Triangle. |Stray Kids

Eight.

"No means no!" Lilly sighed in frustration. She dropped her shoulders, then stood off the stool facing the canvas she was painting in blue and black. She turned to drop the palette in her hand along with the brush on the side table. She grabbed a piece of cloth to wipe her colored hands. "I said I can't help you." She said to the girl facing her inside her studio.

"Please!" The girl pleaded. "You are my only option. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come that far to here."

Lilly pinched her nose bridge. "What was your name again?"

"Min Sora." The girl replied hopefully.

Lilly looked at her face. It pained her how the girl was anticipating. She was going to decline the girl's request. She had to. She had a goal now and she wasn't ready for distractions.

She stepped closer to Sora after she disposed the cloth in her hand. She held the girl's hands, making her flinch as she was not used to being touched. Especially, since she became a ghost. "Listen, Sora. I can't help you. I can't leave now and go across the oceans to South Korea."

"Please!" The girl pleaded again. Her eyes started to glisten with tears. "I can't leave like this. It's not fair. At least my parents have to know where I am."

"I know. I know how you feel but I can't leave now." Lilly said, stepping back and letting go of the girl's hands. "I'm sure you'll find someone in South Korea who can help you. There are many like me. This world is fucked up already and there are tons of odd people. I'm sure someone out there will see you and help you."

"I've found none!" The girl almost yelled. "There was only one guy who could sense my presence but couldn't hear or see me. I stuck to him for days but it was useless. I even heard a friend of his used to see a specific ghost and went for her but she couldn't see me!"

"I'm sorry, Sora." Lilly apologized.

"Hey, Lil. Did yo-" Lino called as he walked inside the studio. He stopped midsentence once his eyes fell on the ghost facing his friend. Sora looked younger than them as it seemed. She was dressed in a cute pair of shorts and a floral shirt. Her hair was long with black waves. It ached him that her time already ended. "Uh! Umm. I didn't know you had a guest."

Sora turned to look at him. The girl gasped and her eyes widened, making Lilly get confused. "Why is he here?" Sora questioned.

"What? Me?" Lino questioned in confusion while pointing at himself.

Sora stepped closer to him. The boy panicked and jumped back, hitting his back into the doorframe. He wasn't still used to seeing ghosts that clearly. The girl looked closely at his face as if she was inspecting him. "You are not him! But you are almost him."

"W-W-What?" Lino stuttered.

"What are you doing, Sora?" Lilly huffed.

Sora pulled back and looked at Lilly. A devilish smirk decorated her face as she let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Karma is bitch! Looks like you'll be the one needing my help soon, Lilly."

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll know. The next time you think of South Korea, you'll know." Sora chuckled again before she steps back and leaves the room and then disappears into the thin air.

Lilly's eyes were on where Sora left. She was trying to process what the girl said but a loud gasp from Lino cut her thoughts. She looked at the boy to find him pale. He was taken aback by what Sora did. He was panting while placing a hand on his chest.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "Stop overreacting!"

"I swear those ghosts will give me a heart attack." He gulped and walked up to Lilly. "A little one spooked me today at the hospital. I'm still not used to them appearing that clear."

"Wait until they start to possess you." She smirked.

"Wait, what?" He yelled. "Will they possess me?"

"If your body's frequency matched one of them." Lilly shrugged. "You may match many or none at all. I guess you match none since you didn't experience something like that before."

"Is that why you were possessed more than once? Because you match many?"

Lilly sighed, rubbing her face and passing her fingers through her hair. "Hmm. At first, I couldn't stop them. Now I know how to protect my body." She looked at him with a smirk. "But ghosts are cunning. They can lure you into what they want."

"Can we stop talking about ghosts?" Lino shook his head and rubbed his arms up and down, feeling goosebumps. "You came back two weeks ago and we did nothing except helping some ghosts. When are you going to tell us about your plan?"

"Soon. I'm still working on it." Lilly threw her arm over his shoulder and started walking to the door. "Why did you come up?"

"Ah!" He clapped his hands. "Chris made dinner."

"Chris came back?" Lilly asked with a lightened-up face.

Chris's been working hard recently. She hardly saw his face because of the interrogation of The Ghost. The son of a bitch killed around twenty females after all. Lilly would wake up to find Chris already left, and would go to bed before he comes back. Some nights, he would stay over in the station and that's when Lino would come to stay with Lilly. As if she needed their babysitting but she let them do whatever made them feel assured.

"Look at you smiling just at the mention of his name." Lino teased, nudging her.

Lilly pushed him away and rolled her eyes. "Don't start whatever you are starting."

"I'm not starting anything." Lino held his two arms in the air. "I'm just pointing out how you behave around him." He smirked as he skipped ahead of her on their way downstairs.

"I'm behaving exactly the same." Lilly yelled-whispered as they were already downstairs.

Lino stopped and turned around to face her. "Is that why you are whispering?" He smirked.

Lilly looked over Lino's shoulder to where Chris was moving in the living room, placing food on the table, not noticing his two friends. "Just stop!" Lilly glared at him and pushed him away to stomp her way to the table.

Lino grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "He didn't ever date anyone, Lilly." Lino whispered to her. "For nine years, he kept his promise of waiting for you."

"That's not what he meant when he said he'll wait for me. He was waiting for his friend." Lilly gritted her teeth.

Lino sighed and let go of her arm. He looked at her with disappointment. "That's what you wanted to believe, Lillian." He said then walked to his friend, leaving Lilly to her guilt that came back for the first time after nine years of hiding somewhere deep inside her heart.