Xiang didn't even bother much with the bathroom the next morning. Mei was already in there and Yong Soo was already slumped on the floor in waiting. Xiang had taken off his alarm the night before. One of his favorite songs had already been ruined by having it be associated with the abrupt interruption of glorious slumber. Plus, with his new ghost boy situation, it was getting a bit too ironic. He came prepared though. He had swiped the comb and hair gel from the bathroom beforehand, so at least he looked presentable. The rest of the routine was the same. Yao found out he was late again yesterday, so he had to leave early yet again. If being late got him mad, then not doing homework and skipping first period would get him pissed.

In his defense, he had a lot on his mind. Ok, he was damn sure that kid was a ghost. He saw him disappear in the hallway, though he was surprised no one else did. Plus, the little trip they had to the park yesterday brought up some questions. He was definitely suspicious of his "dog" Magnus. Was he some kind of creature as well? Was his whole family just a bunch of different mythical monsters? How does no one else even see this? Anyway, that moment at the park at least set him and Emil on the right foot. Probably.

Speak of the devil, or ghost really, there he was, already ahead of him. Xiang was stopped in his approach by the look on the other's face. The dark bags underneath his eyes looked droopier than when he last saw him. It looked like his backpack weighed down his skinny body by a few pounds too many. He walked slowly, as if he was unaccustomed to having legs. All puns aside, he looked dead. Xiang decided to slow his pace so he could have this time alone.

After Xiang went to his locker, he happened to pass by Emil once more. He had one hand gripping his backpack strap and the other was combing through his already messy hair. It seemed as though he refused to go inside, as the classroom chatter did nothing for his apparent headache. Still, knowing that he had to go in sooner or later, he placed his hand on the doorknob and readied himself for another bad day.

"Wait!" Xiang cried out, perhaps a bit too loudly. The white haired boy glanced his way with disdain.

"What?" He spat out. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this. Not today.

"I was just, like, wondering if you wanna skip class with me. You don't look up to dealing with any of this right now."

"Yeah, including you." Emil spat back. However, he calmed down he noticed the subtle look of hurt on the other's face. He removed the hand from his hair and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but I have a lot on my mind right now. Plus, I can't just skip class on my second day here."

Xiang only raised an eyebrow at this. "Of course you can. Do you value you academic career, which you've barely started to build, over your own mental health?" He said, in the most persuasive voice he could muster. He wanted Emil to take his offer not because he had questions for him, but mainly for his sake. This kid looked sick as all hell and was only concerned with working himself harder.

After a long pause and a look of guilt, Emil finally followed him to the roof in silence. He still didn't trust Xiang, so he just sat down near one of the edges of the building. The sun was in the sky but it barely radiated any heat. The crisp October air wafted through the area. This was possibly the only thing Emil liked about being "alive" again. He could actually feel the wind lapping at his cheeks and whatever small amount of heat the sun's rays gave off. However, he noticed that the boy next to him hasn't exactly reveling in this feeling like he was. It looked like he was glaring at the sun for not doing its job properly as he shivered slightly.

The two sat in silence. The awkwardness was only broken by the scenery before them. Xiang began glancing at Emil out of the corner of his eye for a few seconds, then looking back ahead. Emil found it obvious that he had a question to ask, and the content of that question was even more obvious. The question, though obvious, was unnecessary. Both Emil and Xiang knew that the former wasn't human, as well as the rest of his family. Emil figured that it would be easier on both of them to just confirm this.

"Listen, I know you know I'm a ghost, let's get that out of the way."

Xiang hadn't expected the other to say that so willingly. As he looked at him, he noticed the other boy's furrowed brows and subtle frown. He hadn't taken his violet eyes off of the sunrise as of yet. His voice was laced with stress, and Xiang couldn't help but think he was a large part of that. Emil's statement hung in the air for a good while as Xiang decided what to say next. He wanted to choose his next words carefully, so as to not stress him out more.

"That's, like, cool."

Well said.

"Like, I know that trying to appear human is hard, but stressing about it makes it more obvious, I guess. You look like you should get some more sleep though. It's probably hard because you've never had an actual body before-"

"I have had a body before. It's just…" the ghostly boy interjected. He still had yet to look in Xiang's direction, though he seemed to have calmed down. "I want to go back inside now."

