See me [Part 5]

                                    

                                          
Y/n sat stiffly across from the mysterious woman, her arms crossed and her jaw clenched. Her heart was still racing from the encounter with the eyeless ghost, and her mind was filled with questions—questions she wasn't even sure she wanted answers to.
She glared at the woman, who, in stark contrast, looked calm and completely at ease. The stranger rested her chin on her hand as if they were simply catching up over coffee, not dealing with supernatural chaos.
"Who are you?" Y/n finally demanded, her voice sharp. "And what did you do to me? I want my eyes back to normal, right now."
The woman didn't immediately respond. Instead, she raised her hand to call over a waiter. "Two bowls of shoyu ramen," she said with a polite smile. "And an order of gyoza."
Y/n stared at her in disbelief. "Are you seriously ordering food right now? I told you, I'm not hungry!"
The woman leaned back in her seat, her gaze steady and unfazed by Y/n's frustration. "You might not be hungry, but I am. And trust me, you'll feel better after you eat something."
Y/n scoffed, crossing her arms tighter. "I already ate, okay? Right before getting chased by a ghost, if you must know." She paused, narrowing her eyes. "And don't think you're getting off the hook just because you're pretending I didn't ask you anything."
The woman tilted her head slightly, a faint, amused smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "A ghost," she said casually, as though they were discussing the weather. "A lost spirit, to be precise."
Y/n froze, the words sinking in like ice in her veins. "A ghost?" she repeated, her voice shaky. "You're telling me I saw a ghost? That's impossible. I've never—" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening in realization.
"I've never seen ghosts before," Y/n said slowly, more to herself than to the woman. Then her eyes snapped up to meet the stranger's, and her voice turned accusatory. "Until now. What did you do to me?"
The woman didn't answer immediately. She simply smirked, her eyes glinting with something Y/n couldn't quite place. That smirk set off alarm bells in Y/n's head, and suddenly, everything clicked.
"The train," Y/n blurted out, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Yesterday. You did something to me on the train, didn't you?"
The woman's smirk deepened, but she didn't confirm or deny it.
Y/n's frustration boiled over. "You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed, leaning forward. "Whatever you did, undo it! I don't want to see ghosts! I don't want any part of this!"
The woman calmly sipped her glass of water, completely ignoring Y/n's outburst. Just as Y/n was about to start ranting again, the waiter returned with their food. The stranger gave him a polite nod and picked up her chopsticks, as though nothing unusual had happened.
"Eat," she said, gesturing toward the food.
"I told you, I'm not hungry," Y/n snapped.
The woman took a bite of her ramen before replying, her tone maddeningly calm. "Suit yourself."
Y/n gritted her teeth, glaring at her. "At least tell me your name," she demanded.
The woman finally looked up, her gaze steady. "It's Haerin," she said simply.
Y/n blinked, momentarily thrown off by the normalcy of her name. But she shook it off, her anger returning. "Well, Haerin, let me make myself perfectly clear. I don't want anything to do with ghosts, or spirits, or whatever you're calling them. I just want my normal life" 
Haerin shook her head, her expression unchanging. "I'm not undoing it," she said firmly, setting her chopsticks down for a moment. "You should think about the offer I'm giving you instead. All you have to do is work for me, and I'll handle everything else—your rent, your bills, food, whatever you need. You'll be taken care of."
Y/n narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair. "You want me to be your... assistant?" she asked, incredulous.
Haerin nodded once. "Yes. You'll help me catch restless spirits, like the one you saw earlier. That's it."
Y/n let out a bitter laugh, rolling her eyes. "Oh, sure. That sounds so easy," she said sarcastically. "You can't be serious. I already have a job—one that doesn't involve, you know, ghosts chasing me down the street."
Haerin shrugged, unbothered by Y/n's sarcasm. "Think about it," she said simply, picking up her chopsticks again and returning her attention to her ramen.
Y/n opened her mouth to argue further, but Haerin cut her off by changing the subject entirely.
"So," Haerin began casually, her tone light, "why didn't you go to the address I gave you yesterday? I thought you'd be curious enough to check it out."
Y/n blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift. "I was going to," she said defensively, sitting up straighter. "I was literally about to get in a taxi to head there. But then, you know, that ghost decided to show up and ruin my night."
Haerin's lips twitched into a faint smile, as if she found Y/n's frustration mildly amusing. "Ah," she said simply, as though that explanation cleared everything up.
Y/n's irritation flared again. "Don't 'ah' me," she snapped, leaning forward slightly. "You've turned my life upside down in less than 24 hours, and now you're sitting here like none of this is a big deal."
Haerin raised an eyebrow, her expression unreadable. "It's only been one ghost," she pointed out calmly. "And you handled it well enough."
"I ran for my life!" Y/n shot back, her voice rising. "How is that handling it well?!"
Haerin's faint smile returned, and she tilted her head slightly. "You're alive, aren't you?" she said lightly, taking another bite of her ramen.
Y/n threw her hands up in exasperation. "Unbelievable," she muttered under her breath, sinking back into her seat.
Haerin didn't respond, instead focusing on her food with the same calm demeanor she'd had since the moment Y/n met her. Y/n huffed, crossing her arms again and glaring at the table. Despite her anger, she couldn't shake the memory of that ghost's empty eye sockets—and how Haerin had effortlessly made it go away.