Hoya slowly squeezed his eyes, scrunched up his face, and attempted to return to his prematurely terminated peaceful slumber. He willed himself not open his eyes; to do so would confirm the conclusion of his dream. Rolling onto his side, he wrapped his arms around his purple pajama-clad body to capture whatever stains of subsisting warmth remained. Yet still, there was this annoying vivid pest that continued to interfere in his goal, penetrating his eyelid fortresses. He finally succumbed to the ultimatum: it was morning and it was time to get up. He sighed and sat up, still savoring the sweetness of sleep in his half-dazed and drowsy state.

Opening his eyes just a tiny crack, enough to peek through to find the culprit behind his advanced awakening, he saw the intense early sun. Oddly, the skull-patterned black curtains—courtesy of Soo Min—were drawn, allowing the blasted sun to barge its way into the room. He cursed the heated entity for disturbing his peace and yawned again, twisting his body around to stretch. In the middle of this second lengthy yawn, he finally opened his eyes. The soft sounds of exhalation took a sudden detour to the nearest yelping town. Standing at the foot of his bed was the butler, his suit spotlessly black and unwrinkled and his eyes still gazing intently at the young ghost. Sebastian bowed and extended his apologies. He announced that breakfast was ready and gently placed a stack of fresh white towels on the dresser before departing from the room.

After a while, Sungjong meekly whispered, “Is he gone yet?”

When Hoya nodded, he and Sungyeol threw off their blankets in relief and breathed in the open air deeply, a liberating contrast to the suffocating environment under the heavy covers. 

“He was in this room for at least an hour, just watching us,” Sungyeol shuddered.

“He was creeping me out,” Sungjong agreed.

Hoya flared. “And you didn’t bother to tell me?”

“And what exactly should we have done? Bounce our butts against the bed in Morse code? Or do you suggest cryptically snoring? Snore once for danger, twice for ‘clear’, three times for ‘you’re an idiot’?,” Sungyeol grinned.

Hoya swung his arm and pretended to punch the snarky boy in response. When they met up with their friends in the neighboring room and shared their tale of the disturbing encounter, the others spoke of the exact same experience.

“That’s impossible! How could he have been in your room when he was in ours?” Hoya asked incredulously. “Maybe you had some really realistic dreams… or nightmares.”

“But for all of us to have the same one? And I can’t be wrong! Look, he left towels in our room. That’s physical evidence,” Sunggyu said, pointing to the heap in Myungsoo’s hands.

Sungjong ran back and retrieved their own fluffy white stack. Silence consumed them as goose bumps formed electrifying trails up and down their bodies; the chills became more severe when they heard an all too joyful voice. “Whatcha doing?”

Soo Min was dressed in the horror costume that her mother had given her but like yesterday, her personality was still outrageously upbeat and gleeful.

Dongwoo didn’t know how to begin his question. “Do you, uh—you see, this morning—um, your butler… does he have a twin by any chance?”

Everyone held their breaths, afraid to hear the answer. If only there was a way to peek through their ears as they so often did with their eyes in this house. Besides, this was her family.

She shook her head violently, her hair splashing her face as it swung from side to side, and waved Freddy’s hands wildly in front of her.

“Well, we ask because apparently he was in both of our rooms this morning and that’s just absurd, right?” he scratched his head and laughed nervously.

“Nope! That’s quite possible because Sebastian is the best butler in the whole wide world!” she exclaimed as she brought the skeletal arms high up above her.

“Thank you, my lady. Your kind words warm my heart considerably,” spoke a deep voice from behind them.

They had only been awake for a short while and already these people were popping up all over the place, scaring the intestines out of them.

----------

After breakfast, Woohyun pulled Soo Min aside while the rest were preoccupied with their conspiracies of an elderly mutant ninja butler society.

“I take it that you’re not going to audition anymore, huh? I don’t blame you; you already have the ultimate prize.”

Soo Min attempted to give him a thumbs-up but her clawed gloves hindered her finger movements in every way. Instead, she held up Freddy’s thumb.

Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck. “I understand.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the DVD he had hidden months ago. “You can have this back now. There’s no need for that contract anymore too, I guess.”

There’s no need for us anymore.

She thanked him and started to head back to her room.

“Wait, Soo Min!” She stopped and turned around, cocking her head in question. “Do you remember what happened the other day?”

She flung her head to the other side now, confusion evident in her expression.

“Ah, nevermind. I was just—forget it,” he said and quickly turned his back to her before she could see his red face.

He could hear her receding footsteps as she bounced off merrily and turned her on TV. That silly girl, she was probably all set to go berserk on a Nightmare on Elm Street. Be one with Freddy—that’s what she was most likely thinking.

