory of black holes and quantum reality? I don’t think so.’

Jongdae is now desperately throwing Minseok wide eyed pleas for help whereas Baekhyun is nearly almost kneeling before Lu Han, cat in his hands.

‘Who wants tea?’ Minseok asks quickly, holding up the cups and gesturing to all of them to get to the table. He manages to settle everyone down, including all the cats who play about near their feet when he looks at his best friends and asks, ‘What brings you here? You said you had something to show me?’

‘Yes!’ Baekhyun exclaims gleefully as Jongdae sighs into his cup, his expression still fond though. ‘We set up motion sensors around that cursed hallway-,’ he pauses to look at Lu Han who leans in expectantly, eyes widening a little, expression very encouraging and genuine. ‘-um, I’ll quickly summarize this to you! I think you’ll find this fascinating!’

‘Yes please!’ Lu Han nods fervently. Baekhyun gives him a 3 minute rapid summary of everything and Lu Han’s reaction is so authentic Minseok has a moment where he wonders if what happened last night at the Not White House with Lu Han actually happened or not.

‘Wow!’ Lu Han exclaims, ‘I would love to see this place, but I think it might be beyond me to try and even reach into unless someone was in clear danger!’

Lu Han neatly dodges Minseok’s kick from under the table.

‘So anyways, we set up all of these motion sensors- one downstairs in the hallway leading to the kitchen area, and another on the cursed stairs.’ Baekhyun tells them excitedly, ‘And look we saw this!’

He’s fumbling with his phone as Jongdae adds, ‘The place was super dark though, gotta admit, the windows were oddly low, so it made light from the street outside weirdly muted? Baekhyun tripped and he was crawling for most of his solo tour around the place!’

‘I was not crawling the whole time, it was just downstairs for a few seconds-,’ Baekhyun frowns as he scrolls through his phone to access the video. ‘Besides, you got stuck in the kitchen hallway because you couldn’t see. Hyung, he looked so creepy I swear to god I was outside and I could see him just standing there, doing nothing.’

Minseok’s skin crawls, remembering what he’d seen in the Not White House.

‘Time sure is strange,’ Lu Han remarks, sipping tea from his cup, smiling to himself.

‘Ah! Here it is!’ Baekhyun shows him his phone screen, the video scrubbed forward significantly. The dots of the motion sensor lights are perfectly stationary and suddenly, a form erupts out of nowhere right where Minseok had slipped and fallen on the stairs, desperate to reach for his friends.

Lu Han lets out such a realistic gasp of shock Minseok is questioning him as a whole.

‘Isn’t that so freaky?!’ Baekhyun is vibrating in his seat as he turns to Jongdae, ‘You can’t say that was an insect or a gust of wind!’

‘Technical difficulties,’ Jongdae shrugs.

‘I hate you,’ Baekhyun smiles before doing a small dance, ‘This is some solid evidence.’

‘Did you find anything else?’ Minseok asks.

‘Spirit box had some strange things to say. It also smelled a lot like rain-‘

‘-yeah actually it did,’ Jongdae chimes in, ‘The upper floor smelled like it just finished raining. Very odd.’

‘My belief is that there’s some weird time-continuum thing going on,’ Baekhyun turns to Lu Han, ‘I would love to hear your opinion on the matter!’

‘Well, time is linear,’ Lu Han begins, ‘Time only stops being linear in our memories, where past, present, and even future takes place all at the same time. Whether we like it or not, time continues forward, and all of life, all of now, all of what we see and we experience right now, every moment, just continues to go forward forever and ever. This is what physics teaches us. However, our memory proves that maybe time isn’t linear. Time moves for us separately, as individuals. We all exist in this plane of existence, and yet, the lives you’ve lived, the time you’ve occupied, it’s all yours, unique to you- your perception of time, how it manifests around you- these are all different and non-linear. Memories are sometimes triggered, and you find yourself maybe reliving an emotion, a thought; for that moment, time is not of here and now- time has moved you back again.’

There’s a stunned silence, where even the cats have not made a single sound, no meows.

‘That was beautiful.’

Minseok and Baekhyun both look at Jongdae in surprise.

‘Thank you!’ Lu Han smiles.

‘But that didn’t answer the question!’ Jongdae waves a finger.

It makes Lu Han laugh.

‘I’m in a unique position to answer that question if I’m being honest,’ Lu Han admits, ‘But it’s possible that we don’t know enough about time. That we don’t understand what exists beyond this realm of possibility. What “possibility” even means. Because for us, possibilities is simply a summary of what we think we know, what we can imagine. And we, as humans, don’t know remotely enough to even begin to say things like realm of possibility because we are just too limited in what we know, limited in the confines of our imagination.’

