One of the minions was crushing something with a mortar and pestle. Soo Min looked on with interest. “What is that?”

He ignored her and continued grinding.

“What is it for?”

He twitched and replied forcibly, “None of your business.”

“Is it poisonous?”

He looked up again and was slightly taken aback by the gleam in her eyes. What is wrong with this girl?

Meanwhile, Sang Hyun was sharpening his knife. He held it up and examined it in the candlelight. A few sweeps and it’ll perfect. A quick slash on the throat or maybe a stab somewhere through her body? Slow and agonizing would be best… wouldn’t want for her to miss out on her own sacrifice. Hah, stupid naïve Soo—

“SHUT UP!”

Sang Hyun glared at his blade before standing up and walking over to the source of the disruption. Soo Min was still asking questions despite the quivering hand holding a knife to her neck. He kicked his subordinate to the side.

“Fool! We need her alive! You, however, are not needed and if you’re going to continue doing these unnecessary things, then do us all a favor.” He placed the knife back into the minion’s hand.

The offending servant bowed and returned to his job. Sang Hyun dragged Soo Min away by the ropes binding her body.

“Wheeeee!”

He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. “Excuse me?”

She blinked.

His eyes narrowed. “Why did you make that noise just now?”

“Aren’t you going to sacrifice me right here?”

He looked around. They were indeed in the middle of the circle of candles.

“Then this area makes me happy!”

He started to pull on her ropes again.

“Wheee—“ her excitement was cut short when he placed her over his shoulders instead.

“Aww,” she pouted.

He threw her on the floor and went back to sharpening his knife. A few minutes later, he glanced up to check on her only to find that she was gone. He turned around and jumped back in fright from the proximity of her face.

“Are you going to cut me with that?”

Unable to speak, he nodded.

She leaned closer until their noses almost touched. “Then I’m honored,” she whispered before waddling back to her spot.

Sang Hyun suddenly became anxious. He had certainly not expected her to be so… positive in her reactions. It was almost as if she wanted to be killed. But that shouldn’t matter; a happy sacrifice doesn’t mean a compromised sacrifice.

Right?

----------

Woohyun and Sunggyu arrived back at the house and went to their respective rooms, a bit disappointed at their failed stalking. Woohyun felt as though he had just drifted off to dreamland when small yet firm hands shook his shoulders. When he ignored it, those same hands slapped him hard across the face. He suddenly flew up and trapped the culprit in a headlock. “Why are you disrupting my sleep?”

“Where is my noona?” Sungjong managed to choke out.

Woohyun released him and climbed back under his blanket. “I don’t know. She’s probably in her room by now.”

He had only closed his eyes for a second before the blanket was yanked off of him. “She’s not there. Where did they go?”

“We lost them at the theater. Just call her or something.”

“I can’t. SHE DOESN’T HAVE A CELL PHONE!”

Woohyun sat up, initially worried for the other resting members but shifted his attention when he saw the maknae’s bottom lip was shaking.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be back soon. What time is it?”

“2:30 AM!”

Alarmed, Woohyun stood up and pulled Sungjong out into the hallway. The maknae sat against the wall and watched as his friend paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and—

“Stop that! You’re making me dizzy!” he clutched his head.

“Sorry. But what do we do? They could be anywhere by now.”

Sungjong held up his index finger and proudly smiled. “I have a plan.”

-----

They were in their neighbor’s house, maneuvering their way through the cluttered living room. Well, Woohyun was maneuvering the obstacle course; Sungjong was already on the other side waiting.

“Come on, hyung! You can do it!”

“Will you keep your voice down? Someone might wake up and catch us! Trespassing isn’t exactly legal, you know.” he whispered fiercely.

“Pabo-ah, we’re ghosts, remember?”

Woohyun cursed as he bumped his shin yet again on another obscurely-placed furniture leg. After much difficulty, he reached Sungjong’s side. “How did you get here so fast, anyways?” he panted.

“Pabo-ah, we’re ghosts, remember?”

“You couldn’t have told me that when I was getting bruises back there?”

“Pabo-ah, but I did, remember?”

“Aish, just shut up.”

They had only taken a step into the kitchen when Woohyun felt something his leg. He looked down and found a German shepherd at his feet.

