Friend {SoonHoon}

fifteen

Jihoon and Soonyoung were silent and shocked as Sungcheol recalled the events of his death. His story was so tragic and awful that it was almost unbelievable, but as they both knew, nothing was impossible.

"It didn't take long to figure out I was dead," Sungcheol said after some silence. "However, once I knew, I didn't care. I just wanted to find Hansol. I don't know if it was my newfound supernatural abilities or something else, but the next thing I knew, I was at the police station. It was as if I sensed him and was led to him."

"So, he was caught?" Jihoon asked.

Sungcheol nodded. "I figured he would be. When I got to him, he was being interrogated. The detective was asking him all the questions I wanted to ask."

"So, why did he do it?" Soonyoung asked carefully.

"Because of me," Sungcheol answered in a hushed tone. "Even though I desperately tried to hide how bad things were from him, he still managed to find out. The landlord was bugging him as much as he was me and kept blowing up his phone. He said he was tired of not being able to do anything. The wrong people approached him and offered him a way to do something, leading to the bank robbery."

He looked up at the two listening to him with intensity.

"I failed to protect my little brother." His voice cracked at the end and both Jihoon and Sungcheol felt their hearts crack along with it.

"They kept asking him about my death, but he had already shut down at that point. All he could do was cry and before long, he drove himself insane. They wound up locking him up in a government-protected mental hospital after his court trial. I tried to follow him because I didn't want him to be alone in a place like that, but I couldn't pass through a certain area. The room had steel in it." Sungcheol continued.

Soonyoung was confused. "Steel? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Ghosts can't pass through steel," Jihoon explained. "You're a ghost. How do you not know that?"

Soonyoung shrugged. "I'm a simplistic ghost. I've never had to encounter steel."

"Fair enough." Jihoon gestured to Sungcheol. "Continue."

"I didn't know what to do after that. I couldn't follow him, but I couldn't leave him alone. Our mother had passed away shortly after the incident, meaning he had no one left. So, after the funeral, I stayed as close as I could, meaning the funeral hall. That's where I met Gyeongsuk. She told me everything she had learned about the ghost world and not knowing what else to do, I stayed with her hoping that an opportunity to protect Hansol would arrive somehow, but it never did."

He let out a shaky breath. "I've been thinking a lot lately and I've decided that I need to let Hansol know that everything will be okay one day. I need to move on or I'll just continue to cause us both more pain." He looked directly at Jihoon. "Will you help me?"

Jihoon gave him a small but sincere smile. "Of course. That's what I'm here for."

Soonyoung joined in. "So, what job does Barbie have to fit this situation?" He teased.

Jihoon only smirked and opened his drawer. He dug around for a bit before grabbing one of his many fake IDs. He held it up for Soonyoung to see.

"Nam Juwon- psychologist."

Soonyoung tssked. "There has to be a point where this becomes illegal."

Jihoon shrugged. "It probably had long reached that point, but I've never been caught either so. Besides, this is the best way to go. Since Sungcheol can't get past the steel, I have to get Hansol to come outside of the steel. No one will suspect anything if a psychologist comes to visit him.