..." Sometimes we are the hope to the ones in despair."...

Everyone has a little secret to hold, a secret that lies deep in their heart, something they would never be able to share with someone.

But the human creatures were born to share things, if not with everyone, then at least with the person that means everything to them, the person that will die and not tell that secret.

Somewhere in this big world, lived an 18 years old girl who had a secret too, but this one that she had was special enough to change everything around her and to make her live the extraordinary.

...1...

" I see you are rushing somewhere." Lina jumped with cheerful steps as she followed me from behind.

" School obviously, I am... 30 minutes late oh shoot!" I sped up at the crossroad and headed for a shortcut.

I can't believe it's the first day after the spring holiday and I woke up like ... 30 minutes late.

" Girl, that's probably your best record." Lina covered her mouth while she laughed at my words, she doesn't even have to come with me all the way.

After all, she's just a ghost.

And yes, for the record. I can see ghosts like humans see each other. It might sound creepy, but I actually find it fun, ghosts don't look like zombies as some might think.

" I clearly remember setting my alarm on time, but I don't know how that happened." I adjusted my hands to fit with my speedy movements as I kept taking turns here and there to make it on time.

" I tell you how did that happen, your mom called your name a thousand times, and each time you were like: just 5 more minutes, look at you now, running out of breaths." Lina was completely smiling and jumping like she wasn't tired of all the running.

Oh right, ghosts don't get tired at all.

I waved my head in dismissing and ignored her words as I took a turn towards an empty street to rest a bit.

" Let's stop here for a ...." I couldn't even finish my words when I heard a strong pop on the wall.

" Ouch!"

" Oh god, Lina I'm so sorry I forgot for a second." I ran to offer her a hand of help.

I'm pretty sure I said she was a ghost before, and now she pumped into a real wall and fell. Sounds like something only humans can do.

But I can tell you how that happened.

A long time ago, like really long ago, there was a queen who loved her people so much that she couldn't bear the death of them.

She was crazy obviously, so in order to live with her people forever she made a deal with a supernatural force and gained a power that let her give life to the souls she lost, but it wasn't a long term life because ghosts weren't meant to be alive again. It was temporary.

The ghosts become humans when they are around her and no human creature is presented on sight.

That's how she got the name of the temporary life-giver. It was said that the purpose of that gift was to give another chance to the lost souls to correct the mistakes they made when they were alive, so they can leave in peace after that.

And that gift was being inherited from one person to another. So here I am, the 283rd heir of this magnificent supernatural thing. Not so many people had it though, every generation has one temporary life-giver, today it's a Korean girl who is late for her school and can't do maths homework correctly.

Back to reality.

" We should really work on your senses honeypie, I can't risk feeling pain again." Lina rubbed her forehead while she squeezed her eye like a baby, it was too cute to resist.

" I said I'm sorry though, but we should really get going. My mom will murder me if she finds out I came late again."

Two seconds later and we were already back on track. Lina helped me sneak inside before it was too late, and the next moment I was running in the hallway towards my class.

" Miss Ryeo! How dare you run in the Hallway." Ooops, definitely another voice to ignore from the morning. How is mister Jang so energized to scream like that in the morning? Like, what kind of drink is he having?

I couldn't care less at the moment, I rushed to open the door and went towards the space under the board. Surely I'm no writer to know what it is called.

And that's when I said the most stupid thing in my whole life.

" Good Morning Everyone, my name is Ryeo Eui, I'll be a classmate of yours this year.... Uh, I hope we get along well." I fixed my pose, raised my tone and wiped my exhaustion away.

" Bahaha, Eui did you miss-jumped time or something?" That voice echoed well in my ears, the sarcastic tone and laugh, the posture of stomachache he was doing. That was definitely him: My best best buddy Choi Yeonjun.

And the class clown, because the next scene you could see is everyone dying from laughter. Even Miss Hwang flinched at that one .

" Miss Ryeo, gladly you are studying with the same people this time as well, so I suggest you put formalities aside and have a quiet seat over there." She pointed her perfect hand towards my seat which was at the back of the class.

I walked with shameful steps to where I was asked to but my embarrassment soon faded when my old buddy spoke again.

