Of course Key would know what to do. Key always knew what to do, Taemin thought to himself. I hope, he added as an afterthought. He was the last one to see Taemin anyway, so he was most likely to know what in the world was going on.
He reached for the phone on the bedside table – and his hand passed straight through it. His first thought was of frustration, the next of panic.

So he did what he always did when panic struck. He ran.

After a while, he began to think that being dead was a lot like being alive, in some aspects. The need to breathe was still present, and as I ran, my lungs and my legs burned. Maybe being a ghost was the same as being human, except invisible.

Finally, he just couldn’t run any further and plopped onto the ground, breathing heavily. Gradually, he caught his breath, and looked up from where he was staring at the ground, realizing finally that he was crying.

“Are you alright?” asked a tentative yet somewhat startled voice in front of the weeping boy. He’d not heard anyone coming, nor expected anyone – all things considered. Surprised, he looked up to see someone crouched in front of him. His dark brown eyes sparkled with a sort of astonished concern, and hair of the same color fluttered lightly and aimlessly through the wind.

Taemin shrugged, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand to brush away the traitorous tears. “Depends on your definition of alright,” he mumbled, looking down at the ground again and refusing to meet the older boy’s eyes. After all, crying didn’t usually make a good first impression.

“Right, stupid question.” He nodded his understanding, as if he knew exactly what was going through the younger boy’s mind. Maybe he did – the concept didn’t seem as impossible to Taemin after everything he’d been though today.

The younger of them scrambled awkwardly to his feet, ignoring the hand that was offered to help him get up, knowing that his own would just pass right through it.

When he was standing, he realized the older boy was easily a few inches taller than him. “Who are you?” Taemin asked, his voice trembling slightly.

“I’m Minho,” the brown-haired boy replied with a slight smile. “What’s your name?”

“…Taemin,” the boy told Minho after a moment’s hesitation. “How is this possible? I mean, how are you here too? You’re the first person I’ve seen, and it seems to me like it’s kind of weird we’re both here.” The words were out before Taemin could put any kind of filter between his mind and his mouth.

Minho chuckled slightly at his outburst. “I don’t know the system exactly, but I have a theory. Though I think some people must have had the same moment. Or decided we’d make a good team or something. I don’t know. I’m probably not right, but it’s at least something. And that’s better than nothing.”

“Teams for what?” the red-haired boy asked curiously.

“For the afterlife,” Minho replied simply. “I’m dead too.”
________________________________________________________________________

҉҉҉Ṩὣὲέṱ┘ṧ Ṥἔḉṱỉổṇ҉҉҉

OKEII! That’s chapter three. Yes, it IS short. Get over it. I got interested in the other story I’m doing. It’s gonna be MUCH longer than this story. I’ve finally started outlining stories before I write them, because that’s how life works. “Don’t write a check with your mouth that your can’t cash.” Yeah. That. Anyway, this is gonna be like 6 chapters, unless I get more than 5 requests for a scene at the end.

SOUNDTRACK FOR THIS CHAPTER!

Missing – Evanescence
Breathe No More – Evanescence
Forever or Never – SHINee