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‘This is, uh, not what I expected when I said I’d love to see you over the weekend.’
Jumin signalled his bodyguards to drop the heavy bags of equipment on the ground and turned around to face the group. You were four RFA members in total, not counting the C&R staff, each looking various degrees of disheveled, and, in Jaehee’s case, teetering on the edge of exhausted, slightly out of range of angry.
‘Mr. Han, I still don’t understand the purpose of this.’
‘Science.’
Jumin’s reply was calm, as if it said everything that needed to be said, but you felt about as lost as Jaehee was. You’d genuinely thought this had been one of his weird jokes and had been shocked to find out he’d meant every word. Jihyun had been the only one trying to talk him out of it and you belatedly regretted not having joined in on those efforts.
Jumin made the bodyguards wait outside and went back to fiddling with the electronics he’d brought along. It was a small relief; the air was stale and humid and the less people in there, the better everyone felt. You made an attempt at fanning yourself with the large straw hat you’d brought along and Jaehee scooted over, trying to get some relief from the heat.
She made another attempt at dissuading Jumin, this time sounding a bit sharper.
‘Mr. Han, there is no reason for us to be here, especially not outside of work hours. Please, let’s just get out. I’m sure you can send over some professionals another time.’
There was a slight tone of disdain there that didn’t go unnoticed by your boyfriend. Jihyun shot her an amused look. He didn’t look all that pleased at being in there either.
The air outside was hot enough already, but the lack of ventilation inside the building made it unbearable. It made your hair stick unpleasantly to the back of your neck and it seemed to drain the life out of the already tired Jaehee. Even Jumin looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. He’d loosened his tie a little bit, but it didn’t seem to be doing much for his overall composure.
‘Luciel said there was a way to measure this scientifically. I don’t particularly believe him, but sending in a team would defeat the purpose of the experiment,’ Jumin said, bending over to open the bags. ‘I have to be here to see it for myself. I doubt we’ll find anything, but it’s only fair I give this a proper try.’
For a moment, Jaehee looked like she was about to snap at him, before composing herself and trying again. You redoubled your hat waving efforts, desperately wishing for a breeze. It would do a lot to diffuse the tension.
‘Mr. Han, ghosts aren’t real. There’s no way to measure them. There’s no reason for us to be here. And what does this have to do with C&R?’
You nodded in agreement with Jaehee. You knew there had a special edition DVD of Zen’s last performance that had been delivered yesterday and you felt a pang of kinship with her. Ghost hunting with Jumin had seemed fun in an incredulous sort of way at first, but the reality of the situation was less glamorous, definitely less amusing. You didn’t feel particularly spooked, just sweaty and itchy and a bit worn down before anything had even happened.
‘I don’t believe in ghosts either, Assistant Kang.’
Next to you, Jihyun shot Jaehee a concerned look and you found yourself mirroring him. Her smile was looking very manic. You reached out to gently squeeze her shoulder, which didn’t improve her mood by a lot, but did make her muscles relax a little.
‘Then why are we here?’
Jihyun gave her one last worried look before addressing Jumin.
‘Ah, I’m wondering the same thing. Not that it’s not nice to spend time together like this!’ Jaehee looked at him incredulously at that, but he carried on without acknowledging it. ‘But when you first brought this up I did wonder why we’re spending time on something you’re not even interested in.’
‘I am interested in it,’ Jumin replied, and there was a weird tone that locked the tendons in your neck in anticipation. Jihyun looked pained and even Jaehee had stopped glowering for a moment. You riffled through your internal list of ice breakers, looking for something that wouldn’t make it obvious you were trying to change the topic. Mint Eye was behind everyone, but occasionally something would happen that would tear the stitches out of old hurts and betrayals and leave the RFA in a mess of hurt feelings and awkward silences.
It passed easily this time. Jumin recomposed his features carefully and put a small, apologetic smile instead. He and Jihyun would talk this out later, you knew, but the damage was pushed aside for now. You felt a lump of sadness lodge itself behind your sternum, but followed suit and on the brightest smile you could manage. Jaehee straightened up a little, the displeasure gone from her and replaced by concern.
