a/n: this is a draft for a story in my library of drafts lol Jimin is a ghost whose soul is trapped in his old apartment building. Its vacant until the complex is renovated and is under nee management, introducing a tenant that he isn't willing to share his space with.

"There have been some minor renovations since the complex's reopening. Fresh paint and newly laid hardwood floors..The appliances aren't brand new but theyre pretty up to date. You shouldn't have any issues with them."

The realtors voice echoed along with the desolate clicking of Corii's boots against the mahogany. She stepped further inside the apartment, taking in every square inch of the empty living room.

She had never been in an apartment with wood floors before. Most would either be wall to wall carpet that was a nightmare to keep clean or that shopping mall tile with stained grout.

She wasnt a stickler for the details like her mother though.

She was happy to have any kind of floor beneath her feet that was hers and not under the roof of someone patronizing her to no end. Moving into the city on her own was the most terrifying and liberating thing Corii had ever decided to do.

23. Barely getting by on bartending and freelance portraits with just enough extra to feed herself and Sanford.

Speaking of...

"Pets are ok right?" She turns to ask and the realtor trudges back into view from the kitchen, nodding at his phone.

"Uh...yea. Super's fine with pets as long as theyre not exotic or like...over 100 pounds. So? Whatdya think?" He looks up finally, a hasty look in his eyes as if he had a hundred places in mind he'd rather be than here.

Corii clocked his shift in demeanor the moment they entered the apartment. The way his hands shook as he fumbled with the keys. Or the way he froze in the doorway before inviting her in ahead of him.

"I think it's perfect." She says and a slight weight lifts from the realtors shoulders at her response.

"Oh good! Thats so great to hear. We can get you in here as soon as Wednesday if you're ready." he smiles and Corii reciprocates it.

"Wednesday is great. It'll give me time to finish packing."

"Perfect. I'll go get paperwork ready right now..."

He's spinning on his heel towards the open front door when Corii stops him.

"Wait...I do have a question though. " she lifts her finger with a hesitant look on her face. The realtor pauses midstep with half of hia body already out the door when he turns his head.

"Yeah." he lifts both brows, a look Corii interpreted as slightly impatient but she doesnt keep her from asking.

"Why so cheap? Not that im complaining. I want it. But why for only $900 a month?. Ive seen places in this area like this go for almost 2K.."

The realtor hesitates to respond, a clear conflict in his face as he searched the eggshell walls for the right thing to say. He sighs, taking a quick glance out the front door before closing himself and Corii in the empty apartment.

"Um...market value for this place went down a bit since the fire a few years ago." be shrugs casually, his words hurried as if that answer would suffice.

"Fire?" Corii's eyes widened and the realtor was stepping towards her with a clear intent of placating the worry in her face.

"Oh no no, don't worry. There was a minor fire in this building that displaced a few floors. Some electrical error that's since been rectified. Nothing to be concerned about. But I suppose people have been hesitant to move here because of it. And then you got those silly rumors about this unit in particular being haunted." he laughs it off, waving his hand towards the ceiling and walls with a skeptical smirk.

Worry washed from Corii's expression and morphs into interest.

"Haunted?? Like ghosts?"

The realtor shrugs again, stealing a glance at his watch as he spoke.

"Some folks didn't make it out that day years ago and some tenants have reported hearing or seeing things. Tiny rumor though. Minuscule. Look, you're not gonna find a place nicer than this at this price. Im not trying to pressure you at all but based on what you've told me, this place seems to check all of your boxes. Location. Size. Price..." he counts off on his fingers. Corii's frowns at his direct tone, eyes fluttering in surprise.

"Well, Yeah..it does but I was just.."

"And between you and me, a place like this wont be available for much longer. I have a few tours scheduled after this for this place in my calader next week so If youre in a hurry to move, I would suggest hopping on this one while you can. Its really a steal if you ask me."

Not that she had much of a choice. Her mother had already made plans for the room she'd be vacating and things had been so tense between them that Corii would rather live in her car than to endure living there another week.

She worries her bottom lip as he considered the realtors defense. Turning around to inspect the open space and natural lighting that poured in from the balacony, Corii's exhales in liberation before nodding.

"Ok. Lets do it."

The door closed on the empty apartment minutes later, the echo of Corii and the relieved realtor's footsteps growing faint the further they drew from Unit 324.

Stillness and silence.

The way it was prefered since no one had lived there for several months. The dust collecting in every corner and crevice was welcomed and pleasently undisturbed until that cheap suit wearing, box-dyed realtor  brought his ass here. And now with someone looking to rent.

"Dammit.." Jimin sighs, phasing through the closed door standing between the bedroom and the short hallway.  Even though he knew they left, he still checked his surroundings as if someone would see him poking his head around the corner.

