The 13th Step
Yeoncheong had drawn up a proper club activity plan with Suyeon, and Seoha had spoken with the school to arrange a schedule of meetings about the festival.
It was an ordinary day in mid-September.
"Haaa..."
Yeoncheong had her forehead pressed to her desk, heaving one deep sigh after another.
"What's with you?"
She'd been like that ever since she got back from the lunchtime walk around the athletic field with Suyeon and Seoha, so Nayun, at the desk beside her, finally couldn't hold back and asked what was wrong.
As if that were the very thing she'd been waiting for, Yeoncheong sat up and grumbled.
"No matter how I think about it, isn't this midterm schedule way too early?"
"It is early, but..."
The midterms were set to begin the moment October started. Compared to the usual window of early to mid-October, it was quite a bit ahead of schedule.
"The Chuseok holiday falls in early October this year, so there's nothing they can do about it. But if they held them after Chuseok, that'd be way too late."
The cause lay in the Chuseok holidays arriving earlier than the year before. The awkwardly straddling holiday had pushed the exams forward, and now the classroom had already begun to take on the atmosphere of exam season.
"You're saying the exact same thing as everyone else. That's too much. And here I thought I could count on you..."
Having apparently already heard the same line from Seoha and Suyeon, Yeoncheong dropped her head back onto her desk and moped.
Nayun narrowed her eyes and glared at the girl slumped over the desk beside her.
"That 'counting on me' thing... I don't think you meant it in a very nice way?"
She didn't say it out loud, but it clearly meant, you and I have similar grades, so I figured you of all people would sympathize.
"Aww... no way."
If you're going to lie, at least don't avert your eyes. Remembering Suyeon's advice from a while back, the blue-eyed girl tried her hardest not to look away from Nayun's gaze.
"...Fine. Forget it. Instead of whining, why don't you spend that time actually studying?"
"I am studying, in my own way."
Unlike some of the others in the classroom who were buried in their books, Yeoncheong's desk was perfectly tidy as she said it.
"Doesn't 'in your own way' mean it's not good enough for you? You're the class president, aren't you? You're going to get busy with festival prep on top of everything."
Yeoncheong, who had been moaning about her troubles, wavered for a moment before pressing on.
"It's fine. How hard can festival prep actually be? Besides."
"Besides?"
Yeoncheong pointed a thumb at herself.
"I believe in me."
"That's... not really something a girl who spent all of last semester in remedial classes should be saying...?"
Nayun had been about to explain how Hwaryeong High School's festival was different from other schools', but she shook her head instead.
She'll figure it out on her own.
In just a few days, the student council would be gathering the class officers of the first and second years, where she'd find out naturally anyway—so there was no real need to explain.
It's not my place to worry about someone else anyway.
After all, Nayun herself had taken literature remedial classes with her over the summer, and the unusually early midterms were giving her a headache of her own.
If you've got time to worry, you've got time to study—that was all the advice she got.
And so, at the end of the day, having failed to find a single shred of sympathy from anyone, Yeoncheong set her sorrow aside and made her way to the club room.
After sitting through homeroom with Teacher Jisu, she came in and dumped her bag carelessly onto one of the big tables.
Suyeon, who had arrived first, pulled a single sheet of paper from the desk drawer they used for storage.
It was a compilation of the strange rumors she and Yeoncheong had unearthed from old school newspapers and the like, with the help of Seobin from the library club.
Yeoncheong had made the proposal, and the two had agreed: at the very least, they'd verify the things they'd already investigated.
Suyeon was skimming down the list when she glanced over at Yeoncheong.
"Are you really okay with doing this?"
If Yeoncheong was only going along with this to humor her, then it wasn't too late to call the whole thing off.
As if she were sick of hearing it by now, Yeoncheong scrunched up her face.
"I thought it over before I said yes, so stop asking me already."
Her expression softened just as quickly, and after a moment of thought, she went on.
"Quit worrying about me all the time. Think of it this way instead—we did all this research, and if we never check it, it'll just nag at us. That's why we're doing it."
"...Okay. But no running off on your own."
"Th-that's... we'll see how it goes..."
After what she and Siyeon had gone through in the annex basement—an incident where she really and truly couldn't trust anyone—being scared was simply a fact of life, and Yeoncheong hemmed and hawed, dodging the promise.
