Chapter Text
Yoongi stood there stammering for a solid minute. Think you idiot or he’s going to think you’re just an over anxious nut job who jumps at the sight of everything that says ‘boo’.
“Uh… Hobi! Hoseok… he… uh... said he still feels a little floaty sometimes and I didn’t know if there was a chance he could somehow fall asleep and become a ghost again. It’d be a bit hard to explain a comatose roommate to the landlord and his parents so I was trying to avoid that… Uh… you know what, it's nothing we can’t handle and you have that thing with the vampires so I’ll just… yeah.” Yoongi backed himself back into the apartment moving a little clumsily around the door and shutting it quickly and slumping against the wooden surface. He let out a groan of embarrassment and played the conversation over in his head.
“Hoseok feels floaty? What the fuck, Min?” He grumbled.
“What the fuck, indeed.” Seokjin’s voice came from further into the apartment. He’d forgotten they were still here.
“Shut up,” He covered his face with his hands and pulled back sharply when the business card scratched a little at his eyelid, the sensation startled him because he'd forgotten about it as well.
"What's that?" Hoseok asked from his spot on the couch, seeing the slip of paper between Yoongi’s fingers. Seokjin didn't even wait for Yoongi to process the question before running over and snatching the little card only to run off again as Yoongi stands up running after him and trying to reclaim it.
"Give it back!" Yoongi demanded not paying attention to where he was going. He stumbled as his foot hooked the back of the couch when he tried to take the corner too sharp. Hoseok immediately rushed over to keep him from falling face first into the floor, while Namjoon, taking pity on his friend, went over to Jin and plucked the little card from his grasp.
"You're no fun." Seokjin said petulantly, but didn't make a move to take it or hold onto it.
"It's just Jimin's business card." Namjoon seemed perplexed and moved to hand the card back to Yoongi who was currently tangled up in Hoseok’s lap from where the other had caught him.
“Thanks,” Yoongi said whether it was to Hoseok or Namjoon was anyone’s guess as he grabbed the card from Namjoon, worked his way back into a standing position, and then turned to help Hoseok up as well.
“Only you would get possessive over a slip of paper.” Namjoon chastised as he watched Yoongi hold the card like it was a map to the lost city of Atlantis. He probably hadn’t even realized he was doing it.
“Yeah well the last time I didn’t keep a good grip on it it ran away.” Yoongi replied giving a pointed look at Seokjin who was affecting the most nonchalant, “don’t know what you're talking about I didn’t do anything”, expression he could muster and sitting primly on the arm of Hoseok’s favorite chair.
“Don’t worry Yoongi now that I know what it is, I don't want it anymore. I already have Jimin’s number. If you wanted it that badly you could have just asked me.” Seokjin shrugged and promptly went over and wiggled himself between Yoongi and Hoseok earning a hard pinch to his side for the effort. Seokjin was still sort of awkwardly sitting on Yoongi's leg so he shifted so he was digging into it with a bruising intent. Yoongi started hitting and shoving until he was free and Seokjin was triumphantly sitting at Hoseok's side.
“You’re such a brat.” Yoongi grumbled.
“You’ll learn to love me. It’s inevitable.” Seokjin affirmed and Yoongi laughed, his smile stretching wide and revealing his gums.
***Jimin POV***
Jimin bit the inside of his lip trying to remind himself that Yoongi might be serious and just very shy. He didn’t know him and he only barely knew of Hoseok from Seokjin. It was hard though the way the other was shuffling his feet and turning red was cute. A part of him wanted to go back, to stay with the two men that had become a source of wonderment for him. Yoongi who, even if he didn't understand Hoseok's situation or magic as a whole, had fully accepted his faults and role in Hoseok's life. And Hoseok who himself had held on for far longer than he probably should have been able to in his state waiting lonely for someone like Jimin himself to find him and bring him back. Of course instead he'd gotten Yoongi but it seemed as though everything had worked out according to design. He'd made it to the elevator and was waiting to leave and possibly run into Jieun once more now that he was alone.
