All these free afternoons and it never occurred to Lu Han that he couldn’t remember how he had died.

After realizing the obvious problem, he finds himself sitting in the quiet hallway that’s quickly becoming his favorite spot in the SM building. It’s late at night and Minseok has already gone home, after claiming he needed sleep if he wanted to survive tomorrow’s dance lessons alive. Feeling bored and lonely leaves Lu Han no other option than desperately trying to remember how exactly his life had ended again.

You would think your own death has the priority in a ghost’s mind, but apparently it doesn’t. Or perhaps this is another bullet point added to the list explaining why Lu Han is a complete failure when it comes to being a ghost. Now that he is finally starting to think about his death, he realizes he can’t remember anything. He vaguely remembers being alive, practicing normally and then suddenly… he’s become a ghost. But whatever occurred in between that, Lu Han has no memory of. There are some hints to the story though. Since he apparently can’t leave the SM building, there’s a very strong possibility he had died here.

The option leaves Lu Han wondering how exactly one dies in the SM Entertainment building anyway. There were no trucks to run over your fragile body, nor did armed robbers usually come in to steal things and shoot people. Had he just over-exercised? Maybe Lu Han had suffered a heart attack after another cruel dance practice. Not cool, but not completely impossible either. Despite his manly image he had never been the one with an overly strong body. Lu Han just sincerely hopes his death wasn’t something like slipping in the showers and hitting his head. Just imagining himself lying there, dead and his out for everyone to see… Terrible, absolutely terrible. That wouldn’t make a cool backstory for the world’s first ghost idol at all. He needed to find out how he had died as soon as possible. Then he could at least decide whether to publish the story in the future or make up something more heroic like dying while saving a kitten from a tree (and hope netizens won’t dig too deep into his background).

Too bad he still has to wait another five hours before Minseok’s coming back. Being a ghost is easier with the other trainee around, but the moment Minseok goes home, Lu Han remembers again that being a ghost actually . Big time. Concentrating on the water bottle in front of him Lu Han tries to at least make his alone time useful and get a literal handful of the bottle. In between trying to remember something about his death and giving up on that, he’s been practicing this. So far all of his attempts have failed, making Lu Han’s hand go through the bottle as usual. He doesn’t dare to lose hope just yet though, maybe he just needs more practice. Practice needs time and time is one thing Lu Han isn’t lacking.

Somewhere between attempt 300 and 340 (he had lost count forever ago) with the bottle, he hears a familiar voice wishing him good morning. Or more like a familiar yawn as he looks up to see Minseok rubbing his sleepy eyes. Lu Han’s mood immediately lifts as he jumps up from the floor.

“You’re back, Baozi!” He smiles at his human companion.

Minseok freezes mid-rubbing and looks confused. “Baozi?”

Oh, right. Maybe attempts between 239 and 297 never happened because suddenly Lu Han had found himself thinking about Minseok’s cheeks. Or more like, he had started to think about steamed buns (just because he couldn’t get hungry anymore didn’t mean he didn’t think about food every now and then) and there it was - an image of Minseok’s pale cheeks. Soft and round. Extremely pinchable. Just thinking about them had made Lu Han’s fingers twitch. He hadn’t realized it before, but he really wanted to pinch those cheeks. Judging from the singing lessons Lu Han had been stalk… errr, attending, he bets Minseok would make a cute high-pitched sound if someone were to pinch those cheeks.

Lu Han wants to be that someone. Badly.

Experimentally he lifts his hand closer to Minseok’s right cheek. They’ve already spent enough time together that the other doesn’t flinch out of Lu Han’s “touch” anymore. He only looks at him with his right eyebrow raised like he usually does when the ghost is doing something questionable. Maybe if Lu Han’s desire to touch those cheeks is strong enough, then…

His hand goes through Minseok’s cheek and they both flinch for a second because of electricity.

So much for that theory.

“Lu Han? The baozi? What was that about?” Minseok asks and rubs his cheeks when Lu Han finally pulls his hand off. Right, he never did explain that before trying to fondle Minseok’s cheek. Lu Han vaguely proceeds to explain something about having craved steamed buns last night and the connection he had made between those and Minseok’s cheeks. Minseok doesn’t look impressed as he presses his hands to his cheeks, trying to flatten them. It’s like he doesn’t like them and it’s something Lu Han can’t even begin to understand. Minseok’s cheeks are adorable. The kind that you would want to take a big bite of.

Lu Han doesn’t voice these thoughts to Minseok.

Minseok is still pressing his cheeks while averting his eyes and Lu Han thinks it’s time to change the subject. Clearly this one is too touchy for whatever reason.

“So, did you find anything about my death?” He casually asks, hoping the answer is anything but a shower accident. Minseok shakes his head, cheeks finally forgotten.

“Was I supposed to look into it? You’re the one who died, can’t you just tell me?”

“And I told you I can’t remember.” Lu Han spreads his arms, trying to make Minseok understand his point. “Can’t you just ask someone?”

Minseok scrunches his eyebrows together, thinking hard. “Like who exactly?”

“Junmyeon! We trained at the same time, so he would know, right?” Lu Han explains. Maybe they should have gone to Junmyeon ages ago already. Lu Han just didn’t think remembering his own death would bring him any closer to debuting. But since nothing else is working right now maybe it’s worth the shot.

Minseok shoots a disbelieving look at the ghost. “What, am I just supposed to go to him and ask, ‘Hey, how did Lu Han die again?’ I’m not even supposed to know you!”

Crossing his arms, Lu Han smirks. “Exactly. Unless you want to go bother Sooman.”

The next thing he knows is Minseok pulling Junmyeon with him the moment he spots the other trainee walking towards the dance studio early in the afternoon. Lu Han silently follows them, thinking please, no shower accidents. He would rather keep his manly and cool image with Minseok if possible.

“What did you want to talk about, hyung?” Junmyeon asks with an everlasting bright smile and if he notices Minseok slightly fidgeting, he doesn’t comment on it.

“Do you remember a trainee called Lu Han?” Minseok doesn’t beat around the bush. Lu Han watches Junmyeon’s reaction and sees his smile falter. He obviously remembers!

“That’s… that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. What about him?” Junmyeon’s smile is completely gone by the time he answers. Seeing his sullen expression makes Lu Han feel like suddenly he isn’t so eager to hear about his death anymore. But before he can stop Minseok, the other is already speaking.

“I… I heard someone mentioning him the other day, but… the way they talked about him seemed off. Like he wasn’t just a trainee who quit?” Minseok stumbles through his words, trying to think of an excuse for why he’s suddenly interested in Lu Han’s history, without alarming Junmyeon. Something sparks in Lu Han’s mind. What if he had quit indeed? Quit and then committed suicide, not being able to deal with his dream of being an idol shattering. Suddenly a shower accident sounds oddly nice compared to that.

Junmyeon looks exactly how you’d picture one looking, when going through unpleasant memories. Lu Han doesn’t remember them ever interacting too much, but it’s nice to see Junmyeon isn’t being completely cold about his death.

“That’s right. He didn’t quit. There… there was an accident”, Junmyeon explains.

Minseok hesitates for a second and Lu Han feels the same.

“What kind of accident?”

“He”, Junmyeon starts, clearly not wanting to talk about the topic. “He fell down the stairs. Someone told me he had accidentally stepped on a stray bottle and… well, you know…” Junmyeon finishes, looking miserable. Minseok looks miserable too, but he still squeezes Junmyeon’s arm as an act of comfort. Nobody’s squeezing Lu Han’s arm and probably never will.

Without another word he flies off.