Chapter Text
“Hyung, I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Hoseok repeated the sentiment for the 10th time that day. That’s how adamant he was against Yoongi moving into that apartment.
“You’ve said that already,” Yoongi continued with his packing, unbothered at his friend’s protest.
“Then why won’t you listen? That apartment is in one of the busiest streets in Seoul, but it’s empty. Has been for months. And it’s empty for a reason,” Hoseok tried getting Yoongi’s attention by taking the cardboard box he was holding.
“Oh! You’ve finally decided to help me. Thanks, Hobi. Put all my books in that box, will you?”
“Ah hyunnggg!”
“Hoseok. Look, I’ve heard the story alright. But that doesn’t mean I believe it. Come on, a haunted apartment in the middle of Seoul, in this day and age?”
“Stranger things have been known to happen. There are reports of people actually seeing the spirits that live there hyung. Why won’t you believe me? Nobody has been able to live in that apartment for more than a month. What makes you think you’ll be any different?”
“I don’t know about spirits but mass hysteria is a thing, Hobi. Believe me, rumors and hearsay can fuel a lot of fear. I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for the supposed sightings that started the rumor mill in the first place,” Yoongi took back the box Hoseok was holding and continued putting his books in it on his own.
It didn’t look like Hoseok was going to be of any help today. Ever since he had gotten here, the younger hadn’t stopped trying to convince Yoongi that his new apartment was a dangerous place. In fact, he had started this whole haunted apartment business as soon as Yoongi put in an offer for the place a week ago. But despite Hoseok’s not so convincing whining, Yoongi wasn’t budging. He’d been lucky to get that place on such short notice. It was only half an hour of transit from his new apartment to his studio; which was a huge improvement from before, when he had to travel an hour from this apartment to the studio. The rent was unbelievably cheap for such a good place. The only hold back was that he’d have to share the apartment with one other guy. But considering Yoongi spent most of his time at his studio and only came home to eat or sleep, he reckoned they wouldn’t run into each other all that much. He wasn’t up for making any new friends at this point in life. He was content with the handful of people around him.
“Fine, don’t believe me. Don’t believe the ‘rumors’ or the ‘sightings’. Maybe you’re right, maybe it was just the light playing tricks and people blew it out of proportion. But how do you explain the rent, huh? You’re getting a fully furnished two-bedroom apartment at the price of one and he’s even allowing you to sublet the place. How do you explain that, hyung?”
“I don’t know, Hobi. Maybe the guy is rich or something. He owns the whole building he’s probably not too pressed for money, you know? Oh, and don’t even think I’ve forgiven you for making me sublet the apartment in the first place.”
This repetitive game was tiring Yoongi out, it was like a seesaw. Hoseok would make a point and Yoongi would call him out on his bluff but somehow Hoseok would come back with another anecdote that was supposedly true. Yoongi sighed and turned around to look at Hoseok fully for the first time since he got here. The younger looked disheveled, his hair turning in all direction as if he’d run his hand through it one to many times. Face etched with worry, nervously biting on his fingers.
“Wow, you’re really worried about me moving there, aren’t you? Like really worried.”
Hoseok looked about ready to murder Yoongi. He threw up his hand, “What the fuck do you think I’ve been telling you for the past week hyung? That fucking place is haunted. HAUNTED. People have been hurt, hyung.”
“I just thought you didn’t like me moving because of the rumors. I didn’t know you were this bent out of shape about it. Look, I’ve already paid the deposit, alright? I can’t move out now. And besides I’m not going to be alone you know. But if it still makes you feel this uneasy then I promise I’ll only stay for a month. If anything happens in that one month, I’ll move out, ok?”
Hoseok agreed. Reluctantly, “Fine. But I’m never coming to visit you.”
“Fine by me. I’m tired of you eating all my food anyway. Buy your own food every once in a while, yeah,” Yoongi quickly ducked out of Hoseok’s reach when the younger tried to get him in a chokehold.
“You know how it is in horror movies, don’t you? The skeptics are always the ones to die first.”
“If I die I’ll just come back to haunt you. Now stop sulking and help me with the packing. I’ll treat you to some barbeque later. I sold a few songs yesterday.”
“Awesome!”
They worked in silence after that. Yoongi was finally glad to end their seesaw game. Hoseok was still not on board with the idea, but now he’d stopped pestering Yoongi about it at least.
👻👻
“Jimin.”
