🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 7
“Choyeon!”
Even though I had only closed my eyes for a moment, the fatigue didn’t go away.
I dragged myself into the classroom with a groan when someone called me.
“Ma Choyeon!”
Do they think I’m going to run away or something? Why are they shouting like that?
“Yeah?”
“You…!”
A girl with short hair and round glasses—like the textbook example of a model student—walked toward me with a worried expression.
Her name was Yoo Chaesong. She was someone who was fairly close with my twin brother and me.
“…Have you heard from Ma Chohye?”
So the news about Chohye’s disappearance had already spread at school.
Only then did I fully open my sleepy eyes and look around. More people than I expected were glancing this way.
“No. My aunt reported it to the police and they’re searching for him. But… do other students already know?”
“Of course. You’re twins, so people are more interested.”
Ma Choyeon, Ma Chohye.
As the only twins in school, it made sense that students were curious.
And from Chaesong’s perspective, she was worried about both a friend and her friend’s missing brother.
“I hope he’s okay… Why are so many horrible things happening lately?”
“You mean the missing people in Eden-dong?”
“Yeah. That, and did you see the news? The idol hanging incident. It feels like the world’s gone insane.”
More accurately, the original story had gone insane.
‘I wish I could tell her that…’
I sat down and put my bag away, letting out a small sigh. Chaesong must’ve misread my expression because she looked like she was about to cry.
“Don’t worry too much. Chohye will be found soon.”
“Yeah… I hope so.”
If he really was taken by a kidnapping ghost, even the police would struggle to find him.
“You look really tired.”
“I went out for a bit yesterday and came back late.”
Actually, it wasn’t just late—it was dawn.
I was about to explain further when I yawned mid-sentence and barely managed to swallow it. My eyes still watered involuntarily, so I blinked quickly.
Yawning while talking would look so rude… I didn’t want to be disrespectful to Chaesong, who was genuinely worried about us.
‘Ugh, I should nap during class or something.’
I blinked heavily at her when I noticed her expression had changed.
“Don’t tell me… you were out looking for your brother yesterday…!”
“Huh?”
“I’ll help too! So don’t carry everything alone!”
She must’ve noticed my watery eyes. Luckily, she didn’t catch the yawn.
“I appreciate it, but Eden-dong is dangerous. Don’t go near there.”
As I thanked her and warned her carefully, she looked even more emotional.
“You’re still worrying about me at a time like this!”
No, seriously, there are actual ghosts there.
“Just… don’t push yourself too hard. If you’re exhausted, tell me. I’ll tell the teachers you’re sick so you can rest in the infirmary.”
“Okay. But where is everyone else?”
The classroom was unusually empty considering class was about to start. I tilted my head.
Chaesong sat in the seat behind me and replied casually.
“There’s a student who’s been skipping school. He came back today after a long time, so everyone went to the teachers’ office to see him.”
Skipping school?
“He’s our classmate… apparently connected to the first disappearance incident in Eden-dong.”
That sounded familiar.
“…Connected? So his family went missing?”
“Yeah, his parents disappeared.”
Wait. Don’t tell me… is that about Dan Seohyeok?
“And there are rumors he’s really handsome, so everyone ran over.”
Confirmed. That classmate is definitely Dan Seohyeok.
‘I didn’t think he’d actually come to school after what I said…’
It felt strange. Kind of proud, kind of moved—like I had influenced him in a positive way.
“He must be going through a lot too, and people are so inconsiderate.”
Hearing that, I felt awkward going to find him right away.
Just then—drraaag—the sound of a chair being pulled out beside me.
Both Chaesong and I turned.
“What the—Jang Hyunwoo, what happened to you?”
It was my seatmate, Jang Hyunwoo. We’d been sitting together for months as the fixed front-row duo.
But what had happened to him?
His hands were covered in scratches, his uniform was torn up, and bandages were plastered all over his face.
