Haunted House
Title: Haunted House
Rating: G
Pairing: Yongguk / Daehyun
Warnings: Character death
Genre: AU, friendship, very slight angst
Disclaimer: I do not own B.A.P.
Daehyun’s whole body trembles with horror as he looks up at the figure standing above his shaking form on the ground. The light that casts on the young man’s dirty face is shaking with the flashlight that’s being held in his hand, and he opens his mouth to let out a blood-stopping scream-
A hand is slapped on his mouth before he can make a sound, and suddenly the strange male is straddling his thighs and holding his wrist. “Please don’t scream!” he says, voice so deep that it reminds Daehyun of a hip hop club’s bass. “Please. I’m not going to hurt you, okay? Don’t scream. It hurts my ears.” Daehyun simply stares, eyes wide and fearful.
“Promise me you won’t scream and I’ll take my hand off” the man - boy? - continues, and Daehyun nods, a tiny little jolt of his head, and then the hand is gone. He draws a shuddering breath deep into his lungs, still staring at the stranger and the hesitant smile that’s forming on his face. “I’m Yongguk. What’s your name?”
Daehyun chokes out his name, and the smile on Yongguk’s face gets a tiny bit wider. “Daehyun. Nice to meet you. What are you doing in my house? Did you come looking for ghosts?” Daehyun nods hesitantly, and Yongguk snickers. “Well, you found one. Hey, my knees are starting to hurt, so is it okay if I stand up? You won’t run away?”
Daehyun shakes his head, and Yongguk gets up. He bends down to dust his pants, and that’s when Daehyun makes a run for it, scrambling up and heading for the door. He’s reaching for the handle when he hears it - a small call of “bye bye” that makes him stop in his tracks.
He should run. He knows he should. Really, he should run, he really, really should run, but for some weird reason he turns around instead. Yongguk is standing still, looking at him with his shoulders slightly hunched, and Daehyun feels bad.
“Aren’t you going to run away now?” Yongguk asks, a slightly bitter tone in his voice. Daehyun hesitates. “Should I?” Yongguk shrugs, and shoves his hands in his pockets, looking down and kicking the dusty floor. “I don’t know. That’s what everyone seems to do when I talk to them.”
Ignoring all his senses screaming at him to turn around and bolt out of the door, Daehyun sighs and walks back to Yongguk. “You’re not going to hurt me, right?” he asks, and gets a shake of head as an answer. “I told you I wouldn’t” Yongguk mutters, eyes downcast. Daehyun smiles, hesitantly. “Then I have no reason to run away, right?”
Yongguk glances up, a hopeful glint in his eyes. Somehow it makes Daehyun terribly sad. “So, Yongguk” he starts, a little unsure of what he’s supposed to say. “You’re a ghost, huh?”
Yongguk chuckles, though it’s more sad than amused. “I guess so. I mean, I went to the war and came back, but my family was gone. So I waited for them. And waited. And I remember being really hungry, and really cold, and then… I wasn’t. I just stopped being cold and hungry. And I noticed myself on the bed, except that, you know, I wasn’t in my body anymore. So I figured that I must have died.”
Daehyun bites his lip, worries it between his teeth, trying to come up with something smart to say. As usual, he can’t. “Wow” he mutters instead. “You’re handling it pretty well, you know. Being dead and all.”
Yongguk doesn’t chuckle this time, merely looks at Daehyun with sad eyes. “I thought it was fine first, you know. I noticed I could still move stuff and live pretty normally. I buried myself in the basement and all. But then I realized I couldn’t leave the house. I just can’t get past the terrace’s stairs. That was fine too, because people started coming here. But then I said hi to them and… Well. Your reaction was the normal one.”
Daehyun feels really bad for the ghost that’s now glancing at the walls, clearly awkward with the situation, when a horrifying realization dawns at him. “Yongguk” he says slowly. “When did you die?”
