Ghost Story (1)

“Why didn’t you come yesterday?”

The Literature Girl was holding Baudelaire’s “Flower of Evil” in her hand.

Her jet-black hair shone like the night sky, and her white skin was as transparent as the milk accidentally spilled by the class leader.
The moment I realized that the faint smile lingering on her lips was directed at me, my mind went blank.

“I’ve been waiting for you these days. But you weren’t around.”

The girl I had been secretly crushing on since seeing her at the library said she had been waiting for me.
I looked around again, wondering if she might be talking to someone else besides me.

*Swish*

A slender white finger approached me and brushed the dust off my shoulder.

“There was dust on your shoulder. See you later, then.”

*Tap* *Vroom*

The Literature Girl got back into the black car, spewing dark exhaust as she disappeared.
I was convinced I would never forget what had just happened for the rest of my life.

“Hey. Ha Youngwon. Do you know Yoo Dahee?”

Yang Juhui asked me.
Only then could I snap out of my dazed state.
It felt like I had been wandering in a dream and had just woken up.

“Her name is Yoo Dahee? Did I know her?”

Yang Juhui seemed to know the name of the Literature Girl.
Well, it wouldn’t be strange for such a pretty girl to be famous.

Of course, Yang Juhui was also pretty, but if you compare them, they are in different leagues.
If Yang Juhui’s beauty felt like a high school girl influencer on social media, the Literature Girl from earlier was similar to the feeling of finding something beautiful while listening to music by Bach or Mozart.

“You just acted like you knew each other, and now you’re pretending you don’t? That’s funny. Is the girlfriend you said you used to date by any chance Yoo Dahee? You’re really hilarious. Wow, how…”

Yang Juhui, who tried to say something, frowned.
She said it was funny, but she wasn’t smiling at all.

“I’m going first. I don’t want to be late.”

She looked at her cell phone and started walking at a very fast pace. Although I say walking, her long strides made it seem more like running.

“Hey! Let’s go together!”

Yang Juhui disappeared like that, walking swiftly.
I tried hard to catch up with her, but due to the unapproachable atmosphere, I ultimately failed to do so.

Yang Juhui seemed to have misunderstood something.
Did she think I dated Yoo Dahee?
Yang Juhui’s mood seemed to have turned sour as if she had a bad relationship with the Literature Girl Yoo Dahee.

When I arrived at school, Yang Juhui was lying face down in the seat behind me.
She stayed face down even after class started and remained that way until lunchtime ended.
She slept through all her classes like a total delinquent. Well, she was originally a delinquent anyway.

Do you know who Yoo Dahee is?
Jeong Sojin: Youngwon-ah, you shouldn't use your phone during class ^^.

“……”

I’m an idiot for asking her.
Just as I thought that another reply came.

Jeong Sojin: Are you talking about Yoo Dahee from Class A? I don't know much except that she comes to school by car every day ^^.

So she doesn’t know.
Well, even if Jeong Sojin is the class president and nosy, she can’t know everything about students from other classes.
With that feeling, time passed, and it was after school.

As soon as the bell rang, Yang Juhui grabbed her bag and swiftly left.
I was going to briefly talk about the “Nightmare Corridor” today.

Instead, another girl approached me.

“Youngwon-ah, what are you doing after school today?”

It was the class president, Jeong Sojin.

Because Jeong Sojin, a popular girl in Class D, approached me and started talking, I felt the gazes of the kids packing their bags strangely focused on me.

What kind of situation is this again?
Why did she come to me again?
Is it because of the text I sent earlier? I regretted my actions.

“If you’re not doing anything, will you go to the bookstore with me? I want to find a book for a book report for the upcoming essay contest, but I don’t know much about novels and such…”

Do I have an image of someone who knows a lot about novels to Jeong Sojin?
At the beginning of the semester, I read a lot of books like this during breaks or lunchtime.

*Swish*

That’s when it happened.

“Hey, Jeong Sojin. Why aren’t you cracking down on kids smoking these days? The class president should be good at cracking down on kids. Come to the old school building area during lunch tomorrow.”

Kim Geonho approached my seat and spoke in a sloppy manner.
I thought school life had been quiet these past few days, but I had a feeling I was about to get caught up in something annoying. And my prediction was spot on!

“What are you talking about. Kim Geonho, who are you to tell me to come?”

Jeong Sojin retorted sharply with her narrow eyes.
Kim Geonho trembled.

