Hauntings

-A Human Shield-

Bora slowly walked Siyeon to Minji’s room. She was still shaken by the events in the ER, and Bora felt horrible. But how could she have known? It's not like Bora could see ghosts too. That didn’t stop her from mentally beating herself up for her mistake, though.

Seeing Siyeon so upset affected her more than it should have, but she understood the fear. She was terrified of ghosts and was starting to worry when Siyeon seemed to be getting more and more fearless of the ghosts around her.

But Bora guessed that there really must be some scary ghosts in the ER. What if they don’t even know that they are dead? The thought of someone wandering the halls just looking for help only to feel like they were being ignored made Bora’s heart ache.

‘am I actually feeling sorry for ghosts? After one scared the shit out of Siyeon? Seriously?’ Bora thought to herself as she shook her head.

They were riding ups the elevator, and Siyeon noticed that the elevator ghost was looking at her with a worried expression. It looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated with Bora in the elevator. Whatever it was, it made him give a look of sadness at Siyeon.

When the elevator opened, he bowed as Siyeon and Bora walked out. They slowly made their way to Minji’s room, and when the door opened, Minji looked up with a smile as she spotted the two, but it quickly changed to a frown. Minji could tell that Siyeon had been crying and instantly looked to Bora for an explanation.

“I was stupid and sent Siyeon to the ER…” Bora said as Minji still stared at her with a confused expression.

“There are so many that die in the ER that I guess some of them are really scary, and I foolishly sent Siyeon down there by herself…” Bora said as Minji looked at Siyeon with worry.

“Siyeon, are you ok?” Minji asked, but Siyeon just nodded. She couldn’t make eye contact. She was just too embarrassed. How could she be scared to go to the ER she works at a hospital after all.

“Siyeon? Please look at me…” Minji said with such a sweet and caring voice that Siyeon glanced up to see Minji holding her arms out. Without thinking, Siyeon walked over and accepted the hug as she snuggled against Minji’s neck.

If Siyeon had been thinking clearly, she probably would have been panicking right now. But at the moment, all she could think of was the gooey mess of a face that stared at her. It sent shivers down her spine.

Minji, on the other hand, was thinking very clearly, and as soon as Siyeon snuggled against her neck, Minji thought she would die from the cuteness. Siyeon was so soft and gave the best hugs. It made Minji melt a bit as she rubbed the upset girls back.

“it's alright… I'm sure it was scary, but it's over now. Any time you need a hug, I will be right here. I'm afraid I can't come to you at the moment, but I will always be here for you.” Minji said as she gently stroked Siyeon’s head.

The nurse just nodded as she held onto her crush, but soon she realized what she was doing and broke the hug. Luckily for Minji because if it lasted any longer, she feared her heart would explode it was beating so fast.

Siyeon’s face flushed red as she backed up a bit and apologized, but Minji just smiled. There was no reason for her to apologize. Minji was actually happy that Siyeon came to her for comfort. It meant so much to her, but she could tell that Siyeon felt embarrassed.

“I'm glad you came actually. I was feeling a bit lonely…” Minji said as Siyeon looked up at her. Minji had been in the hospital for a long time now and still had time to go. To know that Minji was feeling lonely made the nurse's heart ache a bit.

“I'm sorry… if I didn’t fall, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt…” Siyeon said as Minji shook her head.

“I'm glad I was there to catch you. The thought of what would have happened if I wasn’t there scares me.” Minji said as Siyeon looked up. She looked serious, and it made Siyeon feel a bit nervous.

Bora was watching everything when she got an idea. She grinned mischievously as she walked over to Minji with a smile. Siyeon knew her friend was up to something by her smirk and looked at her with suspicion.

“Minji? Do you have Siyeon’s number?” Bora asked as both girls eyes widened. Minji shook her head as Bora smiled wider.

“well, why don’t you exchange numbers? Siyeon is stuck at a desk for a while, and you can message her when you get lonely. I'm sure that she would love to keep you company. And if anything else scares her, she will have someone to talk to!” Bora said with a proud smile as Siyeon paled.

Siyeon worried that Minji wouldn’t want to, but when she looked over at her, Minji’s eyes were not on Bora but Siyeon as she smiled happily. She seemed to be looking to Siyeon to see if it was alright.

