Graveyard of Dead Ideas

[tcaramel]

Here are some things that might serve as inspiration to others because i don't have the fortitude to work them through. perhaps they will inspire someone as a writing prompt or some visualization if you happen to pass through this journal.

AKA my dead wip's, nothing rated higher than like pg-13



BAP - supernatural theme

“Jongup, you do know your apartment is haunted right?”

The television was blaring in the background to drown out the sound of the cars passing by outside from the open window. If the temperature wasn’t so hot and humid, the window would have been shut, but it was too stifling to even think about closing it.

Jongup turned his head towards Daehyun, TV remote in one hand and a half eaten pear in the other, “Yep, of course.”

Daehyun raised his eyebrows and shifted his position on Jongup’s couch, “And you’re okay with this?”

“Yep, he smells like the sea and sandalwood cologne. And I think he likes to play with my fish nightlight.” Jongup took a huge bite of his pear, remembering how he came home from teaching the other day and the nightlight was on. It would randomly be on in the middle of the day when Jongup swore he turned it off. The nightlight used a bulb instead of glowing when the room was dark, which made Jongup have to turn it on and off each time he used it.

Jongup didn’t know if he was forgetful, or if there really was something suspicious going on.

“Do you want me to, you know, take care of it for you?” Daehyun asked, and Jongup could tell he was just itching to perform his special psychic powers on whatever inhabited his apartment with him.

To be honest, the spirit in his apartment didn’t bother Jongup. Sure, he had been spooked when he discovered he could see a figure, hazy and white, in the edges of his bathroom mirror. Most of the time you wouldn’t even know there was something off about the apartment.

If it weren’t for Jongup’s nose, he wouldn’t think there was anything odd at all. Except for the mirror and the nightlight that was hard to explain with logic. Something couldn’t be explained.

“You don’t have to,” Jongup said, speaking with his mouth full, “I think we’ve got a nice thing going on here, me and Jello.”

Daehyun frowned, his brows lowering, “You named it?” He set down his drink on the floor and stared at Jongup’s face, making him feel self-conscious.

“What am I supposed to call it hyung? Ghosty? It’s not like he can talk.”

Daehyun sunk down into the couch cushions, and Jongup distinctly had a feeling that Daehyun was going to lecture him on the finer points of the undead. He fanned himself with a magazine - the one that he clipped his toenail shavings in - while waiting for Daehyun’s explanation.

“Jongup you have to respect the spirits, most of them are just lost souls holding onto something and are unable to pass on to the afterlife. They’re not pets. But you’re right on one thing,” - Daehyun’s face screwed up in the way it always did when he was tapping into his psychic center - “it is a guy.”

“Believe me, I don’t want a pet ghost. A ghost is a ghost just like a person is a person,” Jongup said. He dropped the magazine and it landed on the floor with a resounding thud. “And of course it’s a guy.”

“I’m going to see what his problem is.” Daehyun stood up, stretching his arms out above his head. “Where is his usual haunt?” His eyes were already scanning the room, so Jongup let out a breath of air and pointed down the hallway.

“The bathroom. He’s usually in there.”

“He haunts your bathroom? That’s kind of…gross.”

Jongup stood up, “He’s very considerate when I’m in there doing my thing.” He set his pear core down on an empty snack bag destined for the trash.

“I don’t even want to know,” Daehyun said, beginning to walk down the short hallway to the only bathroom in Jongup’s one bedroom apartment. Jongup followed him just in case something freaky went down - he was the one who had to live here. The last thing Jongup wanted was a pissed off spirit breathing down his neck. Poor guy probably already had it rough, being dead and all.

They stood in front of the open door and Daehyun flicked the light switch on, but he didn’t go inside. Jongup peeked around Daehyun’s shoulder; however, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Yet, Daehyun was focused intensely on something inside the room.

“What’s wrong?” Jongup asked, “Can you talk to him? Ask him what his name is.”

