The Death Elevator
"Looks like it's fine, right?" I asked Jeong Seok, feeling like a researcher conducting an experiment. Jeong Seok nodded as he watched Yang Ju-hui inside the elevator.
"Seems okay for now. What are we going to do, Ha Yeong-won? Are you planning to go inside that elevator too? There's no guarantee that the fourth-floor space it's taking us to is the same place your mother disappeared from."
Jeong Seok was right. There was no proof anywhere that the place my mom vanished from and the fourth floor this elevator would lead to were the same location. But I couldn't just stand around doing nothing either.
"Seok. You said it yourself. Even if this perfume reduces the chance of the monsters finding us from 99 percent to 1 percent, as long as it's not zero, there's still a possibility left."
"Well, yeah, but…"
"There's no guarantee that the fourth floor this elevator is talking about is the same space where my mom disappeared. But the opposite is true too."
What were the odds that Mom had disappeared into this elevator's space? 90 percent? 1 percent? The important thing was that no matter what the number was, I had to bet on that possibility. I still couldn't get used to being called a fatherless kid—if I lost Mom too, I'd basically be an orphan.
"I'm going. Seok, I won't force you to come with me."
Stepping into that elevator was like walking into a lion's den. Maybe even more dangerous and grotesque than that. My life could be at risk. So I didn't pressure Jeong Seok to come along.
"Hoo… hoo… hoo-eup, hoo…"
Jeong Seok took several deep breaths. He slapped both his cheeks with his hands and said to me, "Just be honest. Ask for help. If you say you need help, I'll help. I promised, after all. And honestly, I'm personally curious too. I'm going. Inside there."
"Shit, help me! I'm actually scared as hell!"
I was deeply moved watching Jeong Seok risk himself for me, and the words just burst out of my mouth.
"I want to live too! Let's go together! Together!"
Honestly, I didn't want to go into that elevator. But I had to save Mom. If I had no choice but to go… I'd rather go with my friends than alone! Even if it felt like a water ghost dragging us to our deaths, having others with me was better than going by myself!
Pop—. Yang Ju-hui and I stepped into the elevator. Yang Ju-hui, who had been watching this whole farce from inside, spoke to us.
"Aigoo, you cowards. Why so much talk just to get into an elevator?"
…No. If anything, Yang Ju-hui was the one being way too calm and fearless. How could a person be this brave? Maybe Yang Ju-hui only got scared when it came to the Nightmare Corridor.
"There's really nothing but the fourth floor. For now, just in case, let's keep pressing the open button."
Jeong Seok looked around and spoke. Aside from the open and close buttons, every floor button in the elevator was plastered with the number "4." There were roughly a hundred of those switches. It was bizarre—every slot that should have shown floors 1 through 100 instead displayed nothing but 4s.
"What is this? Does it mean something?"
Before pressing the button, I asked Yang Ju-hui and Jeong Seok for their thoughts on the elevator covered in 4s. From my experience with the supernatural incidents so far, even the smallest detail could hold the key to solving or hinting at a solution.
Yang Ju-hui said, "No idea!"
Yang Ju-hui didn't know. She was supposed to be good at studying for a delinquent, but book smarts and this kind of intuition were two different things. So what about Jeong Seok?
"Seok. Do you think it has some meaning?"
"In East Asian countries like Korea, elevators sometimes skip the number 4. Because the number 4 reminds people of the Chinese character for death, sa ()."
"Oh."
"That's why some buildings label the fourth floor as F instead. That trend has decreased now, but it was common in the '90s and early 2000s."
Jeong Seok was looking at his phone. He was probably reading out something he'd searched. At least it meant phones worked normally inside this elevator.
Swish—. Just then, someone entered the villa. It was the auntie who lived in the unit across from ours—the manager of Taegwang Villa. She got angry at the papers and tape scattered in front of the elevator.
"Aigoo, what is all this! Who left this trash here! Don't use the elevator, my ass. Where the hell is this elevator anyway! They should install CCTV or something! Aigoo, seriously!"
"……"
Jeong Seok and I were flustered by the situation. Only Yang Ju-hui bravely voiced what was happening.
"Can't she see us? The elevator door is open. Auntie! Auntie!"
The fourth-floor manager acted as if she couldn't see the wide-open elevator entrance on the first floor or us inside it. Even though Yang Ju-hui had shouted loudly.
Soon Jeong Seok muttered quietly, "Maybe…"
He had figured something out! Just as I was about to ask what was going on, he rattled off an explanation.
"Anyway, the number 4 on an elevator means the Chinese character sa ()—death. Every floor in this elevator means death. It's a complete death elevator."
A death elevator. We were riding inside it right now. Guys, let's just get off—
In less than ten seconds, those words rose to my throat and sank back down several times.
Swish—. Then Yang Ju-hui moved her hand and pressed the fourth floor. Both Jeong Seok and I were shocked by her bold, reckless action. Jeong Seok even frowned and got angry.
