After restlessly tossing and turning in her bed, Chinsun eventually forfeited sleep and removed herself from her bed just in time to admire the sunrise from her balcony, allowing herself to enjoy a rare momentary peace. The wind picked up in that moment and clumsily tussled Chinsun’s hair, slapping a few stray strands into her face. Frowning, Chinsun brushed the hair away, letting her fingers run through her long locks that reached all the way down to her waist.

Inhaling deeply, Chinsun greeted the morning sun with newfound determination and readied herself for the day, though before heading over to Naesae, she had other plans in mind.

・・・

Baekhyun stirred in his sleep, the sound of repetitive knocks on his door echoing in his ears. Suddenly registering the fact that the knocking was actually on his bedroom door rather than the entrance to his flat, his eyes snapped wide open, his heart rising to his throat at the fear of an intruder.

“Baek, it’s me.” Chinsun’s muffled voice travelled towards Baekhyun, causing him to sigh in relief.

Pushing himself out of the bed, Baekhyun wiped his face to remove any potential saliva residue and roughly combed his hair to tame his wild bed-hair before opening the door. In front of him stood a wide-awake Chinsun adorning a pastel yellow knitted sweater matched with dark navy overalls. Her long hair was braided into a fishtail that cascaded down her left shoulder and the only word Baekhyun could think of was: cute — death-inducing cute.

“Sorry to disturb your sleep.” Chinsun smiled apologetically at the sleepy male. “I was planning to go where you saw the egg ghost, but realised that it might not appear without you being there as well so…”

Chinsun’s voice faded out, not finishing her sentence. However there was no need to as Baekhyun understood what she meant.

“Give me 10 minutes and I’ll be ready.”

・・・

“It was floating right there.” Baekhyun pointed towards the sea. “Letting the waves bring it closer to shore.”

“Closer to you,” Chinsun added in a solemn voice.

Chinsun had simply voiced an objective observation, however it was enough to send chills down Baekhyun’s spine, reminding him that the wrath of his editor when he missed a deadline was no longer the biggest threat in his life.

Stabilising her footing on a rock situated between the sand and the water, Chinsun stared at the incoming waves in concentration, as if trying to read a hidden message coming from the depth of the sea. Of course that was not the case, though Baekhyun joined her nonetheless, curious to see the world that Chinsun saw, even if it meant something as simple as standing in the same place as her.

As they had expected, there was nothing in the water that seemed out of place — or so Chinsun thought before from the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of a pale white limb smacking against the rock due to the force of the waves.

Baekhyun jumped in the air, taken by surprise, and almost rolled down had Chinsun not grabbed him just in time.

“What was that?” Baekhyun screeched, his voice trembling.

“Let’s leave,” Chinsun ordered, pulling Baekhyun’s arm and running away from the beach as fast as they could.

Behind them, the pale limb was clutching onto the rock they previously stood on, the fingers digging into the rock as it tried to lift itself out of the water.

Baekhyun struggled to keep up with Chinsun, surprised by her athleticism. But then again, she had spent her whole life having to defend both herself and those around her from spirits, so it only made sense that she had immense stamina from years of training.

Finally, after returning to the safety of Naesae, Chinsun let go of Baekhyun’s arm, leaning against the counter to catch her breath. Ba