****yoongi and Hoseok POV****
It had been another two weeks since Namjoon, Seokjin, and Jimin came to visit them. Two weeks full of Taehyung whining to Yoongi about how it wasn't fair that they had been allowed to come over, but Yoongi hadn't even invited his childhood friend, his best friend, as Taehyung put it, to visit and when Hoseok overheard Taehyung a week full of his begging Yoongi to let the couple come over because he wanted to meet them.
"Just for a day," Hoseok suggested and Yoongi shook his head.
"Half a day then. Come on, you've met my best friend, it's only fair." Hoseok bargained and still Yoongi shook his head.
"Why not?" Hoseok demanded. That was an interesting question. Why didn't he want Taehyung to visit? Yoongi opened his mouth to say something, to give a reason and found he had none so his mouth closed with an audible click of his teeth and he moved to sit down on the couch again sprawling out so he was comfortable and could think. Hoseok was used to this side of Yoongi. It usually came around when the elder was overwhelmed and in need to process something, or when he lost his temper and wanted to end a discussion before it got ugly. Judging by the lack of huffing and puffing Hoseok assumed it was the former and therefore safe to go join him like he often did these days. He crawled onto the end of the couch and laid out bodily on top of Yoongi a little down so his hands rested palms down and overlapped one another on Yoongi's chest and his chin rested on the backs of his fingers.
"What's bothering you? Is it me? Is it because you think they won't be comfortable around me?" He coaxed gently.
"Wha- Hob-ah no that isn't what this is about? Taehyung would get along with anyone and he'll love you. He's been excited to meet you since that day on the phone." Yoongi tried to crane his neck so he could see Hoseok but gave up and opted to stare at the ceiling instead.
"Then what is it about?" Hoseok asked. Yoongi was silent for a while only his chest rising and falling giving away his breathing and Hoseok was beginning to wonder if he'd fallen asleep when he answered.
"I… I'm afraid you'll love them."
"They're your friends, why wouldn't I?" Hoseok asked, obviously missing the way he'd said the words."
"No, Hobi, I'm afraid you'll fall in love with them, and I don't want to lose you the way I lost Taehyung and Namjoon." He tapered off before he could add Jimin's name. They'd met only twice and from where Yoongi was standing his and Hoseok's interactions with the occultant were at an end.
"You think I'm going to stop being your roommate just because you have great friends?" Hoseok asked, raising up and scooting forward so he was leaning over Yoongi wanting to look him in the eyes and find out what he was really trying to say, but found his view obstructed by Yoongi's left arm. He'd needed to rebrace himself against the armrest and back of the couch so he wasn't lying on, but now leaned over the elder.
"I- I don't know." Yoongi admitted. He was aware that Hoseok had moved by the release of weight on him and by the increased weighing down of the couch surrounding him on all sides.
"Yes you do, otherwise you'd be looking at me," Hoseok replied and Yoongi pulled his arm loose and stared right at Hoseok indignance overtaking whatever had made him unsure of himself mere moments past.
"There he is." Hoseok beamed and Yoongi felt himself filled with sunshine again. "Now tell me the truth." Hoseok ordered, his voice held a teasing and cheerful tone and Yoongi's words flooded out of him.
"I- I care about you. I don't think I could stand just being friends while you fell in love with someone else and Tae he's so amazing it's hard not to love him. And he and Jungkook aren't against a third in their relationship. Actually Taehyung offered it to me once just before I moved here, but I don't feel that way about Jungkook and I guess when I think about it I outgrew feeling that way towards Tae. I guess I'm just afraid you'll like them more than you like me. They're better than I am anyway…. More like you." He said wanting to hide himself again. Wishing he could turn himself invisible the way Hoseok used to when he was embarrassed and still a ghost.
The silence dragged on for Yoongi though it was no more than a few seconds for Hoseok and Yoongi was apparently still under a compulsion to fill it; explain himself and his feelings towards Hoseok.
"I'm not either really. Against it…. Polyamory I mean… I just don't really think I could… with them." He tapered off squirming and wishing that Hoseok didn't have him pinned like this.
