six

After Jihoon fell asleep, Soonyoung decided it was best to leave him alone and he vanished from his apartment. It was still late at night, but the street was still bustling with nightlife. Many were coming from or going to bars or clubs, others were simply making their commute home, just to start it all over again in a few hours. Back when he was alive, Soonyoung pitied the people who lived their lives in an endless loop, but now he would give anything for that as long as he was alive. In the beginning, he thought the whole ghost thing was cool. He thought he could make the best out of it and have fun with it. That lasted until his funeral. When he saw his mother sobbing uncontrollably and that there was nothing he could do to comfort her, he realized exactly what it meant to be a ghost left behind in the living world. The afterlife was lonely, he learned rather quickly. Even though he was dead, he was in pain. He was constantly depressed and the events and relationships of his life weighed on him. He held so much regret. He assumed that was why he couldn't move on.

He walked in the middle of the sidewalk, letting people pass through him, unfazed. He continued to walk in his gloomy state. He didn't notice it but his mood was causing the lights to flicker and one even burst causing bystanders to exclaim in surprise. He didn't care. He continued walking until he arrived at the funeral hall. During his year of being dead, he met many other ghosts in the funeral hall. He learned funeral halls were considered to be common grounds. It was a place full of life and death. Many people passed through, but humans were too focused on their grief to recognize all the spirits around them, making it the perfect place for ghosts to hang out.

Soonyoung had even managed to make a few friends in the afterlife. He met Lee Chan a couple of hours after his funeral. He wasn't sure of what to do or where to go, still shaken up from seeing his parents grieve. That was when Chan approached him. He had been dead for over two years at that time but was careful to never reveal how he died. Soonyoung assumed it had to be tragic as Chan couldn't have been older than eighteen or nineteen. The day they met, Chan sat with Soonyoung and explained the middle ground theory and his experiences in being a ghost. He also introduced Soonyoung to the others.

Choi Seungcheol was another one of his afterlife friends. He was a bit older than Soonyoung, but not by much. He said he died during a misunderstanding as he was trying to save someone. Soonyoung had been confused as to why the older was a ghost. His last act was heroic. He should have moved straight on, but like Soonyoung, something was holding him back. The only difference was, he didn't seem to want to figure it out. The others suggested he should go see Jihoon but he would always shake his head and change the topic.

Gyeongsuk was another friend of his. When he was alive, he wouldn't have thought to be friends with an elderly woman, but in the afterlife, he learned he couldn't be too picky. Besides, Gyeongsuk was a sweet old woman with a tragic story. She died in the nineties at seventy-one, but it wasn't due to natural causes. She had been brutally murdered. Her case had never been solved, leaving her to roam until she could get justice. Despite her tragic story and circumstances, she kept a happy disposition and took care of the three of them as if they were her own grandsons. Soonyoung found himself lucky that he wasn't wondering about the afterlife alone. The moment he entered the funeral hall, Gyeongsuk warmly greeted him.

"Soonyoung! You're finally back."

Even though he was still in a bad mood, he gave the elderly ghost a bright smile, not wanting to worry her. He sat down at the table next to Chan and looked around. There were multiple people in the hall today meaning there was an ongoing funeral. He glanced out the window to see the sun shining high in the sky. He had spent too long walking around outside that time passed him by too quickly again. He hated not having any concept of time. He looked over at Chan.

"Who is it today?" He asked.

They had seen plenty of funerals and often tried to speculate who it was and what happened to them. They would also wait to see if another ghost would be joining their group.

"A university student. He was involved in a hit and run." Chan informed. "Seems messy."

Gyeongsuk pitifully shook her head. "It's always a shame when they're young."

Knowing that if she continued, she would only make herself upset, Seungcheol changed the subject. He looked at Soonyoung.

"So, did you meet with that Jihoon guy?"

Soonyoung nodded. "Yeah. It was difficult to get him to notice and talk to me at first, but I finally got him to help me." He explained.

"What did you do, annoy him until he talked to you?" Chan questioned jokingly.

Soonyoung shrugged unashamedly. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Chan let out a tiny laugh. "Figures."

Seungcheol rolled his eyes fondly. "Anyway, have you made any progress?"

"Kinda. He thinks I may have been murdered."

Chan frowned. "I thought you had an asthma attack."

"I did. That's why I think he's wrong. In my opinion, I think I'm stuck here because I have too many regrets."

Gyeongsuk looked at him doubtingly. "I don't think that's the case. Remember that one young man, Mingyu? He kept saying he had so many regrets, but he still moved on." She pointed out. "I've been a spirit for many years and for the last ten years or so, I have heard a lot of good things about this Jihoon. I think you should trust him." She advised.

Soonyoung went to disagree with her, but Chan nudged him to get his attention. "There he is. There's the new ghost. He's coming over here."

Gyeongsuk smiled brightly at the new ghost. "Hello dear. What's your name?"

Soonyoung turned to see what the newcomer looked like but was surprised to be met with a familiar face. He gasped.

"Seokmin?"

The new ghost looked at Soonyoung in confusion, but there was no denying it. This ghost was his childhood friend, Lee Seokmin. The other blinked a couple of times as he stared at Soonyoung. The others at the table had gone quiet as they watched the scene unfold in front of them. Soonyoung stood and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.

"Seokmin, do you remember me?"

The ghost slowly nodded. "Soonyoung."

Soonyoung was relieved to have someone recognize him and he focused all of his energy to the center and engulfed his friend in a hug. Even though he hated the fact that one of his dear friends was dead, he was happy to have a familiar face in the afterlife. He pulled away from the hug, still maintaining eye contact.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" He asked carefully. He knew it was a long shot, but it was still worth trying.

Seokmin seemed to be deep in thought but slowly shook his head. Soonyoung sighed, but that was the answer he had been expecting. When someone died too suddenly, they tended not to remember much unless it was triggered by something major. Most of the time, it took years in the afterlife for a spirit to remember, if they did at all.

"You were killed in a hit and run." He offered helpfully. "Do you remember anything before that?"

Again, Seokmin shook his head so Soonyoung let it go. There wasn't much he could do except keep an eye on his friend and try to guide him through the afterlife. The table remained quiet as they joined them, but Seokmin kept looking around with teary eyes. Soonyoung watched him sadly. He knew how hard it could be to watch your own funeral. He remembered how hard it was to sit through his own. After going away to university,  Soonyoung had been out of contact with his parents. He tried to call them every weekend, but of course, life became busy and most of the time, Soonyoung just wanted to go out. When he saw his father holding his mother while she sobbed, the guilt fully set in for him. He sat by his parents the entire time. As he remained in the funeral hall, so did the guilt.

To comfort him, Soonyoung placed his hand on top of Seokmin's. He wanted him to know that he wasn't alone. No one should have to experience that afterlife alone, especially when you're one of the ones left behind.

"I can't believe it's over," Seokmin mumbled in disbelief. "My whole life is just gone." He turned to Soonyoung. "It isn't fair."

Soonyoung looked at him sadly. He knew that feeling too well. Seokmin was right. It wasn't fair how quickly their lives went. It was worse for him due to his being wrongfully taken from him.

"I know, but I promise, we will get justice. I won't let you suffer." He promised.

Seokmin frowned. "How? We're dead. It's not like we can just run to the police and tell them who it was."

That was when a lightbulb went off in Soonyoung's head. "We may not be able to, but I know someone who can."