‘Okay and we’re back for the final chapter, and the final uh- story, for Once Upon an Unsolved Vlog.’

‘We’re sad to see it go but-‘

‘-and I’m sure all of you watching at home are too-‘

‘-but hey! Just a couple of weeks before the next season starts up!’

‘And who doesn’t love a new season?’

‘Depends on the show. Some should stop.’

‘Are you talking about Game of Thrones.’

‘We don’t talk about Game of Thrones.’

‘The Walking Dead?’

‘We don’t talk about the Walking Dead either.’

‘Or what about that show, Supernatural-?’

*many shows and series names later*

‘I don’t think we have much to say?’

‘Actually we really don’t.’

‘I think at the end, we can finally discuss everything.’

‘Yes!’

‘So let’s dive straight in!’

‘Final chapter, let’s go everyone!’

‘What do you wish for?’

Sitting up, his grandfather looks energized and shockingly clear headed.

‘I want to go to him,’ he smiles, ‘I must give him his present.’

‘Then let’s go.’

‘Thank you, for helping me. I’ll make sure not to lose sight of you this time.’ His grandfather says as It helps him stand, hand wrapping around and over the side, exactly where his hand-shaped bruise was.

‘That’s good. Come on, let’s go find Minseok-.’

‘HYUNG!’

Both Minseok and It jump around at Kyungsoo’s voice.

Lightning freezes outside the window, shining bright through the threadbare curtains, all over Minseok, highlighting him brightly.

It’s looking at him.

‘No, no- no no-‘ his grandfather starts to murmur, shaking, ‘I can’t go yet, can I? But I have to see my boy-‘

Minseok knows It’s looking at him- he can’t hide- this memory is frozen now- this memory- it wasn’t his, it wasn’t connected to the cigarette case this was-

‘Yes. Let’s go see you boy,’ It says, ‘Let’s show him everything.’

He was in It’s memory.

‘I ing knew it.’

‘I think we all did.’

‘Shut up.’

His grandfather shakily reaches under his pillow and pulls out a silk wrapped bundle. Inside it, more of the clay eggs are nestled inside. He pats it gently before carefully putting them inside his sweater pocket.

‘Oh, oh no, this isn’t good.’

‘I will never look at eggs the same way again.’

‘You literally- you just ate like 2 boiled eggs.’

Frozen in place, Minseok can do nothing but find himself being dragged along as his grandfather and It slowly walk out of the room, lightning diffusing out, leaving behind a sticky darkness that pulls at Minseok.

‘You can see everything now.’

It’s talking to Minseok. There was no denying it. Throat locked up, Minseok can barely even breathe, eyes frantically darting about, trying to find a way to get out this, think of a way of getting out of this place.

‘This is the part of the movie where you know the protagonist is ed.’

‘Yeah, and you’re screaming instructions.’

‘Let’s not do that right now.’

‘Don’t tempt me hyung!’

‘Hurts so much.’

Minseok stares at It, helping his grandfather walk out into the quiet hallway.

‘Such a burden.’

Minseok struggles but it’s futile. He can’t get himself out- he was no longer in control.

‘But you’re here. Finally, you’re here. Took me so long. I finally found you.’

‘I have an unfortunate idea of where this is headed.’

‘We all know the grandfather dies.’

‘Not that.’

‘Then what?’

‘This demon dude- I think I know what’s going on.’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘Okay are you willing to share this with the class?’

‘No.’

‘I-…’

Voices filter in from upstairs. Minseok realizes it’s raining.

‘-t’s not that,’ Minseok’s uncle yells. ‘I already spoke to that hospital. I won’t let him be locked away in a place where everyone is a stranger. They don’t allow family to stay with the patients! You want him to die alone?!’

He was on the phone.

‘-you can’t just call and make demands after leaving everything- what makes you think you have any right-‘ he yells.

Heejae appears around the hallway, looking upset and tired, carrying her youngest in her arms who was clearly unwell. She spots him in the hallway, jumping a little.

‘Oh, pops,’ she sighs out, ‘Was it too noisy?’

‘No, no,’ he waves a hand slowly. ‘Just-…just needed the toilet. Maybe a smoke.’

