Ghost Story Club

Four days ago, Monday afternoon, clubroom.

Lee Joon and the club members were about to disperse after dividing the points they earned by solving the MineCraft ghost stories. Just at that moment, Jang Hwaeun, the teacher assigned to the club, caught the attention of one of her students.

“Does Sunah have somewhere to go now too?”

“Me……?”

“Do you have anything to do?”

“No, I don’t…”

“Then will you stay here and chat with your Teacher for a moment?”

“……”

Sunah cautiously glanced at the President of the club, Lee Joon, as if asking for his permission. When he raised his eyebrows and nodded to her, she also nodded back to the Teacher.

She hesitated for a moment before answering the teacher.

“Okay……”

“Okay. Then, boys, leave quickly.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? I’m curious too. Can’t we chat together?”

At the boys’ curious request, the Teacher suddenly took out a whip from who knows where and banged it on the desk.

“This is just between girls! Boys, leave quickly!”

“Yes, yes, I understand.”

Lee Joon and Dukhun swiftly left the clubroom after packing their bags and items they bought with points.

Sunah greeted them softly as they left.

“Joon, bye. See you tomorrow……”

“Okay. I’ll contact you later.”

Click-

The door closed, and Sunah was left alone with Hwaeun in the clubroom. Brightly lit afternoon sunlight poured into the room from the window.

She waited as she stared at her teacher, trying to figure out what she might say. But her Teacher Hwaeun only sat on the sofa with her legs crossed, smiling brightly with her chin resting on her hand.

Unable to beat the awkwardness any longer, Sunah was about to glance away. But just at that moment, Teacher Hwaeun parted her red lips.

“Do you like Joon, Sunah?”

“What……?”

With the speed of light, Sunah’s face flushed a deep shade of red.

She quickly denied by shaking her head, unable to hide her embarrassment.

“Ah, no……! Why would Teacher say that…..”

“What do you mean no? Everyone but you, Sunah, should know it better.”

“…..!”

Hwaeun leisurely watched Sunah, who was at a loss for words with her face flushed bright red.

“What do you say?”

Sunah hesitated, lowering her gaze shyly at the unexpected question.

“Uh, what do you mean…..”

“You and Joon. What do you think?”

Why was she asking something like this right now?

Could it be related to the fact that she was the mentor who appeared after her level increased?

Sunah answered hesitantly, several thoughts flashing through her head.

“… Just, a friend…… ”

“What kind of friend?”

Hwaeun, with a relaxed attitude, continued to watch Sunah while smiling brightly.

Sunah, again, hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Very close… friend……?”

“Do you think Joony is good?”

Sunah nodded truthfully instead of answering.

It was true.

From the very beginning, when Joon first got caught up in a ghost story, she had been with him the entire time and could feel it.

Her first impression of Lee Joon was that he was a male classmate who seemed to have many flaws, just like herself.

When he first lied to Teacher Jang Hwaeun in front of her during the entrance ceremony and sat in the classroom pretending to be sick.

And also the time when he suddenly called her out and had her keep watch in front of the wall.

At that time, she thought he was just a guy with a carefree personality, someone who always thinks of slacking off.

So she felt a sense of kinship with him due to her own lack of merits and had a good impression of him.

At some point, Lee Joon started to break away from his own circle of friends, and gathered people to form a strange club, and started making them his own comrades one by one.

Ahn Gyeongwon, who had at first ignored and looked down on him, eventually started to follow Lee Joon around, respecting him as the President of the club.

Even Hayoon, her partner who had always been aloof and hard to read, also started paying close attention to every action Lee Joon took from some point onward.

And after the midterms, she found out the hidden truth about Lee Joon.

He, who returned three years back, and was trying to fight to prevent the destruction of the world.

To Yoon Sunah, who was both poor and academically struggling in high school, he now felt like someone too distant.

“Can I make a suggestion as your teacher?”

Sunah lifted her head and looked at her teacher curiously.

“What……”

“Would you like to do speech practise with the teacher?”

“Speech… practice…?”

“Yeah.”

Hwaeun gazed expectantly at Sunah with a relaxed smile.

Unable to beat her intense gaze, Sunah slightly turned her head away.

“Why would I do something like that……”

“You know. Somehow.”

“……”

“I hope to change your way of speaking.”

Sunah, with a slightly downcast expression, swallowed her saliva.

She already knew that she couldn’t speak properly, but still, it was unpleasant to hear someone pointing out her flaws.

“I know you feel bad, so please don’t misunderstand. This Teacher likes you and wants to help you.”

“Really……?”

“Yeah.”

Hwaeun got up from the sofa and slowly approached Sunah.

Teacher Hwaeun, who was a head taller than Sunah, slightly bent her knees and met her gaze.

“Let’s try, Sunah. I want to see you do well in life.”

“Why……?”

Sunah puffed her cheeks with a slightly pouty expression and asked.

“Why do you want me to do well…..?”

“Of course, because I’m your teacher.”

Hwaeun looked at her student, who had a small stature in front of her with a serious expression.

“When there’s a student who’s falling behind and slow, it’s a teacher’s instinct to run over and help them.”

