► France - Bordeaux ◄

► Monday, March 6, 2023 - 3:00 PM ◄

→ Rhéane's Point of View ←

"- I..."

Who... Who is he? Before I can react, I see my mother bursting into my room. She looks at me with panic.

"- What's going on, Rhéane?"

I look at her for a moment and stand up.

"- Mom... Help!"

I position myself behind my mother, completely frightened.

"- Who is this person?" I ask her.

She turns to me, furrowing her eyebrows.

"- Who are you talking about?"

"- ... What?"

I observe the man sitting on my bed. He looks at me with a big smile. He puts his legs up on my bed and crosses them. Who does he think he is?

"- Can't you see him?"

I point my finger at the spot where this... this... rude person is. She looks in that direction before placing her hand on my forehead.

"- But you don't have a fever!"

"- But mom! He..."

"- She can't see me!" he finally says, interrupting me.

Not only does he put his legs on my bed, but he also cuts me off. I scrutinize him with a dark look. He rolls his eyes before crossing his arms.

"- I would have warned you!" he continues.

He's getting on my nerves. I turn to my mother, who gives me a worried look.

"- But you really can't see him? Wait... I'll show you."

I step forward towards the stranger. The man looks at me with bewilderment as I grab him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him off my bed.

"- Ow! That hurts!"

I bring him over to my mother, who looks at me in surprise. I let go of him, and he touches his neck.

"- I'm telling you, she can't see me! She'll just think you've gone crazy!"

"- Shut up!" I whisper to him.

My gaze turns to my mother.

"- And now?"

"- And what?"

"- You... You don't see him?"

She looks in the direction of the man before shifting her gaze back to me.

"- I'm sorry, but no."

"- I told you," whispers the stranger.

"- Listen, Rhéane... I don't know if it's all these countless... But... you should go rest. Because right now, you're scaring me..."

"- But..."

Ho... How is this possible? Am I really going crazy? My vision becomes blurred. My heart is pounding so fast. I feel dizzy all of a sudden. I have a sudden headache. My mother holds onto me.

"- Rhéane, what's happening to you?"

I notice the concern in her eyes.

"- I... I don't know! My vision is getting blurry."

"- Go lie down."

She helps me get into bed and touches my forehead once again.

"- But you don't have anything."

"- Mom..."

"- Yes?"

"- You..."

I look at the stranger standing at the foot of my bed, arms crossed. My vision is becoming increasingly blurry. But for some reason, I feel like I see... concern in his eyes. It must be my imagination...

"- Do you think I've gone crazy ?"

She covers me with the blanket.

"- No! You must just be extremely tired..."

I look at her with a smile before gently closing my eyes.

"- Good..."

I don't have time to finish my sentence before I fall asleep just as quickly. I'm sure that tomorrow, everything will go back to normal.

***

► South Korea - Seoul ◄

► Monday, March 6, 2023 - 11:00 PM ◄

→ Chin's Point of View ←

I observe myself in the mirror, practicing the new dance steps for our upcoming song's choreography. I start to grimace as I realize it looks like nothing.

"- You've done better than this before, Chin!" I whisper to myself.

I step forward and replay the new audio track. Seo Joon, before leaving, gave us the lyrics for the new song. However, we're waiting for him to come back so we can record our voices. I wonder how he's doing. I miss him. All we know is that he went to join Aiden to help him with a problem. That's all we know. I put on my cap and for the hundredth time, I listen to the tempo. I try to think of a good choreography. When the music ends, I replay it and position myself. I close my eyes and let my body take control, hoping to come up with some decent moves. After a few seconds, my body naturally creates some figures on its own. I pause for a moment and start to think. I grab my notebook and jot down the steps.

"- It's pretty good, but... how will the other five members do? It's frustrating!"

I sigh in annoyance and place my hands on my hips, staring at a point in the room.

"- Be careful not to push yourself too hard!"

I jump and turn around. I notice Junh, the leader of our group. He's carrying his bag on his back and looks at me with a small smile.

"- I know! But I have to start somewhere while the group isn't complete. By the way, have you heard any news from Seo Joon?"

"- No, none! Like all of you, I only know that he's with Aiden. And he hasn't been responding to any of my calls."

He hands me my towel.

"- Thank you! I just hope... that everything is okay for Aiden and him. From what I understood, he wasn't doing well?"

"- Yes, apparently, he received threats."

"- Hmm... And on top of that, in two days, we have to perform a concert here."

"- There's no way we're doing a concert without Seo Joon. We step on stage all six of us, or nothing at all. I didn't become the leader for nothing. You all have become my family. We've been through so much together. It's not now that things will change."

I look at our national leader with a smile and move closer to him to give him a hug.

"- Oh, Junh!"

He stops me right away.

"- Go wash up first, you stink!"

"- But... You're really mean..."

I cross my arms, pretending to be offended. He looks at me for a moment.

"- I know! Sometimes I wonder what I did to become the leader of a kid like you."

"- You should consider yourself lucky to have me."

He smiles at me.

"- Yes... If you say so!"

I look at him, shocked by his words. He bursts into laughter.

"- If you could see your face! Well, mister, are you going to take your shower?"

"- It's strange..."

"- What's strange?"

"- I've been hearing voices for a while now, but there's no one around."

