Our discussion about Leina continued for more than an hour. Jaehyun's opinion about the possession of both auras to see Leina became the main topic. Among us all —except for Vic, who could be ignored as he just silently looked at me— only Hellen and I didn't fully agree with Jaehyun's opinion.

However, I was actually in a state of unsure. Jaehyun's words made a lot of sense because so far, only Chloe and I could see Leina, and coincidentally, we both had the same ability to see ghosts and were still alive.

But what confused me was why I also found it difficult to see Leina clearly. I could see her, but Leina appeared transparent, and the paper that Leina gave to me was also transparent, even more so than the paper from the ghost world.

I had explained this to all of them, including Jaehyun. After hearing my explanation, Jaehyun didn't give a definite answer, even though it was challenging for me to understand. Instead, his answer was the opposite —easy for me to understand, but unsure, as he was also confused.

Since no one could give a definite answer, and Jaehyun's answer was the most reasonable for all of us —except for Vic, of course, who still silent— Desmon suggested testing it.

The first thing we would test was to act out the incident when Leina gave me the paper.

"You must remember as many details as you can so that we can recreate the incident as accurately as possible. This way, we will find it easier to understand," Jaehyun asked, "Hopefully."

Johnny, Hellen, and Vic went somewhere, I don't know, while I tried to remember the incident. Meanwhile, Desmon, Cherry, and Jaehyun were still busy discussing this matter. I could faintly hear their conversation, discussing the next test if this one failed, but I didn't know what the next test would be, and hopefully, we wouldn't need to try another test.

Fortunately, none of them rushed me to remember the incident quickly, so I had quite a bit of time to relax and try to remember.

I had tried many things, from just sitting still, drinking soft drinks and eating snacks, playing on my smartphone, playing games, lying on my bed, reading a book, running, even pretending to do push-ups, but I still struggled to remember the exact events.

All I could remember was the dark vibe of my classroom and Leina handing me that piece of paper. I did remember Leina saying something like introducing herself, but I couldn't remember her next words.

Strangely, it felt like there was a dark cloud over that part of my memory. It sounded weird, so I thought the dark cloud was just my imagination or a hallucination because I watched fiction movies too often.

"So, how? Can you remember it?" Desmon asked after patiently waiting for me.

Sigh.

I shook my head and looked down, saying, "No. I'm sorry."

Jaehyun shifted his look from me to Desmon, "It seems like we can't recreate it, as it would be in useless. What if we follow your suggestion?"

"Sorry, but what suggestion?" I asked.

Desmon turned towards me, "Balancing the death aura and life aura."

"What do you mean?" I asked again.

Jaehyun stood up and approached me, as did Cherry and Desmon.

"We suppose that if you have a balanced life aura and death aura, it will help you see the writings on Leina's paper," explained Jaehyun.

"But how? I mean, the death aura is only owned by ghosts, and the life aura is only owned by humans. How could I have both, or even balance them?" I asked, looking at the three of them, filled with confusion.

"Indeed, you won't be able to possess both. You only have a life aura, but we will help you temporarily have a death aura," Cherry explained.

"Sorry, but I still don't understand."

"So far, every time Leina visits you, you surely feel the death aura, right?" Cherry asked, now standing right in front of me.

"Right. Then?" I replied.

Jaehyun, who stood to my right, took turns explaining, "We will influence the surrounding atmosphere with our death aura, so you will feel two auras in the same time. Your life aura and the death aura from the atmosphere we influence."

"In other words, our death aura will replace Leina's death aura," Desmon continued Jaehyun's explanation.

"Okay, alright. So, what do I-" My words were cut off as I understood their meaning.

I could feel the cold, the dimming light in my room, and the silence.

"You just need to open Leina's paper and look at it, whether you can read it or not," Cherry asked.

I followed that command. I took Leina's paper from my pocket, pulled it out, unfolded it, but what I found still the same —no writing at all.

I shook my head while still looking at Leina's paper.

"Can any of you see it?" Desmon asked Cherry and Jaehyun.

The answers from both of them were the same, no one could see Leina's paper.