He returned to the others and plopped himself into the middle of their circle. Being their immature selves, they reciprocated by jumping and piling themselves on top of him.

“We need to talk about Soo Min!”Woohyun’s muffled screams were barely heard from beneath the tangle of pendulating arms, palpitating legs, and of course, inconveniently placed nomadic butts.

He was still screaming when he felt the weight slowly disappear. He looked up and saw the mysterious butler daintily pick up Sungyeol, the last wrestler, and gently lowered him to the side where the rest had their mouths open in shock. Sebastian then effortlessly lifted Woohyun up and brushed the dust off with the back of his right hand.

“Please don’t hesitate to ask for my assistance in the future, sir,” he said before bowing and leaving.

“We really need to start locking our doors,” Hoya proposed.

“But first, why don’t we talk about our situation?” Woohyun suggested.

“What situation?” Sungjong asked, confused.

“We should leave,” he explained. “Obviously, Soo Min’s not going to audition anymore. If so, then what purpose do we have in staying here? We’re only burdening her and her family. They said we can live here indefinitely but can we really? So let’s leave now with these good memories before the circumstances become bitter. And...” his voice trailed off.

“And what?” Sunggyu encouraged.

“And we’re ghosts. Just like in movies, ghosts can’t stay on this earth forever. They disappear. Maybe we won’t just fade away. Maybe we won’t get the time to say ‘goodbye’. I don’t want to take any chances. How do you think she will feel if she wakes up one day and we’re not there anymore? Not knowing and just waiting; we know how much that hurts more than anyone. Is it fair if we put her through that too?”

Their mouths were set in a grim line. Everything Woohyun had said was true. And the more they thought about it, the more they agreed that it was best to leave while her mother was still here and while she was still in this carefree state.

They decided to start packing their belongings first before breaking the news to her; they needed to be resolute in every way about this.

“Has anyone seen my black shirt?” Myungsoo asked, checking through his clothes once more.

“Which one?” Dongwoo replied without looking up.

“The plaid one.”

Everyone stopped and scowled at his answer. “Yes, because that really narrows it down.”

He glared back. “It has blue in it.”

Someone behind him handed it to him, neatly folded. “Ah, thanks,” he said and continued to pack his clothes.

The person folded each item for him and soon enough, he was done. Myungsoo breathed out proudly at his accomplishment and turned around to thank the helper again, expecting to see Sungjong or one of his hyungs from the other room. Instead, he saw the devil.

“AHHHH!” he screamed, jumping back.

Everyone else in the room whipped their heads towards his corner and screamed too.

“I apologize for frightening you. I came to aid you in your packing,” Sebastian explained. He took the top pair of crumpled pants that had been shoved into Dongwoo’s backpack and with three fluid movements, folded the item to perfection.

“Thank you but we can handle it ourselves,” Sunggyu wrote out on a piece of paper.

“Very well, let me know if you have any problems.” Immediately after he left, they bolted the door.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t drink a lot of water this morning or you’d be seeing it on my pants right about now,” Myungsoo said. They all looked down at their crotch and nodded in silence at their good luck.

As they were reflecting upon their nether regions, a loud click was heard as Soo Min successfully picked their lock and strolled in with their other three members dragging behind her. “Explain,” she demanded.

“What?” they pouted, trying to look innocent.

“Sebastian told me you were up to something.”

For an old man, he sure was a tattle-tale. Infinite looked at each other; they hadn’t planned out their speech yet so now, they needed to choose the sacrifice. They huddled together and brainstormed in whispers.

“Maknae goes,” Sungyeol voted.

“How about the useless one goes?!” Sungjong retorted.

“What good would that do? I’m useless. Use-less. Useless. Useless.”

The leader stepped in. “That’s enough, you punk. We’ll decide this the fair way: rock-paper-scissors.”

“That’s too boring. We always end up choosing scissors the first round anyways. And then after, we put out rock… every single damn time,” Dongwoo said, shaking his head. “Instead, why don’t we play rock-paper-scissors-Voldemort-plastic surgeon-Yoda.”

They gave him a look that could be summed up with the phrase, “what’s wrong with you?”

“It’s easy! Rock breaks scissors, scissors cut Voldemort, Voldemort hides part of his soul in a rock, rock crushes plastic surgeon, plastic surgeon attaches a nose on Voldemort, Voldemort burns paper, paper exposes risks of plastic surgery and thereby ruining plastic surgeon, plastic surgeon owns scissors, scissors cut paper, paper covers rock. And, of course, Yoda uses the force and defeats everything.”

They frowned. “Wouldn’t we all just pick Yoda then?”