‘-lready doing the best that we can- stop making assumptions to feed your anger- you’re not here, you don’t know a goddamn thing you’re talking about-!’

‘I think he’s on the phone with his sister.’

‘The one in Japan?’

‘I don’t think they have another sister to be confused with here.’

‘Okay,’ Heejae smiles as her son sniffles, waving blearily at his grandfather.

‘Oh, is her fever acting up again?’

Heejae nods, flinching when Daejung curses colourfully at his sister on the phone.

‘I’ll heat some water for some tea?’ Heejae suggests just as her child starts sniffling more, clearly about to start crying as Daejung yells some more.

‘No no, you focus on her Heejae-ah,’ his grandfather shuffles towards the door, ‘I’ll be okay.’

‘Are you sure you don’t want anything? I can easily heat up some food if you’re hungry? Maybe that’ll make you feel better?’

‘Not at all, don’t mind me Heejae-ah, I’ll just sit outside for a moment.’

‘Don’t stay out too long,’ Heejae calls out, ‘The weather is horrible.’

‘Of course of course.’

‘Such a burden.’

‘You know…we’ve been pretty harsh towards Xiumin’s aunt and uncle here-‘

‘-again, we don’t condone violence.’

‘-and I think, you know, we’re listening to this story from one perspective.’

‘Sure.’

‘Obviously, I’m not saying what they’re doing, what they’re saying, or anything like that is justifiable.’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘But also, weirdly, it’s kinda like-…it makes uh, sense? Not sense, it’s weirdly understandable- I’m guessing this took place like, 20-25 years ago?’

‘Yeah.’

‘So that’s like…a lot of things considered, economically, culturally, and all of that…-again, not quite excusable.’

‘Without a doubt.’

‘But also-…you don’t agree with me do you.’

‘The way I would immediately throw hands-!’

Heejae walks away towards the kitchen, shoulders low, eyes dim with worry. Daejung is still yelling over the phone.

Minseok feels a horrible bitterness creeping up his throat, threatening to choke him. He finds himself outside, the rain is hard and steady, small splashes fan over his skin, into his hair. His grandfather pauses a while, idly walking up and down the courtyard that’s covered by an awning.

He’s barefoot.

‘NO HE’S ALREADY BEEN SOAKED TO THE SKIN ONCE BEFORE HE’S GONNA BECOME SO SICK PLEASE-!’

He looks back around inside. He can still hear muffled yells and now the sound of crying mixes in with the sounds coming from inside the house. And then with that, he turns his back to his home, and steps out into the rain.

Minseok is dragged out into the rain with them, skin cold immediately, his teeth chattering violently.

Rather than follow the street out, his grandfather shakily climbs past a stone wall and into a patch of empty land that opened out into more fields and a construction site. His grandfather starts to hum, voice shaky and breaking barely audible over the rain. Then suddenly, he pauses, eyes wide as he stares around. His breathing turns harsh, body shivering and shaking. He starts to cough horribly- it sounds choked up and heavy.

‘Ah , man, I think I need a drink for the rest of this story. Can we pause real quick. I think I need a drink.’

‘Please get me something too.’

(Here’s a shot of Jongdae and Baekhyun looking equally depressed sipping on some yakult in wine glasses)

‘Where am I where am I-?!’ he gasps out, before he starts to run through the construction site, tripping and slipping on slabs of unpolished concrete. He falls with a thud and so does Minseok, dragged alongside the whole way.

‘Come on, don’t you have somewhere to go? Don’t you have to go meet Minseok?’

His grandfather startles at the voice, cowering as he tries to stand up.

‘Go away!’ he wheezes, waving his arms violently around him. He collapses on the ground, shaking and crying and Minseok’s heart is breaking. He’s unable to move, unable to try to comfort his dying grandfather.

‘Stop it!’ he grits out. ‘Stop doing this to him!’

But It just ignores Minseok.

‘I’M JUST GONNA START THROWING HANDS ALL OVER THE PLACE I HATE THIS STORY!’

‘You don’t want to disappoint him too, not after you’ve failed everyone.’

