The Auntie From Hell #2

The secrets of the old school building and Yeongji High School. I was looking for someone who could share quite a few long-buried memories, and Kang Haneul was the perfect person for the job. After all, she had been a student at Yeongji High sixteen years ago too.

Every adult woman was once a high school girl, after all.

“Has a shaman ever visited the school?”

“Tch, forget it! You never tell your teacher the truth about anything, so why should I have to answer your questions? I’m not saying a word.”

Hmph—.

She puffed out her cheeks and pretended to be dramatically sulky. It was hard to believe the thirty-one-year-old Kang Haneul was only three years younger than my thirty-four-year-old mother; she had such a childish streak. Maybe that was the difference between a married woman and a single one.

“Still, if you change your mind, call this number. It’s my personal line. Just so you know, I don’t give my number to random guys, so consider yourself lucky, okay?”

“......”

“Not answering?”

“Yes. Sigh, I’m truly honored.”

I left the library and headed home. I took a long detour on purpose, hoping to avoid running into Kim Geon-ho’s crew on the way. When I finally reached the house, the bathroom door was locked. I knocked, and Mom’s voice came from inside.

“Yeah.”

“It is.”

“Um… no….”

I really needed to use the bathroom. How long was she planning to stay in there? That was what I was thinking when my phone buzzed.

The moment I felt that creepy chill, the bathroom door creaked open by itself. The bathroom I’d thought Mom was in… was completely empty.

“What the—there’s no one here…!?”

Who the hell had I been talking to just now?

God damn it. Sometimes that thing gave useless proverb-like “advice” at the worst possible moments, and this was one of them. Our house was already disgusting with giant cockroaches everywhere, and now ghosts too? No wonder the rent was so cheap.

I was too scared to stay calm. I bolted straight out of the building. I didn’t have a specific destination, but I figured going somewhere crowded would help. A noisy, bustling place might ease this feeling. Ghosts probably wouldn’t show up there either.

“So… where should I go?”

The problem was that I’d only moved to this neighborhood a few months ago and still didn’t know the area well. I had lived in Seoul until middle school. This place was rundown, full of back alleys, strange noises, and awful smells.

Flap, flap—.

Something white fluttered and I jumped in fright.

“Mom—!”

I thought it was a ghost in funeral clothes and nearly had a heart attack, but on closer look it was just a banner.

One of the strings had come loose from poor maintenance, making it flap like a flag. Damn it, scaring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠people like that. When I get the right to vote, I’m never voting for that guy even if he comes back from the dead.

“This neighborhood really sucks.”

Until last year I had lived in refined, modern Seoul. Then Mom’s job brought us to Gaeryong this year, and I was still adjusting in every way.

“......”

So what now?

Gurgle—.

I was hungry.

It was a good thing I had brought my phone. I quickly reached Kang Haneul after she had told me to contact her if anything happened, and thanks to her I managed to solve dinner as well. I ordered pork soup at a nearby restaurant and waited for her to arrive.

“......”

But the wait felt unexpectedly boring and creepy at the same time. Damn it, our house was already terrifying because of the cockroaches, and now ghosts on top of that. Did I really have to live there for the rest of my life?

I tried to push the fear aside and opened my status window. There were things I hadn’t had time to check and points I had saved up; it seemed smart to think about how to use them while I had the chance.

The most tempting option was the Trait Draw Ticket. I already had Broken Clock, an ability so good it could be called a superpower. If I got one more, my life would become far richer and more comfortable.

Click—.

Without hesitation I selected the Trait Draw Ticket.

Soon a roulette wheel like the ones in games appeared and began spinning round and round.

“Hypnosis ability, let’s gooo!”

Clatter clatter clatter—ding.

It stopped. The arrow on the roulette pointed to a line that read:

“......”

What the hell is this? It’s so underwhelming. I had secretly hoped for something like Hypnosis App, so the disappointment was hard to hide. The ability to hold your breath longer. Sure, it was better than nothing, but for 100 points it felt pretty lame. I’d hoped for something that could help me make money.

“Huuup.”

Still, since I’d drawn it, I tested it by holding my breath. Normally I would have run out after a minute, but now I easily lasted a minute and a half.

“Haaah.”

I had 110 points left. I thought about drawing another trait or trying the Capsule Draw but decided against it.

“Yeongwon!”

Kang Haneul was walking toward the restaurant, so I didn’t have time to fiddle with the window anymore. Leaving some points in reserve didn’t seem like a bad idea either.

She drove a silver sedan. The moment I got in the passenger seat, a fresh scent of air freshener hit me. It smelled nice.

“Teacher, thank you for the delicious meal.”

