"Arghh, get off me!!!"

"Answer me, Lee Siyeon," A loud thud echoes through the four walls of the room, shaking the quiet night awake and the hoarse voice from the ceiling above comes out as an eerie whisper. "Why? Why can you see me?!"

"I don't know! I don't know!"

"Come on, tell me the truth and I will go easy on you."

There really isn't any logical explanation for this. Siyeon is convinced that there really isn't. Everything was going according to her plan a while ago when she managed to get her two friends to accompany her on the way home after multiple pleadings. Then there came a fortunate news when she saw her dad slumped against the dining table with opened bottles of beer, totally knocked out.

Until a strong gust of wind stormed into her room before the door closed right behind her. And right now, everything has changed. Siyeon is held paralysed on her own bed against an unknown force, and the lady in white that she has been fearing is sitting right on top of her stomach, long nails protrudes from the palms that have landed on both sides of the head of the trapped girl, and the terrifying stern gaze only leaves her trembling in fear.

The ground below shakes from the impact.

"What--- I really have no idea what you are talking about!"

Minji shakes her head, "How annoying."

"Please..." Siyeon pleads desperately as she averts her shaking gaze towards the amulet on her neck before closing her eyes and starts chanting prayers in her heart. "Please let me go. I will burn you whatever you want --- clothes, handphone, bungalow, money or if you're lonely, I can burn you a boyfriend or girlfriend. Anything you like."

"Interesting," A frown takes over Minji's face at the bizarre words as she continues to watch the girl below her intensively, her expression remains cold like always. "Very interesting. You're still acting like you don't know anything? Playing the victim card now? But surely," And a brief smirk lifts off from the corner of , "You've heard of the name Kim Minji?"

Thinking that it's best to minimise any interaction with the lady, Siyeon only shakes her head vigorously as she tries to move her body but it seems as if every inches of her muscle below her neck are being framed firmly onto her bed. Only now, she realises how awful it feels to be losing control of her own body. And her eyes stay shut, as if all the bad things will go away by themselves if she continues to ignore them. Just like how she has always done so.

"Then do ask around. Let the others tell you how many souls I've caught and how many of them actually ended up having no chance to reincarnate at all."

"Why would I need a reincarnation? I am not dead!"

"Good, continue your denial."

The girl below her continues to ignore her words as the struggle to break free carries on.

From a side glance, Minji spots a pot of jasmine flowers near the corner of the window. With a straight gaze, she tears a petal off and severes it from the bouquet. The lone petal floats in the air and subsequently lands onto the trapped girl's left cheek.

The skin below Siyeon's eyes twitches and Minji blows onto the petal, knowing how ticklish it can get.

"Hey..."

It is a somewhat entertaining sight to watch. How long has it been since Minji last had someone held under the mercy of her amusement --- to do anything she wants to and play with the poor girl's mind.

Probably too ashamed, Siyeon clenches her teeth as shades of red paint across her face, "Yo-you better let me go or I'll call the police!"

How absurd... so absurd that Minji feels like laughing. It is one of the funniest joke that she has ever heard in the longest time. So she is going to call the cops... for what? To put a ghost behind bars? Surely, an exorcist would be a better candidate? Although if an exorcist does come, she is sure that Lee Siyeon would be the one who has to go instead of her.

"Take the phone and call them then," Minji says sarcastically, as if she is throwing the girl a challenge. Or it could be a lesson. "Go ahead. I'm not stopping you."

"Anybody outside?!" Siyeon begins to shout, her desperate eyes peer over to the opened windows, appealing for any miracles to help her escape. "Dad! Dad! Help me!"

Minji shakes her head at the sight.

Humans or souls, no matter how many centuries have passed, they are still the same --- pathetic.

Deciding that she has had enough fun and not wanting to waste any more time by letting her stay on the living world drags on, Minji reaches her arm into her pocket for the soul jar, wanting to end things for Siyeon once and for all. Until... a familiar voice strikes across her head and stops her.

"He didn't harm anyone."

"You've changed, Minji."

Perhaps she did change. And it really does seem so.