‘No,’ his grandfather sobs, ‘No I don’t.’

‘Look, this is low, even for a demon, or like, a ghost, I dunno, but this is low.’

The rain convulses, light streaking in a way that Minseok briefly thinks lightning has struck them. But it’s not- the sun is high above them and they’re in some sort of wooded area. Below, Minseok makes out a winding road.

The sound of laughter makes him turn around. His grandfather is sitting on a rock, his feet cut up and bruised and bleeding, his clothes still sopping wet.

He’s laughing.

‘-you’re right, you’re absolutely right!’ he coughs out, deep heavy coughs that shake his body.

‘We’re losing our mind.’

‘EXCUSE ME BUT I’M LOSING MY MIND HERE TOO!’

‘Okay but real question, if you saw an old man out in the middle of nowhere, just laughing randomly and conversing into thin air, what would your reaction be.’

‘Honestly I’d probably call the police or something.

He could be lost. At best he’s just, I dunno, a drunk, and at that age, best get them somewhere safe. Not outside.’

‘We would all like to believe that would be our reactions, but honestly I’d have a lot of doubts.’

‘You mean you’d be scared.’

‘I absolutely would be.’

Minseok raises his arms before him defensively as It comes to stand beside him.

‘But it’s the only time we’re happy.’

‘Never knew a singular line delivered by a demon would be my emotional breakdown.’

‘Do you need a stronger drink?’

‘Yes.’

(Here’s Baekhyun drinking a ginger ale)

Minseok falls through the ground into the night. They’re in some strange alley.

He’s dragged along as his grandfather continues to walk around in a daze. How has no one seen him until now? He wasn’t moving fast, why did no one help? Or at least contact the police or even the hospital?

Minseok is frustrated, worried- he knows there’s no stopping the inevitable- there’s no stopping what was about to happen but he can’t help but try- he had to.

‘Just watch, just watch. It’s all for you.’

And so Minseok walks behind his deteriorating grandfather, daylight bleeding out to make way for the night, and over again. He listens to his grandfather’s increasingly insane ramblings, stopping at random to stare blankly at the sky, or to stop before a stretch of barren farmland.

It’s the last night. Minseok knows it is.

His whole body aches- his mind feels heavy and numb. There’s nothing he can do except be a witness to the slow descent of his grandfather’s inevitable death.

‘Can we take a moment to just- just really think about this.’

‘Yeah- that’s trauma. That’s trauma taking place.’

‘If this was me-‘

‘-we’re lucky it’s not.’

‘-if this was me, I would have just simply allowed that demon to consume me, I don’t care, honestly, witnessing and seeing and feeling all of this? No. I absolutely can’t.’

‘I guess it’s a good thing you’re not Xiumin.’

‘Mad respect for Xiumin-gege.’

‘Shout out to Xiumin-gege!’

His grandfather pauses a lot. Swaying on his feet, his body thin, body bent with fatigue and grief.

‘Don’t worry,’ It smiles, standing slowly, ‘I’ll find him for you.’

His grandfather smiles.

‘I think I- I need a nap.’

He lays back onto the dry dying grass. He struggles for a moment, reaching into his pocket to remove the silk bundle.

‘Here.’

He drops it to the ground, fumbling with the ties and inside are more eggs but they’re all crushed up now.

‘I think this is a sign.

If we ever come across more eggs in any future Unsolved Vlogs, we just leave.’

‘Oh- oh no- oh no-‘ he chokes out.

‘It’s okay- I can make it better,’ It whispers, fingers running along the dusty remains of the eggs, now all broken open. ‘Just sleep. It’s okay. I’ll make it better.’

‘You- you’ll find him, right? You have to find him.’ his grandfather is barely able to whisper, eyes closing, body moving against his will. ‘Tell him- tell him I’m sorry. Please-…please find him-.’

It looks up at Minseok and the darkness rips to form a twisted image of his grandfather’s mouth- lips too wide, mouth too wet, teeth too blunt and heavy.

‘I already have.’

The darkness around It intensifies more and when he breathes out his last breath, It pulses horrifically, growing larger with each strain tugging it into a erse replication of Minseok’s grandfather.

