Chapter 94
The Rhythm Ghost. A long-necked woman who says she'll suck my brain while ticking with her mouth.
I vaguely thought this woman was a music teacher from Yeongji High. She even called herself a teacher, didn't she?
But Ms. Hong Mi-ri came up with a rather strange story.
"We think ghosts have reasons for becoming ghosts, or grudges, or unfulfilled desires that keep them from moving on, but some might not have any of these."
Becoming a ghost without a grudge or a sad story or reason?
Why on earth? Why would they do such a thing?
I couldn't understand, but Jung-seok, who was listening, chimed in as if he couldn't hold back.
"It's the difference between Korean and Japanese ghost stories. Korean ghosts usually have detailed backstories, but Japanese ghosts don't. They just spread disaster like natural calamities, without reason."
Pure malice without a story or cause. It reminded me of their mocking laughter I had heard before. And I remembered what Gu Hyena said when she refused to go up to the second floor.
"Gu Hyena said the ghosts on the second floor were fundamentally different from her. After hearing this, I understand a bit better."
Gu Hyena was a high school girl ghost who had a reason to become a ghost. She was dead but still had humanity.
But the monsters on the second floor were different. They were literally monsters with unknown causes or reasons.
To get past such creatures, I'll need to steel my heart even more.
The sun was already setting.
Sunday evening, on the way home after having a quick meal at a rest stop.
Everyone seemed tired of the highway scenery that looked the same, snoring and sleeping.
When I turned my head slightly, even Yoo Dahee and Yang Juhee, who usually don't get along, were sleeping with their shoulders leaning on each other.
Is Ms. Hong Mi-ri okay? If she falls asleep while driving, we'll all die.
As I was checking her complexion, Ms. Hong Mi-ri asked me.
"Why do you kids keep going into such scary nightmares? Usually, people want to avoid them. Is there a reason you're rushing into danger like moths to a flame?"
She was asking me, sitting in the passenger seat.
Why, she asks?
As I was thinking it was a difficult question to answer, Ms. Hong Mi-ri changed her question.
"Should I make the question easier to answer? What would you do if you got that incredible treasure at the end of the corridor? A wish-granting treasure. Is there something you want to do if you had it?"
It was like a teacher asking about future plans. Actually, it was quite similar.
Getting your hands on the treasure everyone desires so much-
I had never imagined that far.
Until now, I had been conquering the corridor, overcoming obstacles with the feeling of climbing a mountain simply because it's there. But if things go well for me, I'll eventually reach the peak everyone desires. What would I want to do then?
My dream. The end of my journey.
I thought deeply.
"I want to restore everything that's broken and damaged back to normal and live an ordinary, peaceful life."
"You're lying, right? I thought boys your age would naturally say they want to be surrounded by pretty girls. Be honest."
Being surrounded by girls was a nice wish too. But aren't I already surrounded by enough girls?
Even in my life, since kindergarten, I've been talking to girls the most, bumping into them, laughing naturally... it was youth itself.
Ironically, now when I'm facing death threats from ghosts multiple times is the most youthful moment in my life.
It was funny.
***
I was too tired to do anything as I climbed the stairs. But when I got home, my mom was making a fuss.
"Young-won! I heard you played with girls at a swimming pool!"
Huh, how did she know? I didn't tell mom.
Soon, mom showed me her phone.
"Mom became mutual followers with Juhee on Instagram! Mom knows everything!"
I saw a photo of the girls sitting by the pool with their legs stretched out. It seemed to be a photo Ms. Hong Mi-ri took while Jung-seok and I were busy shoveling.
There were a lot of likes. Comments were flooding in too.
"It's nice to see Ji-yeon still doing well haha"
"Where is this? Looks nice♡"
They're all quite popular. Mom said.
"Our son has grown up. Going to swimming pools with girls! Did you kiss too?"
"I didn't!"
I'm so tired.
I washed up first. After washing, I felt sleepy.
I lay on the bed and looked at my phone.
Looking at the photos the girls posted on Instagram, I thought it might look to strangers like we went on a relaxing trip after final exams.
There are so many comments. Lots of guys too.
I wonder if Yang Juhee or Yoo Dahee get DMs from various guys? They're all pretty girls, so they might be getting a lot of messages that I don't know about.
"I..."
On the other hand, I didn't really get any messages to speak of. My messenger friend list is still small and select.
「Jung Sojin: Young-won, I heard you went to the pool with Seok! Must have been fun ㅠ」
「Noona Kim Yoo-jung. When's the next time for modeling?」
I did have messages from women. But... I didn't really want to read them or reply.
...I'll pretend to be asleep and reply later.
Are Yang Juhee and Dahee sleeping? They looked really tired even when getting off the car earlier.
It's understandable. Fighting ghosts really drains your energy. It's a miracle none of us got hurt.
"Let's just sleep."
Summer vacation is coming soon.
As I was putting down my phone, wondering what to do during this summer break,
Ding-
Someone sent a message to my phone. Who could it be?
