Work Text:
December 29, 2018
3:28 AM
There was complete and utter darkness outside save for the occasional lightning strike, and loud thunder filled the air every so often.
The only living being inside the house was fast asleep, having just moved in barely 20 minutes ago. He’d made it inside in good time, because the raging storm had started almost as soon as he’d stepped foot into the house.
The ghosts that resided in the house had gathered in the next room after making sure he was asleep so that they could make some decisions. As they talked, they wondered what the hell could have possibly compelled this new tenant, a kid barely out of his teens, to move all alone into a house with a haunted history that dated back literal millennia.
Hongjoong, the leader of the ghost family, had been nothing short of surprised when Mingi had walked into the house at 3:00 AM sharp, holding only a small suitcase and a backpack, while casually swinging the key on his finger. He couldn’t have been more than 18 or 19 at the time, probably fresh out of high school, and Hongjoong had to admit he was very impressed at the fact that someone at his age was able to afford a house on his own.
(Disregarding the fact that the housing agents were probably way too happy to give it to him, discounts and everything…)
It was even more impressive if the ancestry of this specific house was taken into consideration. Hongjoong had been the first ghost in the house (which was brand new at the time, only having been built a year before Hongjoong came), and he’d been alone for hundreds of years till Yunho came along. After Yunho, the rest of the boys had started arriving every 20-60 years— their most recent member was Jongho, who had come 31 years ago.
All 7 of them had bonded over their mutual (newfound) love for scaring people, and even when Hongjoong was alone he hadn’t refrained from doing what ghosts are best known for— haunting.
Almost every tenant they’d had would end up getting so scared that they’d move out within a few weeks— their last tenant had left well over 7 years prior to Mingi’s arrival, and the house had been left untouched since.
But Mingi, Hongjoong had noticed, seemed to be almost blissfully unaware of the house’s history when he’d stepped foot inside the little building.
At least, that’s what Hongjoong liked to believe. Because it was either that, or this kid was just plain stupid for willingly plopping himself into a practically abandoned house in the middle of nowhere.
Though they usually ignored him (which was easy since he wasn’t even home most of the time— college, they assumed), most of the boys had been VERY annoyed that a human had once again decided to move into their house and disrupt their peace. Hence, a challenge emerged among them to see who could scare poor ol’ Mingi the hardest. It went on for a month with no severe consequences…
Until San kinda sorta maybe accidentally went overboard with his prank.
* * * * *
January 24, 2019
2:31 AM
“San, how in the name of all fucks did you manage to drop an entire bookshelf onto Mingi’s head.”
“How was I supposed to know the shelf would BREAK??” San argued. “I only meant to throw ONE book on the floor, hyung!”
“I don’t know if I should be mad or amazed.”
“Can the two of you shut up for a second and check if the kid is alive?” Seonghwa interrupted, a subtle but amused grin on his face at the little argument breaking out between San and Hongjoong.
San had been dared by Wooyoung (who was now suspiciously quiet) to try and frighten Mingi awake, so he decided to simply throw one of the boy’s many books across the room.
Clearly, it had not gone the way he had expected.
It was now 2:34 AM, and the group of 7 was gathered around Mingi, who was lying in bed with his arms across his chest, completely silent and unmoving.
Hongjoong sighed, and after shooting a glare at San, he floated closer to Mingi and touched his forehead.
“Hm. Well, he’s not alive per say, but I can feel something… he’s definitely gonna be waking up soon. As… as one of us.”
Before a commotion could break out, Hongjoong raised his hand to keep the group silent so he could continue talking.
“I hope you realize that this means he’s permanently going to be stuck in here as a ghost.” He paused and turned to face San, sarcasm dripping from his next words. “A round of applause for our genius Choi San, everyone!”
And THEN commotion broke out.
“Man come on, we haven’t had anyone join since Jongho came in and that was 31 years ago!” Wooyoung groaned.
“You’re acting as if this wasn’t your idea, Jung Wooyoung,” San retorted, and that shut him up real fast.
“The poor kid moved in barely a month ago and he’s already dead. Way to go San, now we’re gonna have to live with him for the rest of eternity ,” Yeosang muttered.
It was safe to say that the boys were not excited about having a new addition to their tight-knit family after so long.
None of them hated Mingi, obviously (he wasn’t about to admit it but Yunho lowkey found Mingi cute and he was not complaining about having him around) but it was going to take them a while before they got used to him being a permanent part of their group.
* * * * *
Mingi finally woke up about two hours later.
The boys had expected him to be scared or heartbroken, maybe even to start crying, so it came as quite a surprise to them when the first thing he did after opening his eyes was (unintentionally) make fun of Hongjoong’s choice of fashion.
