Hana heard the whispering around her. She knew they were pointing fingers at her. She closed her eyes and waited for class to start. Regardless of how tightly she shut her eyes, she was unable to stop her hearing. They were talking about her and Sehun, saying things like she was ‘traded.’ Hana didn’t understand what they meant but the more she heard the more she felt dirty. She hadn’t done anything to feel guilty but she did. They were saying she made Sehun go out of his way to help her but Hana didn’t recall anything. She’d left Sehun on unfriendly terms, he hadn’t said anything but his eyes told her he’d rather not see her again. He didn’t attend class either, Hana noticed his empty seat before the speculation began. She heard that he was in the library and she wondered if he’d gone to avoid her. Hana wasn’t able to pay attention in class. Although the bullying had miraculously stopped, she still felt like an outcast, no one dared meet her eye and when she turned around the whispering stopped too. Hana didn’t understand what was going on but a ghost did.

“You’ve got Sehun wrapped around your finger. It must be nice to have connections like that. You’re connected to two murderers. What does that feel like?”

The ghost scoffed to herself. She didn’t understand why Hana lowered her head and silently cried. The ghost was too perplexed by what she’d learnt. She’d only wanted to know the cause of her death. She’d thought if she’d learnt that she would be able to move on peacefully but she was still here.

“Revenge is my goal,” the ghost whispered dauntingly. She left Hana to herself and went straight to the library. The ghost watched as Sehun worked silently with a row of books around him. “You think you’ve got everyone fooled with your cool image? After I unmask you, do you think your impression will last? I’ll rip it to shreds, your image, your sister and you. I’ll destroy you all. That will be my revenge.”

The ghost narrowed her eyes. Sehun barely looked her way and she was glad he couldn’t see her or hear her. If he were able to see and hear he would think he was safe from her but the ghost knew that the sinister being would carry out her revenge diligently if she kept her side of the bargain. They’d made a pact after the ghost had seen the diary. The diary contained nothing but plain raw truth. The ghost had always thought of Seryung to be someone admirable and an aspiration but now that façade had also been destroyed.

The ghost looked at her quivering hands. Her fingers trembled in his presence although he couldn’t hurt her. The more she thought about it the more the sinister beings words made sense. Oh Sehun was the only one she had a strong memory of. His name sent her dead heart into overdrive as did his presence. What other conclusion could she draw? She had no strong feelings of hate, desperation and fear towards anyone else. To affirm this she’d visited the other students too, none of them made her feel so strongly.

“If I could, I would strangle you,” the ghost whispered and wrapped her fingers around his neck. She screamed angrily when her fingers slipped through him.

Sehun jumped in his seat and dropped his pen. He sensed something unnatural lurking in the library. It was a powerful force and one that made his bones shudder. He turned around in his seat and scanned the vicinity, and his grip tightened on the back of his chair.

The ghost had fled to hide behind a bookcase. She shuddered and watched as he sensed her. She didn’t want to be seen by him. She felt as if he would try to murder her again, this time with his eyes.

“Mi Young?”

The ghost heard him whisper. She furrowed her brows and repeated the name silently, she hadn’t heard the name before.

Seryung huddled into herself. She felt the stares and whispers that were aimed at her. Her class had begun fabricating their own tales and amongst them was a tale about Sehun. Seryung gritted her teeth. She didn’t want to believe that her brother had swapped her for Hana. She knew he wasn’t like that.

Seryung was unable to concentrate in class. There were too many whispers around her and they blocked out anything that was worth learning. Seryung tightened her grip around her pen waiting for class to be over, for school to be over, for it all to be over so she could breathe again. She’d never had someone throw a chair at her. She wondered if the same had happened to Hana at one stage. Seryung had never paid attention to the torment a wangta was put through. She was ignorant towards them because they were pitiful but now, she was the pitiful one. Seryung pressed her teeth onto her lower lip and frowned. She had to find her brother as soon as class was over otherwise, she knew, she would explode.

Hana was wary of everyone’s change in attitude towards her. They were ignoring her. No one had tried to push her or trip her nor had anyone knocked her books off the table. Hana shuddered, the change was scarier than their previous behavior because she didn’t know what they were scheming for her. Her walk down the corridor had been relatively safe. Hana noted the sound of her own footsteps. Her hands flew to the straps of her bag, she’d taken to carrying her belongings with her to keep them safe.

Seryung sighed quietly and flung her books into her bag as soon as she’d heard the bell ring. She’d aimed to race straight to the library to find her brother but she’d been intercepted by unwelcome company. Seryung tripped over someone’s sly leg and hit the ground. She grimaced, her knees and palms had taken the impact.

“Someone’s in a hurry.”

“Yah wangta, don’t you know respect?”

Seryung gritted her teeth and climbed back onto her feet. She glared at the person who’d tripped her. The girl only grinned in response. She proceeded to brush her leg as if something unsightly had come into contact with it and pointed towards someone else. Seryung redirected her gaze towards the un-amicable couple who’d tried to hurt her earlier. Her expression faltered much to their amusement.

