“Wake up, lady.”

The voice was energetic, bright, and too loud. Definitely not her mom, So Eun knew, but she was too exhausted to be concerned.

“If you don’t wake up, I’ll kiss you.” The voice sing-songed again.

So Eun snorted.

“Oh, alright. How did you know I couldn’t kiss you?” It talked, once again, in its’ overly cheerful voice.

“I’ll sing for you, then. Sandanen geon da geureon georaeyo. Him deulgo apeun naldo manhjiman. Sandaneun goen cham joheun georaeyo. Oneuldo sugo manheusyeosseoyo.”

So Eun’s eyes flew open along with , which let out a piercing screech by what she saw.

Hong Jin Young was in her apartment.

… That sounded fairly typical. Let’s try this again…

It was night, and Hong Jin Young was in her room, floating around everywhere, which didn’t make a lot of sense, seeing that it was impossible to float in Earth, where gravity exists.

Then So Eun seized to notice that Hong Jin Young was translucent. She appeared visible because she was detailed in blue, sheer light.

Excuse her for not being collected, but no one in their right sense of mind would be, if this was their situation. So Eun did the most sane thing, and closed her eyes, willing to go back to sleep.

This was absurd, even for a dream.

“Don’t do that. How lame, sleeping in your dream.” Hong Jin Young pouted, laying down on the bed next to her.

So Eun sat up quickly, after several failed attempts in trying to fall asleep. Everything was too concrete despite it being in her dream. The way the polyester fabric of her quilt felt against her arms, the way she could feel the cold wooden floor with her feet.

So Eun then pinched herself on her arm, and whimpered at the sting that it caused.

She was going bonkers, So Eun concluded at last. “Where am I, unnie?” So Eun, resigned, turned her attention to Hong Jin Young.

“In your dream,” the ghost answered cheerfully, oblivious to So Eun’s crazed face.

“Am I lucid dreaming, or something?” So Eun asked incredulously. She checked her watch on the counter. Twelve, midnight. She counted her fingers- all ten. Her toes? Ten toes.

“It doesn’t feel like I’m dreaming.” So Eun replied, going around her room, touching everything in reach.

“Sure you are. Look.” And with that, Hong Jin Young threw an empty glass vase on to the floor, leaving it to be completely shattered. A few seconds later, the glass pieces automatically reshaped itself to its’ original form, leaving not a trace of a single glass shard on the floor.

“But that’s not the reason why I’m here, to entertain you. I’m here to show you the past, present, and future.”

So Eun chuckled. “So you're the ghost of Christmas past, present, and future? Come back after a few more months. It’s still too far from Christmas."

“Christmas is too far away," Hong Jin Young agreed. "But Jae Rim -ssi is engaged now, is he not?”

So Eun felt her face crumble in frustration. “What does that have to do with anything?”

The ghost paid no attention to So Eun’s irritation. “We’re going to see the past, present, and future of Song Jae Rim.”

“Okay,” So Eun piped up, without a single moment of hesitation. She had always been curious of his past, though she couldn't say the same for his future, seeing that Park Min Young is bound to be married to him.

Jin Young, in a buoyant mood because of So Eun’s permission to their journey, winked at her before snapping her fingers. Their surroundings seemed to twirl, the world heavy around her, and So Eun habitually shut her eyes close.

 So Eun quickly came to notice that she was not in her apartment anymore. She was cramped, with Hong Jin Young, in a small alley near a subway station.

They were definitely not in Seoul.

Completely baffled, and quite overwhelmed, So Eun gave Jin Young a questioning look.  

“Guess where we are?” Hong Jin Young squealed, enthusiastic. “We’re in Pusan, SeoMyun.”

So Eun was speechless. She knew that this was all a dream- it had to be a dream- but the smell of burnt cigarettes, the city lights of department stores, the way the cement felt under her bare foot- everything was tangible, and so, so real.

“Take a look.” Hong Jin Young pointed at a café just a block away, and So Eun obliged, squinting her eyes to get a better view.

“It’s hard to see, isn’t it?” Hong Jin Young muttered incoherently. A few seconds later, her face brightened. “What the heck? It’s your dream! Why are we even spying on them?” While humming Boogie Man cheerfully, Hong Jin Young took a hold of So Eun’s wrist before dragging her across the street, and into the building of the café- literally.