"But you could? With someone else?" Hoseok encouraged trying to get Yoongi to continue. To admit the same things he'd been thinking himself since that day a couple weeks ago. He wanted to keep Yoongi, but not at the expense of losing Jimin who Hoseok knew would become important to him one day. He'd seen it when he'd pulled Jimin into the apartment by his wrist. It had been a quick flash, only a second or two, but he'd seen an image of himself holding onto Jimin with his chin resting on the other's shoulder as the sun set on his and Yoongi’s little balcony and the surrounding city. Even seeing this and having it in the back of his mind he had considered Yoongi, wanted Yoongi, and let himself indulge in the platonic intimacies Yoongi had offered that the normally reserved man seemed to offer no one else.
"Yes."
"Invite Taehyung and Jungkook over. Taehyung is right, it isn't fair that you live this close to each other and he hasn’t come to visit in the entire time you’ve been here," Hoseok responded in lieu of pursuing the rest of that conversation and rolled himself onto the floor. Hoseok had to think and he couldn't do that hanging over Yoongi like this with the braided chain of his necklace barely keeping itself away from the other's lips and his breathing shifting wisps of bangs away from his russet eyes.
****Jimin POV****
Jimin was finally finished with the kidnapping case. It turned out that the vampires weren’t responsible after everything. A Souruita had been luring the humans off and devouring their souls and leaving them in the mountains. He wasn’t exactly sure how the creature had gotten there from Japan but it explained why they were convinced the vampires had been involved. Jimin was finally going home for the night and was kicking off his shoes and trying to relax now that he didn’t have to worry about his phone going off for a little while. Something about that disappointed him more than it really should have but he willed the dark screen to light up with an unfamiliar number and a Daegu area code. It remained black only reflecting the surfaces and light of his side table lamp where it lay underneath on a wireless charger. He let out a sigh. He’d thought for sure when Yoongi asked for his business card it meant Hoseok or Yoongi himself would be calling him… but they hadn’t. He groaned and flopped down on his couch dramatically. What did he expect? It was two in the morning and anyone in their right mind that wasn’t a nocturnal supernatural being or plagued with insomnia was probably asleep by now.
“I should have asked Seokjin for one of their numbers so I could check in on them.” Jimin lamented and let out a yawn. He hadn’t realized how tired he was but now his bones were weighted and his eyes drifted open and closed at slower intervals and he found himself hugging onto a throw pillow and tugging the matching blanket off the back of the couch to cover himself. It was easier than moving to his room right now even if his belt was digging into his hips and encouraging him to do just that.
He woke the next morning to the sound of his phone ringing. It wasn’t the familiar tone of the police station’s liaison that he dealt with so he reached over his head, eyes still closed, and answered.
“Hello?” his voice was lower and slow to come out as he’d just woken.
“Jimin?” It was Hoseok’s voice on the other line. That made him bolt upright.
“Hoseok? Is everything okay? Are you and Yoongi alright?” He asked frantically. Hoseok didn’t answer for a moment.
“Hoseok?” Jimin questioned again.
“Uh- right. Yoongi might or might not have used a Ouija board and I think the apartment is haunted again.” Hoseok rushed out. There was a sound in the background of a door banging open and Yoongi’s voice.
“Yoongi did not! I told you and the others not to play around with that thing! Didn’t I tell you not to play around with that thing?!” He heard the strong Daegu accent in the background and Hoseok’s reply was a little muffled like he had pulled the phone away from his face.
“Alright, fine! Me, me, me, I. I. I- I brought the ouija board home and asked it a stupid questions. Happy?” Hoseok griped.
“Not at all. There is still a fucking poltergeist in our apartment thanks to you and Taehyung.” Yoongi bit back.
“I’ll come by and see what I can do.” Jimin told them and hung up the phone. He started laughing when he was finally sure they couldn’t hear him and felt more happy to be going to work than he had in a long time. Poltergeists were easy enough to handle as long as it actually was a poltergeist.
Jimin sprinted around his place trying to make himself presentable, scrambling to take a quick shower apply a light amount of base to his face and style his hair into an expertly disheveled style that was supposed to make it appear that he made a very small amount of effort and naturally just looked that put together. When he was satisfied with the clothes he’d chosen he grabbed up his kits and headed out the door.