‘I’ve been watching.’ It steps forward, the night shivering, the memory twisting and pulling away and Minseok is slipping, nothing holds him up and he’s unrestrained but he can’t move. ‘I’ve been watching, and waiting-‘

Minseok falls backwards, unrestrained as the memory ends and the woods explode around him- causing him to fall through the ground and onto a wet pavement that bleeds out through the roots of an unknown dead forest that has ceremonial prayer flags for leaves, breaking through bare empty concrete buildings incomplete and hollow.

‘I found you- so long ago, I found you but YOU FORGOT ME!’

Tripping, Minseok finds strength in his legs.

‘YOU FORGOT ME! HOW COULD YOU FORGET ME? I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! HOW COULD YOU FORGET ME?’

‘OKAY DEMON I’M GONNA NEED YOU TO CALM THE DOWN!’

‘THIS IS NOT A CONSENSUAL RELATIONSHIP SIT DOWN!’

Minseok runs blindly- he has no idea where he’s going. He’s not anywhere he knows- this was not anywhere real. The windows of each hollow building is a frame and it pictures nothing but hollow darkness. The trees are all dead, faded ceremonial flags and banners sprout out in shreds, matted and stationary, hanging overhead oppressively.  Their roots are brittle but sharp, twisting and turning all over. But Minseok pays little heed to anything around him, he just needed to keep running.

‘It’s for you! It’s all for you!’

Minseok reaches the end of the street, the concrete giving way to a dirt road, leading upwards to a cramped looking wooded region. But before Minseok can even try to run up the slope, he’s overwhelmed by It.

‘I told you stories. I comforted you. Don’t you remember? You remember now don’t you? But you forgot- for so so long!’

It tries to engulf Minseok but it convulses when it touches him.

‘OH MY GOD OH MY GOD-!’

‘Come here Minseok-ah! Come to me-!’

It tries to reach into something in Minseok’s pocket and Minseok crawls backwards, losing his balance. Without thinking much, Minseok jams his hand into his pocket and he remembers-

Taehyung’s amulet.

He had handed it all to them-

‘For luck!’

He wraps his hand around the feather and a burst of light engulfs him, and extending out of him, engulfs It too.

He’s no longer in the strange wooded back alleys, he’s back in Lu Han’s apartment, still sitting inside the circle.

Lu Han is drenched in sweat, head thrown back, eyes rolled back entirely. Sohee has her eyes closed tight, in her blistered and bleeding hands is a mirror, the cigarette case still smoking between them.

In the reflection, showing Minseok a bright light standing behind him, where Sunmi had been positioned. The light flickers and Sunmi’s figure appears momentarily- is open in a loud but silent song- waves roll off her, strange undulations of the air around her, warping the light.

Kyungsoo’s hand is on his shoulder, he’s leaning in through the circle, just his body, being balanced into place by Taehyung, whose nose is bleeding quite profusely.

‘Hyung-!’

Kyungsoo’s voice is choked and in a strained whisper.

‘Let it go-!’

Minseok catches sight of his reflection on the mirror properly. His features are warped- a combination of his own, and It that he now recognizes beneath the darkness of grief- recognizes the heartbreaking mimicry.

Sorrow not his own but linked into his very being breaks through him and Minseok breaks down, grief washing over him: and he finally cries.

Loss, farewell, fear, guilt, anger, shame, and pain floods him in an overwhelming rush. His whole body shakes with the force and strength of his cries, pushing him down to the floor as something large dislodges from within himself. He coughs it out- a black dense thing and with that everything just pours out straight into the mirror.

Shedding from him, like some great cloak, It seeps out of him, writhing in the light before Sunmi and condensing to a horribly anthropomorphic shape. His hands are smudged with blackened tears and whatever was dribbling from his mouth. Minseok vaguely thinks he probably looks like a nightmare.

A great weight lifts off of him, forcing him backwards and Minseok falls into Kyungsoo who steadies him at once. Taehyung is scurrying forward, and with Sohee they lift the mirror completely and carry it straight towards Sunmi as the light increases. He can’t see what they’re doing but something tries to pull him back- something tries to draw him back.

