Haunted House | a jaehyungparkian story

Chapter 5: in which Jae and Brian finally come to a conclusion

Spring would soon come to an end.

They were back in that haunted house again. Back at that one place where it all began.

This time the band was there for a vacation. Just a nice, simple vacation to freshen their minds after months of busy schedules. And what better way to freshen minds than to visit an amusement park?

And to top it all off, the same amusement park that they had visited the year before?

Jae had asked (read: begged) Brian to accompany him to the haunted house attraction. The latter had looked at him, confused and doubtful. But after Dowoon dragged off Sungjin and Wonpil to buy more snacks, Brian really had no choice but to follow Jae.

And here they were again. With the familiar screams around them. The familiar darkness. The familiar everything.

Jae felt his own heart pounding against his chest, and he willed it to calm the fuck down. Holy shit, he was actually going to do this.

The haunted house no longer evoked any fear from him. The ghosts with their bloody faces weren't terrifying at all. The blood-curdling screams weren't scary in the slightest.

Because confessing to the person he liked was far scarier than anything.

Speaking of the person...

Jae glanced to his left. Brian looked nonchalant as another ghost shrieked in his face. In fact, the bassist actually looked bored.

This time, Jae wasn't clinging onto his friend. He didn't need to this time. He didn't even scream either, though he slightly flinched at the sudden shrieking. Reflexes, he told himself. Chill.

The ghost made a huffing noise and slithered away.

"The jump scares are still the same," Brian said. He continued walking as if nothing happened. "I can't believe I actually remember it all."

"I wouldn't know," Jae replied, trying to keep his voice steady. Their footsteps echoed down the long hallway. "When we went here before, I had my eyes closed the whole time."

"Not the whole time," Brian mumbled. "Not during what was most important."

Jae nearly tripped over his own feet. Did Brian just—?

He stared at his shorter friend, who looked back at him straight in the eye.

What was most important. He's actually talking about what happened last year. When Brian kissed me and my eyes were open like an idiot. An idiot. A complete and utter idiot.

Jae opened his mouth to speak.

But something came over Brian, and he suddenly looked apologetic. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

Don't say sorry, Jae wanted to say.

Brian continued. "We promised not to talk about what happened here, but here I am running my mouth."

Fuck the promise.

"Pretend I didn't say anything. That was dumb of me."

No, I'm the dumb one.

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here."

Finally, Jae blurted out, "Brian, wait!"

The younger halted in his tracks. He glanced over his shoulder, locking eyes with his friend again. "Yeah?"

Jae stood still, feeling more determined than ever. He was sure his heart was beating loud enough for the both of them to hear. "I'll lead the way," he said, and he was thankful of how firm his voice was.