The memories that will fill our two hands are our precious story

If the heart full of sincerity can remember it after time has passed

Will you be able to say it?

That you were happy too?

-That's Okay, Kyungsoo

 

We stood by the side of the street in an abandoned alley right in front of the EXO high school entrance, Kyungsoo assessing the situation in front of us. Baekhyun stood there with his lips pursed, Matthew nodding as if he had seen this before. We told the others to head to school first because it was hard for us to tell them what was going on without knowing what the problem was.

Chanyeol seemed to know that we were handling something, the tall male telling all our friends to enter EXO High.

“Look, I’m saying,” the Chen who was a spirit said. “A day ago, I kind of felt dizzy, and then I went to the emergency room. They gave me something and I fell asleep. While I was asleep, I had a dream and when I woke up, I stood up and was about to walk away to pay when I looked back and saw that my body was lying there.”

“And then I woke up. In this young man’s body,” Chen’s body said, a grin on his face. “I was visited by a Grim Reaper. He told me that I have seven days. Free Will, they call it. The night before this happened, I prayed to the gods because a young girl I was looking over had passed away and ascended.”

“How long were you a ghost?”

“Three hundred years,” he answered. “I am a property ghost and the only reason why I can’t ascend is because my fellow army men haven’t.”

“Another war dude,” Kyungsoo mumbled under his breath.

“And the Grim Reaper said 'Find Do Kyungsoo,'” Chen’s body said, motioning to Kyungsoo. “The owner of this young lad's body here told me to call you through the talking device but you hung up.”

“Yesterday? I didn’t have his number saved. I thought it was a scammer,” Kyungsoo replied, his chin. “And the said Grim Reaper… is his name Tako, by any chance?”

“No idea,” Chen’s spirit replied, shrugging. “He had a sombrero hat, though.”

“Ah, that little bugger,” Kyungsoo murmured, rolling his eyes. “Of course, he would pass on the task to me. Over the summer, he visited my father and said that it was time I took my handling duties to another level. Didn’t know it would be managing a ghost who had Free Will.”

“I’ve seen this kind of case before,” Matthew piped up. “But usually, I see the ghost solidifying into a normal person. Why would they allow a ghost to possess Chen’s body?”

“Because, Matthew… imagine a 300-year-old ghost in an army costume walking around without any knowledge of what a phone is. A talking device, he called it.” Kyungsoo snapped. It seemed like he didn’t expect this to happen. “And that being said—”

He gave me a look.

“Bora, isn’t this the week of the Ghost Festival?” He asked me and I blinked, both Baekhyun and I exchanging looks. I totally forgot about our birthdays. I nodded slowly. “So, in three days it’s your birthday?”

“Our,” I corrected him, Baekhyun nodding before my brother frowned.

“Isn’t it dangerous for Chen then?” Baekhyun asked stepping closer to the solid Chen. “This week is when the ghosts go around rampant.”

“That’s why Grim Reapers are giving out Free Will like it’s a free coupon,” Kyungsoo muttered. “A lot of backlog of spirits. This is when they are powerful and when ghosts swarm, Grim Reapers attack. Old war man, what is your name?”

“A very fine question, young man,” Chen’s body said, giving Kyungsoo a deep bow. “My name is Sir Hwapyung, the legendary leader of the Hwa Clan.”

Kyungsoo scratched his eyebrow and I could see the gears in his head-turning.

“We can’t let him speak. He sounds nothing like Chen,” Baekhyun whispered to me and I nodded, knowing that was true. Chen’s spirit too, looked troubled.

“You know, today is the inter-school festival and I have to sing. What are we going to do?”

“A problem we’ll face when we have to. For now, let’s get to school,” Kyungsoo said and I knew he got this when the sound of the school bed rang. “Well, . Now, we’re late.”

“Run?” I asked, Kyungsoo already bolting towards the entrance. I heard a squeal from Baekhyun, all of us rushing across the street as the gates began to close. I knew we wouldn’t make it, Sir Hwapyung in Chen’s body yelling out happily.

“Oh! I haven’t felt this alive for a while!”