Maybe it is because time has allowed her to think a lot or because her stance is beginning to shift, Minji doesn't know. But somehow, Bora's words are starting to affect her especially seeing how much the girl is struggling and her grasp in her pocket is starting to loosen. Another chance would be better? After all, like a human, a soul deserves an equal right for appeal, don't they? In the end, she pushes the jar back into its original position.

"Stop trying, you'll only hurt yourself." Minji sighs, the tone of her voice calms down as she lifts herself off the girl. How stupid, stupid and stupid. "I've seen far too many like you who think that they are doing the right thing, being protective and watching over their loved ones when in fact, they are just selfish and manipulative souls who only think about themselves." And she turns to Siyeon who has finally willing to open her eyes to properly look at her. So clear and glossy. A pity, what a pity. "And that includes you. But what's the point? At the end of the day, no matter how much they want to be recognised, they are just dead souls who ultimately have to be forgotten by people."

"But what has that got to do with me?"

"What I am saying is, you and your loved ones are not in the same world anymore. The matters of the living world don't concern you anymore. You should come with me."

"W-wait, is this some kind of misunderstanding? Ha-have you gotten the wrong person?" Siyeon asks timidly, her voice comes out in a higher pitch than usual and full of eagerness to explain herself out of the supposedly misunderstanding. "Hey, look at me properly!" Franticness fills her face. "I'm a human! A perfectly alive human! I am still breathing and my skin is warm. I am not a ghost or soul or anything else that you're looking for!"

"But I am a ghost and a dream guardian to be exact," Minji turns around with a pair of crossed arms, her expression full of disbelief before it quickly turns stiff again. She has never ever encountered such a stubborn soul before. How troublesome. If only she had captured her just now as usual instead of going around in circles right now. "I've been very patient with you, my friend. Patience that I've never given to anyone." And the expression on her face darkens. "Now, come out of the human's body immediately or I will force you out of it! And if I do, you will know that it will hurt, very badly."

"Aish...Are you ing deaf or what?! Haven't you heard me?! I said I am a human! Not a ghost!"

A crease of displeasure appears between Minji's brows which is running deeper as each second passes by. She feels the red on her neck rising because of the stubborness that the girl has displayed --- Bora was wrong, these souls will ever never appreciate the chance given to them and she regretted heeding the advice. Furthermore, the fact that Siyeon had just raised her voice at her does not sit well in her heart. How dare she? For centuries, nobody has ever dared to speak with her in this tone.

"Don't hold a grudge on me, Lee Siyeon. You asked for it."

"Wh-what are you going to do?!"

The same soul jar that Minji had forsaken just now re-appears right back in front of Siyeon's eyes.

"You've wandered enough. It's time for you to go back to where you originally belonged to."

"Wait---,"

The lid of the jar opens. Siyeon watches with widened eyes in horror as a shower of luminescent rains down right onto her chest like a shockwave. A sea of white engulfs her sight and for a moment, she can't feel any of her senses except for the gravitational force that is slowly pulling her towards the opening like a wormhole. 

The only difference is that this isn't a tunnel back to the past... but towards death.

"Arghh---,"

The force intensifies, "I told you it will hurt."

And the unfeeling expression on the lady's face that closes in is the last thing that Siyeon sees before she feels her eyes gradually giving in to the drooping eyelids.

"You should have taken the chance when you had one."

Then, as quickly as it begins, it suddenly stops.

The piercing light disappears like a flash, bringing the room back to a total still. A high-pitched wheeze escapes from Siyeon's airway as her eyes shoot open, the tensed up body collapses onto the bed upon the sudden release of force. She breathes hard, trying to get as much oxygen as she can, too much that she almost chokes on it.

Sitting up, her eyes start darting around the room suspiciously, not leaving any possible corner uncovered. Cold sweats break out on her forehead and a big gulp of fear slips down . Only when she realises that the lady is indeed out of sight, she hurries to the windows and swiftly closes them all before dropping herself down onto the space next to her bed. 

The comfort sends deep breaths of relief into the air.

What the just happened?

*******

Minji's feet scrape across the stones and litters on the ground as she tries to balance herself from the whatever violent gravity pull that has caught her off guard and managed to hoist her out of Siyeon's house.

