“Yoon Raemi… What was she to you? I keep hearing that you loved her and love her still but I’ve never asked you directly about her… I-I want to know about the girl whose captivated Oh Sehun for so long. I only know Seryung’s version of the story, not yours.”

Sehun didn’t reply immediately. Her sudden request had thrown him off guard. It bothered him that she’d asked. Three weeks ago he would have admonished her for trying to into his personal life. She was merely a classmate. He didn’t share his intimate thoughts with just anyone. No one in school knew Yoon Raemi bar his friends and his sister.

“Why? Are you going to try and copy her again?” Sehun her, his eyes flashed in indignation.

“I wouldn’t know how to…” Hana shook her head and bit back her disappointment. She guessed her inquiry had been declined.

Sehun combed his hair with his fingers. He was reminded of how she’d tried to copy Raemi. She’d even gone to the extent of cutting her hair. It had grown since then but Sehun’s memory was still fresh.

Hana refrained from looking him in the eye. He was fuming silently, steam coming from his ears, nostrils flaring, baleful eyes that were blinking steadily to calm him. His mouth had pressed into a straight line to contain words.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked… I was just curious about her. She seemed special…”

“She was…” Sehun sighed in despair. Memories flooded his mind one by one. He felt them bore at the back of his eyes, warning to spill.

“I met her in middle school. She was older than me, not by much though. She always wore a kind smile even when she was tired. One day, I needed to stay back and work on a few assignments in a library not too far from our house. It was one of those book-a-room-to-study in libraries. All the rooms were pretty much booked by high-schoolers, and everywhere just smelt like coffee and tension. I found an empty room and set to work. Guess whose study area I ended up in?

“I must have been working hard. I didn’t see her come in, not until she slammed her coffee on the table. Needless to say I was annoyed. I might even have glared, can’t remember. She told me she had been calling me but I didn’t answer.

“She told me she’d booked the space. I was reluctant to leave. I told her that everywhere was taken. She gave me this amused look and asked if I could keep quiet. I didn’t know what she meant. I got angry and said I was capable of keeping silent.

“She let me study there. I didn’t think she would. I still don’t know what compelled her. Those rooms were almost always booked. She even offered snacks.

“Was it after that? I started waiting outside the library for her. We would study together. She told me I was leeching off her…

“I used to follow her around like a stalker. She never told me to stop. She used to call me little Sehunie, like I was her younger brother. That’s pretty much what she thought of me…

“She was different, very different, or maybe I was just in love? She was a good person though. She would do all sorts of things. She’d drag me sometimes too and other times I’d drag myself. Charity work to volunteer work, she’d do them all selflessly. She’d never make faces or taunt. She was just kind.

“She would always smile no matter how hard things got. She would smile…

“Her death was unfair! She was mistaken as someone and beaten. A car ran into her while she tried to escape and that was it… She was gone.”

Hana swallowed the lump in . Her action did little to relieve it. She reached out to console him but her hand stopped short before cowardly pulling away.

“I’m sorry…” Was all she could say. Her voice was hollow as if she’d had the air knocked out of her.

She could have kicked herself for asking. Sehun looked pale and miserable. She sensed there was more that he was hiding. She didn’t want to press him. His earlier cheeriness was replaced by a morbid expression, to Hana it felt like a force field used to distance her. Hana felt as if she’d been pushed further away from him and back to square one. She didn’t know anything about him. It would continue to be like that. Raemi’s memory was a force field that she would never surpass.

Hana blinked, her head felt heavy, “I-I’ll try to talk to them, my parents I mean. I’ll ask them to cancel the wedding once they come back.”

“Thank you.”

Two words. They made her heart shatter. She rasped at the impact, eyes wide in her face, the reality of her words hadn’t fully sank in.

‘Stop it, Hana. Think about it this way: how many people end up with the person they want?’

What had been a lighthearted stroll had become an anchor. Neither party wished to continue but they continued anyway.

“You should find someone who will love you unconditionally,” he voiced after much thought.

 ‘Can’t that be you?’ The corner of Hana’s lip bitterly curved upwards.

“Do you have an ideal type?” Sehun questioned with twinkling eyes.

Hana ran her fingers through her hair. ‘That would be you…’

She was about to shake her head in response, but was faster to speak, “There’s someone I like but he likes someone else…”

Sehun scowled, “That’s hard to watch.”

Hana bobbed her head avoiding eye contact. She took a deep breath and continued, “He’s my first love...”

-

Tao backed away slowly as the demonic laughter grew. His eyes widened in fright. There was nowhere to run to. Walls were closing around them again. He felt like he’d stumbled into purgatory.

Seryung’s hand squeezed his. It struck him that he was still alive. He was rooted in his spot. His limbs refused to function as the zombies approached. He was a cat who’d lost eight lives already and now they were closing in on him.

