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"I want to get out of here."
Streetlight, moonlight crept through the front glass doors of a renovated high school in Seoul. But it barely clawed seven pairs of school slippers inside. Seven in the dark. Restless, but still. One of them moved: Jisung, only fifteen, cowered behind Mark, eighteen. Mark shuddered as though Jisung's breath tickled his nape past the collar of his white uniform, although no air came from Jisung.
"I want to get out of here," Jisung repeated in a murmur, hands clasped together like in a desperate prayer. His eyes roamed into nothingness, convinced that an unknown, distant presence existed.
Donghyuck caressed Jisung's head, then Mark pulled Jisung between him and Donghyuck, rubbing Jisung's arm through the short sleeve of the uniform with his cold, trembling hand. Mark was the oldest.
They're in a circle. Seven boys. Circle, like a cycle. Flashlights off, until they could finally separate ways. To hunt for ghosts, or to prove there were no ghosts. But Donghyuck grinned, and flashed his torch under his chin. Renjun gasped. Jeno and Jaemin flinched. There were rows of teeth, eyes like void, hollows.
Donghyuck was stifling his laughter.
Renjun lifted his flashlight as if to throw it onto Donghyuck, just as Jeno was throwing a light punch on Donghyuck's arm. Jaemin was just smiling. The four of them were seventeen.
All seven spoke in hushed, but airless voices.
"I'd pair with Mark hyung," Donghyuck said.
"Hyung, can you please turn that off," said Jisung, shutting his eyes. "You look like a ghost."
"My bad." Donghyuck switched his flashlight off. "Anyway. Me and Mark hyung. So if he gets scared, I'd be there to carry him."
"But can you really carry him," teased Chenle, sixteen, who had been shuffling his feet in his place between Jaemin and Mark.
Donghyuck briefly lit his face to glower at Chenle. He nodded. "I can't."
Suppressed chuckles. Then Jisung asked about the time. Nobody answered. But they had the impression that it was before midnight, as they had agreed on.
Mark, Renjun, and Jisung believed in ghosts. Jeno, Donghyuck, Chenle did not. Jaemin was indifferent. They knew the school guard was always asleep, rarely doing his rounds. Hence, every night could be a ghost hunting night.
For a moment, they argued about the grouping.
"Guys, guys, no need to play games," Mark said. "Like, a believer should just pair with a non-believer."
"You're all beliebers," Jeno muttered.
Chenle chuckled. "Justin Bieber."
"Let's do an aegyo battle," Jaemin said in his aegyo voice. He angled his face closer to Renjun's. "You can't see it but I'm pouting right now."
Renjun leaned away. "How will that help."
"You know what, one ghost believer, one skeptic. Done!" Donghyuck said.
"Yeah," the others agreed. "
Yo, that's what I said though," said Mark.
In the midst of it all, Jisung had dropped himself on the floor. "I change my mind. Can I go home? Please?" he begged.
A clash of soft whispers, harsh murmurs, until they settled things down: Jisung would go home, Jaemin would accompany him. Renjun, Jeno, and Chenle would hunt on the second floor. Mark and Donghyuck, third.
They all turned their flashlights on.
"We'll go home, Jisungie." Jaemin soothed Jisung with an arm around his shoulders.
The others playfully said I love you to Jisung, pinched his cheeks, ruffled his hair. Chenle only waved. Jeno only smiled.
"Wow, Jeno, you're so—" Donghyuck shook his head. "Aren't you gonna say I love you?" he teased.
"Over his dead body!" Renjun said.
Jaemin raised his flashlight just below his chin, and with a pout, said, "Love you Jeno."
Jeno grimaced.
Before they went upstairs, they gave Jisung a hug, except for Chenle, who instead gave a teasing pat on the back. "Now leave," he joked.
Then they went on their way.
From afar, their parents dreamed their children were only staying late at cram school, and later would be sleeping soundly back home. Their parents would find out anyhow. All seven left their phones for the thrill.
The five illuminated the stairs with light like orbs levitating in the dark. They ascended with weightless steps. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Then a freezing hand caught Renjun's ankle.
"Ah!" Renjun darted three steps ahead of Jeno and Chenle like a spider scurrying away. He spun around, flashlight blazing against Donghyuck's face. Donghyuck closed his eyes. "Fuck you, fucking dick," Renjun hissed.
Jeno and Chenle had turned around, gaping down at Donghyuck, one palm over their chest.
Donghyuck was snickering. "Hold their hands," he said.
"I can handle myself, thank you," replied Renjun.
Mark smacked Donghyuck's stomach. "Dude, I swear. If you do something like that to me later."
"Don't worry, I won't grab your ankle." Donghyuck leaned closer, lips inches from Mark's ear. "But I'd hold your hand."
Mark shivered and took a step higher, grabbing onto Jeno and Chenle. "Alright! Let's go!"