Siyeon smiled as she looked at Minji and nodded softly as Bora grinned and quickly walked over and took Minji’s cell phone and keyed in Siyeon’s number and quickly sent Siyeon a text.

“Siyeon, save that number. It's Minji’s.” Bora said as Siyeon pulled her phone out and saved it with shaking hands.

Minji couldn’t help but smile at the cuteness. Siyeon was so shy and nervous that she almost dropped her phone several times, but soon she was done saving Minji’s number with a shy smile as she put her phone in her pocket.

“Siyeon, are you feeling better now?” Bora asked as she nodded.

“I'm sorry. It was just so scary when that person turned to look at me, but where their face was supposed to be, there was just a bloody hole…” Siyeon said as she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.

“that must have been extremely scary…” Minji said as Siyeon nodded.

“I didn’t think about what kind of ghosts could be in the ER… when Bora asked me to get some supplies, I jumped at the occasion. But they walked by with jerky movements… it looked like something from a horror movie…” Siyeon said as she shivered.

“well, we need to head back, but Minji, feel free to message Siyeon. She has her manager's permission to answer them!” Bora said with a wink as Minji laughed and nodded.

Bora led Siyeon back to their floor, but Siyeon wasn’t paying attention. Instead, she was looking at Minji’s number that was saved in her phone and smiling tenderly.

“if you smile any wider, everyone will know you like her…” Bora teased as Siyeon’s face turned red. She didn’t know that the only ones in the hospital that didn’t know they liked each other were themselves.

“I can't help it… I never thought I would have her number…” Siyeon said with such a sweet smile that it made Bora want to pinch her cheeks from the cuteness.

“your welcome!” Bora said with a loud laugh as they got into the elevator. Siyeon noticed that the elevator ghost still looked like he wanted to say something, and Siyeon was curious about what it was.

“Is everything alright?” Siyeon asked the ghost as he smiled apologetically.

‘you encountered the ghosts of the ER, didn’t you?’ he asked as Siyeon nodded and looked at the floor.

‘not all of them are scary or dangerous. They just look like it. Most don’t even know that they are dead and are just looking for help. Of all the ghosts in this hospital, they probably need the most help to move on…’ he said as Siyeon nodded sadly.

“so, they are not dangerous?” Siyeon asked, but he shook his head.

‘yes and no. There are some that have been twisted by all of the death and sadness or the unfairness ofdying that they have turned into something twisted. They need the most help, but they are hard to get through to. It could even be dangerous… but if you can get them to realize that they are truly dead, it becomes easier. Safer.’ he said as Siyeon nodded and went to look at Bora to explain what was happening, but the shorter girl was pressed into the opposite corner of the elevator with a look of panic on her face.

Siyeon smiled an apologetic smile as she looked at her friend. She forgot just how scared that Bora was of ghosts.

‘you have a way to get through to them, though.’ He said as Siyeon turned around to look at him in surprise.

“I do?” she asked as he nodded and pointed to Bora.

‘she is shielded from vengeful spirits. I'm sure that you have already noticed that what they try to do to her just gets reflected back at them?’ he asked as Siyeon nodded.

“so, she truly is protected from dangerous spirits?” Siyeon asked as she pointed at Bora. The smaller girl looked confused at Siyeon’s comment. It was frustrating only hearing one side of a story.

“Bora… you are protected. Spirits really can't hurt you. That boy really did protect you…” Siyeon said as Bora looked at her friend with an unsure look.

“They can't hurt me at all?” Bora asked as Siyeon nodded.

“he said whatever they try to do to you just gets reflected back at them. You will be unharmed while they feel whatever they tried to do to you.” Siyeon said as Bora watched the wheels turning in her friend's head.

“no… Siyeon, no!” Bora whined as her friend grasped her arm tightly and turned to the elevator ghost.

“The first floor, please!” Siyeon said as Bora struggled to get out of her friend's strong grip.

“have you been working out?” Bora said as she struggled to break free as she whined, but it was useless. Siyeon was much stronger than she looked.

“Siyeon!” Bora shouted as she was dragged off of the elevator. She tried to break free and run but couldn’t escape Siyeon and was soon dragged down the hallway when they both felt the temperature drop and froze.

“Siyeon… does this mean what I think it means?” Bora asked with a shaky voice as Siyeon hid behind her smaller friend. The ghosts were slowly coming down the hallway.

