Chapter 118
Chapter 118
Just then, Lee Su-a was gazing at a distant figure.
The theme park had been carved straight out of a mountainside where nothing had been before, so the terrain wasn't perfectly flat. The ground rose in a gentle slope from the main gate toward the back, and a few rides were even built conspicuously on hilltops.
The haunted house was one of those.
Because of that, aiming a camera this way from up there was easy.
Lee Su-a was watching someone who had a camera pointed directly at them from that spot.
Of course, assuming that anyone carrying a camera at an amusement park must be a reporter was absurd. No matter how much smartphone cameras had improved and grown more convenient, plenty of people still wanted to preserve their memories with better image quality and resolution.
Maybe the person had simply been trying to capture the distant parts of the park from a high vantage point, and their camera happened to point this way by coincidence.
But hadn't Sara already been photographed several times by now? And the pictures had even ended up in an article.
No further articles had appeared since the one her father had shown her last time, but the absence of new stories didn't guarantee that no paparazzi were still trailing them.
Lee Su-a's family wasn't on the level of Yujin Group, but she was still the daughter of a household that ranked among the top conglomerates in the country. It wasn't as if she'd never seen a paparazzo in her life.
When Lee Su-a had been overseas, someone had openly followed her around with a camera. Maybe it was because of the gossip about the owner of one of the country's leading companies, a company that prided itself on a long tradition, marrying a foreigner. That had been during the period when she'd practically lived abroad in hiding, thanks to all the baseless rumors about her mother and about her father and mother's relationship.
But perhaps because she'd been in a place that treated "freedom of expression" or "freedom of the press" as sacred principles, the paparazzi there hadn't even bothered to hide while snapping photos of her.
It had only subsided after the company eventually issued a warning telling them to stop stalking a child. Truthfully, even that had happened because the media outlets realized Lee Su-a wasn't generating much of a story worth chasing, and they'd backed off on their own before getting labeled as pedophiles.
So while she couldn't do much about someone truly determined to stay hidden, she could at least be aware of a camera that entered her field of vision. Not a habit she'd ever wanted to pick up.
And right now, Lee Su-a's instinct told her immediately: that person was paparazzi.
"Do you want to go?"
She was still debating whether or not to mention this when Sara suddenly asked the question.
Sara's gaze was directed at the spot Lee Su-a had been looking toward. But not at the person holding the camera. That person had already slipped out of sight.
Sara was looking toward the haunted house.
Seeing Lee Su-a looking up at it, Sara must have reached that conclusion.
"Uh......"
Lee Su-a hesitated for a moment.
Should she tell Sara about the person she'd just seen? Warn her and chase them off?
.......
"Ah,"
An idea flashed through Lee Su-a's mind.
A way to flesh out the plan she'd mentioned to her father the other day.
"Yeah. I want to go."
So for now, she answered with that.
That person had trailed them this far, and they would surely keep following until the girls headed back. Paparazzi didn't chase people around waiting for some explosive piece of evidence. They photographed celebrities in their daily lives, doggedly stuck close, and kept observing until some "story" finally emerged. That was their job.
Which was exactly why the photos sold for so much.
She was genuinely curious; she had to admit it.
Who exactly was tailing the sole heiress of the Yujin Group and taking pictures like this?
Lee Su-a decided this was an opportunity.
......And it was also a lucky break that she'd get to enter the haunted house together with Sara, since the rules required going in pairs.
*
"......Are you okay?"
After they came back from the haunted house, Ha-neul and So-hee asked Sara, who had once again collapsed into a groggy state, their expressions full of worry. Naturally, Lee Su-a was worried too. She'd been right beside Sara, watching her reactions firsthand.
Sara had walked in with such a confident look on her face, but after she shrieked violently at everything that jumped out, Lee Su-a had realized that she'd never once watched a horror movie in her life.
No, it probably wasn't just horror movies. Sara hardly ever watched TV at all.
......Maybe I should set aside some time and take her to a movie theater one day.
As the thought crossed her mind, the person she'd spotted earlier appeared at the edge of Lee Su-a's vision.
This time they were fairly close. No camera hung around their neck, but the overall impression matched.
"Hey, guys."
Judging that if she didn't approach now, the person would slip far away again and become harder to catch, Lee Su-a called to the others.
"Hm?"
Sara raised her head and looked up at Lee Su-a. Her face was still pale.
Lee Su-a felt something poking at a corner of her chest, like a finger prodding her. Probably her conscience doing the prodding.
Was it because she was about to lie to Sara? Or because she'd already lied earlier and made Sara suffer through that?
