Capítulo 4: DON’T PLAY WITH DOPPELGANGERS

<"PLAY. With. Me.">

Yujin gulped hard while trying to make sense of the situation.

Right now, she was literally on the cold floor of the elevator while Geun-Wook's doppelganger straddled her hips. The ghost was also gripping her shoulders a little too tightly. Hence, she couldn't move.

[My bat…]

Unfortunately, she dropped the guitar case when she fell over. Then the case slid to the corner of the elevator, out of her reach.

[Crab, I can't fight without my bat.]

<"You. See. Me,"> the doppelganger said excitedly while grinning from ear to ear. <"Play. With. Me.">

The doppelganger was talking like a broken record.

[Are those the only words he knows?]

She was about to respond to the ghost when, suddenly, the doors closed and the elevator shook hard. Worse, the lights inside flickered as if she was in a horror film.

[Duck!]

She remained on her spot despite the fact that the elevator was shaking like crazy, though.

"Why aren't you getting burned yet?" Yujin complained while trying to prop up herself using her elbows. Unfortunately, the doppelganger was holding her shoulders a little too tightly. "My clothes are supposed to work like talismans…"

And yet, the doppelganger was touching her without getting cleansed.

[Could it be that Aunt Hayi's divine energy has gotten weak?]

That couldn't be.

Just the other day, her doppelganger was almost burned to death when her 'evil twin' tried to grab her from behind.

<"Play. You. Me.">

"Why would I play with you when you're scaring me?" she complained. She knew it wasn't a good idea to talk to the ghost. However, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "And don't talk to me. My head is spinning because the elevator keeps on shaking."

The doppelganger tilted its head to one side. "You. Not like shaking?"

"Of course, I don't," she said, frowning. "It's making me dizzy."

"K."

"Huh?"

The doppelganger just grinned at her.

Then the elevator suddenly stopped shaking at the same time the lights also stopped flickering.

She knitted her eyebrows. "Are you the one who caused the elevator and the lights to act up?"

The doppelganger nodded as if it was proud. <"Shaking. Fun.">

Was it trying to say that shaking the elevator and making the lights flicker were fun activities for him?

Were doppelgangers really capable of doing that?

Her own doppelganger could only hurt her by touching her directly. It never had the ability to control the things around her. Her "evil twin" couldn't even talk properly.

[But I'm actually holding a proper conversation with Geun-wook's doppelganger?]

Granted that the ghost couldn't talk coherently, it was still a feat for it to understand human words.

<"You. Me. Play.">

"Play?" she asked, confused and a little curious. "How…"

She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from asking the doppelganger how it wanted to play. Her Aunt Hayi taught her to never indulge doppelgangers. In fact, she should be ignoring Geun-wook's doppelganger.

[In my defense, it's not hostile, so it makes me want to talk to it…]

<"Nuggets. Cider. Ice cream!">

Oh?

Was the doppelganger's idea of "playing" eating snacks?

[Aww, it's cute– aigoo, have I lost my mind? Did I just almost call a doppelganger 'cute?']

Well, the doppelganger had Geun-wook's face, so…

She gently slapped her face with her hands.

[Wake up, Moon Yujin!]

The doppelganger frowned, then he grabbed her by the wrists. To be honest, the ghost's grip was a little tight. But she could tell that it wasn't trying to hurt her. It just probably didn't know how to control its strength.

<"Don't. Hurts.">

Huh?

Was the doppelganger trying to tell her not to hurt herself?

"It hurts," she said. "You're grabbing my wrists a little too tight. Can you let go?"

<"K,"> the doppelganger said, then it quickly let go of her wrists. <"Not hurt?">

She nodded, amazed by the fact that the doppelganger understood her. "Yep, it doesn't hurt now. Thank you."

<"Thank you?"> the doppelganger said, then it tilted its head to one side. <"Thank you."> It put its hand over its chest. <"Nice. Here.">

After saying that, the doppelganger smiled.

[Oh?]

It wasn't the ghost's creepy grin. In fact, the smile it gave her this time actually looked nice. Ignoring his very pale face and the blood trickling down from its forehead, the doppelganger started to look more human in her eyes…

"Moon Yujin!"

She raised her head and saw Sun Geun-wook enter, then he grabbed the doppelganger by the collar and threw it away as if it was just some trash bag.

As a result, the doppelganger hit the elevator wall pretty hard.

[Geun-wook can see and touch his doppelganger now?]

"Yujinie, are you alright?" Geun-wook asked worriedly, then he knelt beside her and helped her get up. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Her gaze went past Geun-wook because she wanted to check on the doppelganger that was now sprawled on the floor.

She was surprised to see that it was unconscious.

A few seconds later, a thick cloud of black smoke emerged from the ground and embraced the doppelganger. And just like that, the ghost disappeared.

"Moon Yujin!"

She flinched, startled when Geun-wook suddenly raised his voice to catch her attention. Annoyed, she turned to him and was about to scold him for yelling when she saw the worried look on his face.

[Ah, I made him worry.]

"What happened?" Geun-wook asked worriedly. "I was surprised when I saw you fall over, even though you were just standing fine a moment ago."

Huh?

[Then he didn't see the doppelganger tackle me?]

"I was running to you when the elevator suddenly closed," he continued with his explanation. "I saw the elevator wasn't moving, so I called the security team. I don't know what happened, but the doors suddenly opened while I was waiting for them. Imagine my shock when I saw a bastard on top of you. That reminds me, I'll fucking kill him…"

He trailed-off.

Geun-wook stopped talking when he turned in the direction where he sent the doppelganger flying earlier. "He disappeared?" he asked in disbelief, then he turned to her with a shocked look on his face. "Yujinie, did I really see that bastard, or am I going crazy?"

"You really saw 'it,' but it wasn't a person," Yujin said as calmly as she could. "Geun, that was your doppelganger."

***

Please add SPOOKY SOULMATE to your library~