When we reached Chanyeol’s house, we saw Do Kyungsoo and everyone else sitting by the fountain in his courtyard. They were laughing and I smiled. Sometimes, I forgot that they were still in their teens and even if we were a year or two away from adulthood, it was important to enjoy the little moments.

Sir Hwapyung sat by the fountain, One was on his lap and I saw them tell him about their tales. Zoon told Sir Hwapyung of the olden times of when he was first summoned—the soul of a baby before the witch doctors trained him to be who he was today. Minseok was listening intently, giving out small nods from time to time to show that he was interested. This encouraged Sir Hwapyung more, his loud voice and dramatic gestures paired with Zoon’s monotonous yet intense words making those listening lean forward.

A few minutes passed when Chanyeol’s gates opened and we saw him walk in, a ghost right behind him.

“Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo asked, Chanyeol grumbling to himself. I saw that he had a ritual thread in his hand, leading the ghost towards us. “What are you—”

“Long story,” Chanyeol said, shaking his head. “Guys, meet Kang Seojun. He’s a property ghost of the house across from mine.”

And with that, Kang Seojun, the property ghost of Chanyeol’s neighbor bowed. We all exchanged a glance and I saw Chanyeol lead Seojun with the ritual thread to the tree, tying it on a branch and telling him to stay put.

“Okay, let’s go. I need to handle a few more things and we can go see Sehun,” Chanyeol said to us. We didn’t want to ask what was going on, Chanyeol entering his house when we heard an airy squeal.

“It’s Chanyeol! He’s back! He’s back!” A female ghost could be heard and she swooped down from the stairs, Chanyeol telling her that he was busy. “Chanyeol! I was waiting!”

It was weird to his friends how Chanyeol seemed to be acquainted with the ghosts that were in his house. The female ghost looked towards us, her face tilting to the side when she saw Matthew and Chen.

“Chen?!” She exclaimed. “Why would you bring me Chen?!”

“Ella, it’s not Chen,” Chanyeol told her tiredly and we followed him upstairs. “And can you go away for a moment? I need privacy.”

“Privacy, privacy, privacy!” Ella said a bit too shrilly. “What about the lack of privacy when you couldn’t see me?”

She huffed, disappearing through the walls and Chanyeol chuckled.

“I remember telling one of you about the girl ghost who stays in my bedroom.”

Kyungsoo raised up a hand.

“Yeah, that’s Ella. The first time I came home from the hospital, I met her and she’s actually a maiden. Property ghost, too. Yesterday, she asked me to bring over the man she keeps waving to from the window.” He pointed at the window and we saw that his window was directly across the neighbor’s bedroom. “I think Seojun and her saw each other a few times but being property ghosts, they can’t leave.”

“Ah, so you attached him to the thread so she can meet him?” I asked, Chanyeol nodding. Kyungsoo looked impressed, the male pointing at Chanyeol.

“Bora, you have competition.”

I saw Chanyeol pull open the window, mumbling to himself as he began to fumble through the cabinets.

“Where is it?” He then finally found what he was looking for, holding it up in the air. It was lipstick and a wooden comb. “Ah. Here. Let me burn this and we can leave.”

Chanyeol was so involved, Chanyeol beginning to burn them outside his window as smoke floated into the air. While we waited, I saw Chanyeol wave at someone outside his window.

“Herbert! Haha, funny guy. Refuses to ascend until all the gardens are weeded.” He chuckled to himself, leaning against the window when Baekhyun nudged me.

“Are we sure that this is the right Chanyeol?”

“I know, right?”

Herbert had chains on his feet and looked very much like a slave—except that he had a jersey on. Chanyeol told us that he had burned a new jersey for Herbert to wear, all of us nodding while he told us the story.

When he was done, he muttered a small prayer and then called for Ella.

“Ella! Come here and fix yourself—”

“I thought you wanted privacy!”

“I do!” Chanyeol yelled back, Ella flying into the room before she lit up, the spiritual items on the table. The maiden gave a squeal, breaking into a graceful move, her big puffy skirt moving back and forth.

“Oh, pretty! This is the best Ghost Festival I’ve ever gone through! Does this mean you got him? You brought him to me?” She asked eagerly, Chanyeol nodding. “Oh, Chanyeol! You’re the best—”

“Okay, now can you stop pestering me to ask my father to stop drinking? You’ve been taking my family issues very personally.”

“Of course, I do.” But her words were filled with care and before we knew it, she and Seojun sat by a small table that Chanyeol had set up. He burned a few additional things and little plates of food were placed for both of them before he bid them goodbye.

“I’ll see you tomorrow or something, Ella,” he said, Seojun thanking him for the surprise. “Let’s go, guys.”

We learn a new side of people every day.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We were gathered in Sehun’s hang-out room. It was equipped with a theatre, futons on the floor, and tables with books. First things first, we ended up on the floor with Minseok, a list of the twenty people jotted down in his notebook with Sir Hwapyung telling us who wanted what.

