Monday Service (2)

“That Yoo Dahee is really crazy. How could she just decide to stay at a boy’s house after running away?”

Yang Juhui clicked her tongue upon finding out that Yoo Dahee slept at my house last night.
It seemed like a story that would baffle anyone who heard it.

Come to think of it, it was indeed.
The richest girl in school asked to stay over at my house.
It was an extraordinary event that rarely happens.

Lately, with meeting ghosts, experiencing murders, and disappearances, the threshold for the unusual and the unreal had significantly risen for me.

“She might stay over again today. Until mom gets discharged, she might have to stay at my place.”

Yoo Dahee didn’t remember what happened in the Nightmare Corridor yesterday.
But it seemed like our relationship had become something more akin to ‘closeness.’
We became something more open with each other.

“Why did she give up the last talisman to me?”

She could have kept the talisman that was on the first floor herself and escaped.
But she didn’t. She gave it to me.
She even died, seemingly intentionally acting as bait for the third ghost.

Thanks to her, I was able to retrieve the talisman and escape.
Her words when she was eaten by that horrific red woman still linger in my mind.
I couldn’t fully understand them, but…

*Ding dong dang dong*

Talking about various things, lunchtime ended before I knew it.
On the way back to class, Jeong Seok mentioned he had something to propose to me.

“No matter how much information we gather, it seems there are many things that are difficult to handle on our own. We might need the help of adults around us.”

“Hmm….”

“Youngwon. How about looking for trustworthy adults?”

“Adults, huh.”

Most adults were liars.
Could the words ‘trustworthy’ and ‘adults’ coexist?
The prime example was teacher Hong Miri.

“Hong Miri teacher. The third ghost is probably the English teacher, Hong Miri.”

“What? Is that true? Teacher Hong Miri?”

Everyone seemed disbelieving.
Well, I couldn’t believe it myself until I saw the evidence firsthand.

But the distinct scar on the red woman’s neck and the ‘butterfly’ mark on her face were the most evident proof.
Thinking back… there were many suspicious and dubious behaviors of the English teacher Hong Miri.

“When she bought me rice soup, I got scared and left the place early. I felt like someone was following me then. If I hadn’t met Yoo Dahee, who knows what would have happened to me.”

While eating rice soup, the English teacher, Hong Miri, asked me about Kim Geonho’s whereabouts.

‘You were close with Kim Geonho, right? Do you know why he hasn’t been coming to school lately? He seemed to have gotten strange after staying overnight at the old school building. Didn’t he tell you anything? Like ghost stories or something.’

‘Ghost… stories?’

‘Like the Red Mask that appears at night. Don’t kids these days know about the Red Mask? Wearing a red mask, high heels, a trench coat, with a wide slit mouth.’

Red Mask.
Back then, I didn’t think much of it, but this must have been her talking about herself!

According to my deduction, Kim Geonho was killed by the third ghost in the nightmare!
And he hasn’t been coming to school since!
So Hong Miri was trying to probe me about Kim Geonho’s condition by mentioning the Red Mask!

Fuck!
The puzzle pieces are falling into place?
It’s giving me chills.
Of course, Jeong Seok still seemed to have many things he didn’t understand.

“So, teacher Hong Miri is a ghost? She didn’t look like one… Could it be related to the “Twin Experiment” documents we found in the elevator?“

I don’t know.
I want to know, too.
I need to think about what to do with teacher Hong Miri from now on.

Ghosts and disappearances.
You would think experiencing extraordinary events would make you cherish normalcy more.
School classes were still as boring as ever.

“Alright. Everyone, go home now.”

3 PM, the end.
The class hours at Yeongji High School kept getting shorter due to the ominous neighborhood atmosphere.
I headed straight to the library.
Partly because I hoped to meet Yoo Dahee and gather more information about Gaeryong City and Yeongji High School.
But instead of Yoo Dahee, I met teacher Kang Haneul at the library.

“Teacher. Long time no see.”

“Youngwon. How’s your mother? Is she alright?”

“She’s okay. She’ll be discharged soon.”

“That’s a relief!”

Teacher Kang Haneul was genuinely happy for me, as if it was her own concern.
Suddenly, I remembered Jeong Seok asking if there were any trustworthy adults.

Teacher Kang Haneul might be one of the few trustworthy adults.
But…, wasn’t her life complicatedly tangled when the ‘Lady Ghost’ was involved? I suddenly became curious.

“How about you, teacher? Are you getting along with the apartment residents now? There was quite a commotion with the police back then because of me.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. I almost died clearing up the misunderstanding!”

Sure enough.
Dragging teacher Kang Haneul, who had barely returned to normalcy, into our ghost-filled party… was a terrible thing to do.
It was also doubtful if she would believe me.

But I was in a tight spot myself.
The more allies, the better.
If an adult joins the party, our range of activities and choices could increase.
We could even go to a PC room at night with parental consent.
But… this matter needed careful consideration in many ways.

I left the school without gaining much from the library.
Thinking about it, I decided to visit my mom. I heard laughter from her hospital room.

“Remember that time? I was like!”

I heard a man’s voice.
It didn’t sound like the doctor.

*Creak*

As I opened the hospital room door, I saw a man with scruffy hair and a beard on his nose and chin chatting with my mom.
Who is he? He looked unfamiliar.

“Oh, Youngwon is here! Hey. This is my son, Ha Youngwon.”

My mom introduced me.
I couldn’t help but look at the man with a nervous and wary look.
The man approached me and put his hand on my head.

“Oh. I can’t believe it. Who would believe you have a son this big at your age? You still look like an unmarried lady.”

