nine

"I can't believe you, Soonyoung!" Seungcheol exclaimed loudly in the empty funeral hall.

After coming up with his new plan and having Jihoon approve it, he went straight to the funeral hall, excited to share the plan with his friends. What he didn't expect was to be greeted with anger, mostly in the form of Choi Seungcheol. Soonyoung felt disappointed and frustrated. He thought they'd be excited to finally have help to cross over. He knew for a fact that staying on Earth too long was harmful and took a toll.

"Can't believe what? That I tried to help?" Soonyoung retaliated, not appreciating the attitude he was receiving.

Seungcheol glared at him. "We're the ones who referred you to the guy. Obviously, if we had wanted his help, we would have gone to him ourselves." He pointed out.

Soonyoung sighed but refused to back down. He'd come too far. "Please, Hyung, it's important. Helping you guys also helps me."

Unfortunately, as Soonyoung was persistent, Seungcheol was stubborn. He held his ground. "I'm sorry, Soonyoung, I don't want to be a part of this." He stated firmly.

Soonyoung looked over at Chan for his reply. However, the younger immediately shook his head and averted his eyes. His last hope was Gyeongsuk. He turned to the elderly ghost who gave him a tight smile. He could tell that she was hesitant, but Soonyoung wouldn't lose hope yet.

"Please. You could finally get justice. Don't you want that?" He tried. "Aren't you tired?"

Gyeongsuk's smile turned soft, but there was a glint of sadness in her eyes. "I am." She admitted. "I'm very tired, but it's been over twenty years, nearly thirty. It's too late for me and I've accepted that. Just focus on yourself, Soonyoung. That's enough for me."

Soonyoung shook his head. "It's not impossible. We can always try. Jihoon is very thorough and talented. I've seen it with my own eyes. He can definitely help you. Please, at least try before you completely give up. "

Gyeongsuk stared at him for a long while before sighing. "I guess we could always try. It's better than doing nothing."

"Thank you, Gyeongsuk!" Soonyoung cheered. If he would have had the energy, he would have hugged her. He was happy to have one person who still believed and trusted him in the afterlife.

"Grab my hand and I'll take you to Jihoon's." He told her as he held out his hand.

Careful and skeptical, the elderly ghost placed her hand in Soonyoung's. He placed all of his focus on getting them to Jihoon's. Once at his front door, Soonyoung hesitated to knock. What if Wonwoo was still there? He didn't want to embarrass Jihoon, but he had already brought Gyeongsuk this far and she was the only one willing to go. He didn't want to ruin that either. So, without hesitation, he knocked. Within minutes, the door opened and Jihoon's eyes lit up seeing Soonyoung.

"Sorry about Wonwoo. I didn't know he'd do that." He apologized as he scanned the ghost over. "Are you okay?"

Soonyoung was taken aback by Jihoon's concern but could admit that his metophorical heart started to beat a bit faster. He quickly recovered and smiled.

"I'm okay. It didn't hurt." He reassured. "This is my friend, Gyeongsuk. She agreed to let us help her." He introduced, changing the subject.

Jihoon looked back and forth between the two ghosts. "Friend?" He questioned.

Soonyoung shrugged. "Long story."

Jihoon dropped it and invited both of the spirits in. He headed straight for his laptop, Soonyoung close behind. Gyeongsuk lagged behind, taking in everything around her. Soonyoung noticed her and watched with a sad smile. He forgot she had died nearly thirty years ago. She had spent all of her afterlife in the funeral hall. She didn't know how the world had changed around her.

"Excuse me," Jihoon said, suddenly sounding timid.

Gyeonsuk tore her eyes from Jihoon's flat-screen TV to look at him.

"Yes?"

"What's your name?"

"Shin Gyeongsuk. If it helps, I died in 1996." She added.

Jihoon nodded and resumed typing. A few minutes later, he stopped and faced the ghosts.

"I didn't find too much, but something was interesting." He announced. "The week after they closed Gyeongsuk's case as cold, the officer in charge resigned. He seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth after that."

"Why would he do that?" Soonyoung asked, finding it both interesting and suspicious.

"That's what I was wondering, so I did some more digging." Jihoon continued. "I found that his younger brother was in and out of trouble before he disappeared around the same time."

Gyeonsuk leaned in closer to get a good look at the screen and her eyes widened. "I know him!" She exclaimed.

The other two turned in surprise. "You do?" They asked simultaneously.

The elderly ghost nodded. "He was the young man who used to deliver food to the elderly residents in my neighborhood, myself included. I-" She stopped herself mid-sentence, seeming to recall something. She then gasped softly.

"I remember now. It was late at night. My family had just left after having their weekly dinner with me. I was getting ready for bed when I heard a knock on the door. I was curious as to why he was there, but before I could say anything, he attacked me. He was the one who killed me, I'm sure of it."

