Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Minho slowly opened his eyes. His head throbbed a little and his muscles ached. He tried to sit up but for some reason, his body would not move. The air around him felt heavy, almost suffocating him. His chest felt as if something large was pressing onto it.     

He looked around, trying to remember where he was. It was an unfamiliar place yet, it felt as if he was meant to be there.      

"Mister…"     

A voice came from somewhere. But he was too dazed to understand whether it was a girl or a boy. Where am I? He wondered.     

"Mister, are you alright?"     

He felt a gentle touch and a pair of hands tried to help him get up. Minho groaned as he leaned onto the stranger for support. His legs felt wobbly but the stranger managed to lift him up and sat him down on a chair nearby.     

"Mister, are you alright?"      

Minho's focus began to return and he stared into a pair of dark eyes. It was a girl, hardly an adult. She had long, curly hair and was dressed in a casual t-shirt and dark pants. The girl was looking at him quizzically as if trying to understand how he got there.     

"Where am I?" he managed to whisper.     

"Y-you don't know?" the girl asked. "You really don't know?"     

Minho slowly shook his head. He looked around to take a good look around the place. It looked like a classroom. Lines of chairs and tables were neatly placed while a large board was hung up on the front wall. The lights were all turned off while the windows were locked shut. There were stacks of books on a shelf at one corner while the lockers were placed on the other end of the wall.      

There were paintings of students hung on the walls. Some drew scenery whilst others drew portraits of people. One of the portraits was of a heart shaped girl with long hair and dark doey eyes.     

Minho's heart leapt at the sight of the painting. It was Gayoon!     

He sprung up, finally gaining control of his movements, and walked towards the painting. It had a signature.     

"Park Seungjo," he muttered.     

"Mister, do you know where you are?" the girl asked. She was curious about this stranger who popped up, eyeing him suspiciously. Who was he? He did not seem to be one of them.      

"I'm at Blooming Sun High School," Minho said, peering through the windows. The grounds outside were completely empty and devoid of any signs of life. He felt it was quite strange because the party would have been over by then and people should be leaving for their homes.     

Yet, there were no people nor sounds of them bidding goodbye to each other. In fact, there were no sounds at all. He listened carefully, hoping that it was not a trick of his mind but the place was...silent. Not even the scurrying of insects could be heard. Instead, it was cold and dark like an abyss which stretched on and on with no end in sight.     

"This... what is this place?" Minho slowly asked. "This is Blooming Sun High School, right?"     

The girl stared at him with her dark eyes. For the first time, Minho took a good look at her. She was pale, too pale, to the point that she looked almost translucent. Her pupils were larger than average while she was expressionless and unfeeling. The girl stepped towards Minho, reaching out to touch him. For some reason, he did not flinch when her palm slightly brushed his cheek.      

Her hand was colder than ice and he could feel the goosebumps up his arms under her icy touch.     

"You're alive," she stated in a matter-of-fact voice. "Yet, you're here. Why?"     

Realization dawned on Minho as he realized the gravity of her words. "You're dead," he whispered.      

For the first time in twenty years, Minho was scared. He was not scared of the ghost who stood in front of him watching him curiously. He was afraid that he had ventured into a world he had no idea about and would end up losing Gayoon in there.     

"What is this place?" he demanded. "This isn't our world!"     

He could not see ghosts and yet...yet this girl was standing in front of him as if she were a real person. Minho recalled that he had gone through some kind of portal which brought him here. Did he break into another dimension? But how? He never did that!     

"Humans who are alive don't come here," the girl noted. "Humans who are in a state between life and death can't enter here. Only people who are fully dead can enter. Yet, you did. You're not dead and somehow, broke into our world. How?"     

Now the girl was curious. She had not seen a living human in years and now that one had arrived, he would be attracting too much attention from the others.     

"This is the World of the Dead," she stated. "It is our reality. We are to live here for eternity."     

