“On my birthday, a special friend of mine gave me a new skateboard,” Chen started and we all listened attentively, “I’ve always liked skateboarding and there was going to be a competition which my friend and I planned to join, so we spent a lot of our free time practising.”

“You’re a skater?” Baekhyun asked, “We never knew that.”

“Yes, since I was able to balance on the board, I started hanging out at the skate park after school watching people do cool tricks on the ramps and railings, then once I had enough money to buy my own board, we started to play around too.”

He paused, “Then what happened?” I asked.

“You see, he was younger than me and his parents were very strict on his academic work so I practiced more than him, so I was a little more advanced. He lied to his parents and they thought he went out to revise with friends, but he actually came to the skate park and played around.”

Chen looked down at his hands on his lap and let out a big sigh.

“So how did you die?” Suho asked curiously.

“The competition was coming up but so were his exams, I saw less and less of him and I also promised to teach him what I learnt because he has missed out on a lot. On the day of the competition, he said he was going to be there and watch me but he couldn’t make it. A few days later, I saw him but he looked really sad so I thought I’ll teach him a cool trick. There were two ramps, quite high but I’ve got use to them, so I skated up and he watched by the side. I flipped the board around and landed on the other ramp, but I lost my footing and landed on my head and rolled down the ramp instead and fell between them.”

“Ouch, that’s gotta hurt,” Xiumin winced.

“It did during the impact with the concrete ramp, but then I must have fallen unconscious because I couldn’t feel anything after that. I must be dead then, I guess,” Chen said, “But what hurts me most is that he blamed himself for my death, he even stopped skateboarding and stopped going to school as well, just locked himself up in his room.”

“Where is this friend of yours now?” Lay asked

“He’s living in the town down the motorway, I think.”

“You think?” Lay questioned.

“I went to see him last year and he was still there, I was a ghost and I was looking at him, through his window,” Chen said, “His wrist was covered in scars, I was unsure how many times he has hurt himself but he was also holding a noose, fearing for the worst, I was too scared to watch so I ran away, there was nothing I could do to stop him.”

Chen covered his face with his hand in shame. I patted him on the shoulder and assured him, “Don’t worry, we’ll try and find him and help him, okay?”

He nodded and I looked at the timer, there was only an hour or so remaining. We had to get a move on if we were going to accomplish Chen’s wish.

“Do you know exactly where he lives?” Lay asked, standing up and heading towards the door.

“ 34 Raveney Road, at the junction at the end of the motorway,” Chen replied back with specific detail.

“Okay, let’s go and Chen, you should come with us,” I said.

“Bye, be safe!” Suho said and waved as we walked out of the café towards the car they had parked on the kerb, it was the same car that picked us up from the prison after we escaped.

When Chen has driven to the end of the motorway, he turned right into a smaller road and stopped outside a big house. The garden at the front was looked after very well and the grass was neatly shaven. Even the flowers were lined up neatly against the side and the hedges were nicely trimmed as well. The twilight sunshine reflected against the clean windows and we stared at the beauty of the house.

 “So, this is it?” I asked, looking at the house in awe.

Chen nodded slowly, “His parents hire gardeners and cleaners to do the work.”

“Let’s go,” Lay said and led us towards the front door.

I followed, still carrying the backpack with the book in, but Chen stood still in his spot, not budging another step forward.

“Chen, come on!” I motioned for him to come with us, but he just shook his head and frowned.

“If you don’t want to come then you can stay here, but don’t go anywhere,” Lay instructed, “Come on, Raine.”

Chen nodded and I took one last look at him before materialising into the door and appeared on the other side. The hall way was wide and modern. The tiles were clean and there was a shoe cupboard on the right hand side, isolated against the expanse of space. We took the flight of stairs up to the second floor and cautiously peeked through every door. It seemed like no one was home until we heard glass being smashed from the room at the end of the elongated hallway.