“…….”

“But don’t take it as I mean to say you’re lacking. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Eventually, Sunah, having let go of some of the anger that arose as a defense mechanism, nodded her head.”

“…Yes. I understand……”

“Then let’s do it together.”

Hwaeun slowly held Sunah’s two small hands.

“I’ve learned a lot about special education instructions and other things. You can trust me.”

“…….”

“But don’t take it as I mean to say you’re a student who needs special teaching.”

“Haha…..”

Sunah finally couldn’t help but laugh at those words.

“I didn’t think like that, really…..”

“Really? Really? Hmm?”

Hwaeun laughed along with Sunah, shaking their hands together.

With the atmosphere slightly lightened, she returned to her usual joking tone.

“I hope you do better than Hayoon. I personally don’t like her.”

“Why….?”

Sunah’s eyes widened in surprise.

Then Hwaeun, fanning herself with her hand, said in a playful tone.

“A child should have that innocent, naive charm, but she, even though she’s young, has already learned all sorts of strange things. Although she seems to be so kind and polite, in truth, she’s just setting boundaries on purpose. She doesn’t pay attention to those who don’t meet her standards. You can tell just by looking at her.”

Wow.

Sunah was surprised inside.

The incomprehensible aura around her deskmate, Hayoon, that she always felt whenever she interacted with other people.

She seemed very gentle and kind on the outside, so it was hard to express why Sunah always felt strange around her. But Teacher Jang Hwaeun, as a teacher assigned to their club, accurately pin-pointed the problem.

“… Me too.”

Sunah smiled slightly and nodded.

“I think so too……”

“Right?”

Hwaeun held Sunah’s hand as she laughed brightly.

“But don’t tell her or anyone else okay? It’d look bad if it got spread that a teacher is gossiping about a student.”

“Yes. I won’t tell anyone……”

“And also, you absolutely must not tell anyone about the special training you’re starting today! Do you understand?”

“Why……?”

To Sunah, who asked curiously, Hwaeun answered with a bright smile.

“If you go around bragging that you’re doing this kind of self-development session, you’ll get unwanted attention for no reason. But if you quietly work on it alone, at some point your friends will be the one to approach you first. ‘Hey, Sunah. Why does it feel like you’ve changed?’”

“Pfft……”

Hwaeun imitated Lee Joon’s voice by lowering her tone, which made Sunah laugh.

“‘Has Sunah always spoken this eloquently?’ Something like that.”

“Ahaha… Stop it…..”

The setting sun coming through the clubroom window casted a golden light inside, illuminating the intertwined hands of Sunah and Hwaeun.

* * *

[2019, May 3rd | Friday, 06:23 AM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 195]

[Causality Rate: 19%]

I gently lifted Sunah, who had fallen asleep, and carried her to the bed in my room.

Then, I covered her with a blanket so she wouldn’t be cold.

Sunah, asleep with a peaceful expression like a baby bird, breathed softly.

I examined the wound on my shoulder caused by Sunah’s boxcutter.

Fortunately, it was only a slight cut as I was just stabbed once, so the wound wasn’t that deep and it didn’t bleed that much either.

After searching online for how to deal with cuts from a boxcutter and reading through it, I went to the bathroom and washed the cut on my shoulder under the running water of the shower.

Then, I went to the living room and took out the first aid kit from the cabinet next to the TV, and treated the wound briefly.

‘Should I go get a tetanus shot or something?’

I hesitated a little, then tilting my head, I first applied a bandage to finish the treatment. Then I changed my clothes and sat on the floor, leaning my back against the bed where Sunah was lying.

Sunah was fast asleep on the bed, oblivious to my dilemma.

“… The sun has risen.”

Before I knew it, the cement wall had disappeared and transformed back into the original window, with a bluish light streaming in.

‘In the end, I stayed up all night.’

I slowly closed my eyes, feeling a sense of exhaustion rising as if I was burned inside.

‘What should I do about school today……’

If I fell asleep, I was very sure I wouldn’t be able to wake up on time to go to school.

I was bound to be late, so I just closed my eyes and decided to sleep.

The previous night with all the running around was too exhausting to worry about something as trivial as going to school.

The ghost story itself was a common occurrence, as well as a ghost popping up in a place where someone died far in the past.

But all was intertwined because of that cliché manifestation ability.

Because of that, I ended up going through a lot of unnecessary trouble than I expected.

‘I’ll have to put this aside for now.’

The result wasn’t completely useless, as a human-level ability, it had a tremendous impact on reality.

But the ability was so out of this world that it was hard for me to control it. I couldn’t even perceive how the situation would turn out.

If I activated this ability one more time, I would be sucked out of all my energy and end up dying.

‘I need to attend today’s CA session in the 5th period.’

Today was the day when Gyeongwon was going to give a presentation on Clover Corporation and that strange religious organization, Dogma of Void. He has organized the information based on the incidents so far.

I could just wake up late at the time.

* * *

A few hours later, probably around 9 in the morning.

I opened my eyes, startled by my Mom’s loud voice and found that my parents had already arrived home and were shaking me awake.

