Chapter 2

"A bond between souls is ancient – older than the planet." – Dianna Hardy

I immediately closed the door of my room throwing myself inside. I propped on it while panting heavily. Oh my god, I'd never run like that in my whole life. If I'd run like this in the Olympics, I bet I would've got First place! I'm not a person who believes in paranormal mess but when I experience things like that or hear about them it never misses to run a tremor down my vertebrae. I'm not a fan of horror movies, I'd do anything to avoid it, but I've no problem seeing it too, just that I'd to will all the cells in my body to stay neutral. But that was utterly random; seeing a Korean guy I've never seen before in a field? I don't think it's the happening of my subliminal.

"Gosh! What was that?!" I screeched. "What the hell was that? Hey Mia, that was just your fatigued cognizance playing tricks with you." I started pacing around my room murmuring to myself in English, one of my peculiar habits. "It's alright. That was not real. He's not real."

"Well...I am" whispered a voice behind me in...Korean?!!!

My heart began to duel and I started to panic again. Oh no no...NO! Clutching the straps of my bag firmly I turned around at a snail’s pace as if whatever that is, will pounce on me if I make a erroneous move. Praying to all the gods out there I opened my eyes.

Well, my prayer is not answered. 

"What in the world-" There stood right in the middle of my room the same Korean guy with brunette satiny hair and winter apparel, with a not-so-sure look on his aspect. He was eyeing me as if I'd blow up right then and he was not mistaken.

I backed away towards the door, my hand poised to twist the knob and shoot out of the room.

"Please don't panic!" he said stepping towards me with both his arms raised in the air.

"What am I supposed to do then? Give you a tea and welcome you?!" I asked backing away from him by sticking to the door.

"I won't hurt you..." he whispered shuffling closer.

I observed him deviously, trying to place the situation in my head. He was just behind me in the field when I ran towards my house, which is almost 100 m away, I ran approximately for 3 minutes before reaching here, that too at high speed. What're the odds of him appearing in my bedroom within seconds I got here? Unless he just...

"Just...just what're you?" I asked, my voice very subdued.

"I don't know. I really...don't know. A ghost maybe...?" he probed, dubious himself.

That's when I lost it.

I screamed.

Well, I tried to...but nothing came out.

Instead, a shriek was heard from my sister's room; Liya's.

I looked at the ghost or whatever was in front of me. But he was alarmed just like me.

Did he by anyway go to her room...Nah, that doesn't make sense.

So, as the big sister I am, I competed towards her room and barged inside.

"What? What happened?!"

Liya was perched on her bed beholding her mobile and bawling hysterically. On the account of seeing me, she jolted up and tore to me. I was flabbergasted watching her cry and clinch me out of nowhere. My sisters are only, let me stress, only frail and susceptible when they are crying. I thought a motive on why she must be yowling. Aah...maybe it was the customary case.

"Did your current boyfriend break up with you?" I enquired as she continued crying like a banshee into my shoulder hugging me tight.

I somewhat baulked when I saw the Korean guy coming right through the wall into the room. It was zero out of ordinary I conjecture being a ghost and all, as I've read. That recaps me I should do a study about him. I still didn't trust him nor my mind -  whoever is playing the hoax. Oh, that's not the case here.

Liya retraced from me, still sobbing but her makeup smudged instigating her to look like a lunatic than she already is. I had to bout the urge to laugh seeing the sight. She extended her phone towards me with tear-stained cheeks.

I hesitantly took it and saw that it was a k pop news website. The article  title read:

Car Accident of Lee Jimin of SSB

It said that the so-called kpop idol got into a car accident yesterday night and he's brutally injured. Along with his fans going fanatical over it and accompanied stuff; when, where, how, etc. And there was this picture of a striking fledgling man with brunette hair and a gorgeous leer gazing towards the camera.

Hmm, he seems familiar.

Strangely, familiar.

I forestalled my contemplation from the mobile and saw the banner of seven guys stuck up the wall. My sister's favorite kpop group yeah; SSB. I scanned the banner and found the same dude in the photo. My eyes dawdled off to the chap that was settled underneath it penetrating the banner now. He turned and stared straight at me.

No freaking way!!!

