A/N There are mentions of characters from THE N-CITY SERIES on here because same universe.

So, you know if you know. <3 If you’re an NCT fan, do check that out. (Ouch. Hard selling Mandalee).

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I'd never gone with the wind
Just let it flow
Let it take me where it wants to go
'Til you opened the door
And there's so much more
I'd never seen it before
I was trying to fly, but I couldn't find wings
But you came along and you changed everything

-Crazier, Taylor Swift

December 20, December Break

Despite us having a break, we had to head back to EXO High to handle the club classroom the day after. All the club leaders were there and we were greeted by Tae-il, the male telling us that we had extra cash to spare. Baekhyun had put his hard selling skills to good use the past months of his first semester of junior year and we supported him even though most of us found ourselves shying away from embarrassment when he became a little bit too aggressive.

Five days before Christmas and none of us had plans, Sehun telling us that he was forbidden to go anywhere for the break because he had to “study how to take over the family” business and Sehun being Sehun, made us promise we weren’t going to run away and have fun without him. Kai had found a new found passion and I could see him venturing out to the library to read about how to become a detective—all of us were very surprised but it was a good kind of surprise.

Kyungsoo’s father and mother were actively turning Minseok’s burned down church to a workable organization. The place was developing and on some Sundays; despite me not being Christian, I would find myself sitting on an empty seat while Kyungsoo and his father came to see the progression of the church.

Matthew finding out that Mark was his brother did not change a thing.

He still stuck to Mark like glue and the only thing that was a tad bit different was how he hardly came around anymore. Today, however, after Baekhyun and his constant whining towards the big ghost that he was hardly ever around anymore; Matthew decided to come and “chill” with us.

This is how all of us ended up back in EXO High, cleaning our club room with Harin and Baekhyun making more bracelets and Kyungsoo blessing the area for good measure. Sehun had demanded we change our chairs into new ones when Baekhyun accidentally fell on his before school break started. It wasn’t a big thing but Sehun’s insistence was to show how dominant he could be towards the school admin.

“I mean, I don’t get it,” Kai was telling me. “He’s only this way when Harin is around. If she wasn’t there, Sehun wouldn’t have batted an eyelash.”

“What’s funny is Harin seems to think that he’s just being nice,” Minseok snickered.

Harin frustrated Sehun and we were all waiting for him to break down and tell her that he liked her. It was a show for us and I could catch small smiles exchanged between Matthew and Chanyeol on some occasions when those two would begin to bicker. Sehun wasn’t mature enough to show her he cared without picking a fight and it was obvious he riled her up as much as she did to him.

“Let’s go and bring the old chairs to the other building!” Minseok said, all of us clamoring to leave the room so Sehun and Harin could be together. Kyungsoo grunted, the male dragging the chair instead of holding it up. We cringed at the sound and he gave a deep laugh to show that he was enjoying it.

When we placed the chairs by the building, all of us except Sehun and Harin lounged by the soccer field. I could see Johnny moving a few tables with another male, Kai telling us that Johnny was giving the E-Gaming Club to Jeno.

“He’s stepping down as president. Apparently, Jeno has natural talent in gaming,” Kai said, his chin when there was a ruckus and a younger female appeared. Her pigtails flew with the wind and another male was running after her. He was older but it was obvious that they were related, the male yelling out on the top of his lungs.

“KIM BUNNY! Stop right there!”

“Oh, there she goes again,” Minseok chuckled.

“Who is she?” I asked, my eyes settling on the hyper female who had fallen onto the ground and rolled to the side. “Why haven’t I seen her before?”

“Kim Bunny. Kim Doyoung’s sister. Remember, I told you that his family had sued mine before? Yeah, those two are the children,” Minseok shrugged. “She takes private lessons in EXO High. Apparently, she can’t concentrate with a class full of people but her parents wanted her to still have a social life.”

“Stop moving! Stop running!” The echo of Kim Bunny’s older brother rang through the soccer field and I could see her hanging from his shoulder. “Jesus—Oh. Sunbae.”

Kim Doyoung’s cheeks tinged pink, trying to bow with a struggling sister on his shoulders when Kyungsoo squinted at him, hopping down from the bleachers. Kim Bunny had big eyes, her pigtails braided tightly and as much as she looked cute, she also looked like a menace.

Simply because she started growling.