" I missed you Eui-Chan!" He drew an enchanting smile on his face that could erase every gloomy cloud on this earth.

" It's literally been 9 hours since we saw each other." I raised an eyebrow but still accepted his statement.

We have been neighbors since... I was born. And best friends since that too, he was the person I experienced everything with and told everything to.

Well not everything, he still doesn't know about the special ability I have. It's not because I think he wouldn't believe me, but he fears ghosts, a lot. That's why.

" Eui-Chan? Eui... Helloo?" The blurry view faded on his hands waving at me, I was lost in daydreaming again.

" Oh, how long was I out of service?" I pushed my hair back, shaking my head a bit.

" The whole class, Miss Hwang, just left. Are you sure you don't want help with the zoning out issue?" He leaned on his elbow that rested on my table.

" I think I'll be fine. Wanna go have some snacks?" I winked at him and he smirked back.

It was that time of the day.

" Time to sneak out !" Yeonjun waved his hands like an excited baby and so we headed on with our usual sneaking out routine.

I would watch for minutes to see if mister Jang was taking turns on the hallway and once I feel that we are safe, Yeonjun rushes first to jump from the window, and I follow later.

We were always sneaking out at that time because no one ever paid attention at crafting class, it was a total waste of time and Miss Madelaide (who was clearly a foreigner) would sleep through the whole hour and half.

Our favorite destination was the traditional tteokbokki store next to the school. The old lady there was always nice to us and even gave us extra fried fish with it. Maybe because we were loyal customers but who to blame, her food was a chef's kiss.

" The usual?" She gave a trembling laugh as she saw us taking our seats.

" Yes, with extra sauce because you always make it perfect." Yeonjun kissed his fingers as he said to the lady who began immediately with work.

Then he turned to me.

" So, why were you late today?" He saw in my eyes that I expected him to ask that, he read me like an open book after all.

" I stayed late watching Camp Rock." I looked down with guilty eyes and avoided his looks that soon exploded from laughter.

" Camp Rock?! Eui I swear to god you're one of a kind. I was totally joking when I said it was that good."

" But it was, I loved every second of it."

" Because that is your type of movies." He drew the look of (I know) on his face.

" I'm still mad you left early yesterday." I crossed my arms and looked away, faking annoyance.

" I'll make up on that tonight. How about we go to the park with Berry? It's your favourite place." He snapped his fingers as he stated his genius idea.

It was. The central park was my favorite outdoor place, and my parents never let me go there at night unless it was with them, or Yeonjun.

" Deal!" We made a pinky promise then began with the tasty food that was delivered to us.

Once the 5th hour of the evening knocked on doors, I was already helping Berry wear her collar.

" When will he be here?" My mother shouted from the kitchen. I don't know what she has been doing there the whole evening.

" In five minutes mom! We'll have dinner outside." I replied as I rubbed the head of Berry " Good Girl."

" About that, I made you and Yeonjun dinner." She came with fancy food boxes that smelled like heaven.

" Mom... You didn't have to do all that. It's too much really!" I accepted the boxes in full shock.

She made pasta -and of how I love her pasta-, and not just that, she even added most of the side dishes she prepared last night.

I'm in love with you once again, miss mom.

" You are my daughter, I would do anything for you. Besides, we can't risk Yeonjun telling his mom that her neighbor can't do anything." She drew a wicked smile on her face.

" Mom, not this again. Miss Choi is really nice, she just doesn't go well with your vibe." I stuck my hands together as I begged her to stop.

One thing you should know: The whole neighborhood knows how My mom and Yeonjun's mom don't get along with each other, because both of them work in a similar field, the field of fame. So basically Miss Choi always considered my mother as competent, it is quite magical how that never ruined my friendship with Yeonjun though.

After 5 minutes exactly, Yeonjun was ringing the bell. He came inside and greeted my dad and went straight to kiss my mother's hands. I doubt my future boyfriend would ever do that.

" You bring her home before 9 and try to have fun." She squeezed his cheeks like a baby, although he was half foot taller than her. Then she went straight to mine.

That's when we said our goodbye and headed towards our destination: The central park.

Berry was the most excited one among us all, she loved playing and running on the grass, and we loved watching her doing so.

