“Hi there. I’m lonely here. Would you be my friend?”

Kyungah was surprised to find someone else in the school other than herself at this time of the day. She had stayed behind after curriculum hours to complete her assignment, and it was 11 pm by the time it was done. Initially, she was relieved to find company. However, the weirdness of the question coming from the stranger sitting on the corridor ledge of the fourth storey, or rather levitating if you looked closely enough, left Kyungah uneasy.

“It’s erm… late, and… dangerous to sit there. You-should-come-down-and-go-home…” with that Kyungah bolted to the staircase and raced down to the ground floor.

“Would… you… be my… friend…?”

Stunned by the echo that came out of nowhere, Kyungah missed her step. She tumbled down the stairs, landed on the ground, all fours sprawled in awkward angles, out…

A FEW MOMENTS LATER...

Kyungah regained consciousness and struggled to get up. She made her way to the exit, opened the door, and found herself back to the fourth storey.

“You did not answer my question. Would you be my friend?” the figure pleaded.

“No! You are a ghost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Kyungah made a second attempt to leave the school building. She made sure she was running down… down… down… but found her way back to the fourth storey.

“I’m sorry about being a ghost. I didn’t have a choice. I promise I won’t hurt….”

Kyungah did not stay to finish hearing the rest. She decided to try exiting this cursed building via a different staircase located at the other end. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, quote Albert Einstein. Unfortunately, the advice of the greatest scientist of all time could not rival the power of this nameless ghost.

“I promise I won’t hurt you. I just want a friend to spend time together, play together, study together… and graduate from high school…”

For a while, Kyungah was moved by the sincerity of the pale figure, now away from the ledge. Common sense quickly crept back when she noticed the ghost gliding towards her. Thus, the cycle of darting to the staircase, dashing down, and opening the door repeated itself. In fact, Kyungah was no longer surprised to be greeted by the sight of the now-familiar fourth storey.

“So… would you be my friend?” the ghost winked.

Huffing and panting, Kyungah dropped to the ground.

“Whatever… just let me out… I want to go home…”

“I shall take it as a ‘Yes’ then.”

Instantly, the school vanished, and Kyungah found herself in the cemetery, right in front of the tombstone. Below the photograph of herself, the epitaph read “Lee Kyungah, 1995 to 2011”.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!” Krystal screamed and threw herself at Kai.

Proud of achieving the fear factor, Ten wrapped up his story, “The next morning, the gruesome aftermath was discovered by the school janitor in the form of a female corpse at the bottom of the staircase, accompanied by blood writing on the wall, ‘Jihyun Im Ni Da’.”

The last class of the day was canceled because Ms Yoon, the teacher, was down with flu. Although early dismissal was allowed, a few of them decided to stay behind to listen to what Ten claimed to be a true horror story that took place a decade ago in the school.

“Is the story that scary? Sounds more like a comedy…” Kai pondered a little until realisation hit him. Leaning closer towards Krystal’s ear, Kai whispered, “Or are you pretending to be scared as an excuse to hug me?”

Krystal released her hold and punched Kai’s abs playfully. Their attempt to keep their display of affection subtle did not escape the eyes of Seulgi.

“Did Kyungah die from falling down the stairs during her first attempt to leave the school? So Kyungah was already a ghost when she kept returning to the fourth storey. There are theories that when the death is too sudden, some spirits did not realise they have passed on. As a result, they get stuck in the chain of events leading up to their death,” Seulgi tried to distract herself from jealousy by focusing on the story. “What about Jihyun herself? How did she die?”

“I am not too sure myself, but I like your hypothesis. As for Jihyun, rumours said that she could not come to terms with her best friend leaving her, so she jumped off from the fourth storey of this school.”

“What?! She killed herself because her best friend like… dumped her? Shouldn’t there be a more compelling reason to go? I’m speechless,” Taeyong ruffled his hair in disbelief.

“Hey! Losing a friend can be quite devastating too, okay? If you decided to leave me, I would end my life for good…” Ten scowled.

“Great! You can go become Jihyun’s friend then…” Taeyong rolled on a floor like he contacted the laughing virus while Ten whacked him left and right.

Yes, great! Seulgi thought. Another couple on the loose and this pair did not even bother to hide. At that moment, Seulgi felt like a gigantic third wheel. If only she could roll away like one too. Thankfully, the awkwardness ended with Krystal’s announcement that Kai and herself would like to go for lunch.

“I’m famished too. Let’s head to the canteen together,” Ten was high on enthusiasm, ready to charge forward.

“Krystal and I are actually thinking of going outside…”

“Oh! That reminds me. There’s a new café opening a few streets down. Let’s go try the food together.”

Taeyong draped his arm around Ten’s shoulder and pointed in the direction of the intertwined hands of Krystal and Kai.

“Can’t you see? They don’t want us around.”

“Ah… when did you guys…” Ten, who considered himself an observant person, wondered why he did not catch this one. He really took his hat off on the couple’s discreetness.

“Well… Krystal proposed to me the other day…” Kai bragged away.

“Ya! Don’t make it sound like you are the catch of the century…” Krystal protested. Then she turned towards Seulgi and hugged her apologetically. “Sorry, Seul. I did not tell you about me and Kai. It happened so suddenly. I promise I will not neglect our friendship. But today I need to…”

“No worries. I understand. Just go and enjoy yourself, okay?” Although Seulgi had doubts about Krystal keeping her word, all she wanted at the moment was to drown herself in Krystal’s embrace while it lasted.

“Thank you Seul,” with that Krystal returned to Kai’s side and the couple left the classroom.

“Taetae, let’s go on a date too,” Ten pouted like a puppy.

“Looks Iike you guys don’t want me around too,” Seulgi shrugged with a smile and headed for the exit.

“Seul! You can…” Seulgi already disappeared before Taeyong finished his sentence, “join us for lunch…”

“Did I come on too strong on the flirting that she actually takes it seriously? I only want to make her jealous so that she would notice you. Looks like I ended up ruining your happiness instead.” Ten sighed apologetically.

“No worries, buddy. Even if she shows interest in me, what can I give her?”

“Oh yeah. You are stuck in the arranged marriage with Shin Jimin.”