January 24, 2019
4:02 AM
“Nice sweater but a little out of trend, don’t you think?”
Hongjoong’s eyes snapped open and he almost screeched when he saw Mingi’s face staring inquiringly down at his own. In the corner, the other boys snorted as they held back laughs.
“Oh my fucking god Mingi at least give a warning?”
If Hongjoong still had a heart it would be racing right now due to the scare Mingi gave him (how ironic, Hongjoong could already hear San mumbling).
“Wh— how do you know my name?” Mingi asked, his expression going from playful to confused. He took a look around, staring at the boys as realization hit him— he didn’t know these strange guys who were gathered in his room as if they owned the place. “And… who even are you people— what are you doing in my house?”
“…Oh. Right. Erm… how do I explain this…”
Hongjoong awkwardly proceeded to explain that he and the boys were the ghosts that haunted the house, and that through a “freak accident” Mingi was now also a ghost for eternity (conveniently avoiding describing the freak accident on San’s behalf).
“Um… you’re joking right?”
“I wouldn’t lie to you or anyone in general. I’ve seen enough shit over the past millennia to even think about it, and it’s not in my morals to do so anyway. So… no, sorry, it’s unfortunately true,” Hongjoong replied straightforwardly, wincing internally as he awaited a breakdown from Mingi.
And again, Mingi gave the boys a reaction they weren't expecting— he gaped at Hongjoong for a second before he jumped up and shouted “I’M IMMORTAL NOW FUCK YEAH” and immediately started floating through the walls with a huge, gummy grin slapped on his face.
(At their bewildered faces, he had said in a completely deadpan tone, “I’m a college student, why are you even surprised?”)
The boys found his unexpected reaction surprising… and insanely endearing, though of course that was something they weren’t going to say out loud.
The whole situation only lasted for about 15 seconds though, because Mingi suddenly realized that his arms were… in quite an awkward position and he couldn’t really move them.
Seonghwa took it upon himself as the oldest ghost to explain the slightly annoying issue about ghosts being cursed with looking like they did at their time of death. More reluctantly, he also pointed out that the ghost boys were no exception to this curse.
(For example, Wooyoung’s left hand was pretty much permanently stuck to the back of his neck, Hongjoong was quite embarrassingly wrapped in his blanket, for some strange unknown reason Seonghwa had a dinner plate on his head, and so on. It was always a funny sight to see, even after years of having lived together, but it was pretty annoying to deal with at times).
After Mingi had gotten over the initial embarrassment of being permanently stuck with “Minecraft villager” arms— he was secretly glad he wasn’t the only one in an awkward position— Hongjoong and Seonghwa decided to get him acquainted with the rest of the group. It was best if everyone got nice and comfortable because Mingi wasn’t going anywhere for a LONG time.
It was actually quite easy for Mingi to bond with Yunho, San and Wooyoung since they all shared a common factor of being loud (yet “frustratingly lovable” as quoted by Seonghwa) troublemakers.
He also easily connected with Jongho— he didn’t really know how but they had just clicked immediately.
Yeosang, however, took a little more time to get used to Mingi. There was no tense or hateful air around the two, but he only replied in short sentences and didn’t really talk to him much. Mingi knew he just had to work his way into the boy’s heart (or in this case… ghost heart), which he was a self proclaimed professional at doing.
After he was introduced to all the members, Mingi began to do things around the house with the boys in an attempt to bond further with them and learn his way about as a ghost.
It took him a while to adjust to the new reality of being able to float and not being held back by physical barriers such as walls or doors— on multiple occasions, Hongjoong would watch with mild amusement as Mingi would absentmindedly “walk into” a wall and then scream when he realized that he was inside the wall. It made for some hilarious memories that the group often looked back upon.
As weeks and months passed by, the members (more specifically Yeosang) also discovered that Mingi was extremely stubborn when it came to getting his wishes fulfilled. His biggest wish at the moment was for Yeosang to come around to him, and he did everything in his power to make it happen.
Sometimes he would make villager impressions that would crack a small smile, occasionally even a giggle, from Yeosang. Other times he’d give pointers with video games (Yeosang and Yunho were the only ones who could play video games since they had been in a very much normal position at the time of death. This only made them even more competitive).
Eventually, Yeosang dropped the barrier he’d placed between himself and Mingi, and he had to admit it felt nice to finally consider him as a friend.
Mingi wasn’t aware, but he had become a fresh new ray of sunshine in the member’s afterlives.
* * * * *
Recently, and much to his delight, Yunho had discovered that Mingi was a VERY good prankster and he enjoyed scaring people. According to stories Mingi told about his high school days, he would sometimes play jokes on the teachers that would get him in trouble with the principal. But to Mingi, they were too much fun to not do, so he had eventually made a name for himself as the prankster of the school.
