You jumped at the hands that grabbed your waist. You did your best to suppress your scream, but you were sure a muffled squeak made its way out and disturbed a few people that were on the tour. “Seungmin!” You hissed as you turned quickly and glared at the grinning male behind you. “.”

“Y/n, language.” Your mother scolded, glancing back at you before looking forward at the tour guide. You rolled your eyes before you shot Seungmin another glare. He simply smiled at you, shrugging as he fiddled with his camera, looking around the semi-dark and dank basement you were all in. 

The ghost tour had been your mom’s idea and you had readily jumped at it because of your love for the paranormal. You thought it would be cool to go and do some amateur ghost hunting but now that you were down in the creepy basement of the Winchester Mansion, you were second-guessing this whole adventure. It was one thing to watch ghost hunters on tv and try to spot ghostly activity. It was a whole other thing to be in a supposedly haunted location, actively seeking out ghosts or paranormal entities. And didn’t help that one of your best friends was insisting on scaring you every chance he got. Not that you could just tell him to stop or scream or do anything of the physical sort because - well he just wasn’t real. 

It was a realization you had made long ago and yet hasn’t deterred you from seeing them, talking to them, and enjoying their company. They were your friends after all. Nine wonderful boys that you had known since you were little. You honestly didn’t know if you could live your life without them and it was certainly a thought you didn’t entertain for any length of time. 

“Yeah Y/n, language.” The mocking tone only irritated you more as you clenched your fist in hopes of redirecting your anger. There were times when you honestly couldn’t stand Seungmin. Yet, there was something about the male that made it truly difficult to remain mad at him for long. Maybe it was his joking personality or puppyish looks - you couldn’t be entirely sure, but more often than not you found yourself easily forgiving the other in everything he did to annoy you. This was no different, and in just about five minutes you found all the anger dissipating from your body as you listened to the tour guide drone on and one about the different paranormal activity that had occurred in the basement of the mansion. Arms wound around your waist and you leaned back into the embrace slightly, a soft smile spreading over your lips as Seungmin rested his head on your shoulder. 

Your eyes scanned the crowd of tourists, taking in their side profiles and making sure none of them were aware of your behaviors and actions. You were sure you looked strange, leaning back slightly with your arms wrapped around yourself, but they couldn’t see what you saw. They couldn’t hear or feel what you heard and felt. They weren’t aware of Seungmin’s existence and that made this whole relationship harder but it was always worth it. Being with him and the others was always worth it. 

Your thoughts were interrupted as people around you shuffled forward, the tour guide handing out some “authentic” ghost hunting paraphernalia with the announcement that they could explore the area for the next fifteen minutes and see if anyone could capture their own paranormal activity. Your mom grabbed two devices and made her way back to you, holding one out for you that you took with a smile. Turning it around in your hand, you examined what you believed was an EMF detector and found the ‘on’ button. It lit up briefly as it booted, lights flashing before only the lowest green light stayed on. 

“Alright, well I guess we should go find a ghost huh?” Your mom asked and you nodded your head, leaving the warm embrace Seungmin offered and looked around. 

“Where should we start?” You asked. 

“I wanna start under the stairs.” You glanced to the staircase that was already swamped with people and you could feel your social anxiety starting to spike. 

“Okay, well I wanna go investigate the “ghost” room.” You said quickly and smiled. “Let me know how it goes.”

“Alright, but be careful.” Your mom warmed and you nodded, waving at her as you started heading for the pitch-black room that supposedly was the most haunted room in the house. There was a static night vision camera set up inside, the feed coming through monitors set up just outside to show the enormous amount of orbs flying inside. Supposedly ghosts in the most simplistic ways they can manifest. Or perhaps just bugs and dust - you couldn’t rule those out either. 

“You’re really going to go in there?” Seungmin asked, cocking his head as he clutched his camera tightly. 

“Yes, and you’re coming with me.” You said as you looked back at him and smiled. “Come on Minnie.” Moving to the entrance, you were almost immediately surrounded by darkness. The light from the other area was your only saving grace as you slipped further in, willing your eyes to rapidly adjust to the darkness. There was a static white noise that was so quiet yet deafening at the same time that you were actually ready to call it quits before you really got started. 

“It’s so dark.” 

You jumped and turned quickly, looking for Seungmin but you couldn’t see him. You weren’t sure if it was because it was so dark, or because you merely heard his voice in your head. Either way, you didn’t like how alone you felt. “Don’t do that.” You whispered, biting on your bottom lip as you carefully maneuvered around the room - using your feet to feel in front of you for obstacles with your eyes trained on the EMF detector. 

“Is there anyone here right now?” You called out softly. You felt extremely embarrassed for doing that, cheeks flushing as you wondered just how the paranormal investigators did this with a straight face. 

“Yes, me.”

“Seungmin I wasn’t talking to you!” You huffed. 

“That wasn’t me, Y/n.” 

You felt fear grip your heart. Now that you think about it, the voice wasn’t even remotely close to Seungmin’s. So if it wasn’t Seungmin, then who was it. 

“Is there anything you want to say to me?” Your voice quivered. 

“Stay with me.” 

It was a whisper, it was right next to your ear. And cold washed over your body. You took one step back, and then another until you pressed up against a solid body. You closed your eyes, clenching them tightly as you tried to keep your breathing even, though your heart was pounding in your chest. “Seungmin?” You were cautious about speaking again, afraid that what was going to answer wouldn’t be Seungmin. Arms wrapped around your waist and you were held tightly. 

“I got you.” You felt relief wash over you at Seungmin’s voice in your ear. “Take slow steps with me. To the right.” He instructed and you nodded. You walked with him, moving right and then back. Slowly the darkness eased away as you exited the room and the cold, gripping fear released you. 

“Thank you.” You whispered and turned to look at him and he smiled. “Why did we walk out the way we did though?” 

“You didn’t notice?” Seungmin frowned and you shook your head. “That thing in your hand.” He said and pointed to the detector. “It steadily grew red the further in you went. Y/n, it was right in front of you.” 

Your eyes widened and you gripped the device tighter so you didn’t accidentally drop it. Whatever had been in that room had been right in front of you and you didn’t notice. How did you not notice? The EMF reader had glowing lights. Why didn’t you remember seeing the lights?

“Some people say that there is a blackness that drowns out all the light and makes it difficult to escape the room. People who have seen it usually come out with physical harm like scratches.”

The voice of the tour guide echoed through your mind as you looked back into the darkroom. You remembered people scoffing, believing it all a hoax. But was it? You couldn’t remember seeing any light the further you went in. Not from the door, and not from the detector. That blackness....that thing had its grip on you. You looked back at Seungmin, eyes following as he walked off to take pictures of other items in the basement. If it weren’t for Seungmin being in there with you, would you have been able to get out on your own? And unscathed? Or would you have been hurt like previous visitors? Or worse yet, would you have been stuck in that room with that thing, forever?