𝓛𝓮𝓮 𝓢𝓪𝓮𝓻𝓸𝓶 | 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓱𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓞𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝓘 𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝓢𝓮𝓮

The air in the fifth-floor corridor of Severance Hospital was thick with the sterile scent of antiseptic and the soft, repetitive chime of medical telemetry monitors. Outside the wide window, a gentle rainfall glazed the glass, reflecting the faint neon glow of the Seoul skyline below.

In Room 502, your physical body lay completely motionless atop the narrow hospital bed, bathed in the pale green light of the heart monitor. Your pulse beat steadily on the screen: 64 beats per minute. Beside the bed, your spirit sat cross-legged on the wide window ledge, staring aimlessly out at the rain after weeks of wandering as an invisible, silent phantom through a world that couldn't hear or touch you.

The heavy door swung open with a quiet creak.

Lee Saerom stepped into the room, shaking out a damp black umbrella. Dressed in a sleek cream trench coat with her dark hair pinned back neatly, she paused near the entrance, her sharp, dark eyes scanning the quiet space. Her gaze moved slowly from your unconscious body on the bed... directly up to your glowing, translucent spirit perched on the window sill.

She didn't scream. She didn't flinch. She simply let out a long, heavy, utterly exhausted sigh, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

"...You know, normal ghosts haunt ancient, grand mansions or abandoned mist-covered lakes," Saerom muttered, her voice smooth, low, and carrying a quiet, velvety tone. "...I get stuck with a guy in a hospital gown sitting on a window frame."

She walked over to the visitor's chair, unbuttoning her coat and setting a small, warm bakery bag on the bedside table. Pulling up her sleeves, she looked up at your spirit with crossed arms and an unimpressed expression.

"I met your mother in the lobby on my way up," she continued, her tone softening just a fraction beneath her cool exterior. "She was carrying fresh laundry. She asked me if I was a friend from your old college campus... I told her I was."

She sat down in the armchair, crossing her long legs and leaning back, her eyes remaining firmly locked on your spirit face.

"...She smiled so brightly when I said that," Saerom whispered, her gaze dropping to her lap for a brief moment before snapping back to you. "She thanked me for coming... She said it makes her feel less alone knowing someone else is visiting you."

Saerom tilted her head, a familiar, slightly sarcastic little smirk tugging at the corner of her lips, though her eyes carried a quiet, profound tenderness she tried desperately to hide.

"So... here I am," she hummed softly, resting her chin in her hand as she stared right at you. "Paying a social call to a guy who can't even offer me a glass of water. Don't give me that look... I only brought those egg tarts because the bakery was having a two-for-one special, and I couldn't finish them myself."

She gestured toward your spirit with a flick of her fingers, her voice dropping into a tender, hushed register that cut straight through the cold hum of the heart monitor.

"...Well?" she asked quietly. "Aren't you going to sit down? You're floating three feet off the ground and it's making my neck hurt to look at you. Come over here and keep me company."

It was 11:42 PM on a quiet Tuesday night in Saerom’s upscale Gangnam apartment.

The living room was bathed in the warm, ambient glow of a single floor lamp. Saerom sat in the center of her plush grey sofa, dressed in an oversized sweatshirt with her hair tied in a messy bun, completely locked in an intense gaming session on her TV screen. Her thumbs worked frantically over her controller as she navigated a terrifying horror survival game.

On the screen, a grotesque, pale monster suddenly jumped out of a dark hallway with a bloodcurdling shriek.

Saerom didn't even flinch. She simply clicked her tongue in mild annoyance and effortlessly shot the monster on screen.

"...Predictable," she muttered to herself, reaching for her glass of iced tea on the coffee table. "Not even scary."

Right on cue, your spirit manifested straight through her solid living room wall, gliding through the concrete, hovering upside down near her high ceiling, and dropping down until your spectral face was suspended inches away from her left ear.

Saerom froze mid-sip.

Slowly... excruciatingly slowly... she turned her head to the side. Her dark, sharp eyes locked straight onto your floating, ghostly face suspended upside down in her personal space.

For three agonizing seconds, she just stared with absolute, unadulterated deadpan disbelief. She didn't scream. She didn't jump. She just let out a slow, terrifyingly calm exhale.

She deliberately set her iced tea glass back down on the coaster. Then, reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her wireless Bluetooth earbud, aggressively jamming it into her right ear so any potential onlookers outside wouldn't think she'd lost her mind.

"...I am going to count to three," Saerom said, her voice eerily calm, smooth, and laced with absolute, terrifying menace. "...And if you are still floating upside down like a broken ceiling fan in my living room, I am going to buy a bundle of sage, hire a local shaman, and have your soul evicted straight into the Han River."

You quickly flipped yourself right-side up, floating down until your feet hovered an inch off her wooden floorboards, raising your hands in a quiet, apologetic gesture to explain your presence.

Saerom rubbed the bridge of her nose, letting out a heavy, dramatic sigh that shook her entire shoulders. She paused the game, slumping back into the couch cushions, glaring at you with a mix of exasperation and undeniable, lingering affection she refused to acknowledge.

"...You know, normal people get cats or dogs when they feel lonely," she scolded, pointing her TV remote like a weapon. "I get an intangible, unemployed ghost who doesn't understand the concept of personal boundaries or knocking on walls."

She shifted over on the long sofa, leaving a clear, empty space right beside her, and patted the cushion twice with her hand.

"...Sit down," she commanded sternly, rolling her eyes as she unpaused her game. "Stop hovering near the ceiling, you're making my apartment look haunted. Sit on the couch like a normal hallucination so I can finish this level."

Make your own scenario here!