Chapter 112: When the Cicadas Cry (2)

We all ate lunch together in the dining room.

The housekeeper noonas and Mrs. Danvers also sat at the long table eating bibimbap, which was delicious.

Who knew there was a place in the world that put sliced hanwoo flank steak in bibimbap?

For me, this luxurious lunch was more shocking than my daily life with ghosts. Also, the fact that Jung-seok went on a date was shocking.

"Hey, what's going on? I heard you took pictures with some girl at 'Jeongsim-dang'?"

I asked Jung-seok, who joined us for lunch, about what happened this morning. Jung-seok added, with his characteristic expressionless face.

"She's my dad's friend's daughter. I know what you're thinking, but we're not like that, so don't misunderstand or be suspicious."

Jung-seok drew a clear line.

As I was gauging whether I should cross that line or not, Yang Juhee gulped down some cold water and boldly crossed it.

"Hey. You two looked good together. She seemed better than Bong Ji-yeon. You know, girls don't even eat with guys they're not interested in. They don't even become friends. If she went to a bakery with you, it's a done deal."

Soon, the housekeeper noonas who were listening burst into laughter.

"Look at them talking."

"It's cute. I remember when I used to talk like that too."

"If a guy and a girl ate bread together at 'Jeongsim-dang', it's already over."

I wonder what kind of place 'Jeongsim-dang' is to these Gaeryong people.

Is it a place where if a guy and a girl go on a date there, they must start dating?

It seemed this world was still full of secrets I didn't know.

"Kids, do you know about the tree where love comes true? We have one in our garden!"

One of the housekeeper noonas told us something that perked up our ears.

'A tree where love comes true.'

Could it be a haunted tree?

I thought we might be able to earn points if we play our cards right. As I was thinking it would be good to see that tree after lunch, Yoo Dahee said.

"That tree? It's a really big and old tree."

It was 1 PM, with the sun high in the sky.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzz-

Spio spio-

The cicadas started crying incredibly loudly.

Maybe because the garden was so wide, it seemed like each bush and tree had a cicada perched on it, screaming its lungs out. It was so noisy that Yang Juhee covered her ears.

"Ugh, it's so noisy. Why is it so loud?"

Unlike Yang Juhee who was annoyed, Yoo Dahee, who lived in this mansion, seemed used to the cicadas' cries.

Yoo Dahee said.

"After spending a long time as grubs, they only sing for about a week. They're singing their hearts out to find a mate. Doesn't it sound romantic when you think about it that way?"

Cicadas singing about love for a week before dying. In terms of singing about love, they were just like idols.

Anyway, there was a tree that seemed likely to have the most cicadas clinging to it.

It was an incredibly thick and large cherry tree.

How many years had it lived?

As someone not interested in trees, I couldn't even guess its age.

"They say if a couple who like each other carve their names here with a knife, they'll get married and live happily ever after. The ajumma who used to be here told me that."

My ears perked up at Yoo Dahee's story.

The ajumma who used to be here... must be my mom.

On a hunch, I looked at the tree and noticed that someone had roughly scratched the surface of the tree with a knife at about my eye level.

"Chae-yeon♡Bo─"

My mom's name was written there.

After that, it looked like another name had been written but was scratched out with a knife.

I could tell it was my father's name.

Did mom write this?

Why was dad's name erased?

As I was pondering this, other letters caught my eye.

"Dae-gon, A-yeon 198─. 8. 12"

"May our love last forever"

Dae-gon was the Chairman's name. A-yeon... it probably wasn't referring to the element zinc, but likely a person's name.

Logically thinking, it must be the Chairman's lover from when he was young. Otherwise, they wouldn't have written "May our love last forever".

It felt strange to think that even an old man once had a boyhood where he listened to romantic superstitions. To think that all the old people in the world were once boys and girls.

I felt a bit melancholic wondering if I too would become a grumpy old grandpa someday, though that's far off.

Just then, I noticed other letters.

"The friendship and love of the Film Club forever─."

"Heart Queen", "Aquaman", "Darth Vader", "Sailor Moon"

Film Club? Below it were character names.

What could it be? The names were familiar too.

"Aquaman..."

The names I had seen in the corridor were here.

Suddenly, I had a good idea.

"Hey guys, should we write our names here too? Yang Juhee, you have a knife, right?"

"Hey. Do I look like a girl who carries dangerous things like knives to you?"

"So do you have one or not?"

"...I do."

Yang Juhee was a girl who always carried a box cutter. She was a truly terrifying knife-wielding high school girl.

By the way, that box cutter was something Yang Juhee had extorted from me, and she didn't seem to have any intention of returning it.

Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch-

We carved "Ha Young-won Pirate Crew" on the tree and then wrote the names "Young-won", "Jung-seok", "Juhee", "Dahee", "Sua".

Buzz buzz buzz- With the cicadas crying in the hot summer, writing our names like this felt like a proper summer vacation memory even to me, and I felt proud.

Yoo Dahee asked.

"I wonder how long our names will last? How about we come here every summer to see if our names are still there?"

Let's gather here every summer-

It seemed like a good idea. I suddenly thought about what we might be doing next summer.

The year after that? And the year after that? And the year after that?

We were bound by the fence of high school, but someday we'd have to go to college, and the boys would have to go to the military.