“No , Sir. You’re a ghost,” Baekhyun answered, all of us trying to make it when the gates slammed shut and I had to dig my feet onto the ground. We huffed, Sir Hwapyung laughing a hearty laugh when we all looked up to see Suho staring at us.

“Oh, Mr. President,” Baekhyun greeted, Suho with his arms across his chest. “Good morning.”

“Good morning to you too, Baekhyun. Now, why are you guys late?” Suho asked and I saw Yixing right beside him, looking amused. “In the late line, all of you.”

That is how we were ushered to the side in front of everyone, Suho calling out our names. We were supposed to be disciplined, but it was funny how Sir Hwapyung looked very happy to be on the ground with his hands up in the air as punishment.

I bit down on my lower lip to stop a laugh from exploding; seeing Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai, and Harin point at us. Minseok was simply shaking his head at the situation. After the flag ceremony, Suho stood before us, telling us not to be late again or we would use our three strikes.

“It’s only the first day of school,” he told us and we all nodded in unison.

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“Unnie,” a voice called and I saw that the students had dispersed; Harin, Sehun, Kai, Chanyeol, and Minseok approaching us.

“I know it’s the first day, but I need some of you to help with the setup of the inter-school festival,” Suho told us, saying that we had to make it good since all the other schools would be coming. “Last year, Pledis High hosted it and we have to make it up to par.”

“Ahuh,” Kyungsoo said absentmindedly when we heard Matthew give out a yell, trying to get our attention. Those who heard whipped their heads around and I saw that Chen’s spirit began to glow, Kyungsoo’s eyes widening. “What did he do?”

“I told him not to! He ate the food from the spirit house!” Matthew was saying and Kyungsoo looked stricken at the information.

“Oh no. He can’t do that!” Baekhyun cried. “If he does that, he might end up in the spiritual realm.”

I saw Chen’s spirit frown, looking at his body that was emitting a certain light, Kyungsoo shaking his head.

“No, no. We must do something. I should have told him not to eat any spirit food or talk to any ghost.”

“Ghost?” Suho asked, all of us ignoring him. “Do Kyungsoo, what are you talking about?”

He was ignored.

“What should we do?” I asked Kyungsoo, the male turning to look at me.

“Medium, what are we calling this case?” His question caught me off guard and I blinked, answering him.

“The case of the two Chens?” I asked, Kyungsoo nodding and grabbing my hand. “You want me to choose who is going to help us.”

“It’s your people,” he told me. Kyungsoo and I had gotten very in tune with each other and I knew it was because we somehow knew what the other person was thinking. “If I had a choice, it would just be the two of us.”

But I knew that two Chens would be hard to handle with just us both so I turned to run my eyes over the members of The Bracelet Club, analyzing everything.

“Made up your mind?” Kyungsoo whispered and I nodded, Suho snapping his fingers in front of Kyungsoo who refused to look at him. “In three seconds, you tell them and we run—”

“What?”

“One,” Kyungsoo counted.

“Wait, run where?”

“Two.”

“Kyungsoo—”

“Three.”

“Ong Harin, Kim Minseok, Byun Baekhyun!” I found myself yelling out as Kyungsoo ran towards the gate as a head start. “Chen's, you too!”

“Where are you—” Suho began and I dropped my bag, running after Kyungsoo. “Oi!”

“Matthew, stay back!” I said and Suho could be heard muttering, wondering who Matthew was.

I could hear footsteps behind us and I saw that Kyungsoo had reached the gate, our very own handler climbing over the railing. I chewed on my bottom lip, following him close by. I heard Yixing yelling out to us, telling us to stop. Kyungsoo huffed and once we were over the gates, I looked behind us to see that the people I had called out were standing right there in front of me.

Harin was doubled over. Sir Hwapyung in Chen’s body was smiling brightly, Minseok was checking his uniform for his notebook, Baekhyun was wiping off sweat and the ghost Chen was still glowing.

“Why didn’t you ask Matthew hyung to come?’ Baekhyun asked, Kyungsoo straightening up.

“It’s ghost festival week,” he reminded my brother. “The land will be infested with Grim Reapers. Matthew is good but they might try to take him away. They always do ghost bulk cleansing at a time like this.”

