♡ 33

"I really thought this trip was just going to be the two of us." Sunghoon sighs as he grabs my bag out of the back of his car. "Remind me why you had to mention it to my sister?"

"Come on, it isn't that bad!" I laugh, shoving him. "They offered you three rooms. Were you really going to let two of them go to waste?"

"Yes." He shuts the back of the SUV. "If it meant not having tag alongs on my romantic trip with my girlfriend."

"It's a weekend at a haunted hotel. How is that romantic?"

"You, all scared and clingy? I think it's plenty romantic." He smirks, wrapping the arm that doesn't have my bag around my waist, pulling me against him.

"None of that." I laugh, pushing him back when he leans down to kiss me. "Your sister and Jake are right behind us."

"She is ruining my trip already." He sighs, rolling his eyes and straightening up. "Heeseung and that girl he wants us to meet should be here soon, too. I should go let them know we are here and see what all they want me to post."

Of course he is right. As I wait for him in the lobby, Sohyun, Jake, Heeseung, and Raeon.

I can't help but watch Heeseung and Raeon. The way his hand stays on her back and how he is a little too close when he talks to her. The easy smile he has and the look in his eyes when he looks at her. When did this happen? Heeseung doesn't fall in love.

I look over to Sohyun to see if she has any feelings about this, but she is in deep conversation with Jake, only looking at him, smiling widely.

"Okay, we are all set." Sunghoon says as he joins us, holding out envelopes to Sohyun and Heeseung. Three bellmen wait with carts to take our stuff and lead us to our rooms.

Once we are alone in our room, Sunghoon wraps his arms around me, pulling me to him.

"We have some time before we have to take the haunted tour." He whispers as he places a kiss behind my ear.

"I was thinking I might skip the tour." I say, pulling back slightly.

"What do you mean?" Sunghoon looks down at me, furrowing his eyebrows. "Of course you are coming."

"You have content to make and I am kind of tired..." I tell him, unsure myself as to why I am trying to get out of this.

"Until you start hearing strange things and you are here by yourself." Sunghoon shakes his head. "Come on, this is our first trip together."

"We have been on several trips together, just in the past few months."

"Not as a couple." He leans down, resting his forehead on mine. "Please, Peaches?"

That is how I end up on the haunted tour. Sunghoon takes a lot of video, even though we don't see anything. I stay in the back, not sure why I am not wanting to be here.

My eyes find Heeseung and Raeon. Her arm is looped through his as she holds her body close, pointing at things that are meant to be spooky and laughing at nothing.

"Are you okay?" Sohyun asks me as she falls back to match my speed. "You look like you are about to hit them with a stick or something."

"I am fine."

"You look anything, but fine." She loops her arm through mine. "I thought we were over him."

"I am." I sigh, looking at her. "We are. It's just... didn't you think the first time he actually dated someone it would be one of us?"

"At one point, sure." She nods. "But Heeseung wasn't right for either of us. You are with my brother and I am with Jake. He seems happy, which is a good thing, right?"

"Of course it is." I nod, feeling horrible now for even voicing it outloud.

"Are you jealous?" She stops, pulling me to the side as the rest of the group leaves us. "Because I just got on board with you dating Sunghoon. You can't break his heart so soon. Or ever for that matter." She glances toward the retreating group. "Especially for Heeseung. That would kill him."

"I'm not." I shake my head. "I'm not! I am just saying, it's weird is all. We both liked him for so long and now he chooses to date. As a friend it's weird."

"It is weird." She nods in agreement.

"And I love Sunghoon. I have no intention of ruining that. I am not jealous."

"Good." She hugs me.

"It's funny to see you defend him like that though." I reply as I wrap my arms around her.

"Tell him and die."

After another moment we go toward the group. Except, we are not sure which way they went. We come to a fork in the path.

"I will just pull up Jake's location." Sohyun shrugs, pulling out her phone. "Except I don't have a signal."

I pull out my phone to see I don't either.

"Shit." I say, sighing. "I bet they have a jammer for this stupid thing."

"They both have to lead to the end." Sohyun nods toward the right path. "Let's take that one."

We set off down the path. The path curves slightly, the trees denser here, and it seems darker somehow. Both of our phone flashlights are turned on before I realize, this path doesn't have the lanterns lit along the trees.

"Okay, this is creepy." Sohyun mutters, her voice lower now. "Why does it feel colder here?"

She's right. There's a chill in the air that wasn't there moments ago. I rub my arms and glance up at the trees swaying overhead. The branches clack together like bones.

"Maybe we should've gone left," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. It is obvious we went down the wrong path.

"Too late now. Besides, it's probably all part of the haunted hotel experience." Sohyun nudges me, trying to be playful, but her voice is tight.

The path narrows as we walk further, the silence pressing in, too thick. Even the crickets have gone quiet. We round another curve, and then we see it. An old structure that looks like it used to be a stable, the wood gray and bowed, the roof partially caved in. A faded placard reads: Carriage House – 1876.

Sohyun pauses, tilting her head.

"I don't remember seeing this on the website." She says, looking at me. "Did you?"

"I don't think so." I step closer to read the placard again. "This tour was supposed to stay by the main house, right?"

Before she can answer, a sudden clang echoes from inside the building. We both freeze. The sound of something dragging, slow and heavy, scrapes across the wooden floorboards.

"Tell me that was an animal." Sohyun whispers.

"I don't think animals drag chains." I whisper back.

Another clang. The dragging gets closer.

We take a step back in sync, hearts hammering. I grab her hand.

"We should go back." I say, pulling her away from the structure. Something is happening inside and I don't want to find out what it is.

We turn to leave. but behind us, the fog has thickened, curling around our ankles like hands. The path we came from is gone. Nothing but thick, pale mist and silent trees.

"Okay, okay, what the hell is going on?" Sohyun says, trying to keep calm but failing miserably.

I pull out my phone again, praying for a signal. Still nothing.

And out of nowhere a whisper cuts through the air. Not loud, but clear.

"You shouldn't be here."

We both scream.

Sohyun grabs my hand and we bolt, tearing down the path in the opposite direction, the fog swallowing everything behind us.

Finally, we spot lights in the distance, the flickering lanterns, and we crash through the trees toward them.

Jake is the first to spot us.

"Where were you? We thought you went back to the hotel."

"You didn't hear us yelling?" Sohyun pants, clutching her side.

"No. You were gone for like, five minutes." Sunghoon frowns, stepping closer to me, sliding his arm around my waist. "Where did you go?"

"We got turned around. Ended up near an old stable or something..."

"There's no stable on the tour." Heeseung interrupts, brows knitting.

"There is no stable on the grounds." The tour guide, a younger guy in a full black suit, says, tilting his head. "Not for decades. It was torn down after they found out the owner was killing people and hanging them there."

We all go quiet.

"That's not actually true, right?" I try to laugh it off, stepping toward Sunghoon. "That's just for the tour."

"Did you not read anything about this place before you decided to stay?" The tour guide asks.

"Calm down, Peaches." Sunghoon kisses the top of my head. "It is just a trick to scare you. You are fine."

"Yeah, it's all just part of the experience." Heeseung nods. "We are done now, right? I am starving."