“Joonie hyung! Thank you so much for helping me move. And thank you so much for getting me the apartment,” Jimin greeted Namjoon with a hug.
“No worries. Did you pack everything?”
“Yep. They’re all here,” Jimin gestured to the boxes behind him. The two of them worked quickly getting all the boxes in the moving van. Namjoon offered to drive the van and Jimin slid in the passenger seat.
“So hyung, tell me about this Yoongi guy. What’s he like?”
“Ah... I haven’t really talked all that much with him either. Only in brief glances and casual conversation. But we work in the same company and everyone says he’s a cool guy. Plus, I know his friend, Hoseok. And he’s a really nice guy, easy to get along with. He was the one who asked me if I could find a roommate for Yoongi hyung, actually.”
“Hyung? So, he’s older than you?”
“Oh yeah, he’s 27.”
Jimin nodded taking in the information. Jimin had to move from his last apartment because his asshole of a roommate had left him without any notice. And the place was way too expensive for Jimin to pay for alone. He was lucky Namjoon had found him a new place so soon. He’d jumped at the offer when Namjoon mentioned it. He hadn’t even bothered to look up the place except for the direction. He’d been sold as soon as he saw how close it was from his dance studio. He really wished he’d talked to his new roommate a bit more. The only interaction they had was when Yoongi texted him the address, apartment number and the door code. Just a google map and numbers, not even a ‘hi’. Jimin had thanked him immediately and told him he was looking forward to living together but he had been left on seen. There was nothing Jimin hated more than being left on seen. So, he’d made no effort to carry a conversation after that. Years of watching crime shows and criminal documentaries flashed in his mind. His paranoia got the best of him, imagination running wild until Namjoon placed a hand on Jimin’s knee.
“Relax, Chim. Give your overactive imagination a rest. I work with the guy. He’s not a serial killer trust me. And besides from what I’ve seen he spends most of his time in the studio. I doubt you’ll see him all that much.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m being paranoid for no reason. I just hope we get along.”
“No one can resist your charm, Chim. And I doubt Yoongi hyung will be an exception.”
Jimin giggled, hiding his lips behind his fisted hand. Namjoon really knew how to put him at ease. He was lucky to have a best friend like him.
From what Namjoon had told him the apartment complex was located in one of the busiest streets in Seoul. He was expecting cars honking, and constant chattering to be a given, and yet the block around the complex itself was quiet and serene. Considering the cheap rent, Jimin was expecting the apartment to be somewhat shabby looking but what stood before him was a gated concrete building surrounded by trees and plush grasses within the gates. Jimin couldn’t believe his luck. He owned Namjoon big time for this. The way to the building from the gate was paved by grey-white cobblestones. Namjoon drove the van down the path and into the underground parking lot. Jimin had wanted to move as early as possible, wanting to start the day off as soon as possible and be completely settled in by evening the same day. He wanted to sleep soundly in his new apartment without any unpacking due. He had to bribe Namjoon with a lot of coffees to get the older to agree to help him so early. And considering it was a weekend, it was too early for there to be people milling about, except for a few habitual early risers. The two of them started offloading the boxes, there weren’t many of them so they’d opted to not hire movers. They just had to go up and down the elevator a couple times. They asked the security guard to watch the boxes at the entrance while they took them up one at a time. Jimin’s apartment was on the 6th floor, once inside the elevator he saw the building had 11 floors.
“Whoa. Joonie, 11 floors. I’ve never lived in an apartment complex this big before. Are you sure the guy is not a serial killer? The more I see this place, the more worried I get. The rent is way too cheap for a place this nice.”
Namjoon shrugged, “I don’t know, man. The guy’s subletting the place to you so maybe that’s why the rent is cheap. But Hoseok mentioned Yoongi himself got a steep deal. Maybe the owner’s rich and just wanted this apartment occupied or something. I hear it’s the only empty one in the complex.”
“Maybe,” Jimin replied absent mindedly but there was this nagging feeling in the back up his mind that just wouldn’t let up. Something wasn’t right about this. He really should’ve made an effort to get to know his new roommate before agreeing to live with him. Damn Taemin and his rash decision to go back home permanently. If anything happened to Jimin, it would be entirely Taemin’s fault. That’s right. Jimin decided to give Taemin a call later to tell him just that.
“Chim, let’s go. We’re here,” Namjoon was already exiting the elevator.
“Oh right,” Jimin had lost count of the number of floors, lost in his thoughts. Upon Namjoon’s calling, he quickly carried the boxes and followed Namjoon.