Jihoon nodded with a pained look of sympathy. "Well, at least we have that figured out, but he's been able to avoid the law this long. I have no idea how we could catch him. We don't have any evidence and it's not like he'd willingly confess."

"We could get him to confess," Soonyoung said suddenly. "Could you track him down?"

"I mean it'll take me a while, but yeah."

"Do that."

"But-"

Soonyoung cut him off. "You keep forgetting that we're ghosts, We can go wherever we want." He pointed out. He looked at both of them. "We'll get this bastard to confess." He declared with a devilish smile.

*

"Soonyoung, I don't have a good feeling about this," Gyeongsuk confessed as they approached the killer's door.

Soonyoung didn't like where this was leading. "Why?"

The elderly ghost seemed to be at a loss for words. "It feels...wrong." She finally got out.

Soonyoung gave the soft-hearted ghost a pointed look. "This man murdered you and is preventing you from moving on. That's wrong. What we're doing is justice."

She still looked unsure. "Isn't there another way to do it?" She tried.

"It's not like we can go to the police. They can't see or hear us. If we sent Jihoon, he would get nowhere either. There's no evidence. We have to get this bastard to confess. This is our only chance and choice, okay?" He explained softly.

Gyeongsuk let out a long sigh before nodding. "Okay."

Soonyoung offered the elderly ghost a small smile. He knew it was hard and it was taking a toll on her, but it was now or never. They had to catch the killer and give her peace and justice.

"So, what do we do?" Gyeongsuk asked after some silence.

"We have to try and get him to go to the police and confess no matter what. We'll have to haunt him a bit to make him nervous enough to confess."

"I don't know how to haunt someone," Gyeonsuk confessed.

Soonyoung grinned. "That's okay. That's what I'm here for. I'll teach you."

Gyeongsuk watched as Soonyoung picked up a discarded can from the street and placed it in front of them. He briefly glanced over at the older ghost.

"Watch carefully." He told her.

He focused on the can once more and within seconds, he sent it flying across the road, scaring a person who had been walking in their direction. The stranger glanced at the can and then around the area before running off in the opposite direction. Soonyoung turned back with a sheepish grin.

"Oops." With a shrug, he moved on. "Your turn!"

He set up the can between them but noticed Gyeonsuk wasn't making any motion to come closer. He looked up at her.

"What is it?"

It's strange, I've been a ghost for decades, and I've seen many spirits pass through the funeral hall, but none of them have ever exhibited as much power as you do. Most ghosts spend an eternity just trying to pick up a single object but you do it easily as if you were still alive or something. You can teleport at will and accurately. You're a very powerful spirit." She pointed out.

Soonyoung's eyes drifted to the can. He felt embarrassed all of a sudden. It was as if he'd been called out doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"What are you trying to say?" He mumbled.

"That's just it, I'm not sure, but aren't you the least bit curious as to why you can do the things you do?"

Soonyoung tried to shrug it off. "Not really, I just assume it comes with the ghost territory. It's a one-plus-one deal. Now, come on, we need to get this right if we're going to haunt this bastard."

Gyeongusk dropped the subject and listened closely as Soonyoung tried to explain to her how to move objects and manipulate the space around her. After a while, she was able to move small objects and even send some of them flying.

Soonyoung clapped gleefully. "That's great! I think we're ready, but we should have a plan ready before we go in."

Gyeongsuk nodded in agreement. "I agree."

Soonyoung thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Okay, so you can go in first and do all the small stuff you can do in front of him. Move the curtains, turn off the television, throw some things around, stuff like that. While you distract him, I'll work on the bigger stuff." He explained.

Gyeongsuk eyed him skeptically. "What kind of stuff?"

Soonyoung only smirked. "You'll see."

Once inside, Gyeongsuk got to work on the small stuff, as instructed. She had already located the killer, as the place was painfully small. He was in the square of a living room, half asleep in front of the television. The elderly ghost stopped and stared at him for a long moment. It was hard to believe he was the same kind young man she once knew. Of course, he was no longer a young man. Time and age had caught up with him and didn't treat him kindly. He had multiple wrinkles and age spots. Guessing by the multiple bottles and cans littering the floor, he was also an alcoholic. Between the horrid condition of the apartment and his body, Gyeongsuk was somewhat satisfied to see karma had played its part, but it still wasn't enough. Someone she had cared for, trusted, and even fed on multiple occasions, killed her without remorse or true punishment. He was living as if nothing ever happened. Her disappointment turned into rage. Her life had been taken unfairly from her and for what? She didn't even know why and most likely never would.

