[SPEAKER_01]: Consequence podcast network
[SPEAKER_01]: Bora, hey, iconic army.
[SPEAKER_01]: Bora, hey.
[SPEAKER_01]: Ooh, we are back.
[SPEAKER_01]: Sorry about not having an episode last week.
[SPEAKER_01]: We had quite a few technical difficulties on my end on the day we were supposed to record.
[SPEAKER_01]: I had no Wi-Fi all day.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the next day, when we actually did successfully record when I was sending my file off to our producer, which by the way, we got a new producer.
[SPEAKER_01]: Everybody say, hi, Tyler.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I lost half my track when it was exporting, so totally my bad and a little bit frustrating on our end, but we're excited to be back this week, and we have a lot to talk about before we get into the episode, we really want to talk about this
[SPEAKER_01]: released by Lacer FM called Spaghetti featuring Jay Hope because it's been all over everything.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was released last Friday, October 20th, and it was released in what they're calling a single album, which is an album with multiple different versions of Spaghetti.
[SPEAKER_01]: There's an English version, a version with Jay Hope, a Korean version, a members only version, and then there's also one other song called
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a lot of different thoughts on this song.
[SPEAKER_01]: When we first listened to it, it versus how we feel about it now.
[SPEAKER_01]: So kind of just to get into it with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I thought it was a great feature.
[SPEAKER_00]: It made a lot of sense, considering that Yonge and featured on Jay Hope song.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know from Hope on the street, volume part one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I felt like, okay, this makes sense that they're having this trade off where she featured on his album and now he's featuring on Lacer Fims album, which is her group.
[SPEAKER_00]: This song gives very much Eurobeats, club fashion, how style music, very upbeat, strong rhythm throughout.
[SPEAKER_00]: I personally didn't vibe with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: At least when I first heard it, it's maybe warmed up to me slightly, but this style of music is just maybe not my brand or what I really enjoy.
[SPEAKER_00]: I suppose.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I do enjoy the pre-chorus of this song a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, first time listening through, the pre-chorus was so pretty to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's probably the second best part of the song with the first being Jay Hope's averse, obviously.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jay Hope's first, what I love about it so so much, is that his first of his appearance and the music video takes me straight to,
[SPEAKER_00]: Jack in the box like he's kind of in this maze area.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's very like Pandora's boxy.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's an all-black he looks sleek and just the way that he's wrapping this first makes me think of songs like stop and Pandora's box like that's where totally the wrap versus that wrap verse takes me the way that he's wrapping it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I
[SPEAKER_00]: Overall, can just appreciate the song for what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not my like specific style of music that I will go and listen to, especially for girl groups.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think maybe my friend Anthony is worn on me a little bit, where I tend to like the really strong vocal, like female songs now, but I can appreciate this concept for what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like this concept, I think, is more unique and a little bit more,
[SPEAKER_00]: of a progression with girl group concepts like I feel like it's blending the the cutesy with the girl crush typical style that we see like that's like the standard of K-pop female songs it's just like the cutesy or like a girl crush concept but this is like a blend of them with it's own little weird element to it that's just this little
[SPEAKER_00]: I love and I feel like it works well for Lacer FM in this song.
[SPEAKER_01]: I definitely agree with you on the blend and the chaos of it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like the production of it, you know, it can kind of like jump from one vibe to another vibe,
[SPEAKER_01]: Soft and airy into like boom in your face like intense and then like when you watch the music video It gives that vibe to I feel like you know Lacer Fem and Katzai are both hype groups and I feel like this song is Lacer Fem's answer to Narlie It's like hype saw the success of Narlie and was like, okay We're gonna have another girl group like repeat that same thing
[SPEAKER_01]: One of the first things I texted you after listening to the song was it feels like it's trying to be catchy in the way that Narlias.
[SPEAKER_01]: And even the music videos remind me of each other.
[SPEAKER_01]: If you watch them back to back, like there's a lot of elements that seem super similar, like those surrealism kind of happening, all the food, stuff crashing around.
[SPEAKER_01]: Even like the part in the choreography like in this song and spaghetti, they like snarl their teeth and like kind of pull their lip up and they definitely do that in Narlay too.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I have to say like when I first heard Narlay like I hated it, I was a big hater.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the song really grew on me because of the chorus, and because of the choreo during the chorus, and I became addicted to it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, so like I went from an extreme Narlighator to like, I love Narligh, I stand Narligh.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I always think the lyrics were trash.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like the Narligh lyrics just are, like their total BS, like they don't mean anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's just purely to be pop and catchy.
[SPEAKER_01]: where I do think Lacer of Fem is winning here is the lyrics and the song I think are better.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like they do a really good job of playing on like the food and the cuisine and like being your flavor of the listener and like like leaving a taste on your tongue and being appealing in that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I do think they have a little bit of a leg up.
[SPEAKER_01]: on the lyrics here.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I appreciate that for sure as like someone I really you know looked to lyrics in the song and it's not like these are profound lyrics by any means but like at least they have like a consistent theme.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that makes sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you can also say that Jay hopes for also lyricley matches.
[SPEAKER_00]: Totally song too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Totally where it plays off of everything that they're talking about in spaghetti.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, definitely.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think so too.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love his feature I think he I mean he just has the power to make everything better and like you said I was thinking his flow reminds me of his classic rap style like talking about pandora's box Totally a great parallel where it just fits like the deep warbling funky base that's going on in his verse and
[SPEAKER_01]: like he fits it so well.
[SPEAKER_01]: He did a really great job in his chorus basically like hyping himself up but bringing in like that food element and honestly like his visuals were in Pandora's box and more he was giving shoot.
[SPEAKER_01]: What's that movie?
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, fight club was like what his influence was.
[SPEAKER_01]: In this music video he's giving the matrix like that is a very futuristic
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, with like the glasses and yeah, so he's literally eating it up like they're saying in this music video This song immediately when I first listened to it not one of my favorites, but it definitely grown me I told you like that day.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was like, it's gonna get stuck in my head and it did
[SPEAKER_01]: that you did up, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it
[SPEAKER_01]: Normally it was just like throwing something at the wall and seeing what stuck, but like and they were just I mean both songs are really just using a bunch of buzzwords, right like a bunch of like popular things and like phrases to try to, you know, increase listeners show, but yeah, I would agree.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think this is like a whole planned out thought out concept and it definitely has that for it.
[SPEAKER_01]: So anyways, I enjoy it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I enjoy it quite a bit.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll probably appreciate it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I change I hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything we change I hope.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So good job.
[SPEAKER_01]: Lacer Fem.
[SPEAKER_01]: Love the song.
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know what?
[SPEAKER_01]: We are super excited to finally get to share our spooky Halloween fan fix with y'all today.
[SPEAKER_01]: Since last week it did not go so well.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe the ghosts and the ghouls were plotting against us.
[SPEAKER_01]: But today we'll have it figured out.
