Chapter 90
Swaying back and forth, the girls started dancing. Spreading their arms like wings and lifting one leg, they looked exactly like cranes.
Bong Ji-yeon was completely immersed.
"Increase love luck! Love luck!"
She seemed to want to boost her love luck by receiving the energy of the queen who seduced the king and acted recklessly at will.
Honestly, I didn't believe in such things, but Bong Ji-yeon looked very serious. Maybe because she was originally an athlete, she seemed used to using her body and danced the crane dance very well.
"Hak! Hak!"
And she made funny crane sounds too. Do cranes make that sound?
Hehe-
When I laughed, Bong Ji-yeon glared at me.
I thought that if I laughed any more here, I might get beaten to death by angry girls rather than ghosts, so I turned my head. Bong Ji-yeon was really someone who knew how to hit guys hard. It's better not to provoke her unnecessarily.
Now my eyes fell on Yoo Dahee.
Yoo Dahee was flapping her hands left and right to mimic wings, and her hand and foot movements were as soft as feathers. Even to me, who had no interest in or knowledge of dance, it looked elegant.
"Dahee, you dance really well."
When I said this in admiration, Dahee chuckled.
"I learned traditional dance when I was young."
Traditional dance! Yoo Dahee, who grew up in a prestigious family, learned such refined things from childhood.
Watching Yoo Dahee dance swaying back and forth, she looked like a celestial maiden descending. People around also admired Yoo Dahee and her friends.
"Look at them."
"Are they filming some kind of MeTube video?"
"They're pretty. Like a girl group. Girl group trainees often come here, you know."
Maybe because the female students' looks were all above average, people seemed to understand it as some kind of happening where celebrity trainees came to dance at the tomb.
But the looks of the noonas watching us weren't bad either. Their skin was snow-white and their features were very distinct.
"I think that boy is cuter though."
"Which boy?"
Giggle, giggle-
I felt the noonas' gazes and my face flushed. Jung-seok also pretended not to notice and focused on filming.
There was also a friend whose expression was grumpy, as if full of dissatisfaction with this situation. Especially Yang Juhee.
"What am I doing right now?"
Do women experience post-nut clarity too?
The sight of her flapping her arms like wings and swaying back and forth was quite funny and cute, but she didn't seem to like it. I decided to say anything to praise them and boost the girls' morale.
"Wow, you're really no different from idols. With Yang Juhee dancing better than Dorangmul Girls, even ghosts would be moved."
"......"
Yang Juhee looked at me with an "oh really?" expression. Was my blatant praise too obvious?
However, regardless of whether my intention was seen through, it seemed to have an effect as Yang Juhee's dance moves imitating a crane by shaking her hips from side to side became even more dazzling and earnest.
The saying that praise makes even whales dance was true!
Anyway, about 10 minutes of dancing like three cranes frolicking in front of the tomb.
Flutter flutter, the girls' skirts swayed like wings, and beneath them white legs went up and down, and tiptoes lifted moved gently on the grass.
Then Bong Ji-yeon, exhausted first, sat down.
"Phew, it's too tiring. Let's rest a bit!"
We had hot weather before the summer vacation, the season when cicadas cling to nearby trees and cry. It was natural for sweat to form on their foreheads as they danced the crane dance under the scorching sun. Yang Juhee also stopped dancing and sat down.
"I feel totally deceived. Is this really right?"
She must be tired from dancing hard without seeing results. Meanwhile, Yoo Dahee was still quite energetic.
"I had fun though."
Now that I look, Yoo Dahee hadn't shed a single drop of sweat despite dancing so much in this hot weather. Is she the type that doesn't feel the heat? It could be seen as quite amazing.
We sat in the shade of the tree said to have grown through a rock and rested. The drinks we bought at the rest area quickly ran out and our sweat cooled down.
Swish-
It felt rather eerie instead. And my nape was really itchy.
"Young-won, there's a caterpillar on your neck."
"Uwaah!"
I freaked out at Yoo Dahee's words and shook my body as if having a fit. Soon something fell to the ground with a thud, and it was really a caterpillar!
"Aaaah!"
"Actually, it's just a foxtail."
Swish swish-
Yoo Dahee waved her hand holding a foxtail grass. She seemed to have played a prank on me. I've felt this before, but Dahee liked playing pranks.
"Actually, I knew too. I was just pretending to be surprised."
I pretended to be nonchalant, embarrassed by the fuss I had just made.
Of course, no one believed me.
With that feeling, the 10-minute break ended and Ms. Hong Mi-ri clapped her hands.
"Okay, break time's over! Kids, dance again!"
"Shouldn't you dance too, teacher? You're a single woman too. Wouldn't the probability increase the more people dance?"
Bong Ji-yeon suggested that Ms. Hong Mi-ri should dance too. It sounded reasonable to me too. But Ms. Hong Mi-ri shook her head.
"I need to preserve my energy because I have to drive later. And don't you think it'd be hard to do the crane dance in heels?"
Ms. Hong Mi-ri slightly extended her pink high heels. Hong Ye-ri's red shoes always stood out, but pink was quite impressive too.
As I was thinking this,
"What are you all doing there! You shouldn't dance carelessly at this tomb!"
Someone approached us and made us stop dancing. It was a man wearing a bluish shirt and a dark navy cap.
***
The management office was freezing with air conditioning. It was cold enough to shiver.
"Last time too, some girls came and danced saying they were filming a video or something, and there was a big accident."
Tsk tsk-
We sat in the management office and got scolded by the man. Especially Ms. Hong Mi-ri got scolded more.
"You say you're a teacher? You're making the kids do such a nice thing. What if something happens to the kids making them dance at a place where ghosts are said to appear? We had blocked entry today, but you went in there and danced!"
