Unseen

The apartment was silent except for the faint hiss of the melted candle wax pooling at their bases. Chaeyoung sat cross-legged in the circle, her heart pounding in anticipation. The book lay open in front of her, the instructions for The Wanderer's Eye glowing faintly under the dim candlelight.

She whispered the incantation under her breath, her voice shaky yet determined. Closing her eyes, she focused on the rhythm of her breath, letting the world around her fade. Slowly, her sense of self shifted-a weightless sensation overcame her, as though her soul were untethered from her body.

When she opened her eyes again, the room looked different: hazy, dreamlike. She turned her head, or what she thought was her head, and saw her body sitting in the circle, eyes closed, perfectly still.

"I did it!" she thought, though no sound came out.

Her curiosity urged her forward, and her soul drifted effortlessly through the walls of the apartment. Passing into the main hallway outside, she felt a strange exhilaration. It was as if the rules of the physical world no longer applied.

She wandered aimlessly, her tether stretching but still intact. Most doors in the main hallway were dark and unremarkable, but one caught her attention. From beneath its frame, a faint strip of golden light spilled into the hall.

Without hesitation, Chaeyoung's incorporeal form passed through the door. She entered a cozy apartment, warm and welcoming but eerily silent. The furniture was neatly arranged, but there was no sign of the inhabitants.

As she floated further inside, a faint sound caught her attention-the rhythmic patter of water. It grew louder as she approached a partially closed door, its light spilling into the dim hallway.

"Is that... the shower?" she wondered. Maybe the owner left the shower or faucet open. Who knows, she might save their day by cutting down their water bill for the next billing cycle.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she drifted closer. Passing through the door, she found herself in a small, steamy bathroom. The mirror was fogged, droplets of condensation trickling down its surface. The shower was running, and behind the frosted glass, the silhouette of a woman moved.

Chaeyoung froze.

The woman stepped closer to the glass, her figure becoming clearer. Chaeyoung's breath hitched as she realized the frosted barrier barely concealed anything. The curve of the woman's bare shoulders, the arch of her back, the strands of wet hair cascading down her body-everything was visible in teasing clarity.

Chaeyoung's face burned. She knew she should leave, but her limbs, or whatever passed for them in this form, refused to move.

And then the woman turned.

It was Minatozaki Sana.

Chaeyoung's mind went blank. Her crush, the schoolmate she had admired from afar for months, was standing there, completely unaware of her ghostly presence. Her skin glowed under the soft bathroom light, water streaming down her figure like something out of a painting.

"Oh my God," Chaeyoung thought, her nonexistent heartbeat pounding.

Panic set in, and she stumbled backward-through the bathroom door-until she found herself outside. She sank to the floor, leaning against the wall as her mind raced.

---

For what felt like an eternity, Chaeyoung sat there, her soul trembling as she tried to process what she had just seen.

I shouldn't have gone in. What was I thinking?

But no matter how much she scolded herself, the image of Sana lingered in her mind, vivid and unrelenting. Her face burned with embarrassment, even in her incorporeal form.