Chapter Text
Ghosts aren’t real. They simply aren’t.
Daisuke kept repeating those words in his mind despite running around the house screaming “Ghosts! Ghosts! Mom! Dad! Help!” with various translucent men flying after him. Much to Daisuke’s dismay, no one came or responded and he had only then realized that his parents left for work. He had woken up late this morning and his parents left him while he was asleep. Ghosts greeted him instead.
Cursing himself, Daisuke turned a corner to go downstairs and get out of the house. A baseball bat flew through and missed Daisuke by a hair, the boy ducking just in time. He flinched at the loud sound the bat made when colliding the wall and continued running downstairs.
“Jeongwoo! You can’t just throw baseball bats at human beings!”
“That was all I had!”
Daisuke didn’t hear the bickering behind him, only focused on the door almost in reach. When there were only a couple stairs left, he leaped forward, adrenaline overcoming his worry about the height. Suddenly, a floating ribbon appeared in front of him like a snake about to wrap its prey. The ribbon pulled on Daisuke’s chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him from the sudden force and caused him to roll down the stairs. Before he could regain his senses, he heard a voice yell “blanket attack!” and a blanket immediately flew over him, blocking his vision. He felt arms tightly wrapping around him.
“Finally got him!” The man from who he assumed was manhandling him yelled, exasperated. Though, his relief didn’t last long. “Gosh, teenagers are really fast– Oof! Ow, ow, ow! Help! He’s assaulting–ME! HE BIT ME!”
“YOU'RE GETTING ASSULTED?” Daisuke screamed as he continued struggling and snapping at whatever he could. Since he was able to feel the man wrestling with him outside the blanket, maybe ghosts weren’t real. Daisuke was grateful he had just been imagining the men as ghosts. But it didn’t change the fact he was getting kidnapped right now.
“The kid’s not wrong.”
“Woongki, you’re the only one that can touch the blanket so we can’t really help.”
“The next ghost should choose a camera.”
“All the camera would capture is the blanket and Daisuke.”
“Y’ALL ARE USELESS AND RUDE!”
“I’ve got you hyung!”
Daisuke felt the ribbon around him moving then wrapping around his hands, the snake now finally trapping its victim. This made him punch and kick even harder which earned another yelp from the man. But not the man who said he would help. In fact, he can’t even feel or see the hands on the ribbon. Was he dealing with a necromancer and ghost? Daisuke didn’t have a chance, did he? Tears started streaming from his face as Daisuke struggled against the two, his hopelessness finally apparent with the waning adrenaline. Maybe if he cried hard enough, the kidnappers would take pity on him and let him go.
“I’m so sorry,” The ribbon wielder whispered while tightening the ribbon. Daisuke didn’t even know how someone can apologize while kidnapping, but he didn’t know ghosts kidnapped people either.
Daisuke was hoisted with the blanket still around him. His only way of fighting was wiggling his torso and swinging his tied feet. He didn’t feel the casual swaying of walking as he moved, or what he felt glided, through the hallway. Was the blanket user a ghost? Daisuke didn’t know anymore. His struggle became weaker as it was increasingly obvious he won’t be able to escape.
After a few seconds, Daisuke was, surprisingly, gently put on a chair. The blanket was pulled off to reveal that Daisuke was back in his room. In front of him were definitely ghosts.
The ghost holding the blanket gasped when he saw Daisuke’s tear stained face. “Noo. No, don’t cry. I mean sure, you just got, like, kidnapped. But look!” The ghost gestured around him. “You weren’t because we only took you to your room.”
“How the hell is that supposed to comfort him?”
“Shush,” the ghost snapped, annoyed at the interruption. “We aren’t trying to hurt you, okay? It’s just… you were kind of about to reveal to everyone that we existed, and you were super slippery, so we had to take drastic measures.”
“You covered m-me in a blanket and-and tied me up,” Daisuke whispered, exaggerating his sniffles. The ghost obviously felt bad so maybe Daisuke’s crying strategy will work.
