ghostly ➳ kim taehyung

eleven; "i lied"

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"What's wrong, Chae?" Mina asks worriedly as she stands up at Chaewon's side.

"T-That's..." she stutters, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"What is it, Chaewon?" Jimin is next to ask. "What's wrong?"

"That's," she whispers, eyes glued to the familiar face on the screen in front of her. "That's Taehyung."

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"What do you mean?" Mina frowns, moving from her seat to take a closer look. 

Chaewon feels as though she's on the verge of passing out. Those familiar eyes are burning into her through the computer screen and nothing right now makes any sense. It can't be Taehyung - it's impossible - but it is him, and there's absolutely no denying it. He's even wearing a familiar grey cardigan over his school uniform. It's him, but at the same time, it can't be. 

"T-That's Taehyung. The boy that I always tell you about," she whispers, in shock. 

It's silent for a few moments before Mina's laugh breaks it. Chaewon winces at the sound and turns to her. 

"I'm not joking," she states adamantly. "It's him."

"Maybe it just looks really like him," Jimin tries. "I mean, it's impossible for it to actually be him. Maybe it's a relative of him who looks freakishly identical. That's possible, isn't it?" 

"I swear it's him. It all makes sense now doesn't it?" Chaewon asks nobody in particular and at this point, she wouldn't blame her friends if they thought she was crazy.  "Nobody else knows who he is. I'm the only one who's actually seen him. Don't you think it's strange, Jimin, that you know everyone in the neighbourhood apart from him? Taehyung always tells me that my dad lets him inside the house, but when I asked him about Taehyung a few days back, he had no idea who I was talking about." 

"What are you trying to say, Chaewon?" Jimin asks, the previous glint of amusement in his eyes totally vanished when he turns to her again. 

"I-I think he's a ghost." 

❁

The next time Taehyung visits, everything feels different. Chaewon no longer feels so comfortable around him and all she can focus on is the greyish tint of his skin. She never used to think anything of it, but now, it just adds to the horror surrounding this entire mystery. 

"What's wrong, Chae?" He asks softly. Chaewon winces when he moves closer to her. 

"It's nothing." 

"I can always tell when something's up. You can talk to me, you know." 

He's wearing the grey cardigan. Everything about him is identical to the boy smiling in the photograph. The photograph that was taken in 1931. 

"I've been thinking," she starts by saying. Chaewon hates herself for not even being able to look at him anymore. "I want to know why I'm the only person in this entire town who knows that you exist."

Teahyung doesn't say a thing. Chaewon feels her hands beginning to tremble and she assumes it's out of fear. She doesn't want to confront him on something so crazy - he's her friend, and a good one, too. She knows she's probably going crazy but there's no other possible explanation. 

"Please answer me, Taehyung. I need to know." 

He stands by her bookcase, eyes glued to the floor. Chaewon feels terrible for interrogating him but she needs to know. 

"You can talk to me, too, you know," she settles with a softer approach as she slowly walks towards him, surprising herself. "I won't judge you or leave you, I promise." 

Taehyung finally looks up and Chaewon notices a singular tear rolling down his face. 

"Talk to me, Taehyung." 

"I lied," he whispers. "I lied about so much and I'm sorry." 

"Then tell me the truth now. I forgive you." 

"My parents aren't in Europe. I don't live with my grandparents. I'm not homeschooled either." 

"Okay," Chaewon says quietly. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't expecting that. "Is there anything else?" 

"There's everything." 

Chaewon isn't sure how to respond so she stays quiet, waiting impatiently for Taehyung to continue talking. 

"My dad was called Kim Myungsoo, he was a soldier in the military. He lost one of his best friends in combat and it really messed him up, he wasn't the same man after that. He used to take me to school on the bike that he singlehandedly built for me, he used to give me piggy-back-rides and take me and my mom out for dinner every Thursday. 

He totally changed. He started to become aggressive, especially with my mom. I was just a kid at the time but I knew what was going on and I didn't know how to stop it. I never thought that it would get as bad as it did. Never in a million years. 

It was just a normal day when it happened. I was 19. I actually thought that everything was finally starting to work out for my family. He hadn't taken his pills for an entire week, though. I came home from school and found my dad waving a handgun around like a madman. At first, I thought he was joking and messing around, but then I saw my mom in the corner of the room looking absolutely terrified. Things escalated quickly and everyone was shouting at each other. I don't remember much apart from when he pulled the trigger and the sound echoed in my ears. 

He'd shot my mom and all I remember next is rushing in front of her to stop him doing it again. He pulled the trigger again and everything went white. There was a flash of a bright light in my eyes and I couldn't see or do anything. 

The next thing I know, I'm waking up on the living room floor. My parents are gone and there's blood on the carpet. There are policemen walking around but none of them takes any notice of me. I stand up and try to talk to one of them but they just walk away from me, like I don't even exist. I'm confused, hurt and lonely. I want to be with my mom again but everything rushes back to me. 

I ran upstairs and looked in the mirror, lifting up my shirt. There was a circular, bloody scar in the centre of my chest and suddenly I couldn't breathe or function properly. I died, my own dad shot me. 

Ever since it happened, I've been trapped inside this house. I can't leave. I don't know why I'm still here or why I came back, all I know is what I've just told you. No one has lived here before you and your family, Chaewon, I was so lonely. When I saw the moving trucks pull up outside the house I was so happy. And when I saw you, I was even happier. 

I thought that I would be invisible to you, too, though, which is why I was so shocked when you actually heard me when I spoke to you for the first time. That had never happened for over 70 years. I know this is hard for you but please, please know that I'm still confused too. I don't know what's going on either. All I know is that for some reason I'm still on this Earth and I think it was destined for you to move here and find me. 

I won't blame you if you never want to speak to me again. I can't exactly leave but you'll never hear from me again, I promise. I can disappear whenever you want me to, I have control over when I can be seen. Just say the words and I'm gone. I'll remove myself from your life even though I really, really don't want to do that. 

I'm sorry, Chaewon."

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author's note: wow I don't even know what that was but I feel emotional all of a sudden.

Anyways, it's finally out! I mean, the clue is in the title but yeah. I didn't really think that through. 

I've never written a supernatural fic before so this is all new to me and I apologise if something makes no sense, I'm kinda just making up my own rules as I go along haha. 

I hope you're all doing well! Have a nice weekend everyone :)