“Just where do you think you’re going? You didn’t even ask for permission.”

Seryung furrowed her brows and averted her eyes to the door. She wasn’t too far away from it and she knew if she tried, she would be able to escape but, Seryung’s eyes found the couple again, she gave them a curt smile knowing that if she left now, she wouldn’t be welcome again.

“Don’t do it! You’ll regret it.”

Seryung blinked and jumped backwards as a ghost stood in front of her. The ghost wore a solemn expression and Seryung noted the uniform. Seryung stared at it perplexed. She’d never been able to see ghosts other than Mi Young and the lost ghosts but this one was different.

“You’ll regret it if you run to the library! You’ll get hurt.”

Seryung tilted her head. She wanted to ask the ghost questions but the occupants of the classroom were all looking at her. Seryung crossed her arms and toyed with the idea of trying to scare her classmates by telling them there was a ghost in the room.

The ghost chuckled and looked around. There was a mix of confusion and wariness on their faces. “Do you want to tell them? About me?”

Seryung blinked rapidly. She was taken aback for a second. She’d almost believed the ghost could read her thoughts. Seryung smiled a small smile. She knew she couldn’t tell her classmates about the ghost because then they would question her about the ghost’s identity and Seryung didn’t want attention for such a thing. If someone in the school had died and their ghost was haunting the building. Seryung knew that a commotion about who, why and how would only hurt the soul no one else was able to see.

The ghost raised a hand to and tittered a laugh. She narrowed her eyes at Oh Seryung and grinned unsympathetically to herself when she discovered that Seryung didn’t remember her.

“Why do you think I can’t read your thoughts? I can and I’m honored that you want to respect me… These people,” the ghost pointed at the classmates. “Are probably expecting you to ask for permission before you leave.”

Seryung made a face, an immature idea came to mind and she wondered what would happen if she acted on it. Seryung thought about it seriously, she kept her eyes trained on the ghost while her brain scanned her surroundings. The ghost was right when she said her classmates wanted respect. Seryung didn’t want to play with them anymore. Their game wasn’t fun, it was dangerous and so Seryung decided to take the leap. She took a deep breath before giving in.

Seryung’s eyes widened. Simultaneously her jaw dropped. She stumbled backwards and pointed at the ghost. “W-what a-are y-you?” Seryung gasped and raised a hand to . She shook her head in disbelief, “Get away from me!” She whispered fearfully shuffling backwards still shaking her head and then stopped. Seryung’s back hunched and her head hung low. She stayed like that for seconds and then she raised her head. Her face bore no expression as she blinked and looked around. She raised her hands and looked at them confused. A grin spread across her face. She turned her neck to look at the door and her expression immediately darkened. She clenched her teeth and her shoulders shook as she moved her legs towards the door.

Someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Seryung paused her footsteps and stared at the hand as if it were a peculiar thing. Her eyes followed the limb until they came in contact with a face. Seryung’s eyes narrowed into slits. The hand was quick to drop but Seryung continued to stare at the flustered human. She tilted her head until it was horizontal and grinned unnaturally.

The atmosphere of the classroom changed. The ghost noticed that the humans were wary of Seryung almost as if they had concluded she was possessed. The ghost laughed eerily and let Seryung laugh too. Seryung turned towards the door. Her pace was slow and her movements were awkward almost as if she hadn’t walked in years. Seryung exhaled deeply once she was far away from her classroom and shuddered. She rubbed her arms and shivered before breaking into a quiet laugh.

“You used me!” The ghost pointed at Seryung accusingly. Her actions only confirmed what the handsome student had been telling her, and now the ghost had no choice but to believe in the scary-yet-beautiful man’s words.

Seryung looked up at the ghost and blinked. She digested the words and formed an ‘X’ shape with her arms. “No, I didn’t use you. You helped me. If you didn’t show up right there and then… I might even be dead by now…”

“They’re not going to kill you!” The ghost scoffed and flipped her hair. She was upset at having been ‘used.’ An idea came to her mind and she wondered if it was possible to ‘possess’ a human. The ghost looked at Seryung expectantly and waited for a response.

“They really want to though… I just don’t understand why? What happened?” Seryung made a face and sank to ground, too much had happened too suddenly. She’d run into a strange Chinese fellow who’d been trying to latch himself to an engaged girl, she’d fought with her brother over a stupid reason that she couldn’t fathom as being only her fault and now this…!

Seryung massaged her temples. “Is my brother in the library?” Seryung asked the ghost. She wished he were because confronting him somewhere with people around was daunting. Seryung wanted to talk to him properly and end the ‘fight’ that they were having. She’d been immature and angry with him after they’d returned from the ‘shopping’ trip.

This morning however, Seryung had wanted to try and coax him but he’d already left for school when she’d woken up. Seryung frowned, he hadn’t even prepared her breakfast as he normally did. ‘He’s really, really, really mad. Oppa, how long are you going to do this?’