Soo Min lived in a house fairly close to the tree that they had been sitting under. They noticed that there were no cars parked outside.

She unlocked the door and allowed them to step inside. The decorations were kept to a minimal: no picture frames, no paintings, no vases. As for furniture, only a sofa was placed in the living room and a long wooden table in the dining room. However, despite the bareness in the home, it felt comfortable and welcoming.

As they ventured through the rest of the house, they found that one room contained a library while another had two computers on separate desks on opposite sides of the room.

She led them upstairs and showed them the two extra bedrooms next to each other.

“Whose rooms are these anyways?” Myungsoo asked.

“No one’s,” came the reply.

“Oh…”

Did you kill them? Is that why? He wondered briefly before hitting his head to get rid of the ridiculous thoughts. Aigoo… she seems friendly enough.

Sunggyu, Woohyun, Dongwoo, and Myungsoo were placed in one room; Hoya, Sungyeol, and Sungjong in the other.

“I call dibs on the bed!” Sungyeol yelled quickly before sprinting to claim his prize.

“Hey! I’m old so give ME the bed!” Sunggyu argued.

“Uh, hyung, you’re in the other room…”

Just then, from the next room, they heard Woohyun yell, “The bed is mine!” followed by a yelp of pain and Dongwoo’s victorious shout of, “Not anymore!”

Sungjong turned towards their host. “Soo Min-sshi, where’s your room?”

She pointed across the hallway at the closed door with a gargoyle knocker.

“Hmm… makes sense. Then, whose is that?” He nodded towards the one next to her room.

“Umma.”

“Oh, is she coming home soon?”

She shook her head. “Business trip.”

“And… your dad?’

“Dead.” She said that almost nonchalantly but everyone was still momentarily quiet.

“Sorry to hear that,” Hoya said. “Do you have any siblings?”

When she answered negatively, he was a bit sorry that he had asked.

After she made sure everyone was settled, she turned around and headed towards her room. They made a move to follow but she suddenly stopped and slowly turned her head to face them.

“No one must come into my room.” she whispered.

Two hours later, they heard her door open and peeked out to see her going down the stairs. They secretly hoped that she would be heading for the kitchen to cook or offer food. Their stomachs had been growling for awhile but they were too scared to disturb her while she was in her room. And although they did not want to admit it, they were also a bit nervous to go near the gargoyle.

Their wishes were fulfilled when they heard the clanging of a few pots, knives chopping and the stove turning on.

They were still listening to the pleasing sounds when she suddenly appeared in front of them. They gasped and jumped a little. Wasn’t she just down there merely seconds ago? In the dark hallway, with her long bangs and eerily quiet demeanor, she was a close imitation of Kayako from The Grudge.

“Watch the stove. I need to buy some vegetables.”

Sunggyu and Sungjong agreed to do so. Woohyun had considered it. He missed cooking, but it wouldn’t be the same unless he could actually do it.

“It’s getting dark. You shouldn’t go alone. I’ll come with you.” Myungsoo offered.

She declined. “No, thank you. I can take care of myself.”

“He’s right! I’ll come with you!” Sungyeol expressed gleefully. “Woohyun, come with us.”

“No thanks, I’ll stay. Besides, she said she didn’t need any help.”

Woohyun was frustrated, angry, and grateful, but mainly, confused. He wasn’t sure why but he felt like he didn’t have to pretend to be nice. Not that he pretended a lot but he knew that a façade of politeness was needless. Was it because of her apathetic attitude? Was that why he felt comfortable to act however way he wanted?

She ignored them all and went downstairs, grabbing her coat and scarf. They all heard the front door open.

“Wait for us, Soo Min-sshi!”

Myungsoo ran down, followed by Sungyeol who was dragging Woohyun by the arm.

Stupid floating body, Woohyun thought. Why must you be weightless?

Twenty minutes later and she was finished with her purchases: mushrooms, green onions, bean sprouts, ginger, and tomatoes, along with other various snacks and junk food that the three had begged for her to buy.

When they were about to enter her neighborhood, two guys on motorbikes came out from the side and blocked her pathway. When she turned around, two more guys appeared and surrounded her.

“Please get out of my way.” She made a move to pass them but they blocked her way again.

“Hey there, little girl…”

Truthfully, they had not seen her until she spoke up. It was a mere coincidence that they had been about to ride out when she walked in front of them.

“I need to get home quickly. I can’t let the broth simmer for too long.”

The watching ghosts facepalmed at her response. She was about to be attacked and all she cared about was her broth? Woohyun was a bit appreciative at her response though; it is possible to ruin a broth by leaving it on the stove for too long.

“Aww come on, now. There’s something else that’s simmering right here.” The guys tightened their circle around her. One of them touched her shoulder. She flinched.

Sungyeol, Myungsoo and Woohyun were suddenly alert and started to think of a plan.

It was unnecessary.

She grabbed his arm, twisting it before using it to punch his face, knocking him to the ground.

“Hey, you’re getting a bit too rough there, .” Another man tried to grab her hair but she ducked down and swiped her left leg in a circle, making him fall down.