“And Sungho really wants to go to the beach!” He said, flipping over a postcard. “He saw a beach once upon a time when he sent the love of his life off to the west. She never came back, of course, but the image of the crashing waves and the salty smell of the ocean has burned itself into his soul.”

“Wow,” Minseok mumbled. “Two, can you please get off me? My shoulders hurt.”

“I can massage them for you,” she whispered and I laughed, flipping through the history books, reading of the Hwa Clan.

“And Hwa Minho really wants to have his photo at an alter so when people pray, they can pray for his soul. He died with no family, no kids, no wife.” Sir Hwapyung continued. “I told you all about the carrot cake—”

“Yes, tomorrow Sehun will buy some carrot cake and we’ll head to the hospital after school,” Kyungsoo butted in. “And Harin, I bet you can sketch how he looks like, right? Chanyeol can describe him to you.”

Harin nodded, putting it down on the things she had to do.

“How long has it been since the war?” I asked, propping my head in my hands and Sir Hwapyung said around 300 years. “That’s a long time.”

“Noona, remember that ghost we met in Sehun’s cellar?” Baekhyun said, Kyungsoo and I looking at him while he shaded a cartoon, he had drawn on his blank list. “He said that he was around 300 years old dead too, remember? Imagine how funny it would be if they knew each other.”

His words made me freeze, my mind reeling. I tried to remember what the cellar ghost said when I remembered that he too, was a soldier who fought at war but became a butcher because of his knee.

“How interesting,” I found myself saying softly. “It would be funny, wouldn’t it?”

“It would be but it can’t be that much of a coincidence,” Baekhyun said softly, Sir Hwapyung in the background as he continued to talk.

“A lot of people left the war tattered and I had a lot of friends I’ve never gotten to meet! Life happens but it would be nice to meet some of them if there was a chance.”

That was it for me and I stood up, telling Sir Hwapyung to follow me to the cellar. It was worth a try, I thought, the male happily walking after me when Sehun asked where I was going. Baekhyun quickly stood up, wanting to be part of it and just like that, all of us went to the cellar. Chen’s spirit and the Gumanthongs close behind because they couldn’t go very far.

I gave the door three knocks for the property ghost to know that there would be a human presence and I opened the door slowly.

“You guys stay with Chen, okay?” I whispered to the Gumanthongs who circled Chen around as I slowly brought Chen’s body down to the basement, Sir Hwapyung yelling out that it was very dark.

I reached for the switch, a familiar voice speaking.

“Oh, fair lady!” He exclaimed, Sir Hwapyung’s eyes growing wide. “Y-You… Who are you?”

The butcher had an ax in his hand, just like when I last saw him and Sir Hwapyung seemed at loss for words.

“Young lady, who have you brought over to my cellar and why does he look like a cat got his tongue?”

“Cho Byungwoo!” Sir Hwapyung said out loud, the butcher looking stricken at his name being said. “It’s me! It’s me!”

“W-Who…” The butcher squinted out and Hwapyung began to wave his arms around, feigning holding a weapon. “Hwapyung? The Hwapyung? The leader?”

“Ho!” Sir Hwapyung chortled, both of them vibrating with excitement. “You died!”

“Yes, it’s been three hundred years!”

“Me too! Where did you suddenly go?”

“I got injured. Right here.” The butcher motioned to his leg and Sir Hwapyung gave a small empathetic nod. “So, I became a butcher instead! Call me Butcher Byungwon. Say, how about the rest of your people?”

“They’re still around. My most loyal men,” Sir Hwapyung said proudly and I found myself smiling at their reunion.

“And you got a ticket of Free Will? Lucky.”

“You should try it.”

“Oh, nonsense! I don’t need it. I plan to stay here until I reach the five-hundred-year limit.”

“You’ve always been a very simple man, my friend.” Sir Hwapyung beamed.

Twenty minutes later, the butcher was where we all were, both of them still deep in conversation. They were catching up and three hundred years and more was a lot of time to catch up to, Sir Hwapyung telling him why he prayed for Free Will in the first place.

“You were a good leader, Hwapyung.” Butcher Byungwon said, nodding. He was wearing his normal clothes, with no blood and ax in the air. “We killed a lot of people but we were meant to do so. It was our duty and duties of the living and the dead are different. Now, I find joy in driving away other ghosts.”

“I do feel bad, sometimes.”

“If we were born in a generation like this.” Butcher Byungwon motioned to us. “We wouldn’t have been pressured to take lives. Their normal and our normal is different.”

“That’s a wise way to think of it, my friend,” Sir Hwapyung mused.

As we watched the two friends speak to each other, Kyungsoo shifted from beside me, his eyebrows furrowing.

“We’re collecting ghosts like they are figurines,” he murmured, turning to me and poking me on the arm. “Your fault.”

“Sorry?”

“Don’t be. But it’s still your fault.”

I rolled my eyes, finally closing them.

“Go to sleep, Kyungsoo. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”

Silence.