[SPEAKER_01]: So stick around for that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back, where you're hosts, I'm Kayla.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm Bethany, and this is standing BTS.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your favorite informative fan-girl podcast.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, today we are going to hang out for about an hour, and we are doing another installment of the Fanfic Files.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you are new to the Fanfic Files, this is a series where Kayla and I both find a fan fixture that was written by some other army.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have so many great writers in this fandom.
[SPEAKER_00]: and so we pick out a story and we read it here aloud on the podcast and so this week we're doing Halloween themed fanficks.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes because spooky season is upon us and we know that we recently did a fanfic files but like listen BTS are
[SPEAKER_01]: busy they're making another album they're planning a world tour like they're just not giving us a whole lot of content right now to be able to dive into and so what better time to share some of this fandom's incredible writing through a fanfic files than now so we're excited to get into it.
[SPEAKER_01]: before we do we want to say things iconic so much for being here and for all your support if you'd like to support us a little bit more you could join us on Patreon at patreon.com slash standing BTS.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you all for being here for all of your support and of course for listening.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, okay so I'm going to get into my fanfic first.
[SPEAKER_01]: I chose one called Shadows Beneath the Fallen Leaves by Winter Bear 06.
[SPEAKER_01]: This was published last October on October 23rd, 2024, when I accessed it, it only had seven kudos and 217 hits.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I definitely feel like this is one of those that deserves more and should have more.
[SPEAKER_01]: Another thing is that this thick is a part of their take-hook Halloween series.
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you like this one, you can go check out more of them that are similar by the same author.
[SPEAKER_01]: So,
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to get into it, no summary needed, the summary's super short, and we just need it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was a night like no other.
[SPEAKER_01]: The sky was overcast, and the full moon was swallowed by thick clouds that seemed to pulse and rise.
[SPEAKER_01]: A bone chilling wind wrestled through the abandoned forest just beyond the outskirts of town.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tae-young and Jungkook stood at the edge of the looming woods, their breath fogging in the frigid air.
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you sure about this?
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk asked his voice low, almost swallowed by the oppressive silence that surrounded them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung glanced at him, his expression unreadable.
[SPEAKER_01]: We came this far, what's the point of turning back now?
[SPEAKER_01]: The forest had been abandoned for decades, but whispers and rumors surrounded it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Stories of strange, shadows, and ghostly figures of people going missing and never being seen again.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, I'm June and Yungi, where the first to disappear nearly a week ago, after they had ventured into the woods on a dare.
[SPEAKER_01]: No one had seen or heard from them since.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungle could just did the flashlight in his hand, it's week-beam cutting through the darkness.
[SPEAKER_01]: The trees loomed, tall and skeletal, their twisted branches reaching out like claws.
[SPEAKER_01]: Dead leaves crunched under their boots as they entered the forest.
[SPEAKER_01]: The air was thick with decay, and the deeper they went, the more unnatural the silence became.
[SPEAKER_01]: Even the wind seemed to avoid this place.
[SPEAKER_01]: We will find them, Tae Young said quietly, through his eyes, though they darted nervously at every shifting shadow.
[SPEAKER_01]: The last message they had received from Namjoon was a frantic voice note, distorted, full of static and strange guttural noises.
[SPEAKER_01]: ended with a scream.
[SPEAKER_01]: An hour passed, maybe two, time felt distorted, warped, as though the forests had swallowed them whole, the path was barely visible now, and the trees were so dense that even the moonlight couldn't filter through.
[SPEAKER_01]: The silence was maddening.
[SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, the flashlight flickered.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk cursed under his breath, smacking the side of the light.
[SPEAKER_01]: This isn't the time for this man.
[SPEAKER_01]: He muttered, glancing at Taehyung, who was eerily still staring ahead.
[SPEAKER_01]: What is it, Junguk asked?
[SPEAKER_01]: His heart thudding in his chest.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung didn't respond, just pointed ahead.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk followed his gaze and saw something.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, someone standing just beyond the trees.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figure was tall, thin, and completely still.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's head was tilted at an unnatural angle.
[SPEAKER_01]: Namjoon, Taehyung whispered, taking a cautious step forward.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figure didn't move.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungle grab Taehyung's arm pulling him back.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's not Namjoon.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figure twitched, it's had snapping up right with a sickening crack.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then it moved, gliding forward without taking a step.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's body stiff and unnatural, as if it were being pulled by invisible strings, the flashlight died.
[SPEAKER_01]: Panic set in.
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to go.
[SPEAKER_01]: The flashlight, of course, would die, of course it dies.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like every horror film.
[SPEAKER_01]: We need to go.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now, Jungkook has to Tae Young, who seemed frozen in place his eyes wide with terror.
[SPEAKER_01]: But before they could make a move, a voice low and distorted echoed through the trees.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook, Tae Young, it was Nam Jun's voice.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook's blood ran cold.
[SPEAKER_01]: He swung the flashlight desperately trying to get it to work, but all he could hear was a crackle of static, like the one in the last voice note they received.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung gasped his hand tightening around Jungkook's arm as the voice grew closer.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figure inching towards them, it's movements erratic and wrong.
[SPEAKER_01]: Run!
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung finally snapped out of his trance, yanking Jungkook back.
[SPEAKER_01]: They bolted through the trees, their breath's coming in ragged gasps.
[SPEAKER_01]: The forest seemed to close in around them, the branches clawing at their clothes and faces, but no matter how fast they ran, the voice followed them, growing louder, more distorted.
[SPEAKER_01]: They stumbled into a collierine, their legs trembling from exhaustion.
[SPEAKER_01]: The clearing was dead silent, no wind, no wrestling leaves, just an overwhelming sense of dread.
[SPEAKER_01]: In the center of the clearing was an old decrepit cabin, it's window shattered, the door hanging off its hinges.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have to hide, Taehyung panted, dragging Jungkook toward the cabin.
[SPEAKER_01]: They burst through the door, slamming it shut behind them, inside the air was damp and musty, and the floor creaked beneath their feet.
[SPEAKER_01]: It smelled of rot and mold, but at least they were away from whatever was chasing them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, there was a soft creek from upstairs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk's heart sank.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're not alone.
[SPEAKER_01]: He whispered, Tagung nodded, his eyes wide with fear.
[SPEAKER_01]: The creaking grew louder as if something was slowly descending in the stairs.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk grabbed a rusty pipe that was laying on the floor, holding it like a weapon, which I love this Junguk protecting Tagung.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much.
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, the air was stick with tension every second feeling like an eternity as they waited.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, silence.
[SPEAKER_01]: For a moment, they dared to hope that whatever it was had left, but then the door to the cabin burst open and standing there, silhouette it against the moonlight, were non-June and Yungi.
[SPEAKER_01]: But something was wrong, terribly wrong.
[SPEAKER_01]: Their faces were pale, almost translucent, their eyes hollow and empty.
