𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 | namjin

= 4 =

"ah! wooyoung!"

namjoon was running up the path, chasing the funeral carriage in front of him. it screeched to a halt in front of the church, and the driver whipped his head around.

"g'afternoon, namjoon!" wooyoung greeted, hopping off the carriage and tipping his hat. "i don't usually see you awake this early, everythin' alright?"

"ah, mostly..." namjoon said, rubbing his neck. "i need your help with something."
"mm?" wooyoung asked, lighting his pipe.
"i think i found...a body in the woods."

wooyoung's eyes widened, and he coughed, covering his mouth. "who's??"
namjoon shrugged. "i'm not sure. i believe it could be a murder case, but i would like your help removing it to take to the coroner's office."

wooyoung eyed namjoon suspiciously. "why were you digging in the woods?"
namjoon froze, unsure of how to respond. "mm...well, i wasn't digging. i was taking a shortcut into town to fix my busted laces, you see, and i tripped over a rock. and this rock is on a mound. a big one."

wooyoung rocked on his heels, taking a long puff on his pipe. "i don't know about this. but i'll help you, you're the kindest person i know involved in the church."
namjoon smiled, and the two grabbed shovels and set off to the woods once again, slowly as the sun began to creep further and further east.

he led wooyoung to the small clearing, and the boulder where jin sat, eyebrow cocked.
"you are joking me. a gravedigger really can't unearth a body?" jin rolled his eyes.

namjoon didn't respond, but shot him a glare as he pointed to the mound of dirt it sat upon.
"right here."
wooyoung pushed his hat back, studying the ground. "well, now we dig."

namjoon sucked up every piece of courage he could muster and plunged his shovel into the dirt, tossing away scoop after scoop of earth. the hole was deep, and the men were deep into nightfall as the pit around them grew wider and deeper by the hour. jin surveyed from above, saying a snide remark ever so often, with namjoon unable to answer, of course.

around midnight, wooyoung's shovel struck something hard.

"got somethin'." he notified namjoon. the two surrounded the stone lump in the ground, dusting it off and digging at the soil around it.
wooyoung lit his lantern as namjoon lifted the object into his hands.

there, in namjoon's hands, was jin's skull.

namjoon shrieked, dropping it immediately as wooyoung gasped.
"oi!" jin yelled from above. "easy on the goods, eh?"

"i'll be..." wooyoung muttered, setting the lantern down as he dusted the ground, revealing the rest of jin's skeleton. his bones were nearly decomposed, though still containing a rotten, red flesh color. namjoon nearly vomited, climbing out of the pit to catch his breath.

"death isn't so pretty, hm?" jin asked. "and i'm the one who's watched myself rot away into the earth these past years."

namjoon straightened himself, wiping his forehead of the grime. "we'll need to get a coffin to carry his body into town."
"i have an empty one in the carriage, the family decided to burn the body last minute." wooyoung said, pointing behind him with his thumb. "let's go grab it, shall we?"

the two men carefully returned to the church, and opened the carriage. as they pulled out the (surprisingly heavy) casket, a sudden snap of a twig in the dark distance made namjoon freeze.

"wait," he whispered. "there's something out there."

namjoon peeked around the carriage, trying to peer into the inky blackness. something went running across the road ahead. possibly a wild animal.
"what's out there?" wooyoung whispered back.
namjoon hummed. "not sure. possibly a coyote."he shrugged it off. it was running away anyhow. "lets get this over with."

as they brought up the coffin, namjoon noticed an odd smell in the air.
"wooyoung, what embalming fluids were used in this coffin?" he asked.
"why, none. this coffin's clean as a god-fearin' man's hands." wooyoung responded.

assembling jin's skeleton proved to be rather difficult. neither man had a close lesson with the human anatomy, and with being unsure of the numbers, they mostly gathered as many bones that surrounded the skull as possible. namjoon also snuck a small piece of jin's vertebrae into his breast pocket, which jin smiled at.

around three in the morning now, with the men both exhausted, wooyoung and namjoon hauled the coffin into the carriage.
"well, this'll be the first time i'm actually bringing a body back to the coroner's." wooyoung sighed, closing the doors and petting his horses.

"here-" namjoon reached into his waist pocket, pulling out some of the coin park jimin had paid him. "compensation. for helping me."
"no, sir," wooyoung held up his hands and shook his head. "i don't take no silver from chum. you use it to buy more of those books your nose is always in."

namjoon chuckled. "alright, wooyoung. thank you for your help."
"don't thank me yet." wooyoung said, climbing into the driver's seat. "the coppers will wanna talk to you, considering this is most likely a murder, judgin' from the state of the skeleton."

namjoon sighed, and nodded. "sure thing. make it back safely, alright? tell your wife what i put you up to."
wooyoung gave a hearty laugh, before gently steering his horses away from the church, the clopping of hooves fading away into the distance.

"is he gone?"

namjoon nearly jumped out of his skin, seeing jin standing next to him.
"jin!" he panted, clutching his chest. "you can't be out here! the other ghosts see you, they'll-"
"-die of fright?" jin grinned.

namjoon glared at him. "they won't let a rage spirit in there."
"fine," jin shrugged. "then take me home. i follow anywhere that little piece of me next to your bosom goes." he pointed to namjoon's chest.

namjoon walked back to his cottage, peaking over his shoulder at jin's ominous red glow whenever he got the chance.
jin was curious of everything. he looked at the greenery swaying in the cool night air, the gravel on the road, but mostly, the houses in the distance.

"i'll take you into town tomorrow," namjoon kept saying. "i'm exhausted. i just want to sleep for now."

when they reached namjoon's cottage, jin flew around with glee, examining the books and the kitchen. namjoon chuckled to himself, he'd never seen someone so eager to know about his life.

as namjoon got into bed, however, he realized they had an issue.
"oh, right. you don't sleep, do you?" he asked jin.

jin shook his head. "no need. i'll just watch over you."
"that's disturbing. can't you sink into the ground like the rest do?"
"you need a body for that, fool." jin snarked. "i latched onto that piece, so unless you want me snuggled upon your breast like some maiden-"

"god- here." namjoon threw him one of his books. "can you read?"
jin nodded. "my family was rich, of course i can read." he looked at the cover. "you like astrology?" he asked quietly.

namjoon nodded. "my biggest passion. my father loved astrology. told me stories of the heavens, pointed at any constellation he could find."
"mine too," jin smiled softly. "it's been so long since i was able to read about it though."

namjoon smiled, and extinguished his lantern, turning his back on the soft red glow of the man that was now immersed in pages of the stars.

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