Mx. Kai's Stories

“...death took place at approximately six o’four in the evening.” You murmured lowly, jotting down the last of your notes on the case you were currently working on. A man was shot a point blank range in the back, paralyzing him until he bled out just a few hours ago.

You pulled a stained sheet over the mans body, bringing your shift to an end. You’d been working since four in the morning, and it was now nearly nine pm. More and more bodies have been getting discovered throughout town, and it just made your job a slight bit harder.

Days passed where upwards of five bodies would be brought in to be examined and you were getting exhausted. Officers at the precinct you worked at talked and talked about gang violence that was starting to get out of hand, a few even going as far as to assume that some kind of mob war had broken out. If they were right, this was only the beginning and you would most likely be swamped with work before you’d know it.

Physically, you were prepared, but mentally, looking at dead bodies all day had begun to take a toll on you. It wasn’t like you minded digging through a dead persons organs, but you’d put so much work into it, you didn’t have much time to sleep or even get a proper meal.

Most days you’d only drink coffee and stay cooped up in your office ready for the next case, and it was days like those you were afraid you’d be so caffeinated that you’d just vibrate out of existence. 

An exasperated sigh left your lips as you gathered your personal belongings and left out the back door of your workplace. Thankfully, it wasn’t all too cold yet, even though winter was approaching fast, so you didn’t have to wear multiple layers of clothing to keep warm. You started the trek to your apartment which was just a few blocks from the precinct.

With all that’s been going on in the streets, you were slightly scared anytime you’d left the building. Over the past few weeks, you’ve noticed that crime was mostly targeted towards the more wealthy people, but nothing really seemed predictable when it came to these things. Just as detectives would find a lead, the lead would be proved innocent, they’d die, or something new would come up, adding onto the list of plausible suspects in a case.

It was a hectic process that the police staff had to go through, but they seemed to be doing their best to try and clean up the streets. 

You decided to stay off the busy main roads, taking the back alleys to your apartment building. Everything had seemed calm, you didn’t spot any people around, the only noises you had heard were crickets chirping and a few small rustles of fallen leaves here and there. But it didn’t last too long.

A muffled cry sounded from an alley nearby, and even though you were few feet away from your home, you decided to check it out. Internally, you were slapping yourself for being dumb. You’d always seen people on TV check out strange noises dying soon after, but someone could be hurt, or there could be an animal that needed help. Either way, you still thought it was an extremely stupid idea. 

Upon peering into the alley that was only slightly illuminated by a dim light, you seen three men. One of the men had fallen to the ground, looking up at the other two. The man on the ground seemed to be pleading to the other two, but you were unable to make out any words due to your distance from them and the quiet speaking. Suddenly, the taller of the standing men, pulled out a pistol, aiming right between the eyes of the man on the ground.

The man on the ground spoke slightly louder. “Please, GD, I can get you whatever you need. You don’t have to do this.” His eyes darted around, eventually landing on you. Despite being in such a troubling situation, he whispered something to the standing men, making them avert their gaze from the fallen man to you. 

You retreated quickly, darting one alley over and across the street to the apartment buildings. Knowing that you had witnessed something that was nearly a murder, sent shivers down your spine and your mind went into a frenzy. What if those men decided to go after you now? Were you safe? Should you call the police?

Shaking slightly, you rushed into the building and into the elevator, clicking the fifth floor button. The wait to get up to your floor seemed to take forever, making you increasingly paranoid as the seconds passed by. As soon as the elevator let you out, you found your door, unlocking it and shutting it behind you. 

Once you were inside the comforts of your home, you eased up a little bit. You left your shoes and purse by the door then made your way to your bedroom. You changed out of your clothes that reeked of death and into a freshly cleaned pair of pajamas. 

Like most other nights, you probably wouldn’t get much sleep, but it was worth a try. You groaned and laid down in your bed, covering up with the heavy comforter. As soon as your head hit the soft pillow, you’d passed out.

Your eyes took in the room you were currently in; the previously painted beige walls had been speckled by a thick red liquid, a lamp had fallen from a table, the light bulb shattering on the hardwood floor that had been stained with the same liquid that was on the walls, a tall man had loomed above two familiar fearful people. One of those people was your mother, the other being your older brother, Haneul. You, however, were sitting in the darkened closet where your bother had told you to stay put until he came to get you. 

The tall shadowy man had yanked your mother away from your brothers grip, carrying her off to a separate room in the house. Haneul looked towards you, placing a finger over his lips, telling you to stay quiet. 

Haneul stood up and went to wherever the man and you mother were. After that, you heard shouting, then a few gunshots. Everything went silent and you went further into the closet, covering up with a blanket, scared of whatever would come next. 

Suddenly, you jolted up, drenched in cold sweat with all of your blankets thrown off of your bed. Your clock was the only thing shining through the darkness of your room reading ‘3:00 AM’. You groaned and decided to give up on sleep. Sifting through your dresser, you gathered an outfit, then went to the bathroom to take a refreshing shower to clear your mind. 

You just hoped today was a slow day and there wasn’t anything particularly too stressful.

Bang!

