for youniqorn
Title: Two Quarters (and a Heart) Down
For: youniqorn
Pairing: Jaehyo/Kyung
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1219
Summary: Maybe it is or maybe it isn't, but it's time to figure it out.
Notes/Warnings: Dear recipient, I apologize in advance. But if you want, get in touch with me afterwards, because this story literally got a universe all its own.
It’s dark when they march back to their section of the bleachers, third quarter of another losing game, melodies still lingering in the air. There are whispers, maybe louder talks, coming from the concession stands. Smells of cheap soda and hot dogs, pickles and nacho cheese, and sweat mingle together, and this is the stench of Friday.
Jaehyo takes his hat off; he feels his hair, a bit damp, move about in the still-warm October breeze. He leaves his jacket on, in fear of ruining his purple cape, and leans against the outer edge of bleachers. He twists the cap of his nearly empty water bottle and wonders if he can trick the booster club into giving him another free one.
“Tomorrow’s the big day,” Taeil says as he props beside him. His jacket is undone, and his hat is probably somewhere next to his trumpet, which is most likely being guarded by an underclassman.
Jaehyo loses grip of the bottle’s lid, and it falls somewhere under the bleachers. He isn't really that concerned, though. “Yep.”
“Are you ready?”
Jaehyo cocks his head to the side, watching Jiho throw water at Yukwon. “Nope, but honestly, does it matter?”
Jihoon steps in front of Yukwon, who is soaked by this point, and Jiho dumps the rest of the bottle’s content on his own face. Jaehyo notices Jiho staring in his direction and waves.
“I hear you have an admirer,” Jaehyo whispers.
Taeil shrugs and smiles. “It happens I guess.”
Minhyuk walks by, two bottles of colored liquids in his hands, and winks at Taeil. Taeil nods in response.
“Look, Jaehyo, I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” he says as he wipes his hands off on his purple bibbers. “I might be late. You know, what with bathroom lines and all.”
Jaehyo watches Taeil wander off in the darkness, a few paces behind Minhyuk. Great, he thinks, now who’s going to lead the fight song?
As drum major, it’s Jaehyo’s duty to keep up with the minutes remaining in the quarter, to wrangle everyone back where they belong for the fourth. It’s not his favorite thing to do, but he doesn't really have a choice.
Some people never really leave the stands, actually watching the game or the cheerleaders. Most everyone else returns promptly after going to the bathroom or concessions stands. But others, and there are a few, like to wander around aimlessly just to be assholes.
“Jihoon, have you seen Jiho?”
Jihoon shakes his head, both hands full of restaurant napkins. “Not since he soaked Kwon.”
Jaehyo rubs his temples as Jihoon climbs up to the top row of the stands. He catches a glimpse of Jihoon wiping Yukwon’s face with the napkins, ruffling his hair dry when he came out.
“They’re pretty cute, huh?”
Jaehyo shifts his gaze down and smiles. “Yeah, cute. Um, have you, maybe, seen Jiho?”
Kyung shifts his feet, weight bearing on his ankles and tilts his head up. “Do I look like Jiho’s keeper to you?”
Jaehyo sighs, his shoulders sag, and he just wants to climb in his bed for a few years. “I was just asking. The quarter’s almost over, and I can’t find him.”
Kyung grins, like he knows something Jaehyo doesn't. Maybe it’s the adrenaline of a decent show or tiredness or the little knots his stomach makes when Kyung smiles like that, but Jaehyo finds that he likes it more with the glow of the stadium lights.
“Where’s Taeil?” Kyung asks a little too smoothly.
“Bathroom. Why?”
Kyung doesn't even blink. “Jiho’s in the bathroom.”
Jaehyo squints his eyes, not really necessary but still. “How do you know? And what’s that got to do with Taeil?”
“You really don’t know, do you?” The question becomes a mere whisper, a bit of warm breath at the base of his neck. “Fuck, trust me on this, okay?”
Jaehyo has maybe always been a bit of a romantic at heart, but that doesn't explain how the countdown to the fourth quarter seems to slow down or how the noises muddle together before wasting away into nothing. But it does explain this feeling, this need for a confession. His confession. Kyung looks at him expectantly.
"Um, I guess I need to get back to bleachers. I'm sure everyone is wondering where I am," he manages to whisper.
Kyung grabs his wrist, the only skin available to touch due to his jacket, but Jaehyo feels it tingle down every nerve in his body. "They're not."
Jaehyo only feels slightly offended; Kyung is moving slightly closer, pushing him under the bleachers and into the shadows. And maybe it's because it's dark or probably because he's wanted this since that first day, but Jaehyo leans in. His hands tangle in Kyung's hair, still a bit wet and curling around his ears, his lips so close to Kyung's.
That's when it happens, not to the crackles of fireworks or the bursting of trumpets but to the crash of a cymbal on the metal stands probably above them and far too close. But Jaehyo can feel Kyung move against him, with him. He doesn't want to stop; he wants the world to stop, just in this moment like suspended animation.
But a buzzer sounds and some men start shouting, and that's the end. The reality of it all is still there when he opens his eyes; Kyung is still there when he opens his eyes.
"So, tomorrow?" Kyung asks, a bit more breathless than usual but just as nonchalant.
Jaehyo pauses. For his breath or an explanation, he isn't sure. “Tomorrow?”
“I’ll save you a seat on the bus. Remember bright and early,” Kyung says as he fiddles with the straps of his bibbers. Before he stumbles back into the light, he straightens Jaehyo’s jacket, pulling the cape over his shoulders and sliding his fingers over the sequins on his sash. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
Kyung pulls Jaehyo down for one more kiss, this one shorter but steadier. And maybe because they are already late, Jaehyo kisses him back.
Jaehyo makes it to his place in front of the drumline about two minutes into the fourth quarter; Kyung walks up the bleachers to the humming of the fight song.
“Where the fuck have you been, mister?” Minhyuk asks with a wink, bumping knuckles with Jaehyo the second the song ends.
Jaehyo looks up at Kyung, who is all big eyes and big nose, sharp tongue but sharper wit. The boy doesn't know what he’s doing to him as he shakes around with Yukwon, his tenor saxophone rocking into his body with every movement.
“Wait, where have you been?” Jaehyo asks Minhyuk once he gets his attention back.
“Well, you see, there was this experiment. And the bathroom was really the best place for it.”
Jaehyo tilts his head. “What kind of experiment?” He wipes his hand, the one Minhyuk touched briefly, on Minhyuk’s pant legs. “Honestly, I’d rather not know.”
And as the minutes wind down (on the clock, on the field, in his mind), Jaehyo thinks that is how he wants to sum up this Friday.
(Saturday, however, is another story as he slides into a back seat with Kyung flush against his body and hand laced in his own.)
Title: Of Grime and Evil
For: youniqorn
Pairing: OT7; Jihoon-focus
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 9000
Summary: They came. They saw. They kicked ass. (I mean, they did a really great job cleaning.)
Notes/Warnings: Tonchiki, thanks for reading every update and encouraging me. You really deserve more than a blurb in a notes section, but I hope you take it kindly. To my recipient, your prompts were amazing! I just hope I do this justice.
Jihoon folds the paper, hiding the instructions he printed from the internet. He checks his reflection in the rearview mirror one more time and smooths his hair from his face. The click of a door opening and his steady steps seem to echo through the sleeping city. He rubs his hands on his cotton-clad forearms, fighting the cold of autumn air. Monday 4:56 a.m. As he pulls on the metal doors, he wonders why it feels like the end of the world.
The job, though nothing detrimental, is the epitome of irony. An untidy boy grows into a man that cleans houses for others too lazy to do so themselves. His mother's laughter still rings through his ears. I'll only be driving. I'll only be driving, he reminds himself as the seconds tick away. Five o'clock is too far away, and the uncomfortable metal chair is causing him to fidget more. He looks around the room for something to alleviate the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach but finds most of the walls bare. Scraps of paper, mostly newspaper clippings, are hanging from push pins on a corkboard. Letters above the board read Brand New Cleaning Company.
"You must be Pyo Jihoon," a man says as he cocks his head.
Jihoon stands and bows slowly, a bit confused at the man who is now circling him. When he makes his way back around to face Jihoon, the man smiles.
"You'll do." Jihoon thinks the wink was a bit unnecessary, but it's his first day. He's really unsure of, well,
everything.
"I'll do? What do you mean?" he asks.
The man stares, eyes wide and round. "You'll start right now. Yukwon! The new guy is here!"
Another man, a bit taller than the first, emerges from the back of the building in a khaki jumpsuit. He bows in Jihoon's direction; his eyes barely open and his face looks puffy from sleep.
The first guy is calling out directions and names and chemicals. However, the second guy, Yukwon, grabs the keys from the hook by the bulletin board without much care to any of it.
"You ready?" Yukwon asks after a yawn.
Jihoon merely nods, wondering what he has gotten himself into. The second guy pats his forearm lightly.
"I’m Kyung, by the way. Welcome to Hell."
Yukwon is already halfway to the van before Jihoon takes three steps outside the building. Yukwon opens the back, calling out names and tapping on sides of plastic containers. When he seems satisfied, he slams the white double doors and tosses the keys to Jihoon. Jihoon catches them barely, a key ring hanging from his right pinky.
He nods and slides into the driver's seat. Yukwon climbs into the seat beside him and furrows his eyebrows.
"You can drive, right?"
Jihoon nods and starts the engine. He isn't really sure what he should do, but he figures that getting the van in drive would be a good start.
"Don't worry. I know where we're going," Yukwon says, maybe to comfort Jihoon.
However, Jihoon the driver doesn't know where they are going. But he decides he'll find it eventually.
Yukwon pushes the radio on and sings along to something foreign and acoustic. Jihoon drives slowly,
anticipating any turns.
In between a verse and the chorus, Yukwon mutters something that sounds like the name of a nearby apartment complex. Jihoon takes the necessary streets and parks as close to the lobby of the building as possible. Yukwon jumps out of the door and scurries to the back of the van.
"It's not like you have to, but you wanna help?" Yukwon asks as he straps what looks like a vacuum cleaner on his back. "It may be better than sitting out here."
Jihoon shrugs, contemplating his options. He walks to the back and is soon carrying bottles and sponges. "You come here often?" he manages to ask.
Yukwon slams the door at roughly the same time, and Jihoon wonders if he should repeat himself. But Yukwon smiles. "Jiho calls a lot."
"I don't know why he wants us to come so early. That asshole is probably still in bed," Yukwon says as they head up in the elevator.
The older lady scoffs at the language and hurries out when they reach her floor. Yukwon seems to pay no mind. "He may be in a bad mood, but he's always like that. But since Taeil isn't here, he may be more of a jerk."
"He has something going on with Taeil?" Jihoon pauses watching the liquids slush around in the bottles to gauge Yukwon's reaction. Yukwon bites his bottom lip; Jihoon thinks maybe he stepped over his boundaries. Taeil is, according to the advertisement, his boss. "Not like it's any of my business," he says, words jumble and echo off the elevator walls.
"Jiho and Taeil have something, but I don't think Taeil knows about it yet," Yukwon chuckles. "You have a really low voice, you know."
Jihoon shares a laugh with Yukwon before the elevator doors open. Yukwon starts to step out first, his voice
suddenly serious. "It's nice, though."
Jihoon follows along, arms full of orange-smelling cleaners and a smile on his face.
Jihoon looks at the room numbers of the doors they pass, occasionally catching a glimpse of what's inside.
"It's the last room on this floor, and in my opinion, one of the shittiest," Yukwon says as the walk along the
hallway. He plays with the straps of the vacuum cleaner backpack, adjusting them and readjusting when they aren't even. "I think this is Kyung's pack. He's the only one that wears it this high on his back."
"Why do you wear one at all? It's just a regular vacuum, and how many people don't have a vacuum cleaner?" Jihoon stops peeking into the rooms to watch Yukwon. It's then that he notices Yukwon is no longer beside him but a few steps behind.
Yukwon cocks his head, scrunching his face slightly as his fingers touch the walls. He rubs something gooey between his index finger and thumb and lifts it to his nose.
"Yukwon?"
"Oh, sorry, I get carried away sometimes," he starts as he walks toward Jihoon, motioning him close with his cleaner hand. Jihoon dips lower so Yukwon is no more than a breath away. "As for vacuums, I would be surprised if someone had one like this baby."
A question is on the tip of Jihoon's tongue, ready and needing desperately to be answered. But Yukwon grins.
"C'mon, before Jiho gets any more pissy."
Jiho answers the door the sixth time Yukwon knocks on it. "You're late," he mutters before opening the door fully, revealing the living room and most of his body.
"May as well get dressed. Taeil isn't here, and I'd hate for little Jiho there to get loose," Yukwon says brightly, patting Jiho's thigh as he strolls inside.
Jihoon stumbles in behind him, bowing slightly to Jiho and trying his best not to accidentally squirt cleaner at himself. Yukwon pushes the left strap of his pack off his shoulders and slings the vacuum onto the nearby sofa; Jiho closes the door with a bump of his hip.
"So what do you want done? The usual, or do you need something special done?"
Jiho shrugs. "Do whatever, just get it done fast. I pay by the hour, you know."
