ghostly ➳ kim taehyung

twelve; "i promise"

Silence surrounds the two, only the soft whistling of a breeze outside can be heard through the agape window. Chaewon stares at the floorboards whilst Taehyung's eyes are pressed to her.

"Say something," he states, stepping forward ever so slightly. Not close enough for her to step backwards, but certainly close enough for her to flinch.

"Ghosts don't exist, Taehyung."

Her words are firm, laced with undeniable fear.

Taehyung nods slowly. "I understand you're confused."

"I'm more than just confused. Are you seriously trying to tell me that you died? If you were dead, you wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't be able to talk to you or touch you or--"

"You've never touched me before, Chaewon," Taehyung interrupts quietly. "You can't."

"Yes I have!" She exclaims and moves the short distance towards him despite her newfound fear. "Look!"

She outstretches her arm in the direction of his shoulder, but gasps when she feels nothing.

It's almost as though he's a hologram; her hand passes straight through him. A sound between a gasp and a cry escapes her lips as Taehyung continues to stare sadly at her.

"You're real," she whispers. "You've got to be real."

"I'm sorry."

"Then why are you here?" Chaewon exclaims, hurt. "You shouldn't be here!"

"I know I shouldn't, I'm sorry. If you want me to leave I will."

Chaewon opens her mouth to respond but closes it slowly. Confusion swarms her and suddenly everything turns silent.

"How...how can you come back?" She asks quietly.

"What?"

"Back to life. How can you do it? I want to help you."

Taehyung looks at her. There are tears in his eyes as he slowly shakes his head.

"I don't know."

"You must know!" She suddenly shouts.

"Chaewon, if I knew, do you think that I'd be here like this right now? I want to be real with you, I want to be alive with you but I can't. I pray every day that one day I'll wake up and be able to talk to you as a normal person. I want to be the boy you tutor, I want to be like Jimin and be your friend. Why don't you understand that?" 

"I don't understand that because this is crazy!" Chaewon exclaims yet again, her voice ending in a frantic laugh that's laced with no humour. "You're not a ghost. This has got to be a dream or something." 

Even though the thought had crossed her mind after she saw the photograph, she never truly thought that it could be true. I mean, it's impossible, right? There was no other explanation, but as she stands in front of him there is nothing but denial rushing through her. 

"The article," she suddenly whispers. "That was you." 

Taehyung either doesn't hear or doesn't know how to respond so he stays silent. 

"It's true, isn't it?" Chaewon asks quietly as her eyes well up with tears. "You are dead." 

Taehyung nods. "I am. I'm sorry." 

"You must know a way that you can be brought back. You must. Try and think of something, Taehyung, I can't lose you." 

"You can't lose someone who's already dead," he chuckles emotionlessly. "I really don't know how to come back." 

"Think of something," she responds desperately. 

"Well, hate brought me out of this world," he begins quietly. "So maybe the opposite can bring me back." 

"Love?" Chaewon asks. 

"I don't know. Maybe." 

It's silent for another few moments and Chaewon stares at him before slowly inhaling. 

"I love you." 

Taehyung smiles at her words. "No, you don't." 

"Did it work?" She questions, ignoring his statement as she rushes towards him once again. She reaches out and tries to place her hand on his shoulder, but she's greeted with nothing. "Why didn't it work?"

"You don't love me, Chaewon."

"Yes I do! I really do!" 

"You can pretend all you like," Taehyung says. "But it's not going to work. I don't even know if I'll ever be able to come back, anyway. I'm OK like this as long as I can be with you, to be honest."

"I'm not OK with you being like this. It may be selfish but I need you to be here. You're my friend, Taehyung, I want you to be real." 

"I'll try my hardest," he smiles tightly. 

"I'm going to make you a promise, Kim Taehyung," Chaewon announces and strides across her room in determination. 

"And that is?" He questions with raised brows. 

"I promise to fall in love with you. I promise I will. I'm going to fall so much in love with you that one day you'll be like you used to be again. You'll be back and we can be together because, even if you don't love me, I love you so you don't really have a choice," she breaks off with a sad laugh. "I promise."

author's note: ahhh what was that?! I'm not sure where that all came from but I kinda like it haha

Like I said, I've never wrote a supernatual book (or read many, for that matter) so I'm making up the rules as I go along oops! 

Sorry for the lateness! I've had a severe case of writers block plus I've been super busy with school and stuff!

But I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)