Kyungsoo leaned forward, Kim Doyoung blinking rapidly when Kyungsoo straightened up. We all anticipated what he was about to say when he spoke.

“She’s human.”

We all sighed.

“Of course, she’s human,” Matthew snapped irritably from beside me. “How would a demon be able to walk among humans?”

“But she’s been tainted,” Kyungsoo said softly, a hand going to Kim Bunny’s forehead to tap on it when she tried to bite him and broke into a smile. “Must have crossed paths with a demon when she was younger.”

Kim Doyoung stood rooted on the spot, looking irked at Kyungsoo’s words when Kyungsoo patted his shoulder.

“Go to church when you have time. You may leave.”

With that, Kim Doyoung scampered away, dragging his sister along with him with a wary look over his shoulder.

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December 21, December Break

Chanyeol had called us to tell us that he was stressed out. He kept having dreams of not getting the scholarship and with that, we decided to spend some time with him. It was only my brother, Kyungsoo, Matthew, Chanyeol in the car with me as we cruised down the roads of N-CITY district for a small ride.

Chanyeol had taken a small turn and passed SM University, 127 Mall, Shinee Kindergarten, and a few other notable locations when we approached WayV street. We were just going to listen to music and maybe end up going back to our own respective places when Kyungsoo tapped on the window, pointing.

“What in the world is that?” He asked and I frowned, Chanyeol slamming his feet down onto the brake. We had stopped in front of the Leechaiyakul’s house, the candles in the spirit house had been lit up and Baekhyun asked us what was wrong. Matthew let out a gasp, pointing at the new gumanthong that was present.

We stepped down from the car to greet the household spirits just to see that they were in a heated argument.

“I keep telling you to speak Korean!” One yapped with a prominent frown on his forehead when he looked up and saw us. “Oh. Humans.”

Two broke into a smile and waved at us before turning back at the gumanthong who stood in front of her and her brother, her face morphing red to show dominance.

“What have you got here?” Chanyeol asked, going down on one knee to study the new gumanthong. “Are you Zoon’s replacement?”

“Of course, he is,” One snapped, Matthew blinking from beside me and asking him why the new gumanthong looked like that. “Everyone… say hi to Three. He can’t speak Korean yet. So, we’ve been trying to teach him—”

A string of Thai words left One’s mouth and Three frowned. Unlike One and Two who looked pristine, prim, and proper; Three was… muscular. He looked like a jacked-up child. He didn’t wear white like One and Two, instead, his top was off and instead of a bun, he had a ponytail.

“How does this gumanthong-choosing thing work, by the way?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Did you both go and pick him from Thailand?”

“No, the witch doctor sent him to us. Said that he’s one of the best. We can’t pick household Gumanthong’s—no one is good enough for our family,” Two huffed. “And for the first two to three days, Three will have to sleep outside until we accept him as one of our own.”

“Like dogs. And how’s that going?” Baekhyun asked, his eyes everywhere except the Gumanthong’s.

“We miss Zoon!” Two wailed, a hand dragging across her cheeks. “Three looks like a Gumanthong on steroids and he speaks only English, French, and Thai!”

“French?” Chanyeol frowned. “Why French?”

“Explain,” One nudged Three, the gumanthong saying something in French when One growled at him. “Not in French. In English, you idiot!”

“Now, One. There is no need to be mean.”

“I worked as a tour guide gumanthong,” Three’s voice was low and deep, a contrast to his always whining siblings-to-be. “A lot of tourists so I ended up picking up French and English along the way. When people go hiking, they rent out bracelets and I protect them from trail ghosts. This isn’t the first family I have been assigned to.”

“The family of his last generation died so he ended up becoming a serviced gumanthong,” Two shrugged.

“You must be very strong, Three,” I said to Three, the Gumanthong raising his very muscular arms in the air.

“Yes. I can… flex,” his voice deepened at the end word, his muscles bulging. I could see One nervously swallow. One would be the head of the Gumanthong’s now and I could tell that he was threatened by Three’s physique.

“Well, you won’t need to do any flexing around here,” Two huffed and the candles flickered. “All you need is a bit of training. Like we said before! We run the electricity around here!”

“Weird flex, but okay,” Baekhyun chuckled.

“Yes,” Three nodded. “Flex.”