No. If she were honest, it was probably her conscience jabbing at her for thinking Sara looked adorable even now.
It was true. Watching Sara scream in every cute way imaginable inside the haunted house, she'd found herself wanting to bring her back again sometime.
But that would be tormenting Sara.
Even while thinking that, she forced down the ticklish sensation in her chest and shook her head slightly.
"I'm going to run to the restroom real quick."
"Oh. Okay?"
Sara answered and started to get up. She was probably planning to go with her. Lee Su-a hurriedly waved her hands.
"Ah, no. Stay here and rest. I'll be right back."
"......Still......."
Sara hesitated for a moment, but then—
"I will accompany her."
Yang Hye-in stepped forward first.
"Ah, I—"
Before Lee Su-a could come up with an excuse, Yang Hye-in spoke.
"I happened to need to go as well."
"......."
When she put it like that, there was no way to refuse.
"Please take good care of the young lady."
"Ah, yes......."
Yang Hye-in said that while looking at So-hee and Ha-neul, and the two of them nodded with slightly bewildered expressions.
"Shall we go, then?"
"......."
Lee Su-a had no choice but to nod.
*
"It's this way."
Yang Hye-in guided them in a completely different direction from the nearest restroom. Lee Su-a followed her in silence for a while, then asked:
"......Did you see them?"
Still unsure how to address Yang Hye-in, Lee Su-a omitted any title and phrased the question that way. Fortunately, Yang Hye-in didn't seem particularly offended as she answered.
"Yes, if you are referring to the person holding the camera, I saw them as well."
"......Are you helping me?"
"It seemed as though you wanted it."
Yang Hye-in spoke without even glancing back as she continued to lead.
The area was crowded with people and quite noisy, yet Yang Hye-in's voice came through oddly clear.
"Do you know what I'm after?"
"No, that I don't."
Yang Hye-in stopped walking.
"It's more that—since the young lady trusts all of you, I wish to trust you as well."
She turned her head slightly to the side as she spoke.
"And I also want to know who has been photographing the young lady multiple times."
Yang Hye-in suddenly broke into a run.
"Ah, wait—!"
Lee Su-a belatedly chased after her, but she couldn't fully keep up with Yang Hye-in, who had gotten a head start. The only reason she'd managed even this much was because she'd been exercising with Sara every day lately; otherwise, she might have already lost sight of Yang Hye-in entirely.
"Hah, hah......"
Gasping roughly for breath, she finally caught up and saw a person standing frozen stiff, camera in hand. Yang Hye-in was already positioned within arm's reach of them.
The area was wide open—anyone could have run in any direction if they'd wanted. But that also made pursuit easy. Crowds of people were milling around, and although the paparazzo wore ordinary clothes, they were carrying a camera with a large lens around their neck. Most of all, they were close enough to grab.
They could stuff the camera into a bag, but now that they'd come face-to-face this close, forgetting the face wouldn't be easy either.
......Surprisingly enough, the paparazzo was a woman. She looked around the same age as Yang Hye-in. Her hair was cut short, her face unadorned and plain. If not for the massive camera, she truly would have gone unnoticed.
"What the—"
Startled that someone had popped out beside her so abruptly, she started to speak, but the moment she saw Yang Hye-in's face, her own drained of color.
If she'd been dogging Sara day after day, there was no way she wouldn't recognize Yang Hye-in. Her face must have been as familiar as Sara's by now.
"May I ask what you have been photographing with that camera?"
Yang Hye-in asked with extreme politeness. But somehow, that very courtesy made her tone feel even more threatening.
"It's none of your damn business what I take pictures of."
Apparently reassured that they weren't police or park employees, the paparazzo's attitude turned brazen in an instant.
The behavior reminded Lee Su-a of the paparazzi she'd encountered abroad.
"......That camera."
Lee Su-a, having finally caught her breath, pointed at the camera, and the paparazzo clutched it protectively to her chest as if cradling something precious.
"Th-this is off-limits. I don't care what you say. If you really want to see, call the cops or something."
"Don't worry. I have no intention of doing that."
Lee Su-a didn't. She'd never once seen paparazzi get arrested over something like this. Besides—
"The photos inside that camera—could I buy all of them?"
Besides, Lee Su-a needed those pictures.
If the police got them, there was no telling whether she would ever receive them. To obtain the photos, she couldn't afford to come on too strong.
"Absolutely n...... what?"
It seemed she'd been fully prepared to insist it was out of the question, but her words trailed off and she stared blankly, mouth hanging open.
"I said I want to buy the photos."
Lee Su-a repeated herself, clearly and firmly.