Bubbles…
Bubbles everywhere.
Why?
Because I was taking a frickin' bubble bath.
Hehehe. I giggled like a child, and I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.
Hehehe.
This was so awesome.
Ever since I was a kid, I liked—well, actually, I loved—to daydream. Especially when Mom and Dad had a fight. Well, they had many fights. It wasn't serious most of the time—mostly Mom telling my dad to do some house chores on weekends, and my dad being lazy because, of course, it was the weekend. Then my mom said how she never got any weekends off, that she had to do everything. Then my dad flared occasionally with, "You don't know what I do for this family, blah blah, I sacrificed so much, blah blah."
Sigh. Anyway, I didn't like it when they fought, so I made a habit of ignoring it and getting lost in my daydreams. Some of those daydreams were about me getting superpowers, or something happening at school and me coming out with my hidden powers, saving everyone, becoming a hero, and all the girls gushing over me. Finally, they would realize how awesome I was and how blind they were for not noticing my awesomeness.
Damn, those were really… sigh. Anyway, another one of my favorite daydreams was me running away from my house—which, by the way, would never happen, since I was too cowardly to do that—but in my daydreams, I was not a coward. No, I was a brave, cute, awesome, adorable little angel who would leave his house, and suddenly a big limo with billionaires who couldn't have a child would see me and adopt me, and give me all the candy and ice cream I could ever eat.
Hehehe, hahaha.
Those were fun.
Well, but daydreams are just daydreams. They never turned true—or at least that's what I thought. But now…
It seemed like all my daydreams had turned true. I just had to die for it, though.
Dying sucks, but getting a dream-like life is good.
---
{"You're very happy, aren't you, imposter?"}
Who was that?
I looked around the spacious bathroom, trying to find the one who spoke.
No one. I was alone in the big bathtub.
Strange. Was I hearing things? Was it an illusion?
{No, it wasn't.}
"Who's that?"
I sat up, not relaxed anymore.
Was this place haunted? The thought came to my mind.
And why was the voice so familiar?
{"You know why, don't you, Rafael?"}
My eyes widened.
As if the temperature suddenly plummeted, I felt chills up my spine.
Who… how—?
{"How did I know your name? Isn't it obvious?"}
I gulped, feeling my throat dry. I already had a guess in my mind, but… but how could it be!?
"You are…"
{"Asher Crimson. The real Asher. The one that was killed in the dungeon by that honorless scum—the one whose body you now occupy."}
It was silent in the spacious bathroom, the only sound being dripping water.
"So you're haunting this bathroom?" I asked, not liking the silence.
{Huh? W… What? How? Why?}
But the ghost seemed not to understand my question, as it sounded confused.
"I mean, like, haunting a bathroom is kinda cliché, but I'm not judging or anything."
{Wa… Huh?}
It seemed like my explanation only made the ghost more confused.
Well, that's one way to handle a ghost—just confuse them.
{Why would you think I'm haunting this bathroom?}
"Well," I scratched my cheek as I answered, "you spoke just now like in those haunted movies—you know, the ones where the ghost first reveals itself, and the MC gets scared, but then nothing happens to him for the first half, and—"
{Shut up!!}
The ghost seemed to not like my pop-culture wisdom. It even sounded angry.
"I'm not haunting this bathroom, you idiot! I'm not even a ghost… I think!"
"You think?"
{I know! I'm not a ghost! I'm a living, brea— I'm a living, talking man whose body you stole!}
"Okay, Mr. Invisiboy, I have to explain something to you. I didn't steal anything, okay? I died in my world, and then I opened my eyes and I was in this body. Now, I don't know what you think, but I have nothing to do with this."
The voice stayed silent.
I didn't speak either—mostly because I didn't know what to say. This was the first time I was dealing with a ghost—especially the ghost of the person whose body I was inhabiting.
This was like playing with an account you found randomly on the internet, and suddenly the original owner tells you it's his account. What am I supposed to do? Give him back his account? Then how am I supposed to play? Also, I don't even know how to give it back!
But the silence was too damn awkward.
Deliberately exhaling a sigh, I thought of something to say.
"Umm… so you're haunting this bathroom?"
"..."
"..."
Not hearing anything from the ghost, I cringed a little.
Come on, me, why did you have to say that? Was the ghost offended? Maybe it's offensive to ask a ghost about the place they haunt. Could be—you never know.
Feeling awkward, I couldn't stay silent anymore and said,
"Hey, look, I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I just—I never knew it was offensive for a ghost."
{Shut up!!…}
"Huh, that felt familiar."
{What are you on about?}
"Umm, that you might be offended because I asked about the place you haunt?"
{Are you an idiot?}
"Hey!!! Stop calling me names, you invisible, rude ghost! Now I feel offended."
I felt like I heard a sigh as the voice stayed silent for a moment, then said,
{Again, I'm not a ghost. I'm inside your—my—soul realm. Or that's what I think. And you're the one that hijacked my body.}
"Well… so you're not haunting this bathroom?"
{No, you idiot! Why would you even think that?!}
"Well, you didn't speak to me before I was in the bathroom, so… Plus, cut me some slack here, this is the first time I've been inside someone else's body."
"..."
"Okay, that came out a little weird, but you understand what I mean, right?"