‘I knew he was playful, but he’s not the type to get hurt this badly…’
I blinked slowly in confusion.
Hyunwoo scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I fell yesterday.”
“How do you even fall like that?”
“It wasn’t my fault! I was crossing the street properly and a car suddenly cut in, so I tried to avoid it and—”
He spoke irritably, more like he was reliving it than blaming me.
“And then it just drove off without even apologizing! Can you believe that?”
“So that’s from a fall caused by a car? That’s serious…”
“Ah… and then I got up and ran into someone who didn’t see me, so I fell again.”
He showed his scraped palm, sounding exhausted.
“And after that I even slipped on the stairs.”
“…That sounds like you’re cursed.”
I said worriedly, but Hyunwoo just shrugged.
“What curse. I just had really bad luck yesterday.”
“Well… at least you only got that much hurt.”
“Right? I’m fine. And also…”
He brightened and pointed at his bag.
“Look at this. Doesn’t it suit me?”
On his white backpack hung a small black keychain.
A plush toy.
‘A doll?’
A round, fluffy black creature that looked like a hedgehog, but overly puffed up and cute in a strange way.
Hyunwoo didn’t seem like the type to like cute things.
“I actually went to Eden-dong yesterday to get this. It was a free giveaway. Pretty good catch, right?”
“…What?”
“WHAT?!”
I shot up.
“Are you crazy?!”
“Hey, why are you yelling so loud, Ma Choyeon!”
“Why would you go to Eden-dong right now?!”
“Relax, it’s fine during the daytime!”
He argued back, but I wasn’t listening.
‘He went to Eden Villa yesterday…?’
He could’ve run into what happened there.
And if Red Ghost was roaming outside, there could be even more ghosts…
“Anyway, nothing happened.”
Hyunwoo continued.
“Oh, but the person giving it away said something weird.”
“What did they say?”
“They said it grants wishes—but also brings misfortune.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Even elementary kids wouldn’t believe that.”
Chaesong scoffed.
Hyunwoo insisted it wasn’t like that, but—
‘Grants wishes?’
That reminded me of yesterday… when I almost became a missing person myself after following instructions from the “City Ghost Community” to find Chohye.
‘This is insane.’
No.
It wasn’t a stretch.
It was exactly the kind of cliché setup where ghosts were involved.
Even after class started, I kept slipping notes to Hyunwoo.
<Throw it away immediately.> <Or burn it.> <That thing is seriously creepy.>
At first he replied calmly, but eventually he just crumpled my notes and glared at me.
Yeah… anyone would get annoyed if someone kept poking your arm every minute.
“Stop it.”
He whispered.
“I said I’m fine. Why are you freaking out?”
“I’m worried about you.”
“These injuries were just bad luck.”
“That level of bad luck is already way past normal. Don’t you feel uneasy?”
“It only brings misfortune if you make a wish.”
He scoffed again.
“And if wishes came true like that, everyone would be living comfortably.”
“What wish did you make?”
“Something that will never come true.”
That made me even more uneasy. What kind of impossible wish did he make?
“Hey, are you two not paying attention in class?”
The teacher had approached without us noticing and smacked both our heads with a textbook corner.
“Ow!”
“Hey, teacher! Ma Choyeon keeps talking to me!”
“You were answering too, though.”
“That’s unfair!”
“What do you mean ‘teacher, that’s unfair’?”
Another hit.
Hyunwoo looked like he was about to cry.
I did feel a little guilty… but—
“Hyunwoo’s grades actually went up a lot this time.”
“Huh? My grades?”
“Yeah. You scored higher in English than Chaesong on the mock exam.”
The classroom erupted in surprise.
So did we.
‘Higher than Chaesong?’
Chaesong was a top student.
And Hyunwoo was the type who belonged more to the soccer field than a classroom.
In other words, there was no way his fundamentals should’ve improved that much…
“……”
Hyunwoo slowly turned to look at me.
As if he had a lot to say—but couldn’t.