"It seems like the death aura isn't strong enough," I said.

I had to admit, I felt the cold and the dim light because of the influence of their death auras, but it wasn't as strong as Leina's. I really remember when my classroom felt as dark as nighttime, even though Leina came in daylight.

"It looks like we need help. Where are Johnny, Hellen, and Vic?" Desmon asked.

"I'll call them," Cherry replied, quickly leaving as if running, but she flew instead of running.

"Do you want to take a break?" Desmon offered, looking at me.

I don't know what expression I wore or maybe from my body language, but it seemed like Desmon understood that I was a bit tired or, more exactly, uncomfortable because of the influence of the death aura they gave off.

"Sure, I'll go to the bathroom first," I said, accepting Desmon's offer.

###

All the ghosts had gathered, forming a circle in my room when I returned from the bathroom.

Desmon, Johnny, Cherry, Hellen, and Jaehyun were all holding hands, while Vic sat silently outside the circle with his legs tied with translucent ropes.

The first time I saw this scene, I couldn't help but think my room had turned into some kind of horrifying cult meeting place, especially since the ones forming the circle weren't humans or humans possessed, but the ghosts themselves. It was really frightening, wasn't it?

The atmosphere of my room also supported that. The bedroom lights turned off, the bedroom window closed, although the faint sunlight could still pass through. The AC was set at a very cold temperature, and there was a foul odor that I didn't know where it came from. Moreover, when I closed my bedroom door, it felt like entering another world because of the complete silence, to the point where I could possibly hear my own heartbeat.

The horror was increased by the intense looks from all of them, including Desmon. But, among all the looks I got, there was one that was different but really frightening for me —Vic's empty stare with his blank-faced.

Even though I could reassure myself that Vic wouldn't bother me because his legs were tied, and I guessed his hands behind his back were also tied, his empty stare was far more frightening and made me more afraid than the fake sharp looks made by the others.

Without saying anything, Desmon released his grip on Jaehyun to make way into the circle. I understood their intention without asking anything and followed by entering the ghost circle. After that, Desmon took Jaehyun's hand again, and the ghost circle became complete.

The atmosphere inside the circle was not much different from outside the circle, except that the foul odor piercing my nose became even more intense, to the point where it felt like not just my nose but my lungs were also being stabbed.

I looked at all of them forming a circle, spinning around, waiting for the next command for me to do. However, it wasn't words that I got, but the movement of Desmon's pupils. They kept shifting constantly from staring into my eyes to looking at my feet, back to my eyes, and then down to my feet again.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

I could guess that at least one of the five of them was holding back from shouting at me to check the paper from Leina that I kept in my pants pocket. Because, it took me quite a while to understand the signals from Desmon's pupil movements.

After figuring out the next command, I put my hand into my pants pocket. I could feel the paper given by Leina, but this time, the paper felt much more real to me. I mean, even though I could touch things from the ghost world and Leina's paper, their textures were so soft that I felt like I wasn't touching anything. However, this time, I could clearly sense the texture of the paper as if it were from the human world, although I could still notice the difference because the paper's texture I felt sometimes disappeared, as if the paper slipped away from my hand.

When I took out the paper from Leina, I was quite surprised because this time Leina's paper looked much more real, almost not translucent compared to before.

When accidentally glancing at Desmon's face in front of me, I noticed a change in his facial expression. Curious, I looked up to get a clearer view of Desmon's face.

Desmon seemed hard to believe.

I then shifted my eyes back to Jaehyun, Cherry, Hellen, and Johnny. They all gave similar expressions like Desmon.

Looking at their faces, I might conclude that they all could now see the paper.

Slowly, I unfolded the paper that Leina gave me.

What I found after opening the paper was nothing but emptiness. There were no scribbles at all.

"Still empty. No writing at all," I said, flipping the paper a few times.

I looked back at Desmon. But, Desmon exchanged glances with Jaehyun, as did Cherry, Hellen, and Johnny.

After exchanging glances with each other, Desmon said, "Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Completely empty."

"What if the paper is indeed blank?" Hellen said, who was behind me.