Even if there was someone still lingering near the front door, nothing would make them aware of Jimin's prescence unless he wanted them to be.

Or if theyre a medium or clairvoyants or something.

Jimin confirms that he now has the place to himself once again with a close lipped smile
as he steps from the shadows to be bathed in sunlight.

Barefoot and wearing the same pair of white linen pants with the oversized cream-colored sweater his mother bought him, he moved over the dark wood floors with his hands clasped behind his back.

He looks towards the front door again, a curious lift in his brow as he walks towards it.

Whoever would have thought a plain-painted white door would be his biggest adversary? Not him.

Jimin moves closer and presses his palms against it, hoping that for once he'd be able to push through it. Every other door in this apartment gave under his touch, allowing him to go through them like the phantom he was.

But not this door.

Not for a lack of trying though.

And he tried.

Everyday.

"Shit..." he hisses, banging his fist against the wood paneling before stalking back into towards the center of the apartment.

One weightless foot in front of the other, Jimin mapping out the path he took every day. Starting with the kitchen that cuts into a tiny dining corner that the reatlor corfully advertised as a breakfast bar. He recalled throwing back many bottles of brown liqour in his living days at thet scratched wood table.

He then treks through the living room to return to the hallway, where the bathroom doorway shrowed the mirror in darkness. Not that any light would would aid him in seeing what he hadnt seen in so long.

His own reflection.

Jimin doesn't dwell on it long enough to care when he finds himself back in the bedroom.

His bedroom. The place where he spent most of his time, alive and...

Similarly to the living room, sliding glass doors welcome in the daylight. Light that cut straight thriufg his formless body when he stood directly in his path.

He enjoyed it regardless, loving the way it made such an empty space feel so full.

And soon it would be filled with another stangers belongings.

Brilliant.

After the third time a potential tenent heard the stories about the poltergiest infested 1 bedroom and declining to live there, he hoped when word of the past tenents experiences here got to her that she'd be turned off immediately.

But no.

It seems that this one is staying.

He sighs again, a ghostly cloud of cold air rolling from his lips as stepped towards the wall closest to the glass door's frame. He slid down the wall to sit on the floor, hugging his knees, resting his head against the glass to watched the dust swirl among the sun rays.

Despite him being bathed in light, he felt nothing. No warmth. No comfort. Not even the brightness disturbed his eyes when he stared directly into it. He missed its sting against his corneas. He missed the smell of it on his skin.

He missed being a part of the world that existed outside of the forsaken tomb he had no chance of leaving from second he took his last breath.

*flashback of his mother

Well....I guess I could use the entertainment." he mutters, turning his face away from the light to rest his chest on his forearms.

It wouldnt be the first time he'd have to turn on the spook factor to get what he wanted while being trapped here.

His smile falters when the reality of his eternity set in,

He'd get her to break her lease just as he did to others before her. Piece of cake.

"Well...let the fun begin."

Move in day came in a blink and Corri couldnt have been more grateful.

After giving the landlord her deposit and first months rent, she collected her keys a day early and was able to pile everything that belonged to her in her car and her uncle's pick up truck.

Corri's mother didnt say much from her chair in the living room but she watched as box after box was toted down the stairs ans out yue front door while she ashed her cigarette in the ceramic cactus bowl Corri made her when she was 12.

She'd quit smoking prior to her husband passing, which on top of being single motherhood to a teen in a city where people could barely afford to eat was enough to make her start back up again.

When the final bit of her stuff was shut in the back seat of her car and Sanford's carrier in the front seat , Corii went back inside to face her mother one last time.

"You got everything?" Claudine mutters between puffs her square and blowing the grey smoke between her lips. Corii glanced around yhe cloudy living room as if she might have left something of importance there, but shakes her head once realizing there was nothing left for her here.

There hadnt been for a long time.

"Yeah. I believe so."

"Hmm." Claudine cleared her throat

She pushes herself from the creaky old love seat, brushing her hands over her house dress covered thighs as she approaches her daughter.

"Well, c'mere. Gimme a hug." she huffs, waving Corii over as if she wanted to get this goodbye over with.

The feeling was mutual.

Corii loved her and she knew her mother loved her back, but they always seemed to live on different sides of the planet mentally and emotionally. Her father was more so the one she bonded with over music and art, while mom tried to convince both of them that hobbies were a waste of time when bills needed to be paid.

Part of he figured her mother was just bitter that she preferred her father's favor and company over hers but she stopped thinking that way after he died.

Now she just pitied her.

The hug is stale and half felt, merely lasting 5 seconds before Claudine was pulling away to turn back to her chair and waiting cigarette.

"You make sure you keep up with those payments. You dont want no evictions on your credit.."  she rasps as she plopped back into her seat. Corii smirked as she nodded.

"Yes mama."

Claudine picks up her cigarette from where it rested and put it to her lips.