They asked me the reason for the house being a mess, and I explained to them that it was because a burglar had broken in last night. The police did come to help, but they didn’t believe me and left. So I made up an excuse that I had called my friend (Sunah) at that time and told her to spend the night here.

“Can you even consider yourself cops!! Were you out of your mind? No, you clearly saw that there was a burglar standing inside the house and just left right in front of their eyes!! Have you gone crazy!!”

[We, we apologize… We don’t know why we did that either… ]

My Dad, in a fit of rage, called the police station and scolded them loudly, while my Mom called the school on my behalf.

Fortunately, after explaining the situation, they allowed me to stay at home and rest for today. But I just waved my hands and said that I would rest only until lunch and would go during the CA session in 5th period.

The distant relative who supposedly passed away in Busan was someone who was the 8th cousin-in-law of my great-grandfather’s 9th cousin’s grandson, and had no real connection to us.

When they arrived, there were people at the funeral hall asking why they had come, and my parents, looking puzzled, said they didn’t know why they went either. They just did it because they felt like going there and came back right away.

Fortunately or unfortunately, they remembered having called me last night, but they only remembered it as a simple concern, thinking I might be up playing games and not sleeping.

* * *

Around noon, Sunah finally opened her eyes and. She was both surprised and embarrassed to see my parents, but she joined us for the meal my Mom prepared for her.

“Did you say your name is Sunah? You’ve been close with Joon since the entrance ceremony? Hehe, that boy….. Even his Dad during the school days… He was too shy to talk to a girl. Even after completing his military training…..”

“Sunah, does the food suit your taste? Since your grandmother is sick, you must have a hard time preparing meals by yourself. Come visit us often. We always have a lot of leftovers at our house.”

“Yes, thank you…”

Amidst the excessive attention from my father and mother, Sunah ate her meal awkwardly. We left the house leisurely around the time lunch was over.

Perhaps it was because it was a weekday afternoon, but there weren’t a single person on the way to school that we usually took. It felt like we were in a completely different world.

Normally, I would be at school around this time, so everything felt strangely unfamiliar being out here like this.

“Are you feeling okay?”

While we were walking along the road in silence, I was the first to open my mouth.

“Huh? Yeah, well… uh… um….”

Sunah nodded her head in a hesitant manner, as if she had been lost in thought.

I tried to tease her by playfully bumping my injured shoulder with her, but Sunah remained unresponsive. Feeling dejected, I just followed her without saying a word.

Sunah was in her casual clothes when she came to my house last night, so I waited for her near her old apartment, while she went to change into her school uniform before coming back.

We walked on the empty playground to attend the CA session.

Some of the students from the soccer club, who had been playing soccer, looked at us with curious eyes. Perhaps they were wondering why a pair of boy and girl arrived at school at this hour.

We arrived at the main building without saying a word, took off our shoes, climbed the stairs, and reached the clubroom on the 5th floor.

I could hear murmuring coming from inside.

It seemed like they were having a heated discussion without us.

Knock, knock-

As I opened the door with a knock, the members who were sitting around the table and chatting among themselves turned their gazes toward us. Gyeongwon was the first to stand up and exclaimed in surprise.

“Prez! I called you so many times!”

“Oh, sorry. I was sleeping.”

Dukhun raised his heavy chin at me in a questioning manner and asked.

“Oi, oi, I heard from the homeroom teacher that a robber broke into your house last night. Did you manage to defeat him?”

“Ah, it was actually a ghost story. It was resolved well.”

“Sodesune, a man like you can never let your guard down……”

After passing by the two of them and putting down our bags, Teacher Jang Hwaeun and Jinhee greeted Sunah warmly.

“Are you okay? You aren’t hurt anywhere, right?”

“Yes……”

“Oh my~ So you two spent the night together?”

“Hey, Lee Jinhee! Stop saying such stuff in front of the teacher!”

And Hayoon, with her usual calm expression, blankly said to me.

“You must have a hard time, Joon.”

“Yeah, thanks for your concern.”

I nodded, then looked around at everyone before asking.

“So, how far have you been?”

“Actually, Prez, we were just fooling around.”

Gyeongwon answered, pushing up his glasses.

“We were discussing why McDonald’s hamburgers are getting smaller.”

“Really? So did you come to a conclusion?”

“We were about to wrap it up, reaching the conclusion that because the former CEO, who was a foreigner, stepped down and now a new Korean CEO is appointed.”

“You guys were really talking about useless things.”

I shook my head helplessly, then slowly looked around at everyone.

“To give a little spoiler, that CEO suddenly resigns in January next year, and Lotte Foods quickly rises to the top of the industry.”

[T/N: Lotte is a large multinational conglomerate based in South Korea, involved in a variety of industries including food, retail, and entertainment.]

“This is shocking.”

Jinhee chuckled darkly.

“It seems the time to change my job has come.”

As I sat down at the seat the club members had left empty for me, everyone’s eyes turned to me.

The midday sunlight streaming through the window enveloped the seven of us.

After taking a moment to catch the mood, I opened my mouth.

“Then, the CA session of the Ghost Story Club in the first week of May. Let’s begin.”

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