A ringing ran through your ears and you snapped your eyes shut as pain coursed through your body. You fell to your knees and your hands frantically searched for a wound, hoping that the bullet that pierced you didn’t hit anything major, but you knew it did. The bullet didn’t even pass through your body, it must’ve hit something inside your body and gotten stuck.

The slightest move you made caused you an immense amount of pain, that started to fade. Your vision became spotted by darkness, and life as you knew it was coming to a close. Your body collapsed on the hardwood floor and your breathing became labored, you wondered if it would just be easier to give into the inevitable instead of waiting for help or if you should at least try and hold on a little longer. You went with the latter.

Slowly, but surely you raised your upper body from the puddle of blood that had started to pool onto the floor. Shock had set in, along with your panic, and had made the wound numb, so you didn’t know where to put pressure to stop the bleeding. If the bullet inside of you didn’t hit anything, then the next worry is blood loss, and you had lost a lot of blood already.

A groan left your throat as you lifted your weight from the ground, you felt way heavier than before, even though you were losing so much. You slumped against the closest wall, using it to support your weight as you looked for something to tie around your torso in attempts to slow the blood that was practically pouring out of you at this point.

You slid along the beige walls, a clear path of blood being left on both the floor and wall. Your eyes scanned the room and came across a large grey sweater laying over the back of a chair. As fast as you could, you went to collect the sweater, tripping and getting the breath knocked from you on the way. You winced as a slight pain sent a shock through your body.

Once you were able to reach the sweater, you had grown significantly weaker. You brought the arms of the sweater around your torso, and tried to tie it, but you couldn’t get it tight enough to put any pressure on your wound.

So this was it.

This is how your story ended.

A shaky breath was expelled through your nostrils as you left go of your body and accepted that this was what your demise. You stared at the pale ceiling as your vision faded to pitch black.

“How long do you think she’s gonna be out?” You heard faintly but chose to ignore it.

Minutes passed before you felt someone poking at your cheek. “Wakey wakey, YN.” A light feminine voice sounded.

Immediately your eyes shot open at the voice saying your name. You were dead, right? That was the ultimate end, right? You seen a boy and a girl crouched in front of you, and you furrowed your brows.

“Um, hello?” It seemed more like a question than an actual greeting.

The boy’s plump lips curled into a cute smile and his eyes became crescents. “You put up a good fight, but welcome to the afterlife, YN!” He cheered as he jumped up.

To the other side of you, the girl was smiling admiringly at you. She looked familiar, but you don’t recall meeting her. Strangely enough, you found a sense of nostalgia in her gaze. “Sorry, about him, he’s a little excited to have another person here. I guess he was getting sick of being around me for so long.” She rolled her eyes with a small giggle.

She stood up and held her hand out for you. “My name’s Lisa, the other,” She pointed to the boy who was bursting with joy. “is Jimin.”

“It’s nice to meet you both, and I mean no disrespect what-so-ever, but what the actual fuck?” You asked once Lisa had pulled you from the ground.

Jimin frowned and walked closer throwing an arm around your shoulder to try and comfort your racing mind. “YN, you died.” He mumbled.

“Yeah, I know that! I thought I was done living?” You shouted, pulling away from the boy’s touch.

Lisa looked at you with concern. “Come with me, hon,” She took your hand and pulled you towards the couch. You sat down and turned to her. “You died, but that doesn’t mean you stop living, per say.”

You tilted your head to the side, clearly not understanding the situation you’re currently in. She sighed. “I know it doesn’t really make much sense. When people die, they go to one of two places. The first is Heaven, you can only get in if you’re a pure soul. Then there’s Hell for the wrongdoers with corrupted souls. But there’s also people who stay, like you, Jimin, and I. Our souls aren’t entirely pure, nor are they tainted enough to earn us a spot in Hell. So we stay on Earth.” Lisa explained.

You collected your various thoughts and pondered the explanation. I guess it kinda makes sense, you thought to yourself and nodded. “Okay.” You muttered.

After a few seconds of silence, you looked back at your resting place. There laid your lifeless corpse in a pool of blood that started drying around the edges. Jimin broke the silence. “I wonder when the neighbors will notice.”

Your lips parted as you thought of the words. In all honestly, they probably won’t. You barely ever seen them, and when you did there was no sort of interaction between you. The more you think about it, you didn’t have many friends who checked in on you, and your boss would just give you three days with nonstop calls then fire you if you didn’t show up for a fourth day.

Based on that, your body is probably going to go unnoticed for quite a while. “Can’t we just move it?” You questioned glancing at the two others by your sides.

Jimin shook his head and looked at you. “We can’t really hold things unless we harness enough energy. Lugging a body around would take up so much that we wouldn’t be able to move for days.” He pouted slightly. “It would take a while to even harness enough to lift your arm.”

Lisa nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Keep that in mind if you decide to go out and try and get someone’s attention; touching the living isn’t something to go around and do willy-nilly. It wouldn’t do any good anyways, they can’t see or hear us.” She warned.

You hummed and gave a nod in her direction. “So, what do we do to pass time?”