My eyes shifted to her, "Impossible. Why would she give me a blank paper?"

Vic made a sudden movement in my peripheral vision, catching my attention. Unintentionally, our eyes met, his still empty. As we stared at each other, I felt a really creepy sensation, a sensation I hadn't felt in a long time.

A vengeful ghost.

Vic suddenly managed to stand even though his hands and feet were tied. Realizing this, Hellen immediately released her grip, causing the ghost circle to be broken. Hellen then in a rush grabbed Vic's shoulders and hugged him.

Johnny did the same, but more forcefully. He kicked both of Vic's knees from behind, making Vic fall with his knees touching the ground, and then Johnny held Vic's hands from behind.

"Robert, quickly behind me," Desmon shouted, his hands now free.

Confused and frightened, I just followed Desmon's command.

"Let's end the meeting for now, at least we now know the paper is real, proving our theory," Jaehyun said. "Hellen, take Vic with you."

Hellen nodded and pushed Vic, but Johnny, who was behind Vic, decided for a more practical way by carrying him. Soon, they were gone, disappearing from my view.

The atmosphere in my room returned to normal, and Cherry turned on the lights. Not forgetting, she also adjusted the AC back to its default settings.

"You can contact me anytime," Jaehyun said before leaving and disappearing from my view.

I hadn't realized how fast my heart was beating until things calmed down, and I could finally feel it.

"Actually, what happened?" I asked, sounding like someone who had just finished intense exercise.

"We apologize. Hellen informed us, but we insisted," Cherry said, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I told you not to do something foolish. Why did you still insist? Damn idiots!" Desmon yelled, a yell unlike any I had heard before.

"I'm sorry, once again, I'm sorry," Cherry said, keeping her head down, not daring to look at Desmon.

"Are you okay, Robert?" Desmon's voice, wanting to ensure my safety, sounded just like his usual tone, different from his previous tone.

"Huft... huft..." I tried to get my breathing back to normal. "I'm okay. But what actually happened?"

Desmon sat on my bed. "I'll explain later. For now, it's better for us to rest. You're free to do anything. Thank you."

I actually still wanted to ask what really happened to Desmon, but seeing Cherry walking towards Desmon and sitting next to him, I gave up on that idea.

Without saying a word, I opened my room door and walked out, leaving Desmon and Cherry alone.

I knew Desmon was very angry, and his emotions exploded when I heard his shout. At that moment, I was remembered of Chloe's words telling that Desmon's true desire is to have a friend. So, I thought, what happened earlier must have been very dangerous for me. I mean, wouldn't you be very angry if your true desire was threatened?

At least, I hoped Cherry could calm Desmon down so that he wouldn't become a vengeful ghost, as Chloe explained that Desmon had the potential to become one. Besides, I also felt that this might be a good opportunity to deepen Cherry and Desmon's relationship.

So, I'll be gone for a while, I don't know where I'll go, maybe to my favorite convenience store to enjoy my special iced coffee blend.

###

The weather was quite hot for this season, especially when I stepped out, the sun was right above my head. But at least, the convenience store I headed for wasn't too far from my house, probably only taking about ten minutes. Because this convenience store was intended for my housing complex, its location looked like a smart choice.

As intended, the convenience store was quite crowded with people buying different stuff for their homes. I wasn't surprised about that, as this convenience store was usually busy every day.

Even though it was bustling, there was at least one reason why I enjoyed this convenience store. It's because this convenience store has a second floor for hanging out, especially since teens in my housing complex rarely hang out here. So, I could enjoy some quiet time, although not completely alone, because there would always be a few people hanging out. But at least they weren't too bothersome, and the number was usually only three or at most six people.

After making my favorite iced coffee —which, to be honest, I doubted was even considered coffee because of the small amount of coffee— and grabbing some snacks, I paid for everything and headed straight to the second floor. Fortunately, that day, there were only two people chatting in the corner near the window. So, I could grab an empty seat tucked in the corner, unseen by others outside the store, my favorite spot.