[SPEAKER_01]: Run, Yung Yui whispered, his voice cracked and broken.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junkook backed away, but Taehyung remained rooted to the spot, his breath shallow.
[SPEAKER_01]: They, they are dead, he muttered, voice trembling.
[SPEAKER_01]: Nam Jun and Yung Yui stepped into the cabin, their movements jerky, unnatural.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook raised the pipe his hands shaking, stay back, he shouted, but they didn't stop.
[SPEAKER_01]: Their eyes locked on the Jungkook, and he could see the horror that lingered behind their empty gazes.
[SPEAKER_01]: We shouldn't have come here, Taehyung whispered, his voice barely audible over the sound of his own heartbeat.
[SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, the temperature in the cabin plummeted, frost crept along the floor, and a dense fog rolled in from the forest outside.
[SPEAKER_01]: The whisper started, low, gutter old voices echoing from every direction.
[SPEAKER_01]: Leave.
[SPEAKER_01]: Before it takes you to, Jungkook grabbed Taehyung's hand, pulling him toward the door.
[SPEAKER_01]: But before they could escape, the cabin shook violently, the walls began to close in, the wood groaning and splintering as if the entire structure was alive.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then, from the shadows, it emerged, a figure, tall and gaunt, it's face obscured by a tangle of black hair.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's eyes gleamed red in the darkness, and its mouth twisted into a grotesque smile.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tang screamed and Junguk swung the pipe, but it passed through the creature like smoke.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figure lunged at them, its icy fingers grazing Junguk's arms, sending a jolt of pure terror through his body.
[SPEAKER_01]: They bolted from the cabin running blindly through the forest, their breath's coming in ragged gasses.
[SPEAKER_01]: The whispers followed them growing louder and more desperate.
[SPEAKER_01]: But no matter how fast they ran, they couldn't escape the feeling that something.
[SPEAKER_01]: Something ancient and malevolent was watching, waiting, and as they reached the edge of the forest, the whispers faded, replaced by the sound of footsteps right behind them.
[SPEAKER_01]: For a fleeting moment, they felt the cold embrace of freedom, the open sky above them offering some reprieve from the suffocating darkness of the woods, but the footsteps they were still there, relentless, unforgiving.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungle glanced over a shoulder, expecting to see nom-jun and yung-gi, or worse, the grotesque figure with red eyes, but there was nothing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just the wind howling through the trees and the eerie glow of the moon as it fought to pierce the clouded sky.
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't stop, Taehyung panted, tugging at Jungkook's sleeve, his face was pale, streaked with dirt and sweat, eyes wide with terror.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just keep going.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have to get out of here.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Jungkook froze.
[SPEAKER_01]: His heart pounded in his chest, his ears ringing with a high-pitched wine.
[SPEAKER_01]: He couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, not from behind, but from somewhere ahead.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung wait, he whispered grabbing Taehyung's arm, look.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung followed his gaze and both their hearts dropped into their stomachs.
[SPEAKER_01]: There, in the middle of the field, stood Yung-hee.
[SPEAKER_01]: His head was tilted at that unnatural angle, and just like the figure in the woods, his eyes, lifeless and hollow, were fixed on them.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's not real, Jungkook whispered trying to convince himself, it's not really him.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Yungi could took a step forward, his football eerily silent, then another.
[SPEAKER_01]: His body moved like a marionette, his limbs stiff and jerky as if something else was pulling the strings.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have to run, Taehyung whispered, but his voice was strangled by fear.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yung Yimu of Closer, his mouth opening wide, too wide, as if unhinged, revealing rows of teeth.
[SPEAKER_01]: Behind him, Nam Jun emerged from the shadows, his body equally distorted.
[SPEAKER_01]: His limbs bent at unnatural angles.
[SPEAKER_01]: They were being led.
[SPEAKER_01]: Puppeted.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook's grip tightened around Taehyung's wrist, and they sprinted toward the only refuge they could see.
[SPEAKER_01]: A small barn on the far side of the field, its roof sagging under years of neglect.
[SPEAKER_01]: As they neared the barn, the world around them seemed to distort.
[SPEAKER_01]: The field stretched impossibly long, and the barn, once only a hundred meters away felt like it was miles in the distance.
[SPEAKER_01]: The air around them grew thick, like molasses, slowing their steps as if the ground was pulling them back.
[SPEAKER_01]: What's happening, Teagan gasp, his legs trembling from the effort, why can't we get there?
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook felt the same weight bearing down on him, every step was a struggle, and behind them he could hear the soft, dragging footsteps of Nomsune and Yungi closing in, growing louder with each passing second.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're getting closer, Jungkook hissed, panic rising in his chest,
[SPEAKER_01]: The whispers returned, wrapping around them like a noose, tightening with every breath.
[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't just an omg, there were more of them now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Figures emerging from the trees, pale and gaunt, their eyes empty voids, mouths twisted into grotesque smiles.
[SPEAKER_01]: The cabin, tang, panted, looking back and horror, we should have never gone there.
[SPEAKER_01]: Suddenly, Jungkook's foot hit something solid.
[SPEAKER_01]: He stumbled forward, dragging Taehyung with him.
[SPEAKER_01]: They collapsed at the edge of the barn, gasping for breath, their bodies trembling with exhaustion.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook scrambled to his feet, yanking the barn door open with a desperate jerk.
[SPEAKER_01]: The rusted hinges screeched in protest, but they didn't care.
[SPEAKER_01]: They bolted inside, slamming the door shut behind them.
[SPEAKER_01]: The barn was dark, the air thick with dust and the smell of rotting wood.
[SPEAKER_01]: We can't stay here, Taehyung gasped.
[SPEAKER_01]: Backing away from the door, they will find us.
[SPEAKER_01]: We have to keep moving.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook nodded, though his heart pounded in his chest, he tried to catch his breath to think of a plan, but all he could hear were those footsteps, slow, methodical and approaching the barn.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the door began to creak open.
[SPEAKER_01]: No, Tangung whispered, his back hitting the fall wall of the barn.
[SPEAKER_01]: His hands scrambled along the floor, searching for anything, any kind of weapon.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junga grabbed a rusty old pitchfork from the corner, his knuckles white as he held it in front of him.
[SPEAKER_01]: The door swung open fully, revealing non-June and Yungi standing in the doorway, but it wasn't them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Junga knew that now.
[SPEAKER_01]: Their eyes were black pits, and their faces were twisted in grotesque mockery of who they once were.
[SPEAKER_01]: And behind them, the red-eyed figure from the cabin,
[SPEAKER_01]: glided into the barn.
[SPEAKER_01]: You can't escape a voice whispered.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was low, gotter-roll, and it echoed in Jungkook's head like a thousand voices at once.
[SPEAKER_01]: You are already ours.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figure moved closer.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's long, spindly fingers stretching out toward them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook swung the pitch fork, but it passed through the figure like smoke, dissipating only to reform moments later.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tengang backed into the corner, his breath coming in shallow gasps.
