Caspar the Friendly Ghostbuster is an internet-famous paranormal vlogger aiming for his biggest project yet -- exploring the Box, a former psychiatric prison and soon-to-be amusement park location. He’s hoping to expand his profile and do a little brand rehabilitation following an embarrassing candid conversation publicly shared by his former friend (now biggest rival), Yasahiro.
When he arrives at the imposing structure, though, he finds that he’s not the only ghost hunter investigating, and his exclusive quickly becomes a race to find ghosts between Cas and Yasa. Can Cas keep it together in the face of Yasa’s betrayal and his own stubborn attraction? And what might happen when the ghost hunters become the ghost hunted?
Wait, was he saying what Cas thought he was saying? That he ... that he wanted to be with him all along? Not as friends, but as lovers? And something inside Cas broke at that. Was he really so weak, to feel such elation at hearing those words? It felt like he was betraying himself this time, because he had hoped to hear Yasa say that for so long. He had always ... always hoped that there was something else; some way that Yasa hadn't meant to hurt him. Yasa was part of the reason for his breakup, after all, Brad accusing Cas of spending too much time with him, being too close to him. And Cas had thought that, maybe, with him out of the way, that maybe he could have ... he swung around to face Yasa.
"Why didn't you just say something?" Cas demanded, as much of himself and of Yasa, because his silence had been just as damning.
"I'm sorry," Yasa said again.
"Sorry for what?" Cas asked, hands balled into tight fists. "Sorry for making me look like a fake? For setting me back a year? A year of begging and apologizing and working my ass off to make up for five stupid fucking minutes that were supposed to be for you and me and not ..." Cas broke off, not trusting himself to say anything more.
No one spoke, and Cas let his eyes rest on Yasa's face. His eyes were black circles in the darkness, his face covered in shadows but Cas could see the sadness there, the hesitation, the hurt. Why didn't it feel better? He had imagined laying into Yasa ever since they had parted ways, and yet now that the man himself was standing in front of him, tight body mere inches away, why did he want nothing more than to wrap his arms around those tired-looking shoulders and forgive? What was he thinking?
"Caspar ..." Yasa said.
Cas wanted to curse. The way Yasa said his name told him all he needed to know.
"Caspar ..." came his name again, but Yasa hadn't spoken. Neither had Cas. The air in the room seemed to vibrate, seemed to come alive with static. Every hair on Cas' body stood up, and his breathing paused as he swallowed and tried to place where the voice had come from.
"Caspar ..." it came again. Definitely behind him and definitely not a hallucination caused by the pot. He swore inwardly, at the same time hoping that his equipment was picking it up. Where were they? Were they still in the area that Rina had mapped out? Cas realized he didn't know. He looked up into Yasa's face, which was fixed on the space behind him. It looked like he was watching something. Cas gritted his teeth and turned.
What did a voice even look like? He'd seen orbs before. Once or twice a face in a reflection. Once he had even captured the sound of a child laughing, though at the time he hadn't heard anything. Only listening to the audio on playback with filters applied did it sound like anything. But this ...
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