Chapter 6: The Dead and the Living


The next day, Junhyung waited for Mi-na at the same restaurant patiently. He had skipped Sukira radio show, insisting that he was sick and he needed to stay home and rest, when actual fact, he had gone to meet the little girl who could see the same numbers as him.


“Oppa! Yay! Let’s go to the park again!”


Junhyung smiled at his new friend. He was trying his best to be nice to her, just so that he could earn her trust and she would at least tell him something. Though she looked innocent, he knew she wasn’t that innocent. There were no signs that hinted to him that she was evil, but he just knows she’s not what she seems.


And so, they walked hand-in-hand towards the park again.


+++


Junhyung would always meet Mi-na at the same place and at the same time. If Beast had a schedule at the same timing, he would make up something, anything, as long as he could get away from being a Beast member and just have some time alone with the little girl. He still felt uneasy having the numbers surrounding him although it had been days since he got his powers. The Beast members were beginning to suspect Junhyung had a girlfriend or something.


“You think…?” Hyunseung stared at Junhyung from a crack through the unlocked bedroom door and gulped.


“Of course… then why would he act sick all of a sudden huh? Maybe as soon as we walk out of those doors, he’ll get up and meet his girl or something,” Yoseob whispered and then motioned for Dongwoon to come over, “So do you think Junhyung is lying or not?”


Dongwoon looked at Junhyung and just shrugged. He didn’t want to doubt Junhyung or anything but he had been acting suspicious all of a sudden. It’s been going on like this since the night he had a ‘talk’ with Junhyung. Dongwoon bit his lip and shook his head. Nah, it can’t be cause of that.


“Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with him. Maybe he just felt a little down today…” Dongwoon patted Yoseob’s back and walked away. Hyunseung raised his eyebrow and mouthed out ‘Whatever’ before he too left to get ready for a radio show. Yoseob sighed. He thought no one else but him felt that Junhyung was acting weird.


“So what about you Ki Kwang? Can you use your third eye to sense something is wrong with Junhyung?” Yoseob smiled cheekily at AJ, who had been staring at them all these while. Yoseob then turned back to peek at Junhyung, who was ‘sleeping’.


“Well… I…” AJ started but he didn’t know how to continue. Should he tell Yoseob what he saw in the restaurant that had been bothering Junhyung? Or should he just keep it to himself…maybe the thing that was bothering Junhyung wasn’t the cause of his weird behavior lately, maybe it was just his wrong gut feeling. AJ decided to just keep his mouth shut and went off, leaving Yoseob all alone to stare at Junhyung’s ‘sleeping’ figure.


+++


Yoseob was right. As soon as the Beast members walked out of their dorm doors, Junhyung quickly woke up at the sound of the door locking and got ready. He rushed down a different flight of staircase to avoid Beast and ran to meet Mi-na at the restaurant.


The same thing happened almost everytime he meets her. She would come running into the restaurant into his arms and they both would go to the park to play. A lot of people would just stare at Junhyung whenever he helped Mi-na onto the swings or play hide and seek with her or heck, they just stare at him as if he was crazy whenever he does anything with Mi-na. They probably thought he was her father or something and someone that young to be a father was a disgrace in their eyes. He just ignored them and continued on playing with Mi-na.


Finally, they were watching the sun set together. Junhyung realized that this was one of the rare times he ever watched the sun set with Mi-na because usually she would play so much and lost the track of time. They both sat down on a bench and sighed blissfully.


“Oppa… the sun is soooooo beautiful,” Mi-na exclaimed delightfully and clasped her hands together. Her big eyes stared at the sun setting in awe.


“Yeah… just like you.” He pinched her cheek and laughed at the pout she made. She was adorable regardless.


“Oppa…” Mi-na blushed and held her cheeks in embarrassment. She shook her head and giggled to herself.


Junhyung just raised an eyebrow and stared at her. He felt… comfortable with her. Maybe because she didn’t have the numbers on top of her head, so he doesn’t get distracted easily and think about ridiculous things.


“Will you be my boyfriend?” Mi-na hide her face in her hands. Junhyung almost choked. He didn’t mean to give the wrong impression to her or anything. He just wanted her to answer his questions and he thought that spending time with her would do the trick.


