Mr. Balicasa remained quiet for a while after hearing everything about the graduation plans. His eyes kept shifting between us and Paulo's mother who was still wiping her tears with trembling hands. The small room felt cramped with all of us inside, yet somehow none of us minded it anymore.
Then he finally spoke.
"So…" he started slowly, voice careful, "you kids… you're not entirely friends with Paulo, are you?"
I smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of my neck.
"Well… we are from the same school," I admitted. "That part's true."
Paulo immediately looked guilty beside the cabinet while Alicia kept peeking at him like she was waiting how I'd explain this mess.
"It's just that…" I continued, glancing briefly toward Paulo before looking back at his family, "I got acquainted with him after he already became a ghost."
The room turned silent again.
Paulo's sister blinked twice like she was checking if she heard me correctly while Mr. Balicasa just stared at me with the exhausted expression of a father who had already accepted too many unbelievable things today.
So I decided to just continue before the silence got even weirder.
"We're actually a legitimate club at the university," I explained. "We also operate outside the school. We have a physical store and a website called ParaSystem. We handle paranormal investigations and entity-related cases."
Sarah nodded lightly from the doorway.
"Cases involving ghosts, possessions, cursed places… things like that."
"And Paulo," I added while glancing toward the awkward ghost currently standing behind his mother, "ended up becoming one of our clients."
Paulo looked embarrassed hearing himself referred to like that.
His sister, meanwhile, looked completely lost.
"You're saying…" she muttered slowly, "our dead brother hired college students?"
"That's technically what happened," Gino answered casually.
Cynthia elbowed him immediately.
"Can you stop making it sound ridiculous?"
"But it is ridiculous," Gino whispered back.
Honestly, fair point.
Mr. Balicasa rubbed his forehead before looking at me again.
"Since this is your business…" he said hesitantly, "does that mean we need to pay for all of this?"
I shook my head almost immediately.
"No."
"But—"
"If the client is already a ghost or another entity," I explained gently, "we don't ask payment from the living family."
I looked at Paulo for a second before continuing.
"That just doesn't sit right with me."
The room softened after that.
Paulo's mother started crying again quietly while Paulo himself lowered his head, probably because he didn't expect anyone to help him this much after dying.
Then Paulo's sister suddenly frowned.
"Wait…" she said slowly, "if you keep doing cases without payment… won't your business go bankrupt?"
I let out a long sigh.
Honestly?
If ParaSystem actually ran like a normal business, we'd probably already be drowning.
"At this point," I muttered, "we're technically already operating at a loss."
"That's because Anthony keeps helping people first before thinking about profit," Cynthia suddenly said.
I immediately looked at her.
Why was she saying it like I was some noble protagonist?
Cynthia crossed her arms while speaking to Paulo's family with complete sincerity.
"ParaSystem only became possible because Anthony wanted to help people and entities that others ignored."
Sarah nodded softly beside her.
"He complains a lot," she added gently, "but he's always the first one to move when someone needs help."
"Very heroic type," Gino added while grinning.
I stared at the three of them in disbelief.
Heroic?
Internally, I was already screaming.
If not for suddenly waking up one day with a mysterious system forcing me into paranormal nonsense, I would never voluntarily fight ghosts and mythical creatures.
I fear these things.
Still fear them.
Every single case makes my heartbeat shoot through the roof.
But there was no point correcting Cynthia now because Paulo's mother had already stepped forward and hugged me tightly while crying.
And honestly… this wasn't even the first time I handled something without asking for payment.
Back then, before ParaSystem became an actual business, I really did help for free.
It's just that the items, upgrades, and everything else started becoming absurdly expensive.
So somewhere along the way, the "helping people" part accidentally turned into "helping people while trying not to financially collapse."
I awkwardly hugged Mrs. Balicasa back while trying not to die from embarrassment because Cynthia was still making me sound like some selfless saint.
When she finally let go, I smiled lightly and tried steering the conversation somewhere safer.
"We'll coordinate the graduation plans with you," I said. "Can we get your contact numbers first?"
Paulo's sister immediately nodded and handed Sarah her number while Cynthia started discussing schedules and possible dates with surprising seriousness.
Meanwhile, I glanced toward Paulo.
"As for you…" I said carefully, "do you want to stay here with your family for now?"
His mother instinctively looked around even though she couldn't see him anymore.
"If Paulo wants to stay," she said softly, "he can."
Paulo stayed quiet for a moment.
Then slowly shook his head.
"I want to go back with you guys," he admitted. "I want to see the preparations."
Alicia immediately clapped happily.
"See? School is fun."
Millien sighed from beside her.
"You say that while never actually studying."
"I study!" Alicia protested.
"You eat cookies during lessons."
"That's still attending class."
I relayed Paulo's answer to his family, and although sadness briefly crossed their faces again, they respected his decision.
By the time we finally stepped outside the house, the sky had already darkened completely. The evening air felt cooler now, quieter compared to earlier when relatives still crowded the place.
Paulo's older sister escorted us toward the gate while thanking us repeatedly.
Before leaving, Paulo quietly walked toward his family one last time.
Then hugged them.
They couldn't see him anymore.
Couldn't hear him either.
But when the cold chill passed around them, all three smiled softly like they understood he was there.
And somehow… that felt enough.
When we finally stepped out onto the street, Gino shoved both hands into his pockets and let out a breath.
"So," he muttered, "we're officially organizing a ghost graduation ceremony."
Cynthia immediately lifted her chin.
"And it's going to look elegant."
"There it is," Sarah laughed softly. "I was waiting for you to say that."
I looked back toward the Balicasa residence one last time before turning away.
Then sighed.
"…This club really stopped being normal a long time ago."