He reeked of cigarette smoke.
Just being close to him felt like getting cancer.
A complete carcinogen of a person!

“Who are you, mister?”

“Your mom didn’t tell you anything about me? I’m your mom’s ex-boyfriend.”

Mom’s ex-boyfriend?
It felt like a whirlwind of a past I didn’t want to know about.
Of course, my mom, sitting on the bed, laughed out loud.

“What bullshit? Bada, you were just my lackey.”

“…I wish I was… that’s what I mean. If I had succeeded in dating your mom, you might have been my son. Ha Youngwon. Nice to meet you.”

*Swish*

The man extended his hand to me.
I cautiously shook hands with him, feeling the strong grip squeezing my hand.
The man, who had been lounging like a slacker, looked at me sharply.

“You resemble her. Just like a carbon copy.”

“Well, I’m her son, so I should.”

The atmosphere was hard to adapt to.
I decided to ask the man again.

“Who exactly are you?”

“Ha Youngwon. Have you seen Harry Potter?”

“Huh?”

“There’s Professor Snape who gets bullied by James Potter in school and loses his love, Lily Evans, to him. That’s me. My name is Kang Bada.”

The man’s name seemed to be ‘Kang Bada.’
He looked like a quirky artist, but his name sounded like a girl’s.
But… don’t I know a similar name?

“Are you related to teacher Kang Haneul by any chance…?”

“Ah. She’s my younger sister. You’re a Yeongji High School student, right? Do you take her class? She probably teaches literature. Or do they call it Korean these days?”

“Ah!”

I remembered hearing about Kang Haneul, the teacher’s ‘older brother.’ I even stayed in his room when I was at her house!
So, this man was Kang Bada!
And this man, Kang Bada, seemed to be a friend of my mom’s during her high school days!

Not just a friend, but a complicated relationship?
My mom’s love life! Ugh. It’s not something I want to think deeply about!

“Ah. Should I give you my business card? Despite my appearance, I’m a respectable adult in society. Here.”

*Plop*

The man handed me a business card.
But it was all in Japanese, so it was hard to read.
Since my second foreign language is Japanese, I can read some of it.

“Sakura….”

“Sakura Corp. President. That’s how you read it. It’s a decent medium-sized game company.”

“A game company?”

“Yes. It’s quite a hit. Have you heard of “Corridor of the Abyss”? Or “New Amnesia” or “Lethal Industry”?“

“Oh!”

I know them!
I know!
Come to think of it, Jeong Seok mentioned the president of the company that made Corridor of the Abyss was a Korean!
It turned out to be true!

But I couldn’t be simply happy about it.
The man with a beard in front of me seemed even more suspicious and dubious.
He was like a huge box. You never know what’s inside.

Then my mom asked.

“What? Weren’t you going to be a novelist, Bada?”

“I was. But all the books I wrote flopped. Horror novels don’t seem to be for everyone. More than that… Oh, is it already time…”

*Swish*

The man checked his expensive-looking watch.
Then he ruffled my hair one more time and left abruptly.
He was a very peculiar human.

“Mom. Who is that guy really?”

“He liked me when we were younger.”

“That’s really shit…”

“What shit? When I was in school, I was rumored to be the prettiest! I got at least three confessions a day! Bada was one of them. Gosh, he used to be so shy. Has he become so sly over time? Seems like he’s made a lot of money!”

Somehow, my mom’s attitude seemed quite favorable towards the bearded man.
What is this? Am I about to get a new stepdad?

I was utterly confused.
In some ways, this was more chaotic than wandering the corridors full of ghosts and all sorts of bizarre events.
Oh, shit…
So, I might become Kang Youngwon.

*Swish*

I scrutinized the business card I received from the enigmatic man, Kang Bada.
And I found some strange dots written on the back of the card.

-... . .-- .- .-. . --- ..-. - .... . ... -.- -.--

“What’s this?”

It could have been just a doodle, but I found it intriguing since I often found hints in small, trivial things.
I decided to take a photo and send it to Jeong Seok.
He would know what it is, whatever it is.
I didn’t need the internet at all.

As I checked my phone, I noticed 20 missed messages.

Joo Chanmi: Where are you?
Joo Chanmi: Where are you?
Joo Chanmi: What do you want to eat?
…
..
.
“Oh, shit.”

Is this the life of a popular guy?
I remembered that today was the ‘Monday Worship’ at the Church of Glory.

“Oh right, Mom, didn’t you use to go to Church of Glory?”

“Yes. I received a lot of help from the pastor there back in the day. Even when we moved to Gaeryong, he helped us settle down. Also, with your school admissions and all.”

“Really?”

“We should go and thank him once I’m discharged.”

*Riiing*

Just then, the phone rang.
It was Yang Juhui.

“It’s a call! Is it a girl? Is it Juhui? How far have you two gone?”

“Mom. It’s not like that. I don’t know! I’m leaving!”

I left the hospital room to avoid unnecessary trouble.
When I answered the call, an unexpected voice came through.

Youngwon, where are you?

“Yoo Dahee? Did you call using Yang Juhui’s phone?”

We're together! Let's have dinner together!

Yoo Dahee and Yang Juhui together.
This was tricky. I was planning to attend the Monday worship today.

“I’m thinking of going to church today, so I might not be able to have dinner with you. I might have dinner with the church unnie. You might have to eat by yourselves…”

*Clatter* *Bang*

Soon, I heard various noises, and Yang Juhui spoke.

You're going to have dinner with Chanmi unnie, right? Perfect. Then I'll contact Chanmi unnie, and we can all have dinner together. I'll also join the Monday worship.

Thus, a peculiar dinner was arranged.

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