[SPEAKER_01]: John Gook, his voice broke, a trembling whisper, we are not going to make it.
[SPEAKER_01]: The figures stepped forward and suddenly, the temperature plummeted, frost crept up the walls of the barn, and the whispers grew louder, almost deafening.
[SPEAKER_01]: The red eye figure reached out, it's cold fingers grazing John Gook's cheek.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook's vision blurred, his body going numb from the cold.
[SPEAKER_01]: He could feel it.
[SPEAKER_01]: The pole, like his very soul was being ripped from his body.
[SPEAKER_01]: The voices, the colds, the terror, it was overwhelming.
[SPEAKER_01]: But just then, just as he felt himself slipping away, there was a sharp piercing scream.
[SPEAKER_01]: Enough!
[SPEAKER_01]: Tae Young's voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
[SPEAKER_01]: He was standing.
[SPEAKER_01]: His eyes blazing with a defiance, Jungkook hadn't seen before.
[SPEAKER_01]: You won't take us.
[SPEAKER_01]: The red-eyed figure hesitated.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's twisted smile faltering for the briefest moment.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook gathering the last of a strength, lunched forward, grabbing Tae Young's hand.
[SPEAKER_01]: Together they bolted toward the open door, past Nam Jun and Yun Gi's vacant stairs,
[SPEAKER_01]: past the whispering voices and out into the open field once more.
[SPEAKER_01]: The whispers faded, the cold lifted, and the impressive weight that had evolved them through the forest seemed to dissolve.
[SPEAKER_01]: They didn't stop running until they were back at the edge of town.
[SPEAKER_01]: Their bodies collapsed and onto the asphalt.
[SPEAKER_01]: Behind them, the forest stood still as if nothing had happened.
[SPEAKER_01]: But Jungkook knew better.
[SPEAKER_01]: Whatever was in the woods
[SPEAKER_01]: As Jungkook and Taehyung panted Lane at the edge of town, hearts still racing and bodies trembling, a slow clap echoed through the night.
[SPEAKER_01]: They whip their heads around, dread filling their veins as they expected to see the red-eyed figure emerges from the shadows.
[SPEAKER_01]: But instead, two very familiar faces walked out of the darkness.
[SPEAKER_01]: Nam Jun and Yungi, grinning, ear to ear.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung sat up, confusion, furrowing his brow, what the?
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook scrambled his feet, grabbing the pitch for her, ready for anything, no way, he breathed, taking a shaky step back, you were, you were, Yungi burst out laughing, wiping fake tears from the corner of his eyes.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh god, that was priceless, you should have seen your faces!
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I didn't break down.
[SPEAKER_01]: Namjoon chuckled stepping forward with his hand raised in Mox surrender.
[SPEAKER_01]: Relax guys, it was all a prank.
[SPEAKER_01]: Just a little scare, you know, to test your bravery.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungle blinked, I know.
[SPEAKER_01]: The adrenaline still coursing through a system.
[SPEAKER_01]: a prank?
[SPEAKER_01]: You call that a prank?
[SPEAKER_01]: We almost died!
[SPEAKER_01]: His voice cracked with a mix of disbelief and frustration.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yung Yushuk is head-smirking, oh come on, you didn't actually believe that ghost story about the cabin, did you?
[SPEAKER_01]: The distorted voice, the figures in the woods?
[SPEAKER_01]: It was all planned.
[SPEAKER_01]: Namjoon, nudged Yungy.
[SPEAKER_01]: Your acting was a little too convincing though.
[SPEAKER_01]: That thing was the
[SPEAKER_01]: Wait, wait, Taehyung interrupted rubbing his temples as if trying to piece everything together.
[SPEAKER_01]: You mean, the cabin, the red eye thing, all of it was fake?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yungi Grint mischievously pulling out a small device from his jacket pocket.
[SPEAKER_01]: The voice disorder.
[SPEAKER_01]: And those creepy figures?
[SPEAKER_01]: We had help from some of the crew.
[SPEAKER_01]: Told them to follow you at a distance, make you think that the forest was haunted.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung's face flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
[SPEAKER_01]: Are you serious right now?
[SPEAKER_01]: You scared the life out of us.
[SPEAKER_01]: Nam Jun shrugged, still grinning.
[SPEAKER_01]: But that was the idea.
[SPEAKER_01]: Besides, you guys are always talking about how you can handle anything.
[SPEAKER_01]: We thought it was time to put it to the test.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook still breathing heavily, ran his hand through his hair, his face torn between relief and exasperation.
[SPEAKER_01]: I swear, I thought we were done for.
[SPEAKER_01]: The way that thing touched me, he shuddered, recalling the icy figures of the ghostly, icy fingers of the ghostly figure.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yungi raised a brow.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, the touching thing wasn't us.
[SPEAKER_01]: That was just the wind.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung crossed his arms, his expression sour.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, where have you guys been for the last week?
[SPEAKER_01]: You didn't just disappear for the prank, did you?
[SPEAKER_01]: Nam Jun and Yungi exchange glances before Yungi finally spoke.
[SPEAKER_01]: We may or may not have gotten a little lost in the woods on our first night out there, but after we found the cabin, we set up the whole scare.
[SPEAKER_01]: We were gonna tell you the next day, Nam Jun added with a sheepish grin, but then we figured, why not see how long you would come looking for us?
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk dropped the pitch for, letting it clatter to the ground, you too are unbelievable.
[SPEAKER_01]: Taehyung groaned and threw his hands up in the air.
[SPEAKER_01]: You always big time for this.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know that, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Yungi winged.
[SPEAKER_01]: How about dinner on us for a month?
[SPEAKER_01]: Junguk exchanged a glance with Taehyung.
[SPEAKER_01]: Two months.
[SPEAKER_01]: Namjoon side, still grinning, fine, fine, two months.
[SPEAKER_01]: As they walked back into town, the adrenaline slowly faded, and the reality of the situation set in, Taehyung punched Jungkook's arms slightly, we got fooled by them, I can't believe it.
[SPEAKER_01]: Jungkook shook his head, laughing despite himself, I don't know whether to be mad or impressed.
[SPEAKER_01]: As they left the edge of the forest behind, Taeyeon couldn't help but to glance back.
[SPEAKER_01]: The trees loomed, darkened still, and for a fleeting second, he thought he saw something.
[SPEAKER_01]: Red eyes, watching from the shadows.
[SPEAKER_01]: He blinked and they were gone.
[SPEAKER_01]: Must have been as imagination, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: With the finals and glance at the silent woods, Taeyeon quickened his pace to catch up with the others.
[SPEAKER_01]: This time though, he wasn't entirely sure the prank was over.