He looks at me with amusement. He was about to reply when Chul comes running towards us.

"- Guys!"

He reaches us, trying to catch his breath. Junh puts his hand on his back and lowers himself to his level.

"- Are you okay, Chul?"

"- I..."

I wonder what's wrong with him. After over a minute, he manages to breathe properly.

"- I just overheard... a conversation between our two managers."

"- And?" Junh asks.

"- Apparently, Seo Joon... he's in a coma."

Junh and I look at each other for a moment before running towards the manager's office, hoping to find answers to our questions...

***

► France - Bordeaux ◄

► Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 7:00 AM ◄

→ Aiden's Perspective ←

It's already seven in the morning, and she still hasn't woken up. Since this girl fell asleep, I've been pacing back and forth. I can't imagine what she must be thinking... I look out the window. The sun is about to rise. I turn slightly towards her. She's sound asleep. I decide to lie down next to her, crossing my arms. What a mess you're in, poor Aiden! My headache keeps getting worse. I glance at this young woman. I wonder if... No, it's nothing. It's just the shock of seeing myself... Me... a mere ghost. I look at my hand, and I can see through it to my pants. I grimace and fix my gaze on a point. To think that I'm being portrayed as a murderer. I may be many things, but I'm not a killer. I'll do everything I can to find the person who hurt my best friend and killed me. But for that, I need help. I turn to her. She's the only one who can see me and, most importantly, help me. But how do I ask her? Without making the situation even stranger for both of us. I roll onto my side and watch her sleep. She's sleeping so peacefully. I'd rather let her sleep. But... I can't help but lightly tap my finger on her cheek. I look at her with a smile before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear...

"I sincerely hope that you'll help me... Rhéane..."

***

► France - Bordeaux ◄

► Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 7:25 AM ◄

→ Rhéane's Point of View ←

I have a strange sensation on my cheek. I shiver. I wonder what time it must be, as I'm still feeling tired.

" - I truly hope you'll help me, Rhéane..."

That voice! I feel like I know it. I slowly open my eyes. My vision is still blurry. I notice a silhouette next to me. I blink several times. It takes a few seconds for my sight to become clear again, and I clearly see the face of the man from last night. I observe that he's holding my strand of hair. He looks at me with an embarrassed expression.

" - Uh... Hi!"

" - Ah!" I scream.

I panic and leap out of my bed, landing on the floor, hitting my head on the bedside table in the process.

" - Ouch!"

I hear my father rushing into my room. He approaches me in a panicked state.

" - Are you okay, my dear?"

" - Yes... I just..."

I notice that my father, too, doesn't notice this stranger. Even though I'm an adult, he would have quickly kicked this man out of my room. And there's no point in worrying my parents further.

" - I just had a bad dream. Sorry for worrying you."

" - Don't apologize! What time do you start?"

" - At 1 PM!"

" - Alright... you should rest."

" - That's what I'm going to do! Thank you, Dad!"

He smiled at me before kissing my forehead. I returned his smile and closed the door. I took a deep breath and turned towards the stranger. He looked at me with an even more embarrassed expression.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to touch your hair, but your lock was in front of your eyes... So..."

I glanced at him for a moment before getting back into my bed and turning off the lamp. I adjusted the blanket and closed my eyes.

"Um... I... Are you not going to say anything?"

"No... because you don't exist. I'm really going crazy," I whispered.

There was no sound anymore. I wondered if he had already left.

"I... he started."

I opened my eyes and saw him in front of me.

"I sincerely apologize for disturbing you."

For some reason, I felt sad. I sat up a bit and turned on the lamp. I looked at him in surprise when I realized we were only a few centimeters apart. I pushed him away and moved back, taking the covers with me.

"But who are you ? Or rather, what are you?"

"I... My name is Aiden White! And I am... well, I used to be a former actor and singer."

"How do you mean 'used to be'?"

"Well, as you heard in the news yesterday, I died."

"... What?"

I looked at him dumbfounded. How can he be "dead"?

"Wait... pause!"

For the first time since yesterday, I observed him attentively. His face... that look... I feel like I've seen him somewhere before. One thing's for sure, he's definitely not French, judging by his slight accent. And I have a feeling he's Korean. I furrowed my eyebrows and tried to think. Then I remembered his words. "As you heard in the news yesterday." I lifted my gaze to him.

"You're the man they called a murderer yesterday?"

He looked at me grimacing before adopting a serious expression.

"I'm not a murderer! I've never killed anyone."

"Then why are they convinced otherwise?"

"Because the person who set me up left a note stating that I killed my best friend, even though I could never harm him."

He looked at me for a moment before getting up. I followed him with my gaze. I wondered what he could be thinking. If it wasn't him who killed him, then who did...

"Moreover, my best friend is not dead."

I looked up at him.

"What do you mean he's not dead? Yet, on the news, they say..."

"I know! But they have no real information. The police is lying to them."

"Why would they do that?"

"Because my best friend is a Korean idol. And I imagine that his agency's manager must have asked them not to disclose the information to preserve his reputation. In Korea, it takes very little for things to escalate."

"And how can you be sure?"

"Because I used to be a recognized idol in their agency. Before I decided to leave..."

"You... And what do you want from me?"

"Well, if you're willing... Help me find the person who killed me..."