One out of ten times Lu Han is actually happy he’s already dead.

It means Minseok can’t kill him.

Unfortunately, it also means that when Minseok decides to completely ignore Lu Han for the rest of the week he’s back at talking to himself. He had tried to explain the whole situation the very next day. It hadn’t been just Minseok he’d been looking at in the showers. And he hadn’t been stalking! Aside from taking a shower, Lu Han had tried to test whether being made people more prone to hearing or feeling ghosts. It hadn’t.

His explanation had done absolutely nothing as Minseok still refused to even look at him (it’s amazing how flexible Minseok’s neck becomes once he’s doing his best at looking anywhere but at Lu Han).

Then Lu Han had tried telling him Minseok had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of when it came to his body.

That time he did get a reaction from Minseok: two big iron spoons flying through his head and then slamming against the wall. It seemed his only friend was mad and armed again. Lu Han faked the pain from the spoons, in case it would make Minseok happy, and then flew out of the other’s sight. He always knew you shouldn’t mess with the cute and small ones. Minseok and Kyungsoo were living proof of their scary wrath.

It had only been a short time, but it made Lu Han realize how happy he had been talking to Minseok. Now that he was being cruelly ignored and had no one to talk to except himself, time started to slow down again and Lu Han felt himself being a step closer to becoming a bitter ghost.

And bitter ghosts didn’t debut, that he knew for sure.

He had to get on Minseok’s good side again. And since he was almost an idol, what would be a better way to do it than singing? (Obviously Lu Han couldn’t just buy flowers and present them to the other with a cheesy “baby, forgive me” smile on his face, which would have been easier.) So, Lu Han picks the most dramatic song about forgiveness he can still remember and spends the next week leaving Minseok alone and practicing the song. He isn’t sure if it is possible to improve his voice in ghost form but to his own ears his singing ability does sound better than when he was still alive. Maybe if he hones his ghost powers too, not just his singing, he can record his voice somehow.

Doesn’t that happen in movies all the time? The main character listening to some random record and hearing some random ghost say something random there. Minseok could hear him, so what was stopping Lu Han from trying to record his voice? So what if he was dead, he could become the very first ghost idol! Truly an ideal situation. He could never age, never get tired or hungry like other idols. Probably never have dating scandals, because who would be foolish enough to want to date a ghost. He could even haunt his antis who post about him on Weibo!

But to do all that, he badly needed to be forgiven already.

It had been five to ten days since the last word from Minseok (Lu Han’s sense of time was getting a bit hazy again) and that was the absolute maximum Lu Han could deal with without getting a response. It was time to sing and impress Minseok.

He decides it’s best to recreate their first memory together. It’s a little past five in the morning when Minseok enters the gym, warily looking around. Lu Han is floating against the roof, hoping this won’t end like the first time. It feels like Minseok can sense him when he sharply looks up and his eyebrows scrunch together at the sight of Lu Han. He turns around, clearly intending to leave the gym, but Lu Han acts fast. He dives down from the ceiling to stand in front of Minseok.

“Please don’t go. Look, I’m sorry. I wasn’t being a ert on purpose, I swear”, Lu Han apologizes, hoping the sincerity will shine through his eyes. It probably doesn’t since there’s no change in Minseok’s expression. It looks as cold as it has been looking all week. It doesn’t suit the other boy at all and Lu Han desperately wants to see the usual gummy smile again.

“If you want, I can take my clothes off, so we’re even”, Lu Han tries. He doesn’t actually want to take his clothes off in front of another dude and he isn’t even sure how that would happen since his hand would just go through the ghostly fabric anyway. But if it’s what it takes to make Minseok forgive him, he’s willing to try everything. Even acting a little homo for the sake of their… friendship? Acquaintance-ship? Minseok-helping-him-ship?

“I don’t want to see you !” Minseok snaps at him, before realizing he broke the silent treatment and then quietly cursing at himself.

“Ah, good. A-anyway! I’m truly sorry, so please, just talk to me again before I lose my mind.” Lu Han puts out his lower lip the way he’s seen Sehun do when the guy really wants something from his hyungs. Minseok still looks angry and keeps his mouth shut, so Lu Han reveals his trump card.

“I prepared a song for you. So, just… please listen to it and then decide if you’re still mad at me.”

Minseok is looking at the wall instead of Lu Han, but since he isn’t trying to get away either, Lu Han takes it as a good sign and coughs once or twice before opening his mouth to sing. If he can win Minseok’s forgiveness with his singing now, he can surely win over some fans in the future. Lu Han starts gently, slowly building more impact with his voice and when it’s finally time for the high notes, Lu Han’s voice is clear and strong, his eyes never leaving Minseok. Sure, the song is more about a guy asking for forgiveness from his girlfriend after cheating on her, but you play with the cards you’ve been dealt. Currently there are exactly zero songs Lu Han knows that are about a ghost “accidentally” seeing another boy’s and trying to apologize for that. The song is at its final notes, but Minseok is still clearly pretending he doesn’t care. Only when Lu Han is finally done with the song, Minseok sighs.

“I knew it. Your voice sounds way too good.”

Lu Han feels like he’s floating. Which he is.

“You could even say it’s beyond this world”, he smirks. Minseok rolls his eyes.

“Your puns are terrible. Like, Junmyeon-level terrible.”

“You love me anyway.” Lu Han shoots tiny invisible love bullets from his fingers towards Minseok. He’s beyond relieved the silent treatment seems to be over. The other only snorts.

“I most certainly don’t.”

“But you’ll forgive me, right?” Lu Han looks at Minseok from under his long eyelashes. He hates when people say he looks like a girl, but if that, together with his longish hair, makes him look cuter and thus more easily forgiven, he really doesn’t give a .

“…I guess. But if you ever, and I mean ever, stalk people in the showers again I…” Minseok looks at Lu Han firmly and something seems slightly odd. His face is round and made for smiles, but now it looks dark and intimidating and Lu Han swears he can feel shivers even though it’s clearly impossible because he’s dead. He barely manages to stop a whimper trying to escape his mouth because that wouldn’t be manly at all.

“I won’t! I swear I won’t”, he hastily promises. He’ll just have to trust he isn’t going to sweat anymore. It will be another added bonus to being the world’s first ghost idol – his face is always going to be sweat-free and pretty.

Minseok narrows his eyes. “You’d better mean that too.”

Lu Han is all smiles. He doesn’t want to make Minseok angry ever again, being lonely is terrible after all. “Did you really like my singing?”

Minseok nods, “I did. It’s pissing me off. The fact that you’re dead and still better than me.”

“Debut material?” Lu Han asks hopefully. It’s been years since any kind of feedback and honestly, he’s started to wonder if his voice sounded good only to his own ears.

Minseok looks at Lu Han, his judging gaze moving from top to bottom. The impossible shivers are back and this time it’s Lu Han who opts to stare at the wall instead of the pretty cat eyes in front of him.

“Debut material”, Minseok finally agrees, smiling sweetly.

There are many pros to being dead. One out of ten times Lu Han’s glad he’s dead. He doesn’t have to pay taxes, he’s always hunger-free and can never overgrow his clothes. But there are cons too.

He can’t hug Minseok when he wants to.