the winds picked up, causing rustling of leaves that were strewn on the ground. faint crunching sounded as boots stepped on them. it was freezing and deserted — except for the anxious girl who was making her way to a makeshift tent right at the corner of the cemetery.

frequent gusts of air caused her to shiver and tighten her hold on her coat that wasn't really doing much help in keeping her warm. she wasn't cold because of the winds. it's because of them.

she was surrounded and seriously regretting her life choices in accepting this job.

most of them did not pay attention to soyou but she was silently freaked out by their appearance. the ghosts there literally climbed out of their graves at midnight sharp and soyou's fingers had twitched, itched, to text jeongguk but she knew it was best to leave him alone. so the phone was now lying deep in her back pocket and all she could do was pray.

there had been inside news that grave robbers were visiting that night. so her job scope was about making rounds in the wee hours to make sure there was no one suspicious lurking around. she was told that at 2am, someone would be coming over to take over her shift.

throwing a quick glance at her watch, soyou noted that it was already 1am. just another hour more to go. she could spend her remaining time at the tent where she could feel at least a tad safer than roaming in the darkness with just a mere flashlight.

everything was going well — she avoided eye contact with most translucent figures and tried to be as unnoticeable as possible. keeping her head down, she took careful yet hurried steps towards the tent and was just about to reach it when she felt a presence rushing towards her.

drifting towards her.

out of instinct, soyou glanced to her right to see a raven haired, middle-aged guy extending an arm towards her. his face was so disfigured to the point that she could hardly identify where his eyes were and one side of his pants was just hanging loosely, drifting together with the motion of the breeze. the only remaining leg was clearly burnt. soyou recognized the uniform he was donning.

a victim of a fire incident more than 10 years ago at the myeonghwa factory.

"miss— please— please help—" a low voice rumbled from deep within him. he probably didn't have anyone to talk to for decades.

"shit, shit, shit." soyou quickened her pace and barely avoided his grasp. she wanted to run, but that would grab the attention of many others. cold fingertips brushed the nape of her neck and she nearly screamed bloody murder. they couldn't possess her until she gave the permission.

when her breath became uneven and a throbbing pain was felt in her heart, she knew she was going into panic attack. it rarely happened when she encountered ghosts, but this was in a cemetery where she was surrounded by them and clearly outnumbered. fear washed over her as she nearly tripped over branches, sending her heart into yet another frenzy. sent it beating at a faster speed if it was even possible.

just as she felt a touch on her shoulder, a figure stepped into her path and caused her to bump right into the figure's chest. crying out, the both of them tripped and stumbled, the ghost behind losing his grip on her.

"what the—"

picking herself up from the ground, soyou looked up at the person who spoke. a guy — alive and breathing — stared at her with slightly widened eyes. he was lean and had a somewhat pouty mouth. sharp features were clearly visible under the moonlight and he was clad in casual clothes that were dirtied by the slightly damp mud that they fell on. 

a blue, translucent foot came into peripheral view and soyou let out a short-lived scream before throwing herself on the stranger, the both of them hitting the dirt yet again. his arms reached out instinctively to catch her as she buried her head in his chest.

just then, everything went quiet. no murmurs for help, no freezing gusts of air. soyou raised her head and gave a tentative glance back.

all around her, the ghosts were gone.

clearing of throat caught her attention and she looked back to realize she was lying quite comfortably on the stranger's chest, his back on the ground. flustered, soyou scrambled off him and earned an amused expression in return.

a veil of awkward silence hung over them.

"so," he started. "what's a young girl like you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

"i— uhh," embarrassment washed over her. she was glad it was dark enough to cover the shade of red on her cheeks. "i actually work here."

"... cool job."

"... yeah, i know right."

then, a sudden thought hit her. what if he was the grave robber? but they usually come in a group, right?

"hey, don't look so frightened." he stood up to brush the grass off his jeans. "i'm here to pay respects to my mother. i had to work overtime today so i couldn't make it in time..." regret flashed in his eyes, causing soyou's heart to swell a little.

a smile appeared again on the guy's face. he sure enjoyed smiling.

"i'd better get going. it's pretty late already." he said, gesturing to his motorbike that was parked in the distance. "and i might sound nosy, but... what were you running away from? i would've thought you saw a ghost or something."

i sure did. soyou thought.

instead, she laughed and waved his concern away. "nothing. it was a... a rat. a large one. as large as you."

oh crap.

"it was a simile." soyou quickly covered it up.

the black haired guy opened his mouth in an understanding "ahh" before nodding and angling his body towards the direction of his bike. "it's a weird place and timing to introduce ourselves but it was nice to meet you...?"

"soyou. kim soyou." she gave a small smile.

he smiled again. "hoseok. jung hoseok."