They say don't let them in
Close your eyes and clear your thoughts again
When I'm all alone, they show up on their own
Cause inner demons fight their battles with fire
Inner demons don't play by the rules
They say "Just push them down, just fight them harder, Why would you give up on it so soon?"

-Inner Demons, Julia Brennan

Sehun, Kai, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and I stood there staring at the Gumanthong that had a piece of bread in his hand. He munched on it, Matthew beside him. Our companion ghost looked up at us, motioning to the little Gumanthong as if to say that he did seem friendly. I decided to ask it a question, the Gumanthong filling his belly with the things we had burned for him and Matthew.

“So, what happened?” I asked, the Gumanthong looking up. “Why are you suddenly here? How did you get lost?”

“One question at a time, Miss,” he replied, chewing on the food. “The string broke. I looked away for one second and when I looked back, Chittaphon Ten was gone! I thought he dissipated but then I remembered only I can do that.”

He was mumbling under his breath and we all had to lean forward to hear him clearly.

“So… Are you connected to the string or connected to the person?” Kai asked, frowning. I saw him close his eyes, trying to hear the Gumanthong. “Wait, where is he again?”

Kyungsoo grabbed him and brought him closer.

“I’m lost because the string broke. I’m linked to my master and not the bracelet. The bracelet is just a tool to keep me with my master and I can stay away from him for at most… three days. I grab onto it.”

“Like a leash,” Kyungsoo murmured, the Gumanthong looking at him and glaring at our handler. “I’m not wrong, am I? You can walk after him and you can feel him but because the string broke you can’t find your way back.”

“I am not a dog. I am a household deity!” The Gumanthong snapped, Matthew patting the ghost on the shoulder. The Gumanthong fiddled with his bunned-up hair. His head was all shaved except the mound of tied-up hair at the center of his head.

“What do we call you? Or do we just call you Gumanthong?”

“Please. I have a name.  We are very cultured ghosts. It’s Neung but you can call me One. Neung means one in Thai.”

“We have to bring him back to Chittaphon Ten, don’t we?”

“Yes.”

“I refuse to help you,” Kyungsoo grunted, earning a smack from me. “Why don’t you go back on your own?”

“I don’t know where to go!” One exclaimed, pouting at us. “We wake up and we go onto this machine which is a car and we are driven down the road and by the time I wake up from my nap we’re at school.”

“You nap?” Sehun asked, making a face. “Last time I checked, Matthew hyung doesn’t nap.”

“Excuse you! It’s hard being a Gumanthong. I do so much stuff at home. The things I do for Chittaphon Ten. I put off his lights, help him find things… He thinks our house has a clap switch. It’s not. It’s me!”

I looked over at Matthew, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Why do you not do that?” I asked Matthew, the ghost rolling his eyes.

“Mind I remind you, Bora, the last time I answered the door for you, Chanyeol fainted.”

“Please do not mention it,” Chanyeol muttered.

“That being said, if you’re Thai, how are you speaking Korean?” Matthew asked, One blinking.

“I don’t know. How are you speaking Korean?” One bared his teeth at Matthew, slapping him on the shoulder, their spiritual bodies making contact. “I learned, you little dip!”

“Woah. Relax, kid.” Matthew raised his hands in the air and One growled at him.

“I speak exactly five languages and kid? I am no kid! I have been around for three generations! The second generation lasted three years!”

“Three years? What happened?” At this point, all of us were sitting down on the sidewalk. Chanyeol had his eyes on One, the Gumanthong scratching the back of his head.

“He died at war.”

“What war?”

“A personal battle... Not my best time but third time’s a charm, they say.” One shrugged and he continued to speak. “The last time when Chittaphon Ten went to France for vacation, I had to ward off a French ghost and I couldn’t speak a word of French.”

“What did you do?”

“Used all my power to protect him. What do you think I did? I just yelled out ‘baguette’ over and over again. That’s the only French word I know. Not very effective. French is such a hard language; the grammar confuses me. Kudos to those who know French. But good thing Ten takes a cultural program. He wants to be a diplomat. I hear and learn a lot of things. He’s very smart. I’m also the middle child, so….” One shrugged.

“Middle… Who else is there?”

“Ten has an older sister. She has another Gumanthong but she’s a woman so she’s a Gumari. She’s younger than me. Her name is Song, but you can call her Two.”

“Wow. Creative,” Kyungsoo mused.