“Jolie!” Sungjong shouted and hugged the dog.

“So this is where you disappear off to during the day.”

“Why? Where do you think I go?”

Woohyun scratched the back of his neck. “The women’s bathhouse.”

“Hyung!”

“Not just me; the other members thought so too! You are… growing up.”

“HYUNG!”

“Nevermind about that. It can see us?”

“Not it, she.”

“Jolie’s a girl? Wait… her name is Jolie?!”

“Mmhmm! I named her myself!” he jabbed his thumb to his chest proudly.

Woohyun facepalmed. “You can’t just rename someone else’s dog!”

Sungjong stuck out his tongue and pulled Freddy’s hand from his pocket. “Okay, come on, girl. Help us find her.”

Jolie took a couple of sniffs and immediately started walking out her dog door. Sungjong held onto the leash and floated through. Woohyun walked smack right into the door.

The maknae’s head popped back in. “Pabo-ah, we’re ghosts, remember?”

----------

Another minion made a cut in the corner of a bag and walked in circles, letting the contents drip down as he went.

Soo Min’s eyes widened. “Blood…”

Sang Hyun laughed in victory. Finally, this was whimpering in terror. This stupid, little—

“Hehehehehe.”

He punched the wall behind her. “Cry! Beg for mercy! Why aren’t you ing scared?!”

She titled her head. “Cry? Why would I do that?”

“Because, in case your dense brain hasn’t realized it, we’re going to kill you!”

“Hehe, I know! Isn’t this so fun?”

The minions all looked at each other in fear. Sang Hyun clenched his fists. “Get in your places. It’s almost three.”

He turned back to his captive and gripped her chin. “Your time is near, my love.”

----------

They reached the edge of the forest and looked up. The tops of the trees couldn’t even be seen, despite the full moon shining brightly above.

Woohyun peeked hesistantly into the dark forest. “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

Sungjong kneeled down, whispered something into the dog’s ears and received a “Woof!” in reply.

“Jolie is 100% sure!”

They took a deep breath and began their first steps into the unfamiliar territory.

---------

A single wooden chair was placed in the middle. They bound her hands and feet again and then tied her body several times to the chair. A minion threw a handful of the mysterious mixture into the air above her and sprinkled the rest around her. They opened a duffle bag and pulled out four black hooded robes.

Soo Min formed an “O” with . “Whoa… this is legit…”

The three cohorts looked at Sang Hyun with uncertainty. He brushed them away and opened a door on the roof. The moon beam was now directly on Soo Min.

“It’s time.”

The minions sat down—spaced out evenly around the circle—and started to hum. Sang Hyun opened a book and chanted for a few minutes in Latin before grabbing the knife from his pocket. He stepped closer and placed the knife on her arm.

“Yay!”

Astonished, he stepped back and dropped the weapon. The minions stopped humming. For a few minutes, silence overwhelmed the room. Sang Hyun’s nose twitched and he shouted in frustration, “Keep quiet, you idiot! Now we have to start all over!”

He walked back to the front of the circle and repeated the chant. Right when he was about to finish, Soo Min spoke up. “Excuse me.”

He ignored her and kept reading. “Excuse me!”

“What?!”

“Excuse me, sorry, but X-Y-Z.”

He gave her a confused look. “Stop—stop trying to stall.” He went back to his book.

“Your fly!”

“Huh?”

“The cucumber has left the salad. “

“What the hell are you trying to say?”

“Men may be from Mars… but I can see something that rhymes with Venus.”

Everyone’s eyes lowered. Sang Hyun looked down too. Alarmed, he quickly turned around and a loud “Zip!” echoed through the room.

He cleared his throat and resumed the chant. Right when he was about to finish the last word, the door opened. “What now?!”

A dog came in, sniffing around the room before circling Soo Min, and barked. The minions moved towards the dog but everytime they reached for the leash, it was jerked away from their hands. That’s when they noticed what had been bothering them: it was floating.

“GHOST!” they screamed simultaneously.

“Third-party jinx!” Woohyun laughed.

Soo Min giggled. “You guys are just in time for my sacrifice!”

The two Infinite members were about to undo her ropes when Sang Hyun began to chant something else.