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That night, Matthew had gone out to see Mark and I found myself waiting for him. Once the clock hit ten p.m, there was a woosh and Matthew walked in. I knew that he had changed for a while and I knew that Matthew was slowly becoming ambitious—he no longer wanted to simply just stay a ghost that followed humans around.

He greeted me with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, the male moving towards me and laying by my side. I didn’t feel the need to wrap my body with a blanket because this was the only way to actually feel him—Matthew’s eyes on the ceiling.

“What did you do today?” I asked softly, Matthew giving out a sharp inhale. “You were gone for a few hours.”

“Mark had dinner with his parents today,” Matthew said and I shook my head.

“Your parents, you mean.”

“Our parents,” he corrected himself. “I never really went with Mark to his house, Bora. I thought that… That would be a little bit too private, you know? I didn’t want to intrude and today was the first time and I—”

Matthew frowned, pressing his lips together when for the second time, I saw his ghostly eyes fill up with tears.

“They still pray for me,” he told me and I nodded, not surprised by the news. “Before every meal. Sure, Mark thinks that I’m a cousin but his father said that all saints need to be prayed for. And they say my name, Bora. They say “We pray for Saint Matthew and his soul. May he bring us peace and happiness for years to come.”

“Doesn’t Mark ask?”

“Mark thinks that it’s normal to pray that way for people who work hard and jesus… That kid sometimes prays for Haechan.”

I laughed at the information, Matthew cracking a smile.

“May Haechan finally get a 100 on his exam. I pray for Haechan—yada, yada, yada. It just got me thinking that maybe this is why I was able to save Mark that one time, you know? Because he was always praying for me. Maybe my soul felt it.”

I nodded, Matthew closing his eyes and I could tell that he was sad.

“I don’t know anymore, Bora. I used to think that I was happy the way I am but now, not anymore.”

“It’s okay for your thoughts to change, Matthew,” I said and he opened his eyes, looking at me. “That’s growth.”

“You’re always very positive, Bora,” he smiled, his eyes twinkling. “I hope you never change.”

All I did was smile at his words and despite my smile, my heartfelt heavy.

The thing with change was that it usually came when things would come to an end and that night, while Matthew lay down there in silence, all I did was watch him so I could remember how it was like being there with him.

In comfortable silence.

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December 24, 1:00 A.M Christmas Eve

While Matthew was a little bit different, he still did his best waking up us every morning. It was like job scope as a property ghost. I woke up a little bit past the middle of the night, Matthew sitting by the window with his back slumped over the chair and his hands clasped together.

He was muttering to himself, his body glowing in the dim light of the lamp that I refused to put off.

He was praying and I saw his eyes squeezed shut, Matthew murmuring to himself and while a part of me knew what he was praying for, a part of me was still in denial. If it was what I thought it was—I knew that I would have very little time left with Matthew.

When he finished, Matthew had looked over to me and I pretended to be asleep, feeling him come closer. Cold air touched my cheek and I could hear him breathing beside me and my body shifted. I peeked out from between my eyelids and saw that he was gazing down at me.

“Did I wake you?” He asked and I shook my head softly. His face was hovering over my mine, Matthew smiling at me. “Go back to sleep.”

My heart was going erratic and I squeezed my eyes shut, turning away as Matthew hummed a small song to put me to sleep.

I found myself pulling the blanket up to cover my face, Matthew moving away to allow me to get warmth from the blanket.

Under the blanket, I felt my heart twist and my eyes water. I bit down on my lower lip to drown the sound that threatened to escape my lips, knowing that Matthew had every right to make up his mind.

It was time.

Once again, just like when my mother was about to be taken from us, I found myself crying for what was to come.

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December 24, Christmas Eve

The afternoon was spent with my family going out with the Dos for Christmas shopping. I wasn’t very good with decorations and coming from a background where we didn’t celebrate Christmas, Kyungsoo had butted in that he would take care of it. Matthew had once again, had gone out to see Mark see what preparations he and his family had for Christmas Eve.

We ended up in the mall, Kyungsoo aggressively throwing lights and fluffy decorations into the cart. He grunted before pointing at a Christmas tree, telling me that it was too pricy for it to be even on promotion. Baekhyun and I simply followed his lead. Father Kyungmin, Kyungsoo’s mother, and my own dad were picking out a wine for themselves that evening. We were to naturally spend Christma