“S-s-stay b-b-back!” Tao commanded in a shaky voice.

Uncanny laughter emitted from the zombies.

“I-I-I’m w-w-warn-ning y-y-you!” Tao screamed.

The zombies groaned a cackle once again. They gathered around the duo capturing Seryung before Tao.

“Let go!” Tao demanded aggrievedly, he struggled against them. In his current state the zombies were stronger than him. Tao choked on the mummy-like smell of decay they carried. His eyes cried as he thrashed against them.

Seryung’s hands were tied behind her back. Unlike Tao she didn’t stir a fuss but rather on looked in mock alarm, letting her eyes bulge and drop open. She gave Tao a look of disdain wanting him to calm down and play along too.

“K-keep away from me. I-I know wushu! I-I will hit you!”

After a futile chase the zombies too gave up on Tao, leaving him behind. A secret door opened to reveal a new chamber. Two wooden chairs stood parallel to one another. Tao scrunched his nose. They were dusty and they watched him dauntingly as if deriding at his fretfulness.

“Y-yah! Yah! Yah! What are you doing?” Tao demanded to know directing his finger at Seryung. She shook her head at his malcontent.

The zombies then Tao with cold savagery. Tao felt sweat trickle down his back.

“Do you wish to be separated from her?”

Tao pursed his lips, his eyes traveled to where Seryung was being dragged. One of the zombies was holding the back of the chairs with his head at an unnatural tilt. Tao narrowed his eyes until they were mere slits, “No, you can’t do that. I won’t let you bully her, you fiends! I will mutilate you.”

His words sounded braver than he felt. Tao grit his teeth and glared, or so he aimed to anyway, he didn’t want them to take his threat lightly. He clenched his fists, his feet had long become intrinsic with the ground under them, he could have been a tree. The idea seemed even less appealing then being strapped to what looked suspiciously like an electric chair. Tao forced his feet to move. He was flimsy like a scarecrow learning to walk.

Seryung stuck her tongue out at him. The zombies had let her go silently asking for her help. She hadn’t thought of him to be embarrassing but now she felt bashful at being linked to him.

Tao’s eyebrows furrowed into a unibrow while he frowned despairingly. He made his way to her as if her childish spell had struck him into reality. Her expression read humor at his expense and he didn’t like it one bit. She rolled her eyes at him once more and scuttled to his side. He watched her questioningly.

“It’s all pretend, remember?” Her tone was scathing and ridiculing him. The zombies too were shooting each other meaningful looks.

“I’m not sitting on that!” He informed Seryung quietly. His eyes went back to the chairs. He didn’t want to know whether they were electric or not.

“Fine, you can stay here then… On your own!” Seryung was aware of how loathsome her words sounded.

“No.”

“Scaredy cat.”

“Am not!”

“Says you.”

“I’m not sitting on that. It looks off.”

“You’re green face is the only thing that looks off.”

“I am not green!”

“Says you.”

Tao pursed his lips. Only Oh Seryung could make his blood boil in a haunted house. She was watching him expectantly. Waiting for him to cop out. A flicker of glee danced behind eyes that were trying to reproach him in disapproval.

“Fine, let’s go.”

Seryung clicked her tongue. She’d found a new form of entertainment in her classmate. A crooked smile of ill intent lit her features. She stuck her leg out in front of Tao and watched as he gleefully tripped into her trap. However, her calculations didn’t involve what would happen if he pulled her down with him…

-

“What’s your first love like?” Sehun asked, he was somewhat intrigued by what Hana deemed first-love worthy, “Is it Tao?”

Hana pulled a face. Everyone at one point assumed she and Tao had a ‘thing.’ She shook her head vehemently and scrunched her face. Her first love was different. Sehun arched an eyebrow but made no comment in relation to Tao.

“Is it someone from school?” Sehun pressed. He really couldn’t imagine that any of his classmates had caught her eye but she gave a slight, hesitant nod. This only probed Sehun’s curiosity. He began to list all of their classmates one-by-one in roll-order as the homeroom teacher did. However unlike the teacher, Sehun left derogatory comments for each of them.

“-Kim Jong In…? It better not be Kai! He’s already got too many girls hanging off his sleeves. He’s such a player, that one.”

“You’ve never had a stable girlfriend either.” Hana reminded him.

Sehun laughed in return, he ran his fingers through tufts of brown. “Maybe I’m a player too?” He joked.

“You’re the real player,” Hana let him know, enjoying the sound of his melodic laughter.

“Kai is much, much worse. You know, he’s superstitious too. He once went to visit a shaman, had the gall to drag me along too. I think it was some time after a break up. He was upset that the girl had broken up first - he’s a jerk like that. The shaman told him to change his name because his name was bring bad luck but instead of asking the shaman for a new name. We ended up at the internet café where he searched names, and ever since then has been telling people to call him ‘Kai.’ A guy like that is really no good.”