"Don't leave me," Donghyuck whined.
Renjun attacked each of them with the glare of his flashlight. "Shush!"
They split up on the second floor landing: ahead of the three was the hallway, like an endless tunnel with no blink of light in sight; above Mark and Donghyuck was another flight of stairs. Stairway to hell, Donghyuck would've joked. Instead he held out a hand. Mark hesitated, but in the end slapped Donghyuck's hand away. They climbed the stairs arm to arm, nonetheless. Too close, like longing for warmth. It had been cold for too long.
Their climb was slow.
"You heard about that serial arsonist?" Mark asked. The murmur of his voice mingled with the sound of the shuffling of their feet.
"Are you trying to scare yourself even more?"
"Actually, I'm trying to distract myself."
"Right. By talking about something scary."
"It's not that scary, dude."
"Real life is scarier. Duh. The arsonist literally burned buildings down. With people inside."
Mark gripped Donghyuck's elbow as they were nearing third floor. He didn't respond.
Downstairs, Renjun insisted on lighting only the ground. Mist-like moonlight lurked through the windows, but it was weak, almost unseen like an apparition.
"Ghosts are remnants of the past," Renjun was saying, eyes on the light from his torch. "So it's like we're looking for the past."
"How can we hunt your ghosts if we can only see the floor?" Jeno asked.
"Can't you wait for me to gather some courage?" grumbled Renjun.
The three were walking cautiously, nearly on tiptoes, avoiding even a quick glimpse towards the end of the hallway. Already they had passed two classrooms, with windows staring like blown, blackout pupils.
All of a sudden, Chenle spoke. "Do you think they're gay?" he said casually. "Secretly in love with each other? Secretly dating?"
Renjun stopped. "Why are you wondering about that now."
Chenle shrugged. "My mind just went there."
"Um," Jeno uttered. "Maybe? Maybe not?"
"Let's not speculate. Let them be. Either way, they have my support," Renjun said.
The two hummed in agreement.
All three's attention was on the ground again, yet none of them were taking the first step forward. Along the floor, foliage shadows had slithered; their movements with the wind, sneaky and quick, were like crisp flames.
"Should we enter your classroom?" Chenle suggested, rotating his flashlight in small circles.
"Wait." Renjun hunched his shoulders. "Chenle, you go first," said Jeno.
"I said wait." Renjun stomped his feet.
"Why me, why me?" Chenle swayed a hand in protest, causing his flashlight to rise for a second.
Renjun froze.
"You suggested it," Jeno said. Renjun tapped their shoulders. "
"Guys, guys, I think I saw something."
"Eh?" the two uttered in unison.
They stepped back. They quiet down, bodies stiffened. But their eyes reluctantly moved, until their gazes were fixed on the wall of darkness in front of them. Sound of breathing had gotten louder. They pulled their bodies together, the three of them, and then Jeno slowly, slowly, slowly, lifted his flashlight, its light worming towards the end of the hallway. Jeno stopped.
There was a pair of feet.
"The haunted house during the festival was scarier than this," said Donghyuck. He pointed his flashlight at the end of the hallway, which appeared like a dead end in an empty alleyway hidden in the deepest corner of an unknown area. Abandoned, no signs of life. Just an alleyway. "Everything really looks different in the dark… Anyway, tell me when you're ready to move," he told Mark.
They had not moved from the landing.
"What if like, there are no ghosts?" Mark shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His eyes were everywhere.
"I've been telling you…"
"No, I mean like, here. Here in our school."
"Then next time, we'll go to another place. Hunt for non-existent ghosts. Prove you wrong. Count that as our first official date. And then live happily ever after. The end."
Mark scoffed and pushed Donghyuck away.
"But hyung," said Donghyuck, lowering his hand, flashlight lighting their feet. "At the festival, were you, um, really serious when you said—"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Mark played with his flashlight, looked down and stared at their feet. His feet were facing Donghyuck, while Donghyuck's were turned to the hallway. "So can you like, stop teasing me if you don't feel the same way. You know, 'cause—"
"I like you too."
Mark watched Donghyuck's feet faced his.
"I like you too," Donghyuck repeated. "Honestly, I thought I was obvious." He chuckled.
"Oh. Okay," Mark murmured.
"Okay," Donghyuck copied.
Mark huffed. Then he clenched his hand, then released, then finally, he reached for Donghyuck's hand. Cold. Their hands were both cold, so they pressed tighter, squeezed them together. They were floating.
Donghyuck angled his head and pointed his flashlight at his cheek, presenting it to Mark.
"What the hell," Mark muttered.
"You don't want to?" Mark stuttered.
"My eyes are hurting from the light," Donghyuck said.
"Dude, you're so stupid."
"Stupidly in love—"
Mark kissed him on the cheek.
Donghyuck cleared his throat as he dropped his flashlight. "Awesome," he said.
