Breathe

Everlasting Impressions

Sehun frowned after she vanished, and looked around to see if the mischievous ghost was playing tricks on him. He had been bothered by the accusation that’d been placed on him. His rage had simmered, and was condensing to its usual nonchalant state.

 

‘Yang Jinsung, did you die on school grounds? Is that possible? Who would hold such a strong grudge against a high school student? All we’re made to do is study.

'Wake up at 6 a.m. School starts at 8 a.m. Finishes at 4 p.m. Hagwons are on till 10 p.m. Then private study till 2 a.m.

'When do you have time to piss off someone to the extent that they would try to kill you?’ Sehun massaged his temples, and relaxed his shoulders. 

 

‘I think I might just conduct my own investigation into this. The school cameras should be evidence enough, but the chances of missing footage is high. These types of crazy killers always leave some kind of evidence behind. Fingerprints, shoe prints, or witnesses… , if she’s dead then where would the body be?’ Sehun shuddered at the thought of a cold body rotting somewhere in the basement. He scrunched his nose as if avoiding the scent of decaying flesh.

 

He wandered back to his table in dismay. His final year of high school was turning out to be more than he could stomach. His dismay was converted to grimace when he saw Hana sitting at his seat. He didn’t know what to say to her. He hoped she wouldn’t question him about the matter but he knew that thinking that way was all just wishful thinking.

 

Hana didn't spot him until a shadow graced the table. Her eyes instinctively followed the shadow and she jumped. “S-sorry. I was about to go. I just... I-I was just minding your things. I’ll go now!”

 

Sehun caught her arm before she could avoid him, and possibly cause another misunderstanding. “Hana, wait!”

 

He stared at her blankly as she turned around, and watched him nervously. “You’re not going to ask?” Sehun mentally slapped his forehead at his own question. 

 

‘Ask what? Why would you ask her to ask? What are you going to say? I was possessed? Whose going to believe that? Are you out of your mind? What are you going to tell her?!’

 

Hana smiled nervously, and looked at his hand. He let go quickly, and muttered an apology that made her smile genuinely. Sehun cleared his throat and slipped his hands into his pockets. Looking away he cleared his throat again.

Hana shifted uncomfortably on her feet. She wasn’t sure what to say. ‘I can’t just ask if he has a personality disorder. It sounds rude! Why would my parents try to marry me off to someone who could possibly rival Dr. Jekyll? I like Sehun, but not enough to marry both Jekyll, and Hyde, and God knows who else! It’s crazy! I could end up at the bottom of the Han!’

 

“I’m sorry about before…” Sehun began. He raked his mind for an excuse.

He ranked top of the class in every subject, yet when it came down to excuses he was looking towards a possible F. His eyes went to his books, and he contemplated the value of study.

“I was testing you,” Sehun grinned to himself. He’d found his excuse. It was enough to bring him up at least two grades, and redeem the value of educational assessments.

 

“Testing me?” Hana’s tone resonated more offense than she felt. She quickly shut and waited for him to explain himself. Her theory of his personality disorder all rested on his reasoning. She wouldn’t forgive her parents for not finding out more about their future son-in-law if he really was ill, nor would she forgive Sehun for not warning her in advance.

 

Sehun laughed nervously. “Are you mad? It was a surprise test.”

 

“What kind of test, and how did I do?”

 

“I was checking to see how you’d react. Most girls would jump at the chance. The ideal result would have been to push me away, but you just stayed still. Guess that means about 40%.”

 

Hana narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why conduct such a test?”

 

Sehun shrugged and traced the edge of the table. “To see what kind of person you were. Results tell me you’re not too bad. A little slow to react, but that’s not always a bad thing.”

 

“Isn’t 40% too low? It should be at least 50%...”

 

“But you passed.”

 

“Still, I think you’re just being mean. First you scare me into thinking you’ve got a personality disorder, and now you grade me like you know me. What do you really know about me?” Hana felt cheated, like she’d been chewed and spat out only to receive a below average grade.

 

She curled her toes. There was a project waiting for her to fail too. She felt that she'd never meet decent standards. Not reaching expectations was a nightmare, and her greatest fear.

