PART TWO of a TWO PART UPDATE!!!!!

‘This looks like a nice house.’

Jongdae stands in front of the gate, locking them out of the driveway that lead up to a very nice looking bungalow. A nice and clearly empty and unoccupied for many years bungalow.

Sure maybe in some way it looked nice. The gardens were still maintained, the paint on the house not aged or dirty, the windows though locked up and shut were clear of the climbers that covered one side of the house. It was in many ways, a very nice family house.

Except maybe for the very ominous presence Minseok can very clearly detect from this distance.

They had arrived in the afternoon, setting up their camera, equipment, mics, and in some people’s case, mentally prep themselves.

They only had to wait about 10 minutes before owner of said house arrives, beaming at them as he steps out of his very nice car.

Kim Junmyeon was a friend of a friend who became a great friend to both Baekhyun and Jongdae. While he was in a completely different faculty (International Business), he still remained good friends with the two, meeting up here and there to hang out and eat. Minseok also knows, through his many informants, that Junmyeon was actually one of Unsolved Vlogs’s first sponsor. And though he looked the epitome of normal, with no good reason to be connected at all to anything supernatural, Junmyeon was a man full of surprises.

‘Okay so basically we’ll be asking a few questions, and you’ll give us a tour of the place,’ Jongdae explains though they had already discussed all of this before hand.

‘Hyung, you mentioned the electric circuits in the basement and garage were out?’ Baekhyun adds.

‘Yeah- it was a recent development. The groundskeeper just told me yesterday, you might wanna store your equipment in the entryway instead even if that might get in your way.’ Junmyeon replies while Minseok attaches a mic onto his jacket lapel.

‘We’ll be fine I think?’ Jongdae turns to inquire him with a look.

‘We should be fine,’ Minseok confirms with a nod.

‘It’s cool to see you again hyung,’ Junmyeon smiles as Minseok checks to see if his audio was picking up.

‘You too Junmyeon-ah,’ Minseok replies warmly before adding, ‘Could you move around- need to see if your clothes might hit the mic.’

Junmyeon flails a little, and other than the expected and standard muffled sounds, his mic test is cleared.

‘Didn’t think you’d be someone who would mention haunted houses, let along own one,’ Minseok teases.

‘It’s not my house,’ Junmyeon sighs comically.

Junmyeon came from a rich family, and while initially Baekhyun and Jongdae had been careful about it, not knowing Junmyeon’s honestly dorky and down-to-earth personality, they grew to respect and truly care for him as a friend.

After everyone clears their sound and mic test, they enter the grounds of the bungalow and Minseok is already regretting everything.

Sure it was ominous from the distance, but as they get closer, there’s a noticeable dip in temperature. Of course Baekhyun is quick to point this out.

‘It got chilly,’ he grins nervously from the front.

‘It’s November,’ Jongdae deadpans next to him.

Junmyeon just chuckles.

‘Shall we start from here?’ Baekhyun asks, standing in front of the nice and simple doorway.

Minseok makes sure that the focus on the camera is on auto, scans the audio once more, and gives Baekhyun and Jongdae a thumbs up.

‘Okay! Welcome everyone to Season 1 Episode 1!’ Baekhyun throws his hands up with a little cheer. ‘After the special Halloween episode, we’re back with a whole new season of spooky investigations!’

‘And as it’s the first episode, we thought we’d make it even more special.’ Jongdae adds, ‘We’re doing a house-visit!’

‘Okay but to clear things up- no one actually lives in this house at the moment,’ Baekhyun adds, ‘But before you guys accuse us of baiting you with the title, the house is up for sale, and the house actively employs a groundskeeper who stays here.’

‘In a separate place,’ Jongdae clarifies. ‘Within the grounds.’

‘And as it is special we will be- what are we doing Jongdae?’ Baekhyun turns to address Jongdae who stares blankly at the camera and states, ‘We’re going to be sleeping over the night.’

Baekhyun lets out a whoop.

‘Okay but to better understand and explain the history of this place, we’re bringing in our guest and someone who used to live here as a kid!’ Baekhyun does a grand gesture and Minseok redirects the camera to pan over to Junmyeon who chuckles awkwardly and waves.

‘Hyung! Come stand here with us!’ Baekhyun waves in a beckoning fashion.

Junmyeon walks over, bowing again to the camera.

‘Uh right- so my name is Kim Junmyeon and this was my childhood home until I was about, 7 years old?’ he introduces himself.