"The World of the Dead looks like a classroom?" Minho frowned. "And why are you the only one here? Aren't there supposed to be a ghostly army or something?"     

How could the dead live in a classroom? He wondered.     

"The world resembles the place where we died," the girl explained. "I must have died in this place which is why I'm stuck here. There are others too. Like me, they're also stuck here for eternity."     

"But there are ghosts in the real world as well," Minho said. If he had to find Gayoon, then he would have to learn more about this strange place. He was sure that she was also there but the portal sent them to different parts of the school. Park Seungjo died on the fifth floor and Minho was thrown several floors below. He must get to Gayoon and rescue her but it was crucial to know about the place they had inadvertently entered.     

"Those ghosts have many regrets and unfulfilled tasks," the girl said. "Once their unfulfilled wishes are met, they move on to the afterlife. Which is better than this place, I hope."     

"Wait," Minho frowned in confusion. "This is the World of the Dead! Then those ghosts in the real world move here after their wishes are completed, right?"     

The girl shook her head. "This is a special place for people who have committed sins," the girl whispered. There was a hint of immense grief and regret in her words as if she was recalling something painful. "If the ghosts in the real world are sinners like us, they'll be thrown into this purgatory after their wishes come true. If they have a pre soul, they'll move on to the afterlife where they will be at peace."     

"Here, we are the nameless souls," she went on. "Cursed by our sins, living in agony. For us, time has stopped and we wallow in our regrets. We can't move on unless we repent for our sins or our innocent victims forgive us. It's a cold and shallow existence."     

Minho did not know what to say to that. He felt a little pity for the girl who was being punished with such a cruel fate. Living without existing, belonging neither here nor there was truly a terrible punishment. People in the real world remembered their deceased loved ones with love and fondness. He knew what loss was and never let his mother be forgotten from his memories.     

But now that he was face to face with a lost soul, he wondered what sin she may have committed which made her stuck in this dreary world.     

"I'm looking for someone," he said. "A ghost brought her here by force! She didn't die and yet, he managed to bring her here. How?"     

"I don't know," the girl said sadly. "Only a very powerful person or ghost can open the portal and bring in a living human being here! And they would not survive for long here. The energy in this place is too dark and negative. It will suck out the life out of her and if you don't save her, her soul will be stuck here!"     

Minho was shocked by her revelation. "She has very little time," the girl said. "Where is she?"     

"She was taken by the spirit of Park Seungjo," he said, holding up the painting. "I saw her last outside of room 12A!"     

The mention of that room made the girl go paler. "12A?" she echoed. "Are you sure?"     

"Yes!" Minho exclaimed, turning around to head for the door. "We must hurry before-"     

Suddenly, the girl lunged at him, knocking him on the ground.     

"What are you-"     

"Shhh!" she shushed. She went very still and motioned him to listen. Minho frowned and listened very carefully. In the midst of the deafening silence, he could hear the clanking of chains heading their way.     

"Follow me," she mouthed. "Stay down!"     

She quietly crawled towards a shelf. Minho followed her and they hid behind it. The girl was on high alert, her eyes on the closed door on the opposite end. The door had a mini square opening on it made of transparent glass.      

Minho wanted to ask what was going on but his instincts told him to stay quiet. The temperature around him fell and he was shivering in cold while the girl was unaffected. She pointed at the door's glass square. Minho followed her gaze.     

The clanking of the chains had stopped. From the cracks of the door, Minho could see a shadow lurking behind it from the outside. Through the glass, a silhouette appeared as if peering into the classroom. Its breath chilly fogged up the glass but Minho caught the split second glimpse of a skeletal face.     

He rubbed his eyes and tried to see clearly but the figure disappeared. For a long time, he did not speak until he was sure that it was gone.     

"W-what was that?" he stammered. His heart was beating too fast and for the first time in years, he was scared. Genuinely scared.     

"A reaper," the girl revealed. "It protects this world from human beings."     

"How?" Minho asked, fully knowing the answer already.     

"By killing them," the girl shrugged.