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Jisub is way more used to watching Byunghee talk to the air than he should be comfortable with, by now. “What are they telling you?” he gestures at the empty space next to Byunghee, who is sitting on a cushion. They’re in the basement, where ghosts seem to like it for some reason. Maybe because of its creepy vibe, but Byunghee doesn’t seem to mind it.“Right now, that they know who killed them,” Byunghee says. “But don’t know if we’ll be able to get the evidence, because doing so would—technically—be considered trespassing.”Jisub knows where this is going. “I have to do something illegal.” he’s long resigned himself to being subject to the scrutiny of the town’s Sheriff in favor of justice.Byunghee smiles sweetly at him and though all may not be forgotten, it’s enough for Jisub.*It’s not long before the person apparently responsible for the murder calls the cops on them, because Jisub and Byunghee were anything but subtle about their intentions towards putting him into jail. Mainly because they kicked his door down and Jisub punched him while Byunghee ran around the house, trying to look for the evidence the ghost had told him to look for.“Okay, sheriff, hear me out!” Byunghee says, flailing his arms in the air and Sheriff Jung—who is, coincidentally, Byunghee’s brother—doesn’t look amused.“Byunghee, this is the third time this month,” he says dreadfully and then proceeds to stare at Jisub. “Why do you keep enabling this?! You shouldn’t keep enabling this!”“I’m sorry, sir,” Jisub says truthfully. “But he keeps threatening me with telling the ghosts to haunt me.” and quite frankly, Jisub would rather no one haunts him. He doesn’t get enough sleep as it is.“He’s guilty, the man inside that house—“ Byunghee points at the house to make his point. “—is guilty of a murder! He killed someone! And I can prove it!”Jihoon rolls his eyes, but Jisub knows he will look into it, much later when they aren't around. “Take him home” he orders Jisub and Jisub is just too happy to comply, mostly because he doesn’t want to be arrested and partly because Byunghee needs sleep and a cup of hot chocolate. And maybe if Jisub is lucky, Byunghee will want to cuddle with him.*“Has the ghost of the person who was murdered—“ Jihoon says days later, when they’re all eating pizza in Byunghee and Jihoon’s house and the case has been closed. “--um, crossed to the light or whatever?”Byunghee looks around, and then turns his attention back to his slice of pizza. “Yes, they were very nice, even said I could keep some of their stuff.”“You are not going to keep possibly haunted things,” Jisub says but Byunghee thinks that if he does not directly look at him, he can ignore him and his entire existence. “You also have to stop getting me into trouble with the law.”“You are not going to stop me,” Byunghee replies, and Jisub is not entirely sure to what he is referring to. “And you don’t have a criminal record just yet, if we ever cross that line, we’ll see.”“No, but I will do my best to stop you. I am putting my foot down, this time.” intervenes Jihoon and Byunghee decides it’s in everyone’s best interest for him not to keep possibly haunted things.Just this time. He’s accepting whatever the next ghost has to offer, though.*“You seriously have to stop almost making me arrest your boyfriend,” Jihoon says carelessly and Byunghee almost chokes on his piece of toast. “I mean, he’s a nice guy, I guess, and we don’t always get along fine, but I don’t want people saying I abuse my power because I had to arrest your boyfriend because of you doing something stupid.”Byunghee gulps down his orange juice. “Jisub is not my boyfriend! He’s just an eccentric millionaire who is very thankful to me for helping him solve his mother’s case!” he protests. “And a convenient enabler for my ideas! Everyone needs an enabler! And Jisub is mine, but only that, an enabler and friend!” besides, Jihoon kind of abuses his power whenever Byunghee and Jisub are trying to solve a case anyways, only to get them to stop being so nosy, but it never works.The fact that they spend a lot of time together and sometimes cuddle is no excuse to reach such conclusions, in Byunghee’s opinion. Platonic cuddling is totally acceptable. Besides, why would someone as handsome, charming and caring as Jisub love someone like Byunghee? That means, eccentric, a cry-baby and thus easily scared and maybe not a millionaire’s ideal arm-candy. Most definitely not a millionaire’s ideal arm-candy.