Would it become difficult to gather like this when that time comes?

What will we be doing when we become adults? Will we still be tormented by ghosts then?

Or maybe everything will be resolved well, and we'll return to our daily lives, moving towards the dreams we each wanted to pursue.

When that time comes, will we really gather once a year, only on special anniversaries, to talk about our memories?

Suddenly, I felt a bit sad at the thought of parting ways with friends I'd grown close to through various life experiences and living our own separate lives.

As I've said before, this time of fighting all sorts of ghosts, nightmares, and monsters was truly the brightest summer of my life.

I wished these days could continue forever.

I had that thought for a moment, but then someone slapped my shoulder, bringing me back to reality.

"Hey, Ha Young-won. Let's take a picture."

Yang Juhee called the kids and lined them up. She suggested we all take a picture together, but Jung-seok raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Bong Ji-yeon isn't here?"

"Hey, it's the absent person's fault. Then, noona over there! Can you take a picture of us?"

A housekeeper noona who was watering the garden took our picture with Yang Juhee's phone.

"You guys don't look close. Get a bit closer. Put your arms around each other's shoulders. Smile. That's it. Now it looks good. Okay, I'll count to three. One─ Three!"

Click-! Flash-!

Ah, I think I closed my eyes. I didn't know the flash was on in the photo app!

Kwon Sua giggled.

"It's been a while since I've had this much fun without worrying about others’ eyes!"

***

After dinner, I felt good with a full stomach. Dinner was a full Korean course meal.

The mansion had a huge bath. Soaking in it made my mind feel clear.

─Hey! Yoo Dahee! You splashed cold water on me on purpose, didn't you!

─No? What are you- Eek! It's cold!

I could hear the girls giggling on the other side of the wall.

The thought of girls my age bathing on the other side of the wall made me feel oddly conflicted. In contrast, Jung-seok had been calm all day.

"In the end, we didn't really find out anything about ghosts. We just played all day."

Jung-seok seemed quite disappointed that we had no results or achievements until dinner time.

I could easily agree with him since I was also fixated on the idea of earning lots of points. But well, isn't it fine if we had fun?

And our real investigation was set to start after evening when night fell on the mansion.

A mansion where you shouldn't wander around freely after 10 PM. That's suspicious, isn't it?

"I'm planning to sneak into the Chairman's study at night. I'd like you all to come with me, but the problem is we can't easily approach because of all the poisonous plants."

Couldn't we ask Yoo Dahee for help with this? Yoo Dahee would know where the antidote is.

As I was thinking this...

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!

A piercing scream was heard. It came from the bath where the girls were washing.

"Hey! What's going on! What happened!"

I jumped up in surprise and ran out of the men's bath towards the women's bath.

There, I saw someone collapsed on the changing room floor of the women's bath, with bright red blood splattered everywhere.

Yang Juhee, wearing a white blood-stained bathrobe, shouted.

"Y-Yoo Dahee suddenly started vomiting blood..."

I approached the pale girl lying there. She wasn't breathing. I put my ear to her heart.

"...It's stopped..."

Maybe because I had been soaking in the bath for a long time, a dizzying vertigo hit my head.

I felt like all of this might be a dream. But this wasn't the "Nightmare Corridor", it was real.

"Dahee..."

I shook Yoo Dahee's face and patted her cheeks, but it was useless.

As I was overwhelmed by the huge shock, Yang Juhee shouted.

"Urgh!"

When I turned my head, Yang Juhee was spewing blood from her mouth.

"Ugh-"

"Yang Juhee! Hey!"

My hair stood on end as I watched Yang Juhee spewing blood from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

Yang Juhee said to me.

"D-don't look..."

The life disappeared from Yang Juhee's blood-red eyes.

Thud-

Why...?

Why did this happen? Why did this suddenly happen?

I couldn't understand.

As if in a trance, I stumbled back to the men's bath, where Jung-seok had also collapsed, splattering red blood in the bath. Only Kwon Sua and I had survived from our pirate crew.

Why on earth...? As I was thinking this, Kwon Sua shouted.

"The window! Look out the window!"

The words "look out the window" gave me a sense of déjà vu. I stared out the window, my mind feeling like it had flown away.

Through the bathroom window, I could see something amazing happening.

The sun that had set in the west was rising again towards the east, and the constellations in the sky were swirling.

"What on earth is─"

Ding-

Text appeared in front of me.

"《Sloppy Clock》 has─"

I tried to read the text, but there wasn't enough time.

Click-! Flash-!

A dazzling flash hit my eyes. As I was rubbing my eyes in a daze, Kwon Sua giggled.

"It's been a while since I've had this much fun without worrying about others!"

"......!?"

I looked around in great surprise.

Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz-

The kids were laughing under the cherry tree where cicadas were crying loudly.

Friends who had just died vomiting blood in the bathroom were now chattering away under the cherry tree, looking at the photo the housekeeper noona had taken.

"Wow, this bastard Ha Young-won closed his eyes."

"Hehehe, we can take it again! But this is cute in its own way."

...A dream?

No, the sweat dripping down my back felt too vivid for this to be a dream.

I could tell that many things had been 'rewound'.

It was my clock-trait intuition. I didn't know exactly what had happened, but I knew what I had to do now.

"Guys... I have something to say..."