***Yoongi and Hoseok’s Apartment***
When Yoongi had invited Taehyung and Jungkook over, the last thing on his mind had been Jimin. He was excited to see his best friend and Jungkook as well. The two had arrived early Saturday morning planning to spend the day like Hoseok had wanted. At first everyone was just playing video games and catching up with each other's lives and getting to know one another but after about the fifth round of drinks the questions started to become less about everyone and more about Yoongi and Hoseok and the whole ghost thing.
“So let me get this straight. He woke you up like some fairytale?” Jungkook asked. A hiccup interrupted him and Taehyung started laughing, earning a glare from Jungkook and returning a boxy grin which softened the glare from the other significantly and earned him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“I didn’t kiss him if that’s what you’re asking.” Yoongi defended himself.
“Oh… well have the two of you kissed since then?” Taehyung asked.
Hoseok and Yoongi busied themselves with reasons not to look at one another. Yoongi loudly cleared his throat while Hoseok took a particular interest in trying to see if he could get the broken lightbulb out of his lamp. Yoongi noticed this a moment too late and before he could protest Hoseok had cut his fingers on a sliver of the bulb that was still lodged in the thankfully unplugged lamp.
“Tae there’s a first aid kit in the bathroom.” Yoongi said. The implication that he was asking him to go retrieve it was obvious. Jungkook handed him a pile of tissues from the box on the table next to where he was sitting and Yoongi proceeded to wipe up the mess and clean off Hoseok’s hands as best he could until Taehyung returned with the first aid kit.
“Maybe we should talk about something else.” Jungkook suggested. Hoseok nodded his agreement and took his hand back from Yoongi.
“How about another round?” Taehyung suggested.
“Fine by me,” Yoongi agreed and Jungkook poured the shots up as was customary because he was the youngest. They were in the middle of their drinks when Taehyung asked yet another unexpected question.
“So who is Jimin?”
Yoongi spit and sputtered his drink out and the others laughed including Hoseok who attempted to pat Yoongi on the back to help him clear his airways as he coughed once he’d sobered up enough.
“You have the memory of an elephant. Has anyone ever told you that?” Yoongi diverted the question.
“Thank you,” Taehyung grinned again, turning his smug gaze to Yoongi this time like he knew that the elder was going to fall for it. Which Yoongi did of course but still, he thought, Taehyung could stand to at least show a little sign of contrition, even if it was fake.
“That wasn’t a compliment Tae,” Yoongi replied.
“I know, but you still didn’t tell me who Jimin is.” He shot back teasingly.
“None of your business,” Yoongi said at the same time Hoseok answered the question.
“He’s an occultant who was helping us,” Hoseok’s response was just loud enough that it overtook Yoongi’s protest that Taehyung didn’t need to know who Jimin was.
“Oh wow. I didn’t think Occultants made house calls,” Jungkook said, clearly awed by the news. Jungkook was a witch, same as Seokjin. So hearing news that one of their legendary kind was still in the Seoul districts was fascinating if not important to him.
“What do you mean?” Yoongi asked.
“They’re extremely hard to come by outside of certain circles is all.” Jungkook replied.
“How did you manage to find him?” He asked Yoongi. He knew from what Taehyung and even Yoongi himself had said that Yoongi wasn’t overly fond of magic as a general rule. Lately, though, it seemed that he was digging more and more into that part of the world.
“He’s a friend of Seokjin’s.” Yoongi responded.
"Ah. I guess that makes sense though I still don't really get why Seokjin recommended him to you. An occultant is kind of over qualified to deal with one ghost." Jungkook informed them.
"I mean Seokjin did say Jimin didn't handle basic hauntings when I first went to them." Yoongi replied and shrugged.
"So how'd Seokjin get him to come by then?" Taehyung asked, beginning to get more and more invested in the story. Both because it was something he didn’t really understand because living in Daegu had isolated him from information like this sometimes and where the district hadn’t isolated him the effort he’d made to mask himself as a mundane human had, and because it was a story that included someone whom his best friend seemed to be oddly attached to.