Lay waved his hand forward, telling me to follow after him. He disappeared through the door and I did the same, the moment we were in the room, only the smell of smoke and alcohol was present. The carpeted floor was a mess with piles of empty glass bottles and cans of beers littered everywhere. There in the corner, by his desk was a man slumped down on the couch as he looked lifelessly towards the window, his hair was a tangle of mess and his face was unshaven and dirty.

“Is he still alive?” I whispered, but I knew he couldn’t hear us.

Then my bag started shaking, I took it down and got the book out, it opened itself to the next blank page and calligraphic words appeared:

A wish is unheard, another breaks, what lies in the heart of a person, must be brought out and heard.

“But how are we going to help him?” I said to the book, “He can’t see or hear us.”

Another page was turned and another set of words formed:

Touch his eyes and he can see you, touch his ears and he can hear you, touch his nose and he can smell you, join the spirits and you will be whole.

“Lay, we have to…“ before I could finish my sentence, Lay had his fingers on the man’s nose.

The man shot up with a loud gasp surprised at what touched him.

“Join the spirits up?” I said to myself, thinking what that could mean until Lay ran out of the house.

I looked through the window and Chen was still standing there, leant against a lamppost. Then Lay came into view and their bodies collided. Strangely, Chen disappeared.

“Lay?” I asked when he opened the door and walked through, “What happened there?”

 “Who are you?” the man shouted when he saw Lay. “Get out of my room,”

Can he see Lay?

“And who are you?” he shouted angrily towards me.

He got up from his chair and pushed us towards the door.

“Wait!” Lay said, “Chen brought us here!”

“What did you just say?”

“Chen, your friend who used to go skateboarding with you,” Lay said.

He slumped back onto the couch and looked at us in disbelief, “How did you guys get in here and how did you contact Chen? He is dead and it’s my fault!”

In the corner of my eye, I saw Lay tremble and then his body was replaced with Chen. I gasped, “Chen?”

Chen looked at me but turns back to his friend and said, “It’s not your fault!”

He looked up at Chen and I could literally hear his heart skipped a beat.

“Chen?” he said, a little out of breath, from the shock, “I thought you were dead?”

“I am, but my friends Lay, the person you just saw in my place and Raine, here, came to help me,” Chen said, “We don’t have long left, time is running out for us, but being able to see you again is great”

A tear fell from the man’s face as he hugged Chen, “I’m so sorry!”

“Listen to me!” Chen shouted at him, “It’s not your fault, it was an accident and no one expected it, I slipped and injured my head. I was unlucky that I dead, but I was lucky to have met you.”

I quickly wiped a tear from my eye, the reunion was really touching but sadly, they couldn’t stay like that. The timer was counting down fast, only forty-five minutes left.

“I came to tell you that you have to stop blaming yourself, I don’t understand why you think it’s your fault anyways,” Chen said.

“If it wasn’t me then you wouldn’t have to teach me any stupid tricks and if it wasn’t me who kept pestering you then that day would have never happened,” he sobbed.

“Listen to me, even if you never pestered me, I will still teach you and you’ve been an amazing friend, your parents still need you and you need to get a life!” Chen raised his voice, “You need to get out of this damn room and live, you can’t be like that anymore, and I can’t stand it! Do you hear me?”

He nodded in fright and Chen let go of his arms.

“Just be happy and don’t think about me anymore, that’s all I have got to say.”

He nodded again and said, “Thanks for coming back, Chen.”

Chen patted his shoulder and walked out of the door, a smile on his face. Once we were outside again, Chen’s spirit escaped from Lay’s spirit and they were separated again.

“Wish complete?” Lay questioned Chen.

“Yep!” Chen replied happily and opened the driver’s door.

I climbed in to the back and sighed, “You’re a good friend, Chen.”

“Why, thank you, Raine!”

Luckily, the road was empty so no one saw a car driving itself home. Now that Chen’s wish is complete, what will happen to his spirit or soul or essence?