[SPEAKER_01]: the end.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I like how it ends on this unknown note.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, yeah, maybe it wasn't all completely a prank.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, especially because Yungi was like, oh, like, we didn't touch you.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, that was just the wind.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're like, jungle definitely had like super natural experiences with like that smoky red eyed figure, like touching him.
[SPEAKER_01]: And like the ground getting icy cold and like frost covering the ground.
[SPEAKER_00]: If they had a crew out there running through my glasses, like totally like the density of the air, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or like the distance that it takes, you know, where it's like a hundred yards away, but then it takes them, it feels like miles to get there, like the distortion of time.
[SPEAKER_01]: I feel like,
[SPEAKER_01]: And even if they had like a crew out there to help with like the prank, like a crew can't recreate frost, like traveling across the floor rapidly.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like they could maybe have like a fog machine or something.
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, it was like, ooh, like haunted, but also prank, but also like Nomsune and Yungi.
[SPEAKER_01]: Don't know how bad they were haunted at the same time, so.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and for them to be out there for a week too.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like that's a commitment.
[SPEAKER_01]: Seriously.
[SPEAKER_01]: They committed to the bet, too.
[SPEAKER_01]: What did you think was going to happen before it was revealed that it was a prank?
[SPEAKER_00]: I really just thought that, like, Tae-young and Jungkook were just really strong in that moment, and that they were just going to be okay, and that maybe, like, for some reason, Nam-Joon and Yu-Gi got released by their courage or something like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's kind of what I was thinking.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was an exciting out prank.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's right where I was at the first time I was reading it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I loved a moment in the barn where Tae Young finally is like enough like he's the one who gains the string.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I was just thinking where he's like, we're not going to make it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was kind of surprising to see that he had like this really strong burst of courage and was like, no, I'm not going to just accept our fate here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I might fight back.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: um that was great things i'm glad you liked it before we go on to your thick i also have another one to shout out one that we tried to when we tried to record last week i was doing this one um this other one is called he whistles in the dark by it's me 94 and i'm not gonna read it by
[SPEAKER_01]: It is really good.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is bone-chillingly creepy, and it does have some gore.
[SPEAKER_01]: I will read you guys the summary, and if you feel like that sounds like a good fit for you, and it sounds super creepy.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is like a psychological thriller fanfic.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then please go read it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so good.
[SPEAKER_01]: So just real quickly, here is the summary for a backup fit he whistles in the dark.
[SPEAKER_01]: Two years ago, Kim Tae-young ended the nightmare by driving her knife into his obsessive boyfriend's chest.
[SPEAKER_01]: There was blood, there was silence, and there was peace.
[SPEAKER_01]: But peace doesn't last.
[SPEAKER_01]: Not when Jungkook's love was never human in the first place.
[SPEAKER_01]: Now Tae-young hears the whistle again on the walk home.
[SPEAKER_01]: The same sound Jungkook used to make when he stood behind him in the dark, and then when the lights flicker, and the front door locks itself, Taehyung knows, he didn't bury Jungkook, he invited him back.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, that's a good one, if you want something.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is a good one.
[SPEAKER_01]: It is a good one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will say very creepy, but if you are into actual horror and psychological thrillers, that is a good victory.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I'm glad you liked mine.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm excited to hear yours.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the thick that I chose is called The Gray Piannist by Anne Underscorer Odd Underscorer Idea on Archive of our own.
[SPEAKER_00]: This was published on December 19, 2021.
[SPEAKER_00]: It has 31 Cudos and 207 hits.
[SPEAKER_00]: Truthfully, I feel like it deserves more.
[SPEAKER_00]: This story is so, so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is a soap fanfic.
[SPEAKER_00]: So here's the summary.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's after becoming stranded in a storm, Hosaksik Shelter, and in a abandoned hotel, where he meets Yungi, the ghost of a pianist who died there many years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: Spoiler alert, it's a trap.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, here we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe Hosak thought, as he said, shivering in the doorway of the dusty hotel lobby.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe he should have stayed in his car.
[SPEAKER_00]: Wasn't that what they taught you in driver's ed?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you get stuck in bed weather, don't leave the car or you'll get lost and freeze to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: Usually followed by a story of some poor soul who hadn't stayed put, it was never seen again.
[SPEAKER_00]: But surely, if you were right in front of a hotel with lights on, it was okay to leave your car then.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosok looked back, truthfully, it had been much farther to the entrance than he'd realized and his car was now invisible in the darkness.
[SPEAKER_00]: The light of the candles burning in the lobby eliminated a few of the falling snowflakes, but beyond that he could see nothing, which would have been fine if the place hadn't been so ancient.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cobwebs dripped from a darkening crystal shandalier in the center of the room, masses of pale wax clung to fixtures on the walls where Candles burned down to their last nobs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Floor boards creaked as Hosaks stepped inside, the thick layer of dust turning into mud under his snow-sought-and-shoes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Other than the candles, there was no other light source, and the room felt nearly as cold as the outdoors.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's that wondered who lit those candles?
[SPEAKER_00]: Probably whoever was playing the piano in some other room.
[SPEAKER_00]: He definitely should have stayed in his car.
[SPEAKER_00]: that wasn't an option now though.
[SPEAKER_00]: He'd never be able to find his way back through the dark and the snowstorm and without any cell service, he was stuck.
[SPEAKER_00]: He shivered and it didn't have much to do with the cold this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: This all felt too much like the beginning of a horror movie, who sucked in even like horror movies.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shudding the door quietly, he sculpted himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was scared in the dark in the storm.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was all.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the piano player was surely just a musically inclined fellow traveler who had had the same ideas him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't explain the candles, but he pushed that out of his mind for the time being.
[SPEAKER_00]: The music was coming from a room off to one side of the lobby, probably a lounge of some sort.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was soft, sad, maybe a little bit eerie, but surely not something you'd hear in a horror movie.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just a mildly spooky movie, perhaps.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok crept toward it, wishing he could muffle the creaking of the floor with every step.
[SPEAKER_00]: He peaked around the door frame and his breath caught in his throat, a blonde man sat with his back to him, playing a dusty upright piano while a metronome ticks softly beside him.
[SPEAKER_00]: The rest of the lounge was empty, except for a few tables and chairs, rough with age, and the same gasping candles on the walls.
[SPEAKER_00]: A bracket of three new candles set up right on the piano, illuminating the man's pale hair as he played.
[SPEAKER_00]: His long hands never faltering over the keys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak had never really believed in ghosts, and he also had never not believed in them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stranded in an old and seemingly abandoned hotel with a man dressed in clothes that made him look like he came straight out of some time, at least a century ago, playing a sad song in an old piano with no regard for the cold.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak was inclined to believe in them for now.
[SPEAKER_00]: His cold fingers ached from holding onto the doorframe, but he didn't dare move and make any more sound.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, Hosak jumped, his heart kicked into overdrive.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know you're there, the voice was low, somehow soft and raspy at the same time, easily heard over the piano despite the fact that the man couldn't stop playing or turned around.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come closer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shaking slightly, Hosak forced himself to walk forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: The only thing more dangerous than meeting a ghost was angering a ghost, so he'd heard in stories.