‘So you’re saying that this could be real?’

‘By this you mean a possible time-warp within this Not White House, or supernatural stuff?’

‘Uh- both?’

‘As someone in my position, I will say that we don’t know enough of either to make conclusions. But I believe in what I see, and I believe in what I know, and I believe in what I feel.’ Lu Han smiles beatifically. ‘So despite everything, I am like everyone else in this.’

‘Woah,’ Baekhyun intones with awe while Jongdae genuinely looks impressed.

‘I can see why you and Minseok-hyung know each other!’ Jongdae adds, ‘I think you both have very similar outlooks.’

‘You’re right!’ Lu Han reaches over to take Minseok’s hand and squeezes it. Minseok fights the urge to throw a punch.

‘What do you think Minseok-hyung? With what we found and everything?’ Baekhyun leans in, eyes bright.

‘Well-,’ Minseok swallows hard. ‘I think that there are many things we do not understand- uh, like Lu Han said.’

There’s a very awkward 2 second silence where everyone looks at each other in rapid succession several times over before it’s broken very loudly by some truly horrendous retching cough sounds.

‘Oh no Ku, why would you do this to me right now?’ Lu Han wails as he kneels dramatically over his cat now coughing up a hairball.

‘I guess I’ll get going back!’ Lu Han declares, hauling his cats, hairball, and a Tupperware of leftovers Minseok had stored in his fridge. ‘And Minseok, please remember to have the ginseng extract it’s in the cupboard, third one from the right of the sink!’

Minseok could scream but he waves and smiles as brightly as he can, locking the door behind the chaotic man that was now his neighbour and spiritual guardian/protector.

‘He looks like a fun dude!’ Baekhyun says as Minseok comes back, already wiping up the floor where Ku had spat out a hairball with a disinfectant wipe.

‘How are you doing hyung?’ Jongdae asks, keeping their used cups away into the sink. ‘Feeling better?’

Minseok looks over at his best friends, an intense and overwhelming rush of gratitude rushing over him.

‘I’m doing better,’ Minseok replies honestly, ‘I think I needed that rest- kinda pushed me to…well, think things over I guess.’

Both Baekhyun and Jongdae give him wide smiles.

‘Thanks for coming over.’

‘Of course! Besides, I really did want to show you that clip and-‘

‘-he’s lying, we have some issues with some of the footage, it’s like something always happens when you’re not with us hyung.’

‘-99% of the reason why I wanted to come today was to check on hyung how dare you insinuate something else-!’

Minseok helps them out with their raw video footage- it was a normal regular issue with the render settings not matching up with the preexisting raw footage and Minseok helps them cut and put together the timeline before the two make to leave.

‘God, university is going to start soon, I’m not ready,’ Baekhyun sighs.

‘Well, I know I won’t really miss it,’ Minseok laughs as he coils up Baekhyun’s laptop charger cable and hands it to him.

‘Don’t you still need to do some at the faculty office?’ Jongdae inquires.

‘Yeah- about the final presentation. It’s nothing too much though,’ Minseok stretches a little before sitting back on his couch. ‘I just want to take a nice rest during this summer. Maybe start working out again.’

‘Oh no- please have mercy on us,’ Jongdae wails comically while Baekhyun laughs.

‘I’ll do my best,’ Minseok cackles.

‘You’re evil,’ Jongdae sends him a mock glare.

‘Also really hoping this flu thing won’t be a serious issue,’ Baekhyun adds, ‘It’s stressful enough with the air pollution if I’m being honest.’

‘Yeah,’ Jongdae wrinkles his face before adding, ‘I read online that it’s a bit like the common flu? It shouldn’t be too bad right?’

‘Let’s hope it’s not bad,’ Minseok nods.

He helps the two to the doorway, handing Baekhyun his camera bag and Jongdae his laptop case.

‘Oh yeah hyung, before I forget, someone was in front of your door,’ Jongdae tells him as he takes his case, ‘I think he might have gotten the wrong door number because he moved on down the hall.’

Cold trickles down Minseok’s spine at Jongdae’s words.

‘Either way! This year is gonna be great for us,’ Baekhyun nods confidently. ‘Chanyeol’s also been saying something about a new collab before he starts his tour.’

‘Oh,’ Minseok shakes himself out of his momentary shock, ‘Chanyeol’s going on a tour?’