“That he is, too” Jihoon concedes. “Are you two seriously not going out? Does that mean I threatened him with bodily harm for nothing?” Jihoon sounds genuinely concerned and Byunghee can only imagine how that talk went—but right now, not the point. Priorities, Byunghee reminds himself quietly, priorities.The point is him and Jisub act enough like a couple for his own brother to think they’re dating, and Byunghee has to do something about it. Maybe not now, but something will be done.“Will you enable me?” Byunghee asks, hopeful. “Because it would be good to know I can trespass without being afraid of the law.”Jihoon shoots him a look. “Don’t push it.” he warns Byunghee, but still makes sure to buy Nutella before he comes home that evening.*Byunghee met Jisub at the supermarket, the least likely place to find ghosts roaming around, but weirder shit has happened and Byunghee has—mostly—stopped questioning where the ghosts choose to appear.He had noticed a fancily dressed lady walking next to Jisub, who somehow managed to look breathtakingly handsome in jeans and a hoodie. Byunghee had heard of him before, the only heir to the town’s biggest mall, from an old money family, brought up with a golden spoon and all that.By that point, Byunghee had learned that strangers did not always take kindly to him telling them a ghost was following them around, but seeing as he’s never had a sense of self-preservation, and following the fancy lady’s instructions, he got closer to Jisub and whispered. “Your mom is telling she has something for you.”Jisub had promptly freaked out and ran out of the supermarket, but contacted him days later once he found out the weird kid in town was the Sheriff’s brother. As it turned out, Jisub’s mother had passed a month before their encounter, and had died without telling Jisub where she had hidden a very important paper, where she stated Jisub and Jisub alone was heir to the family’s fortune, stopping her greedy brother from ruining the family’s name and her son’s life.“Thank you very much,” Jisub had said, standing at Byunghee’s door. He had been wearing a well-fitted suit, and had even bothered to get Byunghee a bouquet of roses. A small apology for their first encounter, Byunghee guesses. “I’m sorry I freaked out, it’s not often that people tell me they can see my dead mother.”“It happens all the time” Byunghee had replied, caring very little that he had been wearing the frog pajamas Jihoon got him for Christmas. Jisub’s reaction was more common than not and thus, Byunghee had not taken it to heart. “She’s crossed the light now, and said she is very proud of you, and that she loves you” Jisub’s smiles had made him feel warm all over.Byunghee had never mentioned—and has no plan to—that Jisub’s mother had told him he was just Jisub’s type, and that she would be thrilled at having such a cute son-in-law.“Being death is terribly inconvenient,” she had told Byunghee, and Byunghee had agreed.If, and only if, Byunghee has to admit he does have feelings for Jisub, he’d say everything started back then, because no one except his brother has stayed around after believing him. And Jisub does all the things Byunghee doesn’t like to do for him. There is so much a guy can do before you fall in love with him.*A spirit starts to follow him around. His name is Joon, and Byunghee calls him a spirit, because according to Joon, he is not death.“I’m in a coma,” Joon explains when Byunghee first sees him. “And when I woke up like this, I found you, and I don’t know why.”Byunghee wishes he knew the answer, too. “Well, you can tag along until we figure it out, if you want,” Byunghee says. “Jisub here—“ he uses his thumb to point behind his back. “—won’t mind, will you, Jisub?”Jisub narrows his eyes at the empty space where Joon is supposed to be, smiles awkwardly and waves. “As long as he doesn’t haunt me.” Jisub says and when Byunghee turns around to face Joon again, he’s smirking.“I can see why you like him,” Joon says. “Very handsome. Personally, I prefer your brother.”Byunghee blushes so hard, Jisub actually asks if he is sick and puts his hand to Byunghee’s forehead to check for a fever. Byunghee slaps his hand away. “Joon is not the only ghost here—“ he points at the corner, and the case of the young woman who wants to prevent her lover of ending up like her is enough to make Byunghee not face his own feelings for a while.*After the case is done—the woman’s own best friend had killed her, because she was jealous of her—Byunghee decides to hole up in his room and avoid emotional confrontation.Jihoon is the one who comes peeking around, with Byunghee’s own cellphone in his hand. “Jisub says you haven’t called him” Jihoon says, but Byunghee can’t be bothered to get out of his pillow forte to answer. “He is worried, and said something about you possibly being sick. Are you sick?”