Yongguk hesitates for a moment. “What date is it?” he asks silently. “Second of August, 2013” Daehyun answers. “Sixty years and two weeks ago” he whispers, after a moment of silence. Sixty years, Daehyun realizes. Yongguk has been dead for at least sixty years with no one to talk to, stuck in a small house with rats, rotting food and his own body under the ground.
“I haven’t been all alone, mind you” Yongguk says, almost defensively. He reminds Daehyun of himself in elementary school, trying to tell everyone that yes, he had friends, when he was bullied for being a loner. “About forty years ago there was a kid named Himchan. Then, eight years after him was Junhong. He came here looking for shelter in the middle of the winter. It was nice, he couldn’t run away because it was so cold outside so he had to talk with me.” Yongguk seems to be going through fond memories, his expression softening and a smile appearing on his face. It makes Daehyun smile too. Why, he doesn’t know.
“Junhong kept telling me about the outside world, how the nation was getting better, and so on. We became good friends. He told me a lot about his best friend, Jongup, and all the trouble they got into.” The smile on his face dies as he sighs. “But it got colder and there’s no heating here. I didn’t have to bury him, though - they found him on the couch two days after he didn’t wake up anymore.”
The way Yongguk seems so lonely with his memories makes Daehyun’s chest ache weirdly, and he hurries to ask: “and after Junhong? Anyone?” Yongguk shakes his head. “No. Just me. And the rats, but I can’t talk to them.”
Daehyun blinks, horrified. “You’ve been alone for decades? You haven’t talked to anyone? Not a single person?” Yongguk shakes his head. “Nah. People’s ideal type for a new friend usually isn’t a ghost, so most people run away screaming and never come back. Others faint. Nowadays I don’t talk to people much, it’s a waste of time. They all react the way you did.” There’s no bitterness in Yongguk’s words, but Daehyun still feels horrible.
“I’m sorry” he murmurs, before making a decision. “How old are you? Or uh… How old you used to be?” Yongguk blinks, looking extremely confused. “24. Why? What about you?” Daehyun grins. “I’m 21. That makes you my hyung.”
Yongguk seem absolutely delighted, looking much like a child that has just been told that Christmas will be every month this year. “Hyung- ah, can I… Daehyun-ah?” he seems to try it, hesitant with the suffix, but Daehyun makes an effort to smile encouragingly and nod, and Yongguk smiles wide and bright, revealing gums and white teeth.
Daehyun glances at the window further on the corridor’s wall, and notices the shadows being lighter than before. “Look, Yongguk-hyung” he starts, and resists the urge to laugh at the way Yongguk’s smile tries to widen even more. “It’s going to be morning soon, so I have to go home or my roommate will get worried. But I promise to come here right after my vocal lessons end, okay? I promise.”
Yongguk’s smile fades off his face, and he nods. “Okay” he says, but it’s clear he doesn’t believe in Daehyun’s promise. Not that he could be blamed for that, after being feared for decades. Daehyun tries to smile as reassuringly as he can. “Really, I’ll come back for sure. You’ll see. I’ll sing for you tomorrow, I have a pretty nice voice!”
Daehyun turns around and heads for the door, but again, fingers already gripping the handle, he’s stopped by a small voice. “Daehyun-ah” Yongguk calls hesitantly, and he turns his head. “Will you… Please be my friend?”
Daehyun grins. “I will be your best friend, hyung” he laughs, before opening the door and running across the porch, waving back at the dark hallway and the smile that he can’t see but knows is there.
Yongguk waits for a day.
He waits for two days.
Two days turn into a week.
A week turns into a month.
Yongguk waits until his house gets taken down and his spirit body scatters into the summer breeze, particles of memories of smiles and promises of a song flying around the world with the remains of a lonely afterlife that has finally come to an end.