[SPEAKER_00]: The instruction had been unfortunately vague, however, so Hosak made the decision to avoid being told twice and walks straight to the side of the piano bench.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, said the man again, who had stopped playing to look up at him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He seemed oddly softer than Hosak expected with cat-like eyes, light hair that framed his forehead and cheeks that looked Hosak reprimanded himself for this mental trace of words, quite squishable.
[SPEAKER_00]: His skin was also very pale.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was beautiful.
[SPEAKER_00]: If he was really talking to a ghost, Hosok guessed polite, flattery, was surely a decent option.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been practicing for a long time, he said.
[SPEAKER_00]: The metronome was loud in the quiet.
[SPEAKER_00]: Did you get lost in the storm?
[SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't drive in it, and from the road it looked like this place was open.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry if I'm intruding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak hesitated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sir, it was a strange thing to add, but this was a strange situation.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not at all said the man or ghost or whatever he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tell me your name.
[SPEAKER_00]: John Hosak, sir, he bowed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi.
[SPEAKER_00]: Drop this her.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi studied him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I soft and gazed nearly enough to make him squirm.
[SPEAKER_00]: You seem cold, Hoseok.
[SPEAKER_00]: Freezing, Hoseok admitted with a small laugh.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pulp a chair next to the fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: I, Hosak turn confused towards the cold fireplace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ray, comfortable blaze, now crackled as if it had been there all long.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, something the matter, said Yungi, and had Hosak not been so alert, he would surely have missed the barely perceptible upturn of one corner of his lips.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, thank you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He bowed quickly and scurried to drag one of the old wooden chairs now mysteriously free of dust close to the fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: His fingers tingled as he held them out to the glowing heat.
[SPEAKER_00]: You should really wear warmer clothes if you're going to go out in the snow.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok nearly jumped out of his skin when Yungi spoke right next to his ear.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had made no sound on the creaking floor.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't expect to get stranded, he said once he recovered.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be more careful in the future.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi hummed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Seeming satisfied with the tack full answer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Have some tea to warm yourself up.
[SPEAKER_00]: He held out a steaming mug that he surely had not had any time to get from anywhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your hands will hardly work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosex hands, and the rest of him too, were indeed still cold for any very coordinated movement, but he managed to accept the cup from Jungi without incident.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't drink it, however, not yet.
[SPEAKER_00]: If this was some kind of spirit world that he had stumbled into, there was a chance eating or drinking anything could trap him there, or so he feared.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you afraid of me, said Yungi, voiced soft, and Hoseok thought, possibly a little sad?
[SPEAKER_00]: He looked over at the man, ghost, being, now sitting in the chair, that he hadn't seen him bring over.
[SPEAKER_00]: He looked harmless enough, slightly shorter than Hoseok himself, and having acted
[SPEAKER_00]: only quietly helpful so far.
[SPEAKER_00]: But one can never be sure about something so strange.
[SPEAKER_00]: Should I be?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi caught his head to one side as of actually considering.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a good question.
[SPEAKER_00]: A cold-weight settlement to Hosak's stomach while he while his heart continued thudding with every single click of the metronome on the piano.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you think?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi asked.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that was a loaded question if Hosak ever heard one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I don't know you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He began carefully, surely that was safe, unless Yungi had some long dead distant relative who might be offended at not being recognized by his own kin.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm alone, and you can do things that I don't understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Youungi regarded him thoughtfully.
[SPEAKER_00]: I suppose that could make a person nervous.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please, youungi, I don't mean to be rude, but are you a ghost?
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought you never asked.
[SPEAKER_00]: One side of Yungi's mouth turned up into a proper smirk.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak had suspected as much, had already been operating as a fit were true, but knowing for a fact that he really was in the presence of a ghost was, it was a lot.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, nothing horrible happened.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi didn't fly at him to devour him, the room didn't reveal itself to be full of other terrible spirits.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak's soul seemed to be intact.
[SPEAKER_00]: He took a shivering breath.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't like every ghost
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never met a ghost before, he admitted, I can tell, said you and Ghee, drink your tea.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't wait, you're phrasing to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd be stuck with you then.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're not in the spirit world, are we?
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosakas.
[SPEAKER_00]: Something else could have snapped you up already if you were.
[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, I'm trapped here in your world, you can get said.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, Hosak took a sip of the so warm tea of course it had magically stayed warm.
[SPEAKER_00]: This place was so weird.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not said Yungi.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like to be alone with my music.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're good, said Hoseok, were you a pianist before?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's lucky you're still able to play.
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know Ghost could.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is lucky Yungi gazed off into the fire with such a sad looking his eyes that Ghosts are not Hoseok kind of wanted to hug him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how to play any instruments.
[SPEAKER_00]: My friend tried to teach me guitar, but I was so bad, so bad, you and Ghee.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok laughed, leaning, companionably toward the ghost in hopes of taking his mind off whatever was hurting him.
[SPEAKER_00]: My friend said he started learning guitar because it's hard to play.
[SPEAKER_00]: It sounded really awful, but he had never heard me play.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was like, Hoseok screwed up his face and let out an ungodly screech groaning noise, cut off
[SPEAKER_00]: Youngie stared at him, mouth hanging slightly open in utter confusion before his eyes sparkle to life and he laughed.
[SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't very loud, but it seemed to fill up the room with warmth, all the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: This sec watched him, a little taken aback, but pleased with himself, all the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you practice that sound often?
[SPEAKER_00]: Said you and Ghee?
[SPEAKER_00]: Only when anyone asks why I don't play guitar again, said Hoseok, greatly.
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you get at then?
[SPEAKER_00]: It was an oddly blunt question, but Hoseok imagined you and Ghee didn't get many chances for conversation with the living.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe ghosts were more to the point with each other.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like to dance.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can ghost dance?
[SPEAKER_00]: I suppose they can.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've never seen it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll be looked at him like he'd grown a second head, or not, have sucked chuckled.
[SPEAKER_00]: You might be good though.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'd rather be the in-companyment.
[SPEAKER_00]: You would, as enticing as the idea was, the idea of dancing for a ghost was still, felt a little bit like being called to dance for a king and ancient times.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you ever end up being a wandering spirit instead of haunting a piano like me, you could always visit here, ghosts still need music to dance too.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would think.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungey sent what could only be described as a very kind smirk in his direction.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you meant, yeah, I could.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok preferred not to do on the thought of his own death, much less, whatever might come after, but the offer was certainly a charming one.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do very many other ghosts visit here?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, said Yungey, and I like it that way, don't go telling all your guitar playing friends.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't want to start a ghost band?
