-Chapter 25-

Disturbance

2:30 am

Jongin couldn’t sleep a wink despite the fact that he had crawled into bed a good five hours ago. Looking away from his digital clock from across the room, he heaved out a heavy sigh. Propping himself up on his elbow, he reached over and flicked on his lamp near his bedside. “Why can’t I sleep!” he groaned, ruffling his hair.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Jongin focused his sights on his bedroom door. It was faint but he could hear it. It was subtle but he could feel it—the shakiness resonating to the floor beneath his bed. It was the footsteps he hears every night. Sitting up straight, he continued listening to the constant pacing in the other room. Reassuring himself that he was a fearless man, he pulled the covers off himself, slipped out of bed and walked up to his door where he put his ear against it.

He could hear the footsteps loud and clear now. No doubt it was coming a few doors down from his. He closed his eyes, focusing all his concentration onto his hearing. The footsteps continued.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump...... BANG BANG BANG

Jongin felt his heart leap into his throat as he leaped away from his door. Clenching onto his chest, he watched as his door flung open. “Jongin!!!” Jongin blew out what he thought took the cake for the longest and most relieved sigh ever. Standing at the doorway was his older sister, sleepy eyed and face distorted in irritation.

“Don’t bang on my door so hard! You almost scared me to death!” Jongin grimaced.

“Tell your friend to stop walking around the room so much, I can hear her all the way from my room! It’s nonstop, I swear!” she ordered, pointing a finger in the direction of your room.

“Me? Why don’t you do it if it’s bothering you so much!”

“Look she’s your friend and it was your idea to let her stay here. Do I need to get even deeper into his explanation?”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Jongin sighed, waving her off. Rolling her eyes, she shuffled away from the door and back into her own room. At the sound of her door closing, Jongin unsettlingly rubbed the nape of his neck to release some tension that suddenly came over him. “Calm down Jongin, it’s nothing to worry about…” he assured himself. Taking a deep breath, he started towards your room.

On impulse, Jongin treaded very cautiously and very quietly almost as if being carelessly loud would set something off. It was getting gradually louder—both the footsteps and Jongin’s heartbeats. Then, Jongin heard it. Accompanied with the footsteps, he could hear a voice. But this voice sounded nothing like yours but rather, it sounded like a man. He couldn’t make out what the voice was saying, in fact it didn’t even sound like the voice was saying anything remotely human—just a bunch of whispered gibberish.

Nonetheless, Jongin stood his ground and continued on towards the door. Standing just a few steps away from the door, the footsteps and voice suddenly stopped all together as if it was simply switched off. Shaking away his suspicion, he leaned in close to the door and lightly gave it a few knocks. “Jaeyun? You awake in there?” Jongin carefully called out. No answer. He gave the door a few more knocks. “Jaeyun…” Not a word in response.

Jongin his teeth in annoyance and decided to go for a more direct approach. Taking hold of the doorknob, he pushed the door open. There was only one probably. The door wasn’t opening. With an arched eyebrow, Jongin eyed the doorknob in his grasp. Is she holding onto the knob on the other side of this door? He thought. Now I’m starting to think she really is weird… Shoving open the door once again, it thankfully opened this time.

He half expected to see you standing at your doorway holding your door, or at least sitting around somewhere. But through the thick darkness that coated the room, he saw you asleep in your bed. A chill crawled down Jongin’s spine as realization gradually dawned upon him. He turned and gawked at the door and then over at you, and then back again as he tried to put two and two together.

“I must be reaaally sleepy right now…” He sighed. Throwing his fears out the window, he casually sauntered towards you. Gazing down at you, he saw that you were indeed fast asleep and by the looks of it, you’ve been asleep for a while now. “What the hell was all the noise I heard then?” he pondered out loud, his eyes still lingering on your face. As he was thinking, a small thought in the back of his mind was nudging at him. She’s not that bad looking in this light… He didn’t let the thought bother him too much though when he reached down and lightly tapped your shoulder.

“Jaeyun…” he gently whispered. “Hey, wake up.”

“Luhan…” Jongin raised his eyebrows at you. Luhan? Where have I heard that name before? “I want… to go home… with you…” you quietly murmured in your sleep. Jongin couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.

“There’s just something so amusing about watching people sleep talk.” He chuckled. “Though who’s this Luhan she keeps talking abo—“

Jongin cringed when he suddenly felt a pinching weight on his right shoulder. At first it felt like his muscles were somehow seizing up but not a moment later he realize that it felt like his shoulder was being grabbed. He could feel all five fingers clutching onto his shoulder in such a suffocating taunt grip.

It was his sister, it had to be his sister grabbing onto him. But why was he too stunned to turn around to find out for himself…? “S-sis… i-is that you?” he slowly asked, his breath at the top of his lungs. “I told you n-not to sneak up on me like that…!” The grip persisted and was completely stationary, almost tauntingly fixed in place. And in that moment, it felt as though there were eyes burning right into the back of his head.