I made a face when Kyungsoo spoke as if they were products but the only reason why I didn’t ask Matthew to come was because I thought that maybe he would have loved to stay with Mark since it was quite some time since Matthew had seen him.

“Right. That, too,” I said, Kyungsoo nodding. Maybe Kyungsoo and I weren’t that in tune after all.

Kyungsoo was right and I could see ghosts rushing down the streets in a frenzy, spirit Chen making a face.

“We can’t let any normal spirit mingle with Chen. They can’t touch. It may make Chen grow stronger in the spiritual world and Sir Hwapyung grow strong in his body.”

“Oh no. I definitely do not want to stay in this young man’s body. He’s already kind enough to lend it to me for a few days,” Sir Hwapyung said and I nodded, Baekhyun asking us a simple question. I saw Harin go to Sir Hwapyung, Chen’s eyes lighting up as she began to talk to Sir Hwapyung.

“Why did you choose us three?”

“I knew Harin would handle the body. You, we need your smarts,” I said, tapping his nose. Baekhyun beamed. Baekhyun was rather smart in handling events and he was very adaptable. I knew he picked up on things easily and quickly. “And Minseok, we need your scribe skills.”

“I expected as much,” Minseok replied, Kyungsoo thinking of what to do when Baekhyun piped up.

“Don’t you think it’d be good if we had somewhat of a guard over Chen’s spirit? Something to fend off normal spirits?” Baekhyun asked absentmindedly, both Kyungsoo and I blinking at his suggestion.

We turned to look at each other.

We were thinking the same thing, right?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Come in! I’m inside. I’m going straight to EXO High today because of the Inter-school festival,” Ten was saying through the phone, all of us at his doorstep. The moment we stepped in, we saw him by the living room table, Ten waving at us and hanging up the phone. “Oh, hey!”

“Hey, Chittaphon,” I greeted. I ran my eyes through the area to see not a single Gumanthong around when there was a flash of white and we saw One, Two, and Zoon standing by the stairs.

“Welcome back, traitors,” One hissed, Two glaring at us. I frowned, not understanding what was going on when Zoon pointed at us.

“You made us useless! They don’t even give us four meals a day anymore because there is no demon!” Zoon said and I realized why they hated us so much. The three Gumanthongs hopped down from the stairs, Ten asking us what we needed.

“We need to borrow your bracelets for the day,” Kyungsoo said and One’s eyes widened while Two screamed a very loud “NO!”. The lights flickered and Ten nodded.

“I mean, they are folklore ghosts so they serve a purpose to stay in the human realm,” I told Minseok after he asked me why they could protect Chen. “That and Kyungsoo said he had something in mind.”

“All of the three bracelets?” Ten asked, his sister walking into the living room to greet us. “P’Tern! They’re asking if they can borrow the kids for the day.”

“Ah.” She smiled when the lights flickered again and she looked up. “Now, now. It’s just for a while. For what, may I ask?”

“Just need their help with something,” I told her and she gave me a nod, removing the bracelet when it fell on the floor and there was a squeal from Two. I saw Two tumble down onto the floor, rolling on top of the bracelet, Minseok blinking.

“Uh... Where is it?” Tern said, looking for the bracelet and I saw Two glow. Minseok began to tell Baekhyun that he was sure he just saw it on the floor.

“Pee Bang, es!” Two was yelling, One running up to her and laying down next to her. Zoon was the only one who didn’t move from where he was at.

“Oh, they are doing that again, aren’t they? They must be upset,” Tern said and Ten chuckled, shaking his head. Two finally dimmed down when Tern took out a box of Yakult’s, both of them perking up and running towards her. “Oh, there it is. The bracelet.”

They both gasped.

“Our Tern is so smart! She distracted us!” Two cried, Tern chuckling to herself when Ten went to go get Ahma’s bracelet. It was a quick transaction and before we knew it, we were in Minseok’s car, the two Gumanthongs screaming on top of their lungs with Zoon sulking like a teenager.

“Alright! Calm down!” Chen’s spirit was saying while Sir Hwapyung laughed. He seemed to adore them, the male trying to pat the Gumanthongs when they growled at him. Minseok smiled from where he was driving when he asked a question.