It only made Yunho fall for Mingi more, but that was a story for a different time.
Following this revelation, Yunho had quickly recruited him into a little self-made “subunit” group consisting of himself, San, Wooyoung, Yeosang and Jongho, which they called the 99z (the boys were born and died way before Mingi was born, but since they were the same age as him at the time of death, they took his birth year and made it into their subunit name).
Jongho was, by human age, a year younger than the 99z but he was unofficially a member of the group too due to the practically non-existent age difference.
March 6, 2019
4:39 PM
Even though Hongjoong had banned them after ‘the incident’, the 99z would manage to find ways to pull countless pranks on each other as well as passerbys of the house.
After all, “a ghost has to find some way to entertain themselves, right?” San said to Hongjoong with his irresistible puppy eyes after they got caught preparing a prank that day.
The leader sighed in defeat, a laugh escaping his mouth.
“Fine… but no accidentally murdering someone this time, okay?”
“THANK YOU HYUNG YOU’RE THE BEST!” San shouted, already floating downstairs in excitement to gather the boys for his newest prank.
“These kids… at least they’re bonding with Mingi though,” Seonghwa had said, laughing softly as he floated up behind Hongjoong.
“That’s true… especially Yunho,” Hongjoong replied, a hint of knowing in his voice. “This is just a hunch but I think the two of them have gained feelings for each other…”
“Oh they definitely have,” Seonghwa grinned. “We’ll just see how fate plays out for them— they’re already stuck together for eternity.”
“Heh… reminds me of the day you asked me out.”
March 6, 2019
4:46 PM
“Mingi-ya! There’s a kid outside trying to throw rocks, wanna scare him?” San yelled as floated down the stairs into the living room, motioning for Jongho to get the camera ready.
“BET,” Mingi shouted back as he made his way to the window with Yunho and Wooyoung tagging behind.
Jongho grinned and quickly set up a camera behind them to record the prank before getting into position.
(Hongjoong, having been a tech genius since he was young, had crafted an infrared camera for ghost-seeing. It had followed him into the afterlife and it turned out to be very useful).
The boys split up into two groups— Yunho, Wooyoung and Mingi at one window and Yeosang, Jongho and San at the other. They stuck their faces to the windows and stared down at the kid, who saw nothing but ghostly facial features in the windows of a dark room when he looked up. He screamed and dropped his rocks, racing down the path and out of sight within seconds.
If they had been alive, the ghost boys would have had tears rolling down their faces with how hard they were laughing.
Amidst the laughter, Yunho took a glance at Mingi and he swore if he’d been in his human body he’d be blushing. Laughter suited the boy— truly made him look like a ray of sunshine, as he had secretly been nicknamed in Yunho’s head.
I’m gonna do it, he decided.
March 6, 2019
11:17 PM
Later that night, he pulled Mingi aside and nervously asked him if he could talk in the kitchen for a second.
The boys huddled in the kitchen closet and Yunho took a second to mentally prepare himself.
“Listen, Mingi… uh… there’s really no good way for me to say this but I really like you as more than a friend and you make me really happy and I’m really glad to call you my best friend.. but I would like it if we could make it something more … ” Yunho stumbled over his words and mumbled the last sentence quietly, and he thought he’d ruined his chances because Mingi was silent for a solid 20 seconds… but then a huge smile lit the boy’s face.
“I’m glad the feeling’s mutual, Yunho,” he said softly.
Yunho couldn’t hold back his smile.
No other words were exchanged as he pulled the boy into a side hug— the silence between them spoke volumes, was comfortable, and allowed them to simply enjoy being in each other’s presence. Mingi leaned his head on Yunho’s shoulder and closed his eyes, never wanting the sparkly feeling to end.
Wooyoung found them in the kitchen the next morning— they had accidentally fallen asleep— and had squealed before running off (or in this case… floating away very fast), shouting at San to give him the money he owed.
“BITCHASS YOU BET ON US?!”
Long story short, Yunho and Mingi discovered that the 99z had had a bet on them confessing to each other and all 6 members had apparently been shipping the two ever since Mingi had first arrived. Major embarrassment points for Yunho, who was clearly very bad at hiding his gay panic.
Hongjoong had to laugh as he and Seonghwa watched Yunho chase a screaming Wooyoung (who was clutching the $15 he’d won off the bet in his unstuck hand for dear afterlife) around the house while Mingi hid in embarrassment and the rest of the 99z recorded the scene.
None of them had expected such a change to ever occur, but Mingi’s arrival had done wonders— he was the piece the group had been missing from their afterlives, and now that he had joined, they were finally complete.
They really were just one very loving and chaotic family, and as Hongjoong looked at the 7 of them with a soft smile, he knew he wouldn’t have had it any other way.