"And you were..." My brother started, swinging his hand; a sign for me to continue the sentence.

 

"Talking with a friend of mine from school," I answered nonchalantly.

 

"And this friend is..."

 

"Changjo, our first-day tour guide." I poured milk into my cereal, stabbed the spoon into the bowl and tossed the cereal box back into it's previous spot. Filling the cupboard.

 

I turned back around to find my brother pounding his chest, trying to get whatever was lodged in his throat out. Zelo stood behind him and patted his back. Yongguk calmed down, punctuating it with a sigh.

 

"Halloween is coming up-"

 

"Pass the milk."

 

I blinked a few times, silently shocked by the coldness that seeped out with his words and the hard glare he sent me from across the kitchen island. Unlike usual, Zelo stood tall and firm as if trying to stand his ground against a much stronger and more influential foe. Not only did this make him seem just that much taller, but also added to his intimidation tactic, something I saw very few times.

 

I wrap my fingers around two sides of the carton and push it towards my boyfriend, stirring my cereal and eying him suspiciously. A throat was cleared and my brother started again.

 

"And I thought it would be cool if we built-"

 

"Something wrong?" I asked, looking at my boyfriend's tall frame.

 

Instead of answering, Zelo turned around and walks out of the kitchen. I followed behind, ignoring the growing sounds my stomach make. I knew my brother decided to follow us, but my concentration was on Zelo's grumpy mood. 

 

"Zelo, please talk to me," I said, stopping to watch him sit down on the couch and turn the TV on. Not a word. The only sound to be heard is the sound of Yongguk's intrigued crunching and the TV. Nor I or Zelo take a breath, lest we crack under the pressure of the awkwardness that settled dangerously heavy above our heads.

 

"As I was saying," Yongguk's voice cut through the curtain of silence. "I think, just to make trick-or-treating more fun for the kids, we should turn this house into a-"

 

"Zelo-"

 

"Hyung, can you please leave?" Zelo asked, his mood unchanged. I turned to see Yongguk send us both a deadly 'we'd better talk later' glare before disappearing around the corner, grumbling to himself. Something about kids these days.

 

I looked back at Zelo, who moved his eyes from Yongguk's last position to perfect eye contact with me. Under his gaze, I felt weak, small, greatly inferior. He must have sensed this, because for a second, his cold exterior faltered.

 

"Is talking and laughing Changjo that much better than me?" 

 

"Zelo, you know thats not true." I sat myself beside him on the couch, resisting the urge to grab his hand and pull him into a hug. He must have seen me the night before night at the coffee shop. "You know I'll always enjoy laugh, talking, crying and living with you more than anyone else. Changjo is a FRIEND and you are my BOYFRIEND. There's BIG difference."

 

"But he's always looking at you. And I mean LOOKING."

 

"Man, you must have ignored all the girls in school," I chuckled gently, shaking my head and patting his hand. "The looks most girls give you is the same thing, but I pass them off as meaningless as I know I'm the only girl that matters in your eyes... Right?"

 

Zelo threw his head back and laughed. He pulled me into a hug and smiled against my shoulder. "Of course. Always. I'm sorry for doubting you. I'm sorry for even thinking of something so stupid."

 

"No problem." Zelo pulled away and placed his hand under my chin, leaning in and closing the gaps between our lips. My eyes closed instinctively and I breathed in his scent before we kissed. Just a second more-

 

"AS I WAS SAYING," a deep voiced boomed from behind the wall, stomping footsteps following behind. Yongguk, furious, stepped into the room. "We should build," took a deep breath, "a haunted house."

 

That was it?

 

•  •  •

 

"Is everything all set?" Yongguk asked no one in particular, obsessing about the curtains for the fourth time that day.

 

"Yes!" We yelled with exasperation. Himchan rolled his eyes in passing and the other simply sighed and shook their heads.

 

"You ready, doctor?" I asked Zelo flirtatiously, taking long, slow strides towards him.

 

"With a y nurse like you, who wouldn't be?" Zelo definitely smirked under his doctor's mask, resting his bold stained gloves on my hips.

 

Zelo decided to be an insane surgeon while I was his nurse, 'my blood' dripping from the gaping wound in my side. A trickle of blood fell down the side of my face from my forehead, leaving a trail. My mascara ran from my eyelashes, making it looked like I cried. I had the usual 'y nurse' outfit: a short white dress, low V neck, clipboard, high heels and small nurse's hat. But because I wanted to look terrifyingly beautiful, I had ropes tied loosely around my hands, surgical wounds on my right side and a pale, dead-like pigment smeared on my exposed skin. Zelo's gloves were covered in fake blood, holding a scalpel and surgeon's knife.

 

"Hey," I smacked his hands away. "Hands off. This nurse is busy." I raised my chin and look down at him (figuratively), turning away. I heard a low, sadistic chuckle before Yongguk gave us the thumbs up and the light were dimmed. Zelo and I went to our spots and waited for the approaching screams of the B.A.P victims.

 

Once someone came into view, Zelo started his position of our act while I laid on a metallic table, staring lifeless at the group, blood dripping from my mouth and onto the table.

 

"Yes, I did love her and she loved me," he'd say, looking at me with a solemn sigh. He'd pull off his mask, a creepy smile pulling at his lips. "But I needed perfection. She simply needed a few adjustments." I'd secretly press a button, making the noise a flat heart monitor would make surge through the room, startling the guests. "Finally, she's my perfect undead doll." Zelo would say. 

 

My arm would fall lifelessly off the table, falling onto the tray of sharp knives beside me. I'd sit up as if I was being pulled by the chest and slowly turned to the people group. I'd hop off the table and shuffle with 'strain', an insanely creep smile on my face and my eyes bulging out of their sockets.

 

"Master, can I have....some friends?" I'd ask in a high pitched, unsettlingly cute voice. Zelo would nod then put his mask back on and walk over to the table, readjusting the trays.

 

"Let's get started."

 

Everyone ran screaming. Our house wasn't just blatantly horrifying, but it also played with the mind. We dealt with psychological horror, things that never settled well, no matter how unrealistic it seemed.

 

Midnight hit and we closed up shop, laughing cheerily from the different terrified faces our 'guests' always showered us with. Zelo whispered something to my brother before grabbing my hand and dragging me out the front door.

 

"Where are we going?" I asked.

 

"Anywhere." We stopped running not long after, but kept walking down the street.

 

The streetlights flickered above us and the leaves rustled in the wind. The sky was glazed with dark clouds and the crescent moon hidden behind a couple of them; a fitting sight for the night of the dead. I took off my hat, took out my bun and let my hair blow in the wind. Zelo wound his fingers with mine and swung our hand back and fourth.

 

My heart skipped a beat, but not because of Zelo. The cause was the slow, wet sound not far behind us, heavy footsteps adding to the sense of danger crawling up my spine.