“Which apartment was it again?”
“680.”
“680…680…680. Oh here. Sweet it’s at the end of the hall which means you’ll have more windows. What’s the code? I’ll punch it in for you.”
“1938.”
Jimin heard the beep from the numbers being punched in and a clack before Namjoon pushed open the door. Namjoon was the first to enter, taking off his shoes and replacing them with an indoor slipper placed conveniently by the door. Jimin soon followed. The entrance itself was narrow, barely fitting two people when stood side by side. So Namjoon walked ahead of Jimin a few steps and stopped abruptly.
“Whoa, Chim! Do you see all this?”
Now Namjoon, his friend, was a tall man, easily a head taller than Jimin. He towered over the average Korean height and build on any given day but somehow wasn’t aware of it. That was one of the main reason he was so clumsy, always bumping into doorways and what not. And he was certainly not aware of the fact that he was blocking all of Jimin’s view of what had him so awed.
“No, you giant. I can’t see anything because you’re blocking everything. Move.”
Jimin lightly nudged Namjoon forward so they could step out of the narrow entryway and enter the shared living room. Jimin finally saw his new apartment, mouth hanging open. Namjoon had been right about the windows. The wall to the right was covered entirely by windows and sheer white curtains adorned them. A red velvety curtain was drawn to let the light in, probably the owner’s courtesy. There were two recliners by the window, their cushion matching the warm purple cushions on the white sofa. There were two sets of them, each facing the other with a glass table in between them. A huge flat screen T. V. hung on the wall, with tall lamps on either side of it. The living room could easily fit two of Jimin’s rooms from his old apartment. On the other side of the room was the kitchen area, with state of the art appliances and sleek silver countertop. A dining table sat in the area between the kitchen and the living room. Jimin ran to the kitchen and checked all the cupboards that contained all the necessary pots and pans. Apparently when the owner said fully furnished, he’d meant fully furnished and not just a few odd furniture pieces. Everything was there, from ladles and kettles and even vases with flowers to knicks and knacks of furniture that were there purely for decorative purposes. There were even a few wall hangings.
A painting in particular caught his attention. It looked old and faded, two boys dressed in hanbok. They looked young, maybe in their teens. They looked happy, staring at each other and laughing about something. It was clearly the boys who were the main attraction of the painting. Or was it a photograph? It was too faded to tell. The background was just there to highlight the boys’ happiness. There had to be something deep behind this painting or photograph, Jimin reckoned. But he certainly wasn’t the one to decipher it. He fiddled with the painting for a while, turning this side and that until he was completely certain it was hanging straight.
"Jimin!”
Namjoon’s shout from somewhere in the apartment surprised Jimin. He ran to the direction the sound came from.
“Joonie, what is it?”
“Jimin, you have to take this room. This is exactly your type.”
Jimin walked in and saw what Namjoon was talking about. And he was right. The room screamed Jimin. It was colored a soft off-white yellow. There were white curtains on the window. The bed was big enough to fit two people and it was set very low, almost to the ground, just the way Jimin liked it. And all the other necessary furniture was there- a study table, a closet, a small bookcase and an adjoining bathroom. But it was the wall that caught Jimin’s attention. More specifically a painting on the wall. No, it wasn’t a painting so much a calligraphy chart. With one word written on it in English. Serendipity. Jimin wasn’t fluent in English but he knew enough to know what that word meant. Somehow seeing that brought a warm feeling somewhere deep inside Jimin. Jimin wanted this room. He didn’t even want to check out the other room. But that wouldn’t be right.
“No, Joonie. I’m going to wait for Yoongi before choosing a room. He’s the one who knows this place after all. I should let him choose first. When did you say he was getting here again?”
Namjoon checked his phone and after a few taps he looked up at Jimin, “Hoseok said they’ve just left and should be here in about 30 min.”
“Great! Let’s bring up all the boxes before they get here.”
They worked quickly after that. They had a momentary delay when Namjoon literally dropped all the contents of one of the boxes. Jimin went down to get the last of the boxes while Namjoon stayed behind to make some tea for them and the two that would arrive anytime soon. On his way back, a woman in her 40s got in alongside Jimin and smiled warmly at him before pressing the button to her floor. Jimin saw she lived on the 6th floor too.
Jimin greeted her with a bow, “Hello. I’m Park Jimin. I just moved here, on the 6th floor actually. I hope we can be good neighbors,” he added another bow with a polite smile never faltering on his lips.