In a single moment, he spun around to see the perpetrator. Standing before him was a dark transparent shadow in the shape of a man staring directly at him. Jongin choked up a gasp and stumbled back a couple of steps in shock. On impulse without a moment to think, he darted past the ominous shadow figure and ran out the door straight to his own room in mere seconds.

Now safely behind his own bedroom door (which he now somehow considered his indestructible wall of protection at this point), he slid down onto the ground and felt himself unable to steady his breathing or hammering heart in any way. His skin was crawling and he had broken into a cold sweat during that brief but petrifying encounter. He gazed down at his open palmed hands that were trembling. “W-what did I j-just see…?! It couldn’t have been real… it must have been my imagination! …I need to call Sehun later today. He needs to know about this!”

For the first time, Sehun was actually at the library alone out of his own freewill. Usually he’d spend his weekends relaxing or playing some video games at home—maybe even invite some friends over. But after the horrifying events from the day before, you’d have to be a complete idiot to walk around normally in that house without feeling paranoid or even safe for that matter… As long as he was out of that house, he was fine.

Sehun was using one of the library’s computers; eyes glued to the computer screen and fingers busy tapping away at the plastic keys. Shocking as it may be that going to a library was his first priority, there was actually a legit reason why he was here today. He was fully determined to do some research on none other than his own home and its unwelcomed visitors; especially Yoona. There was no way he was just going to sit around and accept the blocky, vague story everyone’s been telling him without knowing half of the entire story. He needed to get some answers himself.

However no matter how much he investigated all that the internet had to offer, he would only get the exact same information that Jongdae had already told him. He heaved out a long sigh and leaned back into his chair. “There really isn’t that much information on them at all…” he groaned. Allowing his eyes to drift close, he let himself get lost in his thoughts. Why didn’t mom and dad see any of that stuff that happened in Jaeyun’s room yesterday? In fact… why haven’t they seen any of the things that have happened in the house?? It seems like those two know nothing about the issue at hand at all. It’s as if it only concerns Jaeyun and I… Wait, does it…?

Sehun’s eyes rose open. “But… it’s so strange how Jaeyun only experiences things with Luhan… and I only experience things with Yoona…” Just when her name slipped past his lips, Sehun felt himself get sick to his stomach and grow chills. No matter how hard he tried, he simply could not get Yoona’s gruesome image out of his head. It was like a real life nightmare come to life and even he himself couldn’t believe something like that had even happened…

Just then, he had the idea to try and search up images of her. Sitting up straight, he started to type and click away. “If there isn’t any information on her, then maybe old photos of her could give me some type of clue or lead.” In mere seconds, Sehun managed to find a whole web page with old photos of Yoona listed from top to bottom. Looking at the old Yoona, Sehun could honestly admit that this beautiful, radiant woman seemed nothing like that monster he saw the day before. But then again, death and murder can really do a toll on someone.

Looking at each picture carefully, he saw that almost all of the pictures of Yoona depicted her in a variety of beautiful dresses and shoes with her finely combed chocolate brown hair and her flawless feminine face. Nothing out of the ordinary there besides the fact that she was abnormally beautiful in Sehun’s eyes (or maybe it was just the hormones acting up). Looking over the pictures a few more times, Sehun picked up on something—something very subtle…

Yoona was sitting in all of her pictures.

Sehun tilted his head curiously at the photos before him. “Maybe I’m just over thinking it, or maybe she just liked taking pictures sitting down… but I can’t help but find it strange…” Some photos also included her with her brother Minseok or with her fiancée Luhan. In some photos, they were sitting along with her but with the rest they were standing. Why was she always the only one? Thinking back, Sehun remembered the first photo he had ever seen of her that Jongdae had shown him before. She was standing in that photo. I have to find it! He thought.

After a few minutes of searching, Sehun at last found it and enlarged it to get a clear view of her. As beautiful as ever and unlike the other photos, she was standing straight and tall with her fiancée and brother on either side of her. Sehun leaned in close to the screen, studying every little detail of the low quality and aged photo. Minutes ticked by and after a while, Sehun started to believe that maybe he was just looking for something that wasn’t there.

That is… until he picked up on something almost invisible to the eye. Looking at her long slender legs cloak in nylon stockings, he noticed something around her ankles that seemed to have blended in perfectly with her skin and behind the see through stockings. Something was wrapped around her ankles…… Ever so slowly, Sehun started to draw a picture in his head of something that could somehow tie in a small part of this mystery together…

“Good afternoon!” Sehun jumped up with a small shriek, almost tumbling out of his chair. “Whoa, sorry didn’t mean to startle you.” came the same voice. Sehun promptly swiveled his head around and saw an unfamiliar yet kinda familiar face staring down at him. He silently gawked at him, wondering who he was. Freakishly tall, blonde, foreign looking… Where have I seen this guy before…?? The stranger pulled out a seat next to Sehun and plopped down. “I hope this doesn’t start us off on the wrong foot.” He lightly chuckled. “Do you know who I am?” Sehun stayed silent, still butthurt about getting startled out of his mind and losing his concentration.

