Lee Taeil has been dead for around twenty years.

He’d died in his sleep; the product of too many over the counter sleep meds and a genetic heart condition he hadn’t known about until he’d woken up without it beating.

He was fine with it, though. Being dead wasn’t actually that bad.

He’d even gotten to keep his apartment, which as great. His landlord had tried to rent it back out after his funeral, but a few well-timed moans and groans on Taeil’s part had kept it empty. Dusty, but his own.

Until he had to go and get himself a reputation.

'The haunted apartment on the fourth floor' became a local legend, and soon enough his space would be invaded by scared less teenagers and overly passionate ghost hunters with beer cans and beeping gadgets to spare, respectively.

At first he’d tried to scare them off, throwing things and slamming cupboard doors and other assorted ghostie spooks, but that had only spurred them on.

So he’d decided to wait them out.

After a while, the only people to come up to his room were ten year olds with shaking hands and photographers with grubby fingerprints and too-bright flashbulbs on their expensive cameras.

Eventually, no one came at all.

~~~

After nearly three years of silence, it was understandable that when Taeil first heard the doorknob turn he thought he’d been hallucinating.

If ghosts could hallucinate.

The point was that he’d certainly been taken by surprise.

Tiptoeing out of his bedroom on feet that wouldn’t have made sound unless he’d specifically made them, he peaked around the hallway corner to see the back of what seemed to be a boy in his late teens, huddled facing the door.

His shoulders were drawn up tight with fear, and Taeil had enough experience to know what that meant.

The poor, unlucky victim of a dare.

He watched as the poor kid heaved a bracing breath, forced himself to turn around and crept quietly into the living room.

He was young, but maybe a few years older than what Taeil had first guessed, probably early twenties. He had a sweet face, twisted in fear though it was, and Taeil found himself flushing warm as the young man passed by close enough for his to feel his heat.

He didn’t want to dwell on that.

He was currently too busy watching as the man removed his backpack and sat gingerly on the carpet, thick dust billowing up around him.

Taeil was embarrassed. He would have cleaned up if he’d known he was going to have company.

He rolled his eyes at what the man pulled from his bag.

A ouija board. How original.

He sighed and made his way over as his guest set up the board, setting the planchette down in the middle. He looked around briefly, eyes passing right over Taeil as he tentatively placed his hand on the small heart-shaped block of wood, his eyes shifting nervously over all of Taeil’s neglected furniture before hesitantly clearing his throat.

"H-hello? My name is Yukwon, is th-there anybody here?" 

Yukwon, huh? His stutter was cute enough that Taeil decided to play along.

He sat forward and laid his hands on top of Yukwon’s, the heat scorching on his frigid skin. Yukwon didn’t seem to notice. Not until he started moving, at least.

Taeil slowly directed the planchette over to the word ‘yes’, written in English oddly enough, before removing his hands.

The heat was a little too much.

Yukwon was gaping down at the board, his eyes like moons how they shone in the dark.

"No way," he breathed.

Yes way, Taeil replied, his voice audible only to himself.

As Yukwon recovered himself, an incredulous smile starting to grow on his face, Taeil felt a grin of his own forming.

He had a feeling he wasn’t going to be so lonely anymore.