“If you’re the middle child, it means there is an oldest—”

“Yes. Zoon, Thai for Zero. But we all call him Zoon. He has always stayed with the heads of the household When Ahgong passed away, he went to Ahma. He follows my Ahma around.” One tugged on the sleeves of his white traditional clothing, Sehun frowning at the unfamiliar vocabulary.

“What’s an Ahma?”

“Chinese for grandma,” I told Sehun. “I take it Chittaphon Ten is ethnically Chinese.”

“Yes. He is. Well… What are you waiting for? Let’s go!” One stood up, dusting himself off and stretching. “I refuse to dissipate!”

“Maybe I can just obliviate you. It’s easier,” Kyungsoo suggested and I could already see him touching his cross.

“No, no. Obliviate and dissipate very different. I am a Gumanthong! I am already obliviated. You do not break my soul into pieces. I am already broken!” He bellowed it out with a straight face, we were taken aback by his voice. “By dissipate, it means I fade away into…. Nothingness.”

“What you are saying literally makes no sense.”

“I know.” One shrugged. “I found my calling with Chittapon Ten. Obliviating is breaking the soul into pieces and dissipation is the soul being in one place but it fades away. All in all, both ceases to exist but the process is very different.”

He looked at us and I noticed how pale he was, even for a ghost. He’s a very cute Gumanthong, I thought.

“Dissipation is self-inflicted. We dissipate when we serve no purpose. Obliviation is for bad souls.” One smiled, his eyes sparkling. “Technically… same, same. Same concept, different process. You can’t obliviate yourself but you can dissipate yourself. But I do not want to dissipate, there is so many Yakult I haven’t drunk.”

“And what exactly is a Yakult?” Kai asked, One staring at him.

“The best drink in the world. Wait till I bring you to Ahma.”

“What is Ahma, again?”

“Ahma means grandma, you little dip,” One grumbled, making a face at Kai.

“There is no need for the aggression, One,” I told him, standing up. “We’re all trying to help you.”

“I am frustrated! I need to go back! Ten is my comfort! He is my rock!” One pointed down the street. “Well, let’s go!”

And with that, he began to march down the street, Kyungsoo chuckling to himself.

“One!” He called, jerking his head the opposite way. “It’s this way.”

“Right!”

“Let’s go, little guy,” Sehun mused and even if he couldn’t see One, I could see that Sehun knew where he was from One’s grumbling.

“Little guy? I have been around for three generations—”

“Yeah, yeah. We got it.” Matthew went down onto the ground and patted his shoulders. “Get on. Hop on my back.”

I watched as One stared at Matthew warily, Matthew asking him if he preferred to walk but One shook his head. He was like a spoiled child, One climbing onto Matthew’s back. Matthew stood up and I walked beside him, One’s chubby cheeks stretching out into a smile.

“How are you so strong as a spirit?”

“I get prayers every night from the family,” One told me, wrapping his arms around Matthew’s neck. “We’re also fed, three meals a day.”

Matthew gasped and looked over at me.

“Bora…”

“What, Matthew? What?”

“Sometimes four meals a day,” One told Matthew and Matthew looked stricken at the information. “They burn food in the spirit house and we get to eat three times a day along with prayers for our soul. It’s Chinese tradition.”

Matthew scowled at me and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Bora, I better see you burning four meals a day for me after today,” Matthew told me and I nodded.

“Alright, Matthew. I’ll see what I can do.”

With Sehun’s car, I watched One sit down on Matthew’s lap, the Gumanthong looking out the window in awe. He began to tell us that he never really looked out the window before. He’s always very tired and that ghosts are so tiring to scare off. Sehun finally reached WayV street, One telling us that he knew which house it was.

He pointed to a house in the middle of the street and we could already tell it was different. It had a spirit house in front. It was gold and there was a small statue of three little kids in the spirit house. There were multiple incense and candles in the front and we got down from the car, heading towards the house.

Kyungsoo was the one who knocked on the door and we were finally greeted by an old lady. Her hair was white and she was wearing a long traditional skirt, her back humped over as she smiled at us. She looked like she was in her 70’s, the female opening the door wider when she saw all of us.

“She’s Ahma, right?” I heard Kai ask Sehun.

One, who was on Matthew’s shoulders began to wail very loudly.

“Ahmaaa!”

“Oh, hello there. You guys don’t look familiar…” Her voice trailed and I saw a flash of white; Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and I looking down to see another Gumanthong hiding behind her.

