Chapter Text
Namjoon had never believed in ghosts. He had always been more of a science person, preferring fact over speculation. He was called a nerd in high school and a genius in college, but the words didn’t change anything—he honestly just liked to learn things.
Taehyung said he could sense ghosts, feel their “auras” he said. Namjoon had laughed and told him that was ridiculous. He had then proceeded to check out all the books he could find in the library disproving supernatural theories. Taehyung had not read a single one, so Namjoon told him the important parts.
There was no such thing as ghosts, so Taehyung should go back to studying math and quit insisting he had the potential to be a medium.
The irony of it all was laughable.
“You were right, Tae.” Namjoon sighed, watching one of his best friends sit on his bedroom floor and flip through his old notebooks. The younger couldn’t hear him, though.
The door to the room was pushed open further, and Yoongi shuffled in. His eyes were red, but he looked fairly calm as he knelt down on the floor by Taehyung.
“It’s weird, isn’t it?” Taehyung mused quietly. “I thought I was okay, but being here, going through his stuff…”
Yoongi nodded, patting him on the back sympathetically. “I know, I was thinking the same thing. I’m just glad his parents didn’t throw everything out. A lot of this crap was special to him, he wouldn’t want it going in the landfill.”
Namjoon smiled. Yoongi knew him so well. His parents had been by, they had taken all the family pictures and a few other things, and then made a phone call.
“If none of you want it, we’ll call someone to clean out the apartment. I just… I can’t go through it, and the landlord wants his stuff out.”
Namjoon had wanted so badly to hug his mother, tell her that it was okay, that he was okay. He didn’t even remember what had happened. He remembered leaving his house for work, and then there was just… Nothing. Until he opened his eyes and he was back in his apartment, two months later and invisible. He couldn’t touch things without intense concentration, and even then, if someone looked in his direction it was impossible. After some initial freaking out, screaming, and then some crying, he had come to the conclusion that he was a ghost.
“Are you going to keep those?” Yoongi’s voice brought Namjoon back to reality, and floated closer to the pair.
“Yeah. I think I’m going to frame this one.” Taehyung held out the page for Yoongi to see, and Namjoon laughed. All of the notebooks Taehyung was looking through held lyrics for songs he had written, but of all of the pages to frame…
“Didn’t he write this in his freshmen year?” Yoongi laughed. “God, he was so over dramatic.”
Taehyung nodded, smiling even though there was sadness in his eyes. “I know right? That’s kind of why I picked it. I feel like it really captures how cringy he was in high school.” All three of them laughed but it didn’t last long.
“I miss him.” Taehyung said, running his fingers over the paper.
“Me too.” Yoongi sniffed loudly, clearing his throat. “Namjoon would tell us not to be sad, though.”
“Yeah, I would.” Namjoon sighed. Jungkook walked in, and Namjoon couldn’t help but feel horrible. He looked like he had taken it the hardest. His eyes were puffy and his nose red, looking nothing like the sophisticated young man Namjoon was used to seeing. Without even thinking, Namjoon reached for his arm. It passed through him and Jungkook shivered.
“Is there a draft in here?” He asked, walking over to where the other two were sitting.
“Look at what I found.” Taehyung said, holding up the notebook with Namjoons angsty lyrics scrawled all over it. Jungkook shook his head, looking down at his shoes instead.
“I can’t—maybe some other time, Tae.” Jungkook rubbed his sleeve over his eyes. Yoongi stood and stretched before speaking.
“Why don’t we go out for lunch. My treat.” Namjoon was so grateful to Yoongi. The older didn’t often like people to know that he cared, but he was one of the most perceptive people Namjoon had ever met.
“Thank you.” Namjoon said, even though the words fell on deaf ears. “I’m glad they have you, Yoongi. You’ll take care of them.”
Over the next few weeks, Namjoon watched as his apartment was cleared out. He watched when the landlord discovered the hole in the wall that Namjoon had accidentally created when he was trying to hang a picture and the hammer had missed the nail. He cried when his mother walked through the empty place that he had called home one final time. And then he got bored.
He could have haunted the people he loved, but for the moment, that was too painful. He couldn’t just watch them go about their daily lives and not talk to them, not laugh with them, not… Exist to them.
So he decided to haunt his apartment. He did a good job of creeping people out who were thinking about renting the place, though it wasn’t on purpose. He had a tendency to float a little too close to people, only to have them turn around and walk right through him. He didn’t like it any more than they did, but while he would feel weirded out and a little tingly, they would feel as though they were doused with ice water, not to mention the feeling of “walking through a spider web” that he heard so much. After a while, the property manager had put some potted plants in to make it feel more “homey,” but it had completely backfired when Namjoon tried to water the things. He had finally managed to pick up the pot and was half-way over to the sink when the door opened and it crashed to the ground.
“I read online that this place was haunted!” The women that was supposed to have been looking at the apartment screamed, hurrying past the manager and out into the hall. The man (Namjoon was pretty sure his name was Jaebum) had sighed, walking over to the shattered pot and the ruined plant.
“If there is a ghost, I’d appreciate it if you’d go away. You’re costing me a lot of money, you know. No one wants to rent a haunted apartment.”
Namjoon had taken the opportunity to step through the man, giving him chills and thoroughly disturbing him in the process.
“Okay, I get it. I’m leaving. But leave the plants alone, please?”
No one came by for a while after that, so Namjoon started wandering through the rest of the apartment complex. The old lady next door had a tendency to leave her stove on, the young couple below him were about to go crazy with their screaming newborn, and the man across from him was downright weird. He discovered something while doing this—newborns and animals could see him. He had all manner of ideas as to why this would be, whether it was because there was something different about their brain, or if perhaps their minds weren’t clouded by expectations. It didn’t really matter though.
He was busy making faces at the baby downstairs (her parents couldn’t figure out what had finally made her stop crying, but they were relieved none the less) when he heard noises above him.
“I’ll see you later, okay kiddo?” Namjoon said. “I’m going to teach you how to speak other languages so you won’t have trouble in school.” With that, he drifted upwards and through the ceiling. His apartment was a mess.
Movers were everywhere, carrying furniture, boxes and—was that a keyboard?
“What are you doing?” Namjoon demanded, forgetting for a second that he couldn’t be heard by adults.
“Let’s get this over with as soon as possible!” One of them grunted, helping another man carry a dresser into Namjoons bedroom. “This place gives me the creeps.”
“Can you imagine her face when she realizes this place is haunted?” Another laughed from the kitchen. “But the poor girl already signed a two-year lease!”
There was more laughter, and Namjoon began to panic. Girl? Lease? He couldn’t share an apartment with someone! But this was his home, where else was he supposed to go? Then again, whoever it was wouldn’t exactly appreciate living with him, either. He had already freaked out so many people, and they weren’t living with him.
Whoever it was, they were in for one hell of a surprise when they got there.