[SPEAKER_00]: The face you and Gimad was comical and exaggerated, powered, affirming of his bras and a strange jutting forward of his chin, like he had bitten into something unexpectedly vile.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whose sock couldn't help but laugh?
[SPEAKER_00]: You're much more cheerful than the other living people I've met.
[SPEAKER_00]: You and Ge observed.
[SPEAKER_00]: Were the rest stranded too?
[SPEAKER_00]: All but one, she was running from the police.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is it a good story?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, said you and Ge, and a strangely flat voice said, that suggested the subject was now closed.
[SPEAKER_00]: The storm should pass by morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's good, said Hosak.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can I visit you again?
[SPEAKER_00]: Before I'm a wandering dancing spirit, I mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why, you look genuinely puzzled.
[SPEAKER_00]: I like you, and I wouldn't want you to be lonely.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have my music, I don't get lonely.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why are you inviting me back after I'm dead then?
[SPEAKER_00]: You're less irritating than the rest.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who's that could only imagine how irritating the rest must be, and how irritated you look to him at the moment?
[SPEAKER_00]: It would seem he'd managed to break the number one rule of ghost interaction.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't anger the ghosts, but you didn't seem the type of ghost to get hurt for it.
[SPEAKER_00]: A strange silence fell in which you'd tried to work out exactly what he had said wrong and you'd be stared deep into the fire.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yung Yi, he started cautiously after several minutes and the ghost had not moved from his pins of staring.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can call me Yang.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yung Yi didn't look at him, but his voice had gone back to its usual smudra.
[SPEAKER_00]: Surely I'm older than you, he smiled to himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that seemed fast and awfully familiar for a ghost.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you sure?
[SPEAKER_00]: You need to turn to gaze right through him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your life is so short.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosex suddenly felt cold all over again.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been dead longer than you've been alive.
[SPEAKER_00]: Said you'd be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, Hosex pondered that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Life is pretty short.
[SPEAKER_00]: That wasn't a happy thought, and he shook himself slightly.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry I made you angry.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd be young.
[SPEAKER_00]: You didn't, it's difficult to watch the world pass by at times.
[SPEAKER_00]: It does sound difficult, Josex said, time moves too fast, I think, for everyone but me.
[SPEAKER_00]: You and Gees said, Josex didn't have any answer for that.
[SPEAKER_00]: How did one sympathize with an eternal being about the time, the passage of time?
[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, well, Yungi sighed, seemed to pull himself back out of the deep thought.
[SPEAKER_00]: For what it's worth, Hoseok, I really do like you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok beamed, I like you too.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I had met you in life, I think I would have liked to be friends, Yungi said.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can still be friends, said Hoseok.
[SPEAKER_00]: All visit, and if you change your mind about dancing, I could teach you if you want.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe, Yungi's eyes look sad again, but he seemed to gather himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: We still have a while before you have to leave.
[SPEAKER_00]: Really, ho-sock brightened at a more cheerful change of subject and hoped you'd get what as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: As long as it won't mess up your haunting, I wouldn't want to cause trouble.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's actually good for it to have someone living play every once in a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: Keep it in tune.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if they're terrible, you won't be terrible.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bet, you can keep out it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have me as a teacher, have a little faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had acute nose, Hoseok decided quite out of nowhere.
[SPEAKER_00]: He grinned.
[SPEAKER_00]: I have complete faith in you, you can be young.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok found himself perching a little timidly onto the bench in front of the piano, while leaned down next to him, almost close enough for his elbows to brush, as he showed the pattern of the keys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Try the cord.
[SPEAKER_00]: The piano appeared strangely intimidating with its mini keys, but after a momentary hesitation, Hosak confidently played those Yungi had shown him.
[SPEAKER_00]: The moment his hands pressed the keys, they were no longer his own.
[SPEAKER_00]: The sound rang out, beautiful, and perfect, and then his hands moved, apart from his will, beginning to play a song that he had never heard.
[SPEAKER_00]: fear spraying to life inside Hosaks Chess and he tried to pull his hands back from the piano, but they simply continued to play.
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: He looked back for Yungi and still the music never faltered.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi stood behind him, watching with a frightening blank expression.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Suddenly, Hosak could barely breathe.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is this?
[SPEAKER_00]: The piano needs life, Yungi said.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok looked back to his hands, still playing away without him.
[SPEAKER_00]: They obeyed no commands, and neither did the rest of his body when he tried to stand or knock himself over the bench.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't struggle, there's nothing you can do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing I can do about what?
[SPEAKER_00]: The piano needs life to keep itself from crumbling with time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Youngie's voice felt heavy behind Hoesak shoulders.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to play until you die.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoesak may have gasped, but it's stuck, it got stuck in his throat, so that he felt that he was choking instead.
[SPEAKER_00]: He tried again to move, he was trapped in place with his own body, which no longer belonged to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, said Yungi again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok was too caught up in the horror of what was happening for him to respond.
[SPEAKER_00]: At least, for the moment, he was too caught up in the moment to respond, but soon, hot anger began to build and spill over.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this is why you were so friendly, I see.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi said nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You just needed me to trust you enough to come and play your demon piano.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak grit through his teeth, and he used the only freedom he had left to glare over his shoulder to be sure Yungi was still in fact there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I really did like you, you know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't lying when I said I liked you too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, I can really tell Hosak snapped.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have a choice in this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, I would have liked a choice.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm so sorry, Hosak.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi really did sound sad, but it just made it worse.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I have to hear you say you're sorry, for deliberately learning me to my death one more time, I'm going to scream.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you want me to leave you alone?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, please.
[SPEAKER_00]: Josex said.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't hear a C. Jungi go, but when he looked back, the ghost was gone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Josex didn't know how long he said at the piano.
[SPEAKER_00]: He tried everything he could think of to will his body back into his controller, shift his weight enough to fall from the bench, but nothing made even the slightest difference.
[SPEAKER_00]: He met as well have been paralyzed despite his hands continuously moving across the keys.
[SPEAKER_00]: Time stretched on with nothing but the song, mocking beautiful and never-ending, and the incestant ticking of the metronome set on the piano to his right to mark its passing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was an old metronome, the kind that was physically swaying back and forth.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was loud.
[SPEAKER_00]: The clicking seemed to dig into Hosak's skull and the perfect timbre of the music.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was nothing he could do, but play and listen, and that was what he did, even as his fingers began to cramp.
[SPEAKER_00]: The song never faltered.
[SPEAKER_00]: Surely death by piano wasn't a very swift end, and Hosop began to wonder how long it might actually take.
[SPEAKER_00]: He already felt like he was going insane.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wanted to cry, but somehow he couldn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: He felt he must either move or scream, or he would simply fall to pieces right there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Although he could breathe and felt like his ribcage was stuffed with cotton so that it could barely move.
[SPEAKER_00]: He tried to take it deep breath, barely managing to make three tiny gasping ones instead.
[SPEAKER_00]: Shuttering throughout his body, he tried again with the same result.