His face scrunched up in heavy thought and then relaxed with realization. “Oh,” he said, dragging out the sound of his delayed understanding.

“Dongwoo,” Sunggyu sighed, patting his back. “You’re a genius for coming up with such a game… and an idiot for coming up with such a game.”

“I’ll do it,” Woohyun offered. He stepped out from their huddle and approached Soo Min. “We’re leaving.”

At first, she seemed unfazed. But slowly, her eyebrows drew closer together and her cheeks sunk inwards. She tightened her grip on Freddy as the ends of her lips began to curve towards the ground.  Her simple reaction made her appear vulnerable, a look that was unexpected and foreign. “Why?”

He coughed and regained his voice. “We have to leave sooner or later anyways, right?” he forcibly chuckled. “You don’t need us anymore.”

“Need you?” she spoke as though the idea was strange. And indeed it was, for she had neither thought too deeply on how their camaraderie has progressed nor considered how much she valued their presence. People need each other, she pondered, mulling over that one particular word.

“Think about it: you’re not going to become an idol anymore so we have no obligation here.” He inwardly cringed at how harsh it sounded out loud in comparison to when it was still rolling around in his head.

“Is that it,” she wondered softly. She looked around the room at their readied backpacks, the pillows and blankets all placed onto one bed for her convenience, their averting eyes.

“Wait here,” she said suddenly and ran out.

“I’d say that went pretty well despite our impromptu decisions,” Sungyeol said a little too loudly, trying to break the awkwardness.

“I wonder how she feels,” Sungjong said sadly. Woohyun kept his eyes on the ground and shrugged. He was torn: on one hand, he was sad that it had come to this yet, at the same time, he was disappointed at her reaction. In dramas, whenever the main character left, the other lead would chase after him/her and plead, “Please don’t go.” This may be reality but he wanted his own damn dramatic scene.  

Soo Min returned dressed in her regular clothes now, holding a box; not a single brown speck of cardboard could be spotted from underneath the layers of duct tape. She shoved it into Woohyun’s arms. They gathered around and stared at it in speculation. “What is it? A farewell present?”

“It’s the Freddy costume,” she explained.

They looked at her in surprise. “Why are you giving that to us? You love this!”

“So you can give it back to me,” she stepped closer to them. “Stay with me.”

Woohyun set the box down and shook his head. “We want to but we can’t, Soo Min,” his voice strained with agony. “We can’t. Please try to understand; one day, we’re going to ‘move on’. We don’t know when it’s going to happen but it’s better if we leave now before you get hurt.”

“I don’t care.”

“Let’s say our ‘goodbyes’ now while we have the chance,” he persisted.

“Are we not friends?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with the early wetness of tears.

“Of course we’re friends!” Sungjong exclaimed, running towards her.

“Then I want to be with you to the very last moment. I don’t care if there’s no official farewell or if you just suddenly leave one day. If the devil or the reaper comes, I’ll protect you! But you can’t leave until you’re ready! Until then, watch me become an idol and when I do, you better give me the costume as you promised. Now stay here with me. Because I—” She bit her lip and her demanding tone faded. “I… need you guys,” she whispered the last words.

Their hearts bursting with warmth, they pulled her in for a group hug. The odd combination of laughter and sniffling filled the room.  “Till death do us part,” Woohyun said.

“Till death do us part!” they all chorused.

“Or the apocalypse, which some people believe to be coming soon,” Dongwoo said.

Sunggyu playfully kicked him. “Shut up, you stupid genius and just keep hugging.”

----------------------------------------------

A/N: In just a few chapters, there will be another Characters’ Corner! Hooray! Those are so much fun to write!

Myungsoo: It’s a special edition Characters’ Corner this time!

Dongwoo:  Yup! We’ll be answering your questions!

Woohyun: Or if you want a piece of our love, then we’d be happy to oblige. *winks*

Sunggyu:  This isn’t a host club! What he means is that we’d be happy to give shout outs or individual replies too! Just let the author know in the comments or a private message!

Author: I don’t know if I’ve made it clear but I really appreciate every comment, subscriber, and reader. It means a lot to know that you guys are happy with the story!

Sungyeol: Sorry to break it to you, but I don’t think it’s your writing that they like. It’s because of us.

Sungjong: Hyung! Shame on you! Apologize now!

Sungyeol: Nope! I’m useless, remember? Mehrong~

Hoya: *punches Sungyeol* Mehrong~

Sunggyu: Alrighty then! It’s getting violent so it’s time to end this little segment. Send in your comments, questions and requests!

Infinite: Till death do us part!

Soo Min: Till doomsday do us part!