Yukwon salutes Jiho, who struts to the back of the apartment. Clothes and sheets of music are pushed in the floor from the chair, and Yukwon helps himself to the newly available seat. Jihoon moves away from the door, figuring that niceties were left on the other side of the fame.
Jiho emerges with pants on, his scowl long gone. "Kwon, I'm going out for a bit. Be back in an hour or so.
While I'm gone, do your job not your boyfriend."
"I'm always professional," Yukwon starts, mock offended. Jiho laughs, which earns him a middle finger from
Yukwon.
Jihoon stands a little lost and confused. Jiho walks past him, patting his shoulder. "Your boyfriend is an
asshole."
"He's not my boyfriend," Jihoon manages to say as he drops a bottle on the floor.
"Not yet, anyway," Yukwon says as he picks the cleaner up. Jihoon chokes a little on air; Jiho laughs. Yukwon merely smiles.
"He works with us. Taeil hired him."
Jihoon watches as the last words change Jiho's demeanor, though he's not sure why. Jiho storms out of the room, muttering under his breath.
"Might as well get to work."
Jihoon scrubs an hour away with Yukwon, then another and another. They sort through piles of clothes and toss them into worn-out hampers in the bathroom, and they form bigger stacks of paper from the small collections lying around the floors. Wads of paper become balls in quick games of basketball as they move farther from the trash can, red panties marking Yukwon’s spot and a black sock for Jihoon’s.
Jiho comes home sometime in the middle of a round, Yukwon’s arms full of more crumpled up papers and Jihoon in mid-throw, and demands his turn.
Jiho is losing, pretty badly, and if distance determines anything, he stands a meter away and bending in for goals. And somehow, in the midst of it all, Yukwon and Jihoon sneak out of the cleaner apartment without so much as a wave goodbye.
As they ride the elevator down, Jihoon decides to voice his opinion of the day once the coast is clear.
“Winner!”
Yukwon rolls his eyes. “Okay, Winner, I’m starving. Food?” When Jihoon nods, Yukwon continues, “I know a place.”
Jihoon exits the elevator before his stomach has time to voice its opinion on food.
“Yukwon!”
Jihoon turns first and, in the process, almost knocks Yukwon out with a squirt bottle of bleach.
“Jaehyo, how’s it going? Who’s this?” Yukwon asks, looking the other guy up and down. Once behind and out of the guy’s view, he gives Jaehyo a thumbs up. “I can’t believe you gave up already, though.”
“I didn't,” Jaehyo squeaks out, fingers fidgeting with the buttons of his coat and the pendant around his neck. “Um, this is my new roommate. Minhyuk, this is Yukwon. Yukwon, Minhyuk.”
Jihoon watches the introductions, wondering if he should just go on and wait in the van for Yukwon and dream of food. But Jaehyo tilts his head before he gets very far.
“Kwon, who’s this?”
Yukwon moves from Minhyuk to stand next to Jihoon, patting his arm for good measure. “This is Jihoon. He works with us now.
It’s his first day, so I’m showing him the ropes.”
Jaehyo bows; Jihoon tries to do the same. Jaehyo’s mouth opens, then closes. Then he opens it again. “Just came back from Jiho’s?”
Jihoon nods.
“I promise, we are not all like that,” Jaehyo adds. Yukwon giggles a bit before bidding goodbye.
Jihoon turns to wave, watching as Jaehyo punches the buttons on the elevator for what seems like everyone boarding. Minhyuk doesn't wave, doesn't smile.
But then again, it is Monday and well before noon.
One hand on the wheel and the other on his burger, Jihoon is ready to head back to Brand New Cleaning Company. The streets are filling up due to the work rush. Yukwon seems perfectly content in bumper-to-bumper traffic, fiddling away at the radio’s knobs.
“Guess I should call Kyung,” he says when he deems the current songs unworthy.
He digs in his pockets for his phone but waits before dialing. One song ends, and another song starts. Yukwon drops the phone in his lap and turns the volume up. “I guess Kyung can wait for a bit.”
Fourteen ridiculously cheesy pop songs later, Jihoon pulls into the spot reserved for the company van.
Kyung is waiting for them when they walk through the door, sitting at the desk in the middle of the lobby. “So, do you feel like quitting yet?"
Jihoon stretches his arms out above his head, everything smelling more like citrus and bleach as he does so. "It wasn't that bad. It takes a lot more than dirty socks to scare me."
Yukwon bustles by, a smirk on his face as he props himself on the edge of the desk. Kyung grins. "That's good to know. So you met Jiho, huh? I hope he had the decency to cover up this time."
Jihoon shakes his head, so Kyung continues. "Now you know why I never go over there. Did you meet his neighbor?"
To this Jihoon looks to Yukwon, fairly certain there wasn't a hallway get-together. Yukwon nods, so Jihoon does, too.
"He met Jaehyo in the lobby. Jaehyo's room is across the hall," Yukwon explains. He turns to Kyung and states, "Jaehyo's got himself one hot roommate."
Kyung blinks. "What?"
"Yeah, his name's Minhyuk. Hottest thing I've seen on that floor since, well since Jaehyo almost set his kitchen on fire."
Kyung props his head on the palm of his hand, elbow digging into a stack of papers on the desk. "Really? Well, he did say he needed a roommate." He stands up and adjusts the buttons of his cardigan, rolling up the sleeves a bit more than they were. "I have some work to do. I'm glad we didn't scare you away. Guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
Jihoon nods; Yukwon sighs as Kyung walks to the back of the building. "Well, it's been one helluva day, but you got through it. See you tomorrow bright and early. We've got a house to clean for some party, around the same time as today's."
"But it's not even noon yet."
Yukwon smiles. "I have to get some rest before the next job. Don't wanna fall asleep with a pack on my back."
"Fall asleep?" Jihoon asks incredulously. "The next job is in," he pauses to count, using his fingers, "like twenty hours from now. How long do you need to sleep?"
Yukwon shrugs and walks through the door Kyung had used. "Sleep well, Jihoonie."
"Yeah, you too." Jihoon stands in the empty lobby, confused and intrigued. He shrugs off today's mysteries in favor of enjoying the rest of the day.
The next morning follows the pattern of Monday. Jihoon slides his car to a stop a few minutes before five and is greeted by Kyung, who is sitting at the desk with a checklist in hand.
Kyung looks up from the stacks of papers and waves when the light is threatened by Jihoon’s shadow. He waves enthusiastically for a moment, constantly glancing at the document in hand. He stops all actions, as if in shock, and begins writing things in the right-hand corner of the paper. “Kwon, time to go!”
Yukwon stumbles from the back, guiding his arms through the proper holes of the jumpsuit. “Ready to save the world?” he asks as he zips the front of his uniform.
“Sure. I don’t have anything better to do today,” Jihoon says, a grin stretching onto his face.
As Yukwon leads the way out to the van, Jihoon turns to wave goodbye to Kyung. Kyung doesn't see him, though. The company phone is under his ear, and he is reading notes over the line. Most of it, Jihoon doesn't really hear, but there is a word that is repeated enough for him to catch.
Ghosts.
A question pops into Jihoon’s mind halfway to their destination. “Why doesn't Kyung ever go with you to clean?”
Yukwon turns the volume down on the radio, a news broadcast coming up next anyway, and shrugs. “It’s best he doesn't. If you ever saw his room, you’d understand. He hates things to be neat. Says it irritates the shit out of him.”
Jihoon nods, knowing good and well cleaning is not for everyone.
“How did you clean before? I mean, you were looking for a driver not an assistant. And who drove?”
Yukwon turns the volume back up. “Look, man, I just woke up. Save your questions for after the job.”
Jihoon remembers to add Yukwon’s bizarre sleeping habits to his list of questions.
The job for the most part is uneventful. Yukwon halves the house, Jihoon taking the right side and Yukwon on the left. They barely speak, except when asking each other if they had already made a stack for an item. The house itself is fairly clean, and the owners aren't there to watch and correct them.
After two and a half hours, Yukwon decides it’s clean enough. He gathers the equipment up quickly, handing most of it over to Jihoon to load in the van as he dials a number.
Jihoon stuffs bottles that look similar next to one another. In doing this process, he picks up some bottles already in the van to inspect for proper location. As he moves one to nudge it closer to the wood polisher, he notices some green goo-like stuff, very much like the goo Yukwon had touched yesterday. He moves his fingers just to touch it.
“We ‘bout ready to go?” Yukwon asks, his fingers covering the bottom half of the phone.
Jihoon steps back, putting a bottle in front of the goo. Another question for another day, he supposes as he shuts the van’s doors.
“Let’s go.”
“You have questions,” Yukwon says without prompting, a simple statement and nothing more. The tires roll across the outer edge of the road a bit, and Jihoon steers them back, waiting for something to follow.
Silence ensues, so Jihoon starts. “I guess I just want to know what the hell is going on.”
Yukwon laughs, and so the morning passes by.
There are odd things Jihoon notices about Yukwon on the days that follow. Some, perhaps, are quirks, unplanned and unknown.
However, Jihoon is pretty sure that Yukwon knows what he’s doing, and he’s doing so much more than cleaning a house. There are six new jobs, six new houses to clean, between Wednesday and Thursday. Perhaps, the owners need it done for upcoming events or whatever it is that encourages them to call the company, but Jihoon has his doubts. He’s certain that there is more to it than what it seems; he just can’t figure out what.
And he’s not paranoid. There are signs, ones Yukwon does very little to suppress.
On Wednesday, the second job is an apartment in the same complex as Jiho’s. Yukwon holds the tubing of the vacuum cleaner strapped to his back and walks slowly, as if he is waiting for something to jump out and attack. A streak of goo, thick and green, is stuck to a corner of the ceiling, and Jihoon tries his best to ignore anything and everything.
He keeps Jihoon busy with loading and unloading, carrying big yellow sponges, and scrubbing floors. But Yukwon just walks in circles, the faint noise of a scanner beeps every so often. Yukwon doesn't smile much that day.
Thursday is normal, more or less. The air is considerably cooler, and Jihoon opts for a scarf to cover the tad bit of neck showing from his sweater. The job itself isn't anything difficult. It’s mostly people wanting them to clean rooms specifically, the ones owners never think of until it gets full of Christmas decorations and hand-me-down furniture. Yukwon ends each job with a phone call with Kyung, always making sure Jihoon is doing something besides listening.
But still the questions mount. Everyday on the drive home, Jihoon asks as many as Yukwon will allow. They go unanswered mostly, but at least Yukwon knows he wonders.
He does get one answer, if it can even be called an answer. It’s on the way back to headquarters, half past noon on Thursday and in the midst of a downpour. Jihoon’s fingers grip around the steering wheel just a bit tighter than normal. Yukwon stares out the window, mentioning he loves the rain. It’s a quiet moment, and the city lights come on as the sky darkens to grey.
“What does Taeil do?” Jihoon asks.
Yukwon looks at him then, brown eyes gleaming and lips spread in a smile. “Honestly, I dunno. I think he just likes to boss us around. I’ll ask him when I see him.”
Silence slips into the van as the van slips into its spot.
“Good job today, Jihoonie. I, um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” Yukwon flashes a smile he has shown Jihoon a few times before, almost like a dare. The terms and secrets are hidden somewhere in pursed lips, and Jihoon just needs to find a way to unlock them all.
But it’s been a full day, one he is ready to sleep away. Jihoon steps from the van to the spot across the street where he parks his car, Yukwon already on his way inside the company’s building. The chill of autumn nipping at his skin makes him hold the top of his coat together. The action reminds him of something he forgot.
The scarf is in a wad in the front seat where Yukwon had used it to wrap around his hands since the heater only works part-time. Scarf tight around his neck, he starts to walk back to his car when he hears shuffling on the other side of the door. He cracks it a bit, just to see the commotion and never intending to do more than that. But sometimes things just happen.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” Yukwon says as he unzips his jumpsuit, pushing it down to his waist. He props himself on the edge of the desk and kicks his legs out alternatively as he hums.
Kyung barely looks up. “What do you mean?”
“He’s asking questions, good ones. And I don’t know how to answer them without telling him everything.”
Kyung does look up then, throwing his papers down in the process. “Then lie.”
Yukwon turns around and almost clears the desk off in the process; Kyung groans at rumpled papers. “I’m not good at lying, you know that. I think we should tell him. We might need him, if the data is correct.”
“It’s too soon, Kwon. We don’t know how he’ll take it yet. We’ll just wait for Taeil to decide on what to do with him.”
“Taeil wanted this! If he wanted someone to keep their head down and their mouth shut, he would have hired Jiho.”
Jihoon moves away from the door, certain of only uncertainty and that he is in way over his head.
“You must be Jihoon,” a voice behind him says.
A man slides out from underneath the van, back on the creeper and a grin on his face. Once out and sitting up, he wipes off a pair of glasses that is next to the rear passenger wheel and puts them on.
Jihoon blinks and then does so again. “Yeah, I’m Jihoon.”
Maybe he should've asked the other’s name, but in the pit of his stomach, Jihoon knows who it is, the man behind it all.
“Lee Taeil. I hear you have questions,” he says. Jihoon nods, so Taeil continues, “I have answers. Soon.”