Firm arms push him away, towards Lu Han who, though he looked completely out of it, quickly grabs Minseok and in a heap, Minseok, Lu Han, and Kyungsoo fall into the center of the innermost ring.

‘Hyung- hey I got you, hyung it’s okay-!’

The room is suddenly engulfed in white light and Minseok’s ears are ringing, his vision blurred, barely able to open them properly. Voices around him sound distant and-

Everything is blissfully quiet and dark.

In this unknown space he’s floating; free and alight- he holds his hands up before him. They’re clean.

He lets out a sigh that resonates through the space around him. And even though it’s dark, he’s not afraid.

Minseok turns around, lightly stepping down in his grandfather’s bedroom.

It’s empty of the ritualistic items and ceremonial decorations and props. It’s been cleaned out, instead a small table with a familiar frame is set up on the table. Minseok walks to it and this time there’s a photograph in it.

He wakes up with a start.

‘ARE WE NEVER GOING TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS IN THAT FRAME?’

‘I HATE IT HERE.’

‘He’s awake!’

Taehyung leans over him, nose cleaned and no longer bleeding. In fact, he looks like he’s changed out into something else.

‘Lu Han-shii! Sohee-shii! Minseok-hyung’s awake!’ a voice, familiar, calls out too.

Kyungsoo appears next, relief in his expression as he smiles down at him.

‘Hyung-‘

‘You took your bloody time!’ Lu Han screeches, entering the room with a wobbly gait that Jimin (so that’s who it was) immediately tries to help him.

‘Don’t yell at him that’s my duty!’ Sohee yells, hair still wet from whatever shower she obviously took.

Minseok half expects pain- at least a headache. But it’s not quite that.

Instead he just-…it was almost as though he had a horrible nightmare that slowly faded away, and in his waking moment, entirely vanished with the realization that he was safe.

He was safe.

He feels hands squeezing his face, tilting his head to look up.

Lu Han narrows his eyes at him, sniffing deeply before promptly announcing: ‘He’s fine!’

Sohee pushes him away, making him land up against Jimin who falls near Minseok’s feet with an oof and a giggle.

Sohee does the same thing while Kyungsoo mutters ‘so violent, god,’ but it falls on mostly deaf ears.

But his aunt doesn’t say anything- her face crumples and she starts to cry, hugging him tight.

‘It’s okay-,’ she keeps sobbing, ‘It’s okay, it’s over, it’s all over.’

‘Where’s Sunmi?’

‘She’s cleansing your apartment.’

‘That’s why Chim is here!’ Taehyung supplies, gesturing to his best friend who beams brightly at him from under his mask, holding Ku in his arms now.

‘Which is great because we needed the muscle power to carry you.’ Lu Han blows his nose into a tissue which is instantly stolen by Ma. ‘Ew no don’t-!’

Mon, Minseok realizes, is curled up by his side, unbothered and asleep.

‘What- what happened? The mirror? Was that a mirror?’

Everyone is quiet for a moment, eyes darting around.

‘I should uh- go get some food?’ Taehyung announces loudly and awkwardly, gesturing widely and miming pouring water. ‘Wow, I’m so dehydrated. What about you Chim?’

‘Oh yes, absolutely uh, parched,’ Jimin adds with a bright smile that makes his eyes turn into crescents.

And with that very obvious excuse, the two quickly move out of the room. Kyungsoo follows them, not before giving Minseok a smile.

‘This is clearly a family thing so you know, gonna step out for your privacy, not that I don’t know everything,’ he points out, ‘I’ll be outside, if anyone needs me.’

‘Okay-‘

‘Like, this is my apartment but you know, whatever.’

Sohee stares at Lu Han in bemusement as he mumbles under his breath, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

She sits on the bed, pulling her legs up and making herself comfortable. Minseok pushes himself up higher on the bed, leaning back tiredly. The need for sleep tugs at him almost uncontrollably.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I honestly don’t know,’ Minseok replies. ‘Exhausted. Kinda wanna pass out, maybe ask me after that.’

Sohee snorts under breath.

‘So it was him in the end?’

Sohee looks up, studying Minseok carefully.

