Mia's POV

"Ms. Lee, could you please get some transparent slides for the projector? It's in the filing cabinet at the spare room," Mr. Sen asked for Literature class.

"Yes, Sir. Uhm which floor?"

Please not the fourth floor.

"The fourth floor. Thank you, Ms. Lee."

No.

My heart dropped. Sweat started to trickle down the sides of my neck.

With heavy footsteps, I slowly traveled from the classroom to the stairs. I tried to calm my breathing, but the air started to become heavy. I guess it cannot be helped.

Facing the inevitable, I took each step and ignored the wild thumping inside my ribcage. It will be easy. I just need to look straight ahead and walk fast until I reach the storage room. Why in the world do they have to put things in there when the teacher's office occupies half of the first floor, and their space is entirely empty?

Upon reaching the top, I breathed, feeling as if it was my last, and continued on in my pursuit for the damned slides. The air seemed to freeze my lungs, suffocating me as I walked further. Malicious stares sent shivers down my spine.

They're here. Always waiting, always ready.

As long as I keep my eyes away from the whole stretch of classrooms, I will be safe. Unless, they decide to take advantage of the fear that is eminent in my movements.

I closed my eyes when I felt sudden gush of icy winds, making their bodies start to sway from where they were hanging, their necks broken on the noose, limbs dangling in the air. They were troubled souls. I happen to have memorized each one of them, so when a new one pops out randomly, it's when I start having panic attacks.

Yes, I've been like this since I was a baby, but still, they give me the scare of a lifetime.

Once I reached the storage room, I let out a sigh of relief, and grabbed the doorknob. As expected, the metal was cold. I turned it to open the door, instantly regretting, because I was greeted by a lady in white, her face white as ash, blood dripping from her red, bruised eyes. She came closer to my face, making me stagger and hit my back onto the doorknob.

I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Slamming the door shut, I ran like a mad woman, only to come crashing to another body, making me fall hard on my butt. At that point I did not want to open my eyes, and just hoping to die from heart attack.

But the scare didn't stop. Cold hands grabbed me and lifted me up to my feet.

"No! No please, leave me alone! Yoongi, please help me..." I shrieked, crying harder, and crounched into a ball, but the hold on my only got tighter, shaking me into consciousness.

"Mia, it's okay..."

Slowly, I opened my eyes...

"Taehyung?"

"I know, I can see them, too."

~~~~^~~~~

He came back from the fourth floor with the tranparent slides, and handed them to me. His boxy smile was adorable, but I was completely perplexed as to how he endured the fright.

I wiped the sweat that was forming around my hairline, and unwrapped the candy Taehyung gave me to eat before fetching the troublesome slides.

"I'm so glad you came. I thought I was going to pass out," I said as I popped the candy into my mouth, shifting it to my left cheek.

"Since when have you been seeing them?" Taehyung asked, while poking my protruding cheek, causing the candy to rattle with my teeth, making me wince.

"I was born with this curse."

He nodded, "It still does take time getting used to it. I started seeing them when I was four. My parents knew about it, asked for help, but nothing can be done. It was torture at first, but as time went by it became a part of my life. Simply pray for them, that's all they need. Anyway, only Yoongi knows about this 'gift'. He really is a good person, he understands. The others doesn't know, I'll only scare them, especially Jin and Hoseok. So Yoongi's been keeping my secret since forever. He teased that I was originally from another universe when the others caught me mumbling alone, well because they can't see the ghost I was speaking to. But all those time he knew, and he protected my secret."

The mention of his name made my heart flutter, made me feel safer.

But I'm still afraid to face him. After my embarrassing confessions and humiliating past, I just don't have any confidence to talk to him. I think I'd rather go back to the girl in the storage room than make amends with Yoongi.

"Are you and Yoongi still fighting? Because seriously he misses you, he feels terrible without you."

"It's complicated, after what happened. And now that you know I'm a freak, I bet it'll scare him away..."

He stopped to face me. "Mia, I'm a freak as well, but Yoongi accepted me, and cares for me unconditionally. I have so many stories I could share to attest that he's really an amazing, kind, reliable person that I can go on and on and on, but we have not much time. And it's unfair for you to disregard his efforts, when he openly confessed that he does have feelings for you. And obviously unfair for you too because just minutes ago you were calling his name..."

"But..."

"I've never seen him this determined, persistent to win a girl properly before. He's had a lot of affairs before he met you, it's true. But since he first saw you, everything changed. Believe me, and it's for the better. Even if you push him away, he wasn't disheartened so quickly, he even uses it as a drive to become better for you... He's even rebuilding your house for you, and for free! If I were a different person, I would've mistakenly deduced that he's wooing your father for his permission to marry you!"

Okay, that was drastic and too much, I waved my hands frantically to stop him from speaking.

"I know I know! But we both have issues to deal with. I can't drag him into my own abysmal life."

He took my hands and held them tight. "Then you solve it together. I don't know what happened to you, because he doesn't tell on other's stories. But when you're together, you can fix whatever you need to fix. Trust me. You found each other for a reason, and you love him, too. Don't let it die just like that."

We needed each other. Just for comfort? For safety? Or for something deeper?

Taehyung realized his face was only inches from mine, and his hands were squeezing, cutting every bit of circulation to my fingers, so he dropped them abruptly and scratched his ear, abashed.

"Oh, please don't tell him I held your hand. He'll scoop my eyes out. I promised not to touch any part of your body ever since, you know, our little mishap."

I giggled. "Okay. I promise, I won't tell him. Thank you for your help."

He winked at me, "It's true when he said your eyes tell the truth. I can see how much you miss him."

I nodded in acknowledgement.

We went back to class laughing at our encounter, with the transparent slides in hand, and secrets left untold. Finally, some weight in my chest were lifted, and maybe I shouldn't be too tough on Yoongi. Thanks to Taehyung, I discerned how short life was to deny the heart of the happiness it deserves.

I believe it's time to apologize to Yoongi. I wish it wasn't too late...