“Wow, damn. Scary. So scary. Ha Youngwon, you heard that too, right?”

*Pat*

Kim Geonho’s hand rested on my shoulder.
Although Kim Geonho had just joked around, he seemed to be truly afraid of Jeong Sojin. As proof, the hand on my shoulder was trembling.

I understood. I was also really scared of Jeong Sojin!
I knew better than anyone what Jeong Sojin was capable of when pushed to the extreme.

“Ah, damn, this is so boring.”

Kim Geonho swiftly left the spot.
Watching him leave, Jeong Sojin frowned and threw a remark.

“That total delinquent bastard.”

“What? Damn, Jeong Sojin, what did you just say?”

“What do you think I said? What about you, what did you just say? What? Da-mn?”

The atmosphere flowed in a strange way.
Even the kids who were packing their bags to go home stopped and watched this scene in dead silence.

“……”

Being caught between them, I was really having a hard time.
No, why are they doing this at my seat of all places!

I could understand Kim Geonho, but why was Jeong Sojin suddenly doing something she wouldn’t normally do?
Suddenly, Jeong Sojin’s new [Eccentricity], which appeared this morning, came to mind.

[Gambler]:

In the world of gamblers, there is no retreat, only revolution. For them, there is only moving forward, even if they don’t know where that path leads.

Does the Eccentricity [Gambler] make people go all-in?
Jeong Sojin and Kim Geonho glared at each other as if they were really going to devour each other.
The one who backed down first was Kim Geonho.

“Wow, damn… Class D has been shitty these days.”

*Swish*

Kim Geonho disappeared from the classroom just like that.
The classroom atmosphere that had felt as heavy as if lead was weighing on it became a little lighter.

“Youngwon-ah. From now on, if Kim Geonho bullies or hits you, tell me.”

“……”

…No, class president.
Right now, I’m more scared of you than Kim Geonho.
I was trembling with fear to the point of shaking.
Is this some kind of ominous sign?

“Hey. Class president. The homeroom teacher is calling for you.”

*Swish*

Just then, someone got up from their seat and called Jeong Sojin.
It was Jeong Seok, the vice president of our class.

“The homeroom teacher?”

Jeong Sojin opened her narrow eyes.

Then, as if alternating between looking at me and Jeong Seok, she said, “Youngwon-ah, see you later then,” and disappeared towards the hallway with quick steps.
It was a truly stormy day.

Now I should go home too.
But I really didn’t feel like going home.

Lady Ghost.
Mom Ghost.
Ghosts have already appeared twice at home.

Even if I go home now, mom will be working late, so if a ghost barges in while I’m alone, I… I might really die!
What should I do…? At times like this, it’s good to use the advice feature.

“Advice.”

[Broken Clock]’s Advice:

The library is a temple where all the relics of the ancient sages full of virtue, and all that is free from seduction and deceit are preserved and reposed.

What is that supposed to mean?
I think it means to go to the library.
That’s a good idea.

As I’ve felt before, the library at Yeongji High School is excellent.
There are many old books, and new arrivals are constantly being added, making it a heavenly place for me.

“I suddenly need to pee.”

I heard that when you smell the ink, you sometimes feel the urge to urinate.
That’s exactly how I felt.

*Swish*

I put my bag in a suitable corner and picked up a broom. As the book committee member of Class D, I had a duty to clean the library.
Teacher Kang Haneul recommended this position to me, saying it would be advantageous for my academic performance and student record.

“……”

As I swept the floor with the broom, I glanced around.
I wondered if the Literature Girl… the girl named Yoo Dahee, would be here, but she wasn’t.

“You’re here today?”

“Oh my god!”

I was more startled than a cat surprised by a cucumber, jumping up in shock.
My voice echoed in the quiet library.
When I calmed down and turned my head, the girl I had seen in the morning was standing close to me.

“Why are you so surprised? I cleaned everything here yesterday.”

“Cleaning?”

“Yeah. I’m also the book committee member for Class A. Didn’t you hear from Teacher Kang Haneul? I cleaned everything by myself for the past few days because you didn’t come. I was waiting for you.”

Yoo Dahee was a girl who spoke in a gentle voice.

She seemed to have a leisurely aura that people like Yang Juhui and I, who live in poor and miserable places, could never possess.
A sense that she had no need to rush through life.
Thanks to that, I could find some composure too.