‘Not entirely. He was…It was,’ she corrects herself, ‘A manifestation of his grief, that was allowed to exist as a result of meddling with things they weren’t supposed to.’

‘My aunt and uncle you mean.’

‘I think it’s safe to say they did not think that would happen.’

‘I think it’s safe to say they didn’t think much in the first place.’

Sohee snorts again before her expression quiets.

‘It wasn’t him. That wasn’t your grandfather. Just something that existed because of him, that took his form in a sense.’

‘It said I forgot him.’

Sohee shakes her head as she says, ‘I think what happened with your friend Kyungsoo at that place, triggered your memories- or at least woke up a part of your mind that you grew out of.’

‘That’s a nice way to put it,’ Minseok smiles.

‘Because it’s true,’ Sohee presses, ‘You were so young, you were growing, you were changing- everything around you was new and different, you were seeing things, hearing things, understanding things…-don’t feel bad for growing up and not remembering. It’s not easy understanding death or loss- as a child, an adult. There’s more to it than just…than just losing someone.’

Minseok nods slowly, ‘I guess I still don’t understand.’

‘It’s okay,’ Sohee reaches to take his hand in hers. ‘It’s a process, right? Step by step.’

Minseok nods.

‘I think Sunmi should be done cleansing your place now. You should go sleep in your actual bed.’

Minseok nods in agreement.

Stepping outside into the living room that’s halfway done being cleaned up, Minseok finds Sunmi chatting away to Kyungsoo.

‘There’s the man of the hour!’ she cheers, looking entirely too energized compared to everyone else.

‘Taehyung and Jimin left already,’ Lu Han supplies from the kitchen where he was filling up a bucket.

‘I’ll be leaving too now hyung,’ Kyungsoo smiles with a small wave.

‘I was just blessing him, additional protection- all of this stuff makes you more vulnerable.’

‘Why didn’t you bless Taehyung-shii and Jimin-shii?’ Kyungsoo inquires.

Sunmi waves a hand flippantly, ‘Oh please, they hardly need it.’

Kyungsoo doesn’t know if he should be offended or not.

Lu Han more or less kicks them out of his apartment. Sunmi and Kyungsoo leave together, with Sunmi offering Kyungsoo a ride back home on her still dented car. Kyungsoo accepts with a lot of apprehension a promise to message Minseok when he got back home.

In front of his door, Minseok and Sohee stop when Lu Han appears, carrying Mon in his hands.

‘Here.’

He unceremoniously hands Mon to Minseok who scrambles to take up the cat in his arms.

‘I think Mon should be with you for a while,’ Lu Han tells him, ‘Think of him as a therapy cat. Senses your reactions.’

‘But it’s gone?’

Lu Han shrugs, ‘Grief is funny- it’s never truly gone. But you learn how to accept it, how to live with it.’

That made sense.

Lu Han waves and winks, ‘Night, sleep tight buns.’

He bids them goodnight and goes back to his apartment, taking with him the faint smell of sea salt and sage that Minseok now associated with him.

‘I hate him,’ Minseok remarks to Sohee as they enter his apartment.

It’s peaceful in a way that makes Minseok realize how volatile everything had felt within and about him.

‘Nah you don’t,’ Sohee snickers as she kicks off her shoes. ‘By the way. I made the executive decision to drive us back to your parents. I think you need some time away.’

Minseok nods, grateful for his aunt’s forethought on the matter. Sleepily, Minseok makes it to his bedroom, his aunt following him, watching him carefully. She leans against the door as Minseok stands in the middle of his bedroom, breathing in and out slowly and consciously. He spots his laptop on his nightstand. Right. He had things to do. Videos to edit. There were bits of the video from meeting the BH-PE Performance School theater kids that he still needed to do some editing for.

He looks back around to find his aunt smiling at him, as though finally content and relieved.

‘Sleep well,’ Sohee says before she steps away from the doorway and closes the door.

Slowly, Minseok walks to his window, tugging at the curtains. It was morning already, though the sun was still not fully out. He stares out of the window for a while, a weariness growing in him but it’s welcome. It was a tiredness that didn’t weigh him down. A fatigue that didn’t try to consume him.