Jihoon nods like he understands, which is about as much as he can do. He blinks his eyes one more time, and Taeil slides back under the van with a wrench in his right hand.
At least Jihoon will be getting some answers. Soon.
Jihoon walks through the door on Friday with a little more enthusiasm. It’s the end of the work week, and he has the weekend to relax and not wonder. And Taeil had said soon.
Yukwon is stretching in the lobby. “Oh, Jihoonie, you’re early. Well, let’s get going. Houses don’t clean themselves, though it would be nice.”
Kyung waves to them before heading to the back when Taeil swings open the door. “It’s time.”
Yukwon sighs, maybe a bit relieved. “Good, I’ll show him everything he needs to know once we get back from work.”
Taeil thinks a bit and wobbles his head back and forth. “Kyung will show him everything, now.”
Kyung fist pumps. “Fuck yeah. It’s about time someone learns something around here.”
Yukwon rolls his eyes before making a rather sad observation. “I’m on my own again?”
“No pouting. I’ll fucking go with you.”
Yukwon perks up a bit and heads to the door. “Cool, I’m gonna need all the help I can get.”
Taeil tilts his head a little and turns to Kyung. “Where are we cleaning at today?”
“Jiho’s place,” Kyung says before laughing.
Yukwon takes this as a sign to pop his head back in through the door. “C’mon, Taeil. Jiho’s waiting!”
“I think Jihoon’s education can wait a little while. I’ll just help Kyung set things up.”
Kyung pushes Taeil toward the door. “No take-backs.”
Alone with Kyung in the lobby, Jihoon finally lets his mind wrap around what is coming up. Kyung walks over to him, grabs him by the wrist, and says, “We've got a lot of work to do.”
“Okay, first things first. We deal mostly with the occurrences of paranormal phenomena. But before you get all carried away, let me say that we don’t look for UFOs, we don’t burn witches, and we don’t hunt for Big Foot.”
Jihoon smiles and nods as he follows Kyung into the basement of the building.
“We are scientists here, and that means we only study real things, like ghosts.” Kyung says it so seriously that Jihoon can’t bring himself to laugh. “Though, finding Big Foot would be pretty cool.”
Kyung laughs then; Jihoon follows suit.
"You have to learn how to relax, kid. C’mon, I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Jihoon notices how the metal table in the middle is cluttered with papers, mirroring the one in the lobby. Blueprints are hanging every which way on the wall; the only bare space is a tiny door-like object in front of the stairs.
“That is where all the magic happens,” Kyung starts, “Well, if by magic, you mean containment. That’s the Ecto-Containment Unit and should never, under any circumstances, be turned off without following proper procedures.”
“What would happen?”
“Actually, I have no idea. But in theory, all trapped inside would be expelled simultaneously. Releasing that amount of psychokinetic at once has the potential to flatten the city.”
“Got it. No touching,’ Jihoon says as he sticks his hands deep in his pockets.
Kyung smiles. “I’m telling you, lighten up.”
Jihoon learns that most of what Kyung does is done alone.
“So, do you not like people or what?” he asks after Kyung shows off some of the data he’s gathered.
Kyung stops talking for a bit and plops down in one of the rolling chairs around the table. “I like some people. But I do it alone because it’s what I do. We all do things, believe it or not. I do all the testing, like could this really be possible and if it is, how can it be better.”
“Why ghosts? Why do this?”
“Well, Taeil started this company, more or less, because of Jaehyo.,” Kyung says as he spins a bit in the chairs.
Jihoon gets far too dizzy watching Kyung in motion and instead focuses on a spot on the wall and a part of the sentence. “Jaehyo? The one I met?”
“The very same,” Kyung sighs, his lips curving into a smile. “They grew up together or something. But anyway, on a field trip, they went to this old house. I’m not sure why because it sounds like a disaster and a liability case waiting to happen. But they did. Jaehyo said he had seen a ghost; Taeil eventually came in contact with one, too. So, that’s the company story, not one we advertise but whatever.”
“Do you see a lot of them? Ghosts, I mean.” And that’s really what it all comes down to in Jihoon’s mind. If it’s just a one-time ordeal or if they flow freely every night.
“Here and there, mostly in the same area. As much as we try, we can’t really figure out why they are there.”
“And where is that?”
“The apartment complex he and Jiho live at. It’s one of the many reasons we go over there so much.” Kyung stops spinning, but his eyes are still unsteady. He manages to stand up and walk to Jihoon. “That’s enough backstory. Let’s go play!”
Kyung’s idea of playing is writing chemical compounds down on notebook paper while rolling around the basement floor. Honestly, Jihoon doesn't think it’s as bad as it seems.
As Kyung talks about the mathematical complications of Taeil’s newest assignment, an upgraded particle accelerator for the proton pack, Jihoon scoots a bit closer to see the blueprint.
“How does this work?” he asks as he peeks over Kyung’s shoulder.
Kyung drops his pencil, letting it slide along the table. “Want the simple version?”
Jihoon ponders that for a bit and nods. Kyung continues, “Basically, the proton pack’s wand emits a field of electromagnetic energy that speeds up negatively charged particles. The stream polarizes the ghost, which keeps it in place long enough to be trapped.”
“That’s the simple version?”
Kyung smiles; his eyes twinkle in the glow of fluorescent light. “Yeah.”
Jihoon furrows his eyebrows. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Kyung repeats with a sigh.
Yukwon and Taeil wander downstairs sometime during lunch, Jihoon stuffing his face while Kyung steals fries from his plate.
“So,” Yukwon says as he swings an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders, “how are things going? Is Kyungie boring you?”
Kyung swats at Yukwon; Taeil falls into the chair closest to the stairs. “I’m never boring. How did your day go? Did Jiho manage to seduce you yet, Taeil?”
Taeil grimaces and buries his face in his hands. Yukwon chuckles, “Actually, Jiho had clothes on when we got there. But once he saw Taeil helping me, he started working the living room like a strip club.”
“I’ll be in my office, if you need me,” Taeil says as he tumbles out of the chair and back up the steps.
Yukwon waves, as does Jihoon. When he’s out of sight, Yukwon whispers, “He probably just needs alone time to relive the performance.”
Jihoon doesn't even try to fight his laughter. Kyung, however, laughs as he throws a pencil at Yukwon in Taeil’s honor.
“Yukwon, you better not be in there starting shit!”
Jihoon stops laughing, and Yukwon cowers behind him. Kyung nods approvingly. “Taeil knows everything.”
Jihoon doesn't laugh, doesn't even think to do so, when Yukwon whispers into his ear. “If he knew everything, then we wouldn't be here.”
The night starts at Jaehyo’s apartment, and Jihoon does his best to remember every movement just in case it’s useful to someone else later.
Kyung leads the way, eyes darting to the corners of the ceilings and head nodding at every drunkard they pass. Yukwon follows close behind in a steady pattern; his head bobs to something as his feet touch the floor. Taeil walks beside Jihoon, a bit slower than the others like he’s feeling every force from the balls of his feet to the top of his head. For all Jihoon knows, he may be doing just that.
Jaehyo greets them from the hallway with enthusiasm, hands waving and mouth moving.
“You locked yourself out of your apartment, didn’t you?” Taeil asks as soon as Jaehyo stops talking.
Jaehyo scoffs. “Of course, I didn't. What kind of idiot do you take me for?”
Lucky for them, Minhyuk is home, dressed in dark colors, and after opening the door, sits cross legged on the sofa.
“Jaehyo, you said there was something you wanted me to see?” Taeil asks as he shuts the door behind himself.
Jaehyo nods and leads them into the kitchen. Cooked eggs, sunny side up, lay on the counter. The ceiling is marked with dark circles, and the floor is splattered with popped popcorn kernels.
“Look, if you wanted us to clean, you could've waited until in the morning,” Yukwon groans.
“No, no. I can clean it. I just wanted you to see it.”
Kyung inspects the counter, careful not to step on the popcorn littering the floor. “What happened?”
Jaehyo turns to Kyung, looking almost exclusively at him. “Well, I went out and picked up some things from the grocery store. And I forgot my key, so Minhyuk let me in. Anyway, I sat my things down on the counter, and everything started exploding.”
“What caused those?” Jihoon asks as he points at the dark circles on the ceiling.
“Soda. And I didn't even shake them up since I took the elevator.”
Taeil cocks his head to the side and nods.
“Look, Taeil, you know I’m not crazy. At least, I’m not this crazy. I don’t know what’s going on, but I wanted to show you. You’ll help right?”
Jihoon notes that Jaehyo asks the question directly at Kyung, but Taeil nods anyway.
“M’kay, gang, it’s time to get our hands a little slimey. Get back to the lab. I’ll keep in touch.”
Yukwon walks out first; Kyung tottles after once Jaehyo stops whispering to him.
Jihoon watches Minhyuk as he leaves. Nothing out of the ordinary, but then something is. It’s the glint in his eyes, there for only the flashes of flashes, but it’s there nonetheless. Something dark, a tad destructive. Minhyuk doesn't wave at him like he did the others, choosing to stay seated as if he’s waiting. Daring Jihoon to question him, to tell on him like a helpless child.
As he crosses the threshold and increases his stride to catch up with the others, Jihoon feels like doing just that.
The guys are not greeted by Taeil but a tall stranger with a briefcase. “I’m a government official, representing the Environmental Protection Agency. And I am hereby ordering you to shut down this facility.”
“On what grounds?” Kyung asks as he unlocks the front door.
The stranger grins, ugly and sinister. “On grounds of running an illegal corporation underground. We know all about your company and the amounts of harmful pollution it emits.”
Yukwon scrunches his face. “How do you know?”
The man shrugs. “We have our sources.”
Taeil walks in, not at all surprised by the man or the briefcase. He does, however, have the decency to shrug.
“Well, you heard dickless here. Shut it down,” Taeil says, and something about the whole thing seems off to Jihoon.
Yukwon tilts his head, hand on the switch but hesitant. “Are you serious?”
Taeil smiles. “Yes, this man has no dick.”
Dickless, or Mister Dickless, shouts. “Turn the fucking thing off or you are all going to jail!”
Yukwon flips the switch, and a series of alarms sound off in the basement before the power goes out.
“Now look what you did! Kyung, turn on the generator,” Taeil orders as they all stumble around in the dark.
Jihoon feels something, probably a someone, bump into him. “Taeil?” he asks.
“Hmmm?”
Jihoon waits for Taeil to get his bearings, and he feels hands travel from his waist to his chest, smooth and steady. When they reach Jihoon’s shoulders, they push down and Jihoon bends lower. Taeil’s breath is warm on his neck. “You see, Jihoonie, what they say is true. Men really do think with their dicks.”
Somewhere in the distance, Jihoon hears Kyung and Yukwon snicker.
Jihoon reports back to work the following days as Taeil had made it clear that shutting down the ghostbusting aspect couldn't end the cleaning service they offered.
“I think Taeil has something planned,” Kyung tells him when he wanders into the lobby.
Jihoon may be new to everything this business has to offer, but there is one thing he’s sure of. “Taeil always has something planned.”
The city feels colder than normal on the jobs, and Yukwon attributes that to the swarm of malicious ghosts in the air. “You can feel it, you know.”
Jihoon agrees. He beats against the dashboard in hopes that the heater will start to work, and after a few more pounds, it does. Yukwon gets a text as Jihoon pulls into a parking spot at the apartment complex.
“Taeil says he wants us there tonight. He didn't say anything else.”
The sun is starting to rise, all orange and bright, but something doesn't sit right with Jihoon, like someone is watching him. He looks up at the apartment and notices the blinds of one window start to move, a shadow moving alongside it. He counts twelve floors, from the ground to the eerie scene.
“Kwon, do you know whose room is that one?” he asks, pointing.
Yukwon leans over to see what Jihoon sees and squints at the general area. “Oh, yeah. That’s Jaehyo’s room.”
Jihoon frowns, confirming suspicions in his mind he didn't know he had formed.
Yukwon and Jihoon walk into Brand New Cleaning Company, tired and cold. And wondering.
Taeil sits at the desk in the lobby, arms crossed and feet propped on the corner. “Feel like catching some ghosts?”
Yukwon mocks surprise. “I hear that’s illegal! Do you have a permit, sir?”
Taeil laughs, and his feet slide from the desk to the floor. “Can’t get anything done if you play by the rules. If we’re going to do something illegal, we need to go all out,” he says as he hands Yukwon a rolled up blueprint. He walks out of the room without another word.
Jihoon fist pumps. “Back in the game!”
Yukwon and Kyung bend over the basement’s metal table, pencils in hand, and talk about the project Taeil has given them to complete. Jihoon amuses himself on the couch as he avoids nodding off.
“Might as well give in, Jihoonie. We have a long night tonight. Jaehyo says some weird shit is happening again,” Yukwon says as he rustles some papers.
Jihoon turns on the couch, facing the others and legs bent over the arm. “I don’t feel like sleeping. Can’t I help you?”
Kyung bites his bottom lip, brows furrow. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Yukwon taps Kyung on the arm as he straightens his back. “C’mon, what’s the worst that could happen?”
Jihoon can almost see Kyung’s mind working, gears shifting to project the worst that could happen and screens filtering out the rationalizations of each scenario. Jihoon should probably turn over and bury his face in the dark cushions for a few hours. Instead, he turns to begging.