“Ohh look at you, so polite. It’s rare to see young people being this polite these days. I’m Jung Hwa Sa. Nice to meet you Jimin-ssi. If you don’t mind me asking, which apartment did you move into? I didn’t know someone had moved out from my floor.”
“Apartment 680.”
The previously smiling woman stared at Jimin with wide eyes, no sign of the polite smile from before. Her face drained of all color and she took a step back from Jimin.
“6-6-680?”
“Yeah,” Jimin was confused at her sudden change in demeanor, “Hwa Sa-ssi are you alright?”
“Oh dear, you poor thing. I can’t believe Jin is still renting out that apartment. I’ve told him to call a shaman and seal off that place for good so many times already.”
“Shaman? Why would you seal off my apartment?”
“You don’t know? That’s even worse.”
“Don’t know what, Hwa Sa-ssi?”
She motioned for Jimin to come closer, as if afraid someone might hear her. Jimin complied and offered his ear.
“Your apartment,” she whispered, “is haunted. Terrible things have happened in there, Jimin-sshi.”
The elevator opened with a ding, but Jimin was too shocked at what he had just heard to react. He wanted to ask more, but couldn’t find the words. Haunted. He kept repeating that word over and over again in his mind.
“I’ll pray you don’t get hurt, Jimin-sshi. But I suggest you move out as soon as possible,” with that she left Jimin standing in the elevator, watching her go.
👻👻
“Yoongi, wake up. We’re here.”
“Wha-,” Hoseok’s jostling brought Yoongi out of whatever dream he’d been having.
“Come on, sleepyhead. We’re at your new apartment. I told you to not stay up all night. You should’ve gotten some rest before moving day, at least. “
Yoongi yawned and stretched out lazily, “It’s alright I’ll take a quick nap before I start unpacking.”
Thankfully, Yoongi had already moved most of his boxes the day before. He just had to bring in a few duffle bags with his clothes and toiletries today. They carried everything upstairs in one go. Hoseok whistled as they stepped into the hallway to their floor.
“Hyung, even the hallways of this place looks fancy.”
“Take it all in now Hobi, because apparently you’re not coming back here ever again,” Yoongi teased.
“That’s not true. I’ll come by to help you pack when you move out of hear a month later.”
“We’ll see,” Yoongi shrugged off nonchalantly before punching in the code. There was nothing personal about code he’d set. For some reason, the number ‘1938’ seemed a fitting code for the room. Yoongi didn’t think much of it.
“-she looked really scared Joonie. She was telling the truth, trust me.”
“I do trust you, Chim. And I also trust she thinks she’s telling the truth. But- “
“Alright, let me just stop you right there before you get all scientific on me. I don’t need you to tell me how unbelievable this is, how it’s nothing more than an old wives tale. I just want you to tell me something to ease my mind. Tell me you’re just a phone call away or some shit. I don’t know. Anything but there’s no such thing as ghosts.”
Ah, so that’s what this is about; I guess his new roommate had heard the rumor, then. He sounded worried about it too, did this mean he would back out from the deal? A small part of Yoongi hoped he would.
“Uh guys... I don’t know if it’s the right time for introducing ourselves but we’ve been here for a while. So…,” Hoseok stepped forward, taking small steps to greet the other two. Yoongi followed quietly behind him.
“Oh, you’re here,” Namjoon stepped forward to greet Hoseok and Hoseok followed suit.
They met each other in the middle for their weird half hug-half hand shake greeting. The two moving also meant Jimin and Yoongi were now in clear view of each other. And man was it a view. The first thing Yoongi noticed was Jimin’s lips. Pink and round and puckered in a frown. Those lips formed a plump ‘o’ as soon as he saw Yoongi, then they stretched into the most enticing smile Yoongi had ever seen. Curved up just the right amount that his cheeks bunched just below his eyes. And said eyes were curved to form crescents with brown irises staring back at him. Jimin bowed at him and Yoongi followed suit, only half aware of his action, eyes never once leaving Jimin’s. To his credit, Jimin didn’t take his eyes off of Yoongi either.
“Hello. I’m Park Jimin. You’re new roommate. Nice to meet you Yoongi-ssi,” Yoongi hadn’t paid much attention to Jimin’s voice before but now it sounded like music to his ears. Just the right pitch to sound soothing to Yoongi’s ears, just the right lilt to pique his interest into hearing more.