[SPEAKER_00]: All while his hands played the awful music and the metronome took his life away.
[SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't stand it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He needed something, anything, outside of himself and the piano, and these two sounds were the only things and existence.
[SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't stand it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi, he was about to break into pieces right then.
[SPEAKER_00]: He could feel it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi comes back.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi said beside the bench to his left, and Hosak could have cried and relay for seeing him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stop this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak didn't care how desperate he sounded, and probably looked too busy for any scrape of pity.
[SPEAKER_00]: He could find in the go size.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please!
[SPEAKER_00]: Yung Yishurk has had.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hasn't it gotten enough life for me already?
[SPEAKER_00]: I can come back and do more later as many times as it needs.
[SPEAKER_00]: More than it can get if you were to kill me here.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not how it works.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well that's dumb.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yung Yishurk said nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you going to stand there and watch your stupid piano play me to death?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you want me to leave you alone again?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, Hosak desperately didn't want to be alone.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't particularly want the OSO reassuring company of his murder or either, but it was better than the manning monotony of the playing of his piano, alone for who knew how much longer.
[SPEAKER_00]: Until he died he suppose, but it still had been made clear to him how long that would actually be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Is there anything I can offer to make you reconsider what you're doing?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I was afraid you'd say that, Hustach felt stiffening panic creeping up again, and now that he had a ghost watching him, it seemed that he might finally be able to cry.
[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't want to.
[SPEAKER_00]: How long does this take?
[SPEAKER_00]: A while.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll get looked uncomfortable.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll stop noticing time passing after a while.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, that's reassuring.
[SPEAKER_00]: A strange shiver ran across Hosox skin, can you at least turn off the metronome?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's supposed to help you lose sense of time faster.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's driving me insane, Hosox suddenly found himself struggling against tears again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Please stop it.
[SPEAKER_00]: The metronome stopped and he could breathe again, at least more than before.
[SPEAKER_00]: Better?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not thinking you for that, Hosox said.
[SPEAKER_00]: They found a silence again, except for the constant sign of the piano, who has sat began to feel faint, but he couldn't be dying already.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't sure if he hoped he was or not.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, now would be a great time to tell me this is really just some terrible trick.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll just leave, and I won't bother you again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll never come back here again.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can promise you that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi was still standing next to him, but he said nothing to acknowledge his words.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok breathed out of a tremulous breath.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, this was really how it would be.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wished he could at least move his hand to wipe the sudden wish thrown his cheeks.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was so tired.
[SPEAKER_00]: Stop.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok turned his head away from Yungi.
[SPEAKER_00]: Cold hands grabbed Hoseok's own and pulled them away from the keys.
[SPEAKER_00]: They strained against his will to go back to playing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not doing anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't talking to you, get up, Yungi said.
[SPEAKER_00]: Who thought couldn't get up, but Yungi dragged him backward off the piano bench until he crashed into the floor along with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Only then was he able to move on his own free will again, and he skettled backward along the floor away from Yungi on stiff arms.
[SPEAKER_00]: you have to leave.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok had never agreed more with anything in his life, but he couldn't even trust his own body to move.
[SPEAKER_00]: The storms over, come on, Yugi was grabbing him again and Hoseok rinsed himself away.
[SPEAKER_00]: The piano has a lock on you now.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you stay here, it's going to take you again and there will be nothing I can do.
[SPEAKER_00]: What?
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm breaking every
[SPEAKER_00]: Get up and get out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak stumbled to his feet as the surprising strong ghost pulled him along.
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't pretend you're not the one who put me in that situation.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was and I regret it, so I'm saving you now.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yungi hadn't let go of his aching hand, pushing the door open and ushering him outside.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can never come back here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, don't worry about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hosak's teeth were already chattering in the cold wind.
[SPEAKER_00]: Get in your car and drive and don't stop until you get where you're going.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll get gave him a push forward, but he stumbled, still in the state of shock, and turned back around to look at the ghost.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're letting me go.
[SPEAKER_00]: I am now hurry.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hoseok didn't want to be told again.
[SPEAKER_00]: He ran out through the door, through the drifted snow, not daring to look back until he reached the familiarity of his car.
[SPEAKER_00]: When he finally did look back, you'll get his gone.
[SPEAKER_00]: and dilapidated in the daylight, but floating through the air, Hoseok thought he caught the sound of piano music playing.
[SPEAKER_00]: The end.
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, oh my gosh.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I know at the beginning with the summary you told me like spoiler, it's a trap.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Then you just get so into like this soap, you know, dynamic.
[SPEAKER_01]: you know yungi like being a ghost and dancing but I could be a nice ghost piano like yeah and then also but like the foreshadow in like yungi giving homosog a cup of tea and being like warm your fingers with this like
[SPEAKER_01]: They won't do like, yeah, because he needs those warmed up.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're not gonna work.
[SPEAKER_01]: Tickle the Ivries, right?
[SPEAKER_01]: Or like, where he was like, come, I can teach you piano.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Jay hope is like, I'm not gonna, I don't want to like ruin your haunting or anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then ultimately,
[SPEAKER_01]: he did, but I think it's because I think he let him go, not because he saw him like suffering on the piano, because how many countless people has you and he already done that, too.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think he let him go.
[SPEAKER_00]: He thought about that girl.
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: And he seemed a little sad, but right, but at the same time he's been doing it all these years to all these different travelers, so he can keep his piano going, I think he let him go because
[SPEAKER_01]: Jay Hope was so endearing like he was like leaning up against the fireplace like smiling even sharing a story and like he got You need to laugh like yeah, I really like he was like man like I do actually like this guy like I don't want to see him die here.
[SPEAKER_01]: He's he's too nice
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I love it.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love it so much.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, the foreshadowing, all of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like you were saying, like, oh, I don't want to ruin your haunting.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he ends up ruining it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's Yungi who actually ruins his own haunting.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it's so good.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so frustrating.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's incredible.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I had fun with these ones.
[SPEAKER_01]: This was a good time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, Iconics, go and check out these stories.
[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, we will link them in the description for you, so you can read them yourselves or find related stories as well, stories by the same authors, et cetera.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let us know what you thought about these stories, and as always with the fanfic files, if you have a beloved fanfic that
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not super, super long like one we'd be able to share on the podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: Send it our way.
[SPEAKER_01]: We, you know, sometimes do themed fanfic episodes, sometimes we just do random.
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you have a really good one that you'd love to hear shout out on the podcast, let us know and we can add it to our list here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I would love to read an iconic army's fan-fac, there would be two.
[SPEAKER_00]: Me too.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're like a fan-fac recommendation.
[SPEAKER_01]: Let us know in the Spotify comments what was the spookiest part of these tales for you and what was your favorite part of these tales.
[SPEAKER_01]: And as always, you can find links for all of the things in the description.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening and thanks for standing BTS.