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Seungmin isn’t particularly fond of Halloween or the modern way to spend it. Halloween is just a silly excuse to party and get wasted in stupid costumes, and people can do that any day of the year.
But the slutty outfits! Felix argued. Seungmin told him to embrace the sluttiness every day of the year—there’s nothing wrong with it.
Fun costumes! Changbin backed his boyfriend up. Seungmin told him to start throwing themed costume parties.
Really, everyone has forgotten the real purpose of Halloween: horror. Haunted houses, ghost stories, urban legends, the supernatural. That’s the part Seungmin loves, that’s the point of Halloween. To go for a late night walk into the woods without flashlights, to seek for chills running down spines with horror stories.
Seungmin is lucky to have somebody like Hyunjin, because while all their other friends are god knows where pregaming for the party they’ve been invited to, Hyunjin is gearing up for some urban exploration. Seungmin found out about this abandoned hospital only a thirty minute drive from them through a friend of a friend approximately six months ago, and he’s been dying to go check it out ever since.
It’s been an ordeal and a half turning Hyunjin’s head around since he isn’t exactly… the biggest fan of scary stuff. Really, when they watch horror movies, Seungmin is far more entertained by a screaming Hyunjin who clings to his arm for safety than he is entertained by the movie itself.
When Seungmin first brought up the concept of the abandoned hospital Halloween visit, Hyunjin insisted he’d rather die than ever step near that place.
And now he’s packing spare batteries for the spare batteries in his backpack, a bandana wrapped around his head, wearing combat boots instead of his usual pair of Converse. It’s so unnecessary, he has enough batteries to power an army of flashlights.
“Are you sure you aren’t being a little paranoid?” Seungmin laughs when Hyunjin stares intently at the pocket knife—assessing if it’s sharp enough, probably.
“Of course I’m not being paranoid!”
Seungmin suppresses a laugh. It’s cute how extra Hyunjin is. “How’re you going to fight ghosts with a knife anyway?”
Hyunjin rolls his eyes, then gestures around himself wildly. “The knife isn’t for ghosts! It’s for demons with a physical form.”
A pause. Seungmin blinks. “Right.”
“Hey, fuck you!” Hyunjin whines, pointing the knife at him—maybe intentionally, maybe not, Seungmin can’t be sure. “You don’t get to make fun of me after blackmailing me into doing this shit with you!”
Seungmin can only hold in his laugh for so long. He walks up to Hyunjin, carefully wraps his fingers around his wrist and lowers Hyunjin’s arm so the knife isn’t pointing at Seungmin anymore. “I didn’t blackmail you. I told you I could take Minho with me.”
Which, in Hyunjin’s mind, translates to blackmailing him. If you don’t come with me, I’m replacing you with Minho. There’s this thing about Hyunjin; he’s weirdly possessive of Seungmin, and Seungmin isn’t sure if it’s codependency or clinginess or a best friend thing, but it should be studied. Hyunjin wants to be Seungmin’s first choice, his closest friend, and he is. Sometimes he just takes it a little too seriously.
Not that Seungmin minds.
“Yeah, and then you’d have a traumatic bonding experience with Minho, not with me,” Hyunjin says, all dramatic like it would be the end of the world.
With a shake of his head, Seungmin grabs the knife from him and shoves it into Hyunjin’s backpack. Then he grabs Hyunjin’s arm and starts dragging him outside. “Come on, it’s going to get dark soon.”
Hyunjin whines about wanting to stay in, but doesn’t physically protest, not even a little.
The drive goes by mostly in silence, but only because every time one of them says a thing, the conversation inevitably circles back to oh my god, Seungmin, what if we die in there? Seungmin says they won’t, but what if!
Maybe Seungmin is a bit mean, but he finds Hyunjin absolutely adorable like this. All jittery and whiny, needy for reassurance.
They drive as close as they can, but the building is old. Like, ancient, and the road leading there hasn’t been used in god knows how long; there’s no chance a car will push through all those trees that have grown there.
“Seungmin, is there like, something wrong with you?” Hyunjin asks, voice quiet and a little shaky. He’s staying close, as close as possible, nearly stepping on Seungmin’s feet every few steps as they navigate toward the building. “Why is this your version of entertainment?”
“Because it’s exciting. Aren’t you excited?” Seungmin grins. He laughs when he sees Hyunjin frown, but he has to shift his gaze toward his feet soon enough not to trip on any rocks or roots.
Seungmin can barely see ahead of himself. It’ll be pitch black by the time they find the entrance, but that’s why they brought flashlights. He’s getting jittery too, but the good kind of jittery. He feels alive in a way he usually doesn’t.
Hyunjin murmurs something, or whimpers, when they get close enough for Seungmin to spot the entrance. He read about this place online; the door should be unlocked, no alarm systems, no black mold or asbestos. He read the stories, too.
“People say some of the spirits of those who died here are still stuck here.”
“Oh, god…” Hyunjin whines, and Seungmin can’t stop grinning.
He pauses, glances at Hyunjin, then at the door. Starts jogging toward it, leaving a whimpering Hyunjin slightly behind.