“Umm… maybe I’ll just stay as your oppa okay?” He tried smiling, but the thought of being Mi-na’s boyfriend was making him feel like puking. Hell no! He wasn’t a e or anything like that. He didn’t feel anything like that about her. She was only… okay he didn’t really know how old she was but she couldn’t be beyond 8 years old. He just wanted to be a good older brother though he doesn’t know much about her background.


“Okay…” Mi-na smiled and looked down. Then she looked back up at him grinning as widely as ever, “Stay as my oppa forever. Promise?” She took out her pinky.


“Promise.” Junhyung curled her pinky with his without even thinking and smiled. ‘Now, will you tell me about these numbers?’


She just looked away and kept on smiling as if she had won the biggest teddy bear ever. It was getting dark and Junhyung had to go already. But he wasn’t about to go before getting some answers. He knew that he already spent enough time with the girl for her to trust him, so he better ask now before she doesn’t take him seriously anymore.


Suddenly, he noticed her staring at him, no, she was staring on top of his head. He panicked, what? Was his time already up? He quickly grabbed her arm and asked, “What’s happening to my numbers?”


Mi-na just smiled and shook her head slowly, “Oh nothing. They’re just numbers.” She talked as if the numbers meant nothing. Sure, maybe she was too young to understand death but one day, she was going to regret ever getting these powers.


Junhyung sighed in relief, he knew she would tell him if he were about to die soon…right? He finally mustered enough courage to ask her this question he had longed to ask but he had wanted it to be the last question, and instead, now it had become the first, “If you can see my numbers right… can you tell me what’s the numbers on my head now?”


Mi-na just stared at his numbers as if she was calculating it in her little head. Then she shook her head and smiled, “Don’t be scared Oppa. If you die, I’ll be here for you.”


It was either she didn’t get his question correctly or it was her way of comforting him. Either way, she didn’t want to tell him. He just sighed and looked at her again.


“Mi-na. I know that you know something, and you’re hiding it away from me. If you want me to be your Oppa, you better tell me. Why do we get to see these numbers huh? And why can’t I see your numbers?” He grabbed her shoulders so she would face him directly.


“Oppa…I’m scared,” Mi-na whimpered as her face changed expression to a scared one. Junhyung didn’t have time for this. He had to go home soon and he’s not leaving without getting at least one answer from her.


“You’re hiding something. Tell me!”


“I’m not!”


“You’re lying!” Junhyung screamed in her face angrily and stopped when he saw how frightened she looked. She was crying so badly and her hiccupping was non-stop. He suddenly felt bad for shouting at her. Hell, he’s feeling even worse than when he first got these dreadful powers.


He let go of her and stared at her pitiful figure. ‘What have you done now Junhyung?’ He shook his head and sighed. Then he punched himself mentally for making Mi-na cry. He should have been more tactful or at least more patient. But he’s been patient for days now and he’s losing it already.


Suddenly, he noticed Mi-na was gone! No! He was supposed to drop her off at the restaurant. Junhyung quickly got up and tried to look for her. It was getting darker and darker and he better find her before nighttime. Who knows what kind of evil lurked around the streets of Seoul.


Junhyung ran to all the places he had been to with Mi-na, screaming out loud for her name, “Mi-na! I’m sorry for shouting at you! I didn’t mean it! All I wanted were answers…” He stopped after awhile and panted heavily. He could see white puffs coming out of his mouth, when the warm air from his lungs touches the cold air of the surroundings.


“Hyung?” Junhyung turned around to see a familiar face. It was Yoseob, staring at him as if he was a lunatic, screaming at nothing in the middle of nowhere.


“What are you doing here?” Yoseob asked suspiciously.


“I should be asking you the same thing. Shouldn’t you still be in Sukira?” Junhyung eyed Yoseob, while still trying to catch his breath.


“They cancelled the show and when we got back, you weren’t in bed. So they told me and Doojoon to look for you…” Yoseob looked at Junhyung worriedly and tried to reach out for him, but Junhyung slapped his hand
away.


“And who the heck is Mi-na? Is it some girl you’ve been hiding from us?” Yoseob shouted angrily when Junhyung rejected his help. Junhyung just kept quiet and stood high. He then jogged away silently, in search of a certain little girl.


“Hey! Don’t ignore me! I said, who the heck is Mi-na?” Yoseob catch up with Junhyung and stood in front of him with his arms spread open.


