"Eun Hye!?"

The sound of her name, uttered in complete disbelief strikes a chord in her heart. Something heavy creeps up her chest and through her throat, burning at her cheeks as her eyes sting. Tears bloom from her eyes, slipping down her face as she huffs out a laugh.

"Hi Hoba" she manages to say despite her throat constricting painfully. It feels so nice to be seen, to be spoken to.

Hoseok can't break from his shock as he sits there frozen in place, Taehyung merely laughs waving his hand in front of the other's face.

"Eun...Hye" he mumbles, watching as she approaches him slowly. She stops in front of him, kneeling as she reaches forth and takes his hand in hers, his hands were always warm. He studies her face, taking in every feature and she does the same.

Just as quickly as a pin-drop silence descends on them, it disperses and his lips twist into a wide smile as tears spill from his eyes, "Hye!!" he cries as he throws his arms around her engulfing her in a tight embrace. A sob leaves her lips as she hugs him tightly in return. It feels so good to be able to speak to him again.

She's too choked up to speak as she takes in the familiar scent of his light cologne, he always wore this scent in high school.

They pull away though he doesn't let go of her, taking hold of her face gently he wipes away at her tears despite his own falling. Hoseok was always gentle, a brotherly figure to her and from the moment she had met him she knew she could trust him. "Hye, it's really you" he mumbles with a soft smile. "How is this possible?".

She shakes her head, voice coming out scratchier than she expects, "I don't know Hoba, I just woke up one day and found myself here".

Taehyung is watching them with a sad smile on his lips, "I couldn't see her up until a month ago, I don't understand it either".

"Tae, I'm so sorry I didn't believe you. I-"

"Hoseok, it's okay, I don't blame you, if I were in your position, I'd be in doubt too".

Turning back to her he pulls her to sit on the couch beside him and takes a hold of her hands. "I can't believe you're here" his voice comes out in a whisper as he stares down at their locked hands. "It's been so long Hye, I've missed you so much, we all have".

She smiles, briefly thinking of Jungkook before willing the thought away.

"I've missed you too" she smiles, "I saw you visiting Taehyung all those times in the past and I wished so much that I could reach out to you".

Tilting his head in confusion he looks at Taehyung briefly, "then why are we able to talk now? How is it that I can touch you?".

"I can't understand it myself but the only time anyone can truly see and feel me is at midnight. after that, I'm back to being non-existent".

"So you were here all this time?"

She nods.

Hoseok looks as though he has a million and one questions but can barely utter a single word as he looks at her helplessly. "I-"

The shrill ringing of a phone startles them all. The sound echoes loudly through the house, ringing shrill in their ears before Taehyung rushes to grab the phone.

"Hello?" he answers sounding confused. Who would call at such an hour?

Eun Hye turns to level Hoseok with a curious look, receiving a shoulder shrug in response.

"It's my client, they're having an emergency and I need to deal with this. Will you guys be okay?" he whispers covering the phone's speaker.

Hoseok sighs in an exaggerated matter, "it's just Eun Hye and I Tae, we'll be fine!".

He nods, rushing up the stairs presumably into his bedroom.

"He hasn't changed" she giggles, "still a worrier". Hoseok smiles though it isn't as genuine as before. "Hoseok? What's wrong?".

"Eun Hye, I don't mean to pry and you know you can always tell me anything I won't ever judge you but, are you okay?".

She's confused by the look of concern in his gaze, "what? Of course I'm okay! What do you mean?".

"I mean," his eyes shift toward the staircase quickly before returning to hers, "you remember what happened to you, right?".

"I do, Taehyung told me and I forgave him for it, not that he needed to be forgiven he never did anything wrong, to begin with. He's been living with that guilt all these years and I've had to watch".

Hoseok still doesn't look appeased, "what is it Hoba? what's wrong?".

"I'm glad you're here for him and I'm sure he's mentioned Jungkook right?".

"I mean, not entirely, but I saw them the day Jungkook came to visit. They got into an argument and Taehyung asked him to leave". She leaves out the day Jungkook snuck into Tae's house, it felt wrong to mention that.

Hoseok shakes his head, "I wanted them to meet and make up. Despite everything that happened, they're still friends and I know Taehyung cares for him a lot".

"He does, but when I tried bringing up Kook Tae got frantic. He needs more time".

Hoseok looks frustrated as he sighs, "I can't blame either of them for their feelings, I mean on one end the whole thing wasn't Taehyung's fault yet I understand why he'd feel responsible. Then there was Jungkook, who didn't take it well, his judgment was clouded and he impulsively blamed Tae".

She nods thinking of how she could possibly bring the two together, perhaps Hoseok could help her considering he could reach out to Jungkook anytime! "Mayb-".

"But Hye", he interrupts, face solemn. "I know it couldn't have been easy for you to hear the truth and it means a lot that you don't resent him for it. After the news go out, he was shunned. Jungkook left not long after and suddenly the entire world seemed to turn against him. I tried my best to be there for him but I was only a high school student how much could I do?".

Wait a minute, "he was bullied for what happened to me?" she tilts her head in confusion. "But it was an accident? He didn't do anything wrong".

Hoseok's expression mirrors her own, "Hye, it wasn't an accident. Do you not remember what happened?".

There's a strange nagging sensation that tingles at the back of her head, it's incessant pounding is hard to ignore as she wills herself to calm down. "I mean, I don't recall the memory but Taehyung told me what happened".

"What did he tell you?"

"That I was hit by a car, we were arguing and I left in a fit of rage and was hit".

Hoseok's face drains of color, horror filling his eyes as his mouth hangs open. The nagging sensation in the back of her head only grows accompanied by a sound of repeated thumping. Dread fills her gut though she has no idea why. "Hoseok" she starts, ignoring the way her voice comes out shakily, "what is it?".

His eyes flicker toward the staircase once more before he's swallowing thickly and scooting closer to her, body hunching in a secretive manner. "Hye" he starts, eyes lowering as they fixate on something she can't tell. "You weren't hit by a car".

"Wh-what?" she barely manages to croak out as her fingertips go numb from the chilling sensation that creeps down her spine and spreads across her body.

"You were-" he takes a shaky breath as tears gather in his eyes.

"I was what!?" she nearly screams, her entire body is trembling now.

"You were murdered by Ae Jin".

No sooner than the second the words leave his lips, she feels her stomach churn in gut-wrenching fear. Her ears are ringing. loudly, and suddenly the room around her begins to distort. Nausea creeps its way up her throat as she gags, falling to the floor on all four and dry heaves. Hoseok is beside her, yelling out to her, though his words are muted by the ringing.

She feels her chest about to combust as all the air leaves it, she can't focus, she can't calm down. Her head is pounding now, a pain she hasn't felt in ages coming over her.

Hoseok stands, distracted by something but she's too overwhelmed to care. Until his face comes into view, worried and fear-stricken. Those sharp eyes piercing into her own sends a violent shiver through her body. He's shouting something, panic in his eyes though she still can't hear it.

Lifting his hand, he places it against her face, and the moment his skin presses against her own, there's a brief flash of white that leaves her momentarily blinded only for it to clear up just as quickly. She finds herself staring into those sharp eyes once more, though this time there's pure rage in them. They're bloodshot, red-rimmed, and full of despair rather than anger. There's a heavy pressure in her chest as she struggles to blink away the tears that blur her vision.

Was this another memory?

She knows these eyes, she's stared into them for the past few years every time she'd walk up the staircase of the house. those taunting eyes would be waiting for her, glossed over and unblinking as they stared with that ever so unreadable gaze.

The eyes of Kim Ae Jin.