My Roommate is Dead | Minsung

Ghosted

Jisung nodded and grabbed a cup. He poured in the coffee while he waited for the espresso to brew, then added the shot.

"Here you go," he said quietly.

Minho paid and gave his barista a nice tip, then winked again before turning to leave. Jisung took a deep breath and tried to shake off his feelings as he prepared to serve the next half-dozen customers in line.

Fortunately, the day was busier than usual, not giving Jisung much time to dwell on his mixed up thoughts. But when the day ended, he was desperate to find another way to take his mind off things. Or to get things off his chest. He wasn't sure which, but he knew he needed his best friend.

He sat in his car and texted Hyunjin before leaving the parking lot. He invited him over and made sure to tell him to bring lots of beer. It had been a while since they'd hung out, so Hyunjin was more than happy to spend the night with his best friend.

When Jisung got home, he immediately called out for Lino as he walked through the door. He needed to hurry and talk to him about Hyunjin coming over. This time, he wouldn't be able to get away with transforming into a cat.

"Lino, please come talk to me, it's important," Jisung hollered as he walked through the house looking around for any sign of the ghost.

At this point, he was in his bedroom, after looking all over the place. Finally, Lino appeared on his bed, sitting with one leg over the other, leaning back on his hands.

"What is it?" Lino asked flatly, not expecting any sort of good news from the human.

"Hyunjin is coming over in a little bit to hang out and spend the night," he replied, working up the nerve to be firm with Lino. "You're going to have to stay hidden this time."

Lino rolled his eyes and sat up straight.

"So, two nights in a row you're ditching me," Lino grunted.

"Ditching you?" Jisung repeated, completely caught off guard by the accusation. "Lino, I also spent two nights in a row watching movies with you. But I do have a life, okay?"

Lino's eyes went wide and Jisung knew immediately that he fucked up. The ghost got off the bed and approached him, stopping just inches from his face.

"That's right, you do. Don't worry, I won't interfere anymore."

"Wait—" Jisung tried to stop him from vanishing, but it was too late. "Lino! I didn't mean it like that!"

Jisung ran through the house looking for Lino, even though he knew it was useless. He felt like he had to try anyway. But after not finding him, as expected, he decided to turn his attention to straightening up the house and taking a quick shower.

Just as he was heading back downstairs, Hyunjin knocked on the door. He was about to answer it when he noticed the painting still sitting on the floor in the corner.

"Shit," he muttered to himself as he ran to pick it up. "One second," he shouted through the door.

He ran over to one of the old pictures on the wall and carefully lifted it off the nail, then replaced it with Hyunjin's painting. He set the picture down in the corner and hurried to the door.

"Hey." Jisung barely got the word out as he was trying to catch his breath from scrambling.

"What's with you?" Hyunjin asked, noticing his friend's huffing and puffing.

"Uh, I just had to...put my shirt on. Just got out of the shower." He chuckled awkwardly and ruffled his damp hair.

"Ah. Thanks for respecting my precious eyes," Hyunjin cackled. "Oh, my painting! It looks great in here." Hyunjin walked over to admire his work.