book two ❧ [viii]

                                    

                                          
"I'm home!" The words were hardly out of your mouth when Jisung popped into the foyer.
He        looked startled, barely sticking the landing as his head whipped        around, a book in his hand. Your ghost let out a huff as he found   his      footing, closing the book on his thumb. "I wish you'd stop   doing  that. I     was upstairs reading."
"Sorry, Sungie." You pecked his cheek, hanging your bag up. "I'm not trying, honest."
Jisung's annoyance quickly faded as he leaned down to kiss you. "I know, baby. I'm not mad, it just spooks me every time."
"A ghost getting spooked," you repeated humorously, walking further into your house.
"I'll start on dinner."
"Oh!"        You stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Chaeyeon called me on  my     way   home and asked if they could drop the baby off, by the way.      Apparently   Seohyuk has a last-minute work thing and they couldn't   find    anybody  else  to watch her."
"Ah. Okay."
After        getting out of your work clothes, you found Jisung in the kitchen        again, wrapping your arms around his waist and pressing your  cheek  to      his back. "Thank you. I know it's got to suck being here  alone  all  day     and then having people come over."
Since    the     debacle with Shotaro hearing Jisung at work, you'd been  erring   on  the    side of caution and leaving Jisung home when you  went to   work. It  made    your days lonelier, and you knew he hated it  too, but   it was  just too    hard to bring him out to the same place  over and   over like  that.    Especially when you had a paranoid  coworker quite   literally     ghost-hunting constantly.
On  top   of that, you     hadn't had to bring a single cabinet knob with  you   anywhere in order to     bring Jisung along in the time since,  seemingly   confirming his     suspicions. He was no longer anchored to  the house.
"I haven't met the baby yet," his voice sounded like he was forcing pep into it. "I'm looking forward to it."
When        Chaeyeon had given birth, you visited the new parents and baby at       their  house, leaving your ghost at home for the brief meet-up.  This      would be  the first time the family came to your place.
"They're        not staying, at least," you reminded him. "Chaeyeon and Seohyuk.        They're just dropping SooSoo off and then picking her up after."
"How long is she going to be here for?"
"A few hours. Don't worry, I'll hold her," you teased.
Jisung snorted lightly, continuing to chop the food. "Good idea."
───* :✧˚ ·♡.
Your        ghost stayed upstairs while Chaeyeon and Seohyuk brought SooSoo   in,      handing her and all her supplies off to you. After giving you   the      rundown of all the basics, they rushed back out with final   goodbye  pecks     on the cheek to both of you. You laughed and waved   them off,   shutting    the door behind the couple. 
Upon hearing the front door close, you saw Jisung hesitantly peeking down the stairs. You chuckled, "Coast is clear, Jisung."
"I can't believe that's really him." He shook his head, taking the baby's bag off your shoulder for you.
"Who, Seohyuk?" 
"Yeah," he confirmed. "He was like... nice to you. Actually nice."
"I keep telling you he's been trying." You walked into the living room, gently bouncing SooSoo in your arms.
"You're good with her," Jisung said, coming to stand next to you.
"You think so?" You beamed, playing with the baby's tiny fingers. "This is the first one I've held."
"Do        you—" He cut himself off, staring at SooSoo with wide eyes. He     slowly    moved to the left, then the right. You watched his movements     with    confusion. He looked at you, disbelief clear on his face.  "Can    the baby    see me?"
"What?" You looked  down  at   her,  seeing   that it did appear as though her eyes were  focused  on a   spot in  the  air  over your shoulder where Jisung was.  He moved  to the   right,  and the   baby's eyes tracked him. He then  moved to  your left   shoulder,  and they   once again followed. She  continued  watching him  as  he shifted  back to   hovering over your  right  shoulder, and you  were  really  beginning to   think that this  wasn't a  coincidence.
You furrowed your brow. "Huh..."
Jisung clapped his hands directly in front of her face, and she flinched and blinked.
"Okay,        okay," you chastised him, pushing his hands away from her face.     "This    didn't happen when the Kims were little, did it? It's not  like a     'kids   can see ghosts better' thing, right?"
"No, they had no clue I was there. Babies, children, adults. Nobody ever did this."
"Looks like you've got an imaginary friend, SooSoo," you chuckled, gently tapping the tip of her nose.
"I'm not imaginary, just incorporeal," he scoffed, but nevertheless reached around you to adjust her blanket for her.
"Do        you think it has something to do with everything else?" You asked        quietly. "Shotaro heard you, we don't need the knobs anymore, now     SooSoo    can see you..."
"I don't know."
"Right. No ghost manual."
Jisung        stayed put as you sat down on the couch, readjusting the baby in     your    lap. You didn't love the pensive look still on his features,      especially   when he didn't seem to notice you patting the spot next  to     you in an   invite for him to join you.
"Sungie?" You called for him quietly. "Everything okay?"
"I was thinking..." He looked at SooSoo, then held your gaze, obviously conflicted. "Do you want kids someday?"
"Oh." You knew exactly where his mind had gone. "I-I don't know. Definitely not right now—"
"But in the future—"
"I said I don't know, Jisung," you reiterated. "But what I absolutely do know, is that I love you. Okay? Can that be enough for now?"
"Okay.        Yeah." He nodded, finally joining you on the couch, wrapping an   arm      around your waist and pressing a kiss to your cheek. "I love   you   too."