“Please, Kyung. I want to help.”
Kyung throws his hands up in defeat; Jihoon shuffles over to the table and listens as the details are explained. “Taeil wants us to build something to alter the nature of the ghosts. There are too many to catch, and they are pissed as hell.”
Jihoon hesitates a bit, because maybe the jargon was left out and he doesn't know all the details, but he opens his mouth anyway. “So you want to neutralize the ghosts? Kyung, didn't you tell me they were negatively charged?”
“Holy fucking shit, we’ll just add synthetic protons to the stored ectoplasm. The positive energy will counteract the overcharged negative ions, and all that will be left is normal run-of-the-mill ghosts,” Kyung says as he writes. “Jihoon, you are a fucking genius. I knew I liked you better than Kwon.”
Yukwon pouts. Jihoon rubs his shoulders a bit, which earns him a smile. “How are we going to do all that?” he asks.
Kyung grins. “I can get it done in a few hours, but I’m going to need to borrow you for a bit.”
They spend the next few days just making things normal, falling into normal routines and saying normal things. Every time Yukwon fires the slime blower, full of psychomagnetheric mood slime, he sings about accentuating the positive. Kyung fills out paperwork and sing-songs addresses every morning.
Jihoon thinks he may actually be going crazy.
Taeil wakes Jihoon before the sun has even thought about rising. He sits up on the couch and almost steps on a barely conscious Yukwon in doing so. “Sorry,” he mutters as he rubs the last bit of sleep from his tired eyes. Yukwon shrugs and sidles up beside him, resting his head on Jihoon’s shoulders.
“We’re going to war, tonight. Ghosts have been swirling the complex, and I’d rather do this now.” Taeil paces as he announces this.
“Jaehyo hasn't answered any of my calls or texts from earlier,” Yukwon says as he moves his thumb over his phone.
Taeil purses his lips and nods. “Wake up Kyung and tell him to bring the new guns with him. We’ll meet in the lobby.”
Kyung stands in the lobby, proton pack high on his back and jumpsuit zipped all the way up. He pushes his goggles down over his eyes and looks up. “Where’s the problem?”
Yukwon squints at the staircase. “Twelfth floor.”
“Fuck it,” Kyung says as he moves farther from the steps. “Whatever’s up there can stay.”
Jihoon, ready and a bit excited, grabs Kyung by the forearms and bends a little to look him straight in the eyes. “We are talking about the greater good!”
Yukwon snorts, but when Jihoon looks expectantly at him, he adds, “And, um, your best friend is up there.”
Kyung claps his hands together. “Even better. Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went.”
Taeil, who is by this time several steps ahead of them and barely still visible from the floor, laughs.
Kyung is almost to the door when he hears Taeil’s voice. “Jaehyo is still up there.”
Eyes a little darker and grip considerably tighter on the proton wand, Kyung marches to the staircase. “Guess I should take a look while I’m here. Besides, I can’t let you guys take all the glory.”
Jihoon walks up eleven flights of stairs, lungs bursting and body sweating, when he notices something terribly wrong.
Taeil motions at the stairs before them, barely there and crumbling. “Be my guest.”
Kyung groans. “How the hell are we going to get up there now?”
Yukwon climbs up Jihoon’s body, his legs wrapped around his waist.
“Kwon, there is no time for that right now. We’re dealing with end of the world possibilities here,” Kyung says as he averts his gaze.
Jihoon pushes Yukwon’s body up higher, one knee beside his neck and a shoe scraping up his torso. “No worries, Jihoonie. I’m almost up.”
Yukwon grabs onto the railings that are left and pulls his body up the rest of the way.
Taeil moves to get a better view. “How do the rest of the steps look?”
“Doable.”
Jihoon wipes off the sweat beading his forehead with the back of his hand. “Who’s next?”
“Fuck.”
Jihoon looks at what’s left of the twelfth floor. The walls are scorched with black lines running the length of them. The hallway carpet is covered with rubble, and the doors are each marked with x’s.
Jiho sits outside on the floor outside his door, shaken and shaking. “It’s about fucking time you guys showed up.”
Taeil bends down first. His hands rub the dirt and slime on Jiho’s face; Jiho seems calmer, a bit more rough and tumble.
“That freak attacked. I was on my way to the gym, like I do everyday, and he just sucked Jaehyo into his room. And look what he did to the hallway. My rent’s gonna go up, and I can’t afford this shit. I’ll have to get a roommate.”
Taeil turns back to look at the others and rolls his eyes. “Jiho, who is the freak? Who did this?”
“Minhyuk. I knew that guy was shit,” he says as he wipes his nose on his sleeve at the elbow.
“Do you have any place to go right now? Some place that’s not here.”
Jiho shakes his head; Taeil sighs. “Okay, then I want you to keep your mouth shut. We’re going to check this shit out.”
Taeil knocks on Jaehyo’s door, which falls off its hinges and crashes on the floor. He puts a finger over his mouth in gesture as he takes tentative steps into the room.
Yukwon nudges Jihoon into the side as he whispers, “It’s always the good looking ones, you know.”
“Kyung, you got any visuals on Jaehyo or Minhyuk?” Taeil asks as he scopes out the rooms.
“That’s a big ten-four,” Kyung says as he stands in front of a gaping hole behind the sofa.
It looks like a passageway from the back in the day when they carved the earth for convenience. The walls are made of stone that displays ancient writings and ugly pictures. There is a light burning from beyond the passage, blue and mysterious. The sounds of a storm wage against the bounding of Jihoon’s heart.
Taeil pats him on the back. “Guess we should check it out.”
Jihoon nods until he realizes that Taeil wants him to lead, but after a quick glance at the others, he nods again in reassurance. Everyone is as scared shitless as he is.
Climbing stone and trying to find the light and his footing, Jihoon marches on until he reaches the top. Of what, he’s not sure, but it’s the top of something.
“The roof? How original. Is there going to be witty banter and a kiss at the end, too?” Yukwon asks, opting to sit down next to a lion statue.
Taeil bends over, panting and red in the face, and smiles. “Only if we’re lucky.”
Kyung switches on his proton pack, and when everyone looks at him, he shrugs. “Shit’s gonna end tonight. I’m running on three hours of sleep, and I just walked like thirteen flights of stairs.”
“Well said,” Taeil says as he switches his pack on. “You guys ready?”
Yukwon sighs and powers the pack up, still sitting and waiting on something to happen. Jiho is standing behind Taeil, staring at everything in wonder.
“Hell yeah.” Jihoon hits the button, the buzzing of the pack sounding. “Let’s kick some ass.”
Minhyuk is standing at the end of this balcony-type thing; a door is burning blue and orange behind him. It’s like something from one of those science fiction movies that Jihoon watched with his friends on Friday nights. But this is real and ridiculous, and he wants nothing more than for this to be over.
“You see, mortal, you have stolen something from me, and I intend on getting it back. I have gone through many bodies trying to get it. And now it shall be mine!”
Jaehyo is tied and laying on something like an altar before the door, body akimbo and limp.
“Yeah, well, you little shithead, you’ll have to wait a bit longer!” Kyung yells as he fires a proton stream at Minhyuk.
Minhyuk dodges the beam and disappears into the darkness.
Kyung sighs. “That was easier than I thought.”
Minhyuk reappears, in front of Kyung, and replies, “Think again, useless mortal.”
Kyung is thrown against a wall, close to the altar and gate to wherever. Yukwon fires up his proton stream. “This bitch is going down. Why did he have to be so hot?”
“Kwon, focus. We need to get Jaehyo out of here and that whatever it is out of Minhyuk’s body without killing anybody.” Taeil pushes his glasses up on his nose; Jiho’s fingers are gripping onto Taeil’s shoulders.
Yukwon huffs, “You really are a killjoy, you know.”
The plan is simple; get the ghost gone and get the hell out of there.
The execution is a bit more tricky.
Lucky for them, Jiho is a great distraction.
“Um, I don’t think I can do this,” Jiho whispers to Taeil.
Taeil continues fumbling with thoughts and schemes and ways to get out of here and back where everything isn't creepy as shit. “All you have to do is get Minhyuk’s attention.”
“How do I do that?”
Taeil clicks his tongue. “Oh, are you cold out here?”
Jiho shakes his head; Taeil smiles.
“Wait, what are we supposed to be doing again?” Jihoon asks as he tries to center his proton stream. “Because Kyung told me crossing the streams was not a good idea.”
Yukwon shrugs. “He’s unconscious, and really, I’m game for anything that will get me in bed soon.”
“Kwon, walk towards Jihoon once he gets a stable shot on Minhyuk,” Taeil commands as he falls onto the ground, ready to crawl at a moment’s notice.
“And hurry the hell up. It’s cold out here!”
Yukwon laughs, “Woo Jiho, you are doing great. All that practice stripping and hours at the gym are really gonna pay off.”
It’s a twist of colors, a powerful jerk, and hands gripping over wands when Minhyuk finally freezes. His body writhes under the burst of pinks and yellows but barely.
Taeil is rushing over to Jaehyo, untying the ropes at his ankles and wrists. “You okay?”
Jaehyo moves his head from side to side; Taeil seems pleased. “Good. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to borrow this necklace of yours.” He rips the necklace from Jaehyo’s neck, a tiny pendant on a silver chain.
“Okay, guys, turn off your packs!”
Jihoon steadies himself as Yukwon powers off his own pack and then Jihoon’s. He’s never felt this tired; his arms have never been this sore. He feels the ground move beneath him, and he feels a buzzing in his head. Yukwon doesn’t look much better than what Jihoon feels like.
“Foolish humans! You should have killed me when you had the chance. Now feel the wrath of Azher!” Minhyuk’s mouth moves, but it sounds so foreign, so old. Jihoon likens it to a cheaply dubbed movie from the States.
“Yoohoo!” Taeil calls from across the way. He holds necklace in one hand while the other clutches the doorknob. “Is this what you want?”
The spirit jumps out of Minhyuk’s body, and said body crumples to the ground. Taeil opens the door and tosses the necklace in, the ghost following close behind. The door is slammed promptly afterwards.
“Kyung, now!”
Kyung raises from where he was thrown, looking a lot less unconscious than they thought, with a slime blower. This one seems to be infused with some sort of fire; the door burns into the night with a warm pink glow.
“Hell yeah! Good job team. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Taeil says as he wipes the sweat from his brow. “Jiho, you can get dressed first.”
Jiho nods and winks in Taeil’s direction, hands working over his body. Jaehyo drapes himself over Kyung’s shoulders; Yukwon stops to pick Minhyuk off the ground. Jihoon smiles as he bids goodbye to creepy balcony-thing and possessive ghost shit for the night and makes his way down the stone passage.
“How did you know about the necklace?” Jihoon asks Taeil when they get back to the office. Jaehyo is sleeping, soundly Jihoon’s sure, at Kyung’s place until the room is fixed. Minhyuk is crashing on Yukwon’s couch for the time being, while Jiho is holed up in the shambles of his own room.
“I didn't,” he says, sipping coffee from a styrofoam cup. “But don’t you ever tell Kwon that. I have a reputation to uphold here.”
“But you knew about Kyung, and you shut down your own business. And you like had this whole war strategy thing going on. You knew, right?”
Taeil puts a finger to his lips. Like a teacher does to a student, a parent to a child. “I work well under pressure.”
Jihoon’s mind is swimming with thoughts of ghosts and those who fight them. “So are we done here, like no more ghostbusting?”
Taeil pauses for a while, thinking and drinking the rest of his coffee. There’s something about the way harsh lighting makes everything seem more dignified, more real. Taeil stands taller than he is, lips pursed and eyes focused.
Jihoon sinks deeper into the couch, folding the pink blanket he brought from home. He pushes his feet into shoes and laces them tightly. Taeil hoists himself onto the edge of the table and just sits. And it feels nice to just sit, sit and not worry about cleaners spilling on the floor or the end of the world by otherworldly vengeance.
“Look, I promised Jiho I’d stay the night with him, just this once. So I need to get over there before he has the feds looking for me. You can lock the place up?”
Jihoon is in the midst of saying no, only because he can’t possibly do so without a key. But Taeil, Taeil who thinks of everything, tosses him one. It shines a bit like gold, shiny and etched with the word BOO. It’s fitting, and he is in the process of saying that but then Taeil already knows.
“Right, so lock up and I’ll see you tomorrow. Early. We have an entire floor booked for a thorough cleaning, so you might be here all day.” As he walks out of the room, he turns back to wave. “Oh, and I would keep that blanket here. Maybe grab something to sleep in while you’re here, too. You’ll want plenty of rest in between jobs.”
And Jihoon is wondering just how much he’ll have to do tomorrow when Taeil adds, “Ghosts just don’t kick their own asses, so I guess we’ll do it for them.”
“Fuck yeah,” Jihoon replies.
The room feels emptier, sounds quieter. It’s well past three in the morning, and Jihoon figures he can sneak in at least two good hours before Kyung will shoo him off to work.
The streets aren't busy this time of day, but it’s still about a twenty minute detour. Jihoon thinks that his own bed just isn't worth the trouble and nestles himself deep into the cushions for the short time ahead.
