“It’s just an old house,” Jieun mumbles as she squeezes into the abandoned home, once again shutting the doors. “Old, old house.” Nodding to herself, she decides to start conducting her investigation in the place she felt most comfortable; that bedroom. She wonders why, considering those footsteps a couple of days ago. The student sets her bag down and pulls out her laptop. She sets a throw she had brought from home and lays it down before setting up. Stretching her arms above her, Jieun stares at herself in the reflection of that old tv. She finally shakes her head and gets to work. 

Getting the names and that sort of information isn’t very hard. People love to gossip. That and Jieun knows her way around technology. It helps her with her investigations. She freezes when hearing the sound of footsteps storming up the stairs and into the room. She slowly pushes further on the bed, letting her back hit the wall. She lets out a sharp breath when the door slams and locks. The girl’s eyes grow wide. “It’s just an...old house,” She repeats and tries to focus on her investigation. Laughing nervously, Jieun scrolls through, trying to find what she’s looking for. She stops when she sees an article. There’s a photo of the family and the house. “Family of three dies during a break-in gone wrong,” She reads off. The student looks at the three names and stops at the teenager’s. “Park Chanyeol…” Jieun sighs as she stares at the boy’s face. Short, neat brown hair and a big smile. He’s handsome, for sure. And he looks...kind, goofy. It’s the type of guy that’d make anyone smile. “How did you die…?” She quickly pulls out her notebook and pen, getting to work on copying everything down. She’s going to print all of this out later, but it’s useful to have both.

According to everything she has so far, Chanyeol was the last one to die. The teenage boy and his parents were shot around seven pm. The parents in the living room and Chanyeol in his room. She furrows her brows at the crime scene photos, trying to memorize them. After a moment, Jieun glances over to where the teenager died. By the window, like he was trying to get out. She shakes her head and returns to reading. The family was loved by all. Their neighbors, co-workers, and other family members; no sort of drama or scandals. Park Chanyeol’s classmates said he was a happy, energetic, athletic boy and a great student. 

Jieun jolts at the sound of something dropping near the edge of the bed. She stares at it for a moment, unable to see anything. She squeals loudly when the chair in front of the desk is suddenly pushed back and forward a moment later. Goosebumps begin to riddle her arms and she can feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand. “Just...just an old house.”

Clearing , the girl tries to get back to her research despite the overwhelming feeling of unease. She organizes everything properly on her laptop, ready to print when she gets back to her own room. If ghosts are real, it’d be the family. And according to the things she’s read, they’re kind. So is she in any real danger? “What’re you saying, Jieun?” She mumbles to herself. She stares at the desk before slowly reaching over and grabbing her camera; her heart beats faster than before. Taking a deep breath, the student hesitantly raises it and aims toward the desk. After snapping the photo, she looks down at the screen. That white streak again, right by the chair. When the chair squeaks once more, she snaps another. The floorboards creak, she snaps a few more. Jieun stares at the pictures. That white streak moves, almost as if it’s walking. Her breathing becomes heavy when she feels the edge of the bed move. She lets out a soft whimper as the mattress indents and dips; as if someone had sat on it. 

The student quickly stands up and backs herself into a corner, clutching her camera tightly. She can see her laptop move a bit as someone lays down. Swallowing hard, Jieun, once more, brings it up. Her hands tremble but she manages to click the button. Unwilling to move or even look, the girl stays frozen for what feels like forward. But when she finally does, some parts of her regrets it. As clear as day, a large white streak is laid out on the bed. It looks like it’s a good six foot something. Her legs shake as she approaches. “I-it’s nothing,” she murmurs, not believing her own words. She slowly slides her laptop to her and clicks through a few things; looking for which family member matched the size. “Father, five ten. Mother, five four. Chanyeol,” she pauses. “Six foot one.” She looks at her blanket, seeming trapped under this strange figure. What if it’s really him?

Taking a deep breath, Jieun grabs her laptop and goes back to her corner. She sits on the floor and begins to type. She feels so stupid. And yet…

“What creates a ghost?” She types in. Clicking the first link, she begins to read. “Studies and research have been done to determine why someone becomes a ghost and the prevailing theory is that when death is sudden and traumatic, it is more likely to result in a haunting,” Jieun reads off. “Accidents, suicide, desecration of a grave, greed, lack of property burial,” She pauses. “Or...murder.” As much as she’d love to write this off as a reflection from the sun or something else, she can’t. Jieun looks outside, at the night sky. She looks back to the bed and tries to be brave. “O-okay,” the student whispers. “I’ll do my best to find who did this to you, Chanyeol. And then you’d...be free to leave, right?” It’s not like she’s really into all this ghost stuff. It’s not like she doesn’t believe; it’s just something she’d never thought of or experienced. But if that’s the case and ghosts are real...could they help her help them?

