Electric Love {Minsung}

Chapter 69: Ghost

After Scott left with Jeongin, Chan, and Yeji, the rest of the group followed Seungmin over to the hotel restaurant, the Saddle and Spur Tavern. The restaurant appeared to have been newly renovated, and the textured plaster walls were painted pale yellow and decorated with the markings of dozens of different cattle brands. The floor was made from stained, dark wood planks, and against the main wall, there was a long bar with chrome and black vinyl barstools. On the opposite side of the room was a brightly lit jukebox.

They pushed two tables together and sat down. Less than a minute later, a waitress walked out to us.

"Hi, y'all. I'm Carla. How are you youngsters tonight?"

"Fine, thank you," Felix said for all of us. He didn't know how long it had been since anyone had called him a youngster.

"You must be headed to Mexico on vacation."

"We just got back," Felix said.

"Oh? What did you see?"

"Carnage," Seungmin said.

Hyunjin gave him a scolding look.

"Mexicans," Jisung said. "Mostly."

The waitress laughed. "I suppose you would."

"So, is this place really haunted?" Ryujin asked.

"Sure is, honey."

"Have you seen a ghost?"

"Not the headless phantom you hear everyone talk about, but every now and then, the electricity in here will go kind of haywire, blenders turning on, lights turning on and off, lights flickering."

"Sounds like bad electrical wiring," Seungmin said.

"I thought you said you believe in ghosts," Jisung said.

"I do. But I'm logical about it."

The woman grinned. "All the electrical was redone last January when we remodeled the dining room. A while back, we had a ghost expert come through here. He was from one of those ghost-hunter TV shows. He said that ghosts and poltergeists are really just electrical energy, so they're attracted to electricity. Some say they eat electricity."

"Great," Jisung said in Korean. "That makes us a banquet."

Minho playfully punched him on the arm.

"We're definitely going to see some ghosts tonight," Seungmin said.

The woman looked at them with a quizzical expression, then said, "So, down to business. What can I get y'all to eat?"

"We all want lemonade," Minho said.

"Except me," Seungmin said. "I'll have a root beer."

"Six lemonades, one root beer."

". . . And throw in a couple of orders of these bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers," Changbin said.

"All right. I'll get those going; then I'll be back to get the rest of your order." She walked away.

After she was gone, Ryujin said, "If ghosts are electric, I should be able to feel their presence. Maybe even affect them."

"That would be cool," Seungmin said. "You could be like the ghost punisher."

"Can we stop talking about ghosts?" Hyunjin said. "It's creeping me out. And we already have enough to worry about."

"Yeah, like paying for dinner," Jisung said, realizing he only had Taiwanese NT and pesos. "Does anyone have any American dollars?"

"I'm sure we can charge it to the room," Seungmin said.