The brown haired girl was pouting angrily. Her nose was crinkled up in deep concentration and she was staring at her book as if reading every line. A pale boy was sitting next to her, trying to figure out what she was doing.

“Are you alright?” he asked, feeling worried for his friend.

​​

“It’s 1000, right?” she asked. “Ten times ten is thousand right?”

The boy facepalmed himself.

“It’s 100, silly!” he exclaimed. “How can someone be so good in studies but so bad in maths?”

“What can I say?” the girl sighed. “I am a miracle of nature.”

She nodded proudly, making the boy groan. He playfully twisted her ear.

“Practice more!” he told her. “You can do it!”

“Shinho, both of us know that I’m hopeless in maths,” the girl nodded. “Ever since my birth, it’s been a natural talent for me to fail in maths. It’s in my genes. I got it from my mom, after all.”

Shinho gaped at her. “Did you win an award or something? Why are you so proud of your bad math skills?”

“It’s a family tradition!” the girl claimed, her eyes sparkling with innocence. Shinho jabbed her forehead.

“STUDY!” he bellowed. The girl pouted again and tried to read but gave up within five seconds.

“Shinho, just marry me when we grow up!” she told him. “So that when I need math, you can solve them for me!”

“Idiot, I can’t grow up!” Shinho said. “I’m dead, remember?”

He shook his head in dismay at her naivety. The girl giggled.

“You’ll still be with me, right?” she asked. “We can solve cases together! You can be my ghost partner!”

She was already dreaming of how they would catch criminals and throw them in jail. As long as he was with her, she felt she could do anything.

Shinho was quiet for a while, unsure of what to say. She was asking him a question he had no answer to. He wanted to stay with her but was it possible? 

After all, he was dead.

“If I…” he began. The girl looked up at him, curious about what he wanted to say.

“If I leave, then what’ll happen?” he asked. 

“Leave?” she asked. “Where will you go?”

“The place where people go after they die,” he said. “My mom used to tell me that when people die, they don’t come back. What if I go there too? Won’t I be able to return?”

The girl blinked at him. She was confused by his words. Why was he asking her that?

“Why do you want to leave?” she asked. “You’re safe here! Your father can’t get you anymore! I can protect you!”

The boy smiled and patted her head. “You’re too small to protect me!” he teased. “Shorty!”

“Oi!” she exclaimed. “I’m not short! And I can be very strong too! Do you know that I taught at camp, I taught a good lesson to a bully. He tried to make me get lost in the woods but I had a forest spirit named Bobo in there which protects me every year! He helped me to find my way. When I got back to the camp, Bobo scared the kid so much that he peed his pants!”

She laughed out loud. Even Shino was amused by her wit. If there was one person who knew how to make both living and dead persons obey her, it was this midget.

Suddenly, the scene shifted. The smiling girl vanished and a dark cloud was engulfing him. Shinho was blinded by the pitch black darkness which had appeared, clouding his vision.

“Jina?” he yelled out loud. “Jina, where are you?”

He was blindly looking around, trying to find her but she was nowhere. His heart pounded hard, a familiar fear creeping within him. 

“Hu hu hu…”

A cold voice was quietly chuckling in the darkness, sending chills down the little boy’s spine. He did not dare to turn back, afraid that he was going to see that man again. He heard the swish of a whip, slowly approaching him.

“You…you don’t deserve to live…” the voice echoed in his ears. “You’ve ruined my image…you little bastard!”

Shinho slowly turned around to meet the dark eyes of a bespectacled man in his thirties. The man’s handsome features were contorted with a psychotic mania and pure hatred for the little boy who was cowering in fear. Shinho took a step back and tumbled down.

He found himself in a dark basement surrounded by lines of shelves. His foot was tied to one of the shelves. Shinho tried to free himself but the knot was too tight for him to undo. 

The man was looming dangerously over him with a belt in his hand. The little boy desperately tried to free himself, scared of the man who was out to hurt him again. Shinho’s body was full of scars and fresh bruises, indicating days of abuse. He looked fearfully at the man who was still glaring at him with hatred.

“Dad…” the little boy begged. “Dad…please don’t…I’ll be a good boy! I’ll not go upstairs again!”

“Your existence ruins my image!” the man hissed. “You…you shouldn’t have been born…”

The little boy was shielding himself with his hands, scared of his father. His fragile heart was wrapped in fear for his life and he was constantly wondering what was his fault. Why did his father hate him so much?

From the corner of his eye, he saw the whip being raised…

SWOOSH!

The first hit of the whip tore through his skin, making it bleed. The boy did not dare to yell in pain because the more he yelled, the worse it was going to be. He bit his lip, stopping himself from crying for help and enduring it all.

But the man did not stop. There was no mercy in his eyes and he was on a bloody rampage to end the thorn in his way. The little boy’s screams were muffled in the dark basement, forcing him to endure his pain in silence.

….

Jina woke up with a start. Her breath was heavy and she felt her heart thumping loudly against her chest. She tried to calm herself but the nightmare was so fresh in her mind that she could not ebb her fears.

She slowly sat up and ran a hand through her hair, clutching it. Tears burnt her eyes as she tried to fight off the horrible images in her head. Her hands were shaking as she got off the bed.

Minki, who was reading a story book, looked up. As a ghost, he could not sleep so he was given a few books to read. He was surprised to see that the detective’s face had gone pale. 

“Miss Hwang, are you okay?” he asked, worried for her.

“I’m fine!” Jina assured him. “I’m heading to the convenience store. I just…I just need to buy something. Stay here, okay?”

The ghost nodded and Jina grabbed her jacket and purse before heading out. 

To her surprise, her neighbor also stepped out of his house at that exact moment. Both of them stared at each other for a few seconds.

Hobin was a little surprised to see that Jina’s eyes were red as if she had been crying. 

She did not say anything but walked away, lost in her own problems. Hobin was about to leave her to her own devices but the image of her puffed up eyes was flashing in front of him.

“Ugh, I just had to see something I didn’t want to,” he muttered to himself. He debated for a while before deciding to follow her.