They lowered their heads, suppressing their giggles, intertwined hands swaying.
Then Donghyuck spoke. "Don't you think something's a bit off?"
Jeno lifted his flashlight.
The light, quaking, inched upwards, and upwards, and upwards, then Jeno paused. A female student was standing still at the end of the hallway, a murky image of a female student like there was a veil of smoke hanging between them, a veil of smoke like that of the entrance to the other world, and then her mouth stretched open, and then she let out a shriek.
The three jumped, and they screamed and ran towards the stairs, flashlights frantically darting everywhere. The shriek echoed along the hallway as though chasing after them. Chenle looked back, raising his flashlight. She was firmly positioned in place, mouth wide open.
Then Renjun and Jeno stopped, and then Chenle. They caught a fleeting glimpse of a vague figure running upstairs.
They heard screams.
Mark and Donghyuck grabbed onto each other.
"Jesus Christ," Mark mumbled.
"What the fuck…" muttered Donghyuck.
Then they heard the slap, slap, slap from the stairs. It was getting louder and louder and nearer and nearer. Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap.
Donghyuck directed his flashlight into the staircase.
Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap.
A spectral figure of a girl emerged and in front of them she blazed across the hallway, a smudge of hair and skirt and legs, as fast as a clawing fire.
She was wailing.
Three steps. Only three steps before Renjun, Jeno, Chenle set foot on the first floor. But they paused and leaned against the wall.
There were sobs. A weeping not too far. Low and sorrowful like mourning over a grave.
"Holy shit…" Jeno murmured.
"Fuck," uttered Renjun, hiding behind Chenle who was very still, staring into space.
They heard Mark's voice approaching them. Jeno spun around and illuminated the stairs above them. Mark and Donghyuck came rushing down the stairs, holding hands, so quick as though their feet barely grazed the steps.
Before they could utter a word, Chenle spoke. "It's Jisung."
"What?" Jeno asked.
"It's Jisung." Chenle hurried along the last few steps.
They found Jisung and Jaemin on the floor. Jisung's face was deep in his palms, Jaemin's arm was around him, their flashlights switched on lying on their lap. Chenle dashed towards Jisung and helped him up. At an instant, Jisung sank into Chenle's embrace, mumbling against his shoulder.
Jaemin stood and calmly explained, "We can't get out. It's strange, but we've already checked multiple times. We don't know where the guard is."
"Are you a hundred percent sure?" Renjun asked.
"Yeah."
"God…" Renjun shook his head. Donghyuck wrapped an arm around him, and Renjun hugged back, forehead dropping on Donghyuck's shoulder.
"We heard screams. What happened to you?" Jaemin asked.
"Screaming female ghosts," Jeno answered without further details.
"There were female students here in the past?" Jaemin wondered aloud.
Then they panicked, voices grating against each other, like multiple voices running in circles in one's head. Murmurs of fear and worry. Nobody was intelligible.
"Guys, guys," Mark said. "Guys, quiet down. Listen to me."
The others immediately shut their mouths.
"We'll look for the guard, alright? Then we'll get out of here, alright?" Mark said.
They nodded although they could barely see one another. Silence filled them. All seven were in a circle. No light from outside had reached them still. Only each of their flashlights lit their feet, lit the ground, yet it could never lead the way for them.
Jisung straightened up. "I know...We'll be okay," he said. "I'm with my hyungs. We're together. So, we'll be fine!"
They went to hug Jisung one by one. He was their baby. Their baby forever. And when they had come back to their places, Jeno finally said, "Love you guys."
Everyone uttered their surprise. Mark hooked an arm around Jeno's neck and pulled him closer. "We know," he said.
For a moment they were quiet again. Without signs of anything. They remained quiet. Then Jaemin spoke. "I've been observing and…Don't you guys think there's something really strange. Maybe like we're in a different world. This doesn't feel like our school."
"Yeah," said Donghyuck. This time he leaned against Mark and held his hand.
There was the scratching of feet on the floor. A mumbling.
Chenle raised his flashlight. "There's the guard."
Mark gently let go of Donghyuck and walked towards the guard himself.
"What are those screams…" the guard mumbled.
Mark paused. He could not recognize the school guard. The guard was not holding any flashlight. The guard walked past Mark.
"Teenagers," the guard grumbled as he casually climbed the stairs.
All seven watched the guard ignore them, until he was out of sight.
They listened to what they could hear.
"What happened?" the guard said.
"...saw them…real...oh my god," a female voice said.
"What are you talking about?"
"...people have been talking about...Lost Boys…haunting the school...died...fire...ten years ago…"
"Calm down, okay? Ghosts aren't real."
"But I saw them! ...saw them...hallway…"
"It's probably just your eyes."
"No! ...classmate saw them too. She ran on the third floor. Ask her!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down. Calm down, okay? Breathe."
"I wanna go home," she said. "I wanna go home."