"Jimin owed them a favor," Hoseok was the one to answer the question and Yoongi took a renewed interest in the conversation as well.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
“Seokjin told me the other day when we went out to lunch.” Hoseok replied.
“So next question, how’d you guys get him to come back.” Taehyung interjected, leaning forward into the palms of his hands, elbows resting on his knees in a way Yoongi knew wouldn’t be too comfortable for very long if it didn’t make his legs numb first.
“He kind of just came back when Seokjin and Namjoon did. I kind of figured that Jin dragged him back. He was working on some vampire thing which is why he didn’t actually help with Hobi,” Yoongi responded.
“That’s what’s going on at the clubs right? The missing people?” Jungkook asked him.
“I guess? I don’t really watch the news.” Yoongi admitted.
“Hey don’t look at me. Ghost, remember?” Hoseok chimed in.
“So has he been back since the last time with Seokjin and Namjoon?” Taehyung brought the conversation back to Jimin looking uncomfortable with the idea of vampires as a whole and squeamish at the thought of missing people related to them and rushed to get the focus back to something a little more lighthearted… Like his best friend and his potential new love interest… er interests. Yoongi and Hoseok were already kind of cozy with each other but he hadn’t figured out if they were just friends and that was Hoseok’s natural love language for platonic relationships or if there was something more to it yet.
It seemed to Taehyung though that the red headed man was having a hard time keeping himself on the opposite end of the couch which made him think that Yoongi had asked him to do so and that most likely his friend allowed the other to sit much closer if not right on top of him when no one was around. Which again was strange for what Taehyung knew of Yoongi after all these years. It had taken ages for him to even be comfortable enough with Taehyung’s hugging habit and even longer for him to indulge in hugging Jungkook
“Not yet,” Yoongi said. He didn’t sound all that confident that Jimin would ever come back.
“Well, do you want him to?” Taehyung prompted and Yoongi floundered trying to come up with an immediate answer that wouldn’t embarrass him or hurt Hoseok’s feelings. Even though they had discussed this before when they were alone it still felt a little too taboo to admit.
“Why would I? Like Hoseok said, he came here because he owed Seokjin a favor, that’s all. He didn’t even stick around to get to know either of us because he had more important things to do.” He settled on his usual crabby defense system and Taehyung and Jungkook started laughing. Hoseok looked around the room at the three of them oblivious to what was so funny.
“You’re confusing Hobi,” Yoongi chastised, trying to not laugh at himself and his idiot friends. Idiot friends who knew him way too well and had probably guessed everything from the moment he’d hung up the phone the last time he mentioned Jimin to the moment they walked in and saw that he let Hoseok hang onto his shoulders and there was hardly any room for them to get into the front hall today.
“Not our fault you haven’t told him,” Jungkook returned and Yoongi started studying his feet really close when he saw Hoseok looking between the two of them obviously finally catching on to what they were implying. Yoongi could feel his ears getting warm. Honestly Yoongi liked both of them but that wasn’t fair, was it? Taehyung caught on pretty quickly having known Yoongi the longest about the fact he was uncomfortable with the truth being out in the open like this and swatted his boyfriend on the arm which resulted in Jungkook swatting him back and they went on like that for a few seconds until Yoongi told them to knock it off.
“Sorry Hyung.” They both echoed each other, still smiling and glancing back and forth with less obvious nudges following each time one or the other would look away. Yoongi found once again that he envied them. He didn’t love Taehyung like that but he wanted what the two of them had. He glanced over at Hoseok who was sitting on the other end of the couch from where he was still keeping to himself.
“Why don’t you call him?” Taehyung offered as a solution.
“Why don’t you make up a reason to call him?” Jungkook said.
“Like what? We aren’t exactly swimming in supernatural disasters here anymore.” Yoongi scoffed, and took another sip of his drink.
“We could be.” Hoseok said.
“Hm?” Yoongi tilted his head.
“We could do something to get his help. Like go to one of those clubs or something.”
“Absolutely not,” Yoongi refuted.
“What about a Ouija board?” Taehyung offered and Yoongi’s head swiveled towards him followed by the deadliest stare he could muster up. He was not going to do this. Hoseok had been a lucky break in his mind. There was no way he was going to invite another ghost or worse into his apartment.