“No, I am not!” Byunghee replies furiously from the inside of his forte. Inside here, he can forget everything about Jisub and his stupidly handsome face and the dumb feelings said face makes him feel.“He wants to come over,” Jihoon continues and covers the phone’s speaker with his hand.“He can’t! Tell him he can’t!” Byunghee says. “I’ll call him if there is another case.”Jihoon looks at him with obvious disapproval, but sighs and puts the phone to his ear. “Whatever he has may be contagious, but I just recovered from the flu and will probably no be affected by it, thus, I can take care of him, so don’t worry—no, Jisub, he’s eaten enough Nutella for the day, please don’t bring anymore—I tell you, you enable him too much—“ the door of his room closes with a click, and Byunghee borrows his face on a pillow, appreciating his brother is far a better liar than Byunghee is, for once, because Byunghee could never say no to Jisub.He hears Joon sigh dreamily, and pretends he never heard that. Joon’s crush on Byunghee’s brother is something completely alien for Byunghee, not because his brother isn’t loveable or doesn’t have his charms, but it’s weird.“Jisub is sad, too” Joon says. “Did you fight?” he asks. “But Jisub seems like such a good boyfriend.” and that is for Joon himself more than for Byunghee.“He is not my boyfriend! Not anything but my friend!” Byunghee protests.“That’s not what he said to Jihoon,” Joon says absently. “That is why Jihoon has lived all these months under the pretense that you and Jisub are dating, until you told him that you are, in fact, not.”“What.” is all he can say, because honestly, what.“Jihoon would never let a complete stranger be with you alone for so many hours—“ Joon says like Byunghee is the insane one. “—if he didn’t think you were…intimate enough.”“What.” Byunghee repeats.“I have to admit I thought it too, and I had just met you for like, two seconds,” Joon continues and Byunghee groans into his pillow. “Will you call him?”It’s a while before Byunghee replies. “I will.” it’s an empty promise, but Joon doesn’t have to know.*Byunghee doesn’t contact Jisub for another two whole weeks, and always comes up with believable enough excuses as to why he won’t see him.Jihoon thinks he is genuinely sick until the start of week two. Jihoon narrows his eyes at him while they’re having breakfast and Byunghee has just turned down another one of Jisub’s invitations to have lunch together at the Italian place Byunghee loves. The fact that Jisub notices things like that is enough to make Byunghee’s heart ache and his desire to see Jisub grows stronger, but he’s not a fan of emotional confrontation.“You liar,” Jihoon says severely. “You’ve been avoiding your boyfriend for two weeks because you don’t want to have that conversation with him!”“I’m not sure to what conversation you’re referring to,” because Byunghee has to also mention to Jisub that one of his father’s acquaintances may or may not be a murderer, if the ghost of his secretary is to be trusted, though she is not amused by the whole situation. Despite dying because she drowned in the pool due to getting a cramp, she’s still pretty as a ghost.“You know what conversation I’m talking about,” Jihoon continues. “The one where you break it down to him that you haven’t been dating for the past months—though you have been doing just that, you are just too obtuse.”“I don’t think you’re obtuse.” the ghost lady offers kindly and Byunghee smiles at her. She’s by far one of the nicest ghosts he’s met.“She doesn’t think I’m obtuse, but Joon does.” Byunghee tells Jihoon.“Who is Joon?—““That is not important now,” Byunghee continues and ignores the way Joon sneers at him because Byunghee still won’t tell his brother about the comatose patient who has a crush on him. “What is important is that I will not have this conversation with any of you.”“You can’t run away from emotional confrontation forever,” Jihoon points out, and yeah, Byunghee can’t, but Jihoon doesn’t need to know that.“Just you watch me.” is what Byunghee says.*Byunghee finally breaks down and gives up with trying to avoid Jisub, mostly because he misses Jisub—and Byunghee will deny admitting to it until he dies—and partly because the ghost lady says the only way to bring her corrupt boss to justice is by enlisting Jisub’s help.What Byunghee is not expecting, though, is for Jisub to pull him into a tight hug as soon as he sees Byunghee outside his house. Joon laughs and if he had a physical body, Byunghee would smack him up the head.