Scarlet Road

Chapter 2: How to Kill A Ghost

Yoongi had been hanging out with Namjoon and Hoseok ever since he was in middle school. He loved how they didn't run in the same crowd. Yoongi and his brother had gotten real close to them and all of them were inseperable ever since.

But when Namjoon and Hoseok weren't hanging out and partying with them, they were holed up in Namjoon's garage building weird things they never let anyone see.

But Yoongi knew they're building something else.

"What's all this bunch of stuff?" Yoongi asked. It was summer that time when he stood in front of Namjoon's surprisingly open garage the first time he accidentally stumbled upon them, tinkering on something he couldn't quite place a name on.

Both Namjoon and Hoseok flinched and straightened up just as they saw him walked inside. There was a long silence before Namjoon gave an uncertain look towards Hoseok and sighed.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

Yoongi took a swig of his coke before making a cross sign on his stomach. "Promise."

"You're supposed to do that on your chest just above your heart. You did it wrong." Hoseok said as he walked towards him and took a long swig off of his drink. Yoongi frowned.

"But you may or may not have a heart." Hoseok continued.

"I believe it's the latter. So what he did was kind of legit" Namjoon said matter-of-factly. Yoongi's frown deepened while Hoseok laughed. Well, he can't argue with that.

Namjoon picked up something that looked like a big remote with a bunch of wires hanging off of it. "You wouldn't believe us."

He was right. But he still said it. "Try me."

Namjoon looked at him straight in the eye. He pushed a button on the remote and a machine just behind him whirred to life.

"We're hunting ghosts."

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Yoongi didn't realize how long he had been driving and he was getting anxious. He started doubting he'll ever find the so called ghost but just as he passed the dying twin pines that his grandfather said a long time ago before all of it began, marked the halfway point of the road- he saw him.

He was standing in the middle of the road, looking straight passed his headlight and straight at him. His eyes reflected some kind of glint and he looked just like any live human being. The only difference was that, he wasn't. Alive, that is.

Goosebumps crawled throughout Yoongi's skin.

Yoongi slammed on the brakes instinctively and dust flew around the car and into his open windows. He didn't know that he had momentarily closed his eyes but just as he opened them, the boy was standing right in front of the bumper.

Yoongi was holding his breath, staring out beyond the headlights at the boy whose hair too orange. Skin too pale. Neither of them moved until the boy called out to him.

"I'm okay, you know. If you're worried." He said squinting at the headlights. His voice was smooth like velvet silk.

Yoongi's sweaty hands gripped the steering wheel hard. He could still go back, throw his car in reverse until the boy is out of sight. But he didn't. He couldn't.

"You're not hurt, are you?" The boy said as he walked towards his car door, tentatively.

The last time someone had ever asked him that question was his brother. But, he's gone now. And the reason for it was right in front of him.

Yoongi shook his head, mint hair swinging slightly from the force of it. "No, I'm fine."

The boy bent down next to his open window. "You see, I'm not from around here." Obviously. Yoongi thought. "And I was hoping if you can give me a ride to the next town?" the orange-haired boy shyly said as he smiled at him awkwardly. He was looking at him through his long lashes.

Yoongi already knew what to answer but his heart still trembled as he nodded and gestured for the boy to go in. The latter smiled widely at him and walked around the car. The rusty hinges creaked as he opened the door and sat on the passenger seat.

Yoongi started to drive and willed himself to remember everything Namjoon and Hoseok taught him.

Turns out, they weren't as stupid as Yoongi had assumed. Both of them knew more about science- mainly electromagnetism, energy, and frequency- than any of the teachers at school. They said electrical impulses keep a person alive and when he dies, those impulses change form, resulting to ghosts.

"Won't they just disappear?" Yoongi asked them once.

Hoseok shook his head. "Nope. Energy can't be destroyed. It just has to go somewhere."

And when Jin died by a ghost's hand, he was so caught up in vengeance that he trashed all his beliefs and asked them one single question.

"How do I kill a ghost?"