Jumin coughed.
‘Luciel recommended me a book on Dark Magic, and that was a good read. He seems to know what he’s talking about. And this,’ Jumin gestured vaguely at the bags on the floor, ‘is state of the art equipment. The C&R Tech department is looking for a new project and there’s no harm in exploring new ideas.’
The colour drained from Jaeehe’s face. She didn’t say anything, though, and dejectedly accepted the black device Jumin was handing her. She ran her thumb over the screen experimentally before sighing and looking up at the ceiling in a desperate plea.
‘Please don’t tell me ghosts are the new projects I have to worry about.’
Jihyun smiled at teasingly. You could tell he was beginning to enjoy this in that soft and mildly amused way he always enjoyed some of Jumin’s more bizarre quirks.
‘Oh, it could be worse. It could be ghost cats.’
Jumin’s head snapped around at that. There was a glint in his eyes that hadn’t been there before and you suddenly smelled danger. You rushed out towards your boyfriend and urged him out of the room, shouting back as you went.
‘Okay, well, we’re off now, we have our map and our cell phones. Reception seems to be okay. We’ll shout if we run into any trouble, yeah?’
You didn’t wait around for long, grabbing one of the equipment duffel bags on your way out. You could feel a slight tremble behind your hands, where you were gripping the material of Jihyun’s shirt. He was trying not to laugh, the sneaky bastard.
As you turned a corner into the stale rooms of the hotel, you heard Jumin’s voice filter through the walls.
‘Ghost cats…’
The wistful tone carried over and soon Jihyun started laughing, just loud enough to make you crack a smile of your own. You gave his shoulder a playful punch.
‘That wasn’t very nice.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he replied, a little too smug for that to be believable. He gave the carpet a little experimental kick and watched a small dust cloud float up before settling back into the worn fibres. ‘This place is not too bad. I’m not sure why he thinks we’ll find ghosts here.’
It was your turn to tease.
‘Oh, because you’re such an expert on ghosts now?’
He laughed again, a small chuckle this time, but enough to remind you that you were still gripping his shoulders. You let your hands drop down, grabbing onto his arm instead. It felt clammy, but then again, so were you. The lack of ventilation was seriously doing a number in the summer heat and you found yourself wishing you’d had brought something more interesting to drink than water. A piña colada to start with, anything to help you get through the next hour or so, until Jumin would inevitably get bored.
You pulled on Jihyun’s arm.
‘Come on, let’s find a quiet room to sit this one out. He’s not going to find anything and then we can all go for a nice meal somewhere.’
Jihyun leaned over to plant a small kiss on the top of your head and you took the chance to angle your face upwards to meet him half way. He seemed surprised but didn’t pull back when you kissed back. His fingers brushed across your collarbones before he abruptly pulled back.
‘Hey, I just realized. Book on dark magic? What?’
Your hand shot up to cover your mouth at that, a fruitless attempt at keeping the noise down. It was the middle of the day, so nothing about the place was too scary, but it tended to echo horribly. The carpet should have muffled most of the sounds, but too much of the furniture had been removed for that to be of any use.
‘Ah, that was a whole adventure for Jaehee to get. You should ask her, I’m sure she can tell the story better than I can.’
You pulled him gently in the direction of an open door. It looked like it had been some kind of waiting room. It was significantly larger than what you imagined the actual bedroom would be like, but the lack of furniture made it hard to guess at its past function. There was a large window taking up most of the wall in front of you. You wondered at how it had managed to survive for so…
Well.
You gingerly went in, checking for anything on the floor that might hurt.
‘How long ago was this place abandoned, then?’
‘Oh, a couple of months or so.’
Ah, that would explain it. You did wonder how it had managed to stay so clean for so long. Other than the thick layer of dust and the general feeling of disuse, it had fared suspiciously well. You eyed the window with appreciation. Despite a rather charming coat of dirt, it still let a decent amount of sunlight into the space. It was currently bathing everything in an inviting, golden glow and you stepped to the side, into the cone of shadow it was casting, while letting one arm bask in the amber softness.