"We just went in because it was open? There were many other people besides us too."
Ms. Hong Mi-ri frowned and retorted sharply. Then the management office man asked back as if surprised.
"What people are you talking about? The cemetery wasn't open today. It means only the teacher and students were there. How could you see other people?"
Whooooosh-
The air conditioner started working again with a loud noise. Maybe because of that wind, or maybe because there was another foxtail grass on my neck, I felt the blood drain from my whole body and it was as cold as if my blood was freezing.
"...There were noonas."
I recalled the noonas who were giggling and chattering while watching our friends dance. And as I reached a certain conclusion, I couldn't bear it and pressed Jung-seok.
"Hey! Check your phone! The video you filmed! Isn't anyone else caught on it?"
When Jung-seok turned his phone and played the crane dance video, all our attention focused on the small, square screen. And we were speechless at the surprising thing captured on Jung-seok's phone.
No one but us was captured on Jung-seok's phone. Then what on earth were those pretty noonas who were giggling at us? Soon, the management office man clicked his tongue.
"I've experienced many unbelievable things working at this cemetery. It seems the students were bewitched. There are many ghosts here because it's a cemetery."
"Aaaah!"
That's when it happened.
Suddenly, Yang Juhee had a fit and picked up a nearby chair, starting to swing it at the management office man. Yang Juhee, the granddaughter of a miko from Japan, must have been possessed by a ghost!
"Die! Die! Diiie!"
"Hey! Stop Yang Juhee! Stop Yang Juhee!"
I had no choice but to cling to Yang Juhee's body to stop her going crazy. I tightly hugged her slim waist and pulled her away from the man, but she was as strong as a bull and I couldn't handle her.
It was a moment that reminded me of the saying that possessed people become so strong that even several strong men can't handle them. However, Yang Juhee shouted as if she was the wronged party:
"It's not me! It's not me! That man! That bastard! Look at that bastard! Didn't you see? That bastard had no back of his head!"
Yang Juhee pointed at the management man. But the management man who had just been hit by Yang Juhee and fallen down was nowhere to be seen.
What on earth is going on here?
"Hey! Jung-seok! Where did the management man go?!"
I asked Jung-seok, the coolest-headed among us. But Jung-seok, who was watching the video captured on his phone, was greatly shocked.
"The playback time is... 2 hours..."
"What are you talking about?! Hey! Get a grip!"
"I only filmed for about 5 minutes... but the video length is 2 hours... No matter where I skip to, we're dancing like crazy for 2 hours... What time was it when we came into this management office...?"
...I don't know.
We thought we danced for 5 minutes, but we actually danced for 2 hours? It felt like we were completely bewitched by ghosts.
As I was flustered, one of the girls screamed.
"Kyaaaaaah!"
It was Bong Ji-yeon. Bong Ji-yeon was sitting on the floor, almost having a seizure and on the verge of fainting.
"Ou... outside! Look outside! Outside!"
Bong Ji-yeon pointed outside the management office.
Following Bong Ji-yeon's hand, I looked out the window and saw something standing still under the bright midday sun that was still shining strongly.
They were women in white mourning clothes. Countless women with something like burlap sacks over their faces, with ropes tightly tied around their necks like nooses, and it was clearly not the work of humans.
They were all just standing still. Over a hundred women with sacks over their faces, just standing still.
I sensed we were screwed.
This... these aren't ghosts we can handle. We shouldn't have been so poor in points that we couldn't even summon the mercenary group!
"Let's run away! Let's run away! Guys, let's run away!"
I shouted to my friends. Everyone seemed to come to their senses and started moving, running between the women standing still.
I was worried the women might pounce on us, but fortunately that didn't happen.
"Ouch!"
That's when it happened.
Maybe because her ankle injury from the Gaeryong Lodge hadn't fully healed, Bong Ji-yeon fell down, and she cried in panic.
"Don't leave me behind! Don't leave me behind! Guys, don't leave me behiiind!"
Bong Ji-yeon stood among the ghosts with sacks over their heads and almost screamed. Seeing this, Jung-seok turned back.
"Wait!"
Jung-seok, who was usually weak, struggled to piggyback Bong Ji-yeon.
"Hey! Try to use some strength!"
"You're... you're too heavy...! Bong Ji-yeon, why are you so heavy!"
"Aaah!"
In this critical situation in many ways, I could realize that we were near the tomb of the villainess. Soon, Yang Juhee said,
"Hey, doesn't it feel like we've been going around in circles in the same place...!?"
I don't know!
Somehow, I felt like we were going in circles around the tomb too. Without realizing it, I turned my head to look at the tomb.
"Gasp!"
Then I made eye contact with a white-faced woman dancing crazily and laughing with her mouth torn wide.
"Hehehehehehe! Hehehehehehehehe!"
The laughter was like a sharp awl. She was mocking me. It was the same derision as the ghosts I encountered on the second floor of the corridor.
Swaying back and forth-
Her skirt lifted, revealing white legs that appeared and disappeared, and this too seemed like she was teasing and mocking me.
I was scared, but I also got really angry at the thought of having to run away helplessly again.
"You bitch!"
"...Young-won. Let's go! Stop it and let's go! We have to run away!"
Yoo Dahee pulled my arm.
"Let go! Let go! We'll just keep going in circles around this place even if we run anyway!"
But I couldn't contain the indignation bursting from inside me, as if possessed by a god. Even a mouse bites a snake's neck when cornered. And right now, I was completely a mouse.
"You Joseon bitch! Not even recognizing a heavenly man! You take men too lightly! Am I funny to you? Do I look that easy to you?"