Scene: The Almost-Kiss (ft. Ghost K, Mood Killer)

Nicholas is still recovering—his voice hoarse, his body drained from the sailor ghost.

Euijoo hasn't left his side since.

They're sitting in the back hallway behind the café, the air smelling like rain and leftover croissants, surrounded by mop buckets and the weird ghost-deterring salt K insists on scattering near the windows.

Nicholas finally looks at him.

"You really meant it? What you said—about loving me?"

Euijoo stiffens.

Then:

"Yeah."

Nicholas lets out a breath. Then a tiny laugh.

"You're the first person to say it and not run away."

Euijoo looks at him. Slowly, softly.

"You didn't run either."

The air between them shifts.

Nicholas leans in.

Their foreheads touch. Then noses.

And just as their lips are about to meet—

CLANG.

A broom slams onto the floor right next to them.

K (floating two feet away):

"If you're going to make out, do it somewhere less haunted. Like literally anywhere else."

Nicholas jumps.

Euijoo turns bright red.

"K, seriously?!"

"I've died once. I don't need to die again from secondhand tension."

Nicholas groans.

Euijoo buries his face in his hands.

K just floats backward through the wall, muttering:

"I used to haunt poets. They had standards."

K's Full Backstory: The Ghost Who Stayed

It wasn't just a fire.

The boarding house was used. A front for corrupt dealings. Smuggling. Debts.

K—real name Koga Yudai —was seventeen. A cleaner. Paid under the table. Smart, quiet, observant.

Too observant.

He overheard something he shouldn't have.

A tenant with power. A secret ledger. Money stolen.

He tried to tell someone.

Instead, he got locked in a room "by mistake" during a fire evacuation.

The lock never opened again.

The smoke filled the hall before anyone even noticed.

The kicker?

The man responsible lived. Went on to open Café Umbra years later.

Built it right on the bones of the boarding house.

Yudai's spirit stayed—not because he wanted to.

But because his memory was buried here.

No grave.

No justice.

No name.

Until Nicholas came. Until Euijoo listened. Until someone finally said it out loud.

Final Arc Setup: The Café Owner Returns (But Not Human Anymore)

The café has a new investor. A new "silent partner."

Old. Elegant. Unsettling.

"Name's Mr. Min," he says.
"Just came back to check on what I left behind."

Nicholas goes still the moment he sees him.

K, watching from the rafters, trembles.

"That's him," K whispers.
"That's the one who locked the door."

But something's wrong.

Mr. Min's shadow moves the wrong way.
He never blinks.
And ghosts? They avoid him.

Nicholas tries to read him—channel something—

And can't.

"He's not a ghost," Nicholas says.
"He's worse."

Hints start dropping:

The floorboards near the back office bleed ash when stepped on.

K starts glitching—his presence flickering violently.

Nicholas has nightmares of smoke, fire, and hands reaching through mirrors.

Euijoo finds an old photo of the original boarding house guests... and Mr. Min is in it. Not aged a day.

Final Conflict Preview:

"You weren't just killed," Nicholas tells K.
"You were sacrificed. This place isn't haunted. It's anchored. To him."

"He's not alive," K says. "He's what happens when you feed on grief long enough. He turned the café into a ritual."

Now?

It's time to break it.

Nicholas, Euijoo, and K will have to tear the story open—rewrite it—and finally let K go free...

Unless K's already too far gone to be saved.

☕️ FINAL BATTLE: THE CAFÉ DOESN'T WANT TO LET GO

It begins on a quiet night. Rain again—of course.

Nicholas feels it first. A chill that doesn't pass. A presence older than death.

Mr. Min walks in just before close. No umbrella. No footsteps. Eyes like scorched paper.

"You've been meddling," he says.

Nicholas steps forward.

"You stole this place. You turned grief into a feeding ground."

"And now it's mine again."

He lifts a hand—and the lights go out.

The café splits.

Not physically. Spiritually.

The walls ripple like heat haze. Shadows stretch. Tables crack. The back window bleeds light from somewhere else.

Nicholas doubles over—Mr. Min reaching for his core, trying to drag him under like he did to K.

Euijoo screams his name and tries to pull him back—but it's not enough.

And then—

They arrive.

👻 THE GHOSTS RETURN

One by one.