“My name is Kris, I’m Jongdae’s friend who works here.” He smiled.

“Oh, now I remember you. Uh, nice to meet you Kris.” Sehun awkwardly nodded, slowly turning himself back to face the computer screen. Squinting at the picture, he tried once again to regain his train of thought.

“Your name is Sehun right? So Sehun, what are you searching up there?” Kris asked, leaning out in his seat a bit to get a look at the screen.

“It’s nothing, just something stupid.” He quickly replied. One look at the screen and Kris fell silent. Kris eased back into his own seat and looked away uneasily.

“So… I heard you’re friends with Jongdae. Nice guy, isn’t he?” Kris piped up.

“Mmhmm.” Sehun indifferently nodded, eyes still on the screen.

“Yeah… he’s a little weird though don’t you think. What with his interest in ghosts and whatnot…” Kris looked over at Sehun. “You two are friends, so are you interested in ghosts too?” Sehun glanced over at Kris, a look of slight annoyance on his face for the uncalled for intrusion and small talk.

“Not in the slightest to be honest.” He said rather bitterly.

“I see…” Kris said uncomfortably, obviously sensing Sehun’s irritation. This awkwardness is literally making me sick. Sehun thought impatiently. “Well I sort of figured you were into it since you’re looking up pictures of Yoona.” Sehun paused and looked over at Kris once again, this time with a bit more interest. “You’re also looking up Minseok and Luhan too… right?” his voice was low so only Sehun would hear. There was just something about his tone that made Sehun feel uneasy, like this guy somehow knew something.

“It’s none of your business of what I search up or not.” Sehun simply said.

“Look, let’s be real here.” Kris finally said, the nice guy vibe from him fading away a bit. “I know you’re searching those three up because you live in their house right now, right?” Sehun raised an eyebrow at him.

“How do you even know that—I mean, what’s it to you anyways? What, did Jongdae tell you or something??” Sehun defensively retorted.

“It doesn’t matter how I know, the important thing here is that I can help you.”

“Oh great, another paranormal junkie like Jongdae. Look I don’t need any ghost nerd’s help!!” Sehun snapped, loud enough to cause some individual’s nearby to look over.

“Shhh! Please don’t shout, this is a library and you don’t want people to know about this.” Kris urgently whispered. “And I’m not some type of paranormal fanboy, I—“

“I don’t care who or what you are. Just stay out of other people’s business!”

“But this is my business, more than you will ever know!”

“Like I’m gonna believe tha—“

BZZZTT

Both boys fell silent when they heard the vibrating sound of Sehun’s cellphone in his pocket. Whipping out his phone, he read over the text (thankful that his phone shut Kris up for him)

From: Jongin

Sent: 10:33 AM, October 24

Sehun I think u should drop by today to check on Jaeyun

Immediately after reading your name, Sehun felt a sense of urgency and shot up on his feet. Grabbing his things he quickly walked towards the exit. “Wait, Sehun I’m not done talking to you yet!” Kris called out, jumping up as well.

“Just leave me alone creeper!” Sehun called out over his shoulder. Pushing past the doors, Sehun quickly marched down the sidewalk to catch a bus to go to Jongin’s house.

“Sehun!!!” he heard in the distance. Stopping and looking over his shoulder, he saw Kris and all his tallness rushing towards him.

“Oh great.” Sehun rolled his eyes and continued walking.

“You’re not getting away again.” Kris muttered, now going full speed towards Sehun. In a flash, Kris caught up to the younger boy and grabbed him by the arm to stop him.

“Hey!”

“Look, hear me out for just a few seconds—“

“Why would I??!” he barked, yanking his arm away.

“Like I said, I can help you!!!”

“How on earth can you help me?! Explain to me how and it better be a damn good reason why you can—“

“Because I’m related to Luhan!!!”

Sehun was instantly silenced and stared at Kris with rounded eyes. “W-what…?”

`Author's Corner

Ahhhh Kris asdfghjkl And 100 subbies in all right now! Thank you everyone :-DDD And I'm curious about everybody's theories now after reading this ;-)

This isn't related to anything but I wanted to share it so feel free to ignore this lol So I asked a couple of friends way back what they thought was the creepiest thing a ghost can do to someone because I needed material for my story. And I kid you not, every one of them told me ". Having a ghost someone is creepy!!!" I'm like ".... these girls did not just... *turns away*" Yeah weird story I wanted to share with chy'all haha