“Fine. She’s that little girl who keeps bothering our table in that barbeque restaurant,” Junhyung crossed his arms and waited for Yoseob’s reaction, but instead Yoseob just scratched his head and mumbled out, “But there’s no little girl... there.”


“You know that little girl with two ponytails…the one in the pink dress. She always peeps at our table and stuff…” Junhyung was getting impatient with Yoseob’s lack of observation and finally, he just pushed Yoseob’s arms away and ran somewhere else in search of Mi-na.


“Just look for the girl all right! If you found her, then call me!” Junhyung screamed at Yoseob who seemed further and further away from his sight.


“But there’s no little girl…” Yoseob mumbled to himself as he stared at Junhyung’s back.


Junhyung had been running around for what seemed like hours and finally, it struck to him that Mi-na might have went back to the restaurant… somehow. He quickly changed directions and jogged to the restaurant where it all started.


“Mi-na?” He panted as he finally got to the place. He walked in and saw the waiters and waitresses clearing up the place. He looked around but there was no sign of a little girl.


“Excuse me miss,” He tried to get a waitress’ attention. She just ignored him and kept on wiping the table. Junhyung placed both his hands on the table and asked once more, “EXCUSE ME.”


The waitress then looked up and smiled apologetically, “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. Yes? The restaurant is
closing but we can still take your orders if you…” He quickly waved his hand as if to dismiss whatever she just said and interrupted her, “No I don’t want food. Have you seen a little girl? This short,” he placed his hand around Mi-na’s height, “with two pigtails, bug-eyed and she likes to wear pink dresses.”


The waitress then stopped to think and placed her hand on her chin, trying to absorb in all the details that Junhyung mentioned. She then shook her head at him and apologized.


Junhyung stared at her head, no, he stared at the thing behind her head. It was a picture of Mi-na hanging on the wall. There were flowers around her picture and he wondered how come he hadn’t noticed the picture frame before.


“Sir?” the waitress’ voice interrupted his train of thoughts and he turned around about to ask her something but she interrupted him again, “Are you saying it’s that girl?”


He was unsure but the more he looked at the picture, the more he was convinced that it was definitely Mi-na. He then nodded and looked at the waitress, as if waiting for her to say something even more shocking and he was right.


“That girl is dead, sir.”


Junhyung shook his head in disbelief and looked at the picture again. It was definitely Mi-na.


“She died a few days ago of an asthma attack in this same restaurant,” the waitress’ voice became quieter and Junhyung didn’t dare look into the woman’s eyes anymore.


He took one last look at the picture and ran out of the restaurant, into the streets again.


He soon reached the swings that he used to push Mi-na at and slumped down on one of the swings. His head was hurting so badly just thinking about it. Slowly, he found his legs rocking his body to and fro. The swings creaked at every move.


‘But how can it be?’


(Flashback)


“She’s having an asthma attack! Hurry get her to the hospital!” The paramedics shouted at no one and quickly placed the stretcher with the patient on it into the ambulance. Junhyung could see it clearly. 5 seconds remaining. He was already at the front of the crowd, gawking at the scene in front of him. 4 seconds. ‘She’ll never make it!’ His mind was screaming franticly but his body remained rooted to the ground. 3 seconds. Her body was already becoming limp. 2 seconds. They were about to close the ambulance doors. 1 second left. And she was gone.


(End of Flashback)


Junhyung widened his eyes, ‘so it was her…’ He remembered every detail of it. The day he got his powers was the same day she died. No wonder he couldn’t see her numbers… ‘Because she’s already dead.’ The thought hit Junhyung so hard, he just felt like someone had ripped his chest open and took out his heart. He didn’t know she was dead. No wonder people stared at them, no, they were staring at him and only him because to them,


Mi-na probably didn’t existed. He felt so stupid, he should have known.


+++


The Sukira radio show had been cancelled and Eeteuk had personally apologized to Beast for coming all the way here just to find out the radio system wasn’t working and they would have to come again another day.

And so, Beast had nothing to do but watch TV that night but when they got home, Junhyung wasn’t in his bed… or anywhere in the dorm. Everyone voted for Yoseob to go out and look for Junhyung. Doojoon felt bad for him and decided to tag along. They would later split up to be more efficient. A few hours have passed and still, no sign of Yoseob, Doojoon or Junhyung.


“Junhyung’s not picking up his phone,” Hyungseung sighed and tried dialing for Junhyung’s number again. The rest just ignored him while they watched the television intently, especially Dongwoon who was on the floor with his mouth wide open at the content of what they’re watching.


