They were the same person… Maia and Soojung? Didn't Soojung die in a car accident last year? What if she survived and didn't want to be seen by Onew? Didn’t Onew tell you that before the accident they had been fighting all the time? Maybe she pretended to be dead just to get rid of Onew. Did she hide from Onew all this months? Wasn't that too cruel from her? Well, you didn't know her anyways.

Maia. You thought. It was weird that from all the people in the park she decided to put an eye on you. Was that a coincidence or did she really talk to you knowing who you were? You couldn’t believe she lied to you all this months. She was here for a mission… Were you the mission? Were you the woman she was talking about? Was Onew the friend she wanted to help? Oh, god, Jjong fell for her. You were so angry that you would go straight to see her and tell her to get lost or maybe slap her, but you weren’t a violent person and you had so many questions, and all of them needed to be answered, so you endured the anger and went to take the public bus. There could also be the possibility that she was Maia and looked like Soojung, after all, you only saw Soojung in a picture. There could also be someone who looks exactly like me, a doppelgänger, somewhere in the world. You thought. You embraced the idea that she was Maia and not Soojung, Onew’s ex-girlfriend, that this was all a misunderstanding. There was only one place you wanted to go.

As soon as you opened the door of Thomas’s café, you saw her on the same table as usual, but the usual smile was gone, as well as yours.

“You discovered it?” She asked.

How she knew it? “Did Onew tell you?”

“I’m sorry,” it was all she said.

“I’m sorry? What are you sorry for? Who are you? Are you Maia or Soojung?”

Please, say you are Maia. Please, say you are Maia.

“Soojung.”

Somehow, you knew the answer although you didn’t lost the hope till the end. You didn’t have time to feel disappointed to hear Soojung instead of Maia from her lips. You needed answers and a sudden anger made you feel brave.

You shook your head in disbelief. “It’s clear that I can’t trust anyone. I thought we were friends. I trusted you. I told you everything about me. But you… you lied to me.”

“We can’t be friends. I was sincere all this time though. But we can’t be friends, Selene.”

“Of course we can’t! You lied to me. I hate the most when someone lies. I was fooled for months!” Once again. You thought.

“Selene, please. Let me explain you.”

“No, you don’t need to explain me anything. Go and explain everything to Onew. He thinks you are dead. Damn. He still blame himself for killing you, Soojung! Your lie went way too far. He won’t forgive you.”

“I can’t go and meet him and explain him everything. I’m dead. Don’t you understand it? I’m a ghost.”

“You are… what?”

“I’m a ghost. I haven’t left the world yet. I can’t. I can’t leave. I had to solve the mess I created first.”

“What mess? Wait. Are you really a ghost? Like can everyone see you?”

You wanted to touch her and check if she really was a ghost. But you thought it would be disrespectful. Now that you thought about it, you hadn’t touched her even once.

“I can control who can see me. Now everyone in the café can see me otherwise they would think you are talking alone.”

“I… I don’t trust you. You lied to me for months. How can I believe you are a ghost? I mean, holy I’ve been friend with a ghost all this time?”

“Have you ever seen me drinking or touching something?”

You thought about it. Actually she had never accepted a drink from you. You never saw her drinking a cup of anything. She said she was painter but never saw her holding a pen even once.

“Can Onew see you?”

“Yes, he can. But for his sake, it’s better if he doesn’t see me. He won’t let me leave if he sees me.”

“He still thinks of you…” you thought out loud.

“But I’m dead.”

“Was he the friend you talked to me about? Is he the friend you wanted to help?”

“And you are the girl I’m stalking.”

“Yo-you followed me everywhere?”

“I didn’t have to.”

“I’m sorry but it’s hard to believe you’re a ghost.”

“Of course it is. I know you must hate me now but I need to ask you a favor. Actually they are two favors. The first one is to hear everything I have to tell you. I know it’s shocking to hear I’m a ghost but you have to trust me. The other one I’ll tell you later. Will you hear what I need to tell you?”

You nodded. You accepted because this was too weird to believe. And you needed answers.

“First, we need to go somewhere else. Onew is coming here. He’s looking for you.”

You stood up as soon as you heard that Onew was coming here. Of course he was looking for you. You just ran away from his house without saying a word (something not so usual from you). But you couldn’t see his face now. You’ve been friend with his ghost ex-girlfriend all this time. You were friend with the woman that he once loved and still had feelings. You went to the bus stop and took the first bus that stopped by. You didn’t even care about the path of the bus. You just wanted to go anywhere.

“Since when have you been living like a ghost?”

“Don’t talk to me. They can’t see me now.”

She is smart. She doesn’t want to talk to me now, that’s why she didn’t do whatever she has to do to be able to be seen by the mortals. You thought.