‘Yeah!’ Jongdae nods enthusiastically, ‘He said it’ll be a small and local one. Also! Jongin contacted me the other day! Said he had some new place he wanted us to visit! A friend or something.’

‘Busy busy,’ Minseok smiles, eyeing the hallways nervously as he pokes his head out of the doorway.

‘We have the whole of 2020 hyung,’ Baekhyun beams, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he does a funny dance out in the hallway, ‘We have plans. This year is gonna be great!’

*

‘Hey guys!’

‘Ayeeee!!!

Special announcement video!!’

‘Like we announced on our Twitch stream a few days ago, we’ve been working on a new way to still continue creating content that is true to Unsolved Vlogs.’

‘And we have some good concrete ideas for the new season coming up next month!

However, for the remainder of how long we normally run a season, we still have a few videos left. And if anything, we love to stay on schedule!’

‘Exactly!

So after filming the Not White House episode, our semesters had started. And then of course, the pandemic hit us.’

‘Really hard.’

‘Hit us hard it did!’

‘So like we announced, we will be starting a new Unsolved content! And this time, we will be asking you to be a part of it!’

‘We’ve seen a lot of comments in the past, of people’s experiences regarding supernatural occurrences-‘

‘-whether personal or second-hand-‘

‘-and we want to know yours!’

‘So please submit your stories to us!

We want to know your stories and share them!’

‘If you have evidence, then that’s even better!’

‘But not a requirement!’

‘And like we said, we will also have special guests who come in to hear your stories, maybe even narrate!’

‘Thank you so much for your positive comments and for your support! We really mean it!’

‘We hope you will enjoy the new content coming up soon!’

‘Until then, stay safe, wear a mask, wash your hands, and be kind to yourselves!’

‘Bye!’

‘Bye! Thank you so much for your support!’

*

167 is average height: awwww! This channel makes me so happy (and stressed and anxious and scared) and it’s been an honest to god, blessing this pandemic, and I’m so happy to see them doing their best to produce content! I look forward to it!!!

Baguette Au Pain: Who is here even though they watched the twitch stream?

Indigo_salad: God I hope they bring in kyungsoo for the story reading

Ride or Die: MY TIME HAS COME I AM SUBMITTING MY STORIES TO UNSOLVED

Mareete: Seeing Minseok at the end there was enough to give me energy for this ing zoom meeting I’m gonna have today

HideoKojimaIsMyDad: YES PERSONAL INDIVIDUAL STORIES I JUST KNOW IT’S GONNA BE GREAT PEOPLE BE OUT THERE EXPERIENCING REALLY WEIRD ALL THE TIME

Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg: I’m sad they wont’ be able to go around and do what they normally do but im happy they’ve found a safe and still entertaining alternative!!

Mmmh mmmh mmmh: I can’t wait for special guests!!! I hope they bring in Chanyeol again!!!

Hello Stranger: Oh yesssssssssss perfect!!!!

minghaoFrogagenda: Wait…I just realized…if they ask for photo and video evidence…WE will also see them…so that means…-I’m not ready

Give Reason an Oscar Right Now: Might just get twitch and follow them on there too

DaeDroid: Jongdae’s quarantine hair is giving me life I love them

This Is Kai’s Era: Is Minseok…buffer than before…

Lilithesue25:@This Is Kai’s Era he’s cuter than before for sure

This Is Kai’s Era: @Lilithesue25 oh, absolute no doubt

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: @This Is Kai’s Era and @Lilithesue25, lmao get in line

author's ing notes

guys 
these past 2 weeks have been
so terrible
i can't even express tbh and i dont know if i even can tbh, but ive had to leave thailand where i've been living for 8 years, and ive had to come to back my home country and i just
associate a lot of negativity and my years being very depressed here and the issue is idk how or when or if i can leave 
life is hard during a pandemic and financially i am not able to keep myself in thailand anymore
updates might be much slower again, or who knows?? much faster because writing will be a way for me to completely disassociate and remove myself mentally from where i am so yeah
but no worries! i'm not abandoning the story or anything!!!!! i would never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ALSO
KAI
MY MAN
KIM JONGIN KAI WHAT A MAN
THIS ALBUM IS STUNNING
THE MUSCI VIDEO????????????? DONT GET???????? ME???????????? STARTED????????????????????????? I AM FLOORED
ALSO WHO IN SM IS READING AMULGOE COME OUT AND MEET ME IN THE PARKING LOT WITH MY ING MONEY