‘Cool! So- I think I can mention this to the viewers but when you messaged me like, 3 weeks ago, you told me that you thought this house was haunted as a kid, and later dismissed it. But then?’ Baekhyun starts them up.

‘Well- as a kid, I was an only child for a while, until my younger brother was born. So I used to play a lot by myself most time,’ Junmyeon begins. ‘My parents actually told me this only a few years ago, but apparently I used to talk a lot.’

‘Imaginary friends?’ Jongdae inquires.

‘Yeah- that’s what my parents thought.’ Junmyeon nods. ‘My parents were quite busy before my younger brother was born, and they used to have baby-sitters come stay when they were out. And almost all of my baby-sitters only ever lasted 2 to 3 sessions. We could never find anyone that would permanently stay.’

‘So you’re saying you were a troublemaker as a child?’ Jongdae teases.

Junmyeon laughs out loud, throwing his head back while Baekhyun smacks Jongdae on his arm.

‘I don’t know if I was a troublemaker- my parents don’t really have any stories about me being difficult to raise. Baby-sitters didn’t have complaints about me either.’ Junmyeon says with a  shrug, ‘But they all left because they felt like they were being watched. At least that’s what my parents told me a few years ago.’

‘So the baby-sitters told your parents that?’ Jongdae looks doubtful.

‘Not all of them,’ Junmyeon clarifies. ‘Most just left. But after like, the 8^th baby-sitter left, my mum took one of them aside to ask they were leaving. The baby-sitter at the time had been a friend of the then gardener’s wife. She told my mum that she felt like she was being watched.’

Baekhyun visibly shudders at that, eyeing the house behind them suspiciously.

‘Okay, did anyone else mention it?’ Jongdae asks skeptically.

‘Yeah. My mum asked a few others as well. And the ones she asked all said they just weren’t comfortable being inside the house.’ Junmyeon replies with a thoughtful expression, as though he himself was doubtful of the words.

‘And what about you? You said you only “thought” it was haunted as a kid. I mean, the house is big, it’s got a lot of windows, shadows and things, and I had an active imagination. Later after we moved out and I started being more exposed to ghosts and supernatural stuff on the media, I always thought it was quite fitting if the house was haunted,’ Junmyeon laughs. ‘We leased the house after we moved, and it became like a track record, most people stayed a maximum of 3 months. At first we all though it was just maybe not their taste- or sometimes after a while, some houses aren’t just a fit for your family, things like that.’

Jongdae and Baekhyun both nod though Minseok knows they can’t relate to that.

‘I was a teenager at the time, and one of the people who stayed at the house had a daughter my age. I can fairly admit I had a crush on her,’ he chuckles awkwardly, ‘and when they said they would be moving out, and my dad went to talk to them, I volunteered to go with him.’

‘Ayeeee,’ Baekhyun grins, elbowing Junmyeon, his eyebrows wiggling at an alarming rate.

‘Anyways, so we spoke a little, and she asked me how I could have grown up in the house considering how haunted it was,’ Junmyeon laughs lightly, ‘And I was confused, I said it’s not haunted. And she insisted it was. That was the first time someone actually verbally told me the place was haunted.’

‘How long has it been that you’ve had tenants?’ Jongdae asks, glancing back at the house, ‘Because I’ll be honest, this is a really nice house.’

‘It’s been over 5 years now. It’s got a bit of reputation in the neighbourhood as well,’ Junmyeon says with a hint of regret. ‘So most people will come and look, and after asking some questions, will stay away. It’s a great house, but not enough to risk rumors and stories I guess.’

‘And you also said that the most conclusive story you heard was from your old gardener?’ Baekhyun presses.

‘Ah yeah,’ Junmyeon nods. ‘Obviously after hearing what the girl-‘

‘-your crush-‘

‘-yes-‘ Junmyeon laughs. ‘I thought I’d ask our old gardener. So I found out where he lived and went to ask him.’

‘Bet that was a surprise visit.’

‘It was!’ Junmyeon nods, ‘But he was very nice about it.’

‘So what did he tell you?’ Baekhyun asks eagerly.

‘He told me that when he first started working, he didn’t notice anything out of the usual,’ Junmyeon recalls, ‘His wife used to be our cook, and she didn’t notice anything either for the first few months. He said that the first time he realized something was definitely wrong was when he was working in the garden near the kitchen window, he looked in to wave at his wife. She wasn’t there, but there was a man inside the kitchen instead.’

Baekhyun instantly pales.

