Minseok had always thought he would be happy once Lu Han managed to finally touch things.

He had been so wrong.

“Get… off… me!” He grunts through his teeth so that no one but the ghost currently clinging onto his back can hear him. 

It’s been like this for the past three days. Ever since Lu Han magically managed to move Yixing’s hand and half hug Minseok before sinking through the floor he’s been claiming he needs to touch him constantly for “practice”. Being the naïve fool he usually is, Minseok had agreed to it. After all, all he wanted to do was to help Lu Han to debut and now that he was able to touch things and Minseok was able to touch the ghost, even if it was always just briefly, they seemed to be one step closer to it. Only too bad he hadn’t realized Lu Han’s “touching him” meant touching him all the freaking time.

“I can walk to class on my own!” He quietly hisses, hoping Lu Han will hear the annoyance in his voice and remove his hands from around his waist immediately. 

Minseok wishes he wasn’t with Jongdae and Baekhyun so he could attempt to grab Lu Han by his arms and throw him against the nearest wall, not caring whether he got slammed against it, or went through it. He also wishes that he could swipe the smirk off his face, when the ghost answers him.

“But I need practice, Baozi. You don’t want me to forget how to touch things, do you?”

“Why don’t you go fondle Yixing instead? Stop following me around all day long!” Minseok groans a little louder than he should. Baekhyun looks at him, his expression surprised and a little hurt.

“But we both have the same singing class…? Yixing-hyung has dance lessons right now, I can’t go bother him unless I want to be thrown out of the room again…”

Oh, great.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” dies on Minseok’s lips because he can’t say it, can he? 

Baekhyun bites his lower lip and gives him a troubled look, like he’s unsure if he’s made the older guy mad or not. Minseok feels instant regret even if he did nothing wrong. It’s the effect Baekhyun has on him.

“And I wasn’t fondling you…” Baekhyun mutters, a pout on his lips. 

Jongdae just rolls his eyes, not even bothering to come between the two. Minseok shoots a murderous look at Lu Han who avoids his gaze but loosens his grip on him anyway. It doesn’t hurt anymore, the contact that is. It still feels a little weird and Yixing claims he doesn’t feel anything when Lu Han touches him. Maybe that’s why Minseok’s been the main scratching post for the ghost.

“Sorry,” he sighs, patting Baekhyun’s shoulder, “I thought I felt something touching me.”

Baekhyun’s face brightens up when he realizes Minseok isn’t angry with him. “Well, it wasn’t me.”

“Yeah, I know…” Minseok mutters side-eyeing Lu Han. The ghost rolls his eyes and it takes all of Minseok’s willpower not to smack him on the head.

“But if you want…? Are you perhaps into someone biting your , hyung?” 

Baekhyun keeps the conversation going and Minseok has to stop and blink just to make sure he didn’t mishear him. Beside him Lu Han lets out something that sounds a lot like a growl, but perhaps that’s just how ghosts sneeze. He turns to stare at Baekhyun who looks dead serious. Jongdae is no longer there. He had started to take quick, long steps after the word “” was mentioned. 

“Into what?!” Minseok coughs. They sure let some interesting trainees into SM’s company.

“You know how I sometimes bite Sehun’s , so I was wonde–” Baekhyun starts.

It’s all Minseok needs or wants to know. He quickly grabs Baekhyun by the neck, stopping the younger man from finishing his sentence. Before he manages to say anything though, Lu Han speaks.

“He’s a ert! Why do you keep making friends with these guys? First Yixing and now him!” he accuses him. 

Only by biting his lower lip hard, Minseok manages to stop himself from answering Lu Han. Instead, he releases Baekhyun from his grip. “Whatever you and Sehun do in the showers, I don’t wanna know.” When Baekhyun opens his mouth again, Minseok adds, “I really don’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to use the toilet before class.” And with that he runs off. Of course Lu Han follows.

“Yixing isn’t a ert,” Minseok says the moment they are around the corner and Baekhyun can’t hear them anymore. 

Lu Han rolls his eyes, clearly disagreeing. “He touches you all the time!”

Now it’s Minseok’s turn to roll his eyes. “ You’re the one who touches me all the time! I may not get electrical shocks anymore but that doesn’t mean I want some dude hanging onto my shoulders all the time.”

“It’s for practice. I thought we agreed on it?” Lu Han counters.

“You agreed on it, not me.” Minseok reminds the ghost.

Hearing the coldness in his voice makes Lu Han’s face fall. “You… you don’t want me to touch you?”

“I’d rather not let anyone touch me. Especially my face,” Minseok mutters, heat now gone from his voice. He avoids eye-contact with the ghost as they get closer to the topic he doesn’t want to talk about right now. Or ever. 

Everyday he tries not to think about that particular issue, but it’s hard when he’s surrounded by beautiful and skinny people like Lu Han. Lu Han with his perfect face, the sort of face Minseok will never get. He’ll probably always have a round face and cheeks, far away from beautiful.

“Your face? Afraid you’ll get pimples?” Lu Han asks, clearly not sensing Minseok’s discomfort.

“No. Let's not talk about it,” Minseok tries to shoo Lu Han off and walk away. He doesn’t feel like going to class anymore, but it’s not like he can skip it either. Maybe splashing his face with some cold water will help to wash away his sour mood. 

It’s too bad Lu Han doesn’t know the concept of “let’s not talk about it.”

“Talk about what? Your face? It’s really cute and round.”

“Not a word about my face.” Minseok warns him. 

He’s not usually one to get annoyed for real, but somehow Lu Han is always pushing all the wrong buttons without meaning to. He doesn’t want to get angry with the ghost but he can feel his blood starting to boil anyway. Trying to escape from Lu Han’s company doesn’t work either, as the ghost can hover through walls. He can try though. Calming himself down by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath Minseok speeds his steps.

“Eh, why not? I li–” Lu Han begins again, really not getting the hint that he doesn’t want to talk about his face.

“Oh for… Stop talking about my face and stop touching me!” He turns around, finally exploding when he feels something hovering near his shoulders again. 

Lu Han’s hand stops in mid-air. Minseok takes a step back and then two, keeping the ghost still with his unmoving and still slightly angry gaze. Lu Han opens his mouth to argue back, but he isn’t having it. Not anymore.

“Not. Another. Word.” Minseok says and turns around, hoping to finally be left alone at least for a moment. He takes another step only to realize something is wrong. There’s no floor under his foot, but a staircase instead. With nothing to step on, he feels himself losing his balance.

Before he snaps his neck and ends up wandering the hallways of the SM building forever, something grabs Minseok by the arm and pulls him backwards, causing him to stumble down onto the floor. His hurts after the fall, but otherwise he’s unharmed. His heart still races about a million kilometers per minute, and despite not having his life flash in front of him, he knows that was the closest he’s ever been to getting hurt real bad.

“I’m sorry for always touching you,” says the quiet voice beside him. Minseok can hardly believe he was angry at Lu Han just two seconds ago.

“Don’t be,” he says. Then he grabs Lu Han’s hand with his own and squeezes it. “Thanks.”

Minseok couldn’t be happier that Lu Han can touch things.