“Is Chittaphon Ten home?” I asked, Ahma shaking her head.

“He’s on his way back to Thailand,” Ahma said and One gasped, the other Gumanthong finally emerging from behind the older woman. He must be Zoon, Zero in Thai. Once Zoon caught sight of One, the Gumanthong’s eyes widened, hissing at One.

“One!” He stepped forward.

“Brother! Listen!” One began to say, Zoon pointing at One. “Listen, brother!”

“You had one job, One!” Zoon bellowed, Ahma telling us to come in first. When we followed her in, we saw candles on the side. There was a yell and Zoon tried to attack Matthew, the male running away from the older Gumanthong. “Come down, you coward!”

“Matthew hyung looks traumatized,” Chanyeol mused, all of us entering the living room.

“You little dip!” Zoon yelled.

“Oh, now I see where he got the whole ‘dip’ thing from,” Sehun said, nodding.

“Brother! Listen! Listeeeeen!” One squealed, hanging onto Matthew for dear life.

“I am disappointed in you, One! After what happened the last generation!”

I was so focused on them when Ahma came in with drinks and I could see that their living room was filled with photos and paintings of what seemed like their ancestors.

“So, how long will Chittaphon Ten be in Thailand?” Kyungsoo asked, the Ahma telling us that he’d be there for a week since it was school break. Once she finished talking, there was a loud scream and we looked to the side to see that all of the ghosts were on the ground. Matthew rolled away from the two Gumanthong’s, One wailing.

“One week? Seven days?” He began to sob dramatically. “I dissipate in three days! He’s going to come back with another Gumanthong! In Thailand, it’s like ‘Pick your Gumanthong!’.”

There was a pause, One laying down on the floor. I could see the candles flicker and Ahma looked up.

“I hope it treats him well!” One cried, Zoon standing up and tapping his foot rapidly on the ground as he eyed his brother.

“Oh, the child is upset,” Ahma said softly to herself when she exited the room and came back with a small drink. It was fun-sized and she placed it on the floor, Zoon rushing towards it to drink it. Kyungsoo saw One perk up and I guessed that this drink is what One called a ‘Yakult’.

“Ma’am… I think you need to put down two,” Kyungsoo said and Ahma looked at us questioningly.

“Ten and Tern are not here…” She spoke softly when Kyungsoo proceeded to tell her what happened. She was a believer so it wasn’t hard and Kyungsoo told her that the Gumanthong got lost, One reaching out to touch Ahma to no avail. He pointed at Zoon drinking the Yakult, a sign that he wanted one, too.

I looked to the side to see Sehun and Kai staring at the drink, Kai nudging Sehun.

“Bro. You see what I’m seeing, right? The liquid is going up the straw…” Kai whispered, Sehun nodding. “But where is it going? Where does it disappear to?”

“You’re one of those people!” Ahma exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “You can see!”

“Do Kyungsoo, Handler in training. Nice to meet you,” Kyungsoo introduced himself. “This is Bora, our medium. And this is Chanyeol, he’s useless but we’ll make him useful.”

“Hey!” Chanyeol grumbled at the way Kyungsoo called him useless.

“And those two idiots can hear but they can’t see.” He pointed at Sehun and Kai who were still staring at the Yakult that was disappearing into thin air. Ahma put down another Yakult and One grabbed it, sipping onto it, Sehun gasping at the now two Yakult’s on the floor with the liquid going up straw.

“So, you’re telling me that One got lost because his bracelet broke?” Ahma asked and we all nodded, the Gumanthong’s finishing their drinks when they wiped their lips with their hands. But the peace did not last and Zoon attacked One.

“Listen, it’s not my fault!”

“Get off him, Zoon!” Matthew said, trying to separate the two Gumanthongs. Zoon’s face turned black, One trying to crawl away.

“One! First, you bring a ghost into our household and you say it’s not your fault? You!” Zoon pointed at Matthew menacingly. “Why are you in our territory?”

The candles flickered and Ahma looked over at us staring at the household deities fighting and Matthew trying to be the referee.

“The bracelet fell off!” One yelled, Zoon hissing. “He was at the swimming pool!”

“How did it fall off—”

“GRAVITY!” One bellowed, Zoon stopping in front of his brother before he reached out and gave him a smack on his little bun.

“This is why you never keep your eyes off your master!”