"Nope, not allowed. Same as in any horror movie—anyone who wanders off alone dies."
As she said it, Suyeon naturally draped her own hand over Yeoncheong's.
"So I'm going to hold on tight and make sure you can't run away."
"Well... if you can't bring yourself to trust me, I guess there's nothing I can do about it."
Nodding along at a reason that was barely a reason at all, Yeoncheong obediently surrendered one hand to her.
Their palms lay pressed together. Suyeon idly brushed her thumb over Yeoncheong's hand, savoring the softness of the skin.
Then she turned her head away and let herself smile, where no one could see.
Their destination was the stairway leading up to the annex rooftop.
The stairs supposedly number twelve by day and thirteen by night. Step on the thirteenth stair in the dead of night, the story went, and you'd slip and fall to your death.
It was the kind of rumor that showed up often in movies and manga, and Hwaryeong High School had one of its very own—which was exactly what they'd come to verify.
"At our school, the rumor is that if you step on the thirteenth stair—a stair that doesn't exist—you'll have an accident and die. Day or night, it doesn't matter."
"But why, though?"
"Hmm... the theory in the school newspaper back then was..."
Suyeon riffled through the paper of compiled research and found what Yeoncheong was asking about.
"It says, 'To step on a thirteenth stair that does not exist is to set foot in the world of the dead. And so you are soon dragged away into their world.'"
"Ahh... I shouldn't have asked."
Cursing her own big mouth, Yeoncheong slapped a hand over her lips, then swallowed hard as she stared up at the stairway to the rooftop.
"We're doing this, right?"
"Of course. All we have to do is count as we climb."
Yeoncheong's hand instinctively searched for her friend's, the one she'd been letting go of at the foot of the stairs.
Suyeon grinned, as if she found her adorable.
"What, did you think I was going to run off and leave you?"
"No, it's just... if we climb holding hands, it won't feel like I'm dying alone."
At this answer, cold in an entirely unexpected way, Suyeon let go of her hand with a flick.
"For the first round, let's each count in our heads."
"Ah, why!"
Leaving Yeoncheong behind, Suyeon began climbing the stairs, counting to herself as she went.
"W-wait, come back!"
Wearing a look of utter despair, Yeoncheong followed slowly, eyes fixed on Suyeon's back.
Eleven, twelve... Huh. That's it? Lamer than I expected.
Having climbed to the top with a small spark of anticipation, Suyeon waited for Yeoncheong to come up, her face fallen flat.
But when Yeoncheong arrived after her, she was as pale as a ghost as she stared at her friend.
"Suyeon... how many?"
"Twelve, obviously. Why?"
"I got thirteen..."
"Huh? Are you sure you counted right?"
When Yeoncheong's head wobbled uncertainly on her shoulders, Suyeon hurried her back down the stairs.
"Again. Count again as you climb."
This time Yeoncheong took the steps at a slightly quicker pace, and when she reached the top, she spoke.
"Thirteen..."
Two identical results in a row. Yeoncheong glanced around nervously, as if something might actually be there.
"Come back down. This time let's hold hands and climb together."
"..."
Having descended once more, she hesitated, a trace of reluctance in her manner.
"What's wrong?"
"What if we climb together and you step on the thirteenth stair too?"
"Don't worry about me. Just take my hand."
Suyeon snatched Yeoncheong's hand roughly.
For all her nervousness, the hand that had been bone-dry moments ago was now damp with sweat.
Twelve.
Even climbing in step with Yeoncheong, hand in hand, Suyeon counted nothing amiss.
"How about this time?"
"...Same as before..."
By that point, utterly baffled as to what the problem could be, Suyeon pulled out her last resort.
"Go down again, and this time count out loud as you climb. Then we'll know for sure."
Perhaps believing herself to be already half-dead, Yeoncheong trudged back down without a flicker of life in her, and started up the stairs once more.
This time, counting each number aloud with her own mouth.
"One. Twwoo... three. Fooour..."
The gaps between numbers stretched wider the closer she got to the top.
She clearly felt that if thirteen came out again, it would truly be the end.
"Twelvelve... thirteeen..."