Apparently, So Eun was a ghost herself, although she wasn’t transparent. Or how else would she have gotten in the building without going through the entrance?

Pushing her thoughts to the side, So Eun tried her best to look as casual as she can. (Which was hard, considering the fact that she was still in her pajamas, with no shoes on.) Because the no shirt, no shoes, no service rule was international, So Eun couldn’t help but exchange guilty glances with the cashier. He didn’t seem to care much, but come on.

Hong Jin Young giggled, shaking her shoulders up and down. “You look like you murdered a parrot that belonged to a three year old boy. Relax.”

Leave it to Jin Young to come up with the weirdest analogy.

“That’s easy for you to say, unnie,” So Eun huffed, still glancing warily at the people around her. “You’re invisible to everyone but me.”

“Hello, people! I’m Hong Jin Young, the adorable trot queen! I can aegyo very well!” Hong Jin Young tweeted, her voice crescendoing within each syllable. Her voice was so very ear splittingly loud that So Eun was sure her mother in Seoul and from outside of her dream could've heard Jin Young as well.

“What are you doing, unnie?” So Eun asked frantically, trying to cover Jin Young’s mouth with her hands. Her attempt failed, of course, because her hands went right through Jin Young’s smiling, limpid face. “They can’t see you, but they can hear you.”

“They can’t see you or me. It’s your dream, remember?” Hong Jin Young burst into peals of uncontrollable laughter, and clapped her hands in pure joy.

“My… dream?” So Eun was utterly bewildered, but she stood up, and walked straight over to the cashier. He seemed to be staring at her, but she realized the faraway look in his eyes.

Just for her sake, So Eun made a dauntless move, and slapped the man’s face.

She screamed as she heard a sickening thud,;her fingertips glided gracefully across the man’s cheek. She immediately bowed her head down to give a formal apology, but the man did not mouth so much of a cuss word to express his agony, much less move from the place he was standing.

So Eun looked at the red swelling on her hand.

This… did not make any sense.

“Wow. I knew you were aggressive, So Eun, but I never knew you had it in you,” Hong Jin Young shouted merrily, from across the room.

So Eun, still flabbergasted, turned around to speak, but stopped shortly after an unexpected presence of Song Jae Rim and Park Min Young. Her wide opened mouth dropped down a fraction lower.

Hong Jin Young squealed, “They came!” before tugging the dumbfounded girl with her to sit with the couple.

So Eun sat with Jae Rim, across from Min Young and Jin Young. Both Jae Rim and Min Young paid no attention to them, even after So Eun decided to lace her fingers in Jae Rim’s. He didn’t know that he was being taken advantage of, so no harm done, So Eun supposed.

“You want anything to drink?”

“No, oppa. I have to leave early. I just called you over, because I had something to tell you.” Min Young sounded immensely miserable, So Eun noticed. Even Jin Young made an effort to pat the girl’s shoulders, trying to placate her.

Jae Rim cocked his head slightly to the left, looking downright adorable. Which wasn’t important, but he was. Very adorable, So Eun thought.

“I’ve thought about this many times, oppa. I don’t think our relationship is working out.” Min Young traced the linings of wood on the table. “We haven’t been seeing each other. You were always busy.”

So Eun, along with Jae Rim, gaped at the girl in sync, wholly baffled by the unexpected outcome of the conversation.

“What? What is she doing?” So Eun demanded, glaring at Min Young. She was supposed to heal his wounds, not rub salt all over them. “Youcan't do that; You're engaged to him!” Blinded by her rage, So Eun took the crisp collar of Min Young’s shirt, and shook the girl the best she can, trying to bring her to common sense.

Min Young was shaking, but she didn’t seem to know that she was, for her expression remained as stolid as before.

“So Eun,” Jin Young called out brightly, impervious to So Eun’s vexation, “this is your dream, remember?”

So Eun immediately dropped Min Young’s collar, feeling repentant about the red stain on Min Young’s neck that has been caused by the straining of the collar. “Right. Sorry,” So Eun apologized sheepishly, although Min Young really didn’t seem to mind.

“So none of this really happened in real life, huh?” So Eun asked, disregarding the feeling of disappointment. She felt relieved, of course, that Jae Rim wouldn’t have to go through a heartbreak, but she had hoped that maybe…

Maybe she would have a chance, if Min Young chose to end her relationship with Jae Rim.