The boys took one last look at the scenery before heading back downstairs. Emil kept a few steps behind Xiang as they made their way through the halls. It still a few minutes until the end of first period, so they ended up walking slower than usual. They completely halted when they turned the corner and saw their principle, Romulus.

"Skipping class again?" he said, with his trademark smile.

"Yeah, I guess." Xiang had nothing to fear when it came to Romulus. He had let him off with a warning several times before, but he always seemed so nonchalant about it. Xiang looked behind him to see Emil's reaction to being caught. He seemed so against skipping, so he figured his reaction would be pretty entertaining. The only problem was that he was nowhere to be found.

"Well, I'll let you off with a warning this time!" Romulus said, giving Xiang's shoulder a pat before sauntering off. Just then, Xiang saw a flicker from out of the corner of his eye. There stood Emil as if nothing ever even happened. Except now he was in his true form. He casually floated in the air with the same deadpan expression he always had. Then, a small smile appeared on his face for just a second.

"I'm surprised you didn't get in trouble."

"Nah, he's, like, pretty cool, and stuff." Xiang's normally straight face then slowly changed into a smirk. "I'm glad I was able to lift your spirits."

"Oh gods, enough with the puns already." Emil groaned as he reassumed human form.

At the end of the day, Emil, Xiang, and Lili met up at their lockers. Having a decent conversation was tough due to the other students yelling across the hall and trying to see exactly how many teachers they could piss off and how much shit they could get away with since the principle is so laid-back.

"So wait, run that by me again? We have to do what?" Emil inquired.

Lili sighed in response. "We were put in groups of three to create a 3-D model of DNA."

"Of course my favorite teacher decides to make my weekend, like, 1000x better." Xiang said with his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, at least we have an excuse to just hang out now." Lili said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Xiang just sighed. He really hated that class, but at least he would be able to do it with his two friends instead of people he only moderately cared about. With a quick goodbye, the three split up and went home.

Emil walked through the front door of his home and found Lukas sitting in the same chair in the corner he always sits in when he gets home, he anticipated getting scolded for going ghost in the middle of the day again, but such a monologue never came. Emil looked at his phone. Thursday. This was around the time the burden of constantly using his magic started to really take its toll on him. His blinks became slower and his eyes were no longer focused on the book that was threatening to tumble from his hands. This is exactly why it took so long after they moved in for them to actually go outside. It is also why Emil dropped his disguise as soon as he was safely inside. Only when Lukas felt the release of one of his magical connections did he snap into focus.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in." he said sleepily. "Lunch is on the table."

And just like that, he was back in his trance. Emil floated over and eyed the meal Lukas made for him. Had he been alive, he would have loved to eat it, but the fish now mocked him as he no longer had an appetite. If he ate, he would have to stay in human form and eating with an artificial body was too… weird. Plus, it would be adding more strain to Lukas' magic. However, he took note of what his brother had said to him yesterday.

"And by the way, try not looking like a ghost when you're going outside. It'll give us all away."

Emil knew he had to take better care of his human form. He eyed the fish fillet warily before he quickly returned to human form and tried his best to ignore his concern for Lukas for a few minutes. While he would never admit it, he was usually worried about his brother's wellbeing. With all the grace of a suburban family on an infomercial, Emil downed the food and put down the empty plate. It wasn't long before Emil's stomach began to churn. Clutching his stomach and putting a hand over his mouth he figured that a good rest would put both his mind and body at ease. The last thing he wanted was for Lukas to have something else to worry about. However, when he made it to his room, he only stared blankly at his bed. He hadn't slept since a few days after he died. With a sigh, he plopped himself on his bed and just sat there. He faced plenty of his fears today. Sleeping won't be one of them.

AN: Ok, I'm a big dumb and I'm terrible with names. I can't believe I changed Xiang's name in the middle of the story so I updated a few parts. The only actual change was a few typos, so none of the content has changed. I did the same with Lili and Lukas a few times too :P. But anyway, updates are slow because life happens. Enjoy this update cause I'm not sure when the next one is~