The timing was another baffling decision as far as you were concerned, but Jumin had explained that he wanted to eliminate the risk of being swayed to believe in something that wasn’t there through irrational fears of the dark. No one had said anything about it at the time, but you suspected everyone had been secretly relieved by this. Everything was in good condition, at least, so there was no risk of accidental injury, but the thought of spending the night in this place still made you feel like you’d been dunked in a bucket of ice water.
Out of the corner of your eye you saw Jihyun fumble with something, but chose not to say anything.
‘You’re right, though, why would it be haunted? It’s only been a couple of months.’ You moved your hand experimentally, watching the shadow it cast on the opposite wall. You could’ve sworn you heard a small click somewhere behind you.
Weird.
An anxious thought gripped you and you swirled around to face Jihyun. He was fiddling with his phone and looking very embarrassed.
‘You don’t think someone’s been murdered in here, do you?’
‘What?’ He’d seemed distracted, but this brought him back to reality. ‘No!’ He sounded indignant. ‘I wouldn’t have brought you here if that were the case.’
‘Then why are we here?’
‘The internet,’ Jihyun said simply, as if that explained everything. ‘You know how he gets about that stuff. He found a forum for urban explorers and they were talking about hearing a lot of noises in here at night.’
You’d reached the window while he’d been talking. There was a table there, one of the last pieces of furniture in there that hadn’t been either moved or stolen. You gently ran your fingers across its surface, trying to get to the wood underneath. The humidity and the passage of time had given it a strange, sticky consistency and you quickly wiped your hand on the hem of your dress. You hoped it was a case of general disuse, anyway. The other options were less appealing.
You gave it an experimental push. It seemed sturdy enough, no weird wobble or sway to it. You placed your other hand on top of the surface and bounced a little on the balls of your feet, testing the waters.
‘What are you doing?’ Jihyun seemed only mildly interested, his voice a bit distant, but warm and loving. It left a small trail of warmth as it travelled down your spine and you felt, not for the first time, affection grip your heart in a gentle vice. It hurt to breathe for a moment, and then it hurt not to. Here, in this dusty room, helping Jumin track down ghosts in a decidedly unhaunted building, as well as everywhere else, you were very, very glad to have him by your side. You felt the sudden urge to tell him that too and whirled around only to be met with a quickly reddening Jihyun trying to act like he hadn’t been trying to take a photo of you just a moment ago.
‘Uhm,’ you started, a bit unsteadily.
‘I’m sorry.’ Jihyun seemed conflicted, rapidly twirling the offending phone in his hands. ‘I didn’t mean to be creepy. The light is…very interesting in here –’ his face lost some of the nervous jitter at that and he finally met your eyes ‘– and I thought I could take some photos for sketching. You know, reference shots.’
He paused, trying to collect himself, and it seemed like some of that embarrassment had transferred over because you suddenly felt very self-conscious. Jihyun had used you as a model for some of his new work, but they feeling of being studied and replicated had never stopped leaving you extremely vulnerable. It was very hard to tell what he was thinking when he took on the artist role and you worried about being too…well, too. Too much of that, too little of that. Weird and lumpy, possibly, or stiff and unnatural when trying to pose. Too you.
In front of you, Jihyun looked concerned. He’d probably figured out some of your thoughts, he was always perceptive like that. You gave him a soft smile, but he didn’t look any less worried.
‘You look beautiful.’
It was soft, so soft it barely carried across, even in this hollow room. You heard it anyway and let the gentleness in those words bloom in your chest.
You made a show of jumping on the table, ignoring his squeaked protest about paying attention and trying not to hurt yourself, and tried to strike the most overdramatic pose you could think of.
‘Draw me like one of your French girls, then,’ you said, throwing your hair over your shoulder.
Jihyun blinked.
‘Ah?’
‘Well,’ you corrected yourself, shrugging, ‘photograph me like them so you can draw me like them, but later. The French girl part is non-negotiable, though.’
He cracked a relaxed smile at that, seemingly happy with the way you’d recovered from that brief dip in your mood. He brought his phone up again and took a knee.