“It did happen,” Min Young chirped.

“But you said it was a dream!” So Eun hissed.

“What did I tell you? We’re visiting the past, present, and future of Song Jae Rim. This is his past.”

When So Eun did not reply, Jin Young continued on, “Today is January 16^th, 2007.”

“My schedule? I’ll cancel my plans. If you felt that I was neglecting you, you could’ve just told me.” Jae Rim stated, shooting Min Young a desolate look.

“It’s not only you,” Min Young said softly, putting her hands over his. “It's that, I feel like I should focus more on my work these days.”

Jae Rim swallowed, distressed by the news. So Eun understood. That was how she felt like, she thinks, when Jae Rim told her that he was engaged.

So Eun wished he wouldn’t feel too devastated. If only she could tell him that he'll somehow end up getting engaged with Min Young in the future…

“I have to go,” Min Young stated quietly, before placing a gold ring onto the palm of his hand. “I hope you understand, oppa. It’s the best for both of us.”

So Eun watched the vibrant color of Jae Rim’s fade, and she winced with him. She wanted to linger with Jae Rim a little longer, but Jin Young was not flexible.

“You’re going to wake up soon, and all Jae Rim-ssi will do is sit. Follow Min Young.”

So Eun gently put her hands on to Jae Rim’s cheeks, letting it glide down his sorrowful face. “I can’t leave him alone like this,” So Eun protested.

Jin Young rolled her eyes. “Sweetie. He can’t see you, or hear you.”

So Eun opened  to protest, but Jin Young snapped her fingers while humming to Boogie Man.

So Eun could’ve sworn that she blinked only once, but their surroundings had changed completely within that second.

They had teleported inside a person’s house.

So Eun’s stomach had started feeling queasy the moment she had opened her eyes. It wasn’t as if she did anything wrong, other than sneaking into an unknown person’s house, but please. As Jin Young said, it was only a dream.

Why was she feeling so nauseous?

Jin Young tapped on So Eun’s shoulders, giving So Eun her comforting smile. It didn’t make So Eun feel any better, but So Eun smiled back to reassure Jin Young.

“Look at the picture.” Jin Young pointed at a frame hung up on the living room wall.

So Eun squinted to get a better view, and gasped, totally baffled, when she recognized the identity of the person. It was Son Ho Jun.

She had thought that the apartment was strangely familiar, but she had brushed that thought aside. She had only been in his apartment once, along with the other sunbaes. This led to a pain in the scandal with Son Ho Jun, of course, and So Eun never set a foot in Ho Jun’s flat since then, no matter how many times he had invited her.

The ringing of the doorbell caused So Eun to jump. The presence of Ho Jun opening the door startled her even more.

However, the fact that Min Young standing outside Ho Jun’s apartment had shocked her the most. So Eun was relatively close with Son Ho Jun, and everyone else he was close with. Not everyone, So Eun supposed, seeing that Min Young was Ho Jun’s close friend, as well.

Close enough to visit his apartment, anyways.

“Come in.” Son Ho Jun welcomed Min Young, patting her slightly on her shoulder.

“I need a drink,” Min Young said immediately, making herself comfortable on his sofa.

“What for?” Son Ho Jun asked, heading to the kitchen.

Min Young gingerly peeled off the coffee colored  hose she was wearing, before shaking her head in annoyance. “Remember how I’ve told you about my relationship with Jae Rim oppa?”

Son Ho Jun, who was occupied with dealing with the soju bottle cap, did not reply, but Min Young continued on, “Well, I finally broke up with him.”

So Eun flinched; it was disturbing the way Min Young told Ho Jun so casually, as if the break up had no significant effect on her. What was with this woman? It seemed as if she had been head over heels in love with him, back in the hospital.

“What did you say?” Ho Jun asked indifferently, which surprised So Eun once more. Son Ho Jun oppa- the sensitive, compassionate person she believed him to be…

“Oh, I had to beat around the bush. You know, blame it on our busy schedules, work, whatever.” Min Young paused to take a swallow of the soju, and continued, “I’d rather break his heart this way, rather than to break his heart by getting caught sleeping with another man.”

So Eun looked at Min Young in dubiety, which altered into hostility. She had trusted her to bring happiness to Jae Rim. She had been willing to sacrice her happiness, the man she loves, in exchange for his happiness. But Min Young was going to wreck both of them. She turned to look at Ho Jun, waiting to see the change of expression on his tranquil face.

