Once Upon a Tale

Chapter 34: Ghosts

"If you can't be next to me, your memory is ecstasy."
~Justin Bieber~

Ghosts.

The supernatural extensions of a dead specimen used by elders to scare children to make them behave.

The distorted images told in every bonfire camping in the middle of the woods.

The screeching beasts that give jump-scares to boys and girls after watching a horror film.

Ghosts, are many things.

They could be souls that hadn't found the peace in their eternal rest.

They could be vengeful spirits looking for victims to express their frustrations and anger of not being able to live the borrowed life again.

Or,

They could be figures from the past.

Ghosts, are memories of the people we met, the decisions and actions we've done, and the unspoken words we've longed to say.

The people in our lives weren't ever permanent. They come and they go. Whether we experienced the best or the worst part of our lives with these individuals, they all leave with their ghosts lingering in our hearts. All of them don't leave without leaving behind something that makes us remember them when they are gone.

The decisions and actions we've done are ghosts murmuring the 'what ifs' in our heads each time we felt like we have chosen the wrong choice. If I had done this, if I just settled with that, if i was brave enough, if I just listened, maybe, I wouldn't be in the middle of a predicament like right now. The regret we feel after executing a mistake are ghosts that haunt our minds to no end because of the disappointment we faced after.

The unspoken words that should've been said are ghosts that mock our consciences, leaving us in a situation of grief where we weep for our internal battles that managed to end something special that we held close to our hearts. The unspoken words that could turn the matter upside-down but was never told, never heard.

These ghosts haunts everyone, including you and me. Specially, the half-naked man lying on the king-sized hotel bed, his bare chest pressed against the mattress.

It was the earliest hours in the morning where most people are probably sleeping, college students still studying, and night-workers just doing their job as best as they could.

Jungkook, although lying on a comfy hotel bed, isn't one of those who had the pleasure to snore until the sun makes its presence above the horizon. He was wide-awake even after the long night he had just a few hours prior. However, his eyes are glossy and he had a solemn expression plastered on his handsome face.

"I wish I had proposed to you sooner instead of subtly hinting my interests of marriage with you, sweetheart." Jungkook whispered into the silent atmosphere.

"If I had just actually got down on one knee infront of you, even with the fear of rejection, maybe I'm actually having a honeymoon right now." He sighed, shifting to look at the ceiling of the hotel room.

"I didn't know that my life before us and the life when you're not around anymore could be the same, sweetheart." He said, biting his bottom-lip at the thought.

Suddenly, the door of the hotel bedroom opened, revealing the newcomer who looked very much excited at the sight of Jungkook on the bed.

Jungkook shifted once again and after getting a glimpse of the newcomer, his solemn expression morphed into mirth. He sat up, the sheets falling, displaying his naked upper-half body. He opened his arms with a smile and uttered four words.