"That's me" he said pointing to the guy where my eyes had halted.

Yeah, that guy looks just like the Korean guy in front of me. Because they are the same. So, he's saying that he's-

"My poor Jiminie got into an accident..." My sister sobbed flouting me out of my thoughts. "Aah, he got miffed so gravely that the doctors say his consciousness flitted away."

Consciousness...oh my god...don't tell me...

"He's in a coma" Liya hiccuped, smearing her tears.

I glanced over at the guy and the expression on his face surprised me. He somehow looked muddled. Does he not know he got into an accident?

"Sis, why does this have to happen to him?!" she howled at me again. "He had done nothing wrong, he's such an angel"

The guy's gaze on my sister softened as I stole a glance at him.

"It's alright, Liya," I said consoling her though I was not much of a comforter. "He's going to be alright. At least he's alive..." 

His gaze was on me now as I ogled at him. 

I certainly needed to do some research.

"Liya" I called my sister for her to look up at me. "How about you call Archana and talk about this? You know when you share your despair, it'll lighten the burden."

She grinned at me, an extremely sporadic one "You're right. I'll call her right now."

"Oh, maybe not right now?" I proposed. "After uh washing your face maybe?"

She gave me a befuddled look and twisted to face her mirror.

"Holy shi-" she peeped at me, who was giving a cautioning glower "-cow. Why do I look like I am straight out of an asylum?"

"Maybe because you're from one?" I mumbled under my breath.

I caught someone laughing out loud. I peered over to the place where the sound was coming from and saw to my utter wonder the ghost guy squatting down and laughing so hard with a hand over his mouth. He looks like a kid now laughing, rolling on the floor. Did he really understand the joke?

"Liya, is someone else in this room right now?" I asked her, just in case.

The guy immediately stopped laughing and looked at me wide-eyed.

She turned around and looked at me weirdly. "Um...no..?"

"Uh okay. Go take a shower, Liya" I stated and gestured for the guy to come with me who picked up the message.

"Weird" Liya mumbled.

I was almost at the door when she called me. "Sis, thanks" she smiled.

I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever"