“It’s better to tell him the truth, if you want to stay with this new guy,” Ho Jun answered instead, much to So Eun’s dismay. “You’re breaking his heart, one way or the other.”

“I don’t believe in breaking hearts, hun, because I believe in karma. Payback is a , especially when it comes to love. Wouldn’t want to get involved.” Min Young gave Ho Jun a condescending look, before shaking her head lightly. “What would you know about romantic relationships, anyways? You still haven’t confessed to that girl you like.”

Ho Jun’s ears turn scarlet as the apples of his cheeks turned crimson. “I’m taking things slower with her. My love life is none of your business.”

“What was her name? So Eun?” Min Young let out a soft, airy chuckle. “Pathetic.”

“Hey. You watch your mouth. I’m your sunbae.”

So Eun looked at Ho Jun with distaste, unable to ignore the sick feeling of this bogus situation. She would never be able to look at Ho Jun the same way again.

“How did he take it?” Ho Jun asked quickly, eager to change the topic.

“What can I say?” Min Young huffed, obviously exasperated. “It was difficult, trying to play nice girl. Oppa is in love with me, head over heels. I had to break up with him, though, or else I would’ve died of boredom. I’m just tired of all the attention he’s giving me.”

“You sound full of yourself,” Ho Jun scoffed, taking a swing of his liquor.

“It’s just that, well, he’s so predictable, and undeniably boring. I’m just not attracted to him anymore, you now? Maybe I’m just craving someone more animalistic… with stronger appeal.” Min Young sighed.

Ho Jun shot Min Young a look of disgust. “That I didn’t need to know.”

“What can I say?” Min Young smiled smugly. “Min Ho is different. He’s unpredictable, and that’s what makes him irresistible. Something Jae Rim oppa lacks.”

“Just because he won’t have with you?” Even Ho Jun was beginning to sound irritated. “Min Young, that’s sort of unreasonable, don’t you think? That guy’s just being a gentleman.”

“Keep thinking the way you’re thinking, and you’ll never get So Eun to go out with you,” Min Young snorted. “For all you know, she might be going around getting laid.”

“Shut up.” Ho Jun growled sternly. “So Eun is different from a like you.”

“Whatever.” Came Min Young’s nonchalant reply, but So Eun wasn’t there to hear it.

She had stormed out of the room a few seconds before, with tears streaking down from her red stained eyes.

I'm back, with an another updated chapter! It's updated two hours later than planned, and I apologize for that.

I had to type all this on my ipad, so it was a slower process. :(

For people who didn't understand the weirdness of the chapter: (It is a bit complicating.) So Eun is supposedly sleeping, but the events in her dream, such as the break up, and the small talk between Min Young and Ho Jun, etc, had happened in real life. The concept is based off the story Christmas Carol, so please don't sue me for copy rights issues.

Speaking of Christmas Carol, the ghost in the story is Hong Jin Young, and if you didn't notice, she is the guest of this chapter. No one was able to guess the identity of the guest correctly, so I guess the cameo thing is called off for now.

Big shout out to my subscribers and to people who commented as always. :)

YEighty: The zombie story was fake. Haha. I was just trolling, being the lame person I am. The events that happened after is what actually happened. Hold on to the hope that you have, because hope is a good thing. You know it's true because Andy Dufresne said so himself, in Shawshank Redemption. If you don't know what that is, check it out. :) It's awesome. BTW. Your comment about Lee Kwang Su had me loling for a good couple of minutes. I love Running Man, too. :)

Babo_Taelover: What's wrong with your username? I think it's adorable. I'm a babo_taelover too, you see. (Taeyeon lover). It's too bad you couldn't be the cameo, but maybe there'll be another opportunity next time.

SoshiYul9: (Gasp) Ofcourse I won't abandon the story. We're like, all family now, through So Eun and Jae Rim. I'll never do that to you guys.

skyraine: We'll both cry for the heartache of So Eun. But good ol' So Eun won't back down. Especially because she saw how much of a jerk Min Young and Ho Jun is in this chapter. It's revealed that Ho Jun liked So Eun eight years ago; maybe he is the key to both Jae Rim and So Eun' s happiness. There's gotta be jealousy to love, y'know? And.... about the skinship.... there's more in store for them, so keep in touch. ;)