And on a small cemetery in Gwangju, on a sunny spot next to a small tree, there stands a plain stone that reads:
R.I.P Jung Daehyun
28.6.1993 - 3.8.2013
Rating: G
Pairing: Yongguk / Daehyun
Warnings: Character death
Genre: AU, friendship, very slight angst
Disclaimer: I do not own B.A.P.
Daehyun’s whole body trembles with horror as he looks up at the figure standing above his shaking form on the ground. The light that casts on the young man’s dirty face is shaking with the flashlight that’s being held in his hand, and he opens his mouth to let out a blood-stopping scream-
A hand is slapped on his mouth before he can make a sound, and suddenly the strange male is straddling his thighs and holding his wrist. “Please don’t scream!” he says, voice so deep that it reminds Daehyun of a hip hop club’s bass. “Please. I’m not going to hurt you, okay? Don’t scream. It hurts my ears.” Daehyun simply stares, eyes wide and fearful.
“Promise me you won’t scream and I’ll take my hand off” the man - boy? - continues, and Daehyun nods, a tiny little jolt of his head, and then the hand is gone. He draws a shuddering breath deep into his lungs, still staring at the stranger and the hesitant smile that’s forming on his face. “I’m Yongguk. What’s your name?”
Daehyun chokes out his name, and the smile on Yongguk’s face gets a tiny bit wider. “Daehyun. Nice to meet you. What are you doing in my house? Did you come looking for ghosts?” Daehyun nods hesitantly, and Yongguk snickers. “Well, you found one. Hey, my knees are starting to hurt, so is it okay if I stand up? You won’t run away?”
Daehyun shakes his head, and Yongguk gets up. He bends down to dust his pants, and that’s when Daehyun makes a run for it, scrambling up and heading for the door. He’s reaching for the handle when he hears it - a small call of “bye bye” that makes him stop in his tracks.
He should run. He knows he should. Really, he should run, he really, really should run, but for some weird reason he turns around instead. Yongguk is standing still, looking at him with his shoulders slightly hunched, and Daehyun feels bad.
“Aren’t you going to run away now?” Yongguk asks, a slightly bitter tone in his voice. Daehyun hesitates. “Should I?” Yongguk shrugs, and shoves his hands in his pockets, looking down and kicking the dusty floor. “I don’t know. That’s what everyone seems to do when I talk to them.”
Ignoring all his senses screaming at him to turn around and bolt out of the door, Daehyun sighs and walks back to Yongguk. “You’re not going to hurt me, right?” he asks, and gets a shake of head as an answer. “I told you I wouldn’t” Yongguk mutters, eyes downcast. Daehyun smiles, hesitantly. “Then I have no reason to run away, right?”
Yongguk glances up, a hopeful glint in his eyes. Somehow it makes Daehyun terribly sad. “So, Yongguk” he starts, a little unsure of what he’s supposed to say. “You’re a ghost, huh?”
Yongguk chuckles, though it’s more sad than amused. “I guess so. I mean, I went to the war and came back, but my family was gone. So I waited for them. And waited. And I remember being really hungry, and really cold, and then… I wasn’t. I just stopped being cold and hungry. And I noticed myself on the bed, except that, you know, I wasn’t in my body anymore. So I figured that I must have died.”
Daehyun bites his lip, worries it between his teeth, trying to come up with something smart to say. As usual, he can’t. “Wow” he mutters instead. “You’re handling it pretty well, you know. Being dead and all.”
Yongguk doesn’t chuckle this time, merely looks at Daehyun with sad eyes. “I thought it was fine first, you know. I noticed I could still move stuff and live pretty normally. I buried myself in the basement and all. But then I realized I couldn’t leave the house. I just can’t get past the terrace’s stairs. That was fine too, because people started coming here. But then I said hi to them and… Well. Your reaction was the normal one.”
Daehyun feels really bad for the ghost that’s now glancing at the walls, clearly awkward with the situation, when a horrifying realization dawns at him. “Yongguk” he says slowly. “When did you die?”
