Sihyun sat up straight and took a good look around his surroundings in an attempt to see if there was anything out of place. But everything appeared completely normal.
Confusion clouded his mind as he lay back down, still feeling unsettled.
Then, once again… something moved in his peripheral vision.
He turned his head quickly, staring in the direction of the movement, but the only thing he saw was the large window at the end of the wall.
Was it some trick of the light in this dark room?
He couldn't be certain, so he stood up properly and walked toward the window.
Looking out, he could only see the peaceful nightlife.
With a tired sigh, he turned back around, thinking he might be needing some rest… but was immediately met with a shocking sight.
What looked like a pair of soulless eyes were staring right back at him.
A figure could be seen hanging upside down in midair, his head at the same level as Sihyun's, merely inches away from his face.
Jerking back, Sihyun let out an audible gasp, covering his mouth with his stiff hand.
On the other hand, looking equally startled, the ghostly figure yelped before flipping over his body to land safely on his feet.
Sihyun, who had just witnessed this unbelievable scenario, was so shocked that no reaction came out. He simply stood frozen with a blank stare.
Before him was what looked like a sickly pale person. "Hello," the figure said with a friendly wave.
Sihyun furrowed his brows, exhaling a deep breath. "I must really be losing my mind these days."
He walked right past the ghostly figure as if it wasn't there and proceeded to slump down on his bed.
The pale man turned around, looking confused. "Hey, are you just going to ignore me?"
"…"
"Hey."
"…"
"I know you just saw me."
"…"
"Geez, you're being mean," the man complained, his voice coated with unfairness.
But Sihyun couldn't care less. He had his arms draped over his face like a curtain, shutting out the world and everything in it.
The figure stood silently beside the bed, thinking hard while tapping a finger on his pale lips.
"Seriously… I wasn't trying to scare you by hanging upside down," the ghost apologized, sounding sincere. "I didn't even know you could see me. I swear!"
With a sharp click of his tongue, Sihyun turned over to the other side of the bed, completely ignoring the ghostly presence.
"Man, you're really ignoring me? Here I thought someone could finally see me," the ghost sighed before sorrowfully floating away through the concrete wall.
"…"
Noises tipped out of existence, leaving the dark room hollow and listening.
Sihyun strained his ears to catch any more sounds, but there was only pin-drop silence.
He opened one eye… scanning his surroundings.
And there–crouched down beside his bed, was the figure, staring right at him.
Sihyun hurriedly scooted back, shocked. His heart felt like it was about to jump straight out of his chest at any minute.
The figure looked somewhat apologetic, peeking from the edge of the mattress. "I didn't mean to scare you. But it's your fault for ignoring me."
Running his fingers through his hair in quiet frustration, Sihyun's features quickly changed.
"I could see you, so what?" he grunted, looking more annoyed than scared.
The ghost fidgeted awkwardly, not knowing what to say.
"…I just wanted to talk to someone."
"Go find someone else, I'm not interested in talking to a ghost."
"Hey, I'm n—"
The figure had a wronged look plastered across his face, but before he could continue, the door to the room suddenly swung open.
"Why are you awake this late?" Mr. Kim said, his fingers clicking on the light.
"…Just like that," Sihyun answered absently, scanning around the room but finding no sign of the ghostly figure.
"What are you looking at?"
"Hm? Oh… nothing."
Sihyun tried hard to retain his calm, carefully controlling the emotions that threatened to show on his face.
"By the way, why did you sneakily take your phone? Were you surfing the net again and—"
"No, I was just watching some videos," Sihyun interjected.
"Alright, but I'll be taking that for now." Mr. Kim reached out his hand, and Sihyun reluctantly handed over his phone.
It seemed like the manager didn't really buy his excuse.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
The room went dark again as Mr. Kim turned off the light and closed the door behind him.
Finding no trace of the ghost anymore, Sihyun lay back down on the mattress.
He figured he must've been exhausted enough to start hallucinating.
Was he really that lonely?
He exhaled a long breath, shut his eyes, and forced himself to sleep.
After a few excruciating hours of restless tossing, morning finally came.
Sihyun was making breakfast at the kitchen counter when his manager walked in, yawning. "Ugh… You should've told me to make it for you."
"It's alright."
"Whoa, look here for a minute," Mr. Kim exclaimed, noticing Sihyun's tired face.
"It seems like your dark circles are getting worse. Didn't you get enough sleep?"
"Same old, same old," Sihyun replied casually, carrying his breakfast tray to the dining table.
"We should get that checked out. Maybe doing meditation or something will help in the meantime."
Sihyun just hummed in response, crunching on his cereal, not really listening.
Just then, the melodious ringtone of Mr. Kim's phone could be heard drifting from his room and hurriedly went in to pick it up, leaving Sihyun alone in the kitchen.
He calmly poured more milk into the cereal, mixing it with a spoon before taking a bite.
"Is it good?"
"I guess…" he casually replied, not caring much about the taste.
He was eating just for the sake of it, trying to avoid Mr. Kim's constant nagging.
"It doesn't really look good by the way you're frowning while you chew."
Sihyun, who was swirling the food absently with his spoon, halted his motion all of a sudden.
He slowly glanced up after finally realising the voice was not his manager's… but someone else's.
Sitting beside him was the figure from the previous night, palm propping up his pale face as he stared at the bowl in front of them.
Sihyun didn't comment and continued with what he had been doing.
"Come on, you're gonna ignore me again? Aren't you being too much?"
"…"
"Really? You can't be my friend?"
The ghost pleaded with a pout, but Sihyun didn't care.
"It seems like I'll have to go out for a while. Will you be okay on your own?" Mr. Kim called from the other room, busily putting on his padded jacket. "I'll be back soon."
"Alright," Sihyun replied lazily, utterly indifferent to both the ghost and the manager.