This is a first. All because of her carelessness.

"You almost a living soul out of the human's body!" The back of a similarly-dressed figure greets Minji's sight from a distance, the edge of the long white robe on her body lifts into the air as the cold wind blows.

A furrowed brow of irritation lifts off the top of her eyes as Minji picks herself up and dusts the bits of sands and dirt off her own white robe with a single hand, "You messed up my KPI, my friend," And her eyes drop to the single stripe on the other's boot, a scoff let itself out of , "A rookie... How daring of you, who do you think you are to be meddling with my business? Name? Age? Which district did you come from?"

"If you dare to lay another finger on my human, I will report you for misusing your role as a Dream Guardian!"

"Your human?" Minji's usual monotonous tone takes a stance of a questioning one. She eyes the figure suspiciously, her mind seemingly beginning to grasp an understanding of what's going on. A Dream Guardian developing feelings and sympathy for souls isn't an uncommon sight. It is just plain absurd. One stubborn soul is enough, she can't believe that a Dream Guardian will follow the lead. "I won't stop you but let me straighten out the facts for you, I won't be investigated. Instead, you... disrupting a Dream Guardian's duties and misusing your role as a Dream Guardian by helping a Nightmare to inhabit a human's body, that's two counts of offences."

"She is not a ghost nor a Nightmare---,"

There is a tinge hesitation in the trembling voice, a little too uneasy for her liking. Because a Dream Guardian should be straightforward and decisive in her duty, not a cowardice who doesn't even communicate directly with her face-to-face. WIth that kind of personality... Minji wonders how did she even become one?

"We can let the judge decide that."

Minji turns around and was about to leave, preparing to report the matter when she hears something unexpected.

"Wait..." The voice trembles against the wind. "That girl, Lee Siyeon... she is special."

There is a pause and Minji halts her steps while standing in the same position, waiting for the unsaid words that she knows would complete the doubts in her mind.

"She can see ghosts."

*******

There was a time when Siyeon was fearless --- she loved to play hide-and-seek and would find the darkest and the most remote corner in the area to hide into, she would hop onto a train ride alone and wander around the town freely with only a few pounds and a toy credit card in her pocket. She was sociable and would smile at anyone who crossed her path, even with a poster of a wanted criminal right in front of her face, she wasn't fazed.

"Siyeon, remember what mummy had told you? You cannot wander off on your own like that. There are many bad guys out there who like to catch naughty children."

"I'm sorry, mummy. I won't do it again."

There was a time when Siyeon felt like she was the happiest kid in the world --- everyday, her dad would send her off to school in the morning with their lorry truck and drop her mum off in the market before heading to work. And when the night comes, her dad would return home to a house full of the smell of home-cooked dinner. Also, every weekend, without fail, her mum and dad would bring her to the fast food restaurant down the street hand in hand and indulge her with her favourite cheeseburger. 

"How was the first day of school for our Siyeonie?"

"I drew a picture of daddy, mummy and me!"

"Oh, did you? Come here, let daddy take a look at how well our Siyeonie's drawing is!"

And her favourite childhood memories of all was when her dad built a small playground for her at the back of their house --- nothing too fancy compared to the one in the city (not like she had seen one before) --- just a swing, a water slide and a mini roller-coaster.

Even so, that was enough.

They could spend all day there.

But when Siyeon turned six, everything changed.

Her dad faced an early retrenchment. Their source of income was cut, her dad and mum stopped smiling and soon, they stopped holding her hands and bringing her out together like before. The roller-coaster at the back of her house also stopped running because they couldn't afford to pay an extra set of electrical bill. Quarrels became frequent --- shoutings filled Siyeon's night and the photo frame on the wall got broken so often that Siyeon would use her savings to buy a new one. When her savings run out, she would find a glue in her house and used it to fix the cracks. That was her favourite family photo.

But no matter how many times she tried to fix the cracks, they only get bigger each time, to the point when it couldn't be fixed anymore.

And eventually, her mum left the house one day, so abruptly that Siyeon thought that her mum was just going off to a holiday trip and had probably forgotten to bring them along. So, she would wait everyday at the door, raining or not, until she felt her eyelids drooping down, only then would she willingly return to her bed.

