“Sis, psst, is she really there?” Zayn asked again.
What an insensitive kid, I grumbled inwardly. I reached for my phone under the pillow and tapped away at the screen. When I was done, I signaled for Zayn to get his phone.
Knock, knock.
A notification tone sounded from inside Zayn’s pants. The kid looked at me with an expression that said, I can’t get my phone. My hands are full. I raised one eyebrow in response. A hiss escaped Zayn’s mouth. Stomping his feet, he walked over to my desk and set the bowl of noodles down there. X
Yuna: Don’t ask pointless questions. Yes, she’s here. She’s forcing me to help her.
Zayn furrowed his brow. His eyes scanned every corner of my room before he typed a reply.
Zayn: She’s not here.
I glared. This kid’s behavior was seriously getting on my nerves. Of course she wasn’t visible. Zayn couldn’t see ghosts, after all. Did I really have to explain something that obvious?
Ding.
My phone chimed. Zayn’s reply came in.
Zayn: Fine... just help her. Better than letting her keep bothering you. You should help her.
Yuna: No way! I’m not doing it. Ghosts like this are so demanding. What guarantee is there that she’ll leave once I help her? What if she calls her friends?
Zayn shook his head as he read my reply. His fingers flew across the screen. A mischievous smile spread across his face.
Zayn: Do a good deed, Sis. Earn some good karma. BTW, why are we even talking through WhatsApp? I’m right here.
Zayn: Sis, don’t take forever to reply!
I glared at Zayn. Realizing my patience was about to run out, he slipped his phone back into his pants pocket and picked up the bowl of noodles. Meanwhile, the woman ghost with her head tilted to one side, who had been watching us the whole time, looked confused. Maybe she was wondering why Zayn and I were sitting there in silence while occasionally communicating through body language.
“Yuna, what are you and your little brother doing? What’s that thing?”
I hurriedly pressed the button to turn off my screen when the woman ghost tried to look at my phone. It could’ve been bad if she saw it. Talking to Zayn through our phones was a trick I’d come up with so she wouldn’t realize I could see her.
“Yuna~” The woman ghost’s voice echoed. She floated down from the bed, then moved toward my little brother, who was still standing there with an innocent look on his face. Now she hovered around Zayn. Their faces were practically touching. It seemed the woman ghost was testing her luck to see whether Zayn could see her or not.
I looked away. My patience was gone. Instead of typing a reply on my phone, I turned straight toward Zayn and said, “You earn good karma by helping other people, Zayn! If you help ‘something like that,’ all you’ll get is a ghost that follows you around forever. You want that? You ran away after what happened to you yesterday.”
My scolding successfully shut Zayn up. Shrugging with both shoulders, the kid walked out of the room, leaving me alone with the woman ghost whose head was tilted to one side. The room fell silent again, leaving behind only the cold and a mystical atmosphere.
“Such a life, such a life. Alone for years, and when someone finally comes along who can understand me, she pretends she can’t see me. Just wait until you’re really blind—you’ll know how it feels,” the woman ghost muttered in a weary voice. Slowly, the unseen creature floated away and faded through the wall, leaving behind a faint scent of jasmine.
I kept watching the woman ghost’s movements, narrowing my eyes even more when I heard her muttering. How dare she curse me. She’d only just become a ghost and was already so full of herself. What would she be like if she became an actress or president? Hmph!