When Yunho agreed to join the so-called mission, he didn't expect it to be breaking into someone's house. 

"Are you sure about this?" Yunho asked Ara, for the third time already. He partly knew there was no point to it as they currently were heading to the said house, the little pouch that contained a capsule, the size of a walnut that Ara had bought from a random vendor in Aurora Square. "And are these really reliable enough to make you invisible?" he asked doubtfully.

They sneaked into a narrow alley, opposite the entrance way of the luxury housing area. Ara had briefed about the strategy multiple times, but Yunho still felt uneasy about doing something that should have been illegal (he knew this didn't necessarily apply to ghosts but even so...). Ara scanned their surroundings, making sure no one was watching them. "Yes, I tried them out once on my brother for fun - spooked him out when he noticed all his things were out of place," she said, smirking for a brief moment.

"Once?" Yunho echoed.

"It's good enough, this costed a quarter of my paycheck this month so they better work,"

"And then what am I supposed to do again?" 

"Once we pass the guard post, get to the house then you'll stay watch while I go in and search for clues. If you spot anything alarming outside, you come and notify me and we get the hell out." Ara repeated the plan one last time. 

"B-but how am I supposed to get to you in time?"

Ara couldn't tell if he was joking. "You're literally a ghost..."

"Oh right."

And so he watched as Ara took out the capsule, dropped it to the ground and stepped on it with the heel of her shoe. A purple cloud of smoke rose and it surrounded Ara, like a very extravagant balloon surprise. Yunho jumped back, eyes widening when she was no longer in sight. "A-Ara? Are you-" he stammered.

"Well can you see me?" her voice was still loud and clear. 

Yunho let out a sigh of relief. "No, but I can still hear you."

"Good. Now let's get going." 

The pair crossed the street, Yunho cautious to not go too fast or slow since he couldn't see where Ara was going and only depended on her occasional comment to hear her voice. Without much of a challenge, they waltzed past the guard post and into the housing area with the most expensive homes Yunho had ever seen. "There, the one of the left, second last next to the docks," Ara told him as they jogged to the end of the row, Yunho guessed she had been pointing in that direction. 

"Ok so you wait here," he heard her say as they stood in front of the targeted house. "If anything seems off, just come and tell me. Got it?"

Yunho nodded, feeling somewhat on edge yet excited that he had entrusted with such a task. "I'm going in." Ara said and when there was silence that followed, Yunho guessed she had already gone in. The seconds turned into minutes, and soon that rush of adrenaline had subsided. Growing bored, Yunho crouched near the sidewalk. He sighed, how long had time passed? It couldn't have been very long right?

Then it occured to him, he had been following Ara around, doing as she wished - without actually asking the purpose behind it. This wasn't what he would normally do, let alone behave. So why was it this way with a random girl he had only known for such a short while? 

That was when he heard the glass breaking from inside.

I may die if I do this.

Mingi thought miserably, cluthing the necklace Masouf had given him. Woven with various trinkets and beads, some even looked like dried fingernails and other more gruesome things Mingi decided - better off not knowing anyway. Black magic probably, he thought as well. He knew of course the moment he stepped into the Grimm Market that it was no place for sunshine and rainbows, but desperate situations called for desperate measures. 

He just hoped it wouldn't come to bite him in the back later.

Pushing past those evasive thoughts, he put the necklace on. He had tried it back in Masouf's shop so he knew it would work, but executing it without any fail was the hard part. He circled around the house, until he found an open window. Mingi was somewhat appalled, he didn't think it'd be this easy to sneak into the house. Did they accidentally leave it open? Then trying to not think about it too much, he crawled in.  From where he was, he could see the kitchen that had Abel, Letitia who was vacuuming the living room. Did this house only have two workers? 

Whereas Sofia Jeong was nowhere to be seen. 

Carefully, Mingi crept upstairs as he glanced back every once in a while to make sure Letitia hadn't noticed anything peculiar. Yunho's old bedroom was located right above the living room, considering that it hadn't been cleared up after...what had happened, basically the success of Mingi's plan was entirely circumstantial. He just hoped luck was on his side today. Holding his breath, he twisted the knob, praying that it wasn't locked. When it gave away with a satisfied click, he could feel himself relax. Nimbly, he crept into the room and closed it from behind.

He stood up, and he didn't expect to see a girl cursing.

Ara grabbed the lamp next to her the moment she saw the door to the room reopen, due to the fact she was no longer invisible. 