But as spring moved onto winter, she realised that her mum was never going to come back.

"Mummy..."

"That woman doesn't want you anymore!" Her dad would say, his face flushed with red from the bottle of beer in his hand. "Listen, Lee Siyeon, from now on, you only have me! Only your daddy will love you! No one else will!"

"Mummy wouldn't abandon me..."

A loud rattle echoed in the house as pieces of shattered glasses from the beer bottle littered the floor. "I told you before that the woman is not your mummy! Do you not understand? She doesn't deserve to be one!"

That year, Siyeon got into a terrible accident and became very sick, to the point that she stopped breathing.

Fortunately, miracle existed.

On the day that Siyeon woke up from her coma in the hospital, she saw many different faces glaring down at her. There were nurses, doctors, police officers and two other adults without uniforms whom she would later realise, to be social workers from the Child Welfare Protective Service. They were nice, patient, gave her food and would sit down to talk to her.

"We didn't find any other bruises on her body besides the injury on her head but we are quite concerned about her being underweight," She overhears the doctor discussing about her condition to one of the social workers. "Her nutrients value isn't on par with her peers of the same-age. She is on the spectrum of being malnourished."

"I see some signs of neglect."

Her colleague nods, "Yeah, I agree."

"Possible emotional abuse too based on our brief conversation just now. I might need more interactions with her to establish that conclusion."

The social workers asked her a series of questions but Siyeon was relieved that they didn't become overly pushy with questions that she didn't feel like answering.

"Where is my daddy?" Siyeon asks.

The social worker gives her a gentle smile, "Like Siyeon-ssi, your daddy is sick. He will have to stay with us for a while."

"Did he hurt his head too like me?"

"Hmm, you can put it that way too."

It was the first time that Siyeon didn't get to see her dad for more than a day. And she felt like crying.

Even on the day that Siyeon was discharged from the hospital, she didn't get to see him. Instead, what came was the news that she wouldn't be going back to her house as she was being introduced to a fancy-looking middle-aged lady, who didn't really look 'middle-aged'.

"Say hi, this is Auntie Kwon." The social worker says as she pushes the hesitating girl forward. "You will be staying with her temporarily."

"Hello, darling," The middle-aged lady, or Auntie Kwon approaches her with cautious steps, not wanting to scare Siyeon away for being too aggressively friendly. "Your name is Siyeon, am I right? Do you like lollipops?"

Auntie Kwon lived close to Seoul and her house ws huge. Just the living room itself was double the size of her house, not to mention the backyard and the pool area. The bedroom that Siyeon occupied was decorated with her favourite blue wallpaper. Breakfast was croissant and honey star cereals, lunch was fibre-packed vegetable soup and dinner was steamed cod fish with brown rice.

Not only was Auntie Kwon rich, she was also nice. She bought her candies and books. On certain days, she would bring Siyeon out to the mall and buy her new clothes. Whenever there are lightnings and thunder, she would come into her room to check on her.

Life was carefree and extravagant but there came this one night, when all the suppressed emotions came out in the form of tears.

"Hush, darling..."

"I miss my dad and mum..." Siyeon sobs as Auntie Kwon embraces her into a tight hug, palm rubbing across the girl's back to soothe her down. "Why aren't they coming to fetch me home? Do they not want me anymore?"

"It's okay, Auntie Kwon is here with you."

A visit by her dad was arranged not long after with the presence of Auntie Kwon and the social workers.

"Daddy..."

"Be a good girl and listen to Auntie Kwon," Siyeon nods her head as she receives the bunny toy from her dad. "Daddy misses Siyeonie too. I will work harder to find a job so that I can bring you home with me. Alright?"

"Promise? Whoever breaks the promise is a pig."

"Yes, it's a promise."

Siyeon slept the soundest that night, with the bunny toy held tight in her arms and the promise by her dad to fetch her home deep in her heart.

She had her first ghost-sighting experience during her first month's stay in Auntie Kwon's house, which she hadn't realised that what she saw was in fact, a ghost. It happened when Auntie Kwon decided to cook that day, leaving Siyeon all by herself to play with the puzzles. 