I was about to fall asleep, but I gathered my wits and checked my phone. It was an unfamiliar number.
「Sua: Excuse me?」
"Who's this."
It was someone not even on my friends list. Sending me a message out of the blue.
「?」
"Who is this?"
「Sua: Isn't this Ha Young-won?」
「Yes, it is. Who are you?」
A message from a stranger. I got tense, wondering if it might be a terrifying ghost like the 'Death Game' urban legend that appeared in group chats before.
「Sua. I'm Kwon Suho oppa's cousin, Kwon Sua. I heard you're a friend my cousin met recently」
Kwon Suho's cousin sister Kwon Sua. For a moment I wondered who it was, then I remembered Kwon Suho saying, "My cousin sister is an idol, I'll introduce you."!
Kwon Sua, the youngest member of Dorangmul Girls that Yang Juhee likes. A celebrity I'd only seen on the internet was contacting me.
"Oh."
Sleep suddenly vanished completely. The fatigue that was weighing on my body like heavy iron disappeared too.
After all, I got a message from a celebrity.
I couldn't help but feel curious and excited. Honestly, it didn't feel real.
「What's this about?」
I asked with a slightly pounding heart. After about 5 minutes, a reply came.
「Sua: Let's talk when we meet tomorrow」
「Sua: Keep it a secret from others」
To think I'd get an invitation to meet from an idol who's popular with every new song release. A hot summer of youth has come to my life too.
Of course, I couldn't think too optimistically. Why would Kwon Sua, Kwon Suho's cousin sister, contact me first?
I thought it was probably about Kwon Suho's situation, with a very high probability.
Why keep it a secret? Is it because there'd be dating rumors and a fuss if a famous idol meets a guy?
Anyway, after sleeping soundly with that feeling, the next day. The final exam rankings were released.
"Ha Young-won..."
I found my name among the list of names stretched out. About 102nd out of 250.
"Good, I'm above average at least."
If I managed to be above average while being attacked by ghosts and going through all sorts of things, that's good. Honestly, I didn't study at home at all.
I deserved praise for doing this well just with what I heard in class.
By the way, Jung-seok was 2nd. He probably didn't have time to study either, but his grades were really high.
Yang Juhee was 56th. Considering she was around 30th in the midterms, she dropped quite a bit.
"Ah shit, my grades dropped."
Yang Juhee sitting behind me, complaining. Of course, 56th was still a high rank in my opinion. I still can't believe Yang Juhee is good at studying.
Yoo Dahee was 9th. Dahee is smart. And Bong Ji-yeon was below 200th.
From 200th place down, they didn't reveal exact rankings, maybe to protect the kids' image. It wasn't surprising for Bong Ji-yeon, who didn't seem like she'd be good at studying.
Anyway, with finals over and summer vacation just next week, classes were boring and the weather was just hot. The season when cicadas cry incessantly.
"Vacation, huh..."
I got lost in thought for a moment, looking at the blue sky outside the window. The first summer vacation since entering high school.
I heard other schools make students come study even during vacation, but we didn't have that except for the special A class.
It meant we could play to our heart's content. Of course, if we really played around, we'd mess up our college entrance exams.
"Hey, Ha Young-won, what are you doing today? I'm going to buy summer clothes, want to come with me? You need to carry my bags. Bong Ji-yeon and Yoo Dahee say they can't come because they have something to do."
After class, Yang Juhee slapped my back with her palm. She's thinking of going clothes shopping. Maybe she was fully intending to bring me as a porter.
But I had to refuse today.
"I have an appointment."
If I said I was meeting idol Kwon Sua, Yang Juhee might faint. Sua asked to keep it a secret.
But I owed Yang Juhee a big debt. I still felt moved thinking about how Yang Juhee gave me her talisman and died. Let's not lie to Yang Juhee at least.
With that thought, I carefully said.
"You know that idol who sang Nympfinity Love that you like? Dorangmul Girls."
"What about Dorangmul Girls?"
"There's the youngest, Kwon Sua, right? I'm meeting her today."
"Whaaaat!?"
Yang Juhee screamed loudly. The classmates preparing to go home all looked at us. Yang Juhee, face red with embarrassment, shouted quietly.
"You're not lying?"
"It's true. She said to keep it secret, but I'm telling you specially."
I was the captain of the Young-won Pirate Crew. It meant I had a duty to take care of my crew.
It would be nice if she could realize how specially I think of and take care of Yang Juhee from this. But for some reason, Yang Juhee got angry.
"Who are you to meet Kwon Sua? What are you? Did you do something weird with that status window of yours?"
How am I supposed to use the status window to meet an idol? Yang Juhee has a rich imagination.
"Actually, I don't know why she wants to meet either. Want to come along? She did ask to keep it secret from others, but she didn't say to come alone."
Since we never know what might happen when and where, it would be reassuring in many ways to bring Yang Juhee along.
Yang Juhee's pupils shook greatly as if an earthquake had occurred, and finally she nodded.
"Okay."