‘He couldn’t really see his face too clearly, because it was bright out. But he was definitely sure that there was someone inside the kitchen,’ Junmyeon continues with the story, not at all noticing Baekhyun’s visible distraught. ‘He thought maybe my father had come in early from work but he realized his car hadn’t pulled in. He was going to dismiss it but then at the same time his wife came out from the backdoor. He asked her who the man inside the kitchen was. She said that there was no guest or visitors in the house. So at first they thought it might have been a thief. He called the police while his wife called my parents.’

Baekhyun nods vigourously, getting deeper into the story.

‘The police came and did a complete check of the place, and there was no sign of an intruder,’ Junmyeon narrates, ‘He was very apologetic but my parents weren’t upset and instead I guess pleased that he would go to such lengths to want to secure the situation.’

Jongdae nods to that.

‘And after that he was much more alert. My dad then put those up around the walls,’ Junmyeon points to the cameras as well as the spikes on the walls.

‘Woah,’ Baekhyun breathes out.

‘He told me about what his wife experienced,’ Junmyeon continues, ‘She worked inside the house mostly during the daytime, preparing food for me after school, and for dinner for the family. Sometimes she thought that maybe one of my parents was home, because she could hear someone walking around upstairs. She even thought she saw my mother in the hallway one time.’

‘Full body apparition,’ Baekhyun exclaims excitedly, visibly sweating in this November weather.

‘But I guess the one that really made me believe this place is haunted is what they both saw,’ Junmyeon’s tone is casual, as though he wasn’t retelling them what was definitely a very haunted childhood. ‘So up there is what used to be my room.’

He points up towards the top of the 2 story house to the right. It was covered in climbers and the small balcony jutting out from the side of the house connected to the room. Baekhyun stiffly gestures to them to start walking towards the balcony until they stand a little below it.

‘This was during the weekend, and it was late summer according to him. I used to love playing with bubbles, and I would often stay at the balcony just violently making bubbles to make it fall,’ Junmyeon waves upwards and Minseok pans up.

To his absolute disquiet, a dark shape peers down at them through the doorway leading to the balcony.

‘And so the gardener was just there near the garden shed,’ he points behind them at a small shed. ‘And his wife was sitting underneath the shade there. There used to be a swing there.’ He adds, pointing a little to the shed’s right. There’s a great tree at the corner of the garden and Minseok instantly does not like the way it looks. ‘So I called to the gardener, doing kid stuff I guess, when my balcony door opened behind me and both the gardener and his wife saw a man standing at the doorway.’

Baekhyun is definitely sweating. Jongdae just looks intrigued, as though listening to a good story.

‘At first the gardener thought it was my dad,’ Junmyeon squints a little as he peers up at the balcony instead, ‘because he told me I turned around and spoke to this man like I knew him.’

‘Wait- how old were you?’ Jongdae interjects.

‘Around 4,’ Junmyeon replies, ‘I don’t have any memory of this, though I do know I used to love staying at the balcony a lot. I have loads of pictures of myself in the balcony.’

‘Is that all?’ Baekhyun asks hopefully.

‘Uh,’ Junmyeon looks sheepish, ‘So the gardener walks closer to the balcony because he’s a little confused. Then his wife suddenly says “who’s that with Junmyeon?”.’

Baekhyun looks like he’s regretting every single second of the day and Minseok is with him 100%.

‘So they both approach the balcony and they try to stay calm. Maybe my parents had guests, is what they thought, and since that incident last time, they don’t want a false alarm or a repetition.’

Jongdae nods to that, ‘Won’t be good on the resume.’

Junmyeon laughs amiably, ‘No it wouldn’t. But anyways, they walked up to the balcony and called me. I looked down and they asked me who I was talking to.’

‘Oh ,’ Baekhyun whimpers.

‘I supposedly replied saying “oh it’s my friend Mr. Son”,’ Junmyeon grimaces. ‘Obviously the gardener and his wife were very disturbed. So his wife quickly went to the house and told my mother. She ran up with my mother and I was there in my room alone. My mum asked me about Mr. Son, and I supposedly started crying out of nowhere.’

‘Did your parents ever get an explanation out of you?’ Jongdae inquires.

‘Apparently after that day I didn’t want to stay in my room?’ Junmyeon replies thoughtfully, ‘It was just a month or so after my parents decided that we should leave, live closer to the city. I think after a while, my parents thought I was felt neglected and made things up. I guess maybe I did at that age? Because after that my parents both stayed at home more frequently and my dad started working out of the house instead until we moved out completely.’

‘Did he ever notice anything?’

