stairs | jaeyong

# seven !¡

6:39 PM | Seoul, South Korea

A slight knock was heard on the door. Taeyong didn't bother to look up from the book he was reading while leaning against the headboard.

Instead, he just said "You don't have to knock, it's your room too." loud enough for the person on the other side of the door, assuming Jaehyun.

The door creaked open, and some footsteps were heard, which stopped just beside Taeyong. He diverted his gaze from the book to the feet of the person standing beside him.

He couldn't recognise them as Jaehyun's, as he tilted his head in confusion. So he finally looked up to find out that it was Mark. Mark had somewhat mixed expressions of fear, worry and tension.

The older closed his book swiftly and kept it on the mattress just beside him. He then brought his legs closer to his chest and patted the empty space just in front of him where his legs were moments ago.

Mark sat down there, kind of awkwardly. The other gave him a reassuring nod before standing up himself and walking towards the door to shut it close.

He came back and sat on the same place again. He gave the Canadian a small smile, who was nervously rubbing his nape.

"So what happened that you suddenly had to visit me?" He started the conversation.

"Uhm... Have you heard about the couple who used to live here a long ago?" He asked, curiosity obvious in his tone.

Taeyong nodded in yes.

"So I think this dorm is haunted, and it's probably that couple's souls..." the younger said, looking down.

"Huh?"

"Yeah... You know the stairs... They give really strange, a negative sort of vibes at nights and sometimes even in days. I had heard sounds from around the stairs." He said, fiddling with his fingers.

Taeyong chuckled softly and kept his warm hand on the Canadian's lap.

"It's just your mind playing tricks with you. You're probably overthinking. There's no ghost or something, okay?" He said in a soft tone, which gave the other some comfort.

Mark nodded with a genuine smile, which gave the older some relief. "Chill anyway, so, I've found out from Johnny Hyung that you ship me with Hyuck?" Mark asked once, Taeyong took his hands away from the younger's lap.

The words made Taeyong visibly gulp with wide eyes and tear his gaze to the floor. He nervously rubbed his nape and chuckled, mentally killing Johnny, which he'll do physically in case he survives Mark.

"Yeah..." He replied, with his heart beating against his chest loudly in fear.

"Cool, so help me with confessing him." Mark asked, keeping his hands on the other's shoulders and making him look at the Canadian.

Taeyong fell into utter confusion with his brows knitted. When the realization hit him that his ship has sailed, he got a wide smile on his face.