“Ooh… I get to see an exorcism today too? Yay!” she stopped smiling however when the two started to scream in pain. They were crouched down, clutching their stomachs, then their heads, then their arms: every part of their body felt like it was on fire.

“Stop! Stop it right now!” she shouted.

Sang Hyun just smiled and continued. No one’s going to get in my way.

The air suddenly grew colder and the room darkened. Is this supposed to happen? He shrugged it off and kept reading.

What he didn’t notice was Soo Min’s sinister eyes. Her body became ominious, surrounded by a creepy aura. One by one, the ropes snapped and fell down. The minions shook in fear and backed up against the wall. She stood up and with a single swift kick, knocked Sang Hyun down to the floor. Woohyun and Sungjong stopped screaming and laid on their backs, panting as they tried to recover from the pain.

“What are you doing, you imbeciles! Take her out!”

One brave minion stood up and approached her with his own weapon. He made a fast jab towards her but was blocked by a deflection with her hands. Before he could try again, she picked him and threw him against the wall.

She was completely enveloped in blackness by now.

The others tried to escape but within mere seconds, they were all on the floor, in agony.

Sang Hyun was already almost out of the woods. He was relieved yet smug; there was no where that dumb girl could get him. He had taken a different path and he knew the area more than she did. His arrogance fell to pieces when he saw her right in front of him. Panicked, he turned around but there she was again.

“What—what do you want?” his voice cracked.

She pointed a finger at him.

“You want money? Compensation? Here. Take it all!” he threw his wallet towards her. She kicked it out of the way and moved closer.

“Stay right there or I’ll call the cops!”

Malicious laughter escaped her lips as she closed the distance between them. He tried to back away but found that his feet couldn’t move. She grabbed him with one hand.

“I promise I won’t do anything bad ever again. Please let me go!”

She threw him a few feet away. “Liar!”

He scrambled up and ran back towards the cabin. When he looked back, she was gone. After a couple of minutes, he reached shelter and closed the door quickly, leaning on it as much as possible. That proved to be ineffective when Soo Min landed effortlessly through the hole in the roof.

“Please don’t kill me! I’ll be good; I promise!” He began to sob, “PLEASE!”

She kept moving closer, her hair flying wildly about.

“Please! I just want to go home! I really, really won’t do anything bad again!”

She grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. Sungjong suddenly stood up and shouted, “Noona! Look what I brought you!”

At the sight of Freddy, she immediately dropped Sang Hyun with a thud and ran over to the maknae.

He looked at her worriedly. “Are you okay?”

She just nodded and cradled the skeletal hand.

“Then let’s go home. What should we do about them?” he pointed to the four guys huddled in the corner.

 “They’re probably traumatized for life so I think we’re good,” Woohyun laughed.

The two held onto Soo Min and led her out the door. They had only gone a couple of feet when she suddenly turned around and started walking in the opposite direction.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Woohyun grabbed the back of her shirt and dragged her away.

“I MUST HAVE THAT BOOK!”

“Nuh uh. Let’s go. This forest is giving me the creeps.”

Soo Min shrugged. “I actually like it here. It feels quite homey.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

 “Well, we’ve got to return her first.” Sungjong held up the leash. He bent down and cooed, “You’ve been a good girl, haven’t you? Hey, what’s that in your mouth?”

Soo Min began to panic. “Where’s Freddy? I was holding him just now.”

“Uh-oh.”

----------

KOREA DAILY TIMES

POPULAR THEATER HAUNTED?

(Seoul) Local moviegoers claim they witnessed supernatural activities last Friday at the Lotte Cinema location in Seoul. Unexplained events occurred, however, in only one room during the screening of the newly released horror, White.

Park Chan Wook, 23, was with his girlfriend when he noticed that his popcorn was mysteriously disappearing. “I looked up and it was just floating in the air! Then it flew behind and bounced off of something. But the even stranger thing is, there was nothing there!”

Another witness, who wishes to remain anonymous in fear that the spirits may appear again, said he/she saw a flyswatter moving by itself throughout the room. A few customers spoke of chairs seemingly moving up and down on their own while others complained of a foul odor filling the theater. “It smelled like feet,” a middle school student disclosed.

Theater employees have investigated the matter but no other similar incidents have arisen. Despite this, Lotte Cinema has assumed full responsibility and all unsatisfied customers were fully refunded.