“He’s not really coming through well, I can sense it but, it’s like there’s something blocking,” - Daehyun tapped his forehead - “you know there’s something off about this mirror. ” Pausing, Daehyun kept his hands on the doorframe, “Wow there it is, there’s a really strong presence in this room.” He stepped inside, placing both hands on the sink and staring straight at the dirty mirror that Jongup hadn’t cleaned in weeks. “I thought your apartment was old, but not turn of the century old.”

Jongup walked up behind Daehyun and put the toilet seat down so he could take a seat. “It’s just an old building. The apartment manager has a thing for antiques I guess.”

The building had a lot of old style Korean decorations in the lobby behind a glass case because the building’s manager was a collector. Jongup saw them everyday when he left for work. His mirror was another antique, but apparently every room had its own antique mirror. The building was advertised as a historic apartment, and Jongup guessed that attracted a lot of admirers - having cheap rent helped because the hot water was also historic.

Jongup’s nose began to run. He sniffled and wiped it with the back of his hand, the sharp scent of decaying seaweed and salty air filling up his nostrils.

“Daehyun hyung,” Jongup said, “I think we have company.”

At the same moment the words left Jongup’s lips, Daehyun grabbed his head in pain. Jongup shot up from his seat and put an arm on Daehyun’s bent over figure to make sure he wouldn’t topple and split his head open on the bathroom tile. “Hyung, are you okay?” Jongup asked worriedly, shaking Daehyun’s shoulders.

Daehyun was mumbling streams of nonsense that Jongup couldn’t decipher.

“Hyung!” Jongup was now getting anxious that Daehyun wasn’t responding to him. Even though this wasn’t the first time Jongup had witnessed Daehyun babble when communicating psychically, it was by far beginning to look the most dangerous.

He tried to drag Daehyun out of the room by holding him around his waist and pulling him towards the door. But, Daehyun resisted and grabbed the sink; his head shot up and hit Jongup in the jaw. Stumbling back, Jongup released Daehyun and hit the wall behind him.

Luckily, whatever sent Daehyun into a fit was calming down.

“I don’t know - stop - I can’t hear - stop - listen - no it’s not,” said Daehyun while he stared at the mirror and Jongup stared at him. The scent of the sea was almost too overpowering for Jongup to handle.

He leaned against the wall with one hand and reached out for Daehyun with the other, “Hyung are you okay?”

Daehyun’s grasped the sides of the mirror with both hands, “Zelo, you can come out,” he said loudly. He then released his grip and stepped backwards into Jongup’s outstretched hand.

The scent filling the room was gone.

“What was that?” Jongup asked, confused and frightened. “Hyung, are you - you again?

Nodding his head, Daehyun ran a hand through his hair, “Yeah, that was so strange. I think I was communicating with the spirit, but they weren’t making any sense.”

“Who’s Zelo then?”

“Who’s who?”

Jongup frowned, “You said for Zelo to come out while you were touching the mirror.”

“I did?” Daehyun shrugged, “I can’t remember why. Wow, your place is weirder than I thought Jongup and I have the worst headache right now. I have to lie down.”

“Yeah, but it’s not that bad for cheap rent.”

Daehyun walked out into the hallway and Jongup flicked the lights off behind him when he followed. If anything, Jongup might need to sit down himself after that scare. Working with Daehyun and the undead tended to unravel a lot more questions than he could find answers for. Jongup had a lot of thinking to do before he fell asleep tonight.

Suddenly, the apartment didn’t feel so hot and sticky as Jongup walked behind Daehyun.

“Free rent me for.” The voice was right next to his Jongup’s ear and he jumped, a cold chill spreading down his spine.

Jongup had never run to his living room area faster. He swore things like ghosts didn’t faze him ever since he met Daehyun, but hearing unearthly voices in your ear is enough to frighten even the calmest of demeanors.

“What?” Daehyun said, pointing his finger at Jongup, “Did you hear a ghost or something?”

Stunned, Jongup forced his mouth to work. He was twenty-five, not a little kid afraid of the dark.