The first guy and his remaining friends all ran towards her at once. She front kicked and then round housed one man with her right leg and then quickly back kicked another man with the other, all the while gently tapping the third guy at certain pressure points, immobilizing him.

The ghosts stood there open-mouthed.

Good thing I’m already dead or else I’d have to worry about herhurting me, Sungyeol and Myungsoo thought.

Woohyun, however, was greatly impressed, although he was a bit irritated that he couldn’t have participated in the fight. He noticed that one of the guys had stood up and had reached into his jacket.

“Watch out! He has a-“

Before, he could finish, Soo Min had already whipped off her scarf—which had, along with her hair, been convering all of her face—and used it to disarm her assailant. Then, she unloaded the gun, threw the cartridges to her left and the gun onto the roof of a nearby building.

She resumed her walk, as though nothing had just occurred. The boys silently followed her for the rest of the way home.

“How was it?” Sungjong popped out from the kitchen once they got inside.

Sungyeol and Myungsoo turned to look at each other before answering, “Interesting.”

Sunggyu frowned, a bit skeptical. “How so?”

“Well, on our way back, these huge scary guys came out.” They recounted the story of the encounter while Woohyun followed her into the kitchen.

He watched as she prepared the vegetables. She washed them cleanly, which he had to admit was to his liking. None of the members were able to please him when it came to that.

When she chopped up the green onions, she did so swiftly yet accurately—all of the pieces were exactly the same. She worked quickly yet efficiently, never stopping to wonder what she should do next.

She was a cook at the level of an experienced chef.

A half hour later, dinner was served along with kimchi that she had made earlier that week.

“Your food’s way better than Woohyun’s!” Sungyeol exclaimed without hesitation. Everyone mirrored his compliment.

Although he agreed that her culinary skill did surpass his, he was not eager to see that he had been so easily replaced.

“Dongwoo…” he growled.

The requested person turned to look at his irritated dongsaeng. “What?”

“Well, aren’t you the discipliner? Why aren’t you DISCIPLINING?!” he nodded towards the choding, who was still smirking from his comment.

“Sorry, Woohyun, but I only work for Sunggyu-hyung.”

Woohyun growled again in frustration and continued to eat the delicious dinner. He hoped his expression looked dissatisfied though.

Soo Min did not seem to care. She placed her soup, bowl of rice, and side dishes onto a tray and went upstairs into her room.

Approximately 40 minutes later, she went downstairs with her tray and empty bowls, prepared to do the dishes only to see that the table and sink had been cleaned.

They were sitting around a TV, watching a new drama.

“We are staying here without paying or anything so we thought we’d help you out with a few things.” Hoya explained.

Without a word, she left the room.

Aish! That girl needs to learn to use her words, Woohyun thought.

 She came back shortly after with all of the snacks that she had bought earlier for them.

“Yah! Don’t you want any?” He threw a bag of chips at her.

She caught it and threw it back immediately, hitting him square in the face. The others snickered.

“Serves you right for being so mean.” Sunggyu whispered.

She shuffled away and they heard her bedroom door close.

A few hours later, they couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer and finally turned off the TV. They trudged up the stairs and groggily took all of the extra blankets out of the closet, not bothering to count them.

The boys were in the middle of setting up some makeshift beds out of blankets when they heard singing. Infinite stopped moving around and focused on listening to the sound.

Unconsciously, they had begun to move towards her door until all of their ears were pressed against it.

From inside came the most beautiful voice and piano accompaniment that they had heard in a long time.

“Is that... Soo Min?” Dongwoo asked the others.

Woohyun slapped him upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?” the former asked, rubbing the sore spot.

The latter shrugged, “Someone has to punish you when you say dumb things.”

Hoya slowly grabbed the gargoyle’s head and knocked on the door. The music did not stop.

“Should we just go in?” Sungjong asked hesitantly.

“What if she’s not… decent?” Hoya replied.

Dongwoo suddenly punched Sungyeol. “He had this weird look on his face.”

“Let’s just go in anyways. Besides, who sings in the —” Myungsoo had started to say but stopped when he realized his error. Everyone looked at Woohyun.

“What?” he exclaimed, offended. “It’s comfortable, okay? It’s like singing in the shower minus the actual showering part.”

Sunggyu held onto the doorknob. “I want to go in but remember what she said earlier about people being inside her room? She really meant it.”

After a moment, he released the handle. “Let’s just go to sleep, guys. We can ask her about it in the morning.”

They all agreed and turned around. All of a sudden, Sungyeol sprinted in the opposite direction towards Soo Min’s room and barged in. Stunned, they weren’t sure what to do next...

…until they heard a cry for help.

They dashed in only to find that the room was completely dark.

“Sungyeol?” they cried out.

They found him when they tripped over his body on the ground. They kneeled down to check to see if he was conscious. He was whimpering and crying, “Um- um- umma” over and over. His friends followed his gaze to see what was so frightening. They waited for their eyes to adjust to the darkness and when they did, Sungyeol wasn’t the only one who was petrified.

Sitting in front of them on a piano stool was Soo Min.

And she was surrounded by skeletons.