Arrivederci || Dan Heng [✓ ]

⋆ ✦ ˚｡ Part eleven ˚｡⋆

"What's going on?" He spoke quietly, casting a worried expression. All of a sudden, I felt slightly embarrassed, because he was most likely concerned something was wrong—but I was simply chasing something that probably wasn't even real. How would I explain this to him?

"Er...I saw the ghost. I'm going to follow it; I'm sorry to make you worry—"

"Let's catch it." In complete disbelief, my eyes shot wide open. I had expected Dan Heng to be the more practical type who'd tell me it was useless to try and find the ghost. Yet here he was, agreeing to help me with the most serious face I'd ever seen.

I nodded, feeling a rush of adrenaline pump through my blood. Both our heads peaked over the glass, confirming that the ghost was still there.

"Okay, here is the plan," My voice hushed into a harsh whisper—similar to that in secret operations in those spy movies. I almost let out a laugh at how ridiculous I sounded. "I'll try and get her from the front, and then if that fails, you flank her from around back." Dan Heng readily agreed.

"Oh, the count of three," he began, "one," we both moved our weight onto the tips of our feet, "two," clothing shifted as we just barely raised from our lowered positions. "Three!" Dan Heng and I took off running in opposite directions—not even exchanging glances.

The ghost immediately saw me quickly approaching. It seemed to startle her, so she began to sprint away, just as I predicted would happen.

"Dan Heng now!" I yelled, signaling for him to come out from behind the wall. In one swift, fluid motion, he caught the strange anomaly—keeping her locked in his grip. She let out a loud yelp, which startled both of us.

"P—please let go of me!" The young man did as told, releasing his hold on the 'ghost'. She stumbled a little, catching her breath. "What is the meaning of this?! You two kids are crazy!"

"Whoa, the ghost can talk..."

"I'm not a ghost!! I'm just another exhibit at the museum!" Dan Heng and I instantly sweatdropped, exchanging glances with one another.

"Oh..."

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"I can't believe I fell for Serval's antics.." I threw my hands into the air in defeat.

"Me neither." We apologized to the nice lady and cleared up our misunderstandings, but I was still extremely embarrassed. Although I couldn't say I hated the whole encounter, it was actually pretty exciting to play ghost hunter with Dan Heng. I had to admit we made a good team.

"Hey, thanks for helping me either way. That was really fun." He spared me a quick look, his cheeks becoming subtly flushed.

"Don't mention it."

"Hey, over here!!" March broke into a lively wave—even random people in the area turned to look at her. The others were not far behind.

"Jeez, where did you two go?" Serval put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me closer. I once again met eyes with Dan Heng—in that quick exchange, we both silently agreed not to share the details of our prior engagement.

"It's...a long story."

"Bummer we lost you guys, we got dragged into this weird poetry reading—but it turned out to be really good!" I brought my hands to my head in a hopeless gesture.

"What, seriously?! I wanted to go!" March playfully blew a raspberry at me.

"Do you like poetry?" The other blond male inquired curiously; his blue eyes completely locked onto myself.

"Ah—! Like wouldn't even begin to describe my relationship with poetry." March came over to my side to ask me a question herself, placing a hand on my shoulder similar to Serval.

"What's your favorite poem?" My answer was almost immediate.

"My favorites are by an anonymous author, where I'm from his poems became really popular. He went by the alias 'Lunae'." Most of the group voiced their awe, continuing to probe for more information.

Our crew began to depart back to the bus, as the time had slipped away from us. I was unaware, though, that a particular young man was lagging slightly behind; unable to hide a bright blush.

This was because, unbeknownst to me, my favorite poems—happened to be written by none other than Dan Heng himself.

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╰┈➤ EDITED ✦

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A letter

Hello~

Should this letter be found by anyone, I would hope it is in good health. To be completely honest I write these just as a way to leave a piece of myself behind—so there will always be something to remember me by.

I haven't been able to get another member to join journalism yet, but a new second-year student promised to help me advertise! So I will not give up!

Anyways, I had some banana bread for lunch today—it was very tasty. Things aren't as lively with the first and second-year classes gone. I hope they return soon...

-Tingyun

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