‘I asked him a couple of years ago, but he didn’t mention anything.’

‘Asian dads be like that,’ Baekhyun rolls his eyes.

‘I asked my mum, and she said to me after a while that she never really liked this place,’ Junmyeon says with a slightly wistful tone. ‘And she did her best to ignore what the baby-sitters said. But she had been the one to move us out after what happened with the balcony and everything.’

‘Do you think maybe your mum knew what was happening but didn’t want to acknowledge it?’ Baekhyun asks carefully.

‘Yeah I think so,’ Junmyeon nods before adding, ‘Fun fact, my parents couldn’t get pregnant the entirety of the time they were here, but just some months after moving out, my brother was conceived.’

It’s very quiet after that until Jongdae says, ‘Well! I can’t wait to sleepover tonight. Junmyeon, you sure you don’t want to join us?’

Minseok has to fight the urge to shout NO but he doesn’t need to because Junmyeon just laughs and shakes his head, ‘I’m afraid I can’t. And I won’t.’

‘Damn,’ Jongdae grins in amusement, ‘Guess it’s just you and me Baek.’

‘And Minseok hyung,’ Baekhyun has a pleading look.

Technically Minseok wasn’t supposed to be with them during the night sleep-over. After setting up the cameras and sound, he would step out. But Minseok had said he would stay over as well.

‘We’re doing new things this season. Minseok-hyung is our camera and sound guy as well as bodyguard!’ Jongdae grins at the camera.

Minseok can’t help but grimace at the accuracy of Jongdae’s statement.

*

‘Okay! So guys we’re going to be stepping in to the house-‘

‘-while it’s still bright,’ Jongdae adds, ‘Just for the tour so we know which place is where.’

‘-and we know where we can use the bathroom as we are staying overnight,’ Baekhyun concludes, grinning at his GoPro and then at Minseok. Minseok grimaces back.

It was terrible stepping inside.

The weight of the house was oppressive and if Minseok were younger, he’d start feeling sick. For now there’s a gentle indicator of a headache building up at the back of his head. He pats himself on the back for packing pain killers.

‘Right so,’ Junmyeon stands at the entryway, ‘Uh, welcome to my crib?’

Jongdae laughs brightly and even Baekhyun seems to lighten up a little at that.

‘Right so the house is 2 floors- downstairs we have the kitchen, living room, dining, study, 2 bathrooms, and a guest room. Upstairs 2 bedrooms and a master bedroom,’ Junmyeon reels off as he steps deeper inside.

‘This is a really nice house,’ Jongdae whistles appreciatively, ‘Wow, look at that chandelier.’

And yes, Minseok agrees. This is a very nice house. It was wide, the ceiling high up, and the overall layout was quite open and luxurious.

‘Junmyeon-hyung, if I ever get rich, I’ll buy this place off of you.’ Jongdae offers as he sets down their heavier tripods.

Junmyeon just laughs in response.

‘It’s cold in here,’ Baekhyun shivers.

And it was definitely cold in here.

Not winter-cold. But something-is-wrong-here cold. A sort of icky dampness that stuck to Minseok’s throat and temples, amplifying his slowly increasing headache.

‘I asked the groundskeeper to check the electricity and water so you can use the sinks and toilets. And I know that you guys wanted to do this sleepover in an authentic way but it does get quite cold so he’ll bring you guys one of his extra heaters,’ Junmyeon explains as he stands by the stairwell landing.

The stairs curve upwards around the chandelier that hangs down.

Illuminated and clean, this area would have been very beautiful. But right now, even in broad daylight, Minseok can see the pair of feet just edging into view at the top of the stairwell.

He sighs quietly, adjusting his headphones over his head.

‘You okay hyung?’ Baekhyun asks as he puts down their bag of chargers and his own laptop bag. ‘You look tired.’

‘Just a small headache- I’ve got meds don’t worry,’ Minseok smiles.

‘Wow hyung! This is such a big kitchen!’ Jongdae calls from the other side.

‘Jongdae gives me anxiety,’ Baekhyun laughs while Minseok properly zooms to his face, ‘If we were in a horror movie, he’d be the first to go.’

Minseok has to sort of agree. Because when they go see him at the kitchen, Minseok walking in behind Baekhyun and Junmyeon, he catches sight of a shadowy figure slipping out from behind the large steel-door refrigerators and disappearing into the hallway leading to the dining room.

‘You have like, 10 stove top burners. Isn’t that too excessive with a house that has 3 bedrooms.’ Jongdae asks Junmyeon.