 

She hated all forms of assessments, tests, and exams. They all told her how useless she was. She felt vilified and aggrieved. It was already bad enough that she wouldn’t get to see the gates of SKY universities, or even the average ones. ‘Does he know how badly I flunk tests? Is that why he did this? That’s pretty low of you, Oh Sehun… I know you don’t like me but this? I can forgive you for everything else but not this.’

 

Smack!

 

Sehun coughed the air in his lungs free. He hadn’t expected a slap, but then again the whole day had been unexpected. He massaged his cheek. ‘Wow she slaps hard!’

 

He grinned sarcastically for a split second. His reaction was enough to earn a second blow to the cheek, but this time her hand stopped a few centimeters from target. Sehun wondered why she’d stopped the second time when he’d clearly anticipated it. Instead of a slap, which he’d been expecting, she sobbed. This made him furrow his brows. The pain his cheek gave didn’t match up to the injury of her estranged sob.

 

“I’m sorry,” Sehun coaxed. He looked around for support, but as he’d suspected there was no civilization this early on in the year. The library was too large; three floors dedicated to books, and self study, to even spot the librarian.

 

“No you’re not. You wouldn’t do devise something like this if you were sorry.”

 

Sehun ruffled his hair in retaliation. He hadn’t expected her to weep. He’d though she’d drop, and forget the issue because there was no reason for her to believe that he’d been under the control of a ghost – a theory that made even less sense than him trying to devise a plan to test a girl about her morals.

 

“I really am sorry though. I didn’t think you’d cry. I wasn’t trying to make you upset. Even if we didn't get along, I would never willingly try to hurt anyone.”

 

Hana held back a sob. She never used to cry in front of people. If she cried it would usually be soundlessly at night. In her room. With the lights off. In the safety of her bed. That didn’t seem to be the case anymore. Her face crumpled realizing that.

 

“I know… I know you wouldn’t hurt anyone. So why me? Why is it always me?”

 

Sehun took a deep breath. Lately he seemed to be hurting everyone around him. “It’s not just you… I think I hurt Seryung too. I don’t know what I did. She was really mad when she came by. Said something about a trade and left.”

 

Hana sniffed, and wiped her cheeks clear with the back of her hand. “Yeah, that! It’s a rumor. They’re saying that you made Se Ryun a wangta in my place but… I don’t think… You’d ever do that.”

 

Sehun exhaled slowly and held his head in his hands. He looked at Hana who tactfully avoided his gaze, and then at Seryung’s books that he’d piled up neatly.

 

“Why would I do that? Are people things that can be traded? Who the hell came up with that?”

 

Hana knew he would never do such a thing to help her because she was an idiot who was imagining his lips. If only he knew her thoughts, he would deduct her marks. 

 

‘Is he going to do that kind of stuff? Grade me over stuff?’ Hana had already been bracing herself for a loveless marriage, but now things had become gloomier. She envisioned her future as the loving wife who did everything to please a husband who ignored her, and told her to leave him alone when she tried talking to him because he constantly buried himself in work. They would be that couple who smiled in front of other people because they had to, but when they were alone his heart would be cold, and hers would pound for his sake.

 

“Where is Seryung? Do you know?” Sehun asked running a hand through his hair. He began to pack his bag hoping to meet his sister, and turn wrong into right.

 

He mutter a few colorful words under his breath. The students of the glass room were seeking revenge for his attitude towards them, and their vengeance came as chilling as frost bite. Sehun hated them! Since the start of high school he’d despised them because they tried their best to subtly antagonize him, and keep him in the place they wanted him to stay in, quietly like an obedient puppy.

 

Sehun had, had enough!

 

They’d provoked him by messing with his sister. He wouldn’t sit back and watch anymore.

 

“Hospital,” Hana suddenly blurted. She’d exchanged texts not too long ago. Her imagination continued to play her gloomy future in front of her eyes. It made her heart sink further, and lowered her intake of air.

 

“What? How? Why?” Sehun panicked, and looked towards his companion for details. He shook her shoulders when she didn’t respond.

 

Hana flailed her arms and choked. Her eyes found his, and she begged him to help. Sehun shook his head despondently. He sensed the signs of an impeding attack. ‘Not now, not now Hana! You can’t do this to me right now!’

 

“Hana calm down, and breathe. Deep breaths, like this.” Sehun demonstrated, and cajoled her to follow. He tried to mask his expression when her eyes began to well with tears.

