Chapter 78
"Then I guess I'll have to pretend to be Hong Ye-ri for a while. More precisely, I'll be acting as Hong Ye-ri who was pretending to be Hong Mi-ri. This is really confusing."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri decided to live by acting out a normal daily life as if nothing had happened, just as Hong Mi-ri had been doing until now.
I'm not sure if she, whose time stopped at 17, can act as a high school English teacher.
"Teacher. If you want to act like Ms. Hong Mi-ri, you need to speak a bit more rudely."
"Rudely? Ah... I get the feeling. Punk. Idiot. You mean I should speak coldly while mixing in insults like that, right?"
She's pretty good at it. Seems it's true that twins resemble each other.
Anyway, I saved Ms. Hong Mi-ri's life and even got a kiss as thanks.
Getting a kiss from a female teacher. Isn't this the first time since kindergarten?
Just thinking about it again makes my face burn hot.
"It's getting late. Hey, punk. Shouldn't you be heading home now?"
Ms. Hong Mi-ri asked me while looking out the window. It was very dark outside.
It's already 8 PM. I wonder if Mom has returned home by now.
The thought of going home made me feel a bit tired. When am I going home?
"Want me to drive you? Looks like I have a car, judging by the car keys in my pocket."
"...Teacher, you might be Hong Ye-ri, but weren't you unlicensed?"
"Haven't you heard of muscle memory? They say the body remembers."
"...No..."
Oh well, I don't know anymore.
With a 'whatever happens, happens' attitude, I got into Hong Mi-ri's car. Hong Mi-ri started the car with a slightly clumsy feeling.
"Wow. You don't have to turn the key, just press a button to start the engine? Nice car."
"...Can't I just walk?"
"Hey. Stay still. I think I'm starting to remember."
But after that, it was really smooth sailing.
Whether muscle memory really exists or not, Ms. Hong Mi-ri drove as smoothly as a best driver. This was more amazing than a ghost becoming human with its neck attaching and detaching.
"Then I'll see you at school."
"Um, teacher. I'm really curious, but what are you going to do with that body and head?"
I was still concerned about Hong Ye-ri's body and head.
I felt like I'd be curious about it for the rest of my life, probably until I die. Hong Mi-ri said,
"She's the one who betrayed me and caused me pain. Wouldn't it be unsatisfying if I don't torment her just the same?"
Shudder-
I felt a chill run down my spine. They say when a woman holds a grudge, frost falls even in summer.
That saying fit perfectly.
"Hey. Don't worry. I'll make sure it doesn't affect you at all. I'm just planning to keep her locked up and raise her in a basement or something."
Hearing the truth makes it even scarier.
"Well, goodbye! See you at school!"
Vroom-
Ms. Hong Mi-ri drove away. I returned home.
Mom saw me and said,
"Son! Where did you get kissed? What on earth is that? And you smell like urine?"
"Huh?"
Wondering what she meant, I looked in the mirror and saw a clear pink lipstick mark on my cheek, blooming like a butterfly with its wings spread wide.
"What, what is this?"
I rubbed my cheek with the back of my hand. But for some reason, the lip mark wouldn't come off at all!
I quickly changed out of my urine-soaked clothes and went to the bathroom to wash my body, scrubbing hard at the lipstick on my cheek, but it wouldn't wash off.
I'm screwed. But for some reason, I felt good.
"Hehehe."
I was grinning like a deflating balloon. The corners of my mouth kept relaxing.
Well, I did get a kiss from a pretty female teacher.
"She was really grateful."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri was sincerely grateful to me. Come to think of it, Gu Hyena, who also got her body back, seemed to feel grateful while still being wary of me.
Have I ever been thanked so much by someone in my life?
"It's not all bad things happening."
Since the status window appeared, no, even longer ago... since I met that girl in the shed and my life was completely turned upside down, I thought my life was always full of misfortune.
But thinking about it now, there were quite a few fun memories and a sense of fulfillment.
Jung-seok. Yang Juhee. Yoo Dahee. Bong Ji... yeon? And others.