‘Said the person who uses up all the burners when you’re cooking the two of us dinner,’ Baekhyun snorts before turning to address the camera and whispering, ‘Jongdae uses all the burners and makes like, 2 dishes.’

‘I heard that!’ Jongdae yells back as he follows Junmyeon to the dining room.

‘Should we set up a camera here? Near the window?’ Baekhyun asks, pointing to the window that overlooked the garden outside. You can see the big tree in the corner of the garden from here.

It’s incredibly upsetting.

‘Yeah,’ Minseok nods.

Baekhyun takes out a violently coloured sticky notepad and places one over on the counter.

‘One at the entryway?’ Baekhyun asks, looking about appreciatively.

‘Yeah- and the stairs?’ Minseok adds.

‘Yeah! That’s a good idea!’ Baekhyun grins, shuffling away to mark the spots.

Minseok looks back out of the window at the big tree. He’s not sure how he’s going to ask without giving anything away.

‘Hyung- I’ve marked the dining room,’ Jongdae says as he walks back in with Junmyeon, ‘There’s also a good spot that can catch the living room from inside the dining room.’

‘Okay cool. How many extension cables will we need to set up the chargers?’ Minseok asks.

‘Not too many. Junmyeon-hyung, you said we could use the outlets right?’ Jongdae asks Junmyeon who looks out at the garden with a wistful look.

‘Yeah, again except for the garage and basement,’ Junmyeon reminds him.

Jongdae gives him a thumbs up and walks out to where Baekhyun was puttering about.

Minseok guesses now is a good time as ever.

‘That’s a really big tree,’ Minseok nods at it, ‘Do you know how old it is?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Junmyeon squints at it, ‘But I think it was here with the land.’

‘Out of curiosity, do the neighbouring houses have similar incidences that you know of?’ Minseok asks.

‘Not that I know of,’ Junmyeon replies, ‘I feel like there would be general knowledge of that sort of thing, right? The whole neighbourhood knows about this house.’

Minseok nods in understanding.

‘Hyung!’ Baekhyun calls from the hallway.

‘Which one?’ Minseok calls back.

‘Uh- both of you?’

Junmyeon and Minseok grin at each other.

*

They grab a quick lunch and a good dinner to eat back at the bungalow. And like Jongdae had pointed out, at least this was a clean place. Junmyeon had it cleaned up a little before their arrival. He had mentioned something about publicity for the house, and while both Jongdae and Baekhyun had found that angle weirdly funny, Minseok gets it.

There were a lot of people out there that wanted to buy haunted houses- people not unlike Baekhyun who were obsessed with the supernatural but without the fear aspect.

The bakery Jongdae wanted to take Minseok to was a family-run bakery and it was indeed, absolutely delicious. Jongdae looked very pleased with himself.

Heading back was riddled with dread.

Minseok tried not to let it show. He also swallowed a couple of pain killers and made sure to stay hydrated. He didn’t need to be distracted and careless and allow things he could control to play into what he was going to have to step into.

At the gateway the groundskeeper is there to greet them with an electric heater.

‘Thank you Mr. Lim,’ Baekhyun bows gratefully, taking the wheeled device from the older man.

‘I hear you’re trying to catch ghosts?’ Mr. Lim grins at them.

‘Trying,’ Jongdae chuckles.

‘You’ve stayed here for a while now, have you experienced anything?’ Baekhyun asks immediately.

‘Hmm- well, I just stay inside the guardroom when I do stay here,’ he replies thoughtfully, ‘Can’t say I’ve witnessed anything.’

‘Thank you,’ Baekhyun bows again, looking somewhat relieved.

‘If you kids need anything, I’ll be in the guardhouse till 10. Leave the gate-keys with the security check-point,’ he adds before heading back to the guardhouse.

They all bow him out before facing the bungalow again.

‘Well,’ Baekhyun smiles nervously, ‘Let’s go.’

*

As Minseok suspected, the darker it got, the worse it became.

And from what he can tell, unlike the Asylum, where there were multiple spirits and ghosts with a majorly dark nearly demonic entity, this house was literally occupied by a genuine demon.

And while people’s definitions of demon varied, or their understanding of it changed and shifted according to culture, religion, or even media consumption; for Minseok, demons have always been terribly dark, terribly angry, and incredibly destructive.

Minseok doesn’t want to assume or project, but Junmyeon’s lonely childhood had a lot to be thought about. Not to mention how his parents couldn’t conceive for the duration that they stayed in this house. Demons went to the root of places, of people, of trust, and corrupted it.