“I heard one of you is named Zoon?” He asked, Zoon telling the other two to quiet down since he wanted to answer the question. “Why Zoon when you can be called Zero?”

“My siblings all have one syllable and I don't want to feel left out,” he mumbled, looking out the window. He sat on Baekhyun’s lap and I saw Two growling. Her little bun vibrating with annoyance and I told her that she looked very pretty, the Gumari slowly tilting her head at me. Her scowl disappeared and she gave out a small “Really?”

“Kyungsoo, is this the place?” Minseok asked, Kyungsoo looking out the window and telling him to take a turn. “Wait, isn’t this—”

“Yes.” Kyungsoo nodded and I looked up to see that we had stopped at a pharmacy. The name “Panda Pharmacy” was plastered over the sign and we got down, Kyungsoo shutting the door behind him.

“Why are we at the pharmacy?” Minseok asked, locking the car when Kyungsoo turned and smiled at him.

“Have you seen the basement of the pharmacy?”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The pharmacy, as Kyungsoo said, was owned by a friend. Once we entered the place, I saw a male standing behind the counter, scribbling something on a notebook. He seemed like he was doing invoices, his lazy voice erupting out.

“Welcome to the Panda Pharma—Kyungsoo?” He asked, standing up. The first thing I noticed was that his eyes went to Chen, the spirit Chen… And the Gumanthongs that were eyeing him warily. “I could’ve guessed as much, it being the beginning of the Ghost Festival. Come in.”

I bet it was a normal occurrence, Kyungsoo motioning to the male who had deep, dark circles under his eyes.

“This is Zhitao.” Zhitao gave us a bow. “He’s a Shaman.”

“Shaman?” I asked, knowing I heard the word often from Matthew.

“Handlers obliviate. Mediums talk. Shaman’s do rituals. He’s a counter, too but he can see and not hear.”

Zhitao nodded, sighing.

“I wish I was more blessed but I’m not,” he said, chuckling when he looked over at the spirit Chen. “Oh no. First case of the Ghost Festival and you guys have a case of Free Will?”

“You’ve seen something like this before?” I asked, surprised. Zhitao nodded, motioning us to follow him.

“Of course. I see you’ve brought little household deities, too. For some reason, I’m happy I can’t hear them. Come in and explain to me what’s going on.”

As we moved down to the basement, I saw Chinese rites on the walls. It was a level or two under the pharmacy and I saw that the basement had little rooms—a bed and candles in them.

“Zhitao harbors ghosts,” Kyungsoo said, reading my expression. “Somewhat a hotel for ghosts until they find their way.”

“Ghosts don’t sleep though, do they?”

“No. But they stay while I try to pray for them. With that, it’s easier for them to ascend. I heard you’re a medium,” He said to me and I nodded. “Kyungsoo told me about you the other day when I called.”

It was funny how Kyungsoo spoke a lot about me to other people without me knowing, yet when he was with me, he hardly said anything. Sir Hwapyung followed up silently in Chen’s body, Zhitao sitting down on the floor and beginning to shift through the papers of Chinese characters.

“So….” He pressed his lips together. “Let’s hear what you got.”

It took a while for us to explain, Zhitao nodding as we went.

“You prayed for Free Will?” He asked Sir Hwapyung. “That’s nice to get your prayers answered. What is your goal? What do you need to do to achieve it?”

“Why do you sound like a motivational speaker,” Kyungsoo grumbled from the side, his hands behind his back. “I see Kris is rubbing off on you.”

Minseok chuckled and I wondered who that was, but didn’t ask.

“I am the leader of the Hwa Clan and my men have not ascended just yet. They have become property ghosts.” Sir Hwapyung said and Tao nodded. “For me to go to the afterlife, I will need to see them all ascend. We couldn’t do it because we were bound to the area.”

“Mhmm... And Chen, there. He ate spiritual food, didn’t he? He looks a little bit too detached from his body.”

“We forgot to tell him the rules so we borrowed these little dips to protect Chen.”

“Good call.” Zhitao nodded, his eyes on the Gumanthongs who were growling at him. He chuckled, reaching behind him for a box and before we knew it, he took out a Yakult-like drink. All three of them perked up, Zhitao motioning to it but they frowned.

“What is this? Wh