Chapter 3: I saw a ghost

NOAH

All night, I couldn’t sleep. My body stayed still, but my mind wouldn’t stop.
What did I witness yesterday?

It was already 6:30 in the morning. I lay on my bed, eyes wide open, watching the faint light creep through the curtains. The memory replayed over and over, the singing, the rooftop and her.

Eventually, I sat up. My head spun for a moment, a dull ache pressing behind my eyes. The morning air was sharp, cold. I turned and realized why, I’d forgotten to close the window.

As I shut it, a familiar voice came from the other side of the door.

"Noah? Are you awake?"

It was Minnie. Of course.

I opened the door. "Good morning, ma’am."

She crossed her arms immediately. "Stop calling me ‘ma’am.’ I’m only thirty-five, not your teacher."

"Force of habit," I muttered.

Her expression softened. "Are you alright?"

"Me? Yeah, why?"

"Well," she said, narrowing her eyes a little, "last night I heard a loud thump from your room. I came to check, but you didn’t answer when I called. Did something happen?"

I scratched the back of my neck, forcing a nervous laugh. "Uh… yeah. I just fell off my bed. Nothing major."

She frowned. "That loud? You sure it wasn’t something else?"

"Maybe I just… moved too suddenly," I replied, avoiding her gaze.

She sighed. "You’re nervous, aren’t you? About your parents coming. And the test."

"Yeah," I said quickly, latching onto the excuse. "That must be it. The OCSE test."

"Oh, I’ve heard that one’s brutal," she said, half-smiling. "Still, I’m sure you’ll do fine. And even if you fail, it’s not the end of the world. You can always try again. Just don’t give up, okay?"

She gave my shoulder a reassuring pat before turning toward the stairs. "Anyway, I’m still preparing breakfast. Better get ready soon, I heard the subway might face some delays today."

And just like that, she disappeared down the hall, humming softly.

I leaned against the wall, running a hand through my hair. The silence that followed felt heavier than before.

"Seriously…" I whispered to myself. "How long am I really going to keep this lie?"
After breakfast of toast and avocado and green tea, I got dressed and packed up, and more importantly I made sure to slip my guitar case out of the house without Minnie noticing, as always.
The sun was just beginning to rise, its warm glow peeking between the buildings of Hoshivalle, the city across the river. The air felt crisp, alive, as I walked toward the train station beneath the bridge.

Right at the entrance, someone familiar was waiting, arms crossed, impatience practically written on her face.

"Cassie," I sighed. "You’re early for once."

Before I could blink, she hooked an arm around my neck, pulling me close. "And you’re late, that’s a first," she teased, her hand ruffling my hair with zero mercy.

"Hey— quit it, Cass! For Pete’s sake!" I tried pulling away, but she only laughed harder, continuing to mess up my hair.

I groaned. "No wonder the other guys are afraid to asks you out."

Her grin widened. "Oh, is that so?" And she started stroking my hair even more aggressively, practically grinding her knuckles into my scalp.

The station announcer’s voice echoed overhead:
"The 7:00 train to Hoshivalle Conservatory now arriving."

I tried prying her off. "Okay, okay— enough! The train’s here! We’re gonna miss it!"

We sprinted down the steps just as the doors began to close. I slipped inside first and held one open so she could dive in after me.

She stumbled through, breathing hard. "Nice save, hero."

"If it weren’t for me, we’d have missed it entirely," I said, brushing my hair back into place.

She shot me a smirk. "Oh, shut up. Don’t get cocky. You were clearly enjoying having your face buried in my bosom."

My face went red instantly. "Wh— shut up, Cass!"

Her laughter filled the empty train car, echoing down the aisle as I sank into my seat, trying to hide my embarrassment.
We both sat down by the window, the train swaying softly as it left the station.

Cass glanced at me and frowned. "Wow, you look like crap. Didn’t sleep well?"

"Almost didn’t sleep at all."

"Seriously? Why? Don’t tell me the thought of me and Yuki together made you sweat all night?"

I gave her a flat look. "Jeez, why do you have to be this dirty-minded?"