For: youniqorn
Pairing: Jaehyo/Kyung
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1219
Summary: Maybe it is or maybe it isn't, but it's time to figure it out.
Notes/Warnings: Dear recipient, I apologize in advance. But if you want, get in touch with me afterwards, because this story literally got a universe all its own.
It’s dark when they march back to their section of the bleachers, third quarter of another losing game, melodies still lingering in the air. There are whispers, maybe louder talks, coming from the concession stands. Smells of cheap soda and hot dogs, pickles and nacho cheese, and sweat mingle together, and this is the stench of Friday.
Jaehyo takes his hat off; he feels his hair, a bit damp, move about in the still-warm October breeze. He leaves his jacket on, in fear of ruining his purple cape, and leans against the outer edge of bleachers. He twists the cap of his nearly empty water bottle and wonders if he can trick the booster club into giving him another free one.
“Tomorrow’s the big day,” Taeil says as he props beside him. His jacket is undone, and his hat is probably somewhere next to his trumpet, which is most likely being guarded by an underclassman.
Jaehyo loses grip of the bottle’s lid, and it falls somewhere under the bleachers. He isn't really that concerned, though. “Yep.”
“Are you ready?”
Jaehyo cocks his head to the side, watching Jiho throw water at Yukwon. “Nope, but honestly, does it matter?”
Jihoon steps in front of Yukwon, who is soaked by this point, and Jiho dumps the rest of the bottle’s content on his own face. Jaehyo notices Jiho staring in his direction and waves.
“I hear you have an admirer,” Jaehyo whispers.
Taeil shrugs and smiles. “It happens I guess.”
Minhyuk walks by, two bottles of colored liquids in his hands, and winks at Taeil. Taeil nods in response.
“Look, Jaehyo, I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” he says as he wipes his hands off on his purple bibbers. “I might be late. You know, what with bathroom lines and all.”
Jaehyo watches Taeil wander off in the darkness, a few paces behind Minhyuk. Great, he thinks, now who’s going to lead the fight song?
As drum major, it’s Jaehyo’s duty to keep up with the minutes remaining in the quarter, to wrangle everyone back where they belong for the fourth. It’s not his favorite thing to do, but he doesn't really have a choice.
Some people never really leave the stands, actually watching the game or the cheerleaders. Most everyone else returns promptly after going to the bathroom or concessions stands. But others, and there are a few, like to wander around aimlessly just to be assholes.
“Jihoon, have you seen Jiho?”
Jihoon shakes his head, both hands full of restaurant napkins. “Not since he soaked Kwon.”
Jaehyo rubs his temples as Jihoon climbs up to the top row of the stands. He catches a glimpse of Jihoon wiping Yukwon’s face with the napkins, ruffling his hair dry when he came out.
“They’re pretty cute, huh?”
Jaehyo shifts his gaze down and smiles. “Yeah, cute. Um, have you, maybe, seen Jiho?”
Kyung shifts his feet, weight bearing on his ankles and tilts his head up. “Do I look like Jiho’s keeper to you?”
Jaehyo sighs, his shoulders sag, and he just wants to climb in his bed for a few years. “I was just asking. The quarter’s almost over, and I can’t find him.”
Kyung grins, like he knows something Jaehyo doesn't. Maybe it’s the adrenaline of a decent show or tiredness or the little knots his stomach makes when Kyung smiles like that, but Jaehyo finds that he likes it more with the glow of the stadium lights.
“Where’s Taeil?” Kyung asks a little too smoothly.
“Bathroom. Why?”
Kyung doesn't even blink. “Jiho’s in the bathroom.”
Jaehyo squints his eyes, not really necessary but still. “How do you know? And what’s that got to do with Taeil?”
“You really don’t know, do you?” The question becomes a mere whisper, a bit of warm breath at the base of his neck. “Fuck, trust me on this, okay?”
Jaehyo has maybe always been a bit of a romantic at heart, but that doesn't explain how the countdown to the fourth quarter seems to slow down or how the noises muddle together before wasting away into nothing. But it does explain this feeling, this need for a confession. His confession. Kyung looks at him expectantly.
"Um, I guess I need to get back to bleachers. I'm sure everyone is wondering where I am," he manages to whisper.
Kyung grabs his wrist, the only skin available to touch due to his jacket, but Jaehyo feels it tingle down every nerve in his body. "They're not."
Jaehyo only feels slightly offended; Kyung is moving slightly closer, pushing him under the bleachers and into the shadows. And maybe it's because it's dark or probably because he's wanted this since that first day, but Jaehyo leans in. His hands tangle in Kyung's hair, still a bit wet and curling around his ears, his lips so close to Kyung's.
That's when it happens, not to the crackles of fireworks or the bursting of trumpets but to the crash of a cymbal on the metal stands probably above them and far too close. But Jaehyo can feel Kyung move against him, with him. He doesn't want to stop; he wants the world to stop, just in this moment like suspended animation.
But a buzzer sounds and some men start shouting, and that's the end. The reality of it all is still there when he opens his eyes; Kyung is still there when he opens his eyes.
"So, tomorrow?" Kyung asks, a bit more breathless than usual but just as nonchalant.
Jaehyo pauses. For his breath or an explanation, he isn't sure. “Tomorrow?”
“I’ll save you a seat on the bus. Remember bright and early,” Kyung says as he fiddles with the straps of his bibbers. Before he stumbles back into the light, he straightens Jaehyo’s jacket, pulling the cape over his shoulders and sliding his fingers over the sequins on his sash. “Don’t keep me waiting.”
Kyung pulls Jaehyo down for one more kiss, this one shorter but steadier. And maybe because they are already late, Jaehyo kisses him back.
Jaehyo makes it to his place in front of the drumline about two minutes into the fourth quarter; Kyung walks up the bleachers to the humming of the fight song.
“Where the fuck have you been, mister?” Minhyuk asks with a wink, bumping knuckles with Jaehyo the second the song ends.
Jaehyo looks up at Kyung, who is all big eyes and big nose, sharp tongue but sharper wit. The boy doesn't know what he’s doing to him as he shakes around with Yukwon, his tenor saxophone rocking into his body with every movement.
“Wait, where have you been?” Jaehyo asks Minhyuk once he gets his attention back.
“Well, you see, there was this experiment. And the bathroom was really the best place for it.”
Jaehyo tilts his head. “What kind of experiment?” He wipes his hand, the one Minhyuk touched briefly, on Minhyuk’s pant legs. “Honestly, I’d rather not know.”
And as the minutes wind down (on the clock, on the field, in his mind), Jaehyo thinks that is how he wants to sum up this Friday.
(Saturday, however, is another story as he slides into a back seat with Kyung flush against his body and hand laced in his own.)
Title: Of Grime and Evil
For: youniqorn
Pairing: OT7; Jihoon-focus
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 9000
Summary: They came. They saw. They kicked ass. (I mean, they did a really great job cleaning.)
Notes/Warnings: Tonchiki, thanks for reading every update and encouraging me. You really deserve more than a blurb in a notes section, but I hope you take it kindly. To my recipient, your prompts were amazing! I just hope I do this justice.
Jihoon folds the paper, hiding the instructions he printed from the internet. He checks his reflection in the rearview mirror one more time and smooths his hair from his face. The click of a door opening and his steady steps seem to echo through the sleeping city. He rubs his hands on his cotton-clad forearms, fighting the cold of autumn air. Monday 4:56 a.m. As he pulls on the metal doors, he wonders why it feels like the end of the world.
The job, though nothing detrimental, is the epitome of irony. An untidy boy grows into a man that cleans houses for others too lazy to do so themselves. His mother's laughter still rings through his ears. I'll only be driving. I'll only be driving, he reminds himself as the seconds tick away. Five o'clock is too far away, and the uncomfortable metal chair is causing him to fidget more. He looks around the room for something to alleviate the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach but finds most of the walls bare. Scraps of paper, mostly newspaper clippings, are hanging from push pins on a corkboard. Letters above the board read Brand New Cleaning Company.
"You must be Pyo Jihoon," a man says as he cocks his head.
Jihoon stands and bows slowly, a bit confused at the man who is now circling him. When he makes his way back around to face Jihoon, the man smiles.
"You'll do." Jihoon thinks the wink was a bit unnecessary, but it's his first day. He's really unsure of, well,
everything.
"I'll do? What do you mean?" he asks.
The man stares, eyes wide and round. "You'll start right now. Yukwon! The new guy is here!"
Another man, a bit taller than the first, emerges from the back of the building in a khaki jumpsuit. He bows in Jihoon's direction; his eyes barely open and his face looks puffy from sleep.
The first guy is calling out directions and names and chemicals. However, the second guy, Yukwon, grabs the keys from the hook by the bulletin board without much care to any of it.
"You ready?" Yukwon asks after a yawn.
Jihoon merely nods, wondering what he has gotten himself into. The second guy pats his forearm lightly.
"I’m Kyung, by the way. Welcome to Hell."
Yukwon is already halfway to the van before Jihoon takes three steps outside the building. Yukwon opens the back, calling out names and tapping on sides of plastic containers. When he seems satisfied, he slams the white double doors and tosses the keys to Jihoon. Jihoon catches them barely, a key ring hanging from his right pinky.
He nods and slides into the driver's seat. Yukwon climbs into the seat beside him and furrows his eyebrows.
"You can drive, right?"
Jihoon nods and starts the engine. He isn't really sure what he should do, but he figures that getting the van in drive would be a good start.
"Don't worry. I know where we're going," Yukwon says, maybe to comfort Jihoon.
However, Jihoon the driver doesn't know where they are going. But he decides he'll find it eventually.
Yukwon pushes the radio on and sings along to something foreign and acoustic. Jihoon drives slowly,
anticipating any turns.
In between a verse and the chorus, Yukwon mutters something that sounds like the name of a nearby apartment complex. Jihoon takes the necessary streets and parks as close to the lobby of the building as possible. Yukwon jumps out of the door and scurries to the back of the van.
"It's not like you have to, but you wanna help?" Yukwon asks as he straps what looks like a vacuum cleaner on his back. "It may be better than sitting out here."
Jihoon shrugs, contemplating his options. He walks to the back and is soon carrying bottles and sponges. "You come here often?" he manages to ask.
Yukwon slams the door at roughly the same time, and Jihoon wonders if he should repeat himself. But Yukwon smiles. "Jiho calls a lot."
"I don't know why he wants us to come so early. That asshole is probably still in bed," Yukwon says as they head up in the elevator.
The older lady scoffs at the language and hurries out when they reach her floor. Yukwon seems to pay no mind. "He may be in a bad mood, but he's always like that. But since Taeil isn't here, he may be more of a jerk."
"He has something going on with Taeil?" Jihoon pauses watching the liquids slush around in the bottles to gauge Yukwon's reaction. Yukwon bites his bottom lip; Jihoon thinks maybe he stepped over his boundaries. Taeil is, according to the advertisement, his boss. "Not like it's any of my business," he says, words jumble and echo off the elevator walls.
"Jiho and Taeil have something, but I don't think Taeil knows about it yet," Yukwon chuckles. "You have a really low voice, you know."
Jihoon shares a laugh with Yukwon before the elevator doors open. Yukwon starts to step out first, his voice
suddenly serious. "It's nice, though."
Jihoon follows along, arms full of orange-smelling cleaners and a smile on his face.
Jihoon looks at the room numbers of the doors they pass, occasionally catching a glimpse of what's inside.
"It's the last room on this floor, and in my opinion, one of the shittiest," Yukwon says as the walk along the
hallway. He plays with the straps of the vacuum cleaner backpack, adjusting them and readjusting when they aren't even. "I think this is Kyung's pack. He's the only one that wears it this high on his back."
"Why do you wear one at all? It's just a regular vacuum, and how many people don't have a vacuum cleaner?" Jihoon stops peeking into the rooms to watch Yukwon. It's then that he notices Yukwon is no longer beside him but a few steps behind.
Yukwon cocks his head, scrunching his face slightly as his fingers touch the walls. He rubs something gooey between his index finger and thumb and lifts it to his nose.
"Yukwon?"
"Oh, sorry, I get carried away sometimes," he starts as he walks toward Jihoon, motioning him close with his cleaner hand. Jihoon dips lower so Yukwon is no more than a breath away. "As for vacuums, I would be surprised if someone had one like this baby."
A question is on the tip of Jihoon's tongue, ready and needing desperately to be answered. But Yukwon grins.
"C'mon, before Jiho gets any more pissy."
Jiho answers the door the sixth time Yukwon knocks on it. "You're late," he mutters before opening the door fully, revealing the living room and most of his body.
"May as well get dressed. Taeil isn't here, and I'd hate for little Jiho there to get loose," Yukwon says brightly, patting Jiho's thigh as he strolls inside.
Jihoon stumbles in behind him, bowing slightly to Jiho and trying his best not to accidentally squirt cleaner at himself. Yukwon pushes the left strap of his pack off his shoulders and slings the vacuum onto the nearby sofa; Jiho closes the door with a bump of his hip.
"So what do you want done? The usual, or do you need something special done?"
Jiho shrugs. "Do whatever, just get it done fast. I pay by the hour, you know."