“That’s brilliant. I mean there’s no guarantee that he would come and since most Ouija experiences are faked anyway it should be safe.” Hoseok was getting excited and already had it in his head this was what they were doing.
“Wait here. I’ll be back.” Hoseok said and ran out the door with a solid slam as he pulled it behind him.
“Tae what the hell were you thinking?!” Yoongi demanded.
“I was thinking that your roommate was going to get one or both of you killed.” Taehyung argued.
“Oh and like the Ouija board doesn’t present a similar risk.” Yoongi scoffed again.
“Not like Vampires. You don’t know what would happen to someone like Hoseok in their circles. Taehyung was just trying to keep you guys safe,” Jungkook interrupted quick to defend Taehyung. Yoongi started to argue again and thought better of it. They were right he didn’t know what vampires did to humans other than the horror stories and stupid romanticism of them in films. Hell, he didn't even know if they actually turned into ash in the sun or if they sparkled like in that one movie that all the girls in school went crazy over.
“Fine, but I am not playing with that thing when Hobi comes back.” Yoongi conceded. Things went back to light hearted conversation and rounds of drinks again while they waited on Hoseok to return which honestly didn’t take that much longer and unfortunately for Yoongi he was carrying a bag from a local magic shop. He’d apparently decided that they needed the real deal and not one of those Hasbro ones that you could find in any kid’s toy shop. Yoongi never understood selling the talking boards commercially. It was inviting trouble for those too young to understand what or who they were asking their answers from.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Yoongi protested as Hoseok began setting up the board and a few other things that they would need.
“The candles and sachets are for protection. Yoongi relax, we shouldn't attract anything too negative.” Hoseok said clearly thinking this would calm his roommate.
“Too negative? What is too negative? I don’t want to attract anything. I am not playing and I don’t think any of you should either,” Yoongi insisted.
“I thought you wanted to attract Jimin,” Taehyung teased.
“Not at the expense of having a demon in my apartment.”
“Our apartment, and I’m sure demons have better things to do than invade an inner city apartment complex.” Hoseok waived off the protest and finished setting up and lighting the last candle.
“Fine, our apartment, but I’m still out.”
“Fine,” Three voices replied simultaneously to him.
“I knew he wouldn’t cooperate with this. Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind now?” Taehyung added right as Yoongi was closing the door.
“I doubt he’s going to forgive either of you for a while if the apartment actually does get haunted. So should we get started?” Jungkook told Taehyung and Hoseok with a mischievous grin. The other two nodded and they got to work asking a few random questions and talking back and forth to a few harmless entities that happened to be in the building including a little girl named Jieun. That conversation went on for a few minutes until she got scared and before they could ask what she’d been afraid of the candles extinguished and before any of them could say anything the planchet went flying across the room and banged against Yoongi’s door.
“Nice try I told you guys I don’t want…” Yoongi came out of his door and froze when he saw that the others were still sitting around the coffee table looking stunned at where the object that had banged against his door was sitting.
“Yoongi, bring it back. We have to close the circle.” Taehyung whispered, looking around for something he couldn’t see. The same something that had obviously thrown the, whatever it was called, at Yoongi’s door. Yoongi was now looking around for something, anything, that might be off as he leaned down to pick the object up when he noticed it. The cabinets in the kitchen were opening.
“Duck!” He ordered just as plates and glasses started flying out of them, some crashing into the island or on the kitchen floor while others soared into the living room bouncing off the couch or chairs where his friends had just been. A stray plate almost knocked over the setup on the coffee table which had only luckily moments before had its candles blown out before the activity got out of hand as one of the candles wobbled treacherously looking like it was going to fall over and break the circle.
Yoongi scrambled over on his elbows and knees to the couch, his breathing growing panicked as he looked around at the other three trying to make sure they hadn’t been hurt. He saw that the circle and the board were still in place by some strange luck and bent back down.
“Do the candles need to be relit?” Yoongi asked and the other three just blinked at him.
“We don’t have time for this. Do the candles need to be lit or can you get rid of this thing without it?”