“Here’s the thing—“ he says once Jisub releases him in favor of fawning over him and his health. Jisub touches his forehead and his cheeks and his whole face, obviously worried, and normally, Byunghee would secretly find that charming and get flustered but they have to solve this case. “—the nice ghost lady says one of your dad’s corporate associates is a murderer--she says it's the one who helps in something related to accounting?”Jisub holds his hand and Byunghee chooses to ignore the bubbly feeling that causes. “Well, he is creepy.” Jisub concedes, smiling brightly.*Turns out that, yeah, the guy is pretty creepy and definitely gives off that criminal vibe, and once they find the evidence it is easy enough to put him behind bars, and Byunghee meets Jisub’s father for the first time.Jisub’s mother had been pretty, even in her last years, so Byunghee had guessed that was where Jisub had gotten his looks, but it takes a look at Jisub’s father to know that Jisub actually got his looks from him, and has his mother’s kind, caring nature. It is only normal that two gorgeous individuals produced such a ridiculously good-looking person as Jisub, Byunghee thinks.“I cannot thank you enough,” Jisub’s father says, sounding genuinely grateful. Jisub is smiling proudly at him and Joon is giggling like crazy because of that, but Byunghee is ignoring them both for the sake of his sanity. “My son forgot to mention his partner was as charming as you are…remarkable.” by that he probably means Jisub told him beforehand that Byunghee can see ghosts, but hadn’t believed it until now.Then, Byunghee realizes Jisub’s dad also thinks they’re dating. “I—I—thank you for your kind words.” is all he can say.*“Okay, this time you surprisingly managed to not break any laws,” Jihoon says, relieved. “But I still want you to go home. Jisub, please.”*While they’re walking to the car, Jisub puts a hand on his hip and Byunghee realizes that they kind of touch a lot. If he doesn’t have an arm around Jisub’s shoulder or is holding onto Jisub’s jacket because some asshole ghost managed to scare the pants off him, Jisub is the one who puts his arms around Byunghee’s hips or waist—they cuddle, for heaven’s sake.“I’m glad my dad liked you,” Jisub is the one to break the awkward silence. “He…wasn’t so thrilled when I told him about you.”Byunghee opens the passenger side’s door, and gets into the car, waiting for Jisub to get in too so he can finally get everything off his chest.“Your father thinks we’re dating—“ Byunghee says flatly. “—and my brother did, too”Jisub looks at him like Byunghee is utterly insane. “You make it sound like we’re not.”“Told you.” Joon says.“Why did no one let me know?” Byunghee says, frustrated.“What do you mean?” Jisub asks, clearly not understanding anything.“I mean—you should have told me—““What do you think we were doing all those times we went out to dinner?! Why do you think I follow you around helping you solve cases even though ghosts freak me out?! Do you think I’d cuddle and hold hands with just anyone?!” Jisub says desperately and Byunghee can’t even begin to fathom how it must feel that the person you’re dating had no clue you were dating them. Byunghee has given obtuse a new meaning, and he is not proud of it. “No offence to any ghost that might be in here.” he adds, quietly.“None taken.” Joon says before he vanishes into thin air.“Does that mean you like-like me?” Byunghee asks and puts his arms around Jisub’s neck because he feels like it.“We are not in middle school, but yes. I mean, if all those things didn’t make it clear enough.” Jisub points out, but puts his arms around Byunghee’s waist and stares at Byunghee’s lips, licking his own. “The feeling is closer to love, I have to admit.”“Okay” Byunghee says. “Me too, by the way” and when they kiss, Jisub smiles into the kiss and Byunghee feels like maybe he can admit that much.*In retrospect, it did look like it, but only because Byunghee realizes they had gone to places where couples typically went to have dates, like that small coffee in the skirts of town or Jisub’s favorite star-gazing place.“I’m sorry about the whole misunderstanding, and about avoiding you.” Byunghee says once they’re not making out anymore.“So you were avoiding me—““Not the point,” Byunghee interrupts. “If it will make you feel better, I am too clueless at times. And I didn’t think someone as rich and handsome as you would have any interest in me.”“Don’t be silly, you’re cute and handsome, too. But--you can make it up me by having dinner with me and my dad—“ Jisub replies, “—and cuddles. Lots of them”That is completely fine by Byunghee.