“We can introduce you to some more ghosts-” Lisa started, before getting cut off by Jimin.

“Why do we have to be called ghosts? Spirits is a prettier word.” He grumbled.

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Ghosts, spirits, whatever,” She huffed before continuing on. “Or we could do some haunting?” She suggested.

You raised your eye brows in surprise. “We can do that?”

Jimin chuckled at your reaction. “We can! I haunted my ex for a while before deciding to settle down a little bit.”

You smiled and stood up. “Then let’s have some fun.”

Lisa giggled. “Even in death you know how to lighten up some situations.”

The statement confused you a little, but you decided not to dwell on it for too long.

Jimin’s stomach twisted as he sent the last text. While you were flourishing, he took the time to sift through his feelings, and when he did, he found that he had a lot of feelings for you. When he was younger, he did have a crush on you, but he kept it from ever surfacing, meaning he ignored it. Overtime, he felt it growing, but thought it would go away.

While you were gone, he found his heart aching for you. He had never been away from you for so long, especially since you were inseparable when you were kids. Now, you had a boyfriend. You had gotten over your feelings for him, and knowing that you did made him hurt even more. 

Each night you were gone, he had prayed that you’d come back and he could ask you to be his, but now that wasn’t possible. He respected your privacy while you were gone, but it was agonizing. Finally you were coming back, and he couldn’t have you. It felt like you had tore his heart from his chest and threw it out.

After a few hours, the door opened to reveal you with the biggest smile he had seen on your lips. You were laughing along with a man, who Jimin assumed was your boyfriend. As the two of you got closer, Jimin recognized the man as Hoseok. He had went to the same schools as you and Jimin, he was loud and sometimes obnoxious. 

How could you choose to be Hoseok’s girlfriend and not his?

Hoseok averted his eyes from you to Jimin. “Jimin? Park Jimin?” His nose scrunched up slightly as he smiled.

Jimin just nodded and you looked between the two. “How do you two know each other?” You asked, clueless.

“Jimin was in a lot of my classes in school.” Hoseok said matter-of-factly. 

Realization hit you like a train as you looked up at Hoseok. “You’re loud Hoseok that Jimin always told me about?” It made sense to you now. “Holy fuck, how did I not notice?”

Hoseok chuckled and squished your cheeks. “You’re so cute when you’re shocked.”

You pulled away from him and pouted. You shifted your gaze to Jimin who was quiet the entire time. “You good, buddy?”

Jimin felt a ‘ping’ in his chest. Wow, buddy-zoned, he thought to himself. He gave a false smile and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Not picking up on the fact that he wasn’t fine, you hugged him quickly and then pulled Hoseok along to your room so that the both of you could unpack.

Once you two were done, you decided to cuddle and take a nap. Jimin walked by your room to check on you, only to see you both asleep, with your arms around each other and your legs in a tangled mess. 

He left out a shaky breath and closed your door. Your eyes fluttered open and you looked over at Hoseok. He looked so at peace when he was asleep, it was way different from the usual effervescent Hoseok that you had seen everyday. You placed a kiss on his cheek and untangled the two of you. 

You made your way out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen were you had seen Jimin with tears dripping from his chin. When he noticed you standing there, he dried his eye the best he could and stood up straight. “YN, what are you doing here, I thought you were asleep?”

“I wanted a snack. Why are you crying, Jimin?” You asked softly, walking closer.

His cheeks heated up as he looked away. “It’s nothing.” He muttered.

“That is bullshit and you know it. You aren’t fine, what’s going on?” You urged with a stern tone. 

Tears started falling once again as he put his hands on his face to keep you from seeing them, but it was pretty clear that he was crying. “YN, I like you, but I can’t,” His voice wavered as he choked back a sob that was climbing up his throat. “You’re my friend, and you have Hoseok, and you’re happy.”

“You’re right,” You mumbled. “I am happy. I’m happy because I wanted to be happier. I worked towards my happiness. I needed to get over you because I though ‘Oh, it’d never work between us in a million years’. I was right, it would never had worked. Now, it’s your turn. You deserve to be happy, Jimin. You have to put work into your happiness, it won’t come easy, but it will come.” You spoke with concern.

The speech you gave barely made him feel differently, but he nodded understandingly. At this point, he was considering trying the method that you had used prior, and sleeping with people to keep you off of his mind. It wouldn’t be much different from what he was doing before, the only change being that the feelings for you were there and not deeply rooted elsewhere inside of himself. “Thanks.”

Assuming that he actually understood, you smiled softly and said, “What are friends for?” You walked to the cabinet and pulled out a bag of chips. You took the bag as you walked back to you room. You tried not to make too much noise, but the bag of chips didn’t really cooperate. Hoseok ended up awaking and pulling you close to him. 

“You’re gonna share, right?” He whispered to you.

You pretended to think for a moment and replied. “Nope!” You said, popping the ‘p’. 

He pouted and rolled his eyes. “Well, then I’ll have to fight you for them!” He declared his hands instantly attacking your sides with tickles.

After a while, you were breathless. “I surrender! I surrender!” You shouted and he left you alone, taking a handful of chips from the bag.