“If you help us we can close it without having to relight them.” Jungkook said.
“Are you sure?” Yoongi asked.
“Yes, then we will have a representation of the four natural elements as four people, but you have to believe it. That you can close the circle, that you have power, you have to believe all of it. If even one of us waivers, that's it.” Jungkook whispered.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with, but for the record you all are on my shit list after this.” Yoongi griped and they all chuckled a little, still glancing around nervously waiting for a new attack.
The ritual for closing out the circle went by fairly quickly for what Yoongi would have expected. They called on the elements one at a time and called for the spirit that had been here speaking with and antagonizing them to answer. It did begrudgingly, but once it had they apologized for disturbing it and calling it to the apartment in the first place and bid it Good Bye using the board then reversed the process thanking the elements for aiding them and releasing the planchet one by one and cleaned up the board and circle accordingly.
“Shouldn’t we do something about that?” Yoongi asked, pointing at the board.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, is there a way to toss it or destroy it?”
“No, the best thing I can tell you is to separate the board from the planchet and lock them up separately after cleansing them.” Jungkook said.
“So how do you know that thing isn’t still here?” Yoongi asked.
“We don’t, but if it is, you can always call Jimin.” Taehyung said. If they all didn’t still look so anxious Yoongi would have thought that the other was mocking him.
Two days passed and they had done like Jungkook suggested. Yoongi was just starting to feel relieved and believe that closing the circle had worked and that they’d gotten away without any further problems when he came home from the grocery store and spotted the board and planchette, as he’d learned it was called, sitting on the coffee table right where it had been the other night. He scoffed thinking it was Hoseok playing a joke or at the very least that this was a major horror movie cliche and that he wasn’t going to fall for it.
“Hoba you home?” He called out.
“Yeah my room. Do you need help with the groceries?” Hoseok’s muffled voice came from the other end of the apartment getting louder and clearer as he walked towards the kitchen.
“Yeah that’d be great actually but why’s the board on the coffee table again?” He asked.
“What do you mean? I have it locked up in my… Oh.” Hoseok tapered off as he saw what Yoongi had.
The two of them cleaned up the board again and put it away, Yoongi's eyes darting around nervously the entire time and Hoseok assuring him it was probably just a residual effect of using the spirit board and that it was "nothing to worry about".
Another week passed quietly and Yoongi's annoyance was starting to dissipate. Hoseok started coming home to find him on the couch again. It was a huge relief. After going as long as he had being able to do nothing, but watch Yoongi go about his daily routine it almost felt like having something stolen from him to be denied seeing his roommate.
Yoongi was lying on the couch when he came in from his turn getting the groceries. He wasn't asleep. Hoseok wasn't exactly sure when, but he'd learned to just know the difference at some point. He wanted to go over and lay down on the couch with Yoongi, but he wasn't sure how he would react. The nervous energy and his annoyance at Hoseok and Taehyung for causing the haunting were definitely still there, like a buzzing bee hive, even if it had mostly gone dormant.
Instead, he resigned himself to just taking the groceries into the kitchen and unloading them. He opened one of the cabinets above the island where they kep food to put away some of the jars and boxes then hesitated, his hand stilling midmovement, box still clutched between his fingers. The sound of glass sliding across a surface was loud and foreign enough to draw both of their attention, Yoongi sat up on the couch his eyes slowly sweeping across the room looking around for the source just in time to see the flower vase that had been on the far counter come flying towards them and crash against the island cabinets too close to hitting Hoseok for either of their comfort. Hoseok dropped the box in his hand as the cabinets started to rattle and bang all around him opening and spilling all their contents jars, dishes and glassware crashed all around him onto the floor with shattering force causing him to yelp and cower and jump out of the way or risk being hit or cut by something. When things stilled Yoongi was just there. He was yanking Hoseok this way and that, tugging at clothes and inspecting him anywhere he thought might have been at risk when things were flying around the room. When he was satisfied that Hoseok was fine he sank into him. Shoulders slumped and head hitting Hoseok's collarbone with a soft thump, a deep weary breath on his lips shifted and warmed a spot on Hoseok's shirt.
