"Who were those guys?" Ara asked Jongho, the moment all three of them exited the shop, well away from his grandpa's ear. They turned into one of the alley's of the plaza, in between the tattoo parlours and Houdini's Magic Palace, the largest fortune teller shop in Aurora Square. 

Jongho shifted uncomfortably, "My gramps already told us, just some clients he doesn't feel like working with,"

"They look like they pay big, now why wouldn't your gramps want that?" Ara grinned wickedly, new ideas popping in her mind. "You know more about this huh? Is it shady business?"

"Shh!" Jongho hissed before looking around them. "Do you really need to know?"

"It's just me and Ghost Boy, what could we possibly do with this piece of information?" she answered, and Ghost Boy cocked his head to the side in confusion, clearly not sure as to why he was roped into this.

Jongho sighed, "Fine, those people think their son isn't dead and they're trying to communicate with his ghost."

♦ ♦ ♦

"So...you don't remember anything?" 

Yunho watched the girl, Araminta Kim as she skipped on the boulevard. They were on their way to a place called Aurora Square, to meet her other friend, Jongho - whom Yunho had met as well. He had headed to the park next to the thrift store, as told to by Ara (he was unsure why she seemed so enthusiastic about befriending him, though Yunho wasn't complaining either). She stood out in the crowds of people, crouched on the pavement in her sneakers, curled hair held up in a ponytail. Now as they walked, she had earphones stuffed in. "Makes people think I'm answering a call, in case they think I'm crazy," she had told him. 

"Nope," he shook his head. 

"Not even your name?" she pressed.

"Not even that,"

Then she turned to look at him, this time walking backwards with her hands stuffed in her leather pockets. "You must be the ghost with the weirdest backstory I've heard, and I've heard plenty of weird ones," she remarked. "One lady told me her husband had thrown her out the window of their home-" she stopped herself and cleared . "But forget about that. Hmm you must have hit your head hard when you died, but...I don't see any bruises on you either," she said once she had looked at him from head to toe. "Rather the opposite,"

Yunho frowned, "The opposite?"

"You look more human than some actual people I know, and that's saying something. So do you, uh, live somewhere?" 

"I-" and Yunho stopped himself. Jocelyn's words echoed in his head, 'not everyone can be trusted'. This girl was someone he had just met, they barely knew each other. So even if he personally thought it was fine to tell her, he decided against it anyway. 

"Yeah?" Ara asked. 

"I just wander around, same thing every single day," he answered and quickly switched topics. "So, er, why are we going to this Aurora Square to see your other friend again?" They were closing into the place ahead, a gigantic archway made of what seemed like a medieval castle gate, behind it were various buildings of odd shapes, a few had domes and sculptures of creatures. "What's in there?" he asked as well, with the warnings of Jocelyn coming back. This was a place Yunho knew nothing about. 

Ara flashed a crooked grin, "Then it'll be a surprise for you," and swiftly, she skipped past the archway. For a brief moment, Yunho hesitated to walk further. Not everyone can be trusted, remember that. Where was Ara taking him? But surely, there couldn't be anything worse than already being a ghost?

Then he followed Ara from behind, past the archway and its oddly placed smoke. Unconsciously, he closed his eyes when he passed through the gateway. His senses tingled, the first thing that hit him was the smell of...caramel. Caramel?

Instead he was greeted by a completely unexpected view. Aurora Square consisted of cobblestoned lanes, leading into warmly-lit corridors of cozy shoplots that sold everything imaginable. People sat outside the ones that sold food, chatting with each other merrily. In the middle of the square was a marble fountain where what looked like tourists with their cameras, throwing coins into the flowing water as they made wishes. The biggest building had a figurehead of a dragon atop its dome that read 'Houdini's Magic Palace'. 

"Hey dummy!" he snapped out of his awe, and his eyes focused on Ara who was leaning against a lamp post. It could have been the lighting above her, or maybe the air in Aurora Square had done something to his head - Yunho's focus shifted onto her. For a really brief moment then it was interrupted by her punching him in the shoulder, attempted to anyway. 

He flinched, and she cackled. "H-hey!" he sputtered. "A-aren't you worried people will give you weird looks? You're gonna look like you're punching air."

But she seemed unbothered, "Don't worry about it, I bet plenty of them can see you too," 

He stared, "Huh?"

"Welcome to Aurora Square ," she said as they walked down one of the intersections. "Where magic is real, at least that's what tour guides say. Personally, I'd say this is where magic can exist without needing to hide,"

"You mean..." Yunho pointed at the direction of customers by a random fruit stand, selling what looked like illuminous apples sold by a man who had green-tinged skin. That surely had to be a costume-

"Yes, you are looking at a green-skinned man selling glowy fruits to ladies who have twigs in their hair," Ara assured him. "Your eyes are not playing tricks, Ghost Boy,"

Yunho was speechless, "No way," he breathed. The little details he had chose to ignore for the past few minutes of them being there started to play in his head. The restaurants serving sugary confections that seemed to sparkle above the pastries, one of the passersby having cat eyes, small figures hovering not too far way, wings fluttering as they spoke in chimes. All this time, he convinced himself he had been imagining things. "How is this all real?" he asked, but more to himself.

