More Than Meets the Eye || TXT (Yeonbin, Taegyu)

Just Another Day

"Okay, one final down. Just ... four more to go."

Soobin sighed as he walked out of the classroom, the hallways of his college quieter than usual since most students were in class. Soobin was happy that one of his classes ended earlier than the others, because he was one final closer to the summer break. He walked through some hallways before seeing the exit of the building, a sign of his freedom for the day.

He placed his hand on the door to push it open, the cool breeze allowing him to get some fresh air. He took a moment to soak in the view: the trees finally full of leaves, the warmth of the sun, the flowers blooming, and the fountain in the middle of the courtyard giving the scene that extra touch of tranquility. Soobin took one more deep breath before moving towards the fountain.

The outside was slightly busier than the building he was in, a lot of students heading to the library to continue studying for finals. His bookbag slung across his one shoulder began weighing him down as he remembered just how many books he stuffed in there this morning in preparation for his classes.

Once he reached the fountain, he set his bookbag next to him and took a look around. He had always been a more introverted person, especially around those that he didn't know well. He preferred to isolate himself from others if it meant less awkward interaction. However, he also liked to observe life around him, although "life" may not be the right word to use.

Soobin had be born with the unique ability to see the dead, but not just any dead person. He could only see those that are stuck in purgatory, or at least that's what he thought. He hadn't understood his ability until he was about eight or nine. When he was younger, Soobin's parents assumed that he was just making up imaginary friends, since he had such a hard time making friends in school early on. When Soobin was a little older and tried to show his parents the people that kept interacting with him, his parents continued to scoff and blow it off, causing Soobin to become more and more quiet about it.

It wasn't an easy thing to grow up with, yet alone understand. Soobin had continued to try and find answers as he grew up, but he couldn't find anything reliable. He even went to a couple counselors to see if his mind was just creating hallucinations, but a lot of his counselors thought that these "people" he was seeing was just a way for his brain to create friends of sorts. Eventually, he gave up, deciding to keep his ability to himself, even if it did drive him mad every once and awhile.

He quickly realized that interacting with those in purgatory was not an easy feat. Even though Soobin could see them, no one else could. So, on the outside, it looked like Soobin was talking to himself or a ghost, neither option looking appealing to the common passerby. He realized quickly that talking the dead in public was probably not the best idea unless he wanted to look absolutely crazy. To combat this, he stopped talking to the dead over time, part of his brain hoping they would eventually go away if he kept blocking them out. Soobin's idea was that, if they didn't know he could see them, they wouldn't try interacting with him. And so far into his college life, it seemed to be working.

The only difference between the living and those stuck in purgatory was the aura around them. As Soobin continued to recognize he had this special ability, he began to see colored auras around those stuck in purgatory. After talking to the dead when he was younger, he began to piece together what he thought each color meant.

Blue meant that the person died before their time or before they should have. The person would be stuck in purgatory until they reached the time they should have died. For example, if someone died suddenly at age 52 but should have died at age 55, they would be stuck in purgatory for three years before they could move on.