Chapter Text
Hot and humid air hit Changkyun's dry skin the moment he stepped out of the hospital. His friends had mentioned that the weather had gotten warmer since he had been inside, but he didn't quite realize that with the rise in temperature came a rise in the air:water ratio as well.
As he stepped forward onto the sidewalk, he saw Minhyuk with his arm wrapped around Hyunwoo's shoulders as well as the rest of their posse tailing behind him. They approached each other, and Minhyuk detached himself from his boyfriend to shoot hearts at Changkyun who chose to feign dying from them today, instead of sending them back.
After pretending to nearly falling over, Changkyun got back on his feet and ran a hand through his blondish gray hair, trying to smooth it out if only a little bit. They all stood in a small circle, nothing seeming out of the ordinary to Changkyun except for Jooheon's sly smile. Minhyuk had apparently noticed the same thing and asked, "Heony, why're you smiling like that? Changkyun hasn't given you consent to anything, has he?" Changkyun laughed at Minhyuk's passing comment, but then brought a finger up to his mouth out of uneasiness.
"Ah, it's nothing much. I was just wondering if everyone here knows the story about that bus over there in the old parking lot?" Jooheon said while looking at everyone's confused faces. After waiting for a bit and surveying the group for the usual know-it-all glares Jooheon began again,
"Well, two years ago, that bus was driving on a busy highway at around 5:30pm. It was carrying many passengers that were on their way home after a long week. But suddenly another bus came up behind them, except it was totally out of control. The second bus kept swerving, and the driver couldn't do anything to get out of the way since the streets were crowded with other cars and pedestrians. The second bus ended up hitting the back of the other bus, supposedly killing at least four businessmen and women. There may have been more casualties, but definitely not any less. Rumor has it, one of the business people still haunts that bus. It's one of the people that made it to the hospital next to us before he died, which is why the bus is so close."
Jooheon's story had all of the other guys leaning in, intrigued. All of them except for one, that is. Changkyun stayed where he was behind them, because he was sure the story was purely a newly created urban myth. It is impossible for something to haunt a bus because ghosts don't exist. It's really that simple. Changkyun had heard all of the ghost stories his friends had spread around and yet, not one of them had referenced facts let alone actually been true! He scoffed under his breath, though his finger was still on his bottom lip. He couldn't chew on his nail because of his work with patients but the habit of having his finger there still called him. Once it appeared that Jooheon was done scaring his friends Changkyun looked up, only to see Hoseok and Hyungwon looking frightened and staring at him.
"What?" Changkyun asked. The two just looked at him so he raised his arms to exhibit his confusion, only to lower them when he heard Minhyuk pipe up from behind everyone.
"While you were spacing out, we dared three people to go on that bus and stay there for an hour, to see if Honey's ghost actually exists. Hyungwon and Hoseok looked the most scared and-" Changkyun cut his friend off, knowing exactly where this was going.
"And I looked like I couldn't care less." Minhyuk nodded in response.
"Okay then, let's go in and get this over with." Changkyun moved from his standing position to begin the journey over to the bus. Though he made sure to drop his finger to greaten his act of bravado in front of the children behind him.
The trio had arrived in front of the bus, taking note of it's old color. The bus had been a light turquoise, with yellow and violet writing all across the sides. Changkyun gripped the broken door, making sure to avoid broken glass, and got it open wide enough for them to enter. He took it upon himself to enter first and was surprised at the lack of insect inhabitants. He had expected many cobwebs and mini nests to occupy the bus, but instead it was almost completely clean.
Had he believed in ghosts, that would've been his first sign.