"Of course it's real," Ara replied. "I mean, you're a ghost. Anything can be real after that right? You must have seen weirder things than this?"

"Less pleasant, you mean," he corrected her. It did occur to him that they could potentially be in the very place Jocelyn had told him to not visit. "There aren't w-witch covens here right?" he looked cautiously around. "Or necromancers and black magic-"

"Woah woah," she frowned at him. "You've got these two places mixed up, Ghost Boy. This is Aurora Square, the place you just described was the Grimm Market."

"So a place like that exists too?" he questioned, but he could see Ara wasn't keen on elaborating. 

She cleared , "I'll tell you more about that when we get the chance, it isn't something important anyway."

"Oh so what we're up to now is important?" he quirked. 

"Patience, grasshopper," and she looked at him. "Since when did you learn to question me?" she asked sarcastically. It was odd, how easy it was to talk to this ghost. Was it because he was good-looking? Possibly. Ara wasn't sure either how she immediately warmed up to him, she had figure that out too. It was equally odd that he didn't even remember his own name, surely there was more to this. Then it hit her, maybe this was a mystery she felt like solving. 

"Maybe the air here changed me," he waved his hands dramatically, to the point it made her laugh. He actually has a personality other than being dead.

He continued to listen to Ara, telling him that Jongho lived with his grandparents, who ran a fortune teller shop/shaman service (there was a brief mention that he was half-faerie, Yunho made a mental note to ask more about this later). A humble-looking shoplot painted in dark green, the window decorated with a range of ornaments and cloth. 'Choi's Spiritual Services' the sign read. Without knocking, Ara pushed open the door and it responded with a cheerful ding! 

"Hi Master Choi!" she chirped at the elderly man seated behind the counter of the shop, who looked up from his scriptures he had been reading. 

Master Choi adjusted his glasses, "Ara, it's you!" he replied. 

"Naturally," she winked as she peered around. "Is Mrs Choi at the back? Cooking lunch?" she arched her eyebrows cheekily. 

Master Choi shook his head exasperratedly, "Yes, and you are most welcomed to join us if you want to,"

Ara chuckled, "Thanks for the offer but I'll pass this once, Jongho and I have plans today," 

The old man eyed her suspiciously, "Now what are you two rascals are up to today, eh? I hope you and Jongho are staying out of trouble, God knows what that boy thinks these days..."

"My gramps means whether I've meddling in faerie business," Jongho suddenly came into the shop, carrying two boxes under his arms. Yunho stared at the other boy's strength, and Jongho glanced at him back with the same surprised expression. "Oh, hi there," he added with a nod towards Yunho. "You actually got to bring him here?" he asked Ara, somewhat impressed. 

"And you still think your grandmother and I have been nagging you," Master Jong sighed. "Kids your age are nothing but rebellious and stubborn, until you get yourselves involved in hot water. It's for your own good, Jjong. Their business is not to be triffled with, I've told you countless times,"

Jongho sighed, "I get it, okay Gramps? That's all you've been telling me since I could learn to talk."

"Um, what's going on now?" Yunho whispered to Ara. 

"Family stuff, kinda private," she answered. "We'll get to that later,"

Just then, the door opened again - and in walked a man and woman, the latter looking awfully pretty it made Ara jealous. Master Jong shifted in his seat, "Them again..." she could hear him say under his breath before turning to them again. "Jjong, you kids should leave. Let me deal with this alone."

Jongho seemed to understand, and without sparing another glance he pulled Ara's hand and beckoned Yunho to follow them out the backdoor before the mysterious man and woman could spot them. 

"Who were those guys?" Ara asked Jongho, the moment all three of them exited the shop, well away from his grandpa's ear. They turned into one of the alley's of the plaza, in between the tattoo parlours and Houdini's Magic Palace, the largest fortune teller shop in Aurora Square.

Jongho shifted uncomfortably, "My gramps already told us, just some clients he doesn't feel like working with,"

"They look like they pay big, now why wouldn't your gramps want that?" Ara grinned wickedly, new ideas popping in her mind. "You know more about this huh? Is it shady business?"

"Shh!" Jongho hissed before looking around them. "Do you really need to know?"

"It's just me and Ghost Boy, what could we possibly do with this piece of information?" she answered, and Ghost Boy cocked his head to the side in confusion, clearly not sure as to why he was roped into this.

Jongho sighed, "Fine, those people think their son isn't dead and they're trying to communicate with his ghost."

Ara snorted, "They do know that a ghost means their son's technically dead right?" she peered around the area. "Do you have an idea who they are? I've never seen them arond before,"

"My gramps says the man's a CEO or something and the lady's his wife, I bet she's just playing along since he's kinda cuckoo in the head," he gestured with his hands. "Apparently he insists that his only son isn't dead and plans of resurrecting him,"

"Well he's come to the wrong place if he's into that," Ara answered before thinking in silence. Jongho caught the change. 

"What are you thinking about?" he asked suspiciously. "Ara, I swear if you're thinking about getting into-"

"I'm not thinking whatever you were about to say, sheesh..." she held up her hands in defence. "Anyway, I'm hungry for some turkey broth. Come on Ghost Boy, I'm starving,"

Jongho followed suit, "Wait he doesn't have a name yet?"

"Yeah we'll explain on the way."