“What if that army dude’s friend doesn’t like the carrot cake?” Kyungsoo asked suddenly and I opened my eyes to see his eyes on the ceiling. “What if it’s too dry?”

“Kyungsoo, if you want to bake a cake, all you have to do is say so.”

“Okay,” he replied, satisfied. “Tomorrow, we bake.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We went to school the next day, all of us heading to our first class. It was funny because Baekhyun and I were put in Personality Development. Apparently, it was a subject that was for kids who had weird rumors surrounding them. Troubled students, they say and I found myself sliding in a seat beside Baekhyun.

It was obvious what people said about us and I didn’t take any offense to it, looking around to see the members of the Bracelet Club. Harin and Chens, along with the rest of the Gumanthongs went to the registrar to handle Chen’s subjects for the whole year.

We all told everyone that Chen lost his voice.

As I sat down, I saw Johnny Suh walk in, almost grumpily before he sat in a chair at the corner. He reminded me a lot of Chanyeol when I first met him. I saw Kyungsoo walk past our window and Baekhyun waved at him, Kyungsoo stopping by the blinds and turning to stare at us.

“You should be here with us,” Sehun said to Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo shaking his head.

“I’m in agriculture. If handling doesn’t work out, I’ll become a farmer.”

“OH! SUNBAE!” A very loud yell came from the entrance and I saw Sehun’s face pale. Looking up, I saw a Jeno holding Haechan by the back, pushing him into the classroom.

“Sunbaes.” He bowed. “And I’m not broken. I’m just here to send him to class.”

“I called all of you but none of you answered!” Haechan said excitedly. “Only Harin Noona answered! And one time, I asked Jeno to call Bora Noona so we can hang out and she answered. Why didn’t you answer my call, Noona?”

“O-Oh…” Baekhyun and I exchanged glances. “Well… Bora Noona has a flip phone—”

“Oh, no wonder. Jeno has a flip phone too, so maybe that’s why it worked.” Haechan said, laughing. Behind him, Jeno lifted up his iPhone—the newest edition and he lifted a finger up to his lips before saying smoothly.

“Yes, Haechan. I am poor.”

“Yeah, that’s why you live in my house. Hyung, how are you?” Haechan asked, hopping over to give Sehun a hug, Sehun pushing him away.

“Well, I did my part. I hope you get your personality developed,” Jeno said and Haechan beamed when there was a kick on the door and Kyungsoo walked in.

“I was kicked out of agriculture. They said I was troubled. Now, tell me. Who spread rumors about me?” Kyungsoo demanded, glowering at everyone.

“I don’t know, Kyungsoo. Maybe just you?” Kai asked and I chuckled. The Bracelet Club had a lot of haters, that much I knew. People began to talk about me and how crazy I was, dancing on my own backstage. I was happy that my members didn’t care.

“Impossible,” Kyungsoo scoffed, turning around. “I sense a presence.”

And with that, Harin walked in with Chen. The Gumanthongs were happy and I could see them eating cookies. She must have burned them on the way to class; Harin going to take a seat.

“Oh, you guys are in Personality Development, too! That’s nice!”

“Nice?” Kyungsoo snapped. “Ong Harin, it’s an insult!”

“Why are you here?” I asked Harin, already knowing the answer. She shrugged and said that it was because she wasn’t doing well last year and they still think she had a long way to go.

“I am getting better, though. Chen, however… His schedule wasn’t fixed so he’s coming to sit with us for today until they fix his schedule. Sir Hwapyung.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, Sir Hwapyung nodding slowly and sitting down beside her. He looked awkward, Chen’s spirit hovering beside him when the One let out a yell.

“Oh! It’s Johnny!” One said, standing beside Johnny who had his eyes closed. “Zoon! Come say hi to Johnny!”

“Hi, Johnny!” Zoon greeted; Johnny oblivious of the three spirits pointing at him. “Johnny, why don’t you ever come and visit anymore?”

“Johnny is busy! And Johnny is in a gang, remember?” One whispered, Zoon nodding. I forgot that Chittaphon Ten and Johnny were friends, the Gumanthongs toddling around my junior.

“Bad, Johnny, bad,” Kyungsoo said softly, Johnny looking up at the mention of his name.

“Sorry?” Johnny asked, Kyungsoo blinking.

“Nothing,” Kyungsoo said quickly, his owl-like eyes on the taller male. “I’m sorry, Johnny.”

“Okay,” Johnny answered, going back to sleep when the Gumanthongs giggled.

“Kyungsoo is scared of Johnny!”

“If you annoy me, I will not send you back to Chittaphon Ten.” He told them and they fell back like dominoes. One grabbed his leg, Kyungsoo fighting the urge to yell at the spirits.

“Kyungsooooooooooo.” One called Kyungsoo, trying to annoy him when Kyungsoo asked why they were so energetic. “We napped in the car.”

A teacher walked through the doors and we all stopped at the familiar face.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” He said, exasperated. Sehun laughed and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I taught all of you guys for AP Business last ye