"It's dinner time, my darling," Auntie Kwon's voice sounds from downstairs. "Please put away everything that you are doing and come down right now." 

Shrieks of excitement and overjoyous greet the owner of the house as Siyeon come dashing down the flight of stairs with a portrait frame in her arms.

"May I know what is it that got my darling so excited?"

"I completed the puzzle!" Siyeon grins proudly as she shoves the frame of the completed 300-pieces Snow White puzzle into Auntie Kwon's sight.

"Wow, that's amazing, our Siyeonie!" Auntie Kwon applauds and pats the girl's head. "How about some ice-cream later once we're done with dinner." And she moves over to the fridge. "What flavour would you like to have? Vanilla? Strawberry? Chocolate?"

"Vanilla! And Strawberry for Eugene!"

Now, it's Auntie Kwon's turn to be puzzled, "Who is Eugene?"

And when she follows the direction of Siyeon's finger which points to the lone photo of her late husband on the wall, she is left speechless. "That's Uncle Eugene! He helped me with the puzzles."

Auntie Kwon tried not to think about it but similar incidents happened again, one after another, for the second time, third time, forth time and when it reached the fifth time, she could not take it anymore. Frightened by the paranormal incidents, she decided to send the girl away. And Siyeon would spend the rest of her foster life moving in and out of places, like an abandoned child wanted by nobody.

"I'm sorry, I really can't keep her anymore." Siyeon hears her forth foster mum say to the social worker as she is being escorted out of the house.

The social worker sighs, "Won't you think about it?"

"I know it's really irresponsible of me but I have two children of my own in the house. I can't let this girl roaming around the house, talking about their grandfather and grandmother who have already passed away ten years ago." The foster mum squats down with a look of guilt, as if she is afraid to meet Siyeon's gaze. "I'm really sorry, child. I hope you will find a good family who is willing to take you in."

And as Siyeon moves her gaze past her foster mum, she sees the two young companion looking at her with a face full of sadness. Goodbye, she thinks.

In the end, she was arranged to stay in an orphanage who was willing to accept her until months later, her dad was permitted to take her home. However, back at home, things were not much different, buildings were not as tall and roads were wider, she would come across many strangers, boys and girls, young and old, not knowing that they were ghosts until the people around her started talking among themselves and giving her weird stares.

"What do you want to buy, little girl?" The store owner asks irritably as she keeps a close watch on Siyeon who has been shuffling back and forth around the snack truck, her palm gliding across the glass panels of the ice cream fridge.

Siyeon hesitates for a while, and then holds up two fingers, "I want two vanilla ice cream bar."

"Which brand do you want? Aish, it's all there," The store owner hastily says as her finger points towards the ice cream fridge that Siyeon was looking at. "Choose yourself!" Then she glares at Siyeon, "And remember to pay. Don't think about running away. I'll be watching."

Feeling uneasy, Siyeon waits for the store owner to look away before sliding open the fridge and beginning to choose excitedly. A second voice joins the back of the truck and she overhears the two adults talking about some middle-school kids who had ran off with her ice-cream a few days ago.

"Siyeon!"

Turning around, Siyeon grins widely when she sees her new friend running towards her and joining her in the choosing, "Seo-woo, which one do you want?"

"I want the same as Siyeon."

"Okie," Siyeon says as she takes the one with the fish-shape on the wrap. "Let's be cats today. We'll eat fishes," They giggle. "With vanilla."

"Kid! Are you done or not?"

The store owner re-appears into her vision and Siyeon sees a second set of eyes glaring at her visibly behind the owner as she places the two ice-cream waffles onto the counter.

"How much are these?" Siyeon asks timidly.

"Hey, hey," The intruder hisses, "Come over here." And she quickly motions the store owner towards her side before grabbing her arms. "That's the girl I told you about the other day. Remember? The one who brought my son to his grandfather's grave, saying that he missed him."

The store owner lifts a brow as she eyes Siyeon warily before slowly approaching her, "6000 won."