“Siyeon?” Bora whispered shakily as the taller girl nodded while hiding her face in Bora’s back.

Slowly a scraping shuffle was heard as it walked down the hallway. Siyeon peeked and saw the ghost that scared her before.

The jerky movements were distinct as it walked slowly up the hall and paused when it got closer to them. It was like it couldn’t see, but it could hear Bora’s panicked breathing.

“c, can you hear me?” Siyeon asked shakily as it cocked its head slightly. It seemed confused. It wasn’t sure if she was talking to it or someone else. It had been ignored for so many years after all and slowly went to continue walking.

“w, wait!” Siyeon shouted as she clutched Bora’s arms tightly, making her cry out in shock and put her between herself and the ghost that was now turning to her so slowly that it was making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

Slowly it tilted its head again as Siyeon nodded. She forgot it couldn’t see for a second and confirmed that she was talking to it.

“yes. y, you…” Siyeon said as it took two eager steps toward the two girls.

“I don’t want to give you the b, bad news… but you are dead. It looks like you died in an accident…” Siyeon said as the creature paused for a couple of seconds before shaking its head. It couldn’t be true.

“you have died. Your family would be worried if they knew you were still lingering here, unable to move on…” Siyeon said, but it was too much for the ghost to take in.

It couldn’t be true. They were only just starting to live. It couldn’t be over this quickly! It wasn’t true! This girl had to be lying to them. How dare she lie! The spirit thought as rage flooded through it, and soon it charged at the two girls.

Siyeon let out a scream. Startling Bora, who also let out a terrified scream, but as it came closer, something weird happened. Siyeon’s hand slipped lower on Bora’s arm, and when their skin made contact. Suddenly Bora could see the spirit with no face charging at them like a zombie from a horror movie.

 Her screams became frantic as the ghost slammed into her and bounced off of her with a bright flash of light.

Bora went limp in Siyeon’s arms, and when she looked down, she realized that Bora had fainted from the shock.

It was difficult to keep Bora in front of her while the girl was unconscious, but she needed to be ready just in case it charged again. But it didn’t happen.

Instead, Siyeon heard what sounded like a gurgling sob came from where the creature's face should be. Siyeon looked over and gasped in shock. The creature's face was slowly shifting and changing to a teenage girl’s. She was sobbing as she held herself and shook her head rapidly.

‘it can't be true! I haven’t even really lived yet! The only thing I ever did was study! What kind of life is that?! I never got to play with my friends or even go to the movies! How could I be dead already!’ the girl sobbed as a few ghosts gathered around to watch.

“I'm sorry… it's true… in the next life, I hope you will be able to do everything you want to do. But being trapped in this hospital isn’t going to help you. You can only start a new life after you move on from this one…” Siyeon said as the girl cried.

‘Unnie… Am I really dead? Really?’ she asked as she looked at Siyeon. The nurse nodded as she slowly set Bora’s unconscious body down, and nervously walked over to the girl and held her hand out.

She slowly reached out, but her hand went right through Siyeon’s. It left only a cool tingling feeling behind.

The girl sobbed again as Siyeon knelt down beside her. Now that she looked like a person again, Siyeon wasn’t frightened anymore. Slowly the girls crying subsided to only a sniffle as she looked up at Siyeon.

 ‘I’m sorry for earlier… I don’t know why I acted like that… I was just so upset, and I have no idea why…’ the girl said as Siyeon smiled.

“it's alright. My friend protected me.” Siyeon said as she pointed to Bora, who was out cold on the floor surrounded by ghosts as they stared at her with worried expressions.

‘I didn’t kill her, did I?’ the girl asked in worry, but Siyeon just shook her head.

“no, she just passed out. I screamed and startled her.” Siyeon said as the ghost sighed in relief.

They talked for several more minutes, and soon the girl realized that it had been several years since she had passed.

It had been almost ten years that she was trapped in this hospital looking for someone to help her. It was no wonder that she ended up becoming twisted after such a long time of feeling ignored and forgotten. Anyone would probably have become like that after so long.

The girl sighed as she talked to Siyeon. The only unfinished business she had was to tell her family to let her little sister actually live instead of only knowing studying and regretting it later, but Siyeon searched online and found that her sister was living happily with a family now. She had no more unfinished business.

Siyeon walked the girl to the elevator, and when it opened, the elevator ghost smiled as he watched the girl step forward nervously. He smiled as he extended his hand, and slowly she smiled as she took it and stepped inside the elevator.

