☆29. a boy, a girl and a ghost
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[ACT. 3]
« Love, jealousy, ignorance. »
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THE SKATER SIGHED and couldn't help rolling his eyes. He was annoyed by this ridiculous situation. Nana crossed her arms and tapped her foot nervously, waiting for Heeseung's reply.
"What about now?"
"Two fingers..."
She nodded and encouraged Sunghoon to start again.
"And now?"
"Five."
The ghost finally lowered his hand and looked at Nana. She scratched the back of her head and raised her eyebrows.
"Another good answer... There's no doubt about it."
"Is this what I have to do to prove that I can see him?"
Heeseung blinked softly.
"Another solution?"
As the two students debated, Sunghoon had a blank stare probably flabbergasted by this turn of events.
A new ally. He must have been reassured by this news, but he couldn't feel anything positive. The same strange emotion had crushed all friendliness.
"Anyway... How that jerk can see me?" He asked.
"Hum. I can hear you too actually."
The protagonist remained silent for a moment before thinking it over.
It's true that Heeseung has a particular theory that could explain his ability. But his explanation has nothing to do with her own experience.
"He told me about people who were born in October..."
The new ally nodded.
The girl tried to make the connection with his idea but couldn't find anything... She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, urging him to explain.
"Okay. What's the point? Make me laugh."
The blond boy glared at him.
"Well..."
He tried to explain it easily, "For me, people born in October can see ghosts or spirits."
"Don't tell me you think that because of Halloween?"
Sunghoon sketched a smile trying not to burst out laughing. However, Heeseung didn't reply, ashamed. His silence was becoming so heavy that...
"So this is about Halloween..."
He pressed his hand against his face.
"That's definitely special."
"Yeah... Dumb as fuck."
He rolled his eyes.
"Sunghoon, can you be a little kinder? It's a real blessing to have another person to rely on."
She could take no more of her friend's inappropriate remarks. Heeseung seemed really embarrassed.
"I think it's a mistake. He's not link the way you and I are."
"What do you mean by that?"
Asked the second boy.
The heroine tried to calm down, not wanting to give in to anger. She sighed and turned back to her classmate with a big smile. She knelt down in front of him but Sunghoon frowned and looked away, not liking what he saw.
"Your theory isn't stupid it's just... Not the one I share with Sunghoon."
She glared at the ghost, "In fact, he indirectly saved my life. That's why I can see him, I owe him my own life."
"...How did he save you?"
"I had a lung transplant."
She pressed her hand against her chest. "These are his lungs inside me."
"A transplant?"
"Yes, I have a respiratory disease. Does that surprise you?"
He nodded slowly and stood up to Nana's astonishment. Suddenly, he slowly unbuttoned his shirt while looking at her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Sunghoon stood between him and the girl.
He removed the cloth completely and threw it to the ground. He remained motionless in front of the two bewildered individuals.
On his chest, there was a large scar. As if he'd had surgery, as if he'd had a transplant too.
"What the hell?"
As he took a few steps back, Nana stepped forward and examined his scar.
"You've had a transplant."
"Heart. Now I think I know my donor." He glanced at Sunghoon, who grimaced.
"That's why you can see it then. Fantastic, my theory is right. Were you sick too? If you want to talk about it—"
"Yeah, well, get dressed. The gymnasium isn't the nudist club."
He muttered, "Now my death body's a fucking store. Everyone takes what they want!"
"Hoon..."
"Nevermind Nana, we'll talk about it another time."
"Or never."
The blond boy suddenly huffed.
"Well, let's go Heeseung. Speaking of clubs, I've got one to show you."
She picked up his shirt and handed it back to him. He quickly put it back on and waved to Sunghoon before walking towards the exit.
The ghost scanned him nervously before hiccupping in surprise at Nana's icy stare. An uneasy silence reigned until the door slammed, signaling Heeseung's departure.
"What was that?"
"What what?"
He pretended not to understand.
"The way you talk to him. I'm warning you... Don't do this every time."
"Oh. Because there will be next times?"
He had raised his tone of voice slightly, but Nana had noticed it and it made her even angrier. Sunghoon had been annoying since this morning, but she didn't think it would last.
Clearly, something was bothering him, but she didn't have time to deal with his immaturity. Something crucial and positive has just happened in her life.