The girl in the music box dress.
The old sailor.
The man who sat at the window and never ordered.
Even the ghost cat Euijoo swore wasn't real.

Every spirit Nicholas ever helped comes back.

"You listened to me."
"You let me rest."
"You remembered."

They surround him—and push back.

Mr. Min reels, his shadow burning at the edges.

"You don't belong here anymore," Nicholas says.

"Neither do you," Min hisses.

And then—K steps forward.

✨ K'S FINAL MOMENT

He's glowing now. No flickering. No static. Just solid, beautiful light.

"You locked me away once," K says. "But they opened the door."

He holds out his hand—to Nicholas.

Nicholas takes it.

K looks at Euijoo, and for once, smiles.

"He's better when you're here."

Then he turns to Mr. Min.

And whispers:

"This story is over."

And with that—he vanishes.

A soft wind. A flicker of stars.
And peace.

Mr. Min?
Gone.
Erased like a bad ending rewritten.

💘 THE KISS (FINALLY)

The café resets. Everything back where it was.

Except now it's warm. Bright. Safe.

Nicholas stands frozen.

Euijoo steps in front of him.

"You okay?"

"No," Nicholas says. "Not until I—"

Euijoo kisses him.

No ghosts.
No darkness.
No interruptions.

Just hands in hair, breathless laughter, and the taste of finally.

🌤️ EPILOGUE

The café reopens.

It's a little busier.
A little warmer.

The music still skips on track 7.

Nicholas smiles more.
Euijoo stops pretending he doesn't care.

There's a framed sketch behind the counter:
A blond boy in a long coat, floating just off the floor, smirking slightly.

Underneath:

"K — Staff Member, Forever on Break."

"I still don't believe in ghosts," Euijoo mutters one morning.

Nicholas kisses his cheek and whispers,
"Good. Then you won't notice when I say I love you like one."

☕️ EPILOGUE SEQUEL: WELCOME TO YOUR FIRST SHIFT

The café hasn't changed much.

New paint. Same jazz records.
Same "Closed on Full Moons" sign that customers think is a joke.

Nicholas and Euijoo now own the place.
They live upstairs.
They run a side blog about "gentle hauntings and ethically sourced espresso."
They even adopted the ghost cat (his name is Beans).

Everything's chill—

Until their new part-time barista walks in.

"Hi. Uh, I'm here for the trainee shift?"

He's maybe 17.

Blond. Tall. Slightly bored expression.

He looks at Nicholas, then Euijoo, and frowns a little.

"You're staring."

Nicholas drops the towel he's holding.

Euijoo nearly drops the entire tray of croissants.

"What's your name?" Nicholas asks, voice tight.

"K, Koga Yudai."

"Do you—uh. Have a middle name?"

"Not that I know of? My grandma just calls me 'trouble.'"

Euijoo turns to Nicholas, mouthing:

It's him.

Nicholas, already tearing up:

I know.

🔁 YUDAI HAS NO IDEA WHY THEY'RE BEING WEIRD

He learns quickly. He's good at the register. Okay at steaming milk. Terrible at latte art.

But when he walks through the back hallway for the first time—

He stops.

And just says:

"It smells like rain here."

Nicholas watches him with his heart in his throat.

Yudai doesn't remember being a ghost.
But he's drawn to certain things:

He stands in the exact spot K used to haunt without realizing.

The stereo only skips when he's nearby.

He hums a waltz no one's played in years.

📝 A Note in the Staff Locker

One night, Yudai finds a notebook labeled "For New Staff (No Ghost Jokes Please)"

Inside is a single note, handwritten by Euijoo:

"If you ever feel like you've been here before...
Maybe you have.
And maybe this time, it ends better."

Yudai smiles. Doesn't know why.

He rips the page out and keeps it in his wallet.

☕️ LAST SCENE: FULL CIRCLE

Euijoo leans on the counter.

"You think he'll remember?"

Nicholas sips his tea, eyes on Yudai as he balances a tray without spilling a thing.

"Maybe he's not supposed to.
Maybe he just needed a chance to be new.
This time with coffee... instead of fire."

Euijoo hums.

"Think he'll stay?"

Nicholas smiles.

"He always does."

FINAL LINE:

Yudai walks past the chalkboard menu and without thinking, picks up a piece of chalk and writes:

"K was here."

He stares at it.

Doesn't remember why his chest aches.

But smiles anyway.