The house was big, for sure. Huge even, featuring spacious yet utterly useless areas such as a grand foyer, a parlour, a coatroom and so on and so forth. However, despite its size, the old mansion was completely empty. Not a single piece of furniture in sight.

"It's easier to sell furniture than it is property," said the real estate agent as if reading her prospective client's mind.

"Especially one with such a tragic story tied to it," replied to young house hunter with a knowing smile.

"Oh, so you've heard."

"I was wondering when, or rather if you would tell me about it."

The woman drew a breath. "Well, I was just about to. The last owner had a very gifted son, promised to international fame for sure, had he been allowed to pursue a career in music. But for some reason, the idea of seeing his son perform on stage did not sit well with his father who had other dreams for him."

"Fathers often do, don't they?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

They entered another lofty ballroom of sorts. That's when Kim Taehyung, the potential buyer, noticed the white sheet covering what looked like a grand piano. "I thought they had got rid of all the furniture."

"All but this piece." The woman was beginning to fidget uncomfortably. "The old man either wouldn't sell it or couldn't. I can't quite recall. In any event, it was rumoured he pretty much lost his marbles after his son, you know— "

"—killed himself. So I heard."

"Yes. Well. That was such a long time ago. I'm sure it will soon make for very thrilling storytelling Halloween parties around the fireplace which I would love to show you now, if you would just follow me right this way," she added, not even trying to hide the fact that she did not wish to linger in the ballroom.

The quiet instrument, however, seemed to have captured Taehyung's attention. He carefully removed the sheet, sat on the stool and open the lid.

"Please, don't!" whisper-yelled the lady whose eyes had filled with raw panic.

"Or what?"

Lucky for both of them, her phone decided to ring at this very moment. She promptly left, muttering something along the lines of "important call, must take".

Well. Now, Taehyung just had to play. His fingers, hesitant at first, soon found themselves pressing a little harder on the keys in an attempt to tame the reluctant instrument. The melancholy of Chopin's Raindrops Prelude filled the air as Taehyung closed his eyes, trying to smile through the resentment he felt tightening up his throat.

He only noticed the tears when he opened his eyes at the end. Everything was blurry, including the silhouette standing in the corner, slowly clapping. The young man realized this could not have been the real estate agent who was most definitely not wearing a dark blue tuxedo today, or he would have taken note of it.

"Encore," the raven-haired man uttered monotonously. Taehyung shook his head at the less than fervent request.

"I'm not a pianist. You are."

The other let out a soft chuckle. "I was."

Taehyung's smile faltered at his own faux pas. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be. Unless you plan on running, like everyone else."

At that, Taehyung's grin returned. "No, I don't. In fact, let me make a quick call," he added, pulling out his phone. "Dad? Yeah, it's me. Yes. Good news. I found just the place. I'll send Andrew the contact number for the listing.

Sure, you could move in tomorrow if you'd like. It does need a little dusting though.

Ah. Before I forget, have your assistant ask for a 5% discount. You won't get it but the agent will settle for 3 I'm sure."

He turned around to see the mysterious young man still looking at him and winked mischievously. "Trust me, Dad. She is eager to sell this place. It won't take much convincing, I guarantee it."

He purposely avoided mentioning the fact that it was haunted and that he had a hunch the ghost and himself were going to get along quite well. After all, they already shared a love for music.

—

This story was originally written in response to a Halloween prompt by Wattpad's kpop profile which went like this:

Your bias got a day off on Halloween and they decided to stay back at their apartment. Being alone and wanting to relax, they played their favourite piece as playing piano has always done wonders. However, when they finished, they heard a slow clap ... but no one was there when they turned around. Who clapped and what happened afterwards?

As you can see, I took some liberties with the prompt and despite the 400-word-limit, I ended up with 700 words. Needless to say, I never submitted my text.