The Dead are Speaking

Every second that went by, Zitao could almost feel. He wasn’t sure if whoever or whatever fell was either dead or just waiting for the right moment to attack, so when he heard a soft voice ask if he was alright, he was a bit taken back to say the least. With slow, painstakingly cautious movements he slowly lifted his head from the cold floor, eyeing the newcomer from a mess of bangs with a wide eyed, deer-in-the-headlights stare. For the most part they seemed…rather harmless? Even welcoming despite looking roughed up from their fall. Although shorter than him, he knew they would probably still be able to overpower him if they had the ability to, seeing as he didn’t particularly like fighting and had no defense against paranormal type of powers- if the person was of any paranormal relation. Zitao knew it was unlikely, but seeing as any rational part of him was on a short vacation he wasn’t too sure. “Uh,” he started, clearing his throat and taking a sharp breath. Dust quickly attacked his throat, making him cough sharply and sit up from where he was curled to distance himself from anymore dirt that wanted to invade his lungs. He looked to the person- at least he hoped they were a person- who had made a rather huge entrance, giving them a once-over before he spoke again. “Are you going to haunt me too?” he asked, his voice quiet and tinged with a clear anxiety. He was a bit too shaken to even try to act tough, and even then the person had already seen him trembling and clinging to himself upon first impression, so any attempt to be intimidating would probably give the the opposite affect. He went to try and stand, wincing at the throbbing pain in his knee but pushing himself to continue. He hoped whoever had just appeared in front of him wasn’t of any threat, he didn’t really have it in him to run away from something again. “Are you alright?” he tilted his head, narrowing his eyes at the person’s hand on their side. Well, if they were hurt, then they maybe weren’t a ghostly entity that held a grudge against his father and wanted to get revenge via tormenting/murdering the only son of the Huang family. Maybe. Upon further inspection (just unabashed staring he was prone to do), he noticed the flowers clutched in the persons other hand, his eyes lighting up momentarily despite the very weird situation. “Pretty!” he chirped, giving the other a bright smile. They were his favorite type of flowers after all.

He didn’t understand it himself, the situation he found himself landing, in most senses of the word, into. And yet here he found the funniest thing he’d heard in so so long. With the simple question of whether he would be the one to haunt the human, he slowly let his lips spread into a smile. His cheeks pushed his eyes nearly closed before he started to laugh. He laughed loudly, echoing from his belly outward. Because, him? Haunting someone? It was just too funny to imagine a medium haunting someone instead of removing hauntings. 

“N-No. No, I’m not here to haunt you. As a person who is very much alive, I can’t haunt.” He said with a soft chuckle. How comforting. To have someone ask something simple instead of the usual accusatory tone and a pointed finger. It’s rarely his fault these kinds of accidents happen. 

He looked down at himself and lifted a hand away, letting his fingers spread with the small amount of blood they had on them to show the boy. He peeked at them with one eye before shaking his head. “Mostly scrapes. Maybe a broken rib. I’m hoping for dislocated though.” He said before he smiled a bit wider, to comfort the other just slightly. “I’ve been roughed up much worse.” He winked, flashing a peace sign with the flowers in his hand. 

When the other mentioned the flowers, he glanced at the almost bouquet he had before handing it to the other. “Then keep them. I grabbed them on accident.” He smirked a bit and tilted his chin upwards, looking through his lower lashes at the other as he had just done. “They would look good with you anyway.” He stated with a smile. 

He looked around, searching for the ghost from before. Where had it drifted off to? He couldn’t see it anymore, but he felt a chill trace over the hand that had extended the flowers out. Usually, when the ghost couldn’t manifest a form at all, it would move on by itself. But this one wanted to hang on. But why? 

it had been an ongoing ordeal, hoseok had met the sweetest old woman spirit that he shared long nights with listening to her stories and how she was separated from her husband when they both ended up passing away. it was a terrible story, and hoseok was willing to help all he could to help her find her husband… but it had been a couple of weeks since had last seen the woman, worried he lost her, but he promised her he’d help, so he’d do his damned hardest to find her once again.

he found himself on the next bus out of the city to follow what clues he had to finding an item of the old woman’s spirit to try and summon her once again. but the bus seemed to be taking forever when he noticed a spirit sit beside him. it wasn’t anything unnatural to hoseok, he often had spirits join him just for the company and wanting to talk to someone who understood. so hoseok accepted his company, enjoyed the conversation with the old spirit.

