Chapter 147: A Woman's Heart (1)

Yang Juhee's large eyes welled up with tears.

I was surprised by her strong reaction when I teased her about acting cute when she was struggling as the 《Sacrificial Virgin》. Feeling that something scarier than her anger might happen if Yang Juhee cried, I started to panic, but then Yang Juhee snorted.

"So!"

"...So?"

"Did you enjoy kissing Yoo Dahee? You're grinning from ear to ear."

"I'm not grinning."

"You are in your heart!"

I didn't know Yang Juhee could read minds. To be honest, I couldn't help but feel good about being kissed by a pretty girl like Dahee.

It still felt like a dream. Well, it was actually a dream since I got kissed in the Nightmare Corridor...

"Ha Young-won! If Dahee and I were drowning, who would you save?"

"You're a good swimmer. When I saw you swimming with the girls before, you were like a mermaid princess."

"...Dahee and I drank poison and collapsed, but there's only one antidote! Who would you save?"

A woman's heart is truly unfathomable. Why does she keep asking these questions?

Why does she keep talking about situations where I have to save just one of them? When I didn't answer immediately, Yang Juhee asked angrily.

"Me or Yoo Dahee. Who would you date?"

This time it was a very direct question. I thought so hard I worried I might get circular hair loss, but I couldn't come up with an answer.

And suddenly, I got angry at my situation. 

Making my head boil on a hot morning! Yang Juhee, you rascal.

"Me or Yoo Dahee. Who would you date! Tell me quickly!"

"Yoo Dahee. Her family is rich. And if I dated you, I feel like I'd have to do all the housework."

"...What!?"

Yang Juhee jumped like a startled cat. Because of that, she fell backwards from the chair she was sitting on, swinging her legs.

Yang Juhee cried loudly, either because she was hurt from falling or for some other reason.

"How can you say that! Do you know how hard I work to help you! You jerk!"

I thought she might throw a punch, but instead, Yang Juhee curled up like a pillbug.

She was crying so pitifully that I felt like a real criminal. I jokingly said Yoo Dahee, but I didn't expect such an intense reaction.

"Hey, it's a joke. A joke."

To begin with, I had never seriously thought about dating either Dahee or Juhee. Because choosing would only break our harmony.

"Juhee, I didn't know you thought of me that way. What do you like about me?"

"What are you saying! I don't like you!"

It seemed it would be difficult to console her. But through my experiences so far, I knew Yang Juhee's weakness well.

Yang Juhee's weakness. It's that she's very ticklish.

Swish- Tickle tickle-

I tickled Yang Juhee's foot that was sticking out from under her bottom. Yang Juhee couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

"Kihihi! Hey!"

She laughed, cried, and got angry all at once. It might seem like nothing, but it was impressive to see three emotions mixed together.

Huff, huff-

Yang Juhee, breathing heavily with a red face, finally couldn't take it anymore and dove into my blanket. Then she wrapped herself up in the blanket. She looked just like a pupa in a cocoon. It seemed like this state might last for a while.

I had to admit that I had made a big mistake. A woman's heart is truly this difficult.

Let's consider it a costly lesson learned.

***

Ding dong-

"It's hot!"

"Come inside. It's cool inside because the air conditioner is on."

Yang Juhee came into our house. After sitting in a chair and swinging her legs casually, she asked me.

"You. Something happened with Yoo Dahee yesterday, right?"

A familiar question in a familiar scene. Of course it would be.

I rewound time for 100P!

I wondered if it was okay to use points for something like this, but it was the conclusion I reached after much thought and deliberation. I said to Juhee.

"You. Do you like me?"

"What? What are you saying all of a sudden!"

Thud-!

Yang Juhee, who was precariously leaning on the chair, fell over with a thud. The falling scene was similar to before.

"I like you, Yang Juhee. Because you're pretty. Because you're ticklish. Because you hate the heat. Because you're trying to find your sister. And..."

If I were to like Yang Juhee, there would be countless reasons to like her. Yang Juhee was flustered, probably thinking my confession was sudden.

"What are you saying! What's this all of a sudden!"

"But while I like you, I also like the others. Everyone is a precious companion and friend I've met. If I had to choose one, I'd end up agonizing and failing to save anyone, and we'd all die."

I liked how things were now.

I liked it so much that if I had a lot of points, I'd want to repeat each day forever and savor those days intensely. And I've grown through various experiences too.

I knew enough to realize that my immature crush and adolescent affection might break our current peace and unity.

"Still, when this is all over, I'll show you my choice. This is my promise as a man."

Swish-

I held out my pinky finger to Yang Juhee.

Yang Juhee seemed a bit flustered and confused by my sudden words, but eventually held out her pinky finger to me.

"...So what did you do with Yoo Dahee yesterday? Did you two kiss or something?"

What must happen will happen. Do things that are meant to happen always happen in the end...

I learn another lesson.

"That's not important. What's important is that we're starting to see a real clue. Look here. We have Bong Se-yeon's head. We'll be able to find your sister soon too."

"Whoa, shit, what's with the head?"

Good. I succeeded in diverting her attention. Of course, Yang Juhee was still looking at me with narrow eyes.

It seems she's letting it slide for now.

***

"That's what happened."

