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an hour had passed since jungwon and jay began their search for the ghost, but they had no luck so far.
as jay explored the thickness of the forest, an idea came to mind. we should try a different approach, talk to him directly, as if we were sure that he's here.
after taking a quick glance at jungwon, who stood at the other side of the lake, jay decided to test his little plan in hopes of finally getting in touch with the teen boy's spirit.
"nishimura riki, that's your name right?"
"i have something to ask you, please let me know if you're here. i won't tell jungwon if you prefer it that way, i just want an answer"
"please?"
there was no reply, just the chilling sound of branches and leaves rustling due to the heavy breeze.
if only jungwon had mentioned riki's very clear hatred towards jongseong, maybe the latter wouldn't be begging out loud for him to show up.
what if this is a bad joke? or worse, what if jungwon actually is insane? after all, there's no such thing as ghosts, right? this whole search is pointle-
"what do you want" a voice called, but there was no one around.
"w-who said that, why cant i see you?"
"maybe it's because im standing behind you, genius" riki huffed. jay turned around only to take a leap back out of shock as a nervous laughter escaped his lips.
"you've got to be kidding me"
there he was, a bleach blonde boy with moles under his lips, eye and cheek, exactly how jungwon had told him.
something was off though, jungwon described the phantom as an entity beaming with light, but this boy was the complete opposite of that.
there was a gloomy aura surrounding him and his figure was slightly blurred, as if he were made out of the nightly fog.
his eyes didn't sparkle like a billion stars, they were sad and dull, a look jay had witnessed one too many times in the past. he was depressed.
"staring at dead people is rude y'know" he said, walking past jay and standing right in front of the lake, his gaze focused on jungwon.
"sorry it's just, this is insane" jay sighed, "this is making me question a lot of things"
despite his indifferent attitude, riki actually felt curious about jay's background.
he seemed like your average netflix bad boy with his black clothes and slicked back hair, but his mannerisms told a whole different story.
just by looking at his posture you could tell he was wealthy and polite, his speaking voice was gentle and soothing, he reminded riki of his old therapist back in japan.
"i've been questioning a lot of things myself" riki muttered, "but i guess there's no point in wondering once you're dead"
jay chuckled lowly, "i guess not"
"how long has it been since you-"
"one year" the younger interrupted, "why?"
the older went silent, his gaze had wandered off into the distance the moment he heard the question, unable to let anything out.
startled by the silence, riki turned to check on him, immediately recognizing the look on his face.
ah, so that's what's going on.
"was it recent?" he asked, taking jay by surprise.
"w-what?"
"the person you're thinking of, did they pass away recently?"
"y-yeah... he did" jay answered, his voice was barely audible, but it was loud enough for riki to interpret.