and it wasn’t the spirit that startled hoseok, but rather the voice that came from around him asking if he could see the spirit. the writer tilted his head in confusion, it wasn’t often that others could see spirits just as he could. he could only find himself blinking a couple times before finally able to speak. ❝ oh, uh, yeah i can… so can you?? ❞

“Hi, oh wow, this is a first.” Jongdae murmured softly before as he stepped closer and glanced at the other ghost. He smiled unconsciously. He ha been thinking he might be one of the last mediums that were legitimate here in the Seoul area and yet... Here was someone. 

“You’re like me then...” Were the words that slipped from his mouth before his eyes went wide and he covered his mouth with a shy flush. “Oh goodness, I’m sorry. It’s just- You see- I... I’m a bit star struck I guess!” 

He laughed and scratched his head before he smiled at the other as his smile widened with his small fidgets. “I do hope I’m not encroaching on your time, It’s just I’ve been searching for this ghost so I can help him find his wife. He died pretty suddenly a few years ago and forgot where he had to go to meet his wife again to move on...” 

He felt himself get shy almost, the blood pumping through his face and ears and tinting them with a dusting of pink. He smiled a bit wider and huffed. “I have a few places narrowed down finally on where I think she is... And I mean...” 

“Indeed.”

He’s dealt with his fair share of criminal types. The ones that didn’t get caught all shared a common interest in cleaning up after themselves. No evidence, no conviction. Nobody breaking the law on the regular is looking to get caught.

He chuckles a little at the affirmation. A quick “Yeah, kinda figured,” and he looks around for anything else he may have left around. Nothing immediately obvious - except for the torso-sized hole in the grave plot they’ve been occupying and piles of dirt around it. 

Oh, yeah. That.

He steps over and starts pushing the dirt back into the hole with his foot, moving quickly. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just less glaring. It takes a moment to make his way around, footsteps muffled by the loose soil and damp grass.

Another question he doesn’t know the answer to. But he laughs again, because it’s entirely unexpected. At least he can look this one up.

“Uh, Maps says….” He kicks in the last of the dirt, taps it down, and pulls out his phone. “There’s a Butterfinger Pancakes not too far from here.”

He shifts his bag again, readying himself - taking everything in, and starts for the cemetery gates.

“We could probably grab a taxi for pretty cheap. But I’m not sure how happy they’d be if they picked us up from here. So… we should probably call it at the end of the street.”

“I’ll take that.” Jongdae said softly with a smile as he dusted more dirt off himself. He hoped he hadn’t missed paying for rent. He’d hate to have been evicted. He looked up toward the sky as his eyes went dull and he sighed. 

He turned his head toward the other as he walked with Kyungsoo, his legs a bit weak as he kept moving. He felt stiff all over now that the adrenaline finally gave way. He sighed and huffed. He was also thirsty. 

He looked to Kyungsoo and watched the other with curiosity. It had been so long since he last saw him. His friend. He should ask. 

“Where did you go? Like... Did you leave the country?” He asked with a quiet murmur as the chilled air. The wind howled a bit, blowing through his thin clothes as he shivered and then sighed.

“BItch I want so many pancakes right now. And I want milk.” He groaned and then held his stomach. 

He groaned a bit and rubbed it as he felt his stomach rumble for food. He was so hungry. Why was he so hungry?

“Not everybody can be God’s perfect idiot.”

He feels the tug of a smile at his lips and this time it actually feels genuine. Jongdae has always been able to find a way to make him laugh. But he’s always been able to do that with pretty much everyone. Kyungsoo doesn’t have that gift: when he makes people laugh, it’s usually by accident and at his own expense.

“We’ve seen a lot. This isn’t exactly strange in comparison.”

He… doesn’t like to think about how strange it was that he kept piles of puppies in his room. Normal people would find it morbid and perhaps a little disgusting. Jondgae thinks that and still accepts him anyway. It’s kind of nice.

At the mention of a phone, he frowns.

“They probably hocked it with any other valuables you had,” he says, ”because dead guys don’t have anyone to call.”