‘Do that hair thing again.’
You obliged, adding in even more flair to it. That didn’t have the result you’d hoped for, and he made a small disapproving click with his tongue.
‘No, gently. I’m serious about the light. I’m serious about you. I want to use these. Do the hair thing again, but slowly.’
Fighting the burning feeling in your face, you tried your best to oblige. It took a couple of tries to satisfy whatever he had in mind. You tried to focus on him, his voice, his eyes, anything to distract you whenever you felt the heavy awareness of your body trying to creep back in. It got easier if you took his cues, filtered out the running commentary in your head and tried to keep your attention on Jihyun’s soft spoken instructions.
He’d been slowly coming in closer. He’d been talking less too, and you weren’t sure if it meant you were doing a good job or if he’d finally got the shots he needed. You hoped it was the latter. The angle of your back was starting to become uncomfortable and a growing rumble in your stomach reminded you that you’d hoped for a lunch meeting instead of ghost hunting adventures.
Trying to ease some of the tension in your stiff shoulders, you rolled them slightly, making the strap of your dress slide down. You didn’t miss the way his eyes snapped to that spot. His finger tapped the screen again, no doubt getting another angle, but it was automatic. All his attention seemed to be fixated on the sliver of tanned skin peeking out from under your hair.
Well, well, well.
You gave another slow roll, feeling the delicious way your bones rearranged themselves after the half hour of forced stillness. The strap fell lower. Jihyun snapped another shot, but he seemed to have lost interest in that. His eyes met yours and there was no mistaking the silent question in them. You angled your head a bit, exposed the side of your neck just a bit more, hoped he couldn’t see the way your pulse stuttered nervously in your throat. It was difficult to wade through the earlier mire of uncertainty and come out whole on the other side. Your body felt the tiniest bit like dead weight around your neck, but you held his gaze all the same.
Jihyun had pocketed the phone by this point and made his way over. Hovering in front you, the tips of his fingertips resting gingerly on the edge of the table. He was looking down, at his own feet, but you could see the faint pinkness to his cheeks. You blinked, slowly, trying to understand what had caused this sudden shyness. Your boyfriend wasn’t exactly aggressive when it came to physical affection, but he was normally a bit more forward than this.
‘You’re gorgeous.’
His voice cracked around that admission. It was your turn to turn pink, heart punching a rapid rhythm right into your eardrums.
‘Ah, I had a good photographer,’ you said, making a move to stand up straight. ‘It’s easy to look good when you have a strong team behind you.’
One of Jihyun’s hands stopped you mid-movement, gently pushing you back down into your sideways lean.
‘No,’ he said. It hadn’t been a particularly harsh order, barely a suggestion, really, but his expression softened even more after that. ‘Stay, please.’
You obliged, despite the sharp protest in your muscles. You weren’t sure were this was going, but Jihyun looked focused on something and you were eager to find out what it was.
It turned out to be a spot on your shoulder where the light hit from above. It burned bright, a small patch of glossy skin contrasting the dark green fabric of your dress, and Jihyun’s eyes were glued to it.
‘Here,’ he said, tracing the outline of the sun spot with the pad of his index finger. The touch was feathery, light, and you shivered in delight in its wake. He noticed that, eyes shining, and he traced the line of your collarbone with his other hand, skimming the surface of your skin. ‘And here.’
You couldn’t see what he was talking about without leaning your head too much down, so you waited patiently for his next move. Your skin was prickling at the contact, small goosebumps raising along the way.
‘And here –’ he booped the very tip of your nose ‘– and here –‘ he traced the highest points of your forehead before travelling down the side of your face and finally stopped to tip your head even further to the side, exposing the tense line of your neck. ‘Here too.’
That last comment was spoken against your pulse, mouth not exactly touching you, but close enough to murder you with anticipation. When he finally kissed the side of your neck, breath hot and matching yours in shallowness, you reached out and grabbed his shoulder to steady yourself.
‘Wh– ‘ your breath hitched a little as he found another spot to kiss ‘– what is?’
