Chapter 140
We found another box labeled "001". It was empty.
Where could the contents be? I don't know.
Now that I knew what this was, my mood soured.
"Just how many of these are there?"
It wasn't necessarily bad for high school students to use contraceptives. It's better than not using them at all.
But it was mind-boggling that those guys were at church right now.
The pastors must be preaching things like "If you don't keep your purity before marriage, you'll be stoned!" Even the Ten Commandments say 'Thou shalt not commit adultery.'
I wonder how they can sit through those sermons without blushing.
Of course, the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" comes right after "Thou shalt not commit adultery" in the Ten Commandments. And here I was, in the middle of stealing.
Am I being too hypocritical?
Are there degrees of sin, big and small? Just as the distinction between big and small ants doesn't mean much to humans, are my sin of stealing and Wang Ja-hyun's sin of adultery the same in God's eyes?
'I don't know.'
The important thing was that seeing women's clothes strewn about and the messy bed kept making my head burn.
For a hormonal teenage high school student, this house was too stimulating.
At the same age as me.
With girls from the same class in his villa where he lives alone, not long after transferring?
Wang Ja-hyun's life seemed more like a fantasy to me than having a 'status window' appear in front of me.
Unacceptable. I'll definitely steal those talismans.
Rummage rummage-
With that feeling, I tried hard to find the talismans. But no matter how much I looked, I couldn't find them.
'Was my guess wrong?'
I was certain there would be talismans stockpiled here by Wang Ja-hyun's group. But even after searching the house for 20 minutes, we couldn't find any talismans.
The time was 11:40 AM.
We had 1 hour and 20 minutes left. Honestly, I thought 3 hours would be enough, but I was starting to feel more and more suffocated.
"Here!"
Just then, Bong Ji-yeon shouted. It seemed Bong Ji-yeon had found something under the bed.
"Let's all lift this together!"
"Ugh!"
"It's... it's too heavy...!"
It was incredibly heavy. No joke, it must weigh about 100kg.
We all worked together to try and pull it out somehow.
Thud-!
When we put it down on the floor, there was quite a loud noise. It was a cube about 50cm on each side.
A very intricately carved metal box.
Clang-!
It had a padlock, but it was too thick to cut with the bolt cutter we had brought. And there were two such padlocks. What could be inside that they'd use such a sturdy metal box with two padlocks?
Gold bars?
No, it probably wasn't gold bars. We all already knew what was inside.
"This is it. This is the one!"
I cheered.
We needed to open this box quickly and see what was inside.
"Move aside. This lock. I've seen a lot of these at Jung-seok's house before. I know how to pick it."
Bong Ji-yeon took a hairpin out of her pocket.
Soon she was bending the pin this way and that inside the lock, rattling it very convincingly.
They say delinquents often steal bicycles or motorcycles, right? It wouldn't be strange for Bong Ji-yeon to have such experience and know how to pick locks.
Rattle, click-
Rattle-
Click-
One padlock opened. Seeing this, Kwon Sua said.
"Ji-yeon, you're really amazing! Honestly, I didn't know what role you played in the pirate crew! You're really shining today! If this were a game, you'd be the thief!"
"......"
Glance-
Bong Ji-yeon glared at Kwon Sua. As if she had something to say but was holding back, she went back to picking the other lock.
Rattle, click-
Just as everyone was watching Bong Ji-yeon's mysterious lock-picking-
The problematic message arrived.
"Jung-seok: Hey, big trouble. Wang Ja-hyun and the girls are trying to leave now."
It was already noon.
It seemed Jung-seok and Yang Juhee were having trouble keeping Wang Ja-hyun's group there.
"Keep them there as long as you can! As long as possible!!!!"
We had to hold out until Bong Ji-yeon picked the lock!
I thought about just running with the box, but it was too heavy, and if we struggled to carry it together, we'd definitely attract witnesses.
"Ji-yeon! Bong Ji-yeon! Hurry up! Quick! You're the thief, right!"
"Hey! Shit, be quiet! You're making me lose focus!"
It was pure panic.
Time that dragged so slowly during class was now flying by. It was already 12:20 PM.
"Jung-seok: We managed to keep them a bit longer, but now it's really late! Whatever you're doing, retreat quickly!"
Retreat?
It takes at least 10 to 20 minutes to get here from Glory Church. Would we have time to clean up this mess in that time?
Moreover, this house didn't have a digital lock, so someone had to lock the door from inside.
It would have to be Kwon Sua.
Kwon Sua would have to lock the door from inside, then go out through the window and get down to the first floor.
That would take at least 30 minutes.
Click-!
Just then, we heard the sound of the other lock opening.
I couldn't hold back and opened the box.
Whoosh-
As soon as we opened the box, an incredibly intense chill swept over our bodies. If X-rays had an ice-cold property, would it feel just like this?
"Look at that!"
Swish, swish, swish swish-
The crosses all over the house started turning upside down.
Inverted crosses. It felt ominous to anyone. We were all tense and flustered. We had no idea how long it would take to restore all those crosses to their original position.
Just as I was thinking we should quickly check and grab the contents of this cubic safe, Dahee said.
"I'll try to hold Wang Ja-hyun's group outside for now."