Eyes squeezed tightly shut, Yeoncheong climbed the final two steps, then stared at Suyeon with a hollow expression.
"Haaa..."
Suyeon let out a long, deep sigh, a hand clamped to the back of her neck.
"Ha Yeoncheong... you absolute idiot..."
And then.
"Go down and climb up again."
"...While counting?"
A silent nod.
The staircase wasn't long, but this would already be her fourth round trip.
It felt like training a dog, but Yeoncheong obediently went back down, and she was climbing the stairs yet again, counting as she went, when—
"Stop."
"Huh?"
"Climb up slowly with your eyes open, watching the floor."
Yeoncheong did as she was told, moving her feet while staring down at the steps.
"Eleven... twelwelve... thirteeen...?"
Watching the floor the whole way up, Yeoncheong tilted her head in confusion.
She had said "twelve" as her right foot landed on the last step, and was now saying "thirteen" as she brought her left foot up beside the right—
Bonk.
"Ack!"
Smacked on the head, Yeoncheong spun around to face Suyeon, the tears that had been welling up to their limit swirling in her eyes.
"Get it now, idiot Yeoncheong?"
Her friend glowering at her, furious at being scared over nothing—
Yeoncheong couldn't lift her face, it was burning so red with shame.
"Hey, Idiot Yeoncheong. Even your ears are red."
"Don't... don't call me that..."
Biting her lip hard, Yeoncheong grabbed fistfuls of her own blue hair with both hands and quietly hid her ears.
Business to take care of, and besides, the heat in her cheeks needed cooling.
So Suyeon hauled Yeoncheong off to the bathroom after all the commotion on the stairs.
Since they'd be heading home soon anyway, Yeoncheong went all in and splashed water directly onto her face.
"I didn't mean you had to do your whole skincare routine..."
Suyeon stared at her friend, bewildered.
"I'm running a fever. I'm just cooling off."
Bent over the sink, Yeoncheong shot her a glare.
"You teased me the entire walk here, and you still have the nerve to say that?"
Halting her washing, Yeoncheong held her two hands out together, cupped, under the running tap.
The small hands filled to the brim, water about to spill over at any moment—
"This is my revenge!"
And she hurled the water.
Which raised two problems.
First, a sneak attack is only a sneak attack if you don't loudly announce it as revenge, giving your opponent all the time in the world to prepare.
Second, Suyeon had been watching her sidelong the whole while and was already braced to dodge.
"Kyaaaah!"
And third, the bathroom was a public space used by every student in the school.
Yeoncheong, who had thrown the water.
Suyeon, who had dodged it.
Both of them froze solid at the unexpected scream.
And staring round-eyed at the pair of them, a female student stood flabbergasted, her ability to speak momentarily stripped away.
The water, aimed with perfect precision at Suyeon's face, had obeyed the laws of gravity faithfully and instead thoroughly soaked the uniform blouse of a girl standing farther back.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Just wait in the stall a second."
Suyeon, snapping back to her senses first, rushed to help the girl.
"Yeoncheong, go grab a gym uniform!"
Only now coming to her senses as well, Yeoncheong sprinted off toward the classroom.
When she returned in what felt like seconds, her arms were loaded down with the entire gym uniform.
"Wouldn't just the top have been enough?"
"I didn't... huff... know how wet she'd... haa... gotten."
She'd sprinted so fast she was gasping for air, chest heaving.
Suyeon steadied her breath and spoke as kindly as she could manage.
"Um... I'll hand the uniform over the stall door, so go ahead and change into it. We'll wait outside."
Suyeon stood on tiptoe and passed the uniform over, and Yeoncheong and Suyeon stepped out to stand guard in front of the bathroom.
A little later, the girl emerged—uniform skirt, gym jacket pulled on over it.
Her eyes were icy.
The instant she stepped out, Yeoncheong bowed deeply at the waist.
"I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!"
"I-it's fine, really."
Her voice had apparently been too loud—the girl glanced around nervously and gently straightened Yeoncheong back up.
"Can I at least cover your cleaning fee, or—"
"No!"
The girl waved her hands in a panic.
"It was just water. There's really no need to go that far."
Even so, Yeoncheong kept bowing and apologizing over and over, and it wasn't until the girl told her it was fine, please just go home, that she finally let herself be driven off.