“You didn’t hear that?” The voice was so loud and clear; Daehyun must really have been out of it from that episode in his haunted bathroom.

“Hear what?”

“The voice that said free rent. I think you did something.”

Daehyun sat down next to him on the couch, “I didn’t do anything. I told you I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I think I’ll have to try again some other time.”

“But…” Jongup said, peering across the room from where he could see his bathroom door. His heart was pounding in his chest, and sooner or later he was going to have to pee in there. What if Daehyun did something and he’d have to deal with an angry spirit? Jongup was not looking forward to that at all.

Daehyun squeezed his shoulder, “I thought you were cool with this stuff?”

“Yeah, maybe not in my own apart-”

A dull transparent image of a boy flickered into being in front of them. He was wearing a traditional hanbok and loomed over the two of them with a pair of dark eyes in a childish face. Behind the spirit boy, the television lost its signal, playing loud irritating white noise.

Jongup stopped breathing for a brief second. He had never seen a full on apparition before, in fact, he had never seen an apparition period. He might just pee his pants.

The boy raised his ghostly arm and pointed at the two of them, he mouth in a frowning position before he parted his lips.

“Who are you?”

BAP - supernatural theme take 2

For years, Jongup had been seeing someone in the reflection of his bathroom mirror. They were lingering around the edges, a hazy white mist that was barely transparent, and never in the same spot. At first, Jongup was spooked by the specter, but he had gotten used to sharing his mirror while he brushed his teeth. Sometimes he thought he saw it miming his actions. Ghosts couldn’t brush their teeth, could they?

Whatever it was, it didn’t talk back, and it only ever appeared in the mirror. Except sometimes he swore his things had been moved around. He lost his replacement shaver head one day, and the next he found it sitting innocently in his sink drawer.

If it didn’t harm him, then he didn’t have anything to worry about, so Jongup didn’t bother bringing it up to friends or family. Not that anyone would believe him. Nor had the presence tried to harm him.

The light always had to be on when he used the bathroom because he was never too sure what exactly went on in there.

He had gotten so used to seeing it that every spring when it disappeared for a week he missed it. The mirror had become his good luck charm, and the figure inside of it. Unfortunately, he could never completely make out the facial features.

With what tiny bit of six-sense Jongup felt he had, he decided the figure was a male. Some mornings he’d wake up, go into the bathroom, and smell men’s cologne. A rich, deep, and fresh scent that Jongup would have liked to own himself, but he couldn’t ask whoever inhabited his bathroom. They wouldn’t communicate, and Jongup wasn’t sure they could even if he asked.

He was a firm believer in letting sleeping things lie; however, the day he met Daehyun everything changed. For better or for worse, Jongup had yet to decide whether he was happy with his new predicament.

Sweaty and tired, Jongup walked through town to get to the phone store. His had been acting up the past few days, texts disappearing and then showing back up again. Sometimes it would cut off on him and shut down, or a program would freeze. Jongup hoped his warranty was still valid because this was a new model he’d bought just two weeks ago.

He had a backpack full of grimy uniforms and work out clothes from his job that he had to wash - the scent of unwashed sweat had hung over his locker like a dense cloud. Road construction blocked his path forward, pushing pedestrians to either cross the street or take a long detour down a side road.

Jongup had the extra time, and he’d missed his chance to cross the street. He made a sharp right turn to head down the side street he hadn’t been down in a long time. Mainly because of the man who worked at the tiny shop advertising palm readings and psychic services frightened him. There wasn’t much that scared him, but the weirdo who once tried to lure him into his shop with a large scarf around his neck gave him shivers up his spine.

He was resolute in his mind that he was going to walk as fast as he could to pass by the shop without being hassled again. Almost there, only a few more steps, Jongup held his breath as he passed the door without any trouble.

“Excuse me young man, you have the most distressing aura. Come in and I’ll give you a free reading.” Shoot, the creepy psychic caught him again.