“Doors can open and close by themselves.”
“Can you shut up?” Hyunjin squeaks, clinging onto Seungmin’s arm like a koala when he catches up. They linger by the door for a moment or two, Seungmin’s heart hammering in his chest in excitement and Hyunjin’s lower lip an inch away from quivering. “We saw the thing, yeah, scary as fuck, can we go away now?”
Seungmin’s smile falls then, just a little. “Look, if you really wanna turn back, we can. We totally can.”
Hyunjin blinks, glances at his feet, nuzzles against Seungmin’s arm which is still in his death grip. “I’ll be fine. Just don’t run away. Stay close to me.”
Seungmin nods, coaxes Hyunjin to loosen his grip until he does so he can intertwine their fingers. “You good to go?”
Hyunjin frowns but nods despite the quiet whine escaping his throat. Seungmin breaths a laugh, then gently pulls the door open.
It’s dark inside. They have to pull out the flashlights immediately, and, yeah, they do illuminate their surroundings much better than the flashlights of their phones ever could—Hyunjin’s idea, so Seungmin makes sure to thank him for his genius brain.
Clearly, they’re far from being the first people to visit since the hospital was left empty, though that’s no surprise. Nothing is completely intact; the beds stripped of sheets, shards of glass covering the floors, walls adorned with graffiti. Doesn’t make it any less cooler. Seungmin is practically vibrating—as is Hyunjin, only for different reasons.
As they wander what Seungmin thinks is the main hall, they come across a door which reads Home of Satan, and it draws Seungmin toward it instantly. “Come on,” he tugs on Hyunjin’s arm when Hyunjin’s steps slow down.
“What if we die?”
“We’re not going to die,” Seungmin sighs, rubbing a thumb over Hyunjin’s knuckles. Maybe it really does help calm him down, because Hyunjin’s inhale is deep and his exhale steadier than the ones before.
It’s a bathroom. White tiles—
“Oh my god, blood, blood—” Hyunjin cries out, hiding behind Seungmin and burying his face into his back.
“It’s not blood, that’s paint,” Seungmin breathes a soft laugh, turning around to meet Hyunjin’s eyes. “Look. It’s obviously paint. See how bright the color is? And it’s a bit shiny, see?” he explains, pointing at the red covering the white tile wall before turning back to Hyunjin. “It’s paint, okay?”
A deep breath. “Okay. Yeah. Okay.”
“You good?” Seungmin asks, head tilted.
Hyunjin lets out a high-pitched, nervous laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m cool, I’m cool, I’m cool!”
It takes a moment when Seungmin snaps some pictures, because he refuses to let go of Hyunjin’s hand. Mostly because he’s afraid Hyunjin will drop dead if he does, and a little because he really likes holding Hyunjin’s hand. And maybe a little because his imagination is starting to play tricks on him—he could swear he just heard a faint sound of a door creaking somewhere…
They go through the rooms, one by one. They all resemble each other on this floor; a hospital bed, graffiti on the walls, some medical supplies scattered across the floor.
Hyunjin keeps saying they’re going to die, that’s nothing new anymore, but his voice fills with terror when they start making their way to the second floor. “What if these fucking stairs collapse? Oh, my god, Seungmin— What if we die? Oh, it’s going to be so bad— What if you break your neck and die immediately and I break my limbs and can’t move and I’m left there, bleeding out next to your dead body and—”
“Hyunjin,” Seungmin halts his steps, grabbing him by the shoulders, his expression softening at Hyunjin’s panicked look. “Hey. We can leave. Do you want to leave?”
His lower lip juts out a little. “Do you?”
“No, but we can if you do.”
Hyunjin shakes his head. “No, let’s keep going.”
Seungmin blinks. Something inside him does a little flip. “Are you sure?”
Hyunjin nods, small, then squeezes Seungmin’s hand. “I’ll be fine. Cause you’re with me.”
Seungmin leads him upstairs, first to the right, then to the left. They go through it all, and it’s so fucking cool. One room, an office, Seungmin guesses, still has a bunch of documents just lying around for anybody to skim through.
“Shouldn’t this be illegal? A bunch of records just left here like that? That’s crazy,” Hyunjin says. He talks quietly, like he’s afraid of summoning evil spirits if he talks even a decibel too loudly.
“It probably is,” Seungmin shrugs. He reaches out to touch, to look through, but Hyunjin grabs his wrist to stop him.
“No! What if one of those people still haunts this place and then they get mad you look at their records and then we die?”
He’s so paranoid. He’s adorable. He always has been, but it hits Seungmin dfferently now. He feels this sudden urge to look after him, keep him safe. Seungmin looks him in the eye, a faint smile on his face. “Okay, I won’t touch them.”
“You better not!” Hyunjin points a stern finger at him.
But then Seungmin sees something else. A necklace—or something resemblant of one—on the very same table, partially covered by the papers. He reaches out again, grabs the pendant. A crow.
“No! What are you doing?” Hyunjin panics, swatting his hand in attempt to make him drop the chain.
“Looking,” Seungmin turns away from him to inspect the pendant from a closer distance. “Do you think this belonged to someone who worked here? Or a patient? Or someone who’s just been here exploring?”