Yongguk hesitates for a moment. “What date is it?” he asks silently. “Second of August, 2013” Daehyun answers. “Sixty years and two weeks ago” he whispers, after a moment of silence. Sixty years, Daehyun realizes. Yongguk has been dead for at least sixty years with no one to talk to, stuck in a small house with rats, rotting food and his own body under the ground.
“I haven’t been all alone, mind you” Yongguk says, almost defensively. He reminds Daehyun of himself in elementary school, trying to tell everyone that yes, he had friends, when he was bullied for being a loner. “About forty years ago there was a kid named Himchan. Then, eight years after him was Junhong. He came here looking for shelter in the middle of the winter. It was nice, he couldn’t run away because it was so cold outside so he had to talk with me.” Yongguk seems to be going through fond memories, his expression softening and a smile appearing on his face. It makes Daehyun smile too. Why, he doesn’t know.
“Junhong kept telling me about the outside world, how the nation was getting better, and so on. We became good friends. He told me a lot about his best friend, Jongup, and all the trouble they got into.” The smile on his face dies as he sighs. “But it got colder and there’s no heating here. I didn’t have to bury him, though - they found him on the couch two days after he didn’t wake up anymore.”
The way Yongguk seems so lonely with his memories makes Daehyun’s chest ache weirdly, and he hurries to ask: “and after Junhong? Anyone?” Yongguk shakes his head. “No. Just me. And the rats, but I can’t talk to them.”
Daehyun blinks, horrified. “You’ve been alone for decades? You haven’t talked to anyone? Not a single person?” Yongguk shakes his head. “Nah. People’s ideal type for a new friend usually isn’t a ghost, so most people run away screaming and never come back. Others faint. Nowadays I don’t talk to people much, it’s a waste of time. They all react the way you did.” There’s no bitterness in Yongguk’s words, but Daehyun still feels horrible.
“I’m sorry” he murmurs, before making a decision. “How old are you? Or uh… How old you used to be?” Yongguk blinks, looking extremely confused. “24. Why? What about you?” Daehyun grins. “I’m 21. That makes you my hyung.”
Yongguk seem absolutely delighted, looking much like a child that has just been told that Christmas will be every month this year. “Hyung- ah, can I… Daehyun-ah?” he seems to try it, hesitant with the suffix, but Daehyun makes an effort to smile encouragingly and nod, and Yongguk smiles wide and bright, revealing gums and white teeth.
Daehyun glances at the window further on the corridor’s wall, and notices the shadows being lighter than before. “Look, Yongguk-hyung” he starts, and resists the urge to laugh at the way Yongguk’s smile tries to widen even more. “It’s going to be morning soon, so I have to go home or my roommate will get worried. But I promise to come here right after my vocal lessons end, okay? I promise.”
Yongguk’s smile fades off his face, and he nods. “Okay” he says, but it’s clear he doesn’t believe in Daehyun’s promise. Not that he could be blamed for that, after being feared for decades. Daehyun tries to smile as reassuringly as he can. “Really, I’ll come back for sure. You’ll see. I’ll sing for you tomorrow, I have a pretty nice voice!”
Daehyun turns around and heads for the door, but again, fingers already gripping the handle, he’s stopped by a small voice. “Daehyun-ah” Yongguk calls hesitantly, and he turns his head. “Will you… Please be my friend?”
Daehyun grins. “I will be your best friend, hyung” he laughs, before opening the door and running across the porch, waving back at the dark hallway and the smile that he can’t see but knows is there.
Yongguk waits for a day.
He waits for two days.
Two days turn into a week.
A week turns into a month.
Yongguk waits until his house gets taken down and his spirit body scatters into the summer breeze, particles of memories of smiles and promises of a song flying around the world with the remains of a lonely afterlife that has finally come to an end.
And on a small cemetery in Gwangju, on a sunny spot next to a small tree, there stands a plain stone that reads:
R.I.P Jung Daehyun
28.6.1993 - 3.8.2013