The dreams intensified, much as your feelings for Hyunwoo since giving into your affections for one another. The house was almost finished, with just landscaping to contract in.

The townsfolk were slowly changing their tune also, watching your hope for the home come alive. “I’ve never seen it look so welcoming before.”

“Did you know it’s got five bedrooms up in that house? It’s beautiful!”

“I wonder if this new lease on life will remove all the bad luck from the house. Someone could be very happy living here.”

“See!” you proudly said to both Eric and Hyunwoo after listening to yet another compliment roll in. “Our work here has been worth it!”

“Yeah, okay. I admit that we’ve done great here, Y/N.”

Hyunwoo cleared his throat, and Eric laughed awkwardly. “To be fair, it’s been you both driving this project. I’ve just been overlooking it. From the sidelines. Far away.”

“Don’t tell me this house still gives you the creeps, Eric.”

He shook his head at you and then cringed. “Maybe a little. I can’t help but want to know what the murder mystery is all about. You know, how Michael died and where his body is.”

The truth was that you already knew the answer. Hyunwoo hadn’t spoken of it to you yet, and every time the topic came close to being spoken about, you would change the subject or kiss him until he was distracted.

But your dreams had painted the whole picture all too well.

“That’s the last door handle,” Hyunwoo announced, placing the screwdriver back into the toolbox at his feet. “We’re done here.”

“No, I’m sure there’s something else we could improve.”

“Y/N, the door handles were absolutely fine. So were the window latches and the curtain rods and the—”

“Okay, okay. So, I’ve been a little over the top.”

“You’re avoiding the conclusion to our story.”

“I don’t want to read that final chapter, thanks.”

Hyunwoo pulled you into his strong embrace, resting his head upon your shoulder. “I can’t stay forever.”

“Yes, you can. You have this long.”

“That’s because I had some—”

“Don’t say it.”

“Will you then?”

“Nope.”

“Why not?” he implored, and you began to change the subject again when he held up a hand. “I’m not listening until you admit it.”

“I have nothing to say,” you replied, and Hyunwoo looked at you, shaking his head.

“I’m the ghost here.”

“I don’t believe in ghost stories.”

“I’m the murdered person. This was my home.”

“Hyunwoo, I’m warning you.”

“They took it from me, and then my wife and child too. All I had left was this hellish damnation.”

Staring up at him through a veil of tears, you swallowed roughly. “I told you, I didn’t need to hear it!”

“I know you don’t. I’ve been showing you in your dreams this whole time,” he admitted, and you stopped, eyes wide at the man before you. “I did that to you.”

“No, you didn’t. You’re just trying to—”

“I wanted someone to know my story. Just one person to listen to me without thinking the Galloways were good people who ended in ruins by sheer luck. They ruined everything I had worked hard for. Their greed for taking what wasn’t theirs is what ruined that family.”

“So, what if you’ve been showing me. Telling me about your past doesn’t mean what we have now has to end.”

“My heart no longer is full of hatred. Thanks to you.”

“Don’t say that!” you pleaded, sobs racking through you. “Don’t start talking like that, I beg of you. We have so much more to do. You made this house. Built it for love and laughter and-”

“We’ve experienced both within these walls already. For the last several months, Y/N,” he calmly offered, but you backed away from Hyunwoo, shaking your head repeatedly.

“I don’t want this to end.”

“Do you think I want it to? Ironic how I’ve been stuck here for over a century, and then when something good finally happens to me, the grudge that kept me here is gone, and I’m starting to feel too light to be weighed down in this realm for much longer.”

“What do I need to do to make you stay?” you asked fruitlessly, knowing full well there was nothing.

“When did you realise what I was?” Hyunwoo asked, stepping forward and taking you back in his arms. You shuddered against him, heaving with your emotions. “When did you noticed I wasn’t alive?”

“In the library,” you whispered out hoarsely, and Hyunwoo blinked several times.

“How? You seemed so unaware back then.”

“The librarian looked at me strangely for talking to you. I looked up and noticed there was a reflection in the windows nearby. I only saw myself.”

