Chapter 132

I’m translating the chapter now, keeping dialogue registers and switching the in-universe social post and comments into styled HTML blocks as required.CHAPTER_TITLE: Filming the Music Video, Part 2

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The closed window shook with a steady rattling sound. A ghostly schoolgirl with a bob haircut and a uniform was plastered to the glass, slamming her head against it over and over.

"I wondered whether it might hurt to keep banging one's head like that... but from the look on her face, she seems thoroughly angry."

At Neoul's words, Woo Cheong and Lee Gal-chae both looked toward the window. To them, though, it only seemed as if the glass were trembling in the wind and making noise.

"Hyung! I don't believe in ghosts!"

Woo Cheong shrugged.

"Where would ghosts even come from? When people die, they go back to nature and turn into soil. Animals, too. Plants are like that as well."

His reaction was completely different from Ha On-ha, who would have flinched and shrunk away at the mere mention of a ghost.

"The body may do so, but is there not such a thing as a soul?"

"Eh. A soul doesn't have a brain. If it doesn't have a brain, how's it supposed to move, think, or talk?"

"A brain?"

Neoul looked at the ghost by the window and thought of the ghosts he had seen so far, as well as the Grim Reaper Baek Namu.

They all seemed to think, speak, and move just fine. Neoul had even left his body and astrally projected himself to watch the Hanpuri Concert the Grim Reapers held, had he not?

Neoul's head tilted slightly.

By contrast, Lee Gal-chae rubbed his arms, covered in goosebumps, and stole another glance at the window.

"...You really can see the ghost?"

"It is right there."

"Wow."

Lee Gal-chae said it with a bright face.

"They say if you see a ghost on set, it means your work is going to hit big. Our album must be about to sell well. That's a good omen."

"There is such a saying?"

"Yes. I used to act, and I've seen a few projects where someone said they saw a ghost on set, and they all blew up."

He was scared of ghosts, all right, but the feeling of excitement over a sign of success seemed to outweigh the fear.

"Everyone! Let's get ready to shoot!"

At the staff member's shout from afar, they started walking. The full-scale filming was beginning.

***

First they quickly shot the group dance scenes on the rooftop, the playground, and in the auditorium. Next came individual shots for each member, and after that they divided into pairs and trios to film the remaining scenes according to the storyboard.

Neoul was assigned a solo shot in the very classroom where the ghost was still stuck. The ghost paid no mind to whether people were present or not and kept banging its head against the window.

"The wind's blowing nicely, so shall we open the window and film?"

"Yes, that little flutter of hair will make the picture prettier."

Ah...

Before Neoul could stop them, the staff ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠yanked the window wide open. The ghost kept smashing its head into the glass, then toppled over the windowsill with a flump. After that, it lay still, as though dead.

...

Well, it was already dead.

Perhaps because the ghost was small, it didn't fall out through the opening. Its arms and legs just dangled limply as its body hung over the sill.

Neoul looked away from the ghost and focused on filming.

"Gaeneoul-ssi, let's slow down the phone-call part a little more here! And make your expression more fresh and innocent!"

At the music video director's instruction, Neoul blinked quietly.

What is a fresh and innocent expression?

Lee Gal-chae, standing beside the camera, took out his smartphone and demonstrated it right away, as if telling him to watch and imitate exactly.

Thanks to that, filming went smoothly.

"Okay! Let's get a close-up too! Think of the camera as the other person! Smile!"

Neoul gazed at the camera and smiled softly.

"Good! Oh, my! You are so handsome!"

At the words handsome, the ghost rose to its feet. Its unfocused stare snapped into place, drawn in by the praise, though it had shown no interest in anyone passing by before.

[Ooh. An idol?]

The impressed ghost circled around Neoul, hovering and peeking.

[Ooooooh.]

Annoying.

Neoul did his best to concentrate on the shoot, but there was only so much he could ignore.

The ghost flitted around in a daze, went to spy on the other members, and then began fiddling with the camera.

"Huh? Why did the camera suddenly turn off?"

"Wasn't the battery full?"

"Feels like it's broken."

Neoul had no choice but to speak up.

"You there. Take your hands off the camera."

The ghost and the director both jumped and let go at the same time. The instant they did, the camera lit up again. The director's eyes went wide.

"Oh! It's fixed! What the hell?"

When the ghost met Neoul's gaze, it stared back in surprise and came closer.

[You can see me?]

The director looked back and forth between the camera and Neoul before asking, "Gaeneoul-ssi. Are you maybe from a magic school...?"

Neoul nodded. It was an answer to the ghost's question, but the director took it as an answer to his own and laughed.

"Idols these days really can do anything. Even magic."

He tossed out the joke and checked the data.

"Nothing got lost, right? Please...! Ah! Thank goodness! It's alive!"

The ghost stood beside Neoul and looked up at him.

[What are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you filming?]

"Later."

Neoul whispered as if telling it to wait obediently and pointed to the corner of the classroom. The ghost nodded and went to crouch on the floor over there.

After Neoul's solo scene was finished, Lee Gal-chae and Woo Cheong's shoots continued.

While they were filming, Neoul led the ghost outside. It followed him down to the first floor, but it couldn't cross the threshold and stopped there, staring at him.

[I can't go out here.]

The ghost extended a hand beyond the open doorway. But the hand bounced back as if it had struck an invisible wall.

Neoul had no choice but to enter the empty teachers' office on the first floor.

"We're in the middle of filming a music video. So you mustn't break the camera or interfere like before."

[Ooh. I want to interfere more! I want to interfere more! I'm good at interfering!]

The ghost's eyes gleamed with mischief.