"Hey! You can't just act on your own like that! If you're this reckless and careless, we could all really die!"
"Then what are we supposed to do? Just stand here pressing the open button forever? We won't know what's there until we actually go to the fourth floor!"
Jeong Seok's opinion was right, and so was Yang Ju-hui's. Yang Ju-hui kept pushing her point.
"Yeong-won's mom got trapped in a weird elevator. Who's to say it won't happen to our families or moms too? What if this elevator keeps appearing around us and making people disappear?"
"That's… There's no guarantee it will, but there's also no guarantee it won't…"
"I can't watch my mom or dad go missing too."
Yang Ju-hui was someone who had personally experienced her family falling apart because of her older sister Yang Do-hui's disappearance. She couldn't stand the thought of an elevator that devoured people targeting her family.
"Maybe my sister is on the fourth floor. I'm going. If you're scared, get off now. I'm pressing the close button in five seconds. Counting down. 5-. 4-."
Yang Ju-hui began her death countdown toward 4 (), and Jeong Seok and I looked at each other's faces. We had a lot we wanted to say, but the one who moved first was Jeong Seok.
Swish—. He reached out and pressed the close button.
"Shit. Let's go. Go."
His voice was trembling. After all, no matter how smart the mayor's son who dreamed of becoming a prosecutor was, he was still just a first-year high school student. We all were. We weren't kids who had to rely on adult protection anymore, but we weren't adults either—just friends at that awkward age. Honestly, we were scared. Even so, being together gave us strength…!
# # #
Ding-dong—. Before we knew it, we'd arrived at the fourth floor. "The doors are opening."
Swoosh—. When the elevator doors opened, there was only pitch-black darkness beyond. Jeong Seok asked, "Yeong-won. What does the advice function say?"
I'd been saving the advice function as much as possible lately. I was preserving it for important moments.
"Advice."
The Broken Clock's advice: Where there is an entrance, there is also an exit.
It was a simple piece of advice. But the hope contained in those words shone quite brightly.
"It says where there's an entrance, there's an exit. It probably means that if we go in there, we'll definitely be able to get out somewhere."
"Hey, Ha Yeong-won. Look at this."
Yang Ju-hui pointed with her long finger at the floor panel. Below the number "4," the words "Over Capacity" were visible. It was the exact same composition as the photo Mom had taken.
"The buttons don't work either, except for open and close."
At Jeong Seok's words after checking the elevator, I snapped to attention. Now we had only two choices left.
"We have two options. Either stay in this elevator, or go outside."
"I'll go first and check."
Hoo—. Yang Ju-hui took a small deep breath and stepped into the darkness. Jeong Seok and I carefully watched her, and after confirming there was no problem, we slowly followed behind.
"The doors are closing."
The elevator doors shut. Once the light pouring from that square box disappeared, the "fourth floor" was completely swallowed by darkness. This sticky, inky blackness clinging to my skin. Just as I thought it felt strangely familiar, a brilliant light struck my face. Jeong Seok had taken out his phone.
"We're out of signal range. More than that, the phone screen is completely cracked. The time's weird too. Can't even operate it. What about your phones?"
Yang Ju-hui and I took out our phones too. Just like Jeong Seok's, ours were also out of signal range with broken text. They felt completely broken.
Uweeaaaack—. Chijijijijik—. At that moment, a horrifying noise came from our phones. It sounded like a radio someone had deliberately broken, letting out an unpleasant death rattle. While we were all flustered—
Clack, clack. Clack. Clack-clack—. From beyond that dark corridor, I felt some kind of presence. A person? Could it be Mom?
Jeong Seok and Yang Ju-hui spoke.
"Something's coming from over there."
"Maybe it's Yeong-won's mom? That sound, it seems like high heel taps."
I'd been thinking of calling out loudly, but I felt an ominous premonition. My mom wasn't the type to wear high heels. She preferred sneakers and low shoes.
—The phones are dead and keep making scary noises, so I threw them away.
Jeong So-jin's story I'd heard long ago in the Nightmare Corridor flashed through my mind. This darkness, and the presence I felt in the distance, weren't unfamiliar to me.
"Hey. Let's look for lockers or boxes nearby. Quick! We should get away from here! We need to find somewhere to hide! There has to be something! Lockers or boxes or whatever! Throw away the phones!"
I pushed Jeong Seok and Yang Ju-hui forward. And miraculously, we found a trash bin large enough for all three of us to fit inside. It was a high-capacity bin that you'd see at the corner of a big road. As we scrambled inside, we saw talismans stuck haphazardly on the interior. Just as I thought the stench of garbage was going to twist my nose—
Creak, crack, creak—. Tap. Tap. Something began passing by outside the trash bin we were hiding in, making sounds like joints and bones bending and colliding unnaturally.
"Wh-what is that…"
"Shh. Jeong Seok. Be quiet."
In that moment, I realized it. This sa () floor. This place was a nightmare intertwined with reality.