And Minseok is itching to get out because he knows he’s not strong enough to remotely overpower or overcome this thing in the house.

No amulet or stamp would be able to release or suppress this thing.

Minseok would definitely have to call his aunt about this place and somehow warn Junmyeon about never returning back here.

The whole story of his possible interaction with this demon as Mr. Son was deeply troubling.

At least Minseok can’t sense any form of attachment.

Now that would be very very bad.

For now Minseok pretends not to see it, not to know it- something his aunt told him to do when it came to very dark entities and spirits.

Minseok needed to be alert and aware.

‘ it’s cold,’ Jongdae comments wryly as they make their way up.

‘It’s colder upstairs,’ Baekhyun remarks as they climb up the stairs.

Minseok spies a pair of feet turning and walking out of the landing atop of the stairs.

‘Well, this is where we’ll be sleeping for the night,’ Jongdae chuckles before adding, ‘It was cool during daytime but I can appreciate the weird way the chandelier reflects light right now.’

Their flashlights spark up the chandelier, casting a multitude of sharp and blurred lights around the hallway upstairs. It’s definitely overwhelming.

‘Okay so as it’s winter, we decided that we can’t split up our sleeping rooms,’ Baekhyun explains to Minseok’s camera. ‘So we’ll be spending the night at Junmyeon’s childhood bedroom, and hopefully this heater will be enough to warm us up.’

‘Or we can all sandwich into a massive cuddle pile,’ Jongdae offers brightly.

‘You’re a kicker. Minseok-hyung, feel free to kick Jongdae away if you feel him trying to cuddle up.’ Baekhyun retorts.

Minseok just chuckles in response.

‘Okay we’re back in here again- but we were here previously just to set up our sleeping bags and mats and check the bathroom,’ Baekhyun says as they enter Junmyeon’s childhood bedroom.

Some of the furniture is still in there. The built in closet is opened (as requested by Baekhyun), the big chest of drawers firmly shut (as checked by Baekhyun), and the poster bed stripped of any mattress or sheets (as confirmed by Baekhyun).

‘And this is the balcony where according to Junmyeon, the gardener and his wife saw the figure of a man- well, of something standing here,’ Baekhyun says as he nervously approaches the balcony doorway. Jongdae steps up and opens the door.

‘Ah it’s cold okay-‘ Jongdae shudders before stepping out. ‘Ah- it’s a nice view if you’re not freezing.’

Minseok stays inside, capturing their footage through the doorway in a nice frame. The streetlights add a flare to the lens.

He hears breathing next to his ear and Minseok ignores it.

‘We have a camera out in the garden pointing up at the balcony,’ Baekhyun explains, his voice slightly pitched with nerves. ‘So we have a lot of angles covered.’

The breathing abruptly stops and Minseok can almost relax when he sees movement from the corner of his eye. The dark figure walks around the room, almost rounding Minseok like a predator would its prey.

And Minseok knows whatever it was knew Minseok could sense it.

‘Okay I think that’s enough for the tour,’ Baekhyun says as he enters again and Jongdae follows, closing the door firmly behind them with a small shiver. ‘I think we should do the solitude thing before we eat dinner. Let’s get all of this done and over with and then I just wanna hole up in here for the rest of the night, I have no shame in admitting that.’

Jongdae laughs but agrees, ‘It’s definitely too cold anyways.’

‘Who wants to go first?’ Baekhyun asks.

Jongdae easily volunteers.

Now Minseok is definitely nervous.

Demons were extremely volatile and unpredictable. Sometimes they did nothing no matter how they were provoked. Other times they just unnecessarily lost all control, leading most people to think they had “poltergeist” activity.

‘Okay, let’s all head down then,’ Minseok calls them, lowering the camera from his shoulder, rolling them a little. ‘What do you guys want to take?’

‘I’ll be taking the spirit-box,’ Baekhyun says at once, with fear all over his face.

‘I uhh- those rigged flashlights?’ Jongdae shrugs as they walk out of the room.

‘They’re not rigged-‘ Baekhyun starts to complain.

It’s quite human-shaped, Minseok notices, studying it clearly now that it knew. No deformity, no gross misshapen quality like the truly terrible entities sometimes possessed. It was quite normal and human-shaped.

Great, now this was more confusing than ever.

At the entryway Jongdae gets ready with his full set up. They move his mic to the edge of his hoodie instead as he bundles up with all his gear. He holds the “rigged” flashlights and with a wave, walks inside, closing the door behind him.