“Guys…” Hyunseung cleared his throat and but still, no reaction from the members.


“GUYS!” This time, he at least got AJ’s attention but it only took a second for him to go back watching the TV screen.


Hyunseung’s eye twitched at the sight of the rest of Beast not paying attention to him or even giving a SUE about the others. He’s had enough of it and quickly took the remote from AJ’s hand and shut the TV off, “Allright enough! Just cause Doojoon ain’t here doesn’t mean you guys can do whatever you want!”


“Aww Hyung, Tyra was gonna say whose picture she has in her hands…” Dongwoon complained and finally gave Hyunseung his attention.


“Is Tyra more important or is Junhyung, Yoseob and Doojoon more important to you huh?”


Dongwoon gulped. He knew Hyunseung was serious and pissed at him now. He just hung his head down while AJ mumbled out something, “Of course Ty…” but stopped once he saw the frustrating look on Hyunseung’s face. AJ put up his hands in surrender and nodded.


Suddenly, the main door burst open and revealed Junhyung who looked so awful, the rest of them didn’t even dare to ask where he went. He just slammed the door behind him. His coat had some dried leaves stuck on it, which meant that he had been caught in the middle of some wind storm and his footsteps left a trail of sand.


Dongwoon swore he saw tears in Junhyung’s eyes as Junhyung rushed to their bedroom and slammed the door just like he did with the main door, but this time, he locked it.


The rest who were in the living room looked at each other.


“O-kay… weird.”


+++


“Where is he?” Doojoon burst into the Beast dorm angrily.


Hyunseung placed a finger on his own lip as if to hush down the mighty Beast leader, while AJ and Dongwoon pointed to their room silently.


“I’m gonna kill him.”


But before Doojoon could trudged into the bedroom, Yoseob came running from behind and stood in front of the bedroom door.


“Doojoon… stop. He’s in a mentally unstable condition. I swear he is.” Yoseob said it all in one breath and begged for the leader to just take some time and consider the possibilities.


“No, I think he’s just making up some stupid story to cover up his girlfriend. You and I both know there isn’t any ‘little girl’ there.” Doojoon then folded his arms and stared at Yoseob hard.


“Guys guys… what are you talking about? What girlfriend?” Hyunseung as the oldest decided to step in between the two and find out what’s really happening.


Doojoon rolled his eyes and then walked out of their dorm again.


“Where do you think you’re going, mister?” Hyunseung shouted at Doojoon’s back. ‘Isn’t he tired from all that searching dammit.’


“Get a drink. It’s tiring enough to take care of all of you and one decides to crop up more problems.”


“But you don’t even drink!” Hyunseung screamed back but Doojoon was already out of sight. He then turned back to face Yoseob,
“Now tell me from the beginning…”


+++


Junhyung heard it all from inside the bedroom. Their room wasn’t soundproof, that’s for sure. And when Yoseob had came up with the possibility that he might be ‘mentally unstable’, Junhyung was quick enough to agree with him.


But was he really ‘mentally unstable’?


So far, everything, everything… that happened had lead him to believe that these powers were real and he wasn’t just delusional. That person who died on the stretcher, that pregnant lady with the apples, that Yoseob jaywalking incident… he already knew about them before anyone ever told him.


Then there was Mi-na. Someone whom he thought shares the same dilemma as him. But now it turns out she was dead. She had been dead all along and he was a fool for not realizing it sooner. He had wasted his time spending quality time with ‘her’ and now he had become attached to her… he had actually felt something for her… but she was no longer alive.


‘I can’t be crazy… The numbers were real. She was real.’


+++


“Junhyung, open the door! We need to sleep!” Hyunseung knocked on the door loudly to make sure that even if Junhyung was asleep in there, he could hear them outside.


“…and bathe, and change!” Yoseob added on.


The rest heard footsteps inside, indicating that Junhyung was walking around… and then they heard some stuff falling over and dropping on the ground.


Hyunseung’s eyes widened in shock, “Holy sh*t. Junhyung! OPEN THE D*MN DOOR!”


Suddenly, the door unlocked. Everyone stood back, expecting something to happen.


A few moments later the door opened and all their pillows and blankets were thrown to them.


The door shut back and they heard Junhyung locking again.


“I can’t believe him…” Hyunseung stared at the door widely.