“Again, drastic measures.” The ghost responded as optimistic as he could, as if there was anything optimistic about this. “How ‘bout we introduce ourselves. I’m sure when you know us and our names, you’ll be less frightened. I’m Cha Woongki.” Woongki looked at the other ghosts to continue.
“I’m JL.” The ghost sincerely clasped his hands together. “I’m really sorry about tying you up, but Woongki genuinely was getting hurt.” Woongki tightly hugged himself in response to those words.
“That’s why you’re my favorite,” the ghost exclaimed, leaning towards JL. He then glared at two others. “Unlike some people.”
One of the ghosts had a hand on his hip and rolled his eyes, but Daisuke could see a small curve on his lips. “I can’t even touch anything!” he whined dramatically. “And the camera really would just capture Daisuke fighting a blanket.” The ghost then looked at Daisuke calming down from Woongki’s quipping and smiled. “I’m Zhang Shuaibo. Hope you’ll get used to our company. I promise we’re friendly.”
“Used to?”
“We’ll be haunting you for a while,” JL explained. He looked at another ghost for him to explain more.
“Steven Kim,” the other ghost said. It had only been two words, but Daisuke felt how every ghost looked at him when he started speaking. While the ghosts teased and joked with each other, it was clear that they respected this man’s words. “You have a problem that we’re supposed to help fix.” He paused, structuring his next words. “The problem is… you might become a ghost in the future. And we want to prevent that.”
“WHAT?”
“Yeah, so you might as well get used to us since there’s a chance you’ll be stuck with us forever,” another chimed in.
“Wait, wait, wait. Stop. What do you mean I’ll become a ghost?”
“It’s exactly what it means,” he responded.
“Hey, hey, hey! Introduce yourself first before you overwhelm the poor boy,” Woongki exclaimed as he rushed in front of the ghost. “It’s rude to infodump to those who don’t know you.”
The ghost pointed at himself and smiled. “Seo Jeongwoo.” Honestly, Daisuke could care less about names now that he was told he would become a ghost. He’d already forgotten half of them. Daisuke looked at the last ghost, trying to quickly finish up the introductions.
“I’m Park Juwon. Nice to meet you,” the ghost said while quickly waving, probably already noticing Daisuke’s impatience.
“We have two other ghosts who were watching the vicinity. We had to make sure no one was coming,” Steven said casually, as if that didn’t sound threatening at all. JL muttered a quick but bright “I’ll get them,” and flew straight up. Daisuke watched in amazement, confusion and some left over fear as he watched the ghost phase through the ceiling. Despite everything, he still couldn’t believe he was talking to ghosts. “But we can tell you the whole story, unless you want to take a break and absorb everything. I get it can be pretty over whelming.”
Daisuke pondered about whether he should actually listen to the ghosts. The ghosts seemed friendly. They clearly cared about Daisuke’s health to apologize and consider his feelings about the whole situation. It was hard to imagine these actions as fake too. The ghosts seemed too whimsy to lie about their kindness. And all of their moods have already put Daisuke at ease, which surprised him. After all, he had been screaming and fighting for his life just moments before. He had even forgotten he was still tied up. Which he should probably fix.
“Sorry, but… uh,” Daisuke lifted his tied hands and feet. “Can you?”
Steven’s mouth straightened and raised his browse. “Oh shoot, I totally forgot. JL, can you-” He looked around, just then remembering JL offering to get the other ghosts seconds before. “Crap.” Steven sucked in a deep breath and sighed. “Sorry, none of us can untie you… Except JL.”
“...That makes no sense.”
Steven put a hand on his forehead, muttering something about a hundred years and introductions being hard. It was only then Daisuke realized that the ghosts’ words probably were true. They just acted so… human. Had all these ghosts been like Daisuke? He looked around him and imagined the ghosts when they were alive, seeing a ghost one day and panicking. They all looked older than Daisuke, but they were still all young. But if they all became ghosts at that age, then…
“Am I going to die soon?”