Closing the curtains, Minseok heads straight to his bed. Without a doubt he would need a shower but all he wanted to do was just sleep. To just rest, finally, drift into a sleep that didn’t feel like it would hurt him.

He leans back against his own pillows, the beginnings of the sunrise filtering in quietly through his curtains. Mon makes himself at home on the side of his bed, stretching a little before curling up, ready to sleep.

Turning to his side, back to the window, Minseok closes his eyes.

And for the first time in years he doesn’t cover his ears with his blanket.

‘I think I speak for all of us when I say this:

This was HORRIFYINGLY SAD RATHER THAN SCARY!’

‘I gotta disagree.’

‘You what?!’

‘What?’

‘I think there is true horror to this story that’s honestly so much more realistic than anything we’ve covered or talked about on this channel.

The supernatural element of it didn’t even have to be there to make this whole thing just- terrifying from a very human point of view- no, more like, from a ‘I have a family and this is a genuine nightmare situation’ point of view.’

‘Oh- you meant it in a deep way.’

‘Yes.’

‘Anyways! Some conclusions about the story!’

‘Yes, I wanna know more about Xiumin-gege and how he’s holding up!’

‘So basically the mirror thing was to extract and pull out the demon from within Xiumin. They had to exorcise it out of him by basically allowing him to be possessed in the first place.’

‘Ah, that’s cool and totally not going to make me want to destroy every mirror in the apartment.’

‘Please don’t do that, we both wear contacts we need those mirrors.’

‘The feather that V gave them was something that V had thought would be useful just in case something went wrong- they were all feathers from a singular bird, and there’s some information about that, that maybe you don’t want to know in detail.’

‘…yeah, maybe don’t tell us.’

‘Xiumin also went to pay his respects to his grandfather. He didn’t attend the funeral as a child. His parents thought it would confuse and hurt him more.’

‘I guess that makes sense…I dunno this is complicated, like how do you explain death to a child?’

‘It’s hard enough to deal with as an adult, explaining it to a child is just…yeah.’

‘Xiumin’s parents tried their best, that’s one thing I guess-‘

‘-again, I don’t think there’s any…-any like, one person’s singular fault. In a way, his aunt was truly trying to help in what she thought was helpful. I guess in a sense, I’m not condoning it or like, saying it’s fine, but back during this time- mental health was very badly looked upon. Like, I think it’s very evident how bad it was considering how people still react about it now. I mean sure, younger people are different I guess, again, not speaking for all of them, but we have more information now- more medical knowledge, a broader understanding, or at least, the idea that this is something that happens and is normal. Back then it was just- so incredibly taboo. In a way, I think it’s understandable how and why they would react.’

‘Yeah, that’s just really-…that’s just really sad.’

‘I can’t believe I came to the end of this story with a somewhat supportive narrative regarding the aunt and uncle.’

‘I wouldn’t say it’s supportive, rather it’s uh- constructive.’

‘Yeah okay, because again, I would still want to punch them.’

‘Same.’

‘So kids, I think the moral of this story is-‘

‘-cut ties from toxic family members if you can.’

‘-grief is a complicated and multi-faceted emotion and you need to give yourself time to mindfully accept it.’

‘-communicate with people who make you feel safe and supported. Asking for help is not weakness.’

‘…-yeah all of that, and also if you think you’re being followed by a demon, get 3 cats.’

‘I agree with that.’

‘Same.’

‘I don’t see how 3 cats will make anything worse.’

‘So that’s the end of this segment?’

‘This season?’

‘Of Unsolved Vlogs.’

‘What are you thoughts so far on all of this Lu-hyung?’

‘This story in specific?’

‘No, this season.’

‘It’s great-‘

‘-yay!’

‘-because I’m in it.’

‘…’

‘I think this season has been really fun. I loved reading the many stories our subscribers sent over to us. We’re sorry we weren’t able to read all of them, there were some truly good ones out there.’

‘So good in fact, that you can read more of them on our website!’

‘Yes! Just because we didn’t cover it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to read them! With permission, we have posted the stories up on our website! So please enjoy those up until the next season.’