Hana rolled her eyes, it was one thing to warn others about a friend’s dating habits but it was another to diss them. However, she sensed Kai and Sehun were close. His tone although remorseless was also affectionate.

“Why do you even bother dating?” Hana spoke with a hint of envy. She clamped shut straight. Her eyes grew in size. She was stunned at her own jealousy. It only hit her then, she didn’t want to share him!

Sehun on the other hand wasn’t too miffed by the antipathy nor did he stop to regard the question. There was a reason for everything he did and for this activity, the reason was simple: “Because those girls are clingy. They’re worse than gum stuck under your shoe. They will not leave me alone until I date them. Dating’s no big deal really, kinda troublesome but we can’t all win. Not like we actually do all that lovey-dovey stuff. It’s just a title, like having a Mercedes but not having a license. You’ve got the car, and no one needs to know the details.”

Hana cringed, “You’re very ungentlemanly.”

“I will be gentle, towards the right girl,” Sehun assured with a confident smirk.

“Have you found her yet?” Hana mused aloud.

“I lost her…”

Hana didn’t reply after that and neither did he. The atmosphere around them was of excited screams and wails but the protagonists felt the need to do neither. Everland’s biggest attractions were wasted on them.

Hana’s mind had left the present, exploring her own thoughts, she always came to a standstill yet she was still willing to run. If he were there beside her, she would run even if it meant slipping out of her comfort zone momentarily and daring to be brave.

“Are all first loves like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do they all become painful memories?”

“Not necessarily…”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to forget him. I haven’t even had a chance to confess… I think I’ll be rejected.”

“Do you think so?” Sehun tapped his chin, “I don’t think so. There’s nothing unattractive about you. How about this?”

Sehun grinned cheekily and whispered into Hana’s ear. Hana was humble enough to blush after the suggestion, it zoomed over her head without much comprehension. She peered at her companion, gaping, blinking, still not grasping his words until he nudged her.

“N-no, how are we going to do that? We’ll get caught!”

“We won’t.”

“We will!”

“Why? Aren’t I good enough?”

Hana held her head in her hands. If it were Tao she would have agreed but with Sehun it would be strange… She ruffled her hair. Her conversation had veered too far of her destination.

“Aren’t you exaggerating a bit too much? It’ll only be pretend. I can help you!”

“How will you do that when you don’t have a romantic bone in your body?” Hana muttered quietly. Oh how she wished Tao were here to save her from the grave she’d dug for herself.

“Oh really? Are you challenging me right now?” Sehun smirked crookedly. He was up for a challenge. Life had become rather dull recently.

“No,” Hana affirmed. She didn’t need his help, not even an ounce of it. ‘Making my first love jealous by pretending to date you?’  It would never work!

Sehun’s smile fell. He was really curious now. “Whose the lucky guy that caught Kim Hana’s eyes?”

“I’m not going to tell you when I haven’t even told him!”

Hana stomped her foot in frustration, she looked to Sehun for help. “Should I just tell him even though he likes someone else?”

Sehun faltered for a moment. He didn’t want her to see her heart broken. His tapped his chin slowly. “That’s a tricky question.”

His face contorted in thought. “How did you even get into that mess?”

Hana massaged her temples feeling rather hopeless. “It’s not my fault, I just sort of maybe fell in love without meaning to…”

Sehun smiled and patted her head. “If that’s how you feel, you should tell him.”

“What if it hurts our friendship,” Hana cried. Her head was slowly starting to throb. “He might never talk to me again. I don’t want that!”

“Are you okay with being friend-zoned?”

Hana shook her head, she wasn’t okay with anything right now. “I think he might fall for me eventually.”

Hana thought Sehun might reply with condescending relationship advice but he only frowned and shook his head as if she’d uttered blasphemy. “Don’t do that. He might try to rebound using you or might even use you to make his girl jealous.”

“He’s not like that!”

“Guys are people too. We will do things if we think it will benefit and if he thinks you’re a friend he might think it’s okay to fake a relationship and that’s not what you want because you like him.”

Hana twitched, “Since when have you become a relationship guru?”

Sehun shrugged his wide shoulders, he felt rather flattered by the compliment even if he thought she didn’t mean it. She was looking at him as if he’d grown two heads and was about to sprout a tail too, “Kai’s my friend and I listen to him drabble, sometimes.”

-

Seryung could only hear her heartbeat and feel her pulse zoom erratically out of control. She felt his breath against her cheek and raised her head. Her eyes met his dark ones. They were wider than usual because he was just as surprised as she. Her palms rested on either side of him and her hair tickled his face. Her breath came shallow. She gasped inaudibly.

“Yah! Keep it PG!” One of the zombies shouted in a very human-like voice. The other snickered at the amusement.

