Chapter Text
The Supernatural Club room was a disaster. Half-finished posters covered the floor, glitter glue was smeared across the table, and a whiteboard in the corner scribbled with “MEMBERS NEEDED!!!” in bold, uneven letters.
Minji sat cross-legged in the middle of the chaos, a marker in one hand and a crumpled piece of paper in the other, her brows furrowed in concentration.
“Do you think ‘Join Us or We’ll Haunt You’ is too aggressive?” she asked, tilting her head to examine her work from afar.
Across the room, her best friend, Bora, was sprawled on a beanbag, scrolling through her phone. She didn’t even look up.
“Yes. Also, there’s no such thing as being haunted, so it’s false advertising.”
Minji pouted. “But it’s catchy! We need something to grab people’s attention. Who’s going to be interested to join us if our club room is always empty?”
“Why do we even need more members? We’ve been fine with just the two of us,” Bora groaned. “Well, since Seungyeon and the rest graduated, anyway.”
“Because,” Minji said, holding up a finger like she was about to deliver a lecture. “The student council says a club needs at least seven members to be official. And if we don’t hit that number soon, they’re shutting us down.”
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into joining this club in the first place,” Bora buried her face in her hands. “I don’t even like ghosts!”
Minji grinned. “That’s why you’re perfect for the Supernatural Club. You’re our resident scaredy-cat. It adds drama.”
“I’m not a scaredy-cat.” Bora glared at her.
“Sure,” Minji said, smiling. She stood up and stretched, then walked over to the club’s bulletin board. It was covered in photos of their past investigations—most of which had turned out to be either pranks or misunderstandings. Still, she loved the sense of adventure it gave her.
“Look,” she pointed to a photo of the two of them standing in front of a supposedly haunted vending machine. “Remember this? We thought it was cursed because it kept making strange noises, turns out—”
“—It was just a rat. A big, FAT rat.”
Bora shuddered at the memory.
Minji laughed. “See? That’s what makes this club fun. Even when it’s not real, it’s exciting.”
The door to the club room burst open, making Bora yelp and nearly fall out of her beanbag chair. A student council member stood in the doorway, holding a clipboard and looking thoroughly unimpressed.
“Kim Minji? Kim Bora?” the student council member said, glancing down at their notes.
“That’s us,” Minji said, raising her hand like they were in class.
“Just here to remind you that your club is on probation. If you don’t recruit five more members by the end of the month, you’ll be disbanded.”
Bora sighed. “We know, we know. You don’t have to rub it in—” she froze. “ONE MONTH?!”
Bora and Minji stared at each other in shock.
“This…this is rather sudden, isn’t it?” Minji stammered.
“Also,” the student council member rummaged through the stack of papers on her clipboard and handed it to Minji. “The college’s having a club fair this Friday. It’s up to you whether you want to set up a booth or not but…” she looked around the chaos in the room. “I would highly encourage you to do so.”
“A club fair?” Minji’s facial expression immediately perked up as she read the flyer that was just handed over to her. “This is just what we need! We’ll sign up.”
“What’s the name of your club again?” the student council member asked.
“The Supernatural Club.” Minji replied.
“Oh you mean like the American TV show?”
“Nah. We investigate ghosts. And curses. You know, supernatural stuff!” Minji explained enthusiastically while Bora covered her face with her hand in the corner.
The student council member’s smile faded away and she didn’t look too impressed—at all. “...Right.”
“Are you interested in joining?” Minji questioned.
The student council member ignored her, turning to leave. “Uhmmm, not really. Well, good luck,” she said, though it sounded more like mocking than encouragement.
As soon as the door closed, Bora flopped back onto the beanbag chair. “Let’s be real, Minji. We’re doomed. No one’s going to join this club. Who even believes in ghosts anymore?”
“Well, I do, we just haven’t found evidence yet!” Minji insisted.
“Are you still hanging on to that incident in the library?” Bora said. “I told you it was nothing. We went there at midnight like, five times, and there was still nothing.”
About a year ago, Minji and Bora were studying late together for their finals in the college library, when Bora thought she heard something behind a set of locked doors. It sounded like singing, but those doors haven’t been opened in what looks like a decade. Although Bora mostly thought it was because she’s practically slept for a grand total of five hours over three days.
“Stop singing.” Bora warned Minji, who was sitting opposite her.
“What?” Minji looked up from her laptop with a puzzled expression.
“I said stop singing,” Bora repeated. “I can’t fucking concentrate.”
“That’s not me.” Minji said. Now that she’s paid more attention to her surroundings, she’s beginning to hear a faint humming, coming from a few shelves behind.
“Can’t they just stay quiet? This is a library, for God’s sake.” Bora fumed as she got up from her chair, ready to march off to find the perpetrator. She wasn’t about to fail Mathematics over this.
As the both of them arrive at the supposed source of the singing, they were greeted with not one, not two, but zero human beings seated in that area. All there was behind those shelves was a pair of rusty double doors, chained together with thick metal and a hefty lock.
“Sounds like it’s coming from inside,” Minji observed. “But this door looks like it hasn’t been opened in the last decade.”
As Minji stepped forward, the humming immediately stopped. Bora almost jumped in shock.
“What the fuck?” Bora quickly held onto Minji’s upper arm. “What the fuck what the fuck—”
Minji stared at her. “Language.”
”WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” Bora yelled, panicking.
Minji flinched and covered her ears, “Weren’t you the one who said this is a library—”
“We’re hallucinating. It must be the stress.” Bora said, taking deep breaths.
“Maybe… those ghost stories Seungyeon told us about were real after all?” Minji pondered.
“GHOSTS AREN’T REAL!” Bora exclaimed and Minji covered her ears again. “Fuck this, I’m going home.”
Minji caught up to Bora as the other woman packed her belongings as fast as she possibly could.
“Hey! Wait up!” Minji said. “Don’t you find this fascinating?”
Bora didn’t look at her. “Nothing about this is remotely fascinating to me.”
“Sounds like somebody’s scared.” Minji teased.
“I am not—” Bora’s expression softened and she let out a sigh. “Fine, say, do you mind if I crash at your place for tonight? Or maybe a few nights?
She gave Minji her best interpretation of puppy eyes.
Minji giggled. “Of course you can. Besides, I’ve got a great idea I’ve just thought of…”
“What is it?” Bora raised a brow.
“I’m going to start a new club.” Minji said, smiling.
Bora slumped further into her beanbag. Minji sat down next to her, bumping their shoulders together.
“Hey, we can’t give up yet. Five members can’t be that hard to find, right? We just need to make our booth super interesting. Maybe... we can set up an Ouija board or something!”
Bora stared at her. “An Ouija board? That’s your big plan? Where are you going to find one, anyway?”
“Why not? People love spooky stuff like this,” Minji said, grinning. “I'll figure it out.”
Bora sighed and continued scrolling on her phone although, deep down, she knew Minji was right.
They’d been through worse together—Bora has always stuck by Minji’s side and supported her in whatever she wanted to do, whether it was setting up a lemonade stand (they accidentally used salt instead of sugar), trying to start an idol group (they flopped), or joining a beach volleyball tournament (they ended up in last place).
But if anyone could save the Supernatural Club, it was Minji.