‘,’ Baekhyun exhales as he shivers a little. ‘I hate this part, that’s going to be me inside in like 2 minutes. I didn’t think this through.’

Minseok had already placed the same shields he did last time on them again today. He’s not sure how helpful they’ll be for today, but it was better than nothing.

‘Do you think he’s in there, chatting up the demons and trying to get them to possess him?’ Baekhyun asks rapidly, his nervousness making his tone high-pitched. ‘- why don’t I ever go before him?’

Minseok tries his best to channel calm and chill, as Sehun once said he naturally did. But Baekhyun is very effected and there’s no way of calming him down.

They can’t hear anything and Minseok anxiously waits for Jongdae’s minute to be done.

When Jongdae does appear, he looks completely fine, if not a little cold.

‘You’re really gonna enjoy yourself,’ Jongdae grins as he takes off his headlamp. Minseok doesn’t see the thing through the hallway or anywhere through the windows. ‘Shook it up for you.’

Baekhyun can’t even give him a snarky reply in response, just shaking himself up, trying to hype himself up.

Chanting “” under his breath like a prayer, Baekhyun walks into the house and then promptly walks out.

‘! It gets so quiet once the door closes!’ Baekhyun squeaks at the doorway.

Still, there’s nothing Minseok can see.

‘You can do it, don’t you wanna see if this is real?’ Jongdae encourages enthusiastically. ‘Don’t you want to shove it in my face and show me that ghosts are real?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then what are you waiting for? Go get some evidence!’

Oddly enough this does the trick and Baekhyun walks back in.

‘It’s just really cold and I don’t want to stay out here longer than necessary,’ he winks at the camera.

Baekhyun’s minute is up and he’s as pale as a sheet and sweating.

‘Dude.’

‘Oh my god-‘ Baekhyun stammers, ‘Spirit-box!’

There’s nothing behind him.

Minseok is a little puzzled and disturbed.

The next 2 hours or so of them eating their pre-packed dinner and drinking hot drinks courtesy of the electric kettle Junmyeon wisely brought for them, Minseok still can’t see the thing anywhere or really sense it.

Baekhyun takes a terribly lit selfie of the three of them in the kitchen and uploads it to their Twitter account. He also takes a short video of the three of them as they go through the house one more time to make sure all their equipment was working well before they head back to the bedroom.

Again, there’s nothing.

And maybe this was good. Minseok slides into his sleeping back, sleeping closest to the doorway because Baekhyun called for the middle spot and Jongdae woke up frequently at night to use the toilet. It takes a while for them to fall asleep, what with it being cold and Baekhyun being scared. But eventually, around 1 AM, they do manage to sleep.

Minseok is not surprised to wake up not too long after because he thinks someone’s calling his name.

Opening his eyes, Minseok takes a few seconds to realize that he’s lying his side, facing Baekhyun and Jongdae.

And very casually, standing just over the side of Jongdae’s sleeping form is the dark figure.

It’s looking straight at Minseok even though Minseok can’t make out its eyes. Minseok can’t look away, hands forming fists and his teeth gritting.

Then it walks away, quite normally, around the room, and to the balcony.

Minseok listens acutely, his ears strained for any sound.

He’s about to close his eyes and let it go when something brushes through his hair.

His whole body electrified, Minseok goes rigid.

It’s a hand, fingers carding through his hair.

It stops after a while and Minseok dares to turn around in his sleeping bag with some difficulty.

There’s nothing in the room. Sitting up, Minseok looks around again. He’s not sure what he’s going to do with the footage that’s being taken of them. So he decides to go to the toilet. Picking up his torchlight, Minseok goes to the bathroom, shivering a little.

Behind him Jongdae turns a little, making a sleepy sound.

Minseok comes out after making sure the sound of the flush was completely quieted down. He makes to go to his sleeping bag but that’s when he realizes the balcony door is open.

Minseok completely stills. He doesn’t take a step closer. Doesn’t move a muscle.

He’s not sure what to do-

‘-hyung?’

He jumps a little at the sleepy voice.

It’s Jongdae, sitting up.

‘What’s wrong-‘ Jongdae squints at the door.

Then he looks up at Minseok. Then back at the door.

‘I’m- I’m guessing you didn’t open that?’

Minseok shakes his head.

Baekhyun starts to stir. And Minseok sees the way Jongdae’s mind is whirling.

But before either of them can decide on anything, Baekhyun wakes up, and upon seeing them both in their odd positions, immediately sits up, eyes wild.