“Min Yoongi. And yeah, same about the meeting thing. It’s uh... nice,” he ignored the pointed glance Hoseok was giving him, instead turned to Namjoon to greet him next and Jimin turned to Hoseok to re-introduce himself. Introductions were done, numbers were exchanged (between Hoseok and Jimin, both of them taking an instant liking to the other).
“I should probably get going now and let you guys unpack and get to know each other. I’d offer to help Jimin but I need to go visit eomma today.”
“It’s alright. You’ve helped enough. Thanks again, Joonie,” Yoongi watched as the two friends hugged goodbye.
“Let’s go together, Namjoon. I’m leaving too.”
“Brat. You’re not helping me unpack?”
“No, hyung. Why don’t you ask the ghost to help you? I’m sure you’ll get along fine with them, considering how neither one of you talk,” Hoseok stuck a tongue out at Yoongi before following Yoongi out the house. He could act really childish for a grown man of 26.
“Ghost?!” Jimin squeaked from beside Yoongi. When had they gotten so close together?
“So, she was right.”
“Who was right Jimin?” Yoongi turned to Jimin and tilted his head at the younger.
“Hwa Sa-sshi, our neighbor. She said the place was haunted. It’s true isn’t it, hyung?”
“Jimin, look, people believe what they want to believe.”
“I’m so stupid! That’s why the rent’s so fucking cheap. The place is haunted. Hyung, why didn’t you tell me?” he started pacing around the space between the sofas, one hand on his waist.
“I didn’t tell you because I don’t think it’s true.”
“Well, I do! Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. Spirits are all around us, hyung.”
Oh, so he was one of those people. Yoongi sighed, regretting he had to do this, but he had to.
“You can move out if it makes you uncomfortable. I’ll even give you back your advance. No hard feelings.”
“But I can’t! I can’t afford a decent place on my own here. And this apartment is the nicest place I’ve ever lived in,” he sounded and looked truly heartbroken.
“If it’s any consolation, you’re not living alone here,” that wasn’t entirely true. Considering Yoongi’s schedule Jimin would be alone more often than not, but he didn’t know that. Yet.
“That’s true,” Jimin looked at Yoongi for a while, he wasn’t looking at Yoongi but through him. Lost in thought.
“Do you think- could I- uh- “
“Spit it out Jimin?”
“Caouldibringanexorcisthere?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d agree. I guess I’ll just get myself a few talismans. Do you want me to get you some too?”
Yoongi had had enough of this conversation.
“No Jimin, I don’t need any talismans. Now I’m going to take a quick nap. Don’t wake me unless the apartment is on fire. I’m taking the room farthest down the hall, you can take the other. See you later.”
“You too, hyung.”
Yoongi left the living room but not before he noticed the painting of the two boys. Weird. The boys certainly weren’t looking at each other the last time he’d seen it. Or maybe they were. He didn’t remember nor did he care, already half asleep before he plopped on his bed face first. It took him a while to muster up the strength to get under the cover and settle in. He succumbed to sleep as soon as he laid his head on the people.
👻👻
Jimin tried his best to not dwell on everything he’d just heard and decided to get on with his unpacking. He was more than okay with Yoongi’s choice of room as it meant the older had given Jimin the yellow room. He didn’t have a lot of stuff as he only ever bought the bare necessities, and very rarely did he indulge in buying things on a whim. Not because he didn’t want to- oh, he wanted to alright. But years of moving from foster home to foster home, shelter to shelter, apartment to apartment had ingrained in him the habit of having the bare minimum. It was just easier to pack up and leave that way. So, he was done with unpacking within a few hours and was left with a lot of free time. Since he had nothing planned for the day he decided to waste his time finishing a drama he’d started last night.
He settled in, the mattress cushioning him softly. He started up his laptop with full intention of watching the drama but his hands had a will of their own. He found himself opening a search engine and typing in ‘kim-jeon housing ghost sighting’. Hundreds of results popped up and Jimin typed on the one at the top, biting his nails. He was redirected to a disqus page. Jimin scanned all the answers which all came to one consensus, apartment 680 was haunted.
One comment in particular caught his attention. It said – ‘my friend lived in that apartment a few years back. I hated visiting him and staying the night, I didn’t see the spirit but I could definitely sense something. There would be a lot of random noises in the night but when I went out to check I’d see nothing. I always kept losing stuff and have them appear on random places. Thankfully, I didn’t see the spirit or get hurt, but my friend wasn’t so lucky’.