The others tensed. Their hesitation lasted almost less than a second, but Daisuke’s heart quickly paced up within the interval. Steven jumped in to prevent the silence from stretching longer. “Yes… You are.” Daisuke gawked at the short hard truth. Maybe he should have been satisfied with the silence. Hearing the truth out loud only worsened his fear. And seeing pity on everyone’s face doubled it.
“But,” Woongki continued, walking forward and kneeling down to be eye level with Daisuke. He put his blanket over Daisuke’s tied hands and squeezed it. There was no warmth, no life above the cloth, but Woongki’s determined face had Daisuke forgetting he was a ghost, “That’s why we’re here. We aren’t going to let you die, okay?” He shook Daisuke’s hands a few times as he continued talking. “In fact, we’re gonna make sure you’re still smiling and happy, not worrying about any upcoming death because we’ll protect you that well.” He shook harder. “And you’re going to grow up being like, psshh, I was worried about a death that didn’t even happen because I’ve got these awesome ghosts protecting me? What an idiot! You’re going to-”
“Yeah, yeah I think Daisuke gets it,” Juwon interrupted, his hands uselessly swinging at Woongki’s faded shoulder. Woongki jerked back to stop Juwon, which Daisuke thought was pointless because, again, Woongki’s shoulder phased through Juwon’s hands.
“No! He needs to get it!”
“No, it’s okay, I get it,” Daisuke lied.
“Oh really? Okay.”
Gosh, was Daisuke going to have to deal with this until he managed to avoid whatever his death was? Unless, he actually does die.
“Are you okay with us just telling you everything when tied up?” Shuaibo asked, reminding the boy of Steven’s earlier question.
“Well, I already found out I might die. I don’t see how it can get any worse.”
The ghosts looked at each other. Daisuke watched between them as a heavy silence grew between silent glances. Suddenly, they all nodded and looked at Steven.
“Steven, you tell him,” they all said in unison. Steven flinched at the sudden attention.
“What!?”
“You’re the leader,” Jeongwoo pointed out.
“And super smart,” Woongki added.
“And strong,” Shuaibo continued.
“Yeah, he told us that when he was alive he-”
“EVERYONE SHUT UP,” Juwon screamed. “Let Steven-hyung speak.”
Steven, who had become shy at the other’s words but clearly smiling, quickly tried to compose himself. However, he only opened his mouth, no words coming out. It was pretty obvious the ghosts’ teasing were slowing down his thoughts. Maybe Daisuke was imagining the ghosts’ respect for him. Sure, he was a leader, but now, he looked like he had as much authority as Daisuke’s teachers when he was in grade school. Steven closed his mouth and then restarted.
“Uh. Yeah. It’s like we said, you’ll become a ghost if you die. And you are sort of destined to die soon. Um. So we’ll help and try to protect you. From danger.” Steven clamped his mouth shut when he finished.
“That’s it? I already knew all of that.”
“He’s been a ghost for over a hundred years by the way.”
Steven coughed and took a deep breath.
“Okay. So I can tell you some of our capabilities. We can all touch one object. Woongki can touch that blanket. JL has his ribbon. Jeonwoo his bat. And Juwon has a hair pin if you ever want to break into anywhere.”
What?
“And Shuaibo and I can’t really touch anything. I can’t because we only found out how to make ghosts connected to objects after me. Shuaibo can’t because… uh…”
“Because I was a ghost before we found out too,” Shuaibo finished. He shot a glare at Steven, who slowly nodded. Daisuke decided to ignore that for now.
The ghosts looked at Daisuke for any questions. Daisuke studied each of the ghosts and their objects. Woongki had picked up his blanket to give Daisuke some space, the bat that nearly killed him was set against the wall near the door, and he really hoped JL would come back quickly to get his ribbon. How did everyone even get those objects in his house? Those objects are physical. They can’t phase through walls. A small glint in the corner of Daisuke’s eyes made him turn towards the drawer. On top of it was a thin silver bobby pin. Right. They lock picked the door, didn’t they?
“So, am I gonna have to choose an item too? Just in case… you know,” Daisuke asked. To think he would have to still prepare for his death even if the ghosts could help him in the end. He had to resist a shudder to prevent the ghosts from worrying again.
