jeon jeongguk was bored.

with legs crossed and propped up on the bench, he took a large bite out of his chocolate muffin and washed it down with a carton of milk that he had bought from a nearby convenience store. keeping his eyes on the library entrance, he made sure not to miss anyone entering or leaving the building. 

with much difficulty, he had managed to coax soyou into telling him where she was — the library near the seoul hospital. so there he was, literally camping to witness her leave the library. 

jeongguk didn't know why he was doing it. curiosity? maybe. the thought of seeing her made his heart skip a beat which surprised even himself. this only happened when he was excited for something he likes. 

does he like her? it was undeniable that her texts were weird yet able to put a smile on his face. his replies may be spiteful and cold, but he did find himself glancing at his phone every few minutes, in hopes of seeing a new message from her. it had become a habit, really.

the lad was so engrossed in his thoughts and it was only by chance that he looked up just in time to catch a mop of brown hair. chocolate brown hair that belonged to a lady in a fuzzy light blue sweatshirt and a pair of black ripped jeans. a peach tote bag was slung over her shoulder and he squinted to find her most distinguishable feature — the eye bags.

she was too far of a distance for him to see clearly, but he knew it was her. soyou.

because she was talking to the air.

at least she tried to do it discreetly. glancing at her surroundings hurriedly to confirm there was no one looking at her, she crouched and jeongguk could see her lips moving. it was like she was talking to a... child. 

standing up to brush off some of the muffin crumbs, jeongguk made his way to the library entrance where she was. her back was facing him and when he was just a few feet away, she suddenly stood. a frown was evident on her face as she looked around as if she was searching for something.

when her gaze swept past him nonchalantly, jeongguk could only look on as she turned her head back sharply, now staring at his eyes. a flash of recognition and she adverted her gaze, clearly flustered. 

"soyou." he called out, closing the distance between them.

"wait!" she held up both hands, causing him to halt in his tracks. "i'm... i'm not soyou."

"your eye bags certainly aren't as bad as you described but you're horrible at lying." 

words refused to form as her gaze faltered. "... fine." she pouted as she lowered her head and let her hair fall over her face. 

"what are you doing?"

"i'm embarrassed." 

"you don't look like the walking dead, don't worry." jeongguk assured her.

"... really?"

"yeah. you look worse."

she peeked to glare at him.

"so are we going to stand here all day?" he was about to gesture to the nearby cafe when soyou perked up. 

"wait no. i have something to do."

"... does it have something to do with talking to the air?"

looking around high and low, soyou replied, "i was talking to this boy who seemed to have lost his way. usually these lost spirits just have to make their way towards the east but i didn't have the chance to tell him..."

she trailed off and looked at jeongguk, realization dawning upon her. "that's right. he disappeared when you approached me."

"woah. so i have that ability too." 

he could've sworn her eyes teared up a little. what the?

"i'm so glad, jeongguk." she looked at him with puppy eyes. "i think i've finally found my lifesaver."

the 21 year old wrapped his arms around himself and turned away slightly. "there's no way you're touching me to scare the ghosts off."

"i wont't!" she said. "i just... need you close to me, i guess."

silence.

"... sorry. that sounded a little off." desperate to change the topic, soyou continued, "can we try something out?"

she asked jeongguk to stand at a distance away. indeed, as soon as he reached a pillar that was fairly near, she saw the boy again. giving a thumbs up to jeongguk and calling him to stay right where he was, she approached the boy and gave him the instructions this time round. 

when jeongguk came back again, the retreating figure of the 5 year old disappeared into thin air altogether. rubbing his hands, jeongguk looked at the spot where soyou was waving to just a second ago and frowned.

"so there is a boy standing there now?" he asked.

"well, he's gone now."

he threw a sideway glance at her. genuine joy flashed in her eyes when she was waving earlier and he couldn't help but notice how tired yet strong she looked. her fragile form screamed fatigue, abandoned by the world that looked at her as a mere queer girl.  imagine having to deal with ghosts every single day. no wonder she had looked at him with such desperation and hope. 

he didn't mind being her source of happiness.