Jieun stands and steps closer, though it’s cautious.Trying to push her fear away, she speaks. “I-if...if you’re here, Chanyeol, give me a sign. Maybe we can...help each other...” She stares at the bed before crossing her arms. “Wait, I have an idea…” Jieun looks around before quickly packing her things back in her bag. She grabs her coat. “I’ll be back tomorrow,” She says before unlocking the door and heading back down the hall. Was she crazy? Easily believing in these sorts of things? Regardless, it gave her more motivation. The idea of someone suffering in a space between living and dead makes her heart ache...and she wants to help.

The next day, Jieun comes back the next day relatively early; at nine in the morning. She’s supposed to be at school but her grades are high enough and she can afford a sick day. Setting her bag down, she places the whiteboard that she brought to the side; standing it up against the wall. She pulls out a binder, string, markers, and some magnets. Jieun ignores the floor that squeaks behind her as she begins to pin the crime scene photos up. The student grabs the marker and writes words and numbers underneath each one. Kitchen, Living room, and so on. Once that’s finished, she starts with the living room; setting things they were before the crime had taken place. She read somewhere that you can help trigger ghosts to reenact their death by doing things like this. Regardless, it’ll still help her piece things together. She starts from the door, carefully following in the steps of the killer. She grabs her recorder and presses play. “The parents were sitting together, on the couch,” she forms her fingers into a gun and points it at the couch. “They were watching tv.” Jieun looks at the broken lamp on the floor, as well as a photograph that has been shot. “One bullet for the father, four for the mother. After that, It seemed as if the attacker missed the photograph and shot the lamp at first. She looks once again at the photos she printed. “There was only one attacker…” She furrows her brow. “Why was the mother shot four times?”

Jieun looks over when she hears footsteps heading for the stairs. Grabbing her whiteboard and bag, she starts to follow them. She notices a bullet hole in the wall beside the stairs. “Chanyeol ran up the stairs after seeing his parents get shot. But why not outside?” She heads up and into the hall, down into his bedroom. The student sets the board down and looks around. She crouches to examine the outside of the door. “This was kicked in…,” she looks over at a drawer that seems to have been knocked over. Jieun slowly runs her hands over some scratches that run along the entrance, in front of the inner door. Some empty shells were found outside. “They had to reload and it gave Chanyeol a small opportunity for his barricade but...the killer got in,” She stands and points to the window. “And shot him in front of that window.”

The student bites her inner lip as she returns to her board. “The mother was shot four times...that’s personal. And yet everyone they interviewed had perfect alibis and didn’t own a revolver.”

Jieun lets out a soft sigh as she sits on the bed. Resting her chin in her hands, her eyes are drawn to a very faint blood splatter along the floor and wall. She reaches over and grabs the picture of Chanyeol’s body. “It looks like Chanyeol was pretty close to getting out…” she hums a bit. Turning off the recorder, she sets it to the side before standing. After covering the bed with her own throw again, she lays her laptop on top of it and gets to work. 

Jieun didn’t realize she fell asleep until she finally woke up; the light was no longer shining through the windows. A thundering bolt that crashes had jolted her away, causing her to gasp and quickly open her eyes. She glances at the window and stares at the rainy night outside. The sound of static causes her to put back on her glasses and turn. She blinks a few times as she sits up and looks at the time. Two in the morning. She didn't mean to fall asleep here. The student glances at her laptop and then at the old tv; staring at the black and white lines. “What...the hell?” She murmurs. She’s slow to stand and approach it. Crouching, Jieun stares into it for a moment. This shouldn’t be working, the electricity was off ages ago. She pulls up her camera, snapping a photo of it. She has no answer for this one. Not this time.

She hesitantly touches the screen, shiving a bit. After a moment, she reaches over and clicks the off button; surprised to see that stopped the static. She lets out a sigh as she falls back on the bed, shutting her eyes tightly for a brief moment. “Maybe it was just...I don’t know. Some fluke.”

Jieun jumps when the tv snaps back on; the static is louder than before. “He..o?” Her eyes grow wide at the faint voice that comes through. The back of her hair stands and she finds herself starting to shake. 

“H-hello?” She asks with a trembling voice. Jieun cautiously approaches the tv again and stares at it. 

“W.o a.e y...?”

“W-what?”

“....Th...gh my tv?”

Jieun slowly sits back as she tries to control her breathing. “Through...your tv?” she whispers. “Are...are you Chanyeol?”

“Ye...s,” the voice seems to respond.

She puts her hand over , unsure what to say. The student jumps when the static suddenly dies down and she’s once again staring at a blank screen. “Was I talking to Chanyeol’s...ghost?” Jieun slowly stands and sits on the bed, unsure what to do. Trying to keep herself calm, she decides to pull out her phone and to do what she does every day; check the weather.

“Thunderstorms for a week, huh?” she sighs. After glancing at the time again and at the tv, she hesitantly lays back down. It’s too late to ride home right now anyway. And if he talks through this tv again, she doesn’t want to miss it.