“Wrong! Saying it like that makes it sound like you ate your teacher deliciously. Korean is a language where subject and object matter. Next time say you enjoyed the pork soup.”

“......”

She really was a Korean teacher. She pointed it out in a place I’d never expected.

“So shall we go to a café now? You had something you wanted to tell me, right? Have you finally decided to be honest with your teacher about everything?”

Kang Haneul seemed to think I had called her because of the bullying and harassment written on that note. That was because I hadn’t said, “A ghost appeared in my house!” If I told her honestly that a ghost came out at home, I doubted she would believe me.

“There are actually a lot of things I want to tell you. I have many favors to ask…. Teacher. Could I possibly stay at your house tonight? Just for tonight?”

“What?”

Kang Haneul frowned. Her expression clearly said, What on earth is this kid saying?

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t want to go home. At home… it’s hard to explain exactly what happened, but….”

I made the most pitiful, wretched face I could manage—one of the skills I had developed while being bullied by Yang Ju-hui, Kim Geon-ho, and the rest. However, Kang Haneul was quite a principled person.

“You won’t even tell me what happened, but you want to sleep at your teacher’s house? Do you have any idea what kind of rumors would spread if people heard a female teacher let a male student stay over?”

“I’ll keep it a secret. Please. Teacher. Please. Think of it as saving my life once. I might actually die. Really…. I might really… really die. Ah….”

This wasn’t a lie. Mom had said she wasn’t coming home tonight. Who could guarantee what would happen to me if I went back to that house?

Kang Haneul’s apartment wasn’t far from school. It was a corridor-style building, and every doorstep was cluttered with trash and random junk, making the hallway extremely filthy.

“Yeongwon, you must never tell anyone about today. Come in quickly while no one’s watching. Hurry! The auntie next door is nosy; if she sees you, the rumor will spread for sure!”

Whoosh—.

I slipped quickly through the open door.

“Inviting a student into my home. What on earth am I doing….”

Kang Haneul’s apartment had three rooms and one bathroom. It was about 25 pyeong. A laundry drying rack stood in the living room, covered with various undergarments—.

“Wait, turn your face that way! Quickly!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The drying rack in the living room disappeared in an instant. The house was full of everyday life. So this is what a thirty-one-year-old single woman’s home feels like.

I felt a tiny bit nervous about being alone with an adult woman in her house, but the teacher acted completely unfazed.

“Yeongwon, you mustn’t make too much noise, okay? Tomorrow’s Saturday so all the neighbors are home. The soundproofing in these old buildings is terrible, so if we’re not careful the rumor that I brought a man home will spread everywhere.”

Kang Haneul seemed strangely concerned about the neighbors.

“What happens if a rumor spreads?”

“You’re a minor. In the worst case, your teacher could go to prison. Even if not, it would make it hard for me to get married. You’re still young so you might not understand.”

Suddenly I remembered a conversation I had overheard among the kids: “They say Kim Geon-ho went to a motel with the English teacher—” along with the face of the stylish, beautiful twenty-seven-year-old English teacher.

“For tonight, sleep here. It used to be my older brother’s room. I haven’t cleaned it, but if we tidy a little it should be fine to sleep in. Here are your pajamas. Shall I warm up some milk for you?”

I changed into the pajamas the teacher gave me inside the room. They must have belonged to her brother; they were quite big on me. Still, they were better than staying in my uncomfortable school uniform.

Knock knock knock—.

While I was changing out of my uniform, the teacher knocked on the door.

“Not yet. I’m not done changing.”

“No, I said I’m not done. Please don’t rush me.”

What couldn’t she hold? Was she saying she was holding it because she needed the bathroom but cleaning the room I was supposed to sleep in came first? The voice mixed with strange tension and a sigh made it sound like it might be something big.

I hurriedly finished changing.

“Yes. You can come in now.”

I waited a little, but there was no answer. The déjà vu I had felt somewhere before made goosebumps rise all over me. What if I opened the door and the teacher was gone again? Just like the ghost that had imitated Mom in the bathroom!

Gripping my fist in case I needed to swing it, I stepped into the living room. Fortunately, Kang Haneul was sitting at the dining table, sipping alcohol. Her outfit, however, stood out. She was wearing an extremely thin see-through nightgown that clearly showed the underwear that had been on the drying rack earlier.

“Uh….”

I looked away in slight panic. Just being here felt like I was doing something I shouldn’t.

Then the teacher spoke.

“Surprised? I usually dress this comfortably at home. Anyway, Yeongwon, come sit here.”

“Why?”

“Sit down quickly. If you don’t listen, I’ll kick you out right now.”