With no better option, Neoul decided to keep it occupied in conversation until the other members finished filming safely.

"Why are you trapped at the school?"

[I don't know.]

"Did the Grim Reaper not come ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to take you?"

[I don't know!]

The ghost answered while wandering restlessly around the office. It was hard to tell whether it truly didn't know or simply didn't want to answer.

[I just slammed my head against the window a few times because I was stressed! And then I got trapped like this! It doesn't matter anyway, since I don't want to go home. I failed my exams.]

So it was the former. The way it chattered on about things he hadn't even asked suggested as much.

[No one's waiting for me. My family only waits for a perfect report card. That stupid piece of paper is welcomed a lot more than I am.]

The ghost had now started banging its head against the office window as well. It looked as if it had lost its mind. Neoul reached out between the ghost and the glass to stop it from hitting itself, but the ghost simply passed through his hand and kept on banging.

Neoul recalled the stories of officials in the Dragon Palace, who had once said they earned their posts only after a face-to-face oral examination with the Dragon King. When they appointed civil officials in the Dragon Palace, they used spoken tests.

Did Turtle Chancellor Do-seungji fail ten times before passing?

The leatherback turtle had finally passed a minor post on the eleventh attempt and had since risen all the way to chancellor. He had gone through a great deal of hardship, but his wife had supported him, and because of that he had not given up and tried again.

Neoul looked at the middle school ghost, still thudding its head against the window.

Was this girl, who said she had not been welcomed by her family, so broken-hearted that even in death she could not leave the school? Spending endless lonely years in a building that had now been emptied of everyone, alone in the dark.

[I was actually pretty good at studying. If my friends asked me things they didn't know, I could explain almost all of them. But my parents and my older brother always said I wasn't good enough. Because I wasn't number one.]

The members were all delighted to be wearing school uniforms, as if they had gone back to childhood.

That made Neoul wonder. If he had been human... when he wore this uniform, would he have been like them? Would this clothing, which to his eyes looked like nothing more than cloth covering the body and carried no feeling at all, have come to mean something special?

But perhaps for someone like Baek Gi-yeom, there was a school life remembered as fresh and beautiful... while for someone else, it might be a memory drenched in gloom and sorrow.

Neoul bent his knees and lowered himself to look at the middle school girl.

"Do you like amusement parks?"

[Amusement parks?]

The girl, who had been butting her head against the glass, stopped in place.

[I love them! I've only been a few times, though! I'm not good on the scary rides! But I still like amusement parks!]

"That is fortunate."

Neoul didn't know how to comfort her. All he could think was that he wanted to lead her out of the trapped school and take her to the amusement park where the Hanpuri Concert was held.

There, where everyone laughed and cried and had fun, she could watch the parade, see the performances, and receive comfort in the embrace of a reaper.

It seems I'll have to call Baek Namu the reaper.

But how?

Come to think of it, Baek Namu had only ever appeared out of nowhere whenever he pleased; there was no way to summon him from this side.

Could I meet him if I go to that ○○ Land amusement park?

Neoul made a promise to the middle school girl.

"I shall return next time. At that time, I will be sure to help you go to an amusement park."

[But I can't leave school...]

"I will find a way."

[Really?]

Neoul nodded.

"Lee Gal-chae said that if one sees a ghost on set, it means success is coming. Thanks to you, I am sure this will be a hit, so I ought to give you this much in return."

[Wow.]

"So stop interfering with the filming and stop banging your head against the window. You are bleeding."

There was no way a dead soul could bleed. But each time the middle school girl slammed her head into the glass, her black hair stained red.

The whites of her eyes reddened as well. And whenever she wasn't headbutting the window, everything returned to normal.

Her expression was twisted as if she were furious... but she looked hurt. Her head, and her heart.

So Neoul hoped the girl would stop abusing herself. The middle schooler nodded so hard her bobbed hair turned into a nest of disarray.

[Promise. I promise. You have to come back for sure.]

Neoul smiled.

***

The middle school ghost no longer interfered with the shoot.

[What's the blue-haired oppa's name?]

"Woo Cheong."

[Even his name has "cheong" in it? His face is totally my type!]

She still commented from time to time while watching, or asked questions, but she behaved much more quietly now.

"What the heck! Why do I suddenly feel cold?"

Woo Cheong, under the ghost's fervent gaze, felt a chill for no reason and layered on more clothes.

In the middle of the music video shoot, a large truck pulled into a corner of the schoolyard. It was a coffee truck sent by Hala of Black Roulette, one of the judges on Idol Travel.

[You guys! Debut fast and call me senior! - Hala sunbae-nim -]

"Wow! Coffee truck! I want something warm!"

Woo Cheong was the first to dash out. Baek Gi-yeom and Ha On-ha ran after him full speed, and the rest moved toward the truck at a more leisurely pace.

"Oh, nice timing. I needed caffeine anyway. Has Baek Yuri-ssi ever gotten something like this before?"

At the director's question, Baek Yuri shook his head.

"This is my first time receiving something like this, too."

He was not only acting as an idol, but also taking on the role of overall producer while working on the shoot, so he had been tense the entire time. A smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

"It makes me really happy."

For Neoul, who was hesitating over the menu because there were too many choices, Baek Yuri recommended a salted caramel latte. Neoul enjoyed the sweet-and-salty drink and was satisfied.

There was not yet anything worth posting on the newly created official SNS for Jjokbit, so the members had only uploaded a few mirror selfies taken in the practice room.

And today, along with a slight music video spoiler, they posted a group coffee-truck proof ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shot.

As soon as Jjokbit's new update was uploaded, the reactions from the fans who had been waiting for them with bated breath spread like wildfire.

***