We placed our things down and took seats as we enjoyed the view alongside the marvelous food.

" The breeze feels nice tonight." Yeonjun leaned back and began to observe the fainting stars on the sky that were appearing slowly by the time.

" Surely it does." I was about to lean back next to him but I was cut off by Berry's sudden scream, the next moment she began running towards an unknown destination.

" Berry!... I'll go after her, you stay here." I ordered him as I rushed with my steps after her.

I could only follow her voice's echo, and after minutes of running, I finally found her. Barking a boy who was stuck on the top of a tree.

" Berry sweetly calm down, he is just a boy." I went to give her a hug and as she was calming down in my arms I pointed with my eyes at the boy to go down.

" She can be aggressive sometimes but she doesn't bite." I laughed off the situation while rubbing the back of my head.

No responses were heard. So instead of smiling awkwardly at him, I asked another question.

" You look like you're my age, what school do you go to?" And oh how I hated the silence that occured after that question.

" I see, you can't just share that information with someone who had a dog chasing you." I laughed awkwardly as I turned my head around.

Surprisingly there was no one around.

" Eui, back off," Lina whispered from behind with an annoyed tone.

" Lina this is definitely not your time," I whispered the lowest I could, I didn't want to risk my sanity with someone I just met.

" He's a half ghost." These words striked me like lightning bolts.

There was a law I was forbidden to pass. If you meet a half-ghost, never interact with them, never talk to them. Because then you will be playing with destiny.

Half ghosts are the lost souls of unconscious people. They are given 40 days to find their bodies, if they don't then they become officially ghosts and the body never becomes alive again.

It was their destiny, and no one dares to judge destiny.

I walked backward with slow steps and when I finally turned around I was stopped but the most heartbreaking voice my ears ever heard.

" Please, I was looking for you. The temporary life-giver, you're only person that can help."

How did he know I was the temporary life-giver? How did he even find me?

" You must be kidding right? Eui that will risk your safety. You are already chased by that stupid grim ripper." Lina snapped after she saw my steps getting slower and slower until I stopped.

"How did you know I was the temporary life-giver?" I raised an eyebrow as I looked down on him, although he was slightly taller.

" I don't know, I can't remember anything but I knew that I knew you... If that makes sense." He stumbled with the words he delivered and I was even more interested.

" Eui, you're not actually thinking of doing it." Lina gave me warning stares but I ignored them with a smile.

" You know how destiny decides if the lost souls find their bodies or not. This time destiny sent him to me and I must not break that law right?" My smile got even wider at the thought of excitement that was waiting for me.

" Eui..."

" Can you remember your name?" I said pointing at him.

" Just my first name, It's Beomgyu." He hesitated before giving an answer.

" Alright Beomgyu, You will come with me and I will help you find your body. Under one condition: Once you get your memory back, you tell me how you knew who I was." I sharpened my looks to sound more serious in the situation.

" Oh god, this is definitely going to be bad." Lina covered her head with her hands hiding all the disappointed looks.

The boy nodded as I walked towards him, then we made a pinky promise.

Was it the first time I broke the law? Maybe.

Was Miss Shim going to kill me? Definitely yes.

But was this whole thing worth it? A million yes.

" Every curse is a blessing to somebody."

1

" Lina, you don't have to worry at all. I can take very good care of myself." I clearly said that a second before I stumbled and almost fell. Not until he caught me perfectly with his soft hands grabbing my shoulder gently.

I can tell that was the shortest yet the longest eye contact I ever had with someone that had my stomach filled with butterflies. Maybe because he was so close to me.

Or maybe because he was the prettiest ghost I had ever seen.

" Are you okay?" Beomgyu didn't let go as he asked his question.

" Yes, I'm fine..."

" YOU! Get away from her!" Someone rushed from behind and made a high jump that kicked the boy off of me.

" I see boys have no manners these days." Yeonjun grabbed the collar of the boy he just kicked and threatened him with deadly eyes.

He just saw a half-ghost, and even ... touched him.

" I can explain..."

" Yeonjun?" I got from the ground as I delivered my question in full shock.

" Yes? Did you get hurt somewhere? I'll murder him on place." He rushed to grab my shoulder and I was still looking at him, taking everything in.