Another one said – ‘I heard someone died in that place and their spirits still lingers’ *shiver*’
The more Jimin read, the more certain he became that the apartment, his apartment, was haunted. But there was nothing he could do about it. He wasn’t lying when he told Yoongi he couldn’t afford a place on his own, certainly not a place as nice as this one. He’d spent the last of his money buying out his studio. It had been expensive but worth it. He could finally have something that belonged to him, that was his own without having to worry about someone taking it away from him. And he finally had a chance to do two things he loved the most, dancing and teaching. But that also meant now he had no savings whatsoever and was living from paycheck to paycheck. Getting this apartment was a godsend and Jimin wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He would just have to suck it up and throw some salts to keep the spirits away.
👻👻
If Yoongi had his way he would sleep for 2 days straight; pulling 2 all-nighters hadn’t been his best decision, had it? He woke up to the pitch-black darkness in his room with a sleepy frown on his face. The short sleep had done nothing to alleviate his fatigue, instead it just left him a little disoriented. He tried to make sense of what woke him up from his dreamless sleep. Then he heard it, the clacking of pots and banging of drawers coming into his room because he’d forgot to close his door completely. He cursed and got up reluctantly to close it all the way. But once he reached the door he decided to get himself a glass of water.
He heard Jimin before he saw him. The incessant banging of utensils stopped and was replaced by a soft humming. Yoongi took cautious steps so as not to disturb Jimin. He didn’t want to interrupt his melodic humming. It was nice, sweet and soft.
Shaking his head Yoongi took quiet steps to the fridge. Jimin had his back to him.
“Hey,” Yoongi greeted as he opened the fridge to get some water.
A startled Jimin turned around to gape at Yoongi, spatula in hand.
“Hyung! You scared me. I thought you were the spirit.”
“The spirit?”
“You know the one that haunts this place.”
Yoongi sighed and took a swig of water from the bottle, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he continued, “Don’t tell me you actually believe that nonsense.”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Jimin- “
“No hyung, stop. I know you don’t believe in them and I respect that. So can you please respect that I do? I won’t force my opinion on you and I’m hoping you extend the same favor to me.”
“Fair enough,” Yoongi placed the bottle back in the fridge and leaned against the counter. He gestured at the cooking area, “So what are you making?”
“Oh! The pasta!”
Jimin quickly turned around to do whatever he was doing before. That gave Yoongi a clear view of Jimin’s back. He was wearing a sheer shirt on account of the heat, he had narrow hips and shoulders Yoongi noticed. But his hips were a whole other story. Jimin turned around and Yoongi saw what was written on the front of his apron.
‘MR. GOOD LOOKIN’ IS COOKIN’’
“Nice apron, Jimin.”
“Oh! Ah... my previous roommate gave it to me as a joke really.”
“He’s not wrong though.”
Jimin’s eyes widened and cheeks flushed, coloring a pretty pink. Yoongi liked that, Yoongi liked that a lot. More than he should considering he just met the guy this morning. He didn’t know where that offhand compliment had come from but now he didn’t know what to follow up with that. And it seemed neither did Jimin. They just stood there, looking everywhere but at each other, desperately trying to think of anything to fill the silence. Until the bottle Yoongi had placed on the counter dropped to the floor splashing water all over him and some on Jimin.
“The fuck?” Yoongi stepped back. He bent down to pick it, “How did that even happen. I was sure I put the lid back on right. Sorry, you go back to cooking I’ll clean this up.”
Jimin made no response, still staring at the spilled water on the floor.
“Jimin.”
Still no response.
“Jimin!”
“Huh – what?”
“Did you hear what I just said?”
“Yeah-uh... lid uh- water uh…”
“Jimin are you ok?”
“No, yeah. I just thought I saw something. Never mind. You can go ahead with the clean-up hyung, I’ll get dinner ready.”
Jimin turned around, effectively ending the conversation.
Dinner was a small affair. Jimin had made some pasta and Yoongi offered the side dishes his eomma had packed for him. They decided to eat at the kitchen island, sitting side by side.
“Thank you for the dinner, Jimin. Even though you really didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to since it’s our first night.”
Yoongi nearly choked on the pasta he’d taken a bite of.
“As roommates,” Jimin added cheekily, side eyeing Yoongi. Yoongi chewed the pasta slowly, it took him only a few bites to realize Jimin was a bad cook. Like, he added no spices, no garlic, only salt and obscene amount of tomato sauce to the pasta kind of cook. Also, he was fifty percent certain the pasta was burnt.