Siyeon fumbles her pocket for the notes and counts them before placing the correct amount on the counter. Seeing that the store owner has affirmed the amount, she turns towards her new friend before grabbing her hands and walking away, "Come on, let's go to my house."

"See, see, she is talking to herself again."

"This is really creepy."

"Not sure if it is true, but I heard from my friends that she actually stopped breathing in the hospital. The doctors and nurses were ready to pronounce her dead but then, her heart started beating again out of nowhere. I bet those spirits must have followed her home."

The store owner shivers as she feels a sudden rush of cold wind coming towards her, "Urg, I think I need to go to the temple tomorrow to pray. You should come too."

"Yeah, I better..."

Rumours spread like wild fire and the gossips among the neighbourhood's aunties only fuelled its speediness. Nobody cared to check for its authenticity, even if the stories were too exaggerated to believe in, as long as there was something to talk about in the dining table.

Sounds of whistle and rowdiness disturb the serene afternoon. Siyeon's father is knocked out in an afternoon nap and she takes the chance to sneak out of the house. There, on the field, she sees her neighbours and classmates playing a friendly basketball match together.

"Can I join?" Siyeon asksas she runs towards them excitedly.

"Hey, Siyeon! Of course! Catch the ball!"

But Siyeon is knocked down onto the grass before she can even go for a chase and the incoming ball bounces off the culprit's chest. The taller figure turns around and stares down at her in disgust.

"My mum said that you're a monster! And we don't like to play with a monster!"

The rest of the team gather around her with curious eyes but none of them actually bother to help her up, all seemingly afraid of the bigger-build leader.

Siyeon begins sobbing at the overwhelming stares as she rubs the graze on her knee in pain, "I'm not a monster!"

"You are!" He says as he spits at her. "Don't come near us with your dirty hands! Don't you always have many new friends to play with? Go hang out with them!"

Siyeon's life was never the same from that day onwards. She became paranoid, distanced and quiet. She would have her lunch alone in the school toilet. Her classmates would exclude her from activities and outings, as if she didn't exist. One day, she would find red-inked marker scribbles on her desk that wrote 'MONSTER!'. 

She didn't go home that day. Instead, she hid herself under the bridge and buried herself with tears.

Until.....

"Oh, hey, we found a little girl over here!"

"But why is she crying?"

"Hmm...I guess she is really sad..."

"Uh-oh, we should stop her tears. If not, the river is going to overflow and we will all drown." 

.....she found Master Park.

*******

"Lee Siyeon..."

It is all pitch black and quiet in the middle of the night. The neighbourhood has fallen into a deep slumber and Siyeon lays motionlessly on her bed, her eyes closed and is ready to give in to her fatigue. But a set of husky voice brushes across her ears, again, again and again. Her consciousness shoots wide awake and her body freezes instantly. What was that? Uncertain if that was just a hallucination or a real situation, Siyeon grabs the cover tentatively and pulls it above her head. 

"I know you can see me..."

Her teeth clenches together in fear. The familiarity comes right back and engulfs all of her senses, as if she is cursed to remember all the painful and unwanted memories forever, right in her heart.

"Come on, talk to me, I'm bored..."

Don't look, don't talk, don't respond. Don't look, don't talk, don't respond. Don't look, don't talk, don't respond. Important things must be repeated three times. As long as you don't give them any reactions, they will go away by themselves. That was what Master Park had told her before when she was six.

"Oh, look at what a scaredy-cat we have here!"

"Now she is pretending that she can't hear us."

"What a pity, I would love to possess this body one day."

Grabbing the pillow on her sides, Siyeon turns to her side and clutches them close to her ears, as if she would be able to tune out the unnecessary noises. She continues to bury herself in the cover and keeps her eyes fully shut. 

Go away. Go away, Go away.

As the minute-hand on the clock continues to move, she sees the sun rises. She didn't manage to catch a glimpse of sleep for the whole night.

*******

The morning sun has just risen but outside the door of the temple, the persistent knockings have awaken the stray dogs that the monks have accepted into their home, who then starts barking at the guest. Anxiety has been keeping Siyeon up all night and she can't wait anymore. The amulet isn't working anymore and it creates a fear in her mind as if everyday, she has to constantly worry about a ghost who can take her life anywhere and anytime. 