" You- can see- him?" I struggled with the few words I had in mind.

" Yeah, why-why are you surprised by that?" He raised an eyebrow as he turned to check on what he saw.

" Oh no, that's a first isn't it?" Lina declared from the tree she was leaning on.

" Shut up Lina, I need to think!" I closed my eyes and covered my ears for a moment.

" Who's Lina? Um, Eui, is there something you want to tell me, like right now?" The laugh he threw began to be filled with terror.

I took a deep moment to think, then I said it all.

" Um okay, so I need you to listen well. What you just saw and punched on the face is a half-ghost. I don't know how you do that but he isn't any human."

" That dude is a half-ghost! Remind me what that means again?" He smirked as he took a closer look at Beomgyu who froze like a rock.

" I need to take you to Miss Shim, she will explain things better to you." I grabbed him from his wrist and asked Beomgyu and Lina to follow.

" Is this the part where I have this plot twist that changes everything in my life?" He said so casually as he followed.

" Yes Yeonjun, a big plot twist. You just did something no one in this world can do, besides me." I gave him glances from the side and rushed with my steps.

" So you're saying that you can give life to ghosts if no human is around and I just happened to interact with one of them under your presence." He repeated after the long minutes of explanation we had on the road.

Gladly, the shrine where Miss Shim lived was only a few blocks away from Central Park.

Miss Shim has been a Shaman since she was eighteen, she was the one to tell me about my ability and took care of me for all those years.

Yet she never said that someone else could interact with the ghosts I brought to temporary life, not even people who saw ghosts.

But I knew she had an answer to this, to all of what suddenly began to happen in my life.

" Good late evening Miss Shim!" I cheered as I opened the door to her humble office filled with spells.

" Oh, little Eui... My dear! Is that a half-ghost you brought?!" She gasped the loudest she could as she stepped backward like a terrified woman.

" Well, yes it's a long story... But there is something else." I pointed at Yeonjun entered the room as he observed every corner of it in astonishment.

" He can see it, and touch it too." I pointed my finger at him as I drew a bread smile on my face.

She didn't have a reply to that and just stood there surprised like before.

" Miss Shim, you clearly said no one could ever witness this ability, he can't even see ghosts!" I exclaimed at her.

" This happened before Eui...Just, I never thought it would happen again. You never said you had such a close person to you." She took a seat and began looking for a book at her desk.

" Should I be terrified that you two are talking about literal ghosts? or the fact that I can see a half one? or the fact that I am inside a room FULL of spells?" Yeonjun snapped as he could no longer hide how scared he was.

Just like I said, he was terrified of ghosts and anything related to them.

" There is nothing to worry about, kid. Ghosts aren't monsters."

" Oh, I said that too once!"

" Shut up Eui! Come have a seat and I will explain to you. The ghosts can leave until further notice." She gave a devilish smile to Lina and Beomgyu who headed outside not disobeying an order.

" Centuries ago, the 56th heir of The Temporary Life-Giver ability had a close sister, they were like soulmates who never left each other's side. After years, his sister began to see the ghosts he was seeing, and she was even able to interact with them. That was because she gained some of his energy through the previous years."

" The fact that your friend here was able to interact with that half-ghost without being able to see the other one can be explained by one thing, he gained energy from you, but in a small amount that didn't allow him to see full ghosts." She snapped her fingers after she completed her long story.

" That won't ruin his life forever right?" I asked worryingly as I took a side look at my friend who was still taking everything in.

" Of course not, as long as you don't deal with half ghosts which, speaking of we'll deal with that in a bit, he will be fine!" She sang like a happy bird.

I should be running now but my friend's mental state was very important at the moment.

" Actually, after a second thought, I don't mind it either. If Eui-Chan never was scared of having that ability for all of her life I can deal with it much better." If I could put the smile he delivered in a museum I would've done it. Yeonjun never failed me, and he never will.

Because we were best buddies, we were each other's soulmates.

" Thanks Yeonjun." I grabbed his hand with both of my tiny hands and squeezed them with full joy.

And he delivered that enchanting smile again.