She caught her reflection in the dusty mirror, and panic had ensued. This wasn't supposed to happen, an hour hadn't passed yet. "," she cursed under her breath, realizing the capsule she had bought must have malfunctioned in some way. How was she supposed to get out the house now? The door had opened...to no one coming in - she frowned. There was no way this could happen, she was sure she had closed the door-

"Who the hell are you?" a deeper voice, a boy's hissed. For some reason, that seemed to calm Ara down somewhat because despite it all, that voice sounded just as panicked as her. 

She pointed the lamp in the direction the voice came from, "I-I'd have to ask the same! Show yourself!" she whispered violently back, desperate to control the edge in her tone. To her surprise, a boy appeared in the room, in his hand clutched an odd-looking necklace. Bright red hair and almost the same height as Ghost Boy, but that clearly wasn't the point. 

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" the boy demanded. "Do they know you're here?" He beckoned towards the outside of the room.

Ara crossed her arms in defense, "Well I'd ask you the same, it's not everyday you see a boy appear out of thin air,"

"Answer the question!" he hissed.

"Well you're whispering so I assume you're not supposed to be here either!"

"Abel, has the chairman taken his meds today?" a woman's voice sounded from outside the room, Ara a breath. "And did someone leave the window open?"

She and the red-haired boy locked eyes, somehow both understanding what was going on. She looked around, there was nowhere to hide. Then the voices sounded again, "It wasn't opened earlier," another replied.

"Check the rooms, all of them!" 

Oh crap, she thought miserably. The boy continued to look intently at her, "Why are you here? Just tell me!" he repeated himself. 

"Why do you want to know?" she said through gritted teeth, this was no time for questions.

"Just. Tell. Me."

"For money alright?" she blurted out of nowhere. The boy stared at her, confused for a second. Of course he would, Ara thought miserably. How could she explain her elaborate plan of searching a dead boy's house to some random stranger-

The other boy hung the necklace around her neck, and Ara saw her reflection disappear from the mirror. gaped open, "What the hell are you doing?!" she whispered back frantically. But the boy didn't answer, his heel and opened the door. Ara stiffled a yelp, standing outside was a woman, just as stunned as Mingi stood to face her. It wasn't the best time to admire, but Ara couldn't help but notice just how...flawless the woman looked. She couldn't have been older than 30, luscious dark curls framed her sharp face - her perfect curves complimented in a pant-suit. 

"Ah...Mingi," she said. "Why were you inside here? Your mother did not inform me about you dropping by,"

Ara saw Mingi gulp, "I..."

"Miss," Letitia scrambled up the stairs, expression a mix of shock and fear. "H-he snuck in, through the window-"

"Shh," Sofia Jeong held up a hand. "I shall talk to him myself, no need to cause a fuss here,"

Letitia fell silent, and obeyed those orders -  leaving the two alone. Sofia's expression turned from bleak to dark, she crossed her arms. "Now I would report you to the cops for intruding my house," she lingered on her words. "but imagine how much damage would it be to your mother's image, and I certainly wouldn't want such things to happen since Yejin has been so nice to me. But I can't simply let this go, so tell me dear - what were you doing snooping around my home?"

Ara wondered what Mingi would answer, he backed up into the room when Sofia cornered him and his eyes were set on hers - but it wasn't infatuation in his gaze, it was dark as if something awoke inside of him. "Don't you use my mother against me," he replied, jaw clenched. "She's not here to defend you, I'm not falling for your lies,"

Sofia narrowed her eyes, "I don't understand,"

"You know what happened to Yunho and you're trying to cover it up, I won't fall for your games," Mingi spat. "I was there when it happened, you were behind that accident,"

Gradually, Sofia's lips curled into a smile. "Oh dear, and I thought those years of therapy your mother had told me would knock some sense into you. I'm afraid it hasn't, what a shame. I wouldn't have minded about your accusations back then when you were a child, but you're an adult now and yet you still believe in your delusional fantasies."

Delusional fantasies? Ara wanted to so badly to listen more, but now was her chance to escape. Holding her breath, she slipped past the two, out the door and past the hallway. She still had to be careful, anyone could catch her in the act if she made it too obvious. Zipping past the upper hallway, she searched for an exit - at least a window she could climb out of. 

Then she saw the other worker, Abel come out of the room at the very end of the corridor and he had left it unlocked. Immediately she approached it, gently pushing it open. Ara turned around and froze again.