"I’m not dirty-minded," she said, grinning. "I’m just acknowledging your excellent taste in women."

"Yeah, right. You barely even look like a woman."

She gasped, dramatically clutching her chest. "So you were dreaming about a man then? You wound me."

"N-No, it was about a girl—dammit."

"Aha!" She wrapped her arms around my neck, grinning like a cat that caught a bird. "You don’t have to be embarrassed. Everybody has wet dreams. Totally normal for people our age."

"Says you. You had dirty thoughts when you were ten."

"I was nine."

"Who cares."

Cass just laughed, shaking her head, until she suddenly stopped. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at my hands. "Whoa, forget your eyes—what happened to your arms?"

I tried to hide them. "Ha, ha, very funny."

"I’m serious," she said, grabbing my wrist before I could pull away. "Did you trip or something?"

"It’s nothing, just a little scratch."

"A little scratch?" She gave me that look. "Do you think I’m stupid? I know what’s little."
Her eyes darted down then back up.

"Cass!" I shoved her shoulder, and she burst out laughing again.

I sighed, rubbing my arm while she kept teasing. My gaze drifted out the window, where the city blurred into soft streaks of morning light.

Her laughter faded into background noise.
And my thoughts… drifted back to last night.

That voice. That song.
That girl.

I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
What in the world was she?When I sang the last note, I looked upward at the night sky, a sea of quiet stars scattered above me. The air was still, the final echo of my voice fading into the open air.

Then, faintly, I heard it, small, light footsteps behind me.

My first thought was that it had to be someone I knew. Maybe Cassandra sneaking up on me again, or Minnie coming to scold me for being out so late.

But then a soft, unfamiliar voice broke the silence.

"Hello, are you my Running Man?"

It wasn’t a voice I recognized. Innocent, delicate, almost like the word itself was afraid to exist.

I turned around, my heart skipping a beat.

Standing a few steps away was a girl, someone I had never seen before. She looked about my age, maybe younger, but there was something different about her. Her skin seemed to glow faintly, as though the moonlight was coming from within her rather than shining upon her. And her face—
She was beautiful. Not the kind of beauty that stuns you at first glance, but the kind that feels impossible to describe, like she belonged to another world entirely.

She smiled at me. A small, quiet smile that carried something deep behind it, longing. Like she had been waiting for this moment… waiting for me.

Was she… listening to my song? And did she call me her Running Man? What is that supposed to mean?

She stepped closer, slowly, her hand lifting toward me.

But the moment her fingers touched my chest—
they passed through me.

I froze. My breath caught in my throat. Her hand… her entire arm was inside me.

For a moment, she looked just as startled as I was. Then, before I could move, she began to rise, her body lifting off the ground, floating gently upward as her glow brightened.

And that’s when I screamed.

It was a ghost.

I don’t even remember what happened next, I panicked, bolted down the stairs, missed a step, and fell hard.

That’s how I got these bruises.

Still… I can’t stop thinking about her.

Even if she was a ghost, she was truly beautiful.As my mind drifted back to that night, the memory of her glow still lingering behind my eyes, Cassandra snapped me back to the present.

"Hey! I’m talking to you."

"What?"

She leaned back in her seat, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, you’ve got a beautiful woman sitting beside you, and you’re thinking about some other girl? Are you having an affair or something?"

"Seriously, knock it off."

Cassandra laughed, the sound echoing faintly over the hum of the train.

"Anyway," she said after a beat, "have you seen my MP3 player? I haven’t found it since Tuesday."

"MP3 pla— oh yeah, I’ve seen it."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? Then hand it over."

"Actually… it’s back at the radio station."

She sighed, smacking her forehead. "Seriously? You left it there?"

"Says the one who forgot it in the first place."

Cassandra crossed her arms and muttered something under her breath, but the corners of her lips curved into a smile.

The train continued its steady rhythm along the tracks, and for a moment, I tried to let myself forget about that night.

But no matter how much I tried, her face, that beautiful girl’s face, she almost resembles someone who I knew dearly, still shimmered in the back of my mind.