Swish-
Dahee went outside. Taking that chance, I looked at the contents of the box.
There were two items inside the box.
One was an envelope. Inside it wasn't money, but...
"...Talismans!"
Talismans. Ten of them. This was a huge win!
So they did hide talismans here! Ten of them!
This was equivalent to 4000P in points.
"...What could this be? It's in here with the talismans."
Just then, Kwon Sua showed interest in the other item.
It was something very small wrapped in tissue paper. I wondered what it could be, and then a voice echoed in my head.
[Wang Ja-hyun and the girls are coming from far away. I'll try to hold them for 10 minutes.]
What's this? Yoo Dahee's voice was echoing in my head!
"Did you guys hear Dahee's voice just now too?"
"What nonsense are you talking about! I'm closing the box! I'm going to lock it again!"
As Bong Ji-yeon was getting irritated, I quickly gathered all the contents of the box. We all worked together to push the box back under the bed.
"We need to put all the crosses back in place too!"
The longer it takes for them to discover the theft, the better.
So we planned to restore everything as much as possible before leaving.
***
Yoo Dahee was standing a bit away from Wang Ja-hyun's red brick villa on the route between Glory Church and Wang Ja-hyun's house.
Yoo Dahee, who had been waiting there, started walking as if by chance the moment Wang Ja-hyun appeared, chatting with the girls.
When they got close enough to recognize each other's faces, she stopped abruptly.
"Oh, you guys..."
Yoo Dahee tilted her head as if she didn't know anything. As Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon furrowed their brows looking at Yoo Dahee, Wang Ja-hyun smiled.
"It's Dahee. How's the Chairman doing?"
"You're Ja-hyun, right? I heard about you from Grandfather."
"I don't think it was anything good."
"He said you're an impressive kid and it would be good to be friends with you. Where are you going?"
"Me? I'm on my way home after going to church."
"Ja-hyun, let's go quickly. My legs hurt."
"What movie should we watch today?"
Giggle-
The girls pulled on Wang Ja-hyun's arms. Yoo Dahee got a strange feeling from the girls.
It could be described as the tension or sensuality of female students who had sexual experiences before becoming adults. They were connected as one.
They were united in a different sense from Ha Young-won's pirate crew. Thinking it wouldn't be easy to break their bond, Yoo Dahee smiled.
"You all seem close. Close enough to go to each other's houses and watch movies together."
"We often eat together too."
"During the vacation, we were together every day."
Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon looked at Yoo Dahee as if feeling a great sense of superiority.
To them, a handsome man like 'Wang Ja-hyun' was like a treasure, something to boast about. They seemed to feel a strange superiority towards Yoo Dahee while also appearing to be on guard.
Yoo Dahee asked, pretending not to know anything.
"Girls, it's so hot that I was thinking of getting some iced tea if there's a cafe nearby. Could you tell me where one is?"
"If you go that way, you'll find one."
"Really? Okay. Thanks."
Yoo Dahee deliberately headed in the wrong direction. Seeing this, Wang Ja-hyun spoke again.
"Not that way, but towards that utility pole. If you go there, you'll find it soon."
Yoo Dahee was about to ask, "Should I ask them to take me there?" but decided against it. Being too friendly might make them suspicious or misunderstand.
[Young-won, I can't hold them any longer.]
Yoo Dahee spoke to Ha Young-won through her newly acquired trait.
"《Whisper》: Able to speak with a mysterious voice."
This must have been the ability. She had managed to hold them for about 5 minutes, so now she had to trust her teammates for the rest.
Swish-
Finally, Yoo Dahee and Wang Ja-hyun's group parted ways. Wang Ja-hyun honestly admired Yoo Dahee's retreating figure.
Even though the girls next to him were linking arms with him, his gaze remained fixed on Yoo Dahee.
'If I could have become friends with her, I might not have had to go through all this trouble.'
"Ja-hyun, let's go quickly."
"I'm hot!"
As the girls whined like children and pulled on Wang Ja-hyun's arms, he slowly climbed the stairs and raised his key.
Click-
When he opened the door with the key and entered, the air inside the house felt a bit different.
"......"
Wang Ja-hyun headed towards the bed, just in case. And he said to the girls.
"Girls, I want to take out the box."
"Again? It's heavy, I don't want to."
"Let's just rest instead. Okay?"
"I said take it out."
When Wang Ja-hyun, who had been smiling kindly, suddenly turned cold, the girls flinched. The two girls smiled sheepishly as if nothing had happened and took out the box from under the bed.
"Ugh, it's heavy. Ye-rin! Gong Ye-rin! Put some strength into it!"
"You put in some strength!"
Thud-!
Finally, the box was placed on the floor.
Wang Ja-hyun took out a key from his pocket and opened the box. Then he checked the two items inside.
One was talismans in a white envelope.
Ten talismans.
"One is missing."
Originally, there should have been 11 talismans.
But this box only had 10 talismans. Just in case, Wang Ja-hyun looked at 'that thing' wrapped in tissue paper.
This was much more important than the talismans. It also required great resolve to check with the naked eye.
Swish-
With an ominous feeling, Wang Ja-hyun unrolled the rolled-up tissue paper.
Finally, he could see that the contents inside were empty.
"We've been robbed."