"And make sure youre locking those doors and sealing the windows every night. Just cause youre up high dont mean people wont try to break in." she stiffly before puffing smoke, clouding her view of Corii backing out of the living room.

"I will mama." she calls over her shoulder, already half way out the door.

"Alright bye..." Claudine waves her hand to clear the smoke, in turn dismissing her daughter before picking up the remote resting near the ashtray, using it to distract herself from saying the three words she didn't know how to say.

Three words she knew her daughter didnt expect but would apprectiate to hear on such a nerve wrecking day.

But she knew better than to expect it from her mother, and with one final look at the home she grew up in, Corii shut the door behind her and never looked back.

The trip between her old home and her new one took longer than she'd hoped, her uncle trailing her in the mid morning traffic jam on their way uptown.

But all was well once they finally made it.

The apartment smelled of Pine-sol and Bleach when she stepped in, cradling her cat carrier under her arm as she stepped over the threshold.

The landlord must have had it cleaned again prior to her moving, which she expected since there was a significant amount if dust on the floorboards and ceiling fans.

Uncle Carter was right behind her with a heavy box and Corii flinched as if she'd forgotten he was there.

"Oh sorry. You can put it anywhere. All the big boxes can just go in the living room and i'll figure out the rest." she huffed, bending to set Sanford down in the kitchen doorway and ignoring his disgruntles meow at not being allowed out just yet. She sets his bag of toys and treats on the counter distractedly as she rushed to help her uncle with the door.

Carter's boots clambered loudly over the wood as he did as his niece instructed, and the both of them take turns going down to the car to bring boxes up.

"I can bring by that bed frame tomorrow evening when I get off. You ok just on the mattress tonight?" he asks and Corii sighs tiredly as she set thr box she was struggling with down among the rest.

"Oh yeah. I'll be fine. Im gonna spend most of the day unpacking what I can anyway so by time its time to sleep, I wont care that its on a mattress on the floor."she flaps her hand dismissively. Uncle Carter nods, joining her in glancing around the open space.

"True. Better hope you don't have rats." he remarks dryly and Corii's head snaps in his direction.

"Now why would you say that???!" she whines, making her Uncle chuckle.

"Cuz folks be having rats out here! What you mean? "

Corii crinkled her nose at the thought, silently praying that this building's pest problem was as nonexistent as her tolerance for rodents.

"Well I got Sanford for that so...a rat wont get far here." she taunts. Carter cracks up at the notion.

"Good luck! Sanford's fat ass couldnt even catch his own tail if he had to chase it."

"Quit talkn bout my cat like that!" Corii tossed a pillow towards her Uncle'a face and they both laugh.

All the while, Sanford sits patiently in his carrier with bored eyes, watching their feet pass him in the kitchen back and forth until the final box was carried in. He hears them both now in the living room, seeming to have forgotten about him seeing as how Corii hadnt even come to check on him.

Rude.

He shifts on the hard floor of the cage, curling into a cinnamon roll and preparing to lick his paw when a shuffling sound has his ear twitching.

Keen eyes shift to the corner of his cage, and he detects the sound of movement just above him. A shuffling sound thats followed by a familiar jingle of his toys and snacks. Suddenly, a yellow ball falls from his tote bag.

One of his favorites.

It drops peculiarly over the kitchen tile inches from his face as if someone were bouncing it. Though know one could be seen doing it, Sanford tensed at the prescrne he felt that wasnt his owner's. 

Seconds after falling from the counter, the ball rollls to stop right in from of his cage.

Sanford remains frozen, staring at the ball with wide eyes and twitching ears. Just then, the latch of his carrier squeaks and springs free, allowing the door to creak open.

"Alright baby girl. You call me if you need me for anything ok?" Uncle Carter calls over his shoulder on his way out.

"I will! Thank you again!" Corii pokes her head out from the hallway to wave him goodbye

"Uh-huh. Come lock this door." were his final words before shutting her in her new house me, leaving her to the chaos of unpacking and settling in peace.

Suddenly, the scuffling sound of tiny furry feet and a ball bouncing against the floor has Corii yelping in surprise. She clutched her chest and pressed herself flat against the wall just as Sanford scurried past her and pounces on his ball, curling himself around it with a soft raspy growl.

"San...how the hell.." she breathes, her head snapping towatda the kitchen where she left him.

"Hmm....." she scowls, straightening her back and glancing around the kitchen stiffly.

"Nope. Nope nope....." she mumbles her way out of the kitchen, coming back to nudge the cages door closed with her foot before disappearing again.

Peaking around the refrigerator, Jimin snickers, emerging with his arms crossed over his chest.

He was simply testing the waters.

Seeing if he still had it.

It usually didnt take much to drive someone insane with the paranoia so he usually would start small.

"This will be easy.."