Honestly, my purpose for coming here was just to give Desmon some time to calm down and maybe date Cherry. That's why I didn't bring many things, like my laptop. So, had no choice, I played games on my smartphone while enjoying the coffee and snacks I had bought.

Even though I often played games, I knew my skills weren't anywhere near those pro esports players who were really good. My gaming skills could even be considered bad, which is why many people would insult me in the game chat.

This is also why I chose to play on servers abroad to avoid the game chat insults. Sure, foreign players could still insult me, but at least I didn't understand their language, so I didn't think too much about it.

I didn't realize it, but I had been playing for over an hour with a record of eight losses and one win. Hehe.

When my smartphone started running low on battery, I just realized I didn't bring the charger. Because I had no choice, I paused the playing game for a while and moved to a seat near the window, while my smartphone was charging using sunlight.

I heard a story, unsure if it's true or not, that in the old days, smartphones couldn't be charged with sunlight, and people had to carry chargers everywhere. I can't imagine how troublesome it must have been for them if their smartphone battery ran out while they were on the go.

Whether the story is true or not, I'm grateful that nowadays smartphones can be charged with sunlight, even though it's quite slow, and the phone gets really hot compared to using a charger. That's why I had to take a break from using my smartphone.

While waiting for my smartphone to charge, I went down to the first floor to buy a soft drink and a snack, as my coffee and snacks from earlier had run out during the gaming session.

The first-floor convenience store was quite empty at that time, with only about ten people still choosing their groceries. I walked through the store's aisles to find an empty kiosk that I could use.

Even though this convenience store and several others surely have a lot of kiosks, for some reason, many of those kiosks couldn't be used, whether it's because they were broken, needed maintenance, or the system was just errors. It got me thinking a bit, do they not hire technicians to take care of all their kiosks, or at least use robots? No, not robots. Sorry.

In one of the aisle, I finally found an empty kiosk that I could use.

While busy choosing a soft drink and snacks, and, of course, a promo code to use, I heard someone chatting. The voice wasn't unfamiliar, but I felt like I had somehow forgotten it.

Because curious, after placing my order and getting it, I walked towards the source of the voice. Of course, I walked slowly and kind of sneakily.

As I got closer to the source of the voice, exactly from the next aisle, I tried to peek at the owner of the voice through the gaps between the kiosks.

Nevo.

I didn't understand why Nevo would be here. I mean, surely, his home isn't in this complex.

Not wanting to get into trouble with him again, I quickly walked back to the second floor while hoping that Nevo wouldn't hang out here. Or, if he did, I was definitely in trouble —big trouble.

"Look who's here," someone from behind me said, "The cursed devil. What are you doing here? Planning to curse this place, huh?"

I knew the voice was coming from Nevo's friend, who was also a bully, so I just stayed silent and kept walking towards the second floor.

"Hey," Nevo's friend said, seems like approaching me as his voice got closer, "Hey, are you deaf? Robert."

I still ignored him and continued walking to the second floor. But my path was blocked by a large figure at the end of the aisle.

With a smile, the figure said, "Hell, Robert. Long time no see, how's your ghost doing?"

I realized I was trapped, with no way out. However, I also realized that we were in a convenience store with some customers, so I was confident Nevo wouldn't bully me, or at least wouldn't go too far. Especially when I glanced up to see Nevo, unintentionally, I also looked at the CCTV recording us.

"Hi," I replied, approaching Nevo not to challenge him but to ask him to make way for me. "Excuse me, I need to pass."

Nevo shifted his body, creating a gap for me to pass through. I didn't expect that, to be honest.

"Hey," said Nevo's friend, who I guessed was now right behind me.

I didn't know if Nevo was holding back his friend or doing something else, but I overheard their conversation.

"Just leave him be, I sense something strange," Nevo told his friend.

"But, you-" Nevo's friend said. I guessed his friend was just following Nevo's commands, or at least not at the same level as Nevo.

"Do you want to die killed by a ghost?" Nevo's whispers, whether intentional or not, could still be heard by me, "Let's leave right now."

I could breathe a sigh of relief if they indeed left without hurting me.

####