" I'm sorry to cut off this happy ending but we need to get back to the right thing. Go ahead young lady, deliver your explanation." She raised her eyebrow in annoyance and crossed her arms around her perfect waist.

" I was going to leave him alone I swear... But he said he was looking for me, the Temporary Life-Giver. He needed help to find his body and I accepted in exchange for him telling me how he knew who I was." I couldn't tell if my words made any sense from how speedy I was with saying them.

" Interesting, I bet this day can't get any worse." She rolled her eyes not moving an inch.

Was I going to die? Again Maybe.

" You can't blame her for trying to help someone! Did you expect her to just leave after he was desperate to be saved?" Said the boy who punched the half ghost a half hour ago.

" I didn't say that, if your friend here gets found by a Grim Ripper she will no longer be able to save any poor soul." She was right, I would be one of them, forever.

But...

" I can dodge them like I always did. It's just 40 days, right? I find his body, he returns to it and things will be over in a blink of an eye." I fixed my tone to sound more confident.

" Before you come up with a conclusion yourself I need to make sure of something. You two follow me." She got from her seat and went outside as the two of us followed.

Beomgyu and Lina were already playing with Berry who somehow was getting along with them just fine.

" I need to see if the half-ghost-..."

" Beomgyu, his name is Beomgyu." I corrected.

" Right... I need to see if Beomgyu becomes visible to others as well when he is around you and your friend. And on what scale that would be." She waved her hands in disbelief like a busy lady who couldn't care less.

Two seconds later she called the name of her sidekick who can't even see ghosts himself:" Jorge!"

Jorge is Miss Shim's humble sidekick, he came all the way from Canada to study here and that's the only side job he found. Poor man.

" Yes Ma'am!" He stood like a soldier ready for war.

" Can you see him?" she pointed at Beomgyu and he nodded in agreement.

" My theory was right, Beomgyu is visible to other people as well but now we have to know how far this extends." She ordered us to take steps backward slowly until Jorge was no longer able to see him.

That was 40 meters away. Thus, we concluded that Beomgyu becomes visible to everyone within a circle of 80 metres in diameter, on both ends of which is me and Yeonjun.

" Now what is your plan? You know that you're going to need more than just a friend to find his body." She questioned, her fingers harmonizing with her words.

" Nothing at the moment." I hissed at the empty thoughts wandering in my head.

" I might have a plan, but first... Can we get him into our school?" Yeonjun suggested from a distance. I sensed a genius idea in his brain.

" I might manage to get him in as a temporary student. Do you have someone in mind that can help?" She finally drew a fainted smile of hope.

" Yes. And he would be a great help." I saw that wink delivered to me and it was when I knew who he was talking about.

" You're not talking about..."

" Yup, the one on your mind."

2

Kang Taehyun, our moody ex-childhood friend. That guy is wanted by the government! Well not exactly the government but I heard some mafia groups are dying to find him.

He became our neighbour when me and Yeonjun were 4 and 5 years old. He came with his sister and on the first day, we became best buddies. Why? Because he had the most adorable smile on earth.

For two years we spent the best days together, he was a genius cook although he was only 4 years old, maybe average because I was dumb as a child. But after he and his sister moved away we didn't hear a piece of single news about him.

We met years after that in middle school and there you go, a total different person. He looked more...Emo?!

He refused to talk to us and said he had bigger business to deal with, next thing we knew is that his head was highly wanted in the black market. Why again? Because he had Hyperthymesia and he witnessed many things that were considered a threat to those people. He grew up as a trouble maker and a loner because no one wanted to be friends with a threat.

Except me of course because he still had that adorable smile, and I heard he became more interested in food and cooking so I was dying to taste his dishes.

And now we were heading to ask for his help. Because if there is anyone who saw many faces and remembered them all, it would be him.

It took us 3 days to get Beomgyu in school, and gladly he was in my class since he was typically my age, so we didn't have to worry about him leaving the circle.

We walked down the hallway towards the yard where every friend group gathered.

As Yeonjun took the lead I remained in the back with Beomgyu. Talking of course.

" 5'9" feet, so that basically makes you taller than Yeonjun!" I cheered at the conclusion I just arrived at.

" Absolutely not, I am clearly 2 centimeters taller." Yeonjun snapped at the one thought I just had.