“Do you know how hard I have to strain my eyes? Chittaphon Ten is too bright! He shines like a diamond and I love him very much!” One wailed and I chuckled at how he was acting. “And he’s very fast. And tiny! When he stands behind Lucas Wong Yukhei, I can never find him!”

“I don’t think they are very happy.” I sighed and Ahma nodded, the woman not panicking at the thought of One being away from Ten.

“So, one of Gumanthong is lost, I see,” she said softly, Kyungsoo nodding. I realized we didn’t tell her which one, Ahma looking at the empty Yakult bottles. “Which one is it? Ten’s one? Is that why you asked for my grandson? I really hope it’s not Tern’s one.”

“Why?”

“Two is a wild card,” Ahma replied, smiling fondly at the empty bottles. The Gumanthongs were now hugging each other, Zoon trying to calm One down. “I see they are happy now.”

One turned to Ahma.

“Not for long.” He sniffled. “If he’s going to be in Thailand for seven days, I will dissipate.”

“It’s not like I can bring Ten back. I need to protect the house.” Ahma sighed and I found myself standing up to look at the photos on the walls. Ahma must have seen my curiosity, the woman motioning to the photos. “Our ancestors that the Gumanthongs have served before us.”

“Is there a reason why you must have a Gumanthong?” I asked, turning to the woman. “Is it normal for Thai households?”

“Oh, no. Not at all. We come from Chinese descent but we have a Thai last name. Our old house was stationed on war grounds. Thai history is very complicated.” She said, moving to stand beside me. She pointed at a map, the female running a finger over it. “Our ancestors stayed at the border of the Chaopraya river. Thailand has a history of the French and the Portuguese trying to take over and even if it’s not written in the history books, the Chinese were the ones who helped the Thais protect their territory from the western armies. We fought for the Thai monarchy and Thais were about to be taken over by modern weaponry when all they had were spears while they had guns.”

She paused, smiling to herself.

“This was generations ago and we’re proud of our family history. Our family heads were military people and noblemen, fighting for the Thai people.” She sighed. “But war is war and people of our family name ended up killing a lot of people. In Thailand, we believe that sins can be repented by the following generations. It turns out, the females in our households that held our last name always had miscarriages. So, our ancestors got Gumanthongs to protect our family. All our miscarriages were men and our ancestors thought that it was a curse from the blood we had shed.”  

“A family curse,” I said softly, looking at the paintings on the wall.

“But Gumanthongs are also for good fortune and Zoon, One and Two have been in our family for a while. We had to bottle One up for a while, though.”

“Wait… You’re telling me that One right here, won’t dissipate?” Kyungsoo asked from behind us, One shaking his head aggressively. “He keeps saying that he’ll dissipate—”

“Oh no, child. We can bottle him up and he’ll be just fine.”

“No!” One screamed, the candles flickering once more. “Last generation was a mistake! I’m sorry!”

“Oh, the candles.” Ahma glanced at it. “One, don’t worry, child. He doesn’t want to be bottled up, does he? I heard it’s very uncomfortable for a Gumanthong.”

“So, you’re telling me that all this yelling and screaming was just him being dramatic and that he’s fine?” Kyungsoo asked again, Ahma nodding. “You little dip!”

“Sorry?” Ahma asked, surprised at Kyungsoo’s sudden aggression. Kyungsoo waved a hand, telling her that it wasn’t meant for her.

“Your Gumanthong is a little dip,” he said, deadpan. One began to scream once more, Zoon simply staring at his brother.

“One, if we don’t bottle you up, you will evaporate—”

“It’s dissipate, you old woman!” One moaned, Zoon kicking One at his language. “I’m sorry! I do not want to be bottled up! Tell her! I have three days! She can bottle me up in three days.”

“I mean, that is how we pass Gumanthongs down from generation to generation,” Ahma told us and I nodded. Now, that made more sense. “Gumanthongs rarely evaporate.”

“Is it okay if you bottle him up in three days?” I asked, Ahma looking surprised at my request. “He doesn’t like the idea very much…”

“I mean, I might forget,” Ahma said softly and I told her I would remind her. “You’re a kind-hearted person, child.”

“How do you bottle them up?” Sehun asked from the couch.

“Sometimes, I have to lure them with Yakult. It happened with Two before,” she said, One telling her that he wouldn’t fall for it. “Her jar broke. She’s very aggressive. But most times, we have to pray for them to enter the bottle. But you hardly force them, they have feelings and are children.”

“I don’t want to be bottled up,” One mumbled,