 

Hana felt as if her heart was about to explode, and her lungs were about to collapse. She didn’t know which would fail first.

 

“Hana you need to breathe!” Sehun pleaded, and attempted another demonstration.

 

Hana imagined the scene of a lonely wife trying hard to please her husband. Her vision began to blur.

 

Sehun cursed in his head and dived for her bag. He rummaged thought it trying to find her inhaler. He cursed when his jittery hands did nothing useful. Her stumbles made him jump up ,and catch her before she hurt herself by hitting the ground during her fainting spell.

 

He laid her onto the floor gently, and placed his fingers below her nose. Her breaths were becoming shallow. Sehun didn’t know what to do. Or rather he knew what to do, but his thoughts were muddled because he’d panicked ahead of time. He didn’t have time to think about anything.

 

Time was of the essence! 

 

He tilted her chin. ‘No ones around! Can’t even ask someone to call an ambulance.’ 

 

He parted and took a deep breath. ‘How far can CPR go?’ 

 

Sehun pressed his mouth against hers, and exhaled for as long as he could. ‘Hana, this isn’t funny.’ 

 

Sehun pulled away to fill his lungs and repeated the procedure. ‘You just need to breath convincingly enough for me to find your inhaler, or call an ambulance, or do something useful. Please!’

 

Sehun listened for her steady breathing that reached the standard he thought was enough for him to ransack her bag in search for an inhaler. He sighed with relief when his hands found the all too familiar device, and when he whirled to face her he was glad to see a sign of consciousness even if it was in the form of fluttering eyes. He ripped the inhalers cap of the mouthpiece, and shook it before administrating the medicine.

 

Hana coughed. Her eyes blinked in a half open fashion, and seeped water. She took a lung full of air, and found Oh Sehun staring at her.

 

“You idiot!” He exclaimed and hugged her. “How could you forget how to breathe? You almost died!”

 

Hana was taken aback by his behavior. The notion of a ‘personality disorder’ came to mind, and she half-smiled. She wasn’t sure if she was delusional in imagining her current predicament. She patted his back awkwardly. It was the first time she felt safe since she’d entered the library.

 

“It’s not something I can control.”

-

“It’s not something I can control.” Is exactly what Yoon Rae Mi said to Sehun after he’d saved her through what could have been his dumb luck, or hers.

-

“Pabo, you scared me!”

 

Hana smiled. His overflowing concern was something that would most likely gloss over his shortcoming-grading factor.

 

“I’m sorry and thank you.”

-

“I’m sorry and thank you.”

-

Sehun was overwhelmed. He held her as tightly as he could without hurting her lungs, and impairing her breathing.

 

“We should go to the hospital, just in case.”

 

Hana shook her head, and nestled her cheek against his shoulder.

 

“It’s okay. It wasn’t that bad... I think, I might have scared you a bit too much.”

-

“I think, I might have scared you a bit too much.”

-

Sehun was swamped in nostalgia. They’re personalities were similar, so similar that they were almost the same. This time he didn’t know which one of them was speaking, or if he was hallucinating, or if he’d really lost his mind. He was just grateful that she was safe...

 

-

 

The sinister fellow chuckled to himself. He’d left the school building to avoid the school-bound ghost, and her constant questioning.

 

“Stupid girl,” he shook his head in mock empathy.

 

Ghosts aren’t allowed to interfere with humans. Didn’t you know that? What you did was enough to vanquish your spirit.” He smirked to himself, and in doing so illuminated his icy features. He felt no remorse for a silly soul who believed just about anything.

 

“It’s your own fault! You presumed half of it. I fabricated the rest. You believed me, and ended your own existence. There’s no next life for those who break the laws of the world. It’s a pity!

"Your death was quite something. If you searched harder you might have found your killer. Should I turn him in for you? You’d probably like that, and since I’m feeling kind I don’t mind sending him to jail, but the school will be caught in a scandal. Your death will remain hidden. There are people who will make sure of it. It'll be masked as an accident, or a suicide. No one will ever find out, not even your parents.”

He scratched a block of wood with a knife. This new hobby of his was troublesome, and time consuming. He wasn't impressed by it. His carvings were rotten, quite unlike the puppet, Kang Jun. However, he had no time to compare. There were things on his mind, “Those brother-sister pair weren’t supposed to resolve their misunderstandings. Now I’ll have to resort to plan B. It’s such a bother.”