“Call Jimin.” Yoongi finally said lifting his head and reaching into his pocket to pull out the wrinkled card before standing and going into his room. Hoseok was okay, he was okay too, he just couldn't look at the aftermath, couldn't see how close of a call it had been. Hoseok had been lucky and evedy single bit of it had missed him but what if he hadn't? Would he have become a ghost again or would he be just gone. He could hear hoseok beginning to clean the mess up, but otherwise the apartment was still once more.
Hoseok didn’t get to see the tremors and the way Yoongi curled in on himself when he finally got behind the closed door of his bedroom, putting his head between his knees and closing his eyes when he sat on his bed. He told them repeatedly that it was a bad idea and now here they were him cowering on his bed trying not to let his heart pound out of his chest and to still the shaking and anxious tapping of his heels on the floor as he inhaled through his nose and exhaled out of his mouth. This was getting to be too much. The ghosts, him being completely helpless as Hoseok got attacked from all directions, the hallucinations he'd been keeping quiet about since the hospital… He couldn’t keep up with all of it nor could he understand why all this was happening now.
The little girl he’d seen on the elevator last week had positively terrified him enough that he’d been too scared to stay alone in his room so he’d started staying on the couch again when he knew Hoseok was home. He’d kind of been hoping that it would be enough to help, but it hadn’t. He would still jump at the slight sounds or creaks and for the first few days after coming out of his room he straight up avoided the kitchen altogether because of the incident with the flying vase.
Even he didn't know why all of the magic things caused him to react like this. He just knew something about it was bad, something to be feared. He wasn't afraid of Jin nor was he afraid of Hoseok nor Jimin if he really thought about it, so why did he cower at the mere mention of everything else? He doubted he'd ever know, but he needed to find a way past this or he'd never be able to keep up with this world. It was Jimin and Hoseok's world and it was becoming Namjoon's world and the more he thought about it the more he realized it might have always been Taehyung's world and he felt guilt curl in his stomach. He'd made his best friend have to lie to him and hide who he was. Yoongi felt another wave of panic at the realization at how selfish he'd been.
When he finally calmed down enough he came back out of his room with the intention of helping Hoseok clean up the mess and put away the groceries when he heard Hoseok on the phone and noticed that most if not all of the mess was already gone. Even the flowers were in a new vase that had come from underneath the sink and back in their original place.
“- Yoongi might or might not have used a Ouija board and I think the apartment is haunted again.” Hoseok said into the receiver and Yoongi felt all the guilt he’d had at not being out there to help melt away into annoyance.
“Yoongi did not! I told you and the others not to play around with that thing! Didn’t I tell you not to play around with that thing?!” He argued.
“Alright, fine! Me, me, me, I. I. I- I brought the ouija board home and asked it a stupid questions. Happy?” Hoseok griped holding the phone away from his face.
“Not at all. There is still a fucking poltergeist in our apartment thanks to you and Taehyung.” Yoongi bit back. There was a muffled reply on the other end and then Hoseok thanked him and hung up.
"Well?" Yoongi asked when Hoseok didn't say anything.
"He said he would come by and see what he could do." Hoseok replied.
"Good... You're still on my shit list," Yoongi replied and Hoseok laughed leaning up against the counter next to Yoongi who started laughing as well. The relief that for the moment it seemed like the torment was over filled both of them and they finally allowed themselves to relax a little.
There was the sound of shifting and yoongi watched horrified as several of his vintage cassette tapes fell down off the bookshelf in the living room cases popping open and spilling them out onto the floor. They weren't ruined. Not as long as the ribbons were in place but the principle of the matter was there. Nothing was sacred anymore and no room was safe. The moment was ruined and Yoongi let out an exasperated sound.
"Very high on my shit list." Yoongi
grumbled and went to the living room to clean up that mess while Hoseok finished up in the kitchen. Hoseok suppressed his laughter, even though a small sound escaped and he straightened when Yoongi looked back at him feigning innocence.
He made a few purchases from a local store and an hour later the kitchen was cleaned up and Hoseok was putting away their newly delivered dishes once again. This time they were plastic and hopefully wouldn't be destroyed before Jimin got there.