I made some reliable friends too. When I lie in bed to sleep, I even feel anticipation because I have lots to do tomorrow.
I wonder how the kids will react when they find out I defeated the terrifying Hong Ye-ri.
I've already sent messages, but I felt good thinking about talking face to face.
Have I felt this fulfilled recently?
Maybe because of that, I gained a bit of courage.
"Mom."
I called out to Mom's back as she was doing the dishes. Mom asked while washing dishes,
"What?"
Clatter clatter. Swoosh-
"That girl from elementary school."
Clatter.
I felt her hand stop washing dishes for a moment, but only for a moment.
Clatter clatter clatter.
"Girl?"
"The girl Dad was keeping. What... happened to her?"
"...I thought you didn't want to talk about that time? You had a hard time because of that incident."
"Well, yeah."
Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up. I thought I should just go to my room and sleep.
Mom spoke to my back as I was about to leave,
"I'm sorry, son. Just... suddenly I feel that way."
Mom apologized.
I couldn't understand why Mom was apologizing.
***
"Did Ms. Hong Mi-ri change her style?"
"Why from red to pink?"
"Did she get a boyfriend?"
The day after the female teacher's attack on a male student, students showed interest when they met Ms. Hong Mi-ri in the corridor.
They seemed curious that Hong Mi-ri, who usually only wore red, had dressed herself in pink.
Thump-
Just then, someone hit my shoulder. Wang Ja-hyun had bumped his shoulder into mine as he passed by.
"Oh. Sorry."
Wang Ja-hyun smiled good-naturedly.
This bastard, he hit my shoulder on purpose but pretended not to know.
There were girls next to Wang Ja-hyun.
Im Hee-yeon and Gong Ye-rin. These two girls frowned at me.
"Hey. Ha Young-won. Don't block the way, move."
"Why do you have a bandage on your face? Did you get beaten up again?"
I've heard this kind of talk before. For some women, men who don't meet their romantic standards are like NPCs.
It seems I'm like an NPC to Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon.
Why are they being so rude? Of course, it was true that I was blocking the way.
"Gong Ye-rin. Im Hee-yeon. Stop chattering in the hallway and get inside quickly. We're having a pop quiz in first period. If you get less than half right, you'll have to take an additional test."
Just then, Ms. Hong Mi-ri scolded Gong Ye-rin and Im Hee-yeon.
Her attitude was similar to the usually casual Ms. Hong Mi-ri, and it was surprisingly impressive that she remembered all the students' names.
She's really Ms. Hong Mi-ri. She's become the perfect Ms. Hong Mi-ri.
"You're the punk Ha Young-won, right?"
As I was very surprised, Ms. Hong Mi-ri's eyes narrowed. Then she suddenly grabbed my arm and linked arms with me.
"Then Young-won. Let's go into the classroom."
"Uh─. What are you doing?"
I was flustered.
The teacher suddenly linking arms with me! The feeling of her body against my arm made me feel dizzy. The other kids seemed quite surprised and flustered too.
"What? What?"
"Wow, arm in arm."
"That's hilarious!"
Especially Wang Ja-hyun, who frowned, forgetting his specialty of managing his expressions.
"What's that about?"
I don't know either.
It was a moment when my face felt hot.
Anyway, first period English class. The lesson was better than expected.
No, in some ways, it was even better than the original Hong Mi-ri's teaching.
It's like the information was being hammered into our heads.
They said the original 17-year-old Hong Mi-ri had such good grades that she could easily aim for top universities in Seoul. Seems it was true.
The problem came after the class ended.
"Hey. What's going on? What happened? Why did the teacher link arms with you?"
Yang Juhee pulled my hair from behind after class ended. It hurt a bit.
"...I told you yesterday. I defeated the fake Hong Mi-ri and saved the real one!"
"So what does that mean?"
It would be great if we could talk openly in some secret place. There were too many ears listening in the classroom.
It seemed like we should discuss getting our own secret base as soon as possible.
Anyway, the day passed quickly like that. With the final exams coming up soon, most classes were self-study.
