My close friend

Almost Dawn

That little story about the dead boy talking to his parents through the recording cassette seemed to have really peaked Chanyeol's interest. Being a passionate of physics, and yet, of inexplainable things since hid toddler days, he had much to say about ghost-hunting techniques and the technology used in that particular field. Nevertheless, Eric, who would always be seen sadly or plainly smiling, had become really engrossed in Chanyeol himself. I could definitely confirm that he had been listening attentively to what Chanyeol was saying, by the way he was looking at my passionate giant and nodding each time he would glance at him to see if he was paying attention; it was really something to behold. They both had that somewhat eager, dedicated and focused look in their eyes; it would almost seem that they had that teacher-student relationship where Chanyeol, an extremely dedicated professor, was lecturing his students, and Eric, the passionate learner, was always focused on his teacher's words and would always acknowledge the latter's words with a nod..!

"...also read somewhere that now, there is a special Teddy Bear that has all the meters and detectors in it."

"Yeah, it is also known as a BooBuddy, I think", once again interrupted our dear Passionate Guy Number 2. Well, the least that I could say was that they were getting along pretty well so far...!

"Yes, exactly! It registers temperature, electromagnetic fields and motion! It is apparently capable of communication too! Well, in the sense that, when something would come into contact with it, it would say something about it being ticklish. And when measuring a sudden drop in temperature, it would say things like 'Brr! It's cold in here'! I mean, how incredible that!?" he eagerly explained as Eric was nodding in acknowledgement.

"But the other, most amazing thing it does, which I think is its primary goal, is calling out and inviting the spirits to engage and interact with it! And that, by saying some pretty basic and childish stuffs like 'what's your name ?' or 'do you want to be my friend ?'!! Like, how cool is that!?"

Wow, he was so dedicated in his explanations about that little Teddy Bear and the paranormal, that I had honestly lost track of his actual, scary and fragile-hearted self...! It was surely incredible how passion would drive someone so much that they would actually develop another personality, dedicated to the latter's favourite topic of interest. And truthfully, I was kind of scared of that new side of Chanyeol; it was as if he was a whole other person that I had yet to get acquainted to. How could someone who would get scared and jump out of his skin at every little sound he would hear, get so engrossed in a thing such as paranormal occurrences like that!? But most importantly, how could I have not seen that particular side of him despite having been in his company almost my entire life!?

"Yes, I had read about that particular BooBuddy too, somewhere. But I must say, you seem to be quite the paranormal amateur, aren't you, Chanyeol ?" asked Eric who seemed pleased to have found a buddy with whom to share his passion about those stuffs. But hey! What about me!? I was the one who was interested in this first, should I say!!

"Yeah, but deep inside, Chanyeol is really scaredy-cat. He can't watch a horror movie alone and gets freaked out upon hearing any little sound! Hahaha!!" I said, somewhat feeling the jealousy and loneliness of having been left out of such an interesting discussion, even though it barely lasted for five minutes. Well, you know what they say about women, huh... Attention seekers as complicated as landing on the moon...!

"Yeah yeah, but what is life without some fright and chill ? Mock me all you want; I assure you that you are going to pay for it, sooner or later", he said as he pinched me and cockily smiled.

"Fright huh... Indeed, that is an interesting fact about life. Life cannot always be about happiness and sadness", added Eric who seemed to have been drastically hit by the harshness of reality. His eagerness and passion had simply vanished into thin air, only to be replaced by the usual melancholic and hopeless smile! Realistically speaking, it was almost as if he had got a severe case of Dissociative Identity Disorder! But on another way of inspection, he really fitted as the protagonist of some drama; I had surely mentioned this comparison before, and let me say that right then, it could appear as if we had been filming a drama! This guy would have certainly made an extraordinary actor!

While Chanyeol and I were left perplexed by that certainly abrupt change in his expression and tone, we saw a flash of light beneath the door, which had lit the whole of the corridor. It beseemed that we would be able to use the Internet back again, since the power supply was back again. And that hence meant that we could check out those chilling videos too!!

"Ah, the power supply is back again. I shall be able to return back to work now. Let me thank you guys for letting me hang out with you and be part of your Halloween night. I really appreciate it", said Eric back again with his partly pleased and partly morose smile.

"The pleasure was all ours! You've got really interesting stories up your sleeve! Thank you for sharing some of them with  us", I eagerly responded.

"Yeah. And now that the power supply's back, we'll be able to check them out", said Chanyeol, who seemed to have turned back to normal, to my great fortune.

With this, Eric bid us good night before going to his room. Chanyeol grabbed my phone and started looking for the videos online. While he was at it, I kept observing him; he had become engrossed in his own little paranormal world again. I might have mentioned it many a time in the past but seeing him all cool and concentrated like that was something 'otherworldly' to behold, if I dared say so, hahaha!! But seeing his focused gaze on the phone's screen, his fingers typing at lightning's speed and that little pout that he would unconsciously do as he would get more engrossed, made me recall all those moments that we had spent together and how we would know each and every little thing about each other. I was still left in disbelief of not having seen this side of him yet. Maybe...

"Chanyeol... are you really interested in the Paranormal...? Like, for real ?" I hesitantly inquired. 

"Not really, but everyone has that little part of him which is always thrilled to hear and learn more about the Other World...! Or so I believe! Don't you ?" he said while still having his eyes on the phone's screen.
Well, I would certainly agree with him, but that would not explain his presumably sudden love for it...!

"Ah, found it! Now... Let it load for a while", he let out, frustrated.

"Chanyeol, seriously. How do you know so much about that ? I mean, that Teddy bear... Have you done a little research about it...? Because, honestly, you seemed so engrossed in that story that I just could not believe I had succeeded in scaring you by simply standing in the corridor with my hair all over my face that one time...! Remember!? You... You had the fright of your life! I mean, I just did not recognise you for a second there. You are still my dorky and weak-hearted giant, right ? Haha..."
He lifted his gaze from the screen to look at me in my eyes, while chuckling. I would have certainly sounded funny, but I was somewhat chilled* back there!

"Oh babe, I startled you ? Haha... You get worried over anything you know...? Babe, ther is nothing to worry about and I am still your dorky giant", he said as he pulled me in his embrace and left a soft kiss on my head.
I laid my head on his firm chest and was instantly comforted; my lovely and beautiful man Chanyeol was back again.

"To come back to that BooBuddy story, I had read it... Maybe when I was thirteen, or fourteen... I no longer remember. Remember how back then, I really liked spending time in the library ? Well, that was when I started reading about unexplained occurrings in a magazine that I had found there. And it was around that time that I had developed... let's say an interest, for those paranormal occurrences. And in wanting to know more about it and the people- the society, actually, involved in it, I ended up reading an article about the different gadgets used by those people; hence, I fell upon the BooBuddy. I was just surprised and mesmerised by all of its functions that it all got stuck in my head until now. It's normal to still remember things that have marked your day or have given you that incredible feeling of enlightenment, you know..!?" he said with his sweet and spirited smile.

"Yeah, I know what you mean", I responded.
"I was an amateur of astronomy back in time too. You surely remember that, don't you ? And some of it still lingers in my mind... Ah, that brought back quite some good memories, isn't it ?" I said, smiling brightly, as I tightened my arm around his and tightening in turn, our embrace.

He simply chuckled as his eyes went back on the phone screen to see if the video had already loaded up. Oh, I had almost forgotten about them...! I absolutely had to give those videos a watch before I headed to sleep, otherwise I was certain to remain sleepless all night!

"Okay...! The moment of truth has arrived...!"