Jongup stopped and turned his body at a slight angle to wave the shopkeeper away, “I’m twenty-six.” He held his hands out in front of his body, one holding onto his broken cell phone as if that would ward off the psychic if he hit him hard enough with it.

The psychic’s eyes narrowed, “What?” A series of jangling bracelets on his arms chimed as he moved his arms.

“I’m not young?” Jongup squinted his eyes and pulled his arms closer to his body.

“Are you unsure of yourself?”

“No?”

The psychic grabbed him by his shoulder and dragged him over to the doorway. “You have too much imbalanced energy surrounding you, come let me fix it for you.”

Jongup could think of fifteen ways he could break the psychic’s hold on him and run away, but a lot of them involved minor injuries and possibly slamming the psychic into the floor. None of which would get him a quick release in the eyes of the law. Damn.

“I’m fine really, I need to get my phone looked at and I want to get there before they close so…” Jongup said weakly as he let the complete stranger pull him into his shop. For a second he worried whether the psychic would sick some dark magic on him if he didn’t go along with him.

“Hey I don’t do dark magic,” the psychic said, leading him to a seat where there was a large crystal ball and a deck of tarot cards set out. “My name is Jung Daehyun. You can call me Daehyun hyung because I’m sure this won’t be the last time we’ll meet.” Daehyun the weird psychic winked.

BTOB - manga/manhwa writers plotline

“I don’t want to go,” Hyunsik said. The rain continued to fall outside the window in sheets of heavy droplets, hitting the pavement and soaking everything and everyone caught in the sudden downpour. Hyunsik could see it pour down the café’s windows and dreaded taking one step outside with his tiny umbrella.

“You don’t want to go why?” Changsub asked, mouth around his straw, “Are you scared of getting wet? I thought you were twenty-seven years old.”

“No, I just,” - Hyunsik shifted in his seat - “I don’t want to, isn’t that a good enough reason? Whenever I get a call from my editor and he repeats himself five times it means something bad will happen.”

“You’re going to have to. You can’t just pretend it won’t happen.”

“It would be a lot easier if I could. This is supposed to be my vacation.”

Changsub set his drink down on the table, eyes looking past Hyunsik and over his shoulder, “Yeah well, the world sucks what can we do about it?”

Hyunsik exhaled and stared at his hands, “You know, I thought taking on this project was going to be easy money.”

“You didn’t listen to my advice. You’re always heading into things without thinking.”

“

“Thanks, your words really reassure me.” Hyunsik stood up and took his empty plastic cup in hand. “I’m leaving now.”

“Your welcome and good luck,” said Changsub, extending his hand with his cup towards Hyunsik, “throw this out for me on your way out please.”

Hyunsik grabbed the empty cup and resisted the urge to give Changsub the finger, but he was in public, and there were children here.

Sometimes he hated Changsub’s annoying optimism towards problems that weren’t his own.

The ding of the microwave went off, halting Minhyuk’s progress at the keyboard where he was typing up scenes and keeping tabs of scripts open to edit. Switching between documents when he needed to take notes.

He rolled his chair across the wooden floor, sliding until he reached the kitchen counter where the microwave sat. Opening the microwave door, out wafted the smell of yesterday’s reheated leftovers. Steam escaped the bowl as he picked it up with both hands.

His dog crowded around his feet, little toes pawing and yipping for a snack.

“Hamo, you can’t eat this. This is for me.” Minhyuk slid down the floor further to grab a set of chopsticks off the counter top.

His dog growled as if in pain and looked up at him with his small round black eyes. Minhyuk felt like the worst person in the world at that moment.

“Okay just one, now sit,” he said, Hamo wiggled around for a few seconds before sitting down. “There’s a good boy.” Minhyuk plucked a ricecake from his bowl, bit into it, and handed Hamo a small sized chunk.

Hamo ate it without even chewing. Dogs have endless pits for stomachs, Minhyuk thought.

He flung his chair back across the floor towards the table where he was working, Hamo following his every move. Minhyuk set his bowl down and stretched out his arms and legs. He should go out for a walk with Hamo after he finished writing this scene if it stopped raining.