“You humoured me for so long.”

“No, I didn’t humour anything. I liked you. I wanted to know more about your story. And you’ve told me.”

“Not out loud. Will you listen now?”

Nodding, you allowed Hyunwoo to take you into the study, sitting down upon the couch by the fireplace. He smiled sadly.

“You don’t have to tell me. Maybe another time,” you suddenly said with a knee-jerk reaction, and Hyunwoo gave you a look. “Okay, okay. I’m listening.”

“I was born to parents who loved one another. They worked hard for what they had and were happy when the Lord of this town offered their daughter to me as my wife. Foolishly, I had believed love would blossom, and whilst Amelia was someone who smiled often and only had nice things to say to me, I realised early into our marriage that she didn’t love me.”

Hyunwoo glanced away. “I thought that changed when she fell pregnant with our daughter.”

“That’s why you put so much effort into the house.”

Hyunwoo nodded. “I wanted to raise our family here. The bones of this home I had already begun before marrying Amelia. We moved in, and she complimented my work but always asked for more. I was busy trying to meet her demands and work the land that we had been gifted as part of her dowry.”

“You were too busy to give her the right attention.”

“I had no idea when William Galloway met my wife or when he courted her, but she became distant towards me. And even to our sweet Victoria, too.”

“Your daughter?”

Hyunwoo nodded. “She would often come out and help me on the farm once big enough. I suppose then William was free to take Amelia’s heart where she longed for it to go.”

“Then why didn’t she just leave you?”

“Her family ties to mine were strong. Our parents cared for one another quite dearly. She was their only child, so to disappoint her family…”

“Still.”

“She started to talk about the ground near the house and how mining it would improve our wealth. I was against it, but then she seemed to rally the whole town into the idea. Or the Galloway brothers did.”

“The only obstacle left was you.”

“Michael did it, of course. A rather simple and effective way to die. An axe to the back of the head as I was busy cutting firewood. No one would suspect a thing. However, the guilt ate at him over the years as they mined my land. I watched as he slowly went crazy. His death isn’t a mystery. He shot himself, and William buried him near the quarry. People talked about machinery not functioning well or hearing strange noises on the site. They stopped working for William, and they went into ruins.”

“At first, I thought Michael shot you. In my dreams, I would see fragments of him and you and then hear the gunshot.”

“Now you know my story.”

“Not all of it,” you replied, and Hyunwoo tilted his head to the side. “Why did you stay and guard a house that your wife never came back to? Michael lived here instead.”

“At first, I showed up in front of Michael, angry and telling him to set things straight. When I realised I wasn’t helping the situation, I stayed in the shadows, but I had spooked him enough. When he killed himself, I held myself accountable for sending him over the edge. Guilt racked me, and so I tried to help Michael move on. I promised him I would look over this place. What I didn’t realise was the townspeople would start to see a home that I had built as so unlucky and feel sorry for the Galloways. My grudge formed from that. I didn’t want anyone to touch this place. If they wanted to think badly of my home, I would make it the most unpleasant spot in this town. I know, it sounds silly.”

“It doesn’t to me.”

“Then you showed up and changed everything. You didn’t care about the rumours, the murder mystery, the drama. You just wanted to look at what I had created. You were different from the rest.”

You smiled sadly.

“I thought I could fool you. I used a lot of my energy to help you think I was alive. Or at least, in this realm. I guess it was a good thing I had so much pent-up frustration stored. It helped me assist you in this renovation. Looking back over it all, you did a lot more than I realised. But you never made me feel like I didn’t help.”

“It was your vision too.”

“Now it can be yours. To promote my story, my craftsmanship.”

“We can do it together,” you said, holding on to the last fragment of foolish hope you possessed.

Hyunwoo smiled weakly. “You and I both know I’ve overstayed my place here as the caretaker. I’m passing it all on to you. I’ve lodged my will in the book on the desk. The original deed to this home is there too. It’s yours, Y/N.”

“What good to me is this home without the ghost who occupies it?”

Hyunwoo leaned in and kissed you faintly. “You don’t believe in ghost stories, remember?”