"Heeseung is an ally to us. He'll probably help us find the killer, isn't that what you want?"
"That's what I want but... Why trust him so quickly? We were good together, just only the two of us."
Suddenly, her heart leapt but she tried to ignore the feeling rising to her cheeks. She was afraid to understand how he felt, but it was so obvious.
"Listen. We don't have a choice, we're out of time. He's a nice boy and we're now link to him, whether you like it or not."
His jaw contracted, he tried to escape her gaze. His smile was so false that the girl sighed again.
"Look on the good side. He'll be able to protect me if I'm in danger."
"Why? I can protect you. I'm not enough?"
Sunghoon wasn't even hiding his jealousy anymore, and that explained the contempt he had for his comrade. The protagonist massaged her temple and tried to convince him.
They couldn't pass up such an opportunity.
"I mean... You can't get out of school. At least Heeseung will be able to help me outside."
"Right. Go see him then, I've heard too much things."
The new ally was an important part of this quest, but knowing he was close to Nana made him sick.
The teen didn't even have the courage or the desire to justify herself. She preferred to join Heeseung, who must have been waiting for her for some time now.
However, just as she was about to turn down the doorknob, she heard footsteps. Turning around, the heroine came face to face with Sunghoon.
It was an impulsive gesture, and the young man was well aware of it. He simply listened to his heart and there he was in front of her, unable to say a word.
Perhaps a simple action would have sufficed? But he didn't have the courage. Nana looked at him with eyes as gentle as they were confused, which made him nervous even more.
"Sorry. It's just..."
Clumsily, he placed his hand on the side of her face. The protagonist shivered as she waited for a response.
"Yes?"
"About this morning, um... I think—"
The boy could say it, he had the possibility and above all he had nothing left to lose. He couldn't, another time.
"Nevermind, sorry."
Nana nodded and hurriedly opened the door before quickly closing it again. Her heart was beating so fast that it could leave her body.
Once again, Sunghoon was strange, but she wasn't indifferent. Heeseung had noticed that something was going on between the two of them.
Nana was heading for the stairs at breakneck speed, and his friend was having trouble keeping up.
The young man swallowed when he saw the entrance to a club - he'd never been there before.
"What is this place?"
"The spiritism club, exclusively created for our research."
She smiles proudly, "A good friend founded it to help me understand why I was seeing a ghost."
The good mood suddenly faded as she thought of Rachel and Jungwon. Still no news and she was frustrated.
She wasn't angry with them, as she hadn't seemed to be experiencing any strange symptoms for a few hours. However, the heroine was worried about her friends.
"Oh? Because someone knows?"
The boy was confused.
"Yes, just one. And yet... She doesn't know it's actually Sunghoon."
"That's right, can you imagine the panic if everyone knew? It would be crazy."
The teen confirmed with a shake of her head, then opened the door. As she had expected, it was empty. No one had set foot in there for days.
"Make yourself at home. We'll be in this place a lot for our research." She urged him to go inside.
"Our research..? What exactly are you talking about? I mean, our questions have already been answered."
"Not really."
She closed the door, "I'll explain."
Heeseung was rather puzzled and sat down on one of the chairs. His classmate stood facing him in front of the table, arms crossed and a neutral gaze.
"I haven't told you everything about the link we have with the ghost. To help him, we have to solve a mystery."
"You're scaring me."
"We've got to find the murderer."
Much to the girl's surprise, he began to laugh. It was an uncontrolled, nephewly laugh and at this, she just raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to calm down.
His laughter passed after a few seconds, and he remained silent as if waiting for some kind of response from Nana. She stared at him, smiling embarrassedly.
"Um... Is it time to tell me this is a joke?"
It was her turn to laugh.
"This isn't a joke."
"Nana. Can you believe it? It's bad enough we're seeing a ghost, but now we have to play policeman? I don't really feel like—"
He stopped when he heard her phone ring. Nana froze for a moment before retrieving it. Her eyes widened as she saw Jungwon's name on the notification.
She almost dropped her phone, but barely caught it before heading for the door.
"Would you excuse me? Just a second."
She slammed the door and leaned against it, her breathing jerky with shock. When she picked up the phone, it wasn't Jungwon's voice.
It was a woman, Rachel's frail voice.