Chatter chatter-

I came to the secret base and told Jung-seok, Bong Ji-yeon, and Kwon Sua about what happened last night. I also took out Bong Se-yeon's head from the styrofoam box.

"This is Bong Se-yeon's head."

"Agh, shit, what is this!"

Bong Ji-yeon, who I thought would be the happiest to recover her sister's head, quickly stepped back. Wasn't finding her sister Bong Ji-yeon's goal?

I thought she'd be a bit happier.

"Here, it's your sister."

"...You bastard! Put that away!"

Put it away? That's too harsh for her own sister.

Swish-

I put Bong Se-yeon's head on the table. Jung-seok, who was watching, was also greatly impressed.

"It won't suddenly open its eyes, right?"

"I don't think so. We need to use a special method."

Glance-

I looked at Ms. Hong Mi-ri, who was sipping coffee. Ms. Hong Mi-ri could swap heads like Lego parts.

It was an incredibly amazing skill.

"Kyaa!"

Just then, someone screamed. 

Bong Ji-yeon, who had picked up Se-yeon's head, threw it in the air with a shocked face. Yang Juhee shouted "Hey!" and jumped on the desk to catch the head.

"What are you doing, you crazy girl!"

"Its eyes opened! They suddenly opened!"

Eyes?

Wondering what was going on, I saw that Bong Se-yeon's eyes were indeed wide open. They were pitch black eyes with no white at all.

It was so scary that my legs gave out.

"...Heemi."

It even made a strange noise. Of course, given the situation, no one paid attention to me. Soon, Bong Se-yeon's lips started moving, and Ms. Hong Mi-ri, who was watching, said:

"She's asking where this is."

Boing-

We all looked at Ms. Hong Mi-ri.

"I've been keeping a head too, remember? If you keep watching, you can understand what they're saying just by their lips."

"I see, it's lip reading."

Jung-seok pretended to know.

I didn't know what lip reading was, but the important thing was that we could now understand what Bong Se-yeon was saying. Ms. Hong Mi-ri was an expert on severed heads.

Munch munch-

The severed head moved its lips again like a goldfish.

"She says she's sleepy."

Swish-

Bong Se-yeon closed her eyes. After that, Bong Se-yeon didn't open her eyes again. She seems to be sleeping.

"Shouldn't we take this to the police station? Isn't this the head from a murder case?"

Kwon Sua made a fuss as if she was scared. It was the right thing to say. This is the head the police have been desperately looking for.

Bong Se-yeon's family even went to the police station crying, asking them to find the head. If we returned it, the family would be happy.

"No. We need to ask about my sister."

But Yang Juhee was against submitting this head. She said we need to hear the story from Bong Se-yeon's head.

"Bong Ji-yeon. What do you think?"

I asked Bong Ji-yeon, the blood relative.

If anyone had the right to choose what to do with the head in this place, it would be her sister Bong Ji-yeon. The reason Bong Ji-yeon had been cooperating with us was to find this 'head'.

Now that we've found the head, it also meant she had no reason to risk her life cooperating with us anymore.

"If we need my sister's head, it's okay if we delay giving it to the police a bit."

Everyone was relieved by Bong Ji-yeon's decision. Though no one said it, it seems everyone knew we needed that head.

Now it seemed we just needed to decide on our next course of action.

"Let's go to school today. The real school."

Explore the Nightmare Corridor in dreams-

And explore the real old school building in reality.

"How about exploring on two tracks like this?"

I told everyone my strategy, but my friends' reactions were more lukewarm than I expected.

Bong Ji-yeon, who had found her sister's head, was understandable, but even Jung-seok and Kwon Sua seemed a bit indifferent.

"I think we're really close now. We've almost found Yang Do-hee's whereabouts. And they say the fourth floor is the end of the corridor. We're really close now."

To boost everyone's motivation, I firmly restated our goal. Now that we knew where the finish line was, it was time to steel our resolve again.

Glance-

Just then, someone raised their hand.

"Um-"

It was Kwon Sua. Kwon Sua spoke softly.

"...What happens when we reach the end? Do we return to normal life? Not seeing ghosts and such?"

"Probably. Isn't that good for everyone? Ghosts are scary."

I heard Kwon Sua had suffered a lot from seeing ghosts since she was young. Wouldn't she be happy to return to a daily life without ghosts?

I thought that, but Kwon Sua spoke in a timid voice.

"I... don't think it's so bad now. I can see my dad every day..."

"...Your dad?"

"My dad is at home. I thought I'd never see him again for the rest of my life. Even though he's a ghost... Even though we can't really talk, still..."

I remembered when we all visited Kwon Sua's house.

Kwon Sua's father's ghost was there, and we came back without exorcising him. It seems Kwon Sua had grown attached to her father's ghost left behind in these few days.

"They say the fourth floor grants wishes. It might be possible to bring your father back to life. Everyone must have something they want to do. We just need to get to the fourth floor."

I tried to comfort everyone.

Everyone must have at least one wish they can't speak of. When we get to the fourth floor, we'll be able to fulfill all of them.

"I don't know. Those who want to stay can stay. I'm going."

Swish-

Yang Juhee stood up. Following that, everyone else stood up. The atmosphere was such that we had to stand up.

In the end, the expedition to the real school's basement started again. Each with their own thoughts, but all carrying their dreams.

Into the darkness, and into the dark basement.