"Master Park! Open the door!"

She needs a new and a working one desperately.

"Master Park! Are you inside?"

The door finally creaks open and Siyeon retrieves her arm as the youngest disciple comes into her sight, "Oh, it's you, Siyeon noona, good morning!" And he stretches his arms while letting out a big yawn. "Why are you here so early? Our doors are not even opened yet!"

"Oh hey, Jongho," Siyeon pushes her way through the half-opened doors, brushing past the sleepy guy and enters the temple eagerly, almost forgetting to take off her shoes until the younger one reminds her. "I need to see Master Park," Her gaze strains and stretches into the temple hall, hoping that she is in time to catch up with Master Park before he leaves for his daily morning walk. "Is he around?"

"You should have come earlier, noona."

Siyeon blinks her eyes in disbelief, seemingly already foreseeing the upcoming bad news, "Don't tell me that he went up to the mountain again?" 

Jongho grins sheepishly, "Yeah, he just left last night. You know how much Master Park loves the sunrise over the top of the mountain, especially with a cup of hot tea in his hand and a paint brush in his other hand. He is always telling us how beautiful the sight is."

"Yeah," Siyeon let out a dry laugh and nods, the disappointment weighing down on her shoulders. "It must be really beautiful up there."

Master Park, although only moved into the town twenty years ago, is a humble and helpful man who is well-respected by the people in the neighbourhood. The temple, on the surface, appears to be just a form of dedication towards his faith, but only the people in the community truly knows how many abandoned babies and troubled young teens he has manged to help. And Siyeon was one of them.

But there is something more than just that.

Just like herself, Master Park, too, is able to communicate with the netherworld. And the amulet, was something that he had given to her to keep her out of harm.

"What is this, Master Park?" Six year-old Siyeon asked as she frowned at the red-string necklace that was gifted to her.

"This is called an amulet," Master Park explained. "Carry this amulet with you all the time, Siyeon. You need not be afraid anymore. Starting from tody, you won't see anything that you wouldn't want to anymore and the ghosts also wouldn't be able to harass you anymore."

"Really?"

"Yes, are you happy?"

Siyeon nodded profusely, "Very!" 

"Anyway, noona, what do you need from Master Park? Perhaps I can help you?" Jongho asks enthusiastically.

Siyeon only sighs as she shoots the younger disciple a troubled gaze, knowing that nobody can help her except for Master Park. Strolling past Jongho, she gives him a pat on his shoulders on her way out, "It's okay, Jongho. I'll just come back next time."

"How about you stay for breakfast, noona?"

"Thanks Jongho," Siyeon forces a smile. "But maybe not today." And she waves goodbye while exiting the temple without turning around, leaving the young disciple staring in bewilderment.

For the first time in her whole life, Siyeon realises that there is a way to leave the temple without hoping for hope.

*******

"Okay, class, today, we're going to talk about the history of our country's technology development. If we turn to page 45 of your lecture notes..."

An efficient way to fall asleep, Siyeon found out, is not about how boring the lecture is. Instead, it depends on how much you like the professor who is standing at the front of the lecture hall, even if they are just reading off the texts in the lecture notes in the name of imparting important knowledge to the students.

What a coincidence, Siyeon doesn't like Professor Yoo.

"Hey, you, the one sitting at the fifth row next to the wall," Professor Yoo says as his fingers point towards a certain direction. "Come up here and draw for us the timeline of our country's main technology development milestone."

"Lee Siyeon, wake up..."

A shockwave is sent all over her body as her eyes shoot open when she feels Yoohyeon nudging her. And now, suddenly, all eyes are on her, "Huh? What?"

"Professor Yoo is calling you to draw this timeline thing," Yoohyeon says as she hurriedly slips a folded piece of paper into Siyeon's hand. "It's Yubin's. Don't forget to thank her later. And me as well."

"Student! What are you waiting for?"

With the answer sheet in her hand, Siyeon jostles past the seats and scrambles down the flight of stairs.