“You’re heavy,” Tao groaned. Seryung flushed and slowly pulled away in a daze. She fumbled with her hair to distract herself whereas Tao took to his feet. A beguile smirk etched onto his features. He offered her a hand out of courtesy, not really expecting her to take it but she did anyway. Her hand fit into his like a glove. She avoided his eyes when she spoke.

“Don’t be chicken, let’s go sit.”

“I’m not sitting on that. You can sit for me instead.”

“Chinese chicken!”

“Am not!”

Seryung took a deep breath. She was still shaken from the earlier experience. She wasn’t sure if he’d noticed the small tremors of anxiety passing though her. She mustered her courage and gazed into his eyes with clenched fists.

“Stop being a sore loser. I know, you know it’s all an act. Don’t be chicken. If you keep at it I’m just going to sit on that chair until my brain fries. What are you going to tell the others then?”

Tao chuckled lightly. “Chinese chicken and French fries will make a great meal!”

Seryung pursed her lips at the sarcasm. She failed to see the humor and was somewhat offended at having him insult her so deviously.

She decided to change tactics. “Please!” She whined in a high voice. She pressed her palms together and batted her eyelashes only to have him shake his head.

Seryung pouted, crossed her arms and clicked her tongue at him. Tao however, refused to be swayed.

“Why do you always do this to me?” Seryung cried tugging on his sleeve. Tao pulled his arm away faster than the speed of light while his heart rate increased to match the speed of sound.

“You’re always so mean!” Seryung sobbed rubbing at her eyes to induce false tears of guilt. She hit him lightly to illustrate her disenchantment and cried softly.

Tao remained stiff, almost as if he knew her underhand plans. He slowly pried him arm free from Seryung’s grasp. His heart rate was trying to break the speed of sound.

Seryung let her arms drop to her sides. He’d fallen for neither agyeo, tears or guilt…  She watched him rather hopelessly before her expression hardened, “Fine, be a sissy!”

Seryung had meant to stalk past him childishly by stomping her feet to show her discontent but he’d brushed past her instead leaving her bemused. He sat on the chair and narrowed his eyes at her as if she were the one strapping him to it.

Seryung ruffled her hair and looked to the zombies for some sort of explanation. The ‘zombies’ however, only went back into character and spoke in an incompressible tongue.

-

Hana raised a hand to and laughed. “How did you even become friends with Kai? You guy’s are worlds apart!”

“It wasn’t my fault. Jong In just liked to be friends with everyone back in the day. He dragged me in too, and before I knew it we were friends - I was cheated!”

Hana continued to laugh. Kim Jong In - Sehun had a lot of farce complaints when it came to Kai. Hana was pleasantly surprised to see him so amicable.

“What’s Kim Joon Myun like?” Hana queried.

Sehun made a face, “Unlike Kai. At least that guy studies.”

Sehun shook his head in mock disgust. “I’m not really close with those guys at all but then I am. We’ve got a queer relationship. We don’t really bother with each other for the most part but when someone’s in ‘trouble’ we like to in and ‘help.’ ”

Hana bobbed her head understandingly.

“Maybe we’re close because we know each others darkest secrets? They know stuff, stuff about me which I’m not proud of…”

“Oh…” Hana’s expression contorted in thought. She didn’t believe Sehun was capable of doing things that he wouldn’t be proud of. He always seemed to be on top of things since the first day she’d met him.

“You don’t know what it’s like” Sehun answered her question for her. “To have your parent’s think you’re crazy and in need of therapy.”

“You’re not crazy,” Hana expressed. “You’re quiet and probably don’t speak your mind much but you’re not crazy.”

“I might be…” Sehun shrugged, all trace of humor gone from his features. He avoided looking at her as his expression began to darken, “If you ever need a good excuse to break off the marriage. I can tell you one.”

His resentful tone made Hana shudder under the heat of the sun. “It’s okay,” she responded meekly. Her eyes grew when he finally looked at her. His piercing physiognomy could have sent satan scampering back to hell.

Hana flinched slightly under his glare. Her reaction melted his glacial continence. Sehun sighed to exhale his ill feelings towards his so-called ‘madness.’ He attempted to regain his composure in order to let his companion feel at ease.

“It’s really not okay,” Sehun murmured arranging her hair. “You even cut your hair to try and get along with me… You should stop. Forget about what your parents want for once and work towards your first love instead.”

“Should I confess? I don’t know how to though…” Hana averted her gaze and played with her feet.

“You can practice with me.” Sehun advocated encouragingly.

His suggestion struck a cord in Hana. She looked up to meet his eyes unsurely. His eyes were warm and inviting. Her senses tingled soundlessly. Hana chewed on her lower lip and took a deep breath. Determination came to her wordlessly, cajoling her to act.

“I love you.”