You sat on a different seat from her. You didn’t feel like sitting next to a ghost. Especially the ghost of your friend’s ex-girlfriend. You sat on the seat behind her. Her hair caught your attention; it looked so real. She didn’t look like a ghost. You looked closer.

“You look weird doing that,” she said.

What? She had eyes on the back of her head? You looked around. Indeed, some people were looking at you. What? You wanted to yell them. You sat straight and waited patiently to arrive to wherever you were going. The bus has already stopped five times on the bus stop.

“I think we are far enough. Onew won’t find you.”

You didn’t know where you were. There was a street full of cafes and restaurants.

“I thought you would be hungry.”

At least she has manners. And it seems she can also read my thoughts. You thought.

You chose a vegetarian restaurant. You weren’t vegetarian though. But you thought if Onew by any chance get to come this place, he will never enter to a vegetarian restaurant knowing that you loved to eat so much.

“Do you want some–? Sorry, I forgot you can’t eat.”

She giggled. “You’re still good to me.”

I’m not being good to you, I’m being polite. You thought.

“Oh, can you read my mind?” You panicked.

“I can read people’s mind but I’m not doing that to you. I still have manners.”

She didn’t say anything else until the salad plate came out.

“That looks delicious. I wish I could eat. Just eat comfortably. We can talk after you finish.”

“I’m not hungry. I lost my appetite. Can they see you?”

She nodded.

“Why you can’t leave this world? You can’t or you don’t want to?”

“I can’t and I don’t want to. Not until I accomplish the mission.”

“What exactly that mission is?”

“Onew already told you our story, didn’t he? Our fights, the fight in the car before the wedding day and the car accident.”

You nodded.

“He thinks it his fault. He’s so stupid.” She laughed. But it was a cold and empty laugh. “It wasn’t his fault. It was mine. It was my selfishness that killed me. I was the responsible of my own death. And because of that, Onew lived unhappily. Although I’m thankful to God that he survived the car accident, I will never forgive me for giving him a hard life.”

>>Look, I even had a bad life as a ghost. I guess it’s the karma. I suffered every day seeing him crying, staying at home alone, forgetting how to talk to people, and drinking… getting drunk.

>>I loved him. I loved him so much. When he proposed to me, I cried of happiness. To be honest, I was waiting for that moment since we met for the first time. I’m so childish, aren’t I?

“Onew told me you didn’t like his career.” You didn’t feel like talking about his love story with Onew.

“I was a painter. Painters don’t make much money unless you’re an amazing painter or go abroad. I wasn’t an amazing painter, so the latter one was my other option. But that meant to part away from Onew. However, I loved him so much to do that.”

>>Onew was working in the music industry, but he was having a hard time. Not many companies wanted to buy Onew’s work. Not because he was bad. He was amazing! Onew has such a talent. I bet you already know that. But the big companies would always want to re-arrange all Onew’s songs, adding this and that, and he didn’t like that.

“If they want to change or rearrange my songs, that means they don’t like my songs,” she imitated Onew’s voice.

>>Small and independents companies loved Onew’s songs. But as the name says, they were smalls companies. I wanted to have a lot babies with Onew, have a wonderful honeymoon and married life. How could I have all of those if I was a painter and Onew working for a small and independent company?

>>As I said, I was selfish. And my selfishness took me to the death. I only thought about me, about the life I wanted. I never considered his dream of being a song writter. I told him things that I didn’t mean to. I said terrible things. I hurt him deeply. What I regret most is that I couldn't apologize.

Now that you knew the side of her story, you didn’t hate her (that much). Yes, she did wrong. But she also suffered. You felt pity for her.

“I want Onew to be happy. I couldn’t make him happy when I had the opportunity, so this time, I want to make sure to make him happy. I said I had two favors to ask you. The first one was to hear everything I had to say. And you did it. Thank you.”

She gave you a sad smile.

“I’m sad to say this; Onew still has feelings for me. I, without his permission, read his mind. He stills thinks about me, but he also has feelings for you. He’s confused now. If you decide to stay with him, he will be able to forget me and be happy. You have the approval of a ghost.” She chuckled.

>>But I see you’re not sure about your feelings. I’m sorry, I also read your mind before, but I never thought I would be here explaining you that.

>>This is the second favor I am asking you. If you are not sure about your feelings, please, stop seeing Onew. You are only making him feel confused. If you stay by his side, he will only fall more for you. He doesn’t think of you as a friend, not anymore. But you still have time to leave him. He won’t suffer that much if you leave now.

>>I’m conscious that I’m being selfish now. But I want Onew happiness. You are the key to his happiness. But also the key to his misery.

You are the key to his happiness. But also the key to his misery. That statement left a deep impression on you.

It all depended on what decision you will take.