"Hurry up!" Professor Yoo urges before turning back to the students. "You all have to buckle up! Your grades are nowhere close to the previous batch. If the country have to depend on people like you, we would definitely lose out!"

And from afar, even with her back facing her, Siyeon can feel the disappointment in Yubin's eyes. She has a lot of explanation to do later.

*******

"There's still some time to dinner. Where are you guys going?" Yubin asks, her eyes especially focused on the usually talkative girl who is unusually quiet and hasn't been herself for the past few days.

Yoohyeon stretches her arms into the air, "Of course we're going to our warehouse!" And she throws a provocative smirk towards her gaming buddy. "My hands have been itching for a good gameplay. Up for a solo match?"

"Sorry," Siyeon says, her eyes darting towards Yoohyeon with an apologetic look before averting to Yubin's worrying one. "I think I'm going home first. I'm a bit tired."

"Eh? Come on, don't be afraid of losing."

Yubin lunges herself forward and hastily grasps hold onto the figure who is about to leave, "Wait, are you okay? Is it your appa? Did he say or do something again?"

"Yeah, did he say any nasty stuff to you again?" Yoohyeon eagerly adds on, shooting her friend a concerned look.

"Don't worry, he was dead drunk the other night, haven't got a chance to even speak with him, what's more quarrel," Siyeon reassures, removing Yubin's hands from her own. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh..."

"I'm going off then, gonna catch up on my beauty sleep."

"Tsk, beauty sleep?" Yoohyeon scoffs. "How shameless, Lee Siyeon. Don't tell anybody that we're friends."

"Don't be jealous that I'm prettier than you, Kim Yoohyeon!" Siyeon retorts as she waves goodbye to her two friends. "Also, Yubin, you better keep a close watch on her!"

"Wasn't that what I've been doing always?"

"Ha, true!"

Yoohyeon's expression switches at the approaching figure behind her, "Shoo, Lee Siyeon, if you want to go home, just go. Don't talk too much!" 

*******

The door clicks open. Home sweet home.

Discarding her shoulder bag, Siyeon drags herself lazily across the floor and drops her tired body down onto her bed once she reaches her bedroom.

She is dead tired.

Then, she hears a click.

Another click.

And another click.

Carefully opening her eyes, Siyeon peers over at her room's door and keeps her gaze onto it. Suddenly, a loud rattle from the photo frame on the wall behind her startles her. And when she turns back around again, a set of blood-shot eyes is staring straight into hers.

"Lend me your body, just for a day. Please..."

And she screams.

*******

"I told you I am not a ghost..." Siyeon says, sitting on the floor beside her bed, with her arms wrapped around her knees as tears flow down her cheeks, which she doesn't even intend to hide anymore, even when the Dream Guardian who have assaulted her days ago is standing right in front of her.

So what if crying is an exposure of weakness? So be it. She is tired of caring about how people look at her.

"I didn't know before. Now I know."

"What do you know? You don't know anything."

"That's why I came back," Minji says non-chalantly as she raises the jar of poor soul that she has just captured, all thanks to the human. Five counts of escaping from the guardians and one count of intimidation, she definitely wouldn't allow her any chance of reincarnation. "And look at what we have here, a Nightmare."

The tear-stained face continues to flood itself with overflowing tears that couldn't be stopped no matter how much Siyeon tried to. And it only gets worse as she feels the unwavering stare from the Dream Guardian, as if she is watching a show. How embarrassing.

Lifting the sleeve of her sweater, Siyeon swiftly wipes her sadness away with her remaining dignity.

"What the are you looking at?! Stop looking!" Siyeon howls as she shifts herself up her bed and hides under the cover, her body turning entirely away from the Dream Guardian, determined not to let her continue seeing this disgraceful sight. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

Feeling amused, Minji let out a brief chuckle as she approaches the figure, not sure if Lee Siyeon is actually pathetic or just simply... silly.

"Sleep well," Minji whispers without taking her gaze off the human. "I guess I'll be your bodyguard for the night."

A/N:

Hi people, sorry for the long wait!
Got caught up in work! And I had to edit it many times to make it decent XD

Hope it doesn't disappoint!
Enjoy!!!