“How is it hyung?”
“Huh?”
“The food. Do you like it?” Jimin looked at him expectantly, lips curved and brows raised questioningly.
“Uh yea is’ goo’ ‘imin,” Yoongi spoke while simultaneously stuffing his mouth with food so he’d look like he was enjoying it.
“Really? You like it?”
Yoongi nodded and gave Jimin a thumbs up, struggling to chew the pasta he’d stuffed in earlier unceremoniously.
“Then maybe you can eat my portion too because I can’t eat this bland food. I think I’ll just make some ramen for myself,” Jimin pushed his plate towards Yoongi. His horror must have been clear on his face because Jimin took one look at him and laughed. Yoongi realized Jimin laughed with his whole body, throwing back his head then curling in on himself as if he was trying to contain the mirth. It was wonderful, his laugh. Unlike his horrible, horrible cooking.
“Oh, hyung. You should’ve seen your face. Don’t worry, I won’t make you eat all this. I know I’m a horrible cook,” Jimin patted his arm placatingly and took both their plates to the sink. Yoongi heaved a sigh of relief finally managing to swallow the pasta he’d taken a bite of.
“Why’d you cook if you knew you were bad at it?”
Jimin smiled at him sheepishly, “I wanted to be a nice roommate. You know make a good impression. I was so sure it would be edible, at least. I tried to get all the instructions right too. My roommate was the one in charge of the cooking mostly and I cleaned up. We had a nice system going until the asshole decided to leave me.”
Yoongi couldn’t decide on Jimin’s tone of voice when he spoke of his previous roommate. He sounded mad about him leaving but he could also detect a hint of fondness hidden underneath. He decided to ask.
“Was he a bad roommate?”
Jimin already on his way to boiling some water for the ramen looked at Yoongi and shook his head, “No, Taemin was a great roommate. I’m just mad at him for leaving. Not that I blame him, he got a great new job offer back home. I just wish he’d given me some time to find a new place before leaving me high and dry.”
Yoongi nodded at Jimin’s back, enjoying the silence as the younger prepared the ingredients for the ramen. Every once in a while, Jimin would hum a quiet tune but would stop as soon as he saw Yoongi on the kitchen island playing with his phone, as if he was self-conscious about his voice, which was absolute nonsense if anyone asked Yoongi. Jimin had a great voice, exactly his type. But then again, he already established that, didn’t he?
Yoongi offered to plate the noodles while Jimin went into his room to charge his phone. There aren’t many ways someone can fuck up ramen but amazingly Jimin still managed to add a tad too much water and too little spice. Which Yoongi rectified immediately by adding some extra spices to it without Jimin knowing about it. Yoongi was okay with eating the food in silence but Jimin had other things in mind apparently.
“So hyung…”
A quick slurp of the noodles and just as quick swallow.
“Tell me about yourself.”
“Eat a little slower first, Jimin. We can talk later. Take your time. I don’t want you choking on me on our first night you know.”
It was Jimin’s turn to nearly choke on his food now, “Touché hyung. But really, tell me. We can multitask. Let’s get to know each other while we eat.”
“I guess you already know what I do from Namjoon. There’s not much else to tell really. My work is a big part of who I am, it’s who I am. I spent most of my time in the studio, making music. I’ve been making music since I was 14. Played a little bit of piano every once in a while, could’ve probably gone professional with it but I didn’t practice enough. But I realized early on that my place in the music industry was behind the scenes, not front and center in front of an audience. I prefer the quiet nights working alone more than being surrounded by applause.”
“That’s understandable. Have I heard any of your songs?”
“Might have. I’m fairly popular you know,” Yoongi smiled a little teasingly a little bashfully.
“Oooh, tell me.”
“I make music under the pseudonym Suga. Why don’t you find out for yourself Park Jimin?”
“I’ll do just that. I’m not sleeping tonight until I hear all of your songs.”
Yoongi chuckled at Jimin’s upbeat reply. The younger really seemed determined to hear all his songs. He’s not sure why he didn’t give Jimin a direct answer to his question. Maybe because he couldn’t just name one of his songs, at the risk of showing favoritism. Everything he wrote was a big part of him. All of them an outlet for his emotions, a way to tell his story. Every song had a special place in his heart. He was happy that Jimin wanted to listen to his songs, but a small part of him was scared. Scared of what Jimin might interpret out of those songs. Oh, he didn’t mind idols singing his song on stage and people relating the lyrics to themselves. Those people were strangers. But Park Jimin listening to them would be a whole new thing. For one, the guy was his roommate, someone he’d have to live with for god knows how long. And to add to that, the guy was cute, extremely so. So sue him if he was worried what his cute roommate might think of his music. He was worried Jimin might not like it. He had half a mind to tell Jimin not to listen to them but decided against it.