“Ah. So you were a book committee member.”

I didn’t know that Yoo Dahee was a book committee member.
Was this library not solely managed by me, the book committee member of Class D?

Come to think of it, it’s too big for one person to manage.
I see, so two classes, Class A and Class D, each select a book committee member to manage it.

In the morning, when Yoo Dahee said she had been waiting for me.
That meant she was referring to the book committee work!

“You’re Ha Youngwon, right? I’m Yoo Dahee. I’ve heard a lot about you from Teacher Kang Haneul. This is the first time we’ve actually talked. There was never a chance to talk to you because you were always reading.”

“Ah.”

“Youngwon, you read a lot of Haruki Murakami, right? You read ‘The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.’ And you also read a lot of ‘The Decameron’ and ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ and ‘Lolita.’ The common thing about these books is…”

I was surprised that the Literature Girl, my secret crush, remembered all the books I had read.
And then I became afraid.

The common thing about the books I read…
They all contained intense sexual depictions!

While I was flustered, Yoo Dahee chuckled.

“The common thing is that they are all foreign novels. I also like foreign novels. I’ve read ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ at least 10 times. These days, I’ve become interested in feng shui, so…”

Was it because her voice was so soft?
Or was it because I was tired from many things? I yawned without realizing it.

“Do you not like this kind of conversation?”

Yoo Dahee, who had been chattering, tilted her head.
I was actually touched.

“No. I also like feng shui. Stuff like troop formations.”

“Troop formations are military tactics, and feng shui refers to the placement of a house against the mountains and facing water.”

Yoo Dahee chuckled.
She understood my joke and laughed, so Yoo Dahee must be a highly sophisticated girl!

Frankly, I never thought I would be able to have such an intellectual and high-level conversation at Yeongji High School. While I was trembling with emotion, Yoo Dahee looked at my hands.

In my hands were books related to folk tales and ghost stories.
I had found them to learn more about Yeongji High School.

“Do you like scary stories?”

“Should I say I like them?”

“Really? Then, Youngwon-ah, bring your ear closer.”

*Swish*

Without giving me a chance to allow it, Yoo Dahee brought her lips close to my ear.
She lacks a sense of personal space.
An attitude as if she is certain that the other person will not dislike her approaching them.
An attitude as if she has never been rejected by others in her life.

“Come to think of it, they say this school was actually built by demolishing a large cemetery site. I wonder if that’s true?”

Her soft breath was felt on my sensitive ear, giving me pleasant goosebumps.

“A cemetery? And why are you whispering…?”

“If you talk about ghosts in a place like a cemetery where ghosts gather, the ghosts will really come. They’ll think you’re talking about them. Just in case, I’m talking softly.”

“…Ah…”

“This school. Even after the construction was completed, people and students went missing. Some students were found with only their heads missing. They say that head is still wandering around looking for its body…”

The whispered words were creepy.
A ghost with only a head wandering around.
This story seems familiar somehow.

“Shamans also came to the school in droves. But most of the shamans ran away while performing rituals in the school building.”

Her breath and voice were stimulating.
To the point where I wish this moment would last forever.

“One shaman plucked out her two eyes and then hanged herself in the bathroom, and after that, the sound of the shaman’s bells began to ring in the hallway. *Ring, ring, ring, ring.*”

Yoo Dahee must really enjoy telling scary stories, as she even mimicked the sound of bells with her mouth.
But she mimicked the sound uncannily well., and it felt like the sound of bells was really coming from nearby.

*Ring ring ring ring ring ring.*

…No, isn’t this really ringing right now?
While I was startled, Yoo Dahee continued to speak.

“But they say the scariest thing isn’t the shaman ghost or the ghost with only a head. The really scary ghost is…”

Yoo Dahee’s voice became smaller.
Is the story over? I took a step back.

“……”
“……”

Now that I look at her, Yoo Dahee has a blank expression.
Her expression was void, as if all emotions and desires had vanished.
It was as if someone had pressed a pause button.
Can a beautiful girl’s blank expression be this spine-chilling?

“Umm….”

Looking at Yoo Dahee, who no longer seemed like a person of this world, goosebumps rose all over my body. I was wondering if she might be a ghost when…

“If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come. If you talk about ghosts in a cemetery, ghosts will come.”

“Oh my god! Ah, fuck, it’s starting again! It’s going crazy again! Again! Again! Agaaaaain!!!”