The other two boys climbed in cautiously behind him, and looked around. All the seats were plastic, so they didn't need to worry about accidentally sitting in some insects fresh batch of offspring. Hoseok and Hyungwon stayed together at the very front of the bus, quickly dusting off the first two seats and sitting down. Changkyun however, walked slightly further into the bus and looked around a bit more. He noticed that everything since the 'accident' had been cleaned up and save for the lump of bent steel in the very back, it was hard to tell the vehicle had been in such a tragic accident after all. Changkyun looked down at a longer bench seat in the middle of the bus, and decided that maybe he could kill some time by taking a nap. So he walked to the bench, cleaned it off, searched it for other unwanted guests and upon finding none, sat down. He rested his legs on the seat as well, he had to admit that he was quite tired despite it only being around 12:30 in the afternoon. Just as he was about to close his eyes he heard a yelp from the front of the bus. Looking up, he saw Hoseok jump into Hyungwon's arms and point to something on the wall. Changkyun looked over to see that one of the cords on the bus that would've been used to notify the driver of a stop move ever so slightly and the bar next to it had newly aquired fingerprints on it. Changkyun let out a small laugh and crossed out what Hoseok thought to be 'supernatural activity' as nothing more than the wind. Hoseok did not feel the same though, because the second the cord moved again, he was up and out of that bus in a hot second, obviously forgetting about Minhyuk's persuasion technique... Punishment.
Hyungwon looked after Hoseok and appeared to be highly conflicted. He didn't seem to care that Changkyun was still there, but only that he was scared and his 'partner' had just left him. Looking at Changkyun, whom was closing his eyes and beginning to lie down at this point, Hyungwon muttered,
"Hey, Kyun I'm gonna, um, go after Hoseokkie. I'd rather Minhyuk punish um both of us instead of just himsobye!" Just like Hoseok, Hyungwon stood up and practically flew out of the door.
Changkyun looked after them and rolled his eyes as he laid down, saying to himself, "Fools. This cannot be that bad."
Changkyun woke up to the sound of a soft voice singing along with a chorus of violins. He laid there listening to the quiet ballad, quickly realizing how sad the lyrics were. As he listened on, he began to feel himself fall into the darkened atmosphere and relive his darkest memories, most of them not that far away from the present moment. The song went on, coating Changkyun with what felt like hot oil. Restricting his breath and killing him slowly. He moved his hand to the side and realized that moving calmed the overactive chemicals surrounding him. He moved his hand up the orange seat and held on to the top of it, pulling his torso up. He let his head drop backwards as he did so, not wanting to disturb its immense weight.
Only when he had sat up straight and opened his eyes did he notice a frail figure sitting in the back of the bus and looking out of the window. His curiosity overtook him and he remained there, staring at the captivating figure. From what he could see in his position, it had human features and appeared to be entirely human but it was slightly translucent. It had pale white skin and fox-like eyes. Its pale pink hair was parted in the middle and pushed up and away from his forehead. It wore what appeared to be a large cream sweater with a thick stripe of navy blue along the bottom and black jeans. It was looking out of the window, with a lost and longing expression. Changkyun moved his hips a bit so he could turn and begin to stand up. He placed his feet on the floor of the bus gently so as to not disturb the form. He stood slowly, praying that his joints wouldn't crack and startle the man. Changkyun began walking, as if he were being pushed back by a strong wind as he made his way to the back. He was two steps away from the man when his foot caught on the edge of a bench and tripped him. Though he didn't yell, he fell to the ground with a loud thud. The man looked quickly to where Changkyun had fallen with a terrified glance and suddenly his body dissipated into thin air. Changkyun looked up to where he had been just a moment before and watched as the sun hit dust particles in the air. He traced the scene of the bus with his eyes, going over every area and nook until he determined that he was the only one there.
Had he believed in ghosts, he would've known what had happened.
Changkyun picked himself up and brushed his shirt off, making sure his grey sweatshirt was still as clean as possible. Checking the time, Changkyun saw that the assigned hour had passed and he was allowed to leave the bus without repercussions. After looking around the bus to make sure he hadn't left anything, Changkyun walked to the front and began his descent. His foot touched the asphalt of the parking lot and he turned around once again to quickly study the old bus. He found nothing out of place but a small reflector that was hanging off of the side. Turning back around, he searched for his friends and when he couldn't find them he took out his phone, 133 new messages. He skimmed through them and discovered that his friends had left and he should find his own way back. He let out a small laugh and began walking away, the figure from before stuck in his mind. He decided that he would have to come back tonight so he could see the breathtaking creature again.