“Your turn.”
“Hold on, let me make a proper introduction. You’re older than me and I didn’t get to greet you properly earlier.”
Jimin made a big show of getting off his chair and bowing to Yoongi. A full proper bow, even his head was bowed down.
“Jimin what- “
“Hello, I’m Park Jimin. I’m 25 years old. I’m a dancer and own a dance studio in Gangnam-gu. Thank you for allowing me to live with you. Please treat me well, hyung.”
“For fucks sake, get up before you break your back,” Yoongi ordered trying to hide his mirth. But a low chuckle escaped his lips anyway.
“Nah, hyung. I’m a dancer. I’m very flexible,” as if to prove his point Jimin stretched up, his hands stretched well above his head. Causing his shirt to rise up, exposing a sliver of skin on his belly.
“Alright, enough with the innuendos for tonight,” before he lost his sanity, Yoongi added mentally, “Sit down and finish your meal.”
“Aye aye,” Jimin mock saluted him, smile never leaving his lips.
“And no more bowing.”
“Understood.”
“And unnecessary innuendos.”
“That one goes for you too.”
“You started it!”
“Hyung, are you pouting?”
“No that’s just my lips,” Yoongi deadpanned.
“You have nice lips.”
“Stop talking and finish your noodles. It’s getting all soggy.”
👻👻
Just as he’d promised, Jimin listened to almost all of Yoongi’s song the very night. Yoongi wasn’t kidding when he mentioned he was popular, his music was sung by some high-profile idols and indie musicians. But he didn’t pay much attention to who sang it, he was more enamored by the words being sung. The lyrics felt personal, as if the person was writing his story in rhymes. Jimin felt sad listening to the songs but thankfully most of them ended on a happy note. His songs weren’t songs so much as stories with a happy ending. Jimin fell asleep listening to ‘So far away’.
Jimin was an early riser, ingrained in him from years of waking up at ass hours at the orphanage to line up for breakfast. If you didn’t eat early, you didn’t eat good. It was the law of living with kids of all ages and limited ration to feed them. Thankfully, Jimin liked waking up early, there was something different about the early morning air. All fresh and new before the city dwellers managed to ruin it. He decided to go for a quick jog before he had to leave for work. He wasn’t paying much attention to what was ahead of him, trying to get his watch around his wrist. He heard voices coming from the living room and wondered if Yoongi had gotten up already. He entered the living room and looked up expecting to see Yoongi.
But what he saw was anything but Yoongi. Jimin wasn’t even sure if it was human.
Sure, the thing had human form, but even in the dim morning light he could see it wasn’t completely solid, not see through but not entirely there either. It looked like the thing was floating with his back to Jimin. It was stood in front of the painting of the two boys, looking up at it. Jimin tried to be as quiet as possible, unsure of what to do. He was scared, only managing barely to hold in his whimper. He wanted to call for Yoongi but he couldn’t alert the spirit of his presence, he wanted to run but his legs wouldn’t move. He was frozen in place as he watched it float towards the couch, Jimin had a chance to see it’s face. It wasn’t what he was expecting. He was expecting something out of a horror movie, all wilted and contorted. But the face was surprisingly human, as if it was just another guy, and it was smiling at the couch. The smile was so full of fondness that Jimin could almost feel the warmth in it. Jimin stood mute as the spirit floated to the couch and held out his hand. A second hand, shadowy under the light, soon joined the outstretched. The body attached to the hand emerged next, rising up from the couch as if it had been lying there. The spirits stood facing each other, they seemed to be talking but Jimin couldn’t hear anything past the ringing in his ears. Two spirits. Living in his apartment. Two very real spirits right in front of him. To say he was scared was an understatement, but his legs still refused to move, it was a sort of a miracle that he was still up. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the spirits, eyes wide in horror.
Just then the spirits turned to look directly at him. Twin looks of confusion on their faces as they spotted Jimin. Jimin’s body finally decided to comply with his brain. He screamed, as loud as he could. And so did the spirits. They didn’t screech like in the movies. No, they screamed, sounding as horrified as Jimin. Two voices, one too deep than the other but both unmistakably human.