The Angel of Death narrowed his eyes at the knave. What the boy had just done was unforgivable in every respect. Although he was unable to fume, he imagined he would do so in this kind of situation. This was something that was not up to humans to conquer. Ghost and living were the one kind -- humans. For a living human to harm an already dead one, was beyond anything Death had seen. A yellow card was branded to the boy's soul. Another foul would render him a punishment. 

The Angel of Death pondered if his sentence was strict enough. What would it matter to the boy if a slight memory was erased, and a certain gift was removed? It sounded like nothing much however, Death knew what others did not.

"For those who do wrong, comes retribution while living as well as the hereafter."

 


Sinister is too cruel. What he's cooking up is crueler...!

CPR... CPR... CPR... This was inspired by BOF xD Did anyone watch that drama? Do you remember the CPR scene with Jan Di and Go Jun Pyo? It was cute. :)   Sehana's predicament is much more dire but yeah, BOF inspires me. 

Where do you think the student's of the glass room came from? 

The F4. The trio of the glass rooms, and their puppet-leader; 3 + 1 = 4.  

That school was also attended by rich kids. 

Moving on, 'Heirs' is a badly written show full of stalkers; Sinister is a stalker.

Bullying is predominent in both of those shows; EI features a lot of bullying. 

Jan Di became a wangta after helping out a wangta. << Not sure if this happened in the K-drama, or the J-drama, or the anime, or in my head but it happened. Ringing some bells?

EI is deep, guys. Trust me! xD 
There were no ghosts in those dramas. Ghosts were inspired by 'Master's Sun.'
Sadly, there was no space to stick in 'I hear your voice.' My co-authored fic has Lee Jong Suk as one of the mains.
Safe to say I really like k-dramas!

The Angels are original. I've given them physical traits, really obvious ones, for my readers to guess who is who. They are members of Exo, ones that are not mains in this fic. By Exo I should probably add OT12 since everyone will be wondering. Who is who?

Truth should be obvious, Clemency too. Healing is a dead giveaway, Light should be too. Death, and Thought, and Darkness will be revealed later on. Oh and there will be more Angels to come later on too. In the mean time, can you guess who?

While everyone's in guessing mode I should add that Sinister is also on the prowl. The likelihood of him being a student is high. Death calls him a 'boy,' duh lol. So next question is who is he?

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Thank you!
snowflake16
Get Even aka novel vers of Everlasting Impressions is now available in paperback on Amazon!

Comments

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Wonuda
#1
Chapter 92: Wow, too many things happen and i kind of lost also in several chapter haha. But one thing is that i cannot stop read this stories because of the feeling of wanting to know what happen next yeahhh. Good job
gogogirl26 #2
Chapter 87: Finish this story :) this so mysterious and no rush in developing charachter. Like watching a drama :) this cute fluffy angst and woah such rollercoaster feeling. Through this story im guessing who is sinister. Great work authornim! Thankyouu :))
luckypug
#3
Chapter 87: this is my most favourite story.... I want to see a movie like this....it's romantic and the villain is such a scary bully.... he always scared me when he was going after Tao and Sehun's sister.... the ending was not as i taught it would be...
natsumi4ever
#4
Chapter 56: Omg Mirotic is the best~!<3
And I love the sound of Ziana, it seriously does sound like a drug name XD
natsumi4ever
#5
Chapter 10: Well this probably doesn't apply to now since you've finished the story but I like just about any type of lead, even the cliche types cause well it's just nice to read it sometimes
Though I don't like leads that betray each other and I sort of detest the one who goes for revenge cause it makes me uneasy
And I dislike leads that change their opinions and emotions so quickly
oddalls #6
Such an interesting concept! <3
Sumiaiya #7
Chapter 88: Superb story ❤️❤️
SyrineKarouiAngel
#8
Chapter 88: how am i supposed to live without ur updates now?
SyrineKarouiAngel
#9
Chapter 88: I was the one who mistook kai for sinister XDDD actually i've never read kai fics (i mean not as a lead role) so no it's not because i got used to the cool bad boy image XD it's rather because he was acting weird sometimes XDD
Junmyun tho ;; ♥
and MAMA, I'm still crying his death OTL