“Yes, but not right away,” Steven answered. “We always want to give you time to choose. You won’t want to be stuck with an item you find useless forever as a ghost.” Steven gave a sympathetic smile, but Daisuke could swear he saw sadness too. He bet Steven would rather have an item he hated than nothing at all for over a hundred years. Shuaibo’s expression was also melancholic. His eyes were lowered towards the ground, hands clamped together. A thought rose in the back of Daisuke’s mind as their expressions sunk in. He wanted to relieve them from those pained faces. If they were helping him, maybe he can do the same.
Daisuke quickly shook the thought away. No, there was nothing Daisuke could do, and involving himself further could just lead to his death, which he was certain the ghosts wouldn’t want. The best Daisuke could do is not pry in their personal troubles.
“Then, at what point should I start choosing? What if I die early?”
“That won’t be a problem. We know when you’re about to die, which is in about 4 months.”
Four months.
It was weird. Daisuke knew he had been acting surprisingly calm despite knowing he could die soon. Maybe it was because he knew that everyone died eventually, why would Daisuke be different? Or maybe not having a set time made it seem like his death just won’t happen. But the date, the deadline, just set the reality in his mind. It was only then had Daisuke thought about his death.
Four months.
Daisuke tried his best to hold back the new tears coming out. He really did. The first tears, now dry, were from his fear from getting kidnapped, yes, but he had utilized them to gain pity. Now, he just felt vulnerable, crying to ghosts he barely knew, who just dropped information that shattered his universe. Daisuke shut his eyes and reached up to wipe away his tears, but the ribbons stopped him. Why did JL out of all the ghosts have to leave? Now, he’s stuck in these stupid ribbons that felt like they keep getting tighter and tighter, taut as the strings of fate leading to his death.
Four months.
It felt too early. During winter break, Daisuke would be freshly 16(would he even reach 16?) before dying. He could be blowing out his candles, his birthday wish being to live instead of getting a new computer, a new pet, having success in the next school year, things kids his age should be wishing. Anything that shouldn’t be as normal as living. And when school starts again Daisuke would be announced as dead. Classmates would mourn him, but even worse would be the repeated phrase, ‘he died so young.’ And Daisuke would see all of it as a ghost. He’d see his classmates tears and his parents placing flowers on his grave whose grey stone lied a picture of Daisuke, skin full of colors and a bright smile painted on his face. He’d be reminded that he did die young as he watch all of them move on with their activities and friends and lives. He’d see all of it under the warming spring season but not able to feel it because he’d be dead.
At the same time, it felt too late. Four months to panic. For four months, he’d be surrounded by ghosts reminding him of his fate. For four months, he would be imagining how his death plays out. How would he focus on anything? How would he eat, play games, or sleep? How will he talk to family and friends without wondering how they would react to his death? How would he handle school? He can’t handle the stress of studying and tests, added with his upcoming doom. What was even the point of school if he was going to have no future? Daisuke wanted to get this over with, for his impending death to happen right away and skip the accumulating dread, alive or as a ghost.
The tight squeeze of a blanket brought Daisuke out of his suffocating thoughts.
Daisuke first realized that his hand was grasping at a soft cotton. Woongki’s blanket? Strange, he didn’t remember being able to that because of the ribbon confining him. But when Daisuke opened his eyes and looked down, the ribbon was out of sight. When he raised his head back up, he felt something similar to a hand cupping the back of his head like a helmet shielding him from the rest of the world, of whatever he would have to go through.
Around Daisuke were the ghosts clinging on him like the ribbon had, but Daisuke didn’t feel trapped. They faded through him, yet he knew they were all trying to give a hugging gesture by embracing themselves instead.
There was something about the hugs that sparked warmth inside Daisuke’s heaving chest.
There was something about the blanket and hand that grounded Daisuke from his unending thoughts.
There was something about the ghosts that despite being kidnapped, tied up, and told that he was about to die by the them,
Daisuke wished for the first time that they were alive to truly feel their warmth on his skin.