" He is right, although if we consider age too, I am the taller one here." This man was getting too comfortable in just a short period of time.

" Listen here young man, the only tall thing you have here is your tongue. Since when is age concerned with height?" Yeonjun complained so dramatically as he waved his hands in random directions.

" Since forever." The two had this intense short eye contact that freaked out most of the people in the hallway.

I was too short to even be noticed by them at that moment.

" Eui-Chan, tell this SHORT dude that age doesn't matter when it comes to height." Yeonjun took steps away from him and put me between the two of them.

" He says that ..."

" Eui, tell the OLD-man that he is too short for his age."

" Actually I'm the short one here..."

" OLD-man! I see you gained some attitude. I won't have an argument with someone who can't even remember his LAST name."

" At least I have an EXCUSE. You can't even remember what you had last night for dinner."

" That's not even fair, who remembers what they had for dinner?"

" Oh, it's Taehyun!" The two stopped immediately at the 3 words I said.

And once the boy noticed us he began running. Running from us.

" That little brat!" Yeonjun rushed after him and the two of us followed as fast as we could.

The three of us kept chasing him but it wasn't for too long until he took a shortcut through a small hole on the wall.

After thinking, Taehyun was the shortest one next to Yeonjun and Beomgyu. But I was shorter so I was able to go inside after him.

" Taehyun, stop! Why are you even running?" I was slowing a bit from the tiredness that filled me.

" You guys were running after me!" He exclaimed with betrayal looks on his face.

" What?! We started running after you because we thought you were running from us." I raised an eyebrow as I tried catching my breaths.

" Okay, this is definitely not going to take us anywhere..." He froze the moment I threw my hands around him.

I missed him for every second he wasn't around. And I knew he wouldn't let me hug if he was on guard.

" Uh, Eui?" His tone softened as his body slowly got more relaxed.

" I missed you Tae, although I know we were just kids when you left you still meant a lot to us. It hurts seeing you around but pretending to be a stranger to you." I pressed my head against his chest and didn't let go for a second.

" I wanted to go back as well but things changed, I changed and got myself into trouble and I didn't want to get you nor Yeonjun into it." His voice trembled as I felt his hands comforting me on the shoulder.

" You think you're the only one who got yourself into drama."

Yeonjun arrived with our little ghost buddy as he gave him the biggest smile.

The next second he rushed as well to join us for a hug too.

" I think Beomgyu should join us too..."

" I think not!" Yeonjun didn't even move an inch when he said that but I still called Beomgyu for a group hug.

Once Taehyun ran out of breath and we let go of him, Mister Dramatic Llama spoke in the most sarcastic tone ever.

" Look at us ending up having a group hug with a half GHOST."

" How RUDE!"

" What the heck?!" Taehyun flinched a bit too much on this one.

If there was someone who feared ghosts more than Yeonjun, that would've been him.

" I can explain!" I laughed off the tense joke and began explaining the situation to the guy who almost fainted from the shock.

" So you want me to help you find his body so he can become human again? And not even that, you had supernatural powers this WHOLE time?!" He was looking pretty relaxed now.

" Yes and yes." I drew a bread smile on my face.

" You can refuse if you want to." Beomgyu declared steps away.

" Shut the hell up! Do you want to be saved or not? Make up your mind jeez." Yeonjun gave him a soft hit on the back as he shouted at him.

He was scared of beating him up after that day because he thought he might come and hunt him in his dreams. I don't blame him, knowing Beomgyu he might actually do it.

" So what do you say?" I went back to the boy who was thinking too hard about this.

" I'm pretty free lately so yeah I can help." We all cheered at this final decision and a few seconds later the lunch break bell rang.

" You got yourself a good gang in there." Lina smiled from behind as she began to follow me once we stood up.

" Thanks, Lina." I giggled as I gave her some space to walk next to me.

" I'm proud of you Honeypie, you can finally share your secret with no fears." Lina was surely super happy when she said that. And I couldn't agree more.

I was happy I was accepted the way I am.

Once we made it near the main building's gate and once we were heading inside I noticed a glance towards where I was.

But it wasn't fixed on me, rather on the one who was next to me.

Someone saw Lina following me.