I saw the guy smiling at our exchange.

~~~

"So..." I turned towards him, locking the door behind me. "You're an idol," I stated in Korean.

He awkwardly halted at the foot of my bed when I sauntered towards him, still keeping a distance.

"Yeah...?" he answered scratching his neck, his gaze on the furry carpet below.

"And you are from South Korea." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Yes," he nodded his head. Then he abruptly looked up "You know how to speak Korean?"

I scoffed. "What do you think I'm speaking right now?"

"Aah...okay" he seemed terrified of me. "How did you learn it? It's hard, isn't it?" he asked like a curious kid with a small pout visible on his plump lips.

"I've my ways," I said shrugging it off. "So, I'm Mia Sherin," I introduced, looking at him dauntingly. Because of some stupid reason, I can't seem to trust him. Well, when have I trusted someone?

"I'm Lee Jimin" he smiled warmly causing his eyes to vanish. No wonder fangirls are swooning over him. The guy has an indulgent smile.

"I know," I said and swished past him towards my study table.

I need to do some research on him. I get it now that he's not the work of my imagination because I don't even know about him let alone seen him. I need to confirm that this guy is certainly the Lee Jimin of SSB. I started furiously typing on my laptop.

"Um, what're you doing?" he asked flippantly.

"Searching about you and your group," I mumbled, without taking my eyes off the screen.

"Your sister's a SLUV," he said to which I hummed, I knew the meaning of that. Their fandom name, deceptively.

"Aren't you...?"

"No" I denied. "I'm not interested in those kind of things"

I’ve no time for entertainment and fangirling.

"Oh" was all he said.

"Got it" I mumbled.

A monochrome Wikipedia tab opened at my tap.

SSB (RR: Super Sonic Boys), also known as the Super Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band that began in 2008 and debuted in 2011 under PRISM Entertainment. The septet- composed of Jay, BoS, Yoha, Shim Chan, Jimin, Y, and MJ—co-writes and co-produces much of their output. Originally being a hip hop group their music style and genre have evolved throughout the years. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of teenagers, youth and coming-of-age, loss, the quest of loving oneself, and individualism.

"You guys are pretty famous" I hummed. "Yet never heard about you before”

"Yeah, we are. Because of our fans," he said.

"And your fans are...huge" I looked at him with disbelief.

"Yeah" he smiled. "Because of them, we are what we are today" There was this indefinite sparkle in his eyes at the topic.

I nodded.

Different from other bands, I see.

"You're called a mochi?" I asked him.

I saw red shades crawling up his chubby cheeks as his gaze avoided mine embarrassedly. Is he, by any chance, blushing?

"Y-Yeah, my fans call me that because my cheeks are very chubby, like Korean rice cakes" he explained, unconsciously rubbing his cheeks.

Fans! Well, they're not wrong.

We were in silence as I searched everything on him in detail. I actually got quite some information from their profiles. But this one caught my eye crossly.

=> Jimin is the most perverted among the boys.

Really? Am I really with a perverted ghost now? Better be careful.

"Hey, Jimin" he was playing with his sweater but when he was termed he immediately turned to me, almost like an obedient puppy. "How did you get here..um in India?"

"India?" he asked back.

"Yes, you're in India now"

"Oh, I don't know. I just woke up standing in that field." he looked down, fiddling with his fingers. "I tried to talk to people who passed by but they ignored me and went right through me. I was afraid because I didn't know what language you were speaking." He bit his lip blinking his eyes furiously.

"I waited for so long and I didn't know what to do. I thought I'm gonna be a lonely ghost for the rest of my life." He looked up at me, dead in the eyes. "That's when you came"

I looked at him inanely "How did you know I can see you?"

"I didn't " he shook his head. "Your necklace...caught my eye".

"My necklace?" I asked, caressing my sea blue star pendant.

"Yeah, and I was following you. That’s when you turned around and talked to me"

"Doesn't make sense at all" I sighed, reclining on my chair.

I lazily glimpsed at the clock hung on the wall and jolted up causing the calmly standing Jimin to flinch.

"Oh no," I exclaimed.

"W-What?" Jimin asked me, quite alarmed.

"Aish, I missed an hour of study time." I rushed towards my closet and picked some random clothes to wear after freshen up. I can't believe that I wasted an hour browsing on the internet about someone I don't even know. Stupid Mia!

"Are you alright?" he asked me with concern written all over his face.

"Yeah, I'm completely fine except for the fact that I didn't study anything for tomorrow's test," I exclaimed again and ran inside the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

Wait, I forgot to say something to the ghost.

I hastily opened the door and saw him sitting on my bed chuckling to himself "Hey Jimin, I know you can walk through walls and all. But don't even think about walking into the bathroom. This is your restricted area. Got it?"

A small smirk crawled over his handsome features which took me by trivial surprise.

Oh no, did I just inform him about that?

"Now that you remind me-" he had a silly smirk on.

"No. Don't." I glared at him.

He just smiled and gave me a thumbs up "I won't".

With that, I closed the door to the bathroom.

~~~

Jimin's POV

It's fun watching her rambling around and chanting the math equations. Just by looking at her, I can say she's a nerd. She's now very concentrated on doing her math homework. She's also warned me not to disturb her while she is studying and called it Rule No.1.

Yeah, she'd passed some rules for me to stay with her. I don't care because I've nowhere to go and no one to talk to. As a very socially committed person, I can't stand not talking to people. So she's my only chance.

I don't know why I'm here in India, miles away from my home, or why she is the only one who can see and talk to me. I don't even know how I got here. Yeah, I should worry about my members and I do but something about here makes me believe that I'm in the right place. Besides I'm not dead, I'm alive. It's just that I'm in a coma. I did worry that I was certainly dead but Mia's sister confirmed that I'm not so I'm reassured.

I wonder what the members are doing now, without me. I can say that they'll be very sad about my condition. I wish I can see and talk to them, and say that I'm okay. But I don't know how exactly.

I'm content though. Because I have one person to look forward to. Actually, I wasn't attracted to the necklace because it was just pretty. It meant something important to me. It was something I lost in my past. Maybe I'm silly but I'm cent percent sure that was the same ocean blue necklace I lost 13 years ago back in South Korea.

And I know there must be a reason for me to be here.

A clear-cut reason.