Following the enlightening discussion, Jongdae had requested to be left by himself in the basement with the reasoning that he wanted to explore. Jongin and Chinsun seemed reluctant, though it was unclear whether that was because they did not trust Jongdae to be with the  spiritual items located or they just did not want to leave Jongdae’s side after everything that had happened. Taking everything into considerations however, it was probably a mix of both. Ultimately it was Baekhyun who saw through Jongdae’s cheerful façade and with Mark’s help, dragged the worrywart duo out.

Finally on his own, Jongdae close his eyes and remained still for a few moments to recalibrate his mind and body to all the new information; an update that had completely turned life as he knew it upside down. The default joyous smile that graced his face was gone and a morose glint settled in his eyes that were now darting around the room before landing on the faded spell circle on the ground.

Although the memories were vague, there were specks of recollections crawling around Jongdae’s brain of him waking up and being tied to a chair, greeted by the sight of Jongin’s apologetic and guilt-ridden face before his world went black again. Jongdae’s hand instinctively reached for the crucifix necklace dangling from his neck. Under Mark’s orders he was to never remove it, at least not until they deemed it safe enough. However Jongdae had the suspicion that he was going to cling onto this necklace for much longer than that because despite not being a religious person — much less a believer of god — feeling the cold metallic touch of the crucifix against his skin helped soothe his anxiousness towards the unknown and bring clarity to his mind.

“Life is uncertain; death is certain,” Jongdae recited out loud as the image of Chinsun’s face presented itself in his mind. “No wonder you obsessed on this old Buddhist quote so much. There is nothing certain about life after death.”

Jongdae walked around the basement, stopping in front of the forgotten gayageum that Chinsun had yet to put back in place. Squatting down, the male delicately strummed a few strings before retracting his hand, not wanting to risk summoning a spirit or break the seemingly antique item. For whatever reason, he could perfectly envision Chinsun sitting with the gayageum on her lap, producing a heart-fluttering melody while Jongin sat next to her revising spell techniques and spiritual chants.

“No wonder you and Jongin always fell into wordless conversations,” Jongdae exhaled, his shoulders sagging. “No wonder I could never be on the same wavelength as you guys. Do I even belong in the world you two live in?”

Melancholy enveloped Jongdae in a suffocating embrace, crushing his lungs and blurring his mind. In his moment of weakness, flashbacks of his childhood adventures with Jongin and Chinsun reemerged in his mind. The time Chinsun mysteriously learned how to make the most delicious kimchi and brought it over with so much pride glimmering in her eyes; the time Jongin kept tripping on flat ground and how Chinsun threw a whole packet of salt on him which somehow solved the problem; the utter relief and tremendous joy that flooded Jongin and Chinsun when they fell into his room after he had finally woken up.

Jongdae then recalled the understanding smile Baekhyun had given him before pulling everyone out moments earlier. Loudly slapping his cheeks, Jongdae flinched at the stinging sensation that ensued. However it successfully annihilated the melancholy that had managed to momentarily plague him. Jongdae then walked up the stairs with confident steps and exited the archive to find Chinsun and Jongin sitting by the counter, snapping their head towards him the moment they sensed his presence.

“I’m a nosy and clingy person and there’s no getting rid of me,” Jongdae announced loudly. “I’m part of your world whether you like it or not.”

Chinsun and Jongin stared blankly at Jongdae, confusion filling their eyes wondering what on earth had happened while the male was in the basement all by himself. Ignoring their stares, Jongdae boldly walked up to them and stopped within arm’s reach, his hands planted firmly on his waist and his chest sticking out.

The silence was broken by Chinsun who burst out in giggles, her short hair bouncing to the motions of her shoulders shaking.

“You and Baekhyun are really birds of the same feather,” Chinsun mused. “No wonder you are best friends.”

“So Baek said the same thing I did?” Jongdae raised his eyebrows in anticipation rather than surprise.

“Yes,” Jongin grunted. “He was very vocal about not being excluded.”

“Hell yeah you guys better not exclude us,” Jongdae exclaimed. “It’s bad enough that it took so many years and a spirit possession for you to tell me. I mean, if I hadn’t been possessed by an evil spirit and almost killed you all you would have kept me in the dark my whole life? How was that supposed to work out if I’m the head of Kim Funeral Home and have a child with the ‘sight’?”

It was one of those rare moments where Jongdae spoke in an authoritative tone of an older brother and Jongin had no idea how to react as he was used to being the one in charge.

“Told you we should have told him,” Chinsun mumbled childishly, nudging Jongin with her shoulder as if by doing so she could transfer all the responsibilities onto him.

Jongin glared at Chinsun, not appreciating her input and bumped her shoulder with double the force, almost sending her stumbling out of her chair. Seeing their silly exchange, the serious expression on Jongdae’s face broke down, replaced by one of nostalgic amusement.

“Stop trying to shelter me so much,” Jongdae whispered softly. “I need to learn how to defend myself eventually. Even if it means carrying a bag of salt around with me at all times.”

“You’d still have no idea where to throw the salt towards,” Jongin argued back.

“That’s easily solved,” Jongdae quipped, throwing his arm around Chinsun’s shoulder and pulling her towards himself. “Chinsun will tell me. You guys spent your whole lives looking like crazy peop