He scratches at the nape of his neck, trying to come up with something plausible. How does he even know what’s possible if there are beings out there that he thought fictional? The former were-dude… shifter… would probably know better than he would. And he doesn’t seem to know anything either.

“We’re gonna figure it out at some point, but maybe not right now.”

“Bitches,” Jongdae mumbled as he felt over his body one last time for his phone. "Can't even bother to leave the evidence behind." There was nothing Jondgae hated more than having to get a new phone set up with brand new contacts. But in comparison, there were a few things he did hate more than that, like being dead. He sighed a bit. 

“I can wait to understand the mysteries of our lives, let’s go get food. I’m starving.” He mumbled as he scratched his throat and shivered. "Not for human flesh though. I swear I’m not a zombie.” He said ith a huff.

He wasn’t a zombie yes, but what was he now? He wasn’t undead, at least he didn't feel like an undead, but he wasn’t a shifter anymore either. How could he explain this when he got back home? Who was he now? Was he really just... Jongdae the Medium again? Or was he something more? Or less? God forbid, he lost his ghost sight. 

A quick glance around confirmed he hadn’t lost his ability, seeing a lingering spirit, hovering near what looked like their husband’s grave, waiting to pass on with them at their side. 

HIs eyes scanned over the graveyard and he felt a bit sad he didn’t have his final resting spot here. It was nice, quiet and isolated. No one would struggle to accept that his spirit moved on here. A shiver passed down his spine as he remembered his morality and he looked at Kyungsoo, his eyes sad and a bit desperate. 

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Oh, god. Minseok.

How could he have forgotten? Jongdae was so in love. He’d finally had something good in his life. Kyungsoo’s heart breaks at the news.

But he keeps moving. He’s learned how to keep going, even when it seems like the sky is falling. He leans in to inspect the scar on his friend’s neck.

It was definitely teeth - bigger than a normal person’s, but the number looks about right. And it’s old; definitely healed over a long time ago. His brain has trouble updating for a minute. There are shapeshifters now? It doesn’t seem real, and there isn’t really any proof besides the bite, but this doesn’t feel like a lie.

So he accepts it. Of fucking course, right? There would be fictional creatures in a world where people can see spirits and raise the dead. Not quite a stretch.

He takes a deep breath in, claps a hand on Jongdae’s shoulder.

“I’m so, so sorry. He was a wonderful person.” He gives a reassuring squeeze. “And that sounds… incredibly stressful. You did great, though. Managed to stay alive long enough to get yourself killed.”

He attempts a smile and a chuckle, though he can’t quite force the humor.

“I, uh, didn’t know there were people that weren’t human until today. But I used to bring back pets a lot.” He lets his hand fall to his side. “You’re still the most intact… being… to come back, though. By the time people find out I exist, by the time I find a grave to dig up, things are usually a little more bone and a little less breathing.”

He suddenly feels like he could use a cigarette. This is all a little too much for one night. Too bad he doesn’t smoke.

“The fact that you’re warm, your organs are working… you’re alive. I don’t even know if I could do that to a normal, human person.”

Jongdae feels the clap on his shoulder, and life seems so much different from what it was for him all those years ago. Seeing Kyungsoo looking at him like he used to, it felt like a punch on the gut. He looked a bit different, but deep down, it was still them. 

“I sound nuts, don’t I?” He said with a weak laugh and a bit teary eyes. He then smiled at Kyungsoo’s joke and laughed louder, shaking his head and smirking as he chuckles. “I’m amazing, aren’t I? The prime example of fittest in survival.” 

His fingers gently traced along his form as he furrowed his brows and huffed. “Yeah. I guess that’s true. I remember the pets. All the bones around your room.” He said as he lifted his shirt and felt around his chest before moving to his pants, patting them. 

“Did they steal my fucking phone?” he muttered with a growl, a bit more animal than human thanks to his years as the part animal he got from his shifter side. He paused and then breathed slowly, his hands shaking. 

“Honestly... I don’t have a way to explain why I’m just... Alive again. I wish I could explain it, but I can’t. But I guess I’m an anomaly.” He said before he groaned. 

“Can I borrow your phone? I wanna call mine. Maybe they left it with my body.” He said softly before he sighed. "Maybe I should just go get food." He said, feeling his stomach ache.