After school. Jung-seok approached me.
"Young-won. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
He seemed concerned about me going home alone after we went to the PC room together last time.
I was a bit panicked then. I didn't have time to worry about various things.
Jung-seok looked like he had a lot to say and ask.
But he seemed unable to open his mouth, either because he was conscious of the people around us or because he was watching my reaction.
We all went home together, except for Yoo Dahee who had a special class in A class.
Today was the day we were gathering at Jung-seok's house under the pretext of studying for the final exams.
Jung-seok's house was in an apartment complex.
"Oh, this is the same apartment as Kwon Suho's."
It was an incredibly spacious apartment. As expected of the mayor's son. He lives in a nice place.
"Oh, our Seok-ie brought friends? Oh my, you're Ji-yeon! It's been a while! You've become a real lady! How are your mother and father?"
"Hello."
Jung-seok's mother was a typical upper-class housewife. She was wearing glasses and looked a bit like Jung Sojin.
I wonder if this is what Jung Sojin will look like as a woman in her 40s.
Jung-seok's room was quite spacious, though not as big as Yoo Dahee's room. There were tons of books.
"Mom. We're going to study, so don't disturb us. You don't need to bring us fruit or anything."
Jung-seok spoke a bit coldly to his mother. I wanted to eat fruit, but it felt awkward to say so.
Anyway. Jung-seok's room was our temporary base for today.
I told them about what had happened so far. Of course, Bong Ji-yeon acted as if she was hearing it for the first time.
"What's this corridor and fake Hong Mi-ri you're talking about?"
Bong Ji-yeon had been through various things with us, but she didn't know the 'truth' at all. But after observing for a few days, I thought we could trust Bong Ji-yeon.
There was a good reason for that - Bong Ji-yeon had sufficient reason to cooperate with us if she knew the truth.
"We're exploring the Nightmare Corridor. And I heard there's something amazing at the end that grants wishes. If we do well, we might be able to save people, not just find your sister's head."
I was the one who had assembled Gu Hyena and Hong Mi-ri's bodies.
If we find Bong Se-yeon's head... and if we reach the end of the corridor and obtain 'something', I thought it might not be impossible to revive dead people.
How would she take this story? Bong Ji-yeon's expression changed dramatically.
"Wow. My horoscope today said I'd encounter a great secret, and it was right! So that's why Gu Hyena's body was moving and all that! This is amazing!"
...Honestly, I was at a loss for how to persuade her, but she seems to believe it more easily than I expected?
Bong Ji-yeon seemed to have been deeply into superstitions lately, so maybe that's why she was open-minded. I said to Bong Ji-yeon,
"Jung-seok here has been taking good care of you. It's also because Jung-seok earnestly asked in many ways to include you in our business."
"Hooo."
Bong Ji-yeon looked at Jung-seok and exclaimed as if impressed. Jung-seok's shoulders seemed to rise about 1cm.
"So? What are we going to do now?"
Bong Ji-yeon showed interest.
"Can you heal my ankle too?"
That... I'm not sure.
Well, if we can revive dead people, healing an ankle should be easy!
"That should be possible too."
I decided to make a lot of empty promises. And as a leader, I decided to clearly set our course for what we should do next.
"Let's see this through to the end since we've started. We'll enter the second floor after the final exams. So everyone, do well on your finals. And Bong Ji-yeon, can you go back to Kwon Suho's fam for a bit?"
"What? Why?! You said I could join Yoo Dahee's fam!"
This isn't Yoo Dahee's fam, it's Ha Young-won's Pirate Crew. I had a lot I wanted to say, but I felt I should say this first.
"Kwon Suho seemed to know a lot of things. His dad, Kwon Oh-sung, seems even more so. Kwon Suho still seemed to have a lot of lingering feelings for you. I want you to go in and act as a spy."
"What? If I go back now, that psycho might kill me!"
"There's a way. He must be feeling terrible right now. Bong Ji-yeon, when you approach Kwon Suho, ask him if he's having trouble eating meat. Then tell him you know the solution."