“You want to go for a walk Hamo when I’m done writing? Or do you just want another ricecake?”

Hamo barked.

“I’ll be able to buy you a million ricecakes when my next volume gets published. You can get fat and happy and I’ll see about getting you a new friend.”

He walked into his apartment, and the first thing he saw was the bright bleached hair of someone he’d rather not be talking to. In fact, if he had a choice in the matter, he’d be far away from here. Preferably, he’d be on a mountaintop with Buddhist monks where he could learn gardening and the art of meditation. However he did not have that option. This was the problem with him being self-employed and contracted to a large publishing company. He thought he’d have freedom, but he really didn’t.

“Finally, I let myself in. You know, I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes and I think your coffee machine is broke.”

Hyunsik set his umbrella down in the kitchen sink. “Eunkwang hyung, you’re…early.”

The man sitting on his couch frowned, “I’m not early, you’re just late.” He waved a thick a thick file folder in the air. “Hyunsik, we need to talk about this. Where’s the rest of your team?”

“They’re all on break like we agreed on since we finished the chapters ahead of schedule. There isn’t anything wrong with them, is there?” Hyunsik feared the worst. He hoped it was only the matter of a few redraws and minor editing, which could be done in a day or two if they worked hard enough on it.

“Oh I forgot, well you might want to call them all back. The writer decided to change the last chapter, so everything needs to be redrawn. I have the script and notes here.”

Hyunsik’s nostrils flared. The author changed the whole last chapter? There went twenty pages and hours of work down the drain. He’d missed out on going to the last showing of a movie because he’d been working so hard to meet a deadline to go on vacation. And now not even three days into his week of vacation, he was being called back to start over from scratch.

“What?” He hurried over to Eunkwang, “Why would they change the story now after all the work has been done and sent in already!”

Eunkwang shrugged, “They said they weren’t happy with the direction the story was going and the company was more than happy to approve the new storyline. I read the revisions over and I agree it’s a much better approach than what they had originally. And we’re giving you a week extension to fix the pages and we’ll somehow push the release date of the book back a week.”

Slumping down into a chair, Hyunsik put his face in his hands. “Tell the author they can shove their new storyline where the sun doesn’t shine,” he grumbled.

Eunkwang got up and put his hand on Hyunsik’s shoulder, “Why don’t you tell them that yourself, they’ve asked to meet you.”

“Oh really?” Hyunsik said in surprise. They were only in the third volume of the series and Hyunsik had yet to meet the elusive author of the manhwa he was illustrating. Now that the popularity of the comic had increased dramatically, the author found it was time to surface.

“Yes,” said Eunkwang, “sometime in the next few days actually. I have to take a look at the schedule and find a time.”

“They better have a good explanation for this. I spent four hours drawing that temple panel and I’m never going to get those four hours back.”

“I brought jjajamyun to eat while we go over the new pages.”

Hyunsik glanced up at Eunkwang’s face and lowered his hands. Eunkwang wasn’t the one at fault here, so he shouldn’t take his frustrations out on him. He was just the carrier of bad news. Plus, jjajamyun did make horrible events a little less horrible.

“Set out the food and I’ll go call and break in the bad news.”

Two pages down.

Sungjae threw his bag down on the floor of the office. “Eunkwang hyung, I’m really not happy. I was this close to getting a cute foreigner to go out with me.” He held his thumb and pointer finger almost together and shoved it in Eunkwang’s face. “This close!”

“Don’t stick your fingers in my face,” Eunkwang complained, “and just where are you picking up foreigners?”

“They go to my college hyung, I see them all the time.”

Hyunsik set his pencil down and glanced up towards the noise Sungjae was making. “Is Ilhoon coming in?”

“Yeah.” Sungjae nodded his head and took off his black coat, hanging it over the back of his chair, “He’s mad though. He wanted to spend this week lying around in pajama’s watching reruns.”