Yukwon salutes Jiho, who struts to the back of the apartment. Clothes and sheets of music are pushed in the floor from the chair, and Yukwon helps himself to the newly available seat. Jihoon moves away from the door, figuring that niceties were left on the other side of the fame.
Jiho emerges with pants on, his scowl long gone. "Kwon, I'm going out for a bit. Be back in an hour or so.
While I'm gone, do your job not your boyfriend."
"I'm always professional," Yukwon starts, mock offended. Jiho laughs, which earns him a middle finger from
Yukwon.
Jihoon stands a little lost and confused. Jiho walks past him, patting his shoulder. "Your boyfriend is an
asshole."
"He's not my boyfriend," Jihoon manages to say as he drops a bottle on the floor.
"Not yet, anyway," Yukwon says as he picks the cleaner up. Jihoon chokes a little on air; Jiho laughs. Yukwon merely smiles.
"He works with us. Taeil hired him."
Jihoon watches as the last words change Jiho's demeanor, though he's not sure why. Jiho storms out of the room, muttering under his breath.
"Might as well get to work."
Jihoon scrubs an hour away with Yukwon, then another and another. They sort through piles of clothes and toss them into worn-out hampers in the bathroom, and they form bigger stacks of paper from the small collections lying around the floors. Wads of paper become balls in quick games of basketball as they move farther from the trash can, red panties marking Yukwon’s spot and a black sock for Jihoon’s.
Jiho comes home sometime in the middle of a round, Yukwon’s arms full of more crumpled up papers and Jihoon in mid-throw, and demands his turn.
Jiho is losing, pretty badly, and if distance determines anything, he stands a meter away and bending in for goals. And somehow, in the midst of it all, Yukwon and Jihoon sneak out of the cleaner apartment without so much as a wave goodbye.
As they ride the elevator down, Jihoon decides to voice his opinion of the day once the coast is clear.
“Winner!”
Yukwon rolls his eyes. “Okay, Winner, I’m starving. Food?” When Jihoon nods, Yukwon continues, “I know a place.”
Jihoon exits the elevator before his stomach has time to voice its opinion on food.
“Yukwon!”
Jihoon turns first and, in the process, almost knocks Yukwon out with a squirt bottle of bleach.
“Jaehyo, how’s it going? Who’s this?” Yukwon asks, looking the other guy up and down. Once behind and out of the guy’s view, he gives Jaehyo a thumbs up. “I can’t believe you gave up already, though.”
“I didn't,” Jaehyo squeaks out, fingers fidgeting with the buttons of his coat and the pendant around his neck. “Um, this is my new roommate. Minhyuk, this is Yukwon. Yukwon, Minhyuk.”
Jihoon watches the introductions, wondering if he should just go on and wait in the van for Yukwon and dream of food. But Jaehyo tilts his head before he gets very far.
“Kwon, who’s this?”
Yukwon moves from Minhyuk to stand next to Jihoon, patting his arm for good measure. “This is Jihoon. He works with us now.
It’s his first day, so I’m showing him the ropes.”
Jaehyo bows; Jihoon tries to do the same. Jaehyo’s mouth opens, then closes. Then he opens it again. “Just came back from Jiho’s?”
Jihoon nods.
“I promise, we are not all like that,” Jaehyo adds. Yukwon giggles a bit before bidding goodbye.
Jihoon turns to wave, watching as Jaehyo punches the buttons on the elevator for what seems like everyone boarding. Minhyuk doesn't wave, doesn't smile.
But then again, it is Monday and well before noon.
One hand on the wheel and the other on his burger, Jihoon is ready to head back to Brand New Cleaning Company. The streets are filling up due to the work rush. Yukwon seems perfectly content in bumper-to-bumper traffic, fiddling away at the radio’s knobs.
“Guess I should call Kyung,” he says when he deems the current songs unworthy.
He digs in his pockets for his phone but waits before dialing. One song ends, and another song starts. Yukwon drops the phone in his lap and turns the volume up. “I guess Kyung can wait for a bit.”
Fourteen ridiculously cheesy pop songs later, Jihoon pulls into the spot reserved for the company van.
Kyung is waiting for them when they walk through the door, sitting at the desk in the middle of the lobby. “So, do you feel like quitting yet?"
Jihoon stretches his arms out above his head, everything smelling more like citrus and bleach as he does so. "It wasn't that bad. It takes a lot more than dirty socks to scare me."
Yukwon bustles by, a smirk on his face as he props himself on the edge of the desk. Kyung grins. "That's good to know. So you met Jiho, huh? I hope he had the decency to cover up this time."
Jihoon shakes his head, so Kyung continues. "Now you know why I never go over there. Did you meet his neighbor?"
To this Jihoon looks to Yukwon, fairly certain there wasn't a hallway get-together. Yukwon nods, so Jihoon does, too.
"He met Jaehyo in the lobby. Jaehyo's room is across the hall," Yukwon explains. He turns to Kyung and states, "Jaehyo's got himself one hot roommate."
Kyung blinks. "What?"
"Yeah, his name's Minhyuk. Hottest thing I've seen on that floor since, well since Jaehyo almost set his kitchen on fire."
Kyung props his head on the palm of his hand, elbow digging into a stack of papers on the desk. "Really? Well, he did say he needed a roommate." He stands up and adjusts the buttons of his cardigan, rolling up the sleeves a bit more than they were. "I have some work to do. I'm glad we didn't scare you away. Guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
Jihoon nods; Yukwon sighs as Kyung walks to the back of the building. "Well, it's been one helluva day, but you got through it. See you tomorrow bright and early. We've got a house to clean for some party, around the same time as today's."
"But it's not even noon yet."
Yukwon smiles. "I have to get some rest before the next job. Don't wanna fall asleep with a pack on my back."
"Fall asleep?" Jihoon asks incredulously. "The next job is in," he pauses to count, using his fingers, "like twenty hours from now. How long do you need to sleep?"
Yukwon shrugs and walks through the door Kyung had used. "Sleep well, Jihoonie."
"Yeah, you too." Jihoon stands in the empty lobby, confused and intrigued. He shrugs off today's mysteries in favor of enjoying the rest of the day.
The next morning follows the pattern of Monday. Jihoon slides his car to a stop a few minutes before five and is greeted by Kyung, who is sitting at the desk with a checklist in hand.
Kyung looks up from the stacks of papers and waves when the light is threatened by Jihoon’s shadow. He waves enthusiastically for a moment, constantly glancing at the document in hand. He stops all actions, as if in shock, and begins writing things in the right-hand corner of the paper. “Kwon, time to go!”
Yukwon stumbles from the back, guiding his arms through the proper holes of the jumpsuit. “Ready to save the world?” he asks as he zips the front of his uniform.
“Sure. I don’t have anything better to do today,” Jihoon says, a grin stretching onto his face.
As Yukwon leads the way out to the van, Jihoon turns to wave goodbye to Kyung. Kyung doesn't see him, though. The company phone is under his ear, and he is reading notes over the line. Most of it, Jihoon doesn't really hear, but there is a word that is repeated enough for him to catch.
Ghosts.
A question pops into Jihoon’s mind halfway to their destination. “Why doesn't Kyung ever go with you to clean?”
Yukwon turns the volume down on the radio, a news broadcast coming up next anyway, and shrugs. “It’s best he doesn't. If you ever saw his room, you’d understand. He hates things to be neat. Says it irritates the shit out of him.”
Jihoon nods, knowing good and well cleaning is not for everyone.
“How did you clean before? I mean, you were looking for a driver not an assistant. And who drove?”
Yukwon turns the volume back up. “Look, man, I just woke up. Save your questions for after the job.”
Jihoon remembers to add Yukwon’s bizarre sleeping habits to his list of questions.
The job for the most part is uneventful. Yukwon halves the house, Jihoon taking the right side and Yukwon on the left. They barely speak, except when asking each other if they had already made a stack for an item. The house itself is fairly clean, and the owners aren't there to watch and correct them.
After two and a half hours, Yukwon decides it’s clean enough. He gathers the equipment up quickly, handing most of it over to Jihoon to load in the van as he dials a number.
Jihoon stuffs bottles that look similar next to one another. In doing this process, he picks up some bottles already in the van to inspect for proper location. As he moves one to nudge it closer to the wood polisher, he notices some green goo-like stuff, very much like the goo Yukwon had touched yesterday. He moves his fingers just to touch it.
“We ‘bout ready to go?” Yukwon asks, his fingers covering the bottom half of the phone.
Jihoon steps back, putting a bottle in front of the goo. Another question for another day, he supposes as he shuts the van’s doors.
“Let’s go.”
“You have questions,” Yukwon says without prompting, a simple statement and nothing more. The tires roll across the outer edge of the road a bit, and Jihoon steers them back, waiting for something to follow.
Silence ensues, so Jihoon starts. “I guess I just want to know what the hell is going on.”
Yukwon laughs, and so the morning passes by.
There are odd things Jihoon notices about Yukwon on the days that follow. Some, perhaps, are quirks, unplanned and unknown.
However, Jihoon is pretty sure that Yukwon knows what he’s doing, and he’s doing so much more than cleaning a house. There are six new jobs, six new houses to clean, between Wednesday and Thursday. Perhaps, the owners need it done for upcoming events or whatever it is that encourages them to call the company, but Jihoon has his doubts. He’s certain that there is more to it than what it seems; he just can’t figure out what.
And he’s not paranoid. There are signs, ones Yukwon does very little to suppress.
On Wednesday, the second job is an apartment in the same complex as Jiho’s. Yukwon holds the tubing of the vacuum cleaner strapped to his back and walks slowly, as if he is waiting for something to jump out and attack. A streak of goo, thick and green, is stuck to a corner of the ceiling, and Jihoon tries his best to ignore anything and everything.
He keeps Jihoon busy with loading and unloading, carrying big yellow sponges, and scrubbing floors. But Yukwon just walks in circles, the faint noise of a scanner beeps every so often. Yukwon doesn't smile much that day.
Thursday is normal, more or less. The air is considerably cooler, and Jihoon opts for a scarf to cover the tad bit of neck showing from his sweater. The job itself isn't anything difficult. It’s mostly people wanting them to clean rooms specifically, the ones owners never think of until it gets full of Christmas decorations and hand-me-down furniture. Yukwon ends each job with a phone call with Kyung, always making sure Jihoon is doing something besides listening.
But still the questions mount. Everyday on the drive home, Jihoon asks as many as Yukwon will allow. They go unanswered mostly, but at least Yukwon knows he wonders.
He does get one answer, if it can even be called an answer. It’s on the way back to headquarters, half past noon on Thursday and in the midst of a downpour. Jihoon’s fingers grip around the steering wheel just a bit tighter than normal. Yukwon stares out the window, mentioning he loves the rain. It’s a quiet moment, and the city lights come on as the sky darkens to grey.
“What does Taeil do?” Jihoon asks.
Yukwon looks at him then, brown eyes gleaming and lips spread in a smile. “Honestly, I dunno. I think he just likes to boss us around. I’ll ask him when I see him.”
Silence slips into the van as the van slips into its spot.
“Good job today, Jihoonie. I, um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” Yukwon flashes a smile he has shown Jihoon a few times before, almost like a dare. The terms and secrets are hidden somewhere in pursed lips, and Jihoon just needs to find a way to unlock them all.
But it’s been a full day, one he is ready to sleep away. Jihoon steps from the van to the spot across the street where he parks his car, Yukwon already on his way inside the company’s building. The chill of autumn nipping at his skin makes him hold the top of his coat together. The action reminds him of something he forgot.
The scarf is in a wad in the front seat where Yukwon had used it to wrap around his hands since the heater only works part-time. Scarf tight around his neck, he starts to walk back to his car when he hears shuffling on the other side of the door. He cracks it a bit, just to see the commotion and never intending to do more than that. But sometimes things just happen.
“I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” Yukwon says as he unzips his jumpsuit, pushing it down to his waist. He props himself on the edge of the desk and kicks his legs out alternatively as he hums.
Kyung barely looks up. “What do you mean?”
“He’s asking questions, good ones. And I don’t know how to answer them without telling him everything.”
Kyung does look up then, throwing his papers down in the process. “Then lie.”
Yukwon turns around and almost clears the desk off in the process; Kyung groans at rumpled papers. “I’m not good at lying, you know that. I think we should tell him. We might need him, if the data is correct.”
“It’s too soon, Kwon. We don’t know how he’ll take it yet. We’ll just wait for Taeil to decide on what to do with him.”
“Taeil wanted this! If he wanted someone to keep their head down and their mouth shut, he would have hired Jiho.”
Jihoon moves away from the door, certain of only uncertainty and that he is in way over his head.
“You must be Jihoon,” a voice behind him says.
A man slides out from underneath the van, back on the creeper and a grin on his face. Once out and sitting up, he wipes off a pair of glasses that is next to the rear passenger wheel and puts them on.
Jihoon blinks and then does so again. “Yeah, I’m Jihoon.”
Maybe he should've asked the other’s name, but in the pit of his stomach, Jihoon knows who it is, the man behind it all.
“Lee Taeil. I hear you have questions,” he says. Jihoon nods, so Taeil continues, “I have answers. Soon.”
Jihoon nods like he understands, which is about as much as he can do. He blinks his eyes one more time, and Taeil slides back under the van with a wrench in his right hand.
