Kang Shinho
Kang Shinho
"I think so," she said, feeling unsure. "A child ghost is usually harmless. Contrary to most beliefs, they're actually pure souls. They don't know anger or rage. Unless they're provoked, they won't attack. You just gotta be gentle with them."
"The flour will help us determine his location," she went on. "Once he steps on the flour, his footprints will show on the floor. The chocolate can lure him here. Once he comes here, all we gotta do is talk to him and convince him to move on."
For some reason, Minho felt uneasy at the thought of a child ghost. For someone so young to lose his life and be all alone in the cold was something which bothered him.
Ever since his time in the other world, he could not help but be a little more sympathetic to the lost souls. The girl's words still resonated in his mind.
Unbeknownst to Gayoon, he had a small shrine built for her in the school ground and was going to turn it into a building for a women's ngo instead in her memory. That way, even after Minho was long gone, the girl would be remembered by all those who would be beneficiaries of the ngo.
He did not bother to find out the identity of the girl either. She seemed pretty content with her state as if it had given her a sense of peace. Finding out about her identity might disturb that peace and that was the last thing she wanted. All she desired was to keep her sanity in that dreary place she had made her home. Which is why some things were best left unknown.
"Let's hide," Gayoon said once she had finished. Minho led her towards a cellar on the floor. Both of them hid there, peeking through the door to keep an eye out. Gayoon kept her ears open for the sounds of footsteps.
"I hear something!" she whispered. Minho followed her gaze and saw that the flour on the floor was moving as if someone stepped on it. Sure enough, tiny footprints began to appear.
The child seemed to be walking slowly. The footprints stopped in front of the chocolate but the ghost was not touching it.
"I think he's hesitating," Gayoon guessed. The ghost was hovering around the chocolate but he did not pick it up.
Suddenly, Gayoon heard the sounds of slaps. Her eyes widened in horror and Minho, too, saw the flour being blown in the air in a rapid motion as if the child was running around in panic.
"He's harming himself!" Gayoon exclaimed, running towards the place where the child was. Minho watched her as she grabbed into apparent air but he knew that she was clinging on to the ghost.
Gayoon was struggling to keep the kid from hitting himself but he was very ferocious. The kid also ended up scratching her but he was not harming her. He was trying to beat himself as if trying to punish himself.
"Stop!" Gayoon yelled but the child was screaming now. Meanwhile, Minho scrambled to find his phone. There was only one solid way he knew to calm a child down.
"Don't harm yourself!" Gayoon begged the distraught child but he was adamant.
"I'm a bad boy!" he kept chanting. "I hurt my dad! Bad boys deserve punishment!"
What the hell? Gayoon realized. This child…
"Bang bang bang!"
Bigbang's voices emerged from somewhere and Minho appeared in front of them. The child temporarily stopped, staring at the man in front of him. Minho began to dance to Bigbang's Bang Bang, making funny faces at the child as he danced.
Gayoon was also wincing at the grown up manchild's antics. Did he really think that was going to work?
So her shock, the ghost giggled and clapped as Minho danced in a funny manner. He stopped hurting himself and was watching the strange man dance. Minho slid across the floor, finishing the dance with what he thought was a good performance.
"Ask him if he wants more," Minho huffed.
"Once more!" the boy chimed.
"He does," Gayoon sighed. Somehow, the ridiculous dance routine entertained children. How the money lover came up with such a ridiculous yet useful method was beyond her.
Minho smirked and repeated the dance for the boy who was laughing hard.
He had calmed down a lot and was giggling like a normal child. Once Minho was done, he stooped down and held out his hand in the air.
"Hi-five?" he asked. He felt something icy touching his palm; the kid had hi-fived him.
"How did that silly routine work on him?" Gayoon wondered out loud.
"I used to dance for Jina when she was a toddler," Minho shrugged. "And she wasn't an easy kid to calm down. So me, Jongin and Lia developed this dance to calm her down. If this worked on her, it would work on any kid in the world."
Gayoon did not know what to reply to that and she could only gape. Shaking off her dismay, she turned to the ghost who had finally calmed down.
"What's your name?" she asked in a gentle tone. If anyone else had seen them, they would have thought the couple was insane for talking to air.
But the ghost was looking at Minho. The latter felt as if the ghost was studying him even if he himself could not see the child.
"Bunny uncle!" the kid said.
"Bunny uncle?" Gayoon echoed. "Are you talking about him?"
She pointed at Minho. "What's he saying?" he asked.
"I think he knows you!" Gayoon gasped. "He's calling you Bunny uncle. Maybe he saw you at the mall that day."
Mall? Minho frowned.
"He was in the washroom," the child said.
"He says you were in the washroom," Gayoon interpreted.
It finally hit him. The washroom. It was that kid!
Gayoon was confused seeing Minho's lips quiver as if he was suddenly very… Angry?
She could not fathom the change in his mood. Why was he acting as such?
The faint memory of that scared child popped up in his head. He looked malnourished and scared, as if someone was hurting him that day. Minho met him only once but he could never forget the look of pure fear in that child's eyes.
"You…" he began. "Is your name, Kang Shinho?"
The ghost went silent before finally saying, "Yes. My name is Kang Shinho."