‘Oh man the next season-‘

‘I’m excited for the next season!’

‘Okay we don’t want to give away too much, but so far, I think this is our…our best season?’

‘I gotta agree.’

‘We have some amazing, pretty famous guests!’

‘We genuinely do-‘

‘-and no it’s not Chanyeol.’

‘He’s not our only famous friend.’

‘Moving on- thank you all for watching, and for subscribing!’

‘We’ve been getting messages about how lots of people like watching our content because it’s helping them cope with the pandemic-‘

‘-to each their own-‘

‘-and we’re so grateful that we’re able to do something positive-‘

‘-even if I feel like I’m going to have a breakdown most times-‘

‘-so thank you to everyone! We will work harder to bring you better content!’

‘Yeah next time we’re bringing in a real demon and having Baekhyun fight it-‘

‘-you’re literally the worst-!’

*

167 is average height: so I think we can all agree that this demon thing is, at its core, the grandfatehrs grief but just…sentient? Right? Basically…omg, the eggs…they harvested the grief and they hatched when they were broken to that form

Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg: In a weird twisted way, the demon DID keep its word to his grandfather, like, now he knows, doesn’t he? I mean, I’d have preferred a different way of being told this if it were me but…hey, it kept its promise?

minghaoFrogagenda: God I wish I had 3 supernaturally inclined cats living with me and protecting me too instead I have one lazy cat who bats my face in the middle of the night

LuckyFrogSong: Jokes on them I cooked rice 28 times from the last episode

Baguette Au Pain: You kept count?!?

LuckyFrogSong: @Baguette Au Pain I don’t have much of a life right now okay, sue me

Mareete: I need “OKAY DEMON I’M GONNA NEED YOU TO CALM THE DOWN!” on a t-shirt asap

Professional Procrastinator 3000: This definitely wasn’t scary but this story makes me feel like I should get therapy. I hope Xiumin got some therapy for this. If this story is real that is.

Where there is a will, there is an iam: Okay but when Jongdae puts it that way…okay no, it’s still on sight with the aunt and uncle for me, sorry guys, I can forgive people when I’m in hell

Lilithesue25: I’M GENUINELY SO HYPED FOR THE NEXT SEASON IT’S GONNA BE SO GOOD I CAN SMELL IT

Yves Saint Awkward: Oooooh I wonder who the guests will be? Other youtubers? Vloggers? This will be so fun I can’t wait!

I Don’t Know You Anymore: Okay so I went to the website and y’all need help wtf is up with those stories

Attacca is coming soon: God I really hope Xiumin is okay! He has such good friends! Hoping he made peace with his past, and that he doesn’t feel guilty for not remembering

ITS BAD LOVE: I came here for the horror and ended up staying for lessons on grief, memory, and relationships.

Tamed? Dashed? Hyphen?: I genuinely hope Xiumin is free

Evil CBX be like Bye Mama: So the grandfather’s grief was manifested, internalized, and projected into that form. I see what you did there with those titles. The epilogue should be called the exorcism if there’s going to be one.

Bocchann: Listen, I was about to make a comment about how im not gonna look at eggs the same either when Minseok called ME out too

Why Are All The B-Sides Bops?: This story is gonna stick with me for a while I can tell

Dear Sputnik: I think they’re doing just great such nice bois I love them all so much

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: Can I be there to record Baekhyun-hyung fighting a demon

(Author’s Notes)

Hello~

So yeah, dealing with grief has been weird. I’ve also been battling with post-covid depression which is a Thing. Sigh, its been really hard in a way. I have some horrible lows some days and some days im like this is the best day of my whole life

Im atleast happy I have SOME form of awareness that what im feeling isn’t, how to put it, something I should be used to and just go into it. Im aware of it, and im trying my best to actively address it and see what I can do to help myself I guess. But it’s tough man

Has anyone had covid and experienced post-covid depression? How long did it last? Or are you still experiencing it? Or do you know someone who is going through it? Do let me know!

And guys omg the next season IS going to be great I’ve mapped out a bunch of stories already and I think I’ll drop it a little before Halloween? Hehe, im quite pleased with it

Thank you for reading!