At least Jihoon will be getting some answers. Soon.
Jihoon walks through the door on Friday with a little more enthusiasm. It’s the end of the work week, and he has the weekend to relax and not wonder. And Taeil had said soon.
Yukwon is stretching in the lobby. “Oh, Jihoonie, you’re early. Well, let’s get going. Houses don’t clean themselves, though it would be nice.”
Kyung waves to them before heading to the back when Taeil swings open the door. “It’s time.”
Yukwon sighs, maybe a bit relieved. “Good, I’ll show him everything he needs to know once we get back from work.”
Taeil thinks a bit and wobbles his head back and forth. “Kyung will show him everything, now.”
Kyung fist pumps. “Fuck yeah. It’s about time someone learns something around here.”
Yukwon rolls his eyes before making a rather sad observation. “I’m on my own again?”
“No pouting. I’ll fucking go with you.”
Yukwon perks up a bit and heads to the door. “Cool, I’m gonna need all the help I can get.”
Taeil tilts his head a little and turns to Kyung. “Where are we cleaning at today?”
“Jiho’s place,” Kyung says before laughing.
Yukwon takes this as a sign to pop his head back in through the door. “C’mon, Taeil. Jiho’s waiting!”
“I think Jihoon’s education can wait a little while. I’ll just help Kyung set things up.”
Kyung pushes Taeil toward the door. “No take-backs.”
Alone with Kyung in the lobby, Jihoon finally lets his mind wrap around what is coming up. Kyung walks over to him, grabs him by the wrist, and says, “We've got a lot of work to do.”
“Okay, first things first. We deal mostly with the occurrences of paranormal phenomena. But before you get all carried away, let me say that we don’t look for UFOs, we don’t burn witches, and we don’t hunt for Big Foot.”
Jihoon smiles and nods as he follows Kyung into the basement of the building.
“We are scientists here, and that means we only study real things, like ghosts.” Kyung says it so seriously that Jihoon can’t bring himself to laugh. “Though, finding Big Foot would be pretty cool.”
Kyung laughs then; Jihoon follows suit.
"You have to learn how to relax, kid. C’mon, I’ll give you the grand tour.”
Jihoon notices how the metal table in the middle is cluttered with papers, mirroring the one in the lobby. Blueprints are hanging every which way on the wall; the only bare space is a tiny door-like object in front of the stairs.
“That is where all the magic happens,” Kyung starts, “Well, if by magic, you mean containment. That’s the Ecto-Containment Unit and should never, under any circumstances, be turned off without following proper procedures.”
“What would happen?”
“Actually, I have no idea. But in theory, all trapped inside would be expelled simultaneously. Releasing that amount of psychokinetic at once has the potential to flatten the city.”
“Got it. No touching,’ Jihoon says as he sticks his hands deep in his pockets.
Kyung smiles. “I’m telling you, lighten up.”
Jihoon learns that most of what Kyung does is done alone.
“So, do you not like people or what?” he asks after Kyung shows off some of the data he’s gathered.
Kyung stops talking for a bit and plops down in one of the rolling chairs around the table. “I like some people. But I do it alone because it’s what I do. We all do things, believe it or not. I do all the testing, like could this really be possible and if it is, how can it be better.”
“Why ghosts? Why do this?”
“Well, Taeil started this company, more or less, because of Jaehyo.,” Kyung says as he spins a bit in the chairs.
Jihoon gets far too dizzy watching Kyung in motion and instead focuses on a spot on the wall and a part of the sentence. “Jaehyo? The one I met?”
“The very same,” Kyung sighs, his lips curving into a smile. “They grew up together or something. But anyway, on a field trip, they went to this old house. I’m not sure why because it sounds like a disaster and a liability case waiting to happen. But they did. Jaehyo said he had seen a ghost; Taeil eventually came in contact with one, too. So, that’s the company story, not one we advertise but whatever.”
“Do you see a lot of them? Ghosts, I mean.” And that’s really what it all comes down to in Jihoon’s mind. If it’s just a one-time ordeal or if they flow freely every night.
“Here and there, mostly in the same area. As much as we try, we can’t really figure out why they are there.”
“And where is that?”
“The apartment complex he and Jiho live at. It’s one of the many reasons we go over there so much.” Kyung stops spinning, but his eyes are still unsteady. He manages to stand up and walk to Jihoon. “That’s enough backstory. Let’s go play!”
Kyung’s idea of playing is writing chemical compounds down on notebook paper while rolling around the basement floor. Honestly, Jihoon doesn't think it’s as bad as it seems.
As Kyung talks about the mathematical complications of Taeil’s newest assignment, an upgraded particle accelerator for the proton pack, Jihoon scoots a bit closer to see the blueprint.
“How does this work?” he asks as he peeks over Kyung’s shoulder.
Kyung drops his pencil, letting it slide along the table. “Want the simple version?”
Jihoon ponders that for a bit and nods. Kyung continues, “Basically, the proton pack’s wand emits a field of electromagnetic energy that speeds up negatively charged particles. The stream polarizes the ghost, which keeps it in place long enough to be trapped.”
“That’s the simple version?”
Kyung smiles; his eyes twinkle in the glow of fluorescent light. “Yeah.”
Jihoon furrows his eyebrows. “Fuck.”
“Yeah,” Kyung repeats with a sigh.
Yukwon and Taeil wander downstairs sometime during lunch, Jihoon stuffing his face while Kyung steals fries from his plate.
“So,” Yukwon says as he swings an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders, “how are things going? Is Kyungie boring you?”
Kyung swats at Yukwon; Taeil falls into the chair closest to the stairs. “I’m never boring. How did your day go? Did Jiho manage to seduce you yet, Taeil?”
Taeil grimaces and buries his face in his hands. Yukwon chuckles, “Actually, Jiho had clothes on when we got there. But once he saw Taeil helping me, he started working the living room like a strip club.”
“I’ll be in my office, if you need me,” Taeil says as he tumbles out of the chair and back up the steps.
Yukwon waves, as does Jihoon. When he’s out of sight, Yukwon whispers, “He probably just needs alone time to relive the performance.”
Jihoon doesn't even try to fight his laughter. Kyung, however, laughs as he throws a pencil at Yukwon in Taeil’s honor.
“Yukwon, you better not be in there starting shit!”
Jihoon stops laughing, and Yukwon cowers behind him. Kyung nods approvingly. “Taeil knows everything.”
Jihoon doesn't laugh, doesn't even think to do so, when Yukwon whispers into his ear. “If he knew everything, then we wouldn't be here.”
The night starts at Jaehyo’s apartment, and Jihoon does his best to remember every movement just in case it’s useful to someone else later.
Kyung leads the way, eyes darting to the corners of the ceilings and head nodding at every drunkard they pass. Yukwon follows close behind in a steady pattern; his head bobs to something as his feet touch the floor. Taeil walks beside Jihoon, a bit slower than the others like he’s feeling every force from the balls of his feet to the top of his head. For all Jihoon knows, he may be doing just that.
Jaehyo greets them from the hallway with enthusiasm, hands waving and mouth moving.
“You locked yourself out of your apartment, didn’t you?” Taeil asks as soon as Jaehyo stops talking.
Jaehyo scoffs. “Of course, I didn't. What kind of idiot do you take me for?”
Lucky for them, Minhyuk is home, dressed in dark colors, and after opening the door, sits cross legged on the sofa.
“Jaehyo, you said there was something you wanted me to see?” Taeil asks as he shuts the door behind himself.
Jaehyo nods and leads them into the kitchen. Cooked eggs, sunny side up, lay on the counter. The ceiling is marked with dark circles, and the floor is splattered with popped popcorn kernels.
“Look, if you wanted us to clean, you could've waited until in the morning,” Yukwon groans.
“No, no. I can clean it. I just wanted you to see it.”
Kyung inspects the counter, careful not to step on the popcorn littering the floor. “What happened?”
Jaehyo turns to Kyung, looking almost exclusively at him. “Well, I went out and picked up some things from the grocery store. And I forgot my key, so Minhyuk let me in. Anyway, I sat my things down on the counter, and everything started exploding.”
“What caused those?” Jihoon asks as he points at the dark circles on the ceiling.
“Soda. And I didn't even shake them up since I took the elevator.”
Taeil cocks his head to the side and nods.
“Look, Taeil, you know I’m not crazy. At least, I’m not this crazy. I don’t know what’s going on, but I wanted to show you. You’ll help right?”
Jihoon notes that Jaehyo asks the question directly at Kyung, but Taeil nods anyway.
“M’kay, gang, it’s time to get our hands a little slimey. Get back to the lab. I’ll keep in touch.”
Yukwon walks out first; Kyung tottles after once Jaehyo stops whispering to him.
Jihoon watches Minhyuk as he leaves. Nothing out of the ordinary, but then something is. It’s the glint in his eyes, there for only the flashes of flashes, but it’s there nonetheless. Something dark, a tad destructive. Minhyuk doesn't wave at him like he did the others, choosing to stay seated as if he’s waiting. Daring Jihoon to question him, to tell on him like a helpless child.
As he crosses the threshold and increases his stride to catch up with the others, Jihoon feels like doing just that.
The guys are not greeted by Taeil but a tall stranger with a briefcase. “I’m a government official, representing the Environmental Protection Agency. And I am hereby ordering you to shut down this facility.”
“On what grounds?” Kyung asks as he unlocks the front door.
The stranger grins, ugly and sinister. “On grounds of running an illegal corporation underground. We know all about your company and the amounts of harmful pollution it emits.”
Yukwon scrunches his face. “How do you know?”
The man shrugs. “We have our sources.”
Taeil walks in, not at all surprised by the man or the briefcase. He does, however, have the decency to shrug.
“Well, you heard dickless here. Shut it down,” Taeil says, and something about the whole thing seems off to Jihoon.
Yukwon tilts his head, hand on the switch but hesitant. “Are you serious?”
Taeil smiles. “Yes, this man has no dick.”
Dickless, or Mister Dickless, shouts. “Turn the fucking thing off or you are all going to jail!”
Yukwon flips the switch, and a series of alarms sound off in the basement before the power goes out.
“Now look what you did! Kyung, turn on the generator,” Taeil orders as they all stumble around in the dark.
Jihoon feels something, probably a someone, bump into him. “Taeil?” he asks.
“Hmmm?”
Jihoon waits for Taeil to get his bearings, and he feels hands travel from his waist to his chest, smooth and steady. When they reach Jihoon’s shoulders, they push down and Jihoon bends lower. Taeil’s breath is warm on his neck. “You see, Jihoonie, what they say is true. Men really do think with their dicks.”
Somewhere in the distance, Jihoon hears Kyung and Yukwon snicker.
Jihoon reports back to work the following days as Taeil had made it clear that shutting down the ghostbusting aspect couldn't end the cleaning service they offered.
“I think Taeil has something planned,” Kyung tells him when he wanders into the lobby.
Jihoon may be new to everything this business has to offer, but there is one thing he’s sure of. “Taeil always has something planned.”
The city feels colder than normal on the jobs, and Yukwon attributes that to the swarm of malicious ghosts in the air. “You can feel it, you know.”
Jihoon agrees. He beats against the dashboard in hopes that the heater will start to work, and after a few more pounds, it does. Yukwon gets a text as Jihoon pulls into a parking spot at the apartment complex.
“Taeil says he wants us there tonight. He didn't say anything else.”
The sun is starting to rise, all orange and bright, but something doesn't sit right with Jihoon, like someone is watching him. He looks up at the apartment and notices the blinds of one window start to move, a shadow moving alongside it. He counts twelve floors, from the ground to the eerie scene.
“Kwon, do you know whose room is that one?” he asks, pointing.
Yukwon leans over to see what Jihoon sees and squints at the general area. “Oh, yeah. That’s Jaehyo’s room.”
Jihoon frowns, confirming suspicions in his mind he didn't know he had formed.
Yukwon and Jihoon walk into Brand New Cleaning Company, tired and cold. And wondering.
Taeil sits at the desk in the lobby, arms crossed and feet propped on the corner. “Feel like catching some ghosts?”
Yukwon mocks surprise. “I hear that’s illegal! Do you have a permit, sir?”
Taeil laughs, and his feet slide from the desk to the floor. “Can’t get anything done if you play by the rules. If we’re going to do something illegal, we need to go all out,” he says as he hands Yukwon a rolled up blueprint. He walks out of the room without another word.
Jihoon fist pumps. “Back in the game!”
Yukwon and Kyung bend over the basement’s metal table, pencils in hand, and talk about the project Taeil has given them to complete. Jihoon amuses himself on the couch as he avoids nodding off.
“Might as well give in, Jihoonie. We have a long night tonight. Jaehyo says some weird shit is happening again,” Yukwon says as he rustles some papers.
Jihoon turns on the couch, facing the others and legs bent over the arm. “I don’t feel like sleeping. Can’t I help you?”
Kyung bites his bottom lip, brows furrow. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Yukwon taps Kyung on the arm as he straightens his back. “C’mon, what’s the worst that could happen?”
Jihoon can almost see Kyung’s mind working, gears shifting to project the worst that could happen and screens filtering out the rationalizations of each scenario. Jihoon should probably turn over and bury his face in the dark cushions for a few hours. Instead, he turns to begging.