“I don’t know and I don’t want to!”
Seungmin laughs, but places the necklace back atop the stack of papers.
When they keep moving, Seungmin’s imagination starts playing even more tricks on him. Hyunjin screams every time they turn a corner, every time he thinks he hears a sound, and Seungmin starts thinking he’s hearing sounds too.
As they approach the staircase, he hears it again. A creak.
“Did you hear that?” Hyunjin whispers, voice barely louder than an echo.
“Yeah…” Seungmin admits, but is quick to continue. “But it’s an old building, of course there are all these creaks and shit.” He hopes his voice isn’t trembling. He’s not getting scared.
“Okay,” Hyunjin squeaks. He gets even closer to Seungmin, practically cuddling him now. They’re slow, painfully slow, when they start moving up the stairs.
Seungmin can tell Hyunjin is terrified. Maybe it’s rubbing off on him.
They stay quiet. Seungmin finds himself holding his breath once or twice, though it makes no sense. There’s nothing to be afraid of, it’s just a stupid, old building.
Bang!
“Oh my god, did you hear that?” Hyunjin cries out, flinching at the sound.
Seungmin’s heart drops to his ass. That wasn’t a normal old-building-sound. No— it’s fine, it’s fine. No need to be scared. “It’s just the… floors.” His voice is definitely trembling.
Bang!
“Seungmin! It’s not the fucking floors!”
Okay, maybe it isn’t the floors, and yes, okay, maybe Seungmin is getting a little scared. He inhales, exhales. Looks around.
Bang!
Is it getting closer? Is he imagining shit? And, oh god, Hyunjin is going to burst into tears. He buries his head in Seungmin’s shoulder, and Seungmin pulls him closer. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears. It’s so fucking loud.
Bang!
Hyunjin looks up right on time.
They both see it flash by the door leading from the staircase to the third floor. A light. A figure? Seungmin doesn’t know, and he doesn’t want to. It’s gone before either of them can blink.
Hyunjin screams, Seungmin’s stomach throws a somersault and he freezes.
“Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Seungmin runs and he runs and he runs, squeezing Hyunjin’s hand like a lifeline as Hyunjin does they same. They run until the walls around them turn into trees, until the narrow path underneath their feet turns into a gravel road.
Finally, by the car, Hyunjin throws his arms around Seungmin and hugs him tight. Seungmin just pulls him closer, holds his trembling body like it’s what keeps him breathing.
“What the fuck was that?” Hyunjin pants, voice shaking.
”I don’t know. I don’t want to know.”
”Oh, god, Seungmin— We almost died! And what if that thing is following us now?”
”Hyunjin—”
”Fuck, we’re still going to die! I knew it, I knew we would, oh god—”
”Hyunjin! We’re fine. I don’t fucking know what that was but— If it’s some fucking ghost, it can’t follow us. Those are trapped in buildings, right?”
Hyunjin’s breathing calms down. Seungmin’s breathing does too.
”Yeah. Yeah.”
“So we’re fine.”
“We’re fine,” Hyunjin nods. “Were you scared too?”
Seungmin huffs a shaky laugh. “A little.”
“Oh thank god, you’re not a psychopath.”
This time he laughs louder, shoulders shaking and grin wide and all.
“Like! I was terrified from the very beginning! I thought you were actually insane,” Hyunjin continues, no longer shaking in Seungmin’s hold.
Seungmin pulls back then. Smile fading away, he looks at Hyunjin—really looks at him. “Why didn’t you say you wanted to leave, then?”
Hyunjin glances at his feet, loosening his hold on Seungmin’s waist. “I wanted to be with you.”
“Even though you were literally fearing for your life?” Seungmin asks quietly, carefully, frowning just a little.
Hyunjin just shrugs. “Well, yeah. Because it’s you.”
Maybe it’s the adrenaline, the almost-near-death-experience, but something within Seungmin clicks into place, then melts. His trembling hands still, then take hold of Hyunjin’s hips—deliberate now.
He sees Hyunjin blink, sees his eyes flicker down and up, down and up. “Seungmin?”
“You followed me to a haunted building.”
“Uh… Yeah?” Hyunjin laughs, a little nervous, maybe, but no longer scared.
“Hyunjin?”
“Yes?”
A pause. Seungmin’s smile is faint but soft. “I’d do that for you, too.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense, I’d never go to one voluntarily, like, there's no reality where you’d be the one to—”
“Shut up,” Seungmin sighs, grinning like a fool. For a split second, he stops to think. Hopes he isn’t reading this wrong. Then his eyes flicker down, and Hyunjin’s do, too.
Then Seungmin is kissing him, and it takes no longer than a millisecond for Hyunjin to kiss him back, hum against his mouth, melt against his body. Seungmin can feel the last ounce of fear escape his body.
When Hyunjin pulls back, he’s grinning like a fool, too. “Right. So it only took me facing my worst fear.”
“Was it worth it?”
“Totally,” Hyunjin nods, then steals another kiss. “I don’t even care if that thing back there starts haunting our asses.”
And neither does Seungmin.