‘thank you, unnie… without you, I would have probably been trapped here forever… oh! Your friend is still back there!’ the girl said as Siyeon swore. How could she forget Bora? With a final wave, the two said goodbye as the elevator closed.  Once they were gone, Siyeon quickly ran back to Bora.

Ghosts were still standing around her as they wondered if she was alright and looked up at Siyeon when she jogged back to her friend. Thankfully Bora was still unconscious, or Siyeon would have never heard the end of it.

But when Siyeon looked at the ghosts, they looked back at her with curiosity. They had listened to the two talking earlier and started wondering about themselves. Were they dead too? Were they unable to move on because they didn’t know their fate?

Siyeon watched as the blood and injuries on their bodies slowly healed. They now looked like normal people, and she could see the realization sinking in.

‘is it really possible? Am I really dead too?’ a woman that looked to be in her 40’s asked. Siyeon held out her hand, and when the ghost's hand went through it, she seemed to wilt. It was true…

‘but I have a family to take care of… my husband doesn’t care about the children…’ the woman said when another stepped up.

He was around the same age as the woman and had died in an accident at work. Siyeon used her phone and searched up their family, and after both of them found out about their families, they were ready to move on. Without meaning to Siyeon helped three ghosts, not one.

The other ghosts that lingered around Bora didn’t seem ready to accept that they were dead yet. Siyeon was starting to worry about Bora. She still had not woken up. But Siyeon was so excited that she actually managed to conquer her fear that she pulled out her phone and took a deep breath as she got up the nerve to call Minji.

Minji’s phone went off as she watched a drama and nibbled on some snacks that Siyeon had got her earlier and almost choked when she noticed a call from Siyeon. Carefully Minji swallowed the food and answered her phone nervously.

“Hello?” Minji asked when she heard Siyeon shouting in excitement on the other line.

“Minji! I did it! I went down to the ER and confronted that ghost!” Siyeon said as Minji smiled excitedly. Her heart fluttered at how cute and excited Siyeon sounded at the moment.

“That’s amazing! I'm so proud of you!” Minji responded as Siyeon blushed. She didn’t expect it, but she liked hearing Minji say that she was proud of her.

“I was able to help the ghost move on! But Bora kind of passed out in the process… I was going to call Dami, but I don’t want to get scolded for dragging Bora into an area full of ghosts. Could you call Yoohyeon and ask her to bring a stretcher down to the back ER hallway?” Siyeon asked as Minji sat up worriedly.

“Is she alright?” Minji asked as Siyeon checked Bora once more.

“she’s alright. A ghost charged at us, and when I screamed, I think I startled her too much, and she fainted…” Siyeon said as she struggled to try to get Bora off of the floor.

“ok, I will call Yoohyeon, and she will be right down,” Minji said as Siyeon thanked her softly. Minji smiled at how shy Siyeon’s voice had become and giggled.

“Please be careful, Siyeon. I don’t want you getting hurt.” Minji said tenderly as Siyeon smiled shyly. Minji could turn Siyeon soft so easily.

Several minutes later, Yoohyeon came down with Handong and a stretcher. The three of them managed to get their tiny yet loud manager onto the stretcher and quickly wheeled her up to Minji’s room on Handong’s orders.

Handong didn’t want Bora waking up and shouting loudly on the floor and stirring up whatever lived in room 413. She was also worried that something could happen to Bora while she was unconscious, so Minji’s room was the best choice.

Sneaking her past the staff was going to be difficult, though. That was where Yoohyeon came in. It was no secret that most of the staff had a crush on Yoohyeon. Gender didn’t matter when it came to the smiling girl, and when she approached the nurses' station.

While Yoohyeon chatted happily with the nursing staff, Siyeon and Handong had to figure out how to get Bora down the hallway. They couldn’t wheel her on the stretcher because it was large and noisy. With a sigh, the two decided to carry the passed-out girl on Siyeon’s back. But that was easier said than done.

“How is someone so tiny, so HEAVY!” Handong whispered as she tried to help get Bora on Siyeon’s back. They almost dropped her several times when they finally succeeded.

Siyeon sped down the hallway with Handong close behind, but when they got close to the nursing station, Bora’s weight shifted backward, almost pulling Siyeon over in the process. Handong lunged forward quickly and caught Bora just in time.