‘What’s wrong- oh -!’ he gasps, gaping at the door.

‘Uh-‘

‘I went to the bathroom, came out, door was open.’ Minseok decides being honest was the best. Also, doors opening and closing isn’t a supernatural thing. Not with wooden doors in winter and old houses in general. Still, they all remember Jongdae very clearly closing the door behind them.

‘Uh- I think we should shut it-‘ Jongdae begins, sounding a little unsure.

Minseok finds himself moving and getting to the door and pulling it shut with a little more force than necessary and making sure its completely bolted.

‘Oh my god-‘ Baekhyun exclaims, rushing to the door but not really. ‘What the actual ing -‘

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions-‘ Jongdae begins, sounding more like himself and standing up.

‘We need to check the footage!’ Baekhyun exclaims, rushing towards the camera they set up inside the room, angled from the closet to have a good view of the room.

Jongdae and Baekhyun take down the camera and Minseok takes this opportunity to look out of the windows.

The tree is somehow larger and darker than before- but not as dark and ominous as the dark figure standing right next to it.

Great, Minseok thinks to himself, that was most definitely a hanging-tree or impromptu burial site.

‘Oh-! It’s here, here-‘

Minseok looks away from the tree and back at Baekhyun and Jongdae.

‘Woah- it just opens by itself-‘ Baekhyun squeaks, both excited and nervous.

‘God, all of this because a door opened,’ Jongdae sighs, wiping tiredly at his face.

They put the camera back, and Baekhyun is too nervous and excited to sleep immediately though Jongdae is knocked out. At Baekhyun’s request they sleep closer together and honestly Minseok doesn’t mind.

He sleeps fitfully, thinking someone’s calling his name consistently.

It’s with relief morning comes and they can’t leave fast enough.

‘Well that was an extremely eventful Unsolved Vlog,’ Baekhyun grins at the camera, dark shadows under his eyes. ‘God I can’t wait to examine all the footage and put them together for this episode and talk to you guys about it!!’

‘Well- that was certainly entertaining,’ Jongdae chuckles in agreement. ‘I guess you could say Minseok-hyung is our good luck charm.’

‘Oh my god yes hyung!’ Baekhyun laughs, throwing Minseok’s camera heart-fingers. ‘You’re the best.’

Minseok quickly ushers them out under guise of being embarrassed.

The heavy gaze of the dark figure follows them out till the gateway.

Minseok doesn’t look back.

*

Indigo_Salad: istg I nearly threw my whole laptop at the two shots of the balcony door opening WTF HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT SOMEONE PLEASE EXLAIN THAT OT ME #IDONTCAREWHATTEAMIMINBURNTHATHOUSEDOWNNOW

167 Is Average Height: i think it has to do with air pressure. its winter, and they had the heater on inside, it causes the room air to expand and contract. it’s basic exothermic principles of heat

DaeDroid: well…the doorway footage and creepy echoes of footsteps throughout the night certainly sold the whole haunted house theory. That Junmyeon guy should never go back to his house and have the whole place razed or something that aint normal

DarkGrimmReaper12: exorcize the out of the house thx

Silverink: I TAKE IT BACK THIS IS THE BEST EPISODE EVER SJFASOLGFJNSLDFGJSDLKFJGLSDKGSD I’M STILL SHAKING OMG

Baguette Au Pain: I live in a rather old house and the doors in my house tend to open and close frequently during winter. I think it has something to do with the cold contracting wood or something. But this was such a good episode #soondongie

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: why is everyone so short

Mareete: like my very wise grandmother once told me “don’t with ghosts” Junmyeon and his family should not only exoricize that place they should drown it in holy water and turn it into a nice open parking space with a billion streetlights just to be safe

*

(Author’s Notes)

So this is based off of 2 true events/stories.

When I was a teen my family was house-hunting and we came across the house I’m describing. Like it was genuinely a really good house and everything but WOW he moment I stepped in I KNEW it was haunted. It was weirdly cold despite being summer (though winter here in this fic), and there was such a weird pressure in the air it hurt my head though no one else felt it. And I kept seeing this figure out of the corner of my eye, like lurking around the hallway and doorways I hated being in there so much. And the back garden had this terrible looking tree I hated it so much. Thankfully my parents didn’t like the house

The added story about junmyeon’s childhood home is based off of a family friend’s house he grew up in as a child, the story Junmyeon tells is almost a direct quote of his story. So I added the two together.

Like I tweeted, this came out creepier than intended but I hope you enjoy it!!!!