“Please, Kyung. I want to help.”
Kyung throws his hands up in defeat; Jihoon shuffles over to the table and listens as the details are explained. “Taeil wants us to build something to alter the nature of the ghosts. There are too many to catch, and they are pissed as hell.”
Jihoon hesitates a bit, because maybe the jargon was left out and he doesn't know all the details, but he opens his mouth anyway. “So you want to neutralize the ghosts? Kyung, didn't you tell me they were negatively charged?”
“Holy fucking shit, we’ll just add synthetic protons to the stored ectoplasm. The positive energy will counteract the overcharged negative ions, and all that will be left is normal run-of-the-mill ghosts,” Kyung says as he writes. “Jihoon, you are a fucking genius. I knew I liked you better than Kwon.”
Yukwon pouts. Jihoon rubs his shoulders a bit, which earns him a smile. “How are we going to do all that?” he asks.
Kyung grins. “I can get it done in a few hours, but I’m going to need to borrow you for a bit.”
They spend the next few days just making things normal, falling into normal routines and saying normal things. Every time Yukwon fires the slime blower, full of psychomagnetheric mood slime, he sings about accentuating the positive. Kyung fills out paperwork and sing-songs addresses every morning.
Jihoon thinks he may actually be going crazy.
Taeil wakes Jihoon before the sun has even thought about rising. He sits up on the couch and almost steps on a barely conscious Yukwon in doing so. “Sorry,” he mutters as he rubs the last bit of sleep from his tired eyes. Yukwon shrugs and sidles up beside him, resting his head on Jihoon’s shoulders.
“We’re going to war, tonight. Ghosts have been swirling the complex, and I’d rather do this now.” Taeil paces as he announces this.
“Jaehyo hasn't answered any of my calls or texts from earlier,” Yukwon says as he moves his thumb over his phone.
Taeil purses his lips and nods. “Wake up Kyung and tell him to bring the new guns with him. We’ll meet in the lobby.”
Kyung stands in the lobby, proton pack high on his back and jumpsuit zipped all the way up. He pushes his goggles down over his eyes and looks up. “Where’s the problem?”
Yukwon squints at the staircase. “Twelfth floor.”
“Fuck it,” Kyung says as he moves farther from the steps. “Whatever’s up there can stay.”
Jihoon, ready and a bit excited, grabs Kyung by the forearms and bends a little to look him straight in the eyes. “We are talking about the greater good!”
Yukwon snorts, but when Jihoon looks expectantly at him, he adds, “And, um, your best friend is up there.”
Kyung claps his hands together. “Even better. Call me tomorrow and tell me how it went.”
Taeil, who is by this time several steps ahead of them and barely still visible from the floor, laughs.
Kyung is almost to the door when he hears Taeil’s voice. “Jaehyo is still up there.”
Eyes a little darker and grip considerably tighter on the proton wand, Kyung marches to the staircase. “Guess I should take a look while I’m here. Besides, I can’t let you guys take all the glory.”
Jihoon walks up eleven flights of stairs, lungs bursting and body sweating, when he notices something terribly wrong.
Taeil motions at the stairs before them, barely there and crumbling. “Be my guest.”
Kyung groans. “How the hell are we going to get up there now?”
Yukwon climbs up Jihoon’s body, his legs wrapped around his waist.
“Kwon, there is no time for that right now. We’re dealing with end of the world possibilities here,” Kyung says as he averts his gaze.
Jihoon pushes Yukwon’s body up higher, one knee beside his neck and a shoe scraping up his torso. “No worries, Jihoonie. I’m almost up.”
Yukwon grabs onto the railings that are left and pulls his body up the rest of the way.
Taeil moves to get a better view. “How do the rest of the steps look?”
“Doable.”
Jihoon wipes off the sweat beading his forehead with the back of his hand. “Who’s next?”
“Fuck.”
Jihoon looks at what’s left of the twelfth floor. The walls are scorched with black lines running the length of them. The hallway carpet is covered with rubble, and the doors are each marked with x’s.
Jiho sits outside on the floor outside his door, shaken and shaking. “It’s about fucking time you guys showed up.”
Taeil bends down first. His hands rub the dirt and slime on Jiho’s face; Jiho seems calmer, a bit more rough and tumble.
“That freak attacked. I was on my way to the gym, like I do everyday, and he just sucked Jaehyo into his room. And look what he did to the hallway. My rent’s gonna go up, and I can’t afford this shit. I’ll have to get a roommate.”
Taeil turns back to look at the others and rolls his eyes. “Jiho, who is the freak? Who did this?”
“Minhyuk. I knew that guy was shit,” he says as he wipes his nose on his sleeve at the elbow.
“Do you have any place to go right now? Some place that’s not here.”
Jiho shakes his head; Taeil sighs. “Okay, then I want you to keep your mouth shut. We’re going to check this shit out.”
Taeil knocks on Jaehyo’s door, which falls off its hinges and crashes on the floor. He puts a finger over his mouth in gesture as he takes tentative steps into the room.
Yukwon nudges Jihoon into the side as he whispers, “It’s always the good looking ones, you know.”
“Kyung, you got any visuals on Jaehyo or Minhyuk?” Taeil asks as he scopes out the rooms.
“That’s a big ten-four,” Kyung says as he stands in front of a gaping hole behind the sofa.
It looks like a passageway from the back in the day when they carved the earth for convenience. The walls are made of stone that displays ancient writings and ugly pictures. There is a light burning from beyond the passage, blue and mysterious. The sounds of a storm wage against the bounding of Jihoon’s heart.
Taeil pats him on the back. “Guess we should check it out.”
Jihoon nods until he realizes that Taeil wants him to lead, but after a quick glance at the others, he nods again in reassurance. Everyone is as scared shitless as he is.
Climbing stone and trying to find the light and his footing, Jihoon marches on until he reaches the top. Of what, he’s not sure, but it’s the top of something.
“The roof? How original. Is there going to be witty banter and a kiss at the end, too?” Yukwon asks, opting to sit down next to a lion statue.
Taeil bends over, panting and red in the face, and smiles. “Only if we’re lucky.”
Kyung switches on his proton pack, and when everyone looks at him, he shrugs. “Shit’s gonna end tonight. I’m running on three hours of sleep, and I just walked like thirteen flights of stairs.”
“Well said,” Taeil says as he switches his pack on. “You guys ready?”
Yukwon sighs and powers the pack up, still sitting and waiting on something to happen. Jiho is standing behind Taeil, staring at everything in wonder.
“Hell yeah.” Jihoon hits the button, the buzzing of the pack sounding. “Let’s kick some ass.”
Minhyuk is standing at the end of this balcony-type thing; a door is burning blue and orange behind him. It’s like something from one of those science fiction movies that Jihoon watched with his friends on Friday nights. But this is real and ridiculous, and he wants nothing more than for this to be over.
“You see, mortal, you have stolen something from me, and I intend on getting it back. I have gone through many bodies trying to get it. And now it shall be mine!”
Jaehyo is tied and laying on something like an altar before the door, body akimbo and limp.
“Yeah, well, you little shithead, you’ll have to wait a bit longer!” Kyung yells as he fires a proton stream at Minhyuk.
Minhyuk dodges the beam and disappears into the darkness.
Kyung sighs. “That was easier than I thought.”
Minhyuk reappears, in front of Kyung, and replies, “Think again, useless mortal.”
Kyung is thrown against a wall, close to the altar and gate to wherever. Yukwon fires up his proton stream. “This bitch is going down. Why did he have to be so hot?”
“Kwon, focus. We need to get Jaehyo out of here and that whatever it is out of Minhyuk’s body without killing anybody.” Taeil pushes his glasses up on his nose; Jiho’s fingers are gripping onto Taeil’s shoulders.
Yukwon huffs, “You really are a killjoy, you know.”
The plan is simple; get the ghost gone and get the hell out of there.
The execution is a bit more tricky.
Lucky for them, Jiho is a great distraction.
“Um, I don’t think I can do this,” Jiho whispers to Taeil.
Taeil continues fumbling with thoughts and schemes and ways to get out of here and back where everything isn't creepy as shit. “All you have to do is get Minhyuk’s attention.”
“How do I do that?”
Taeil clicks his tongue. “Oh, are you cold out here?”
Jiho shakes his head; Taeil smiles.
“Wait, what are we supposed to be doing again?” Jihoon asks as he tries to center his proton stream. “Because Kyung told me crossing the streams was not a good idea.”
Yukwon shrugs. “He’s unconscious, and really, I’m game for anything that will get me in bed soon.”
“Kwon, walk towards Jihoon once he gets a stable shot on Minhyuk,” Taeil commands as he falls onto the ground, ready to crawl at a moment’s notice.
“And hurry the hell up. It’s cold out here!”
Yukwon laughs, “Woo Jiho, you are doing great. All that practice stripping and hours at the gym are really gonna pay off.”
It’s a twist of colors, a powerful jerk, and hands gripping over wands when Minhyuk finally freezes. His body writhes under the burst of pinks and yellows but barely.
Taeil is rushing over to Jaehyo, untying the ropes at his ankles and wrists. “You okay?”
Jaehyo moves his head from side to side; Taeil seems pleased. “Good. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to borrow this necklace of yours.” He rips the necklace from Jaehyo’s neck, a tiny pendant on a silver chain.
“Okay, guys, turn off your packs!”
Jihoon steadies himself as Yukwon powers off his own pack and then Jihoon’s. He’s never felt this tired; his arms have never been this sore. He feels the ground move beneath him, and he feels a buzzing in his head. Yukwon doesn’t look much better than what Jihoon feels like.
“Foolish humans! You should have killed me when you had the chance. Now feel the wrath of Azher!” Minhyuk’s mouth moves, but it sounds so foreign, so old. Jihoon likens it to a cheaply dubbed movie from the States.
“Yoohoo!” Taeil calls from across the way. He holds necklace in one hand while the other clutches the doorknob. “Is this what you want?”
The spirit jumps out of Minhyuk’s body, and said body crumples to the ground. Taeil opens the door and tosses the necklace in, the ghost following close behind. The door is slammed promptly afterwards.
“Kyung, now!”
Kyung raises from where he was thrown, looking a lot less unconscious than they thought, with a slime blower. This one seems to be infused with some sort of fire; the door burns into the night with a warm pink glow.
“Hell yeah! Good job team. Now, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Taeil says as he wipes the sweat from his brow. “Jiho, you can get dressed first.”
Jiho nods and winks in Taeil’s direction, hands working over his body. Jaehyo drapes himself over Kyung’s shoulders; Yukwon stops to pick Minhyuk off the ground. Jihoon smiles as he bids goodbye to creepy balcony-thing and possessive ghost shit for the night and makes his way down the stone passage.
“How did you know about the necklace?” Jihoon asks Taeil when they get back to the office. Jaehyo is sleeping, soundly Jihoon’s sure, at Kyung’s place until the room is fixed. Minhyuk is crashing on Yukwon’s couch for the time being, while Jiho is holed up in the shambles of his own room.
“I didn't,” he says, sipping coffee from a styrofoam cup. “But don’t you ever tell Kwon that. I have a reputation to uphold here.”
“But you knew about Kyung, and you shut down your own business. And you like had this whole war strategy thing going on. You knew, right?”
Taeil puts a finger to his lips. Like a teacher does to a student, a parent to a child. “I work well under pressure.”
Jihoon’s mind is swimming with thoughts of ghosts and those who fight them. “So are we done here, like no more ghostbusting?”
Taeil pauses for a while, thinking and drinking the rest of his coffee. There’s something about the way harsh lighting makes everything seem more dignified, more real. Taeil stands taller than he is, lips pursed and eyes focused.
Jihoon sinks deeper into the couch, folding the pink blanket he brought from home. He pushes his feet into shoes and laces them tightly. Taeil hoists himself onto the edge of the table and just sits. And it feels nice to just sit, sit and not worry about cleaners spilling on the floor or the end of the world by otherworldly vengeance.
“Look, I promised Jiho I’d stay the night with him, just this once. So I need to get over there before he has the feds looking for me. You can lock the place up?”
Jihoon is in the midst of saying no, only because he can’t possibly do so without a key. But Taeil, Taeil who thinks of everything, tosses him one. It shines a bit like gold, shiny and etched with the word BOO. It’s fitting, and he is in the process of saying that but then Taeil already knows.
“Right, so lock up and I’ll see you tomorrow. Early. We have an entire floor booked for a thorough cleaning, so you might be here all day.” As he walks out of the room, he turns back to wave. “Oh, and I would keep that blanket here. Maybe grab something to sleep in while you’re here, too. You’ll want plenty of rest in between jobs.”
And Jihoon is wondering just how much he’ll have to do tomorrow when Taeil adds, “Ghosts just don’t kick their own asses, so I guess we’ll do it for them.”
“Fuck yeah,” Jihoon replies.
The room feels emptier, sounds quieter. It’s well past three in the morning, and Jihoon figures he can sneak in at least two good hours before Kyung will shoo him off to work.
The streets aren't busy this time of day, but it’s still about a twenty minute detour. Jihoon thinks that his own bed just isn't worth the trouble and nestles himself deep into the cushions for the short time ahead.