Yoohyeon looked over just in time to see Siyeon’s arms flailing as Handong lunged forward and saved the two by catching Bora by her butt. Handong had a hand on each cheek and forced Bora’s butt back up and shoved Siyeon forward in the process.

The two quickly scurried past as Handong shoved the two along by Bora’s butt as Yoohyeon tried not to laugh and get the nurse's attention, but it was rather hard.

Yoohyeon snorted just as they got out of sight, and the nurses turned to see what she looked at, but nothing was there. She waved it off by saying she thought of something funny and proceeded to tell them a wild story before waving goodbye and going to see Minji.

Yoohyeon entered the room to see Minji giggling furiously while Siyeon was pinned under Bora.  She was face down on the sofa. Handong was trying to pry Siyeon from underneath the girl, but it wasn’t going well. All they could hear is soft, mumbled cries of help from Siyeon.

“Minji, if you think this is funny, you should have seen them in the hallway!” Yoohyeon said as she told her friend about their attempt to get past the nurse's station.

By the end, Minji was laughing so hard her eyes were watering, but Siyeon was still stuck underneath Bora, who was now drooling a large puddle on the nurse's back.

“help… please?” Siyeon squeaked out as Handong tried pulling her arm one more time.

“Yoohyeon!” Handong shouted breathlessly as the two laughed and helped Siyeon up. There was a nice drool puddle on Siyeon’s shirt, and she looked rather horrified by it.

“ugh… I think I need a shower…” Siyeon said as she held her scrub top away from her body.

“just take it off! I will steal one of Minji’s tops for you to put on. You don’t mind, do you Minji?” Yoohyeon asked with a huge grin as Minji shook her head with wide eyes.

Without thinking, Siyeon removed her scrub top as she got the cold and wet top off of her, but Minji didn’t have enough time to look away and stared with wide eyes as she saw Siyeon shirtless in front of her.

“she is used to changing in the breakroom. I figured that this might cheer you up…” Yoohyeon whispered as Minji smacked her arm and hid her blushing face.

Yoohyeon laughed as she walked over and handed Siyeon a clean shirt. The nurse was completely oblivious to Minji’s predicament. She was so used to changing in the breakroom at the end of her shift that she didn’t even think about it. At least not right away.

Minji peeked and looked at Siyeon’s beautiful side profile and gulped. Siyeon was just now pulling on the shirt, and it didn’t leave much to the imagination.

Minji instantly felt guilty for looking and looked at Yoohyeon instead, who was grinning widely at her embarrassed friend.

“enjoy the view?” Yoohyeon whispered as Minji smacked her again, but this time harder. Yoohyeon yelped as Minji scolded her.

Siyeon turned around to see Yoohyeon rubbing her arm while Minji scolded her friend, and then it donned on her that she had just taken her top off in front of her crush. All the color drained from Siyeon’s face as Handong laughed.

She instantly knew what Yoohyeon was up to and watched silently. Now she was watching Siyeon, who was about to have a mental breakdown.

“don’t worry. She was scolding Yoohyeon and wasn’t looking at you if that’s what you are worried about.” Handong lied as Siyeon sighed in relief.

“Now, let's go get some smelling salts and wake up sleeping beauty here,” Handong said as she patted Bora, who was still unconscious.

When the smelling salts packed was cracked and held under Bora’s nose, it was like electricity was shot through the girl.

Bora jumped and started coughing and gagging as her eyes stung. Slowly she looked around to see Yoohyeon Handong and Siyeon staring down at her.

“what happened?” Bora asked as she looked around, but when her memories finally came back, she sat up and pointed her finger at Siyeon.

“yah! Lee Siyeon! You used me as a human shield against that faceless ghost!?” Bora shouted as everyone looked at Siyeon, who looked extremely guilty.

“um… possibly?” Siyeon answered as she quickly hid behind Yoohyeon. But quickly, Siyeon realized that she never said why she was screaming and peeked around Yoohyeon.

“How did you know it was the faceless ghost that I was screaming about?” Siyeon asked as Bora went to stand but lost her balance. She was still a bit woozy.

“because I could see it!” Bora shouted as everyone looked at her in shock.

“you what?” Siyeon asked as she looked at her friend with a look of complete surprise. This wasn’t what she was expecting Bora to say at all...