With her growing anger, she moved toward the window and aggressively shook the curtain, gaining the killer's attention. He glanced at the window, but when a light breeze blew in, he shrugged and turned back to the television. Gyeongsuk huffed and moved away from the window. The television was to be her next target. Converting her anger into energy, she was able to turn it off with just a touch. Now alert, the killer reached for the remote and turned it back on. Gyeongsuk repeated her process. The killer took it out on the remote and threw it across the room.

"Piece of shit." He mumbled.

Gyeongsuk calmly walked over picked up the discarded remote and threw it, hitting the killer right in the head. He instantly stood and looked around fearfully.

"Who's there?" He asked waving his arms around like a madman. "Show yourself!"

"Gyeongsuk!" Soonyoung called from the other end of the apartment. "Try to see if you can get him to come this way."

"Okay!" The elderly ghost picked up an empty beer bottle and threw it down the hall. Like a dog playing fetch, he rushed down the hall, much to her amusement.

"Is he coming?" Soonyoung asked.

"I think so. Make a noise so he'll investigate." She advised.

"Got it."

Seconds later, a loud crash was heard and the killer dropped the bottle and rushed into the bathroom. Curious as to what Soonyoung set up, Gyeongsuk headed to the bathroom as well. On the mirror, written in bright red lipstick, was the word murderer written over and over again. The killer stared at the mirror in horror. He tried to turn around, but more red words greeted him from the shower wall. Instead of murderer, these said confess. The killer let out a yell and ran out of the bathroom frantically. Gyeongsuk looked over at Soonyoung who was smiling proudly.

"Just like being in a horror movie." He boasted. "This is what being a ghost is all about."

Gyeongsuk took in the room. "You did all of this?"

Soonyoung smiled brightly. "Yep!" He lifted a tube of lipstick. "Lucky for us, his girlfriend is a fan of ruby red."

Shouting coming from the kitchen garnered their attention. Soonyoung looked back at the elderly ghost. "Seems like we have more work to do."

The ghosts left the bathroom and found the killer in the kitchen waving a knife around frantically.

"Show yourself!" He ordered. "This isn't funny."

Soonyoung let out a laugh as he nudged Gyeongsuk. "It kinda is."

He grabbed a nearby plate and threw it at the killer. He managed to dodge but had cut his arm with the knife in the process. Soonyoung sighed and snatched the knife from his grasp. Of course, the killer started to freak out even more and started to shake as Soonyoung twirled the knife around. The killer fell to his knees and put his hands together, rubbing them at a rapid pace.

"I'll confess!" He yelled. "I'll confess!"

He struggled to stand, but as soon as his feet hit the floor, he ran out of the door, leaving it wide open behind him. Soonyoung turned to his companion.

"We better follow him so he doesn't chicken out or get himself killed."

With that, the ghosts disappeared from the apartment and into the dark of the night. It took a long hour, but the killer was finally arrested after rushing into the police station and sputtering about killing someone and a ghost chasing him. It was a mess, but the police finally pieced it together and after a long interrogation, he was finally handcuffed and placed behind bars. When Gyeongsuk and Soonyoung left the station, it was early dawn. The sun was starting to rise and a sense of peace blanketed them. Soonyoung looked over and saw the softest smile gracing the elderly ghost's face.

"It's finally over," She whispered.

"It is." He confirmed. "How do you feel?"

"Light. I never thought this would happen. I watched so many of my friends and loved ones move on while I had to stay behind. Now that it's over, it feels so strange but so amazing.

Before Soonyoung could reply, a bright light shined over them. The sun was on its slow ascension in the sky meaning this light was something different. It was for Gyeongsuk. She looked back at him in excitement.

"It's real. I never thought I'd see it, but it's here and it's all because of you. Thank you."

Tears began to well in Soonyoung's eyes. He still wasn't sure if he was capable of tears, but he had them falling rapidly down his cheeks, another thing to add to his ghost roster.

"Thank you for taking care of me." He sniffed. "I'm going to miss you."

Gyeongsuk moved closer and to both of their surprise, she placed a firm hand on his cheek. Soonyoung could feel the warmth of her skin and he started to cry harder. He never thought he'd feel anything human-like again.

"I'm going to miss you too." She said softly. "Make sure to help Seungcheol and Chan. They're stubborn, but I know they want help as well. Don't give up on them, but most importantly, don't give up on yourself."

Soonyoung could only nod as he started to sob. Gyeongsuk gave a small wave before disappearing into the light. When it faded, Soonyoung was left with the dim blue tint of the early dawn. He collapsed to the ground as he cried harder. He wanted this. He wanted Gyeongsuk to move on, but he hadn't anticipated how much it would hurt. She had been the closest thing he had to family in the afterlife. She had taken care of him, no questions asked. She made him feel less alone in the afterlife. Now that she was gone. He could start to feel the weight of her absence, and he cried harder than he ever had before.