Jihyun leaned back to study you, twirling the ends of your hair between his thumb and forefinger. He seemed content and a bit sly, grin just erring on the right side of wolfish, but he was happy and healthy and there was no trace of the awkwardness he’d frequently showed around you in those hellish days at Magenta. You used your other hand to push some stray hairs from his forehead. He took that opportunity to twist his head so he could bury the side of his face into your palm.
‘What was that about, hmm?’ you asked, and he made a small purring noise as you found a particularly sensitive spot on his scalp.
‘Highlights.’
He sounded tired. It had felt a bit odd at first, how quickly he could go from alert to a soft haze of sleepiness and back again. He could wake up in less than five minutes in the morning if he needed to do something and then fall back asleep in three seconds as soon as he no longer needed the concentration. You pressed the advantage, applying uneven pressure on that spot and watched his eyes flutter shut.
‘Highlights?’
‘Mhm.’ He moved closer and rested his palms flat on the table, leaning forward again to nuzzle the crook of your neck. ‘I told you the lighting was good in here –’ a pause, as he hummed into your skin, sending small vibrations through you ‘– and you looked beautiful. I’m glad we took those photos.’
You let your arms wrap around his slim back in a loose kind of hug, not exactly constricting him, not exactly hanging loose. Just enough hold to keep you from floating away from excitement.
‘Do you mean that?’
‘Of course I do,’ he said, and you could hear the softest twinge of hurt in there. It was hard to pick up on, like most of Jihyun’s moods, but it made your heart ache painfully at the thought of him thinking you didn’t believe him.
‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ you said, voice low from embarrassment, ‘it’s just that sometimes I feel small and weird and lumpy.’
He snorted. The sudden movement hit the ticklish skin on your neck and you squirmed underneath him, giggling.
‘You’re not lumpy. You’re soft –’ he gave another nuzzle to emphasise that point ‘– and you shine when the light hits you just right.’
You opened your mouth to reply, but suddenly found yourself drowned out by a horrible wail coming in from the hallway. You both jumped, Jihyun’s head hitting you chin and making you bite your tongue painfully.
You stumbled off the table, eyeing each other as you tried to figure out if the noise was anything to be worried about. The mystery was cleared when you heard Jumin’s voice, fighting to be heard above the noise despite its normally low register.
‘Are there any ghosts here?’
And then Jaehee, tired, but a lot less aggressive than she’d been about half an hour ago:
‘Please show yourselves so we can finally go home.’
Jihyun looked at you in confusion, face scrunched up in discomfort. It was a very loud sound.
‘What is that?’
‘Spirit box.’ When Jihyun looked at you with a frown, you shrugged. ‘Hey, you have your crime novels and I have my weird hobbies. It’s supposed to let you talk to ghosts.’
‘How can they hear anything when it’s so loud, though?’
You burst out laughing.
‘Uh, I don’t know if ghosts have eardrums, Jihyun. And that’s not exactly how it works. Come on, we should get back to them. You should try talking to the ghosts too, Jumin’s just going to scare them away if he keeps interrogating them like it’s a job interview.’
You moved towards the exit and found yourself tugged back.
‘Were you serious about what you said earlier? About feeling lumpy?’ he asked gently.
His eyes were scanning your face attentively and you found yourself withering just a little under the unexpected intensity. You fumbled over your words and had to start again, embarrassed.
‘Yes. It happens sometimes, you shouldn’t worry too much about it.’
He held onto your hand a bit tighter at that.
‘Well…were you also serious about the other thing you said? About drawing you like one of my French girls?’
Ah.
That.
Your face must have lit up like a Christmas tree, because the sly grin was back in full force. You stammered and didn’t manage to produce anything coherent, choosing instead to hide your face with your free hand. That only seemed to make the smile go wider.
‘I see,’ he teased. ‘Well, in that case, I think I have an idea for what I want to paint next. Now let’s go help Jaehee out, I’m genuinely worried for her mental state by this point.’
You left the room hand in hand, with only Jumin’s voice ordering the spirits to show themselves guiding you towards the rest of the group. You wondered if you could convince him that piña coladas are appropriate ghost offerings the next time around.