Chapter 6
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Kwon Hee-yul's Watch
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With a blank expression, I stared at the quest window and thought.
'One of the debut team members will go into hyperventilation.'
I recalled the members' faces one by one.
In the past seven years together, I'd never once seen any of them collapse from hyperventilation.
Which meant....
'No way it's Eun Hae-sol again?'
Last time he nearly tumbled down the stairs, and now hyperventilation in the middle of the music video shoot?
'No. It might not be Eun Hae-sol. But....'
"Ha. I don't know."
A heavy sigh escaped me before I knew it.
'What happens if I can't stop it....?'
Anxiety surged back in. I had no idea what would happen if the quest failed. I steadied my breathing and calmed myself down.
'What can I do? I have to stop it.'
With that, I deactivated the quest window.
Truth be told, I was dying to know what would happen if I hit 'NO' on the quest acceptance popup, but I wasn't dumb enough to try it.
'There must be a reason they're giving me this quest.'
Thinking that, I opened the door and stepped out.
* * *
Inside DIEN's practice room.
Cha Jae-hyun stood in front of the members, arms crossed and face resolute, delivering a speech.
"You all know we've got the music video shoot this Saturday, right? Once we shoot it, we can't edit it forever, so let's make sure we nail it without any regrets!"
"Yes, Jae-hyun hyung."
"Let's fight!"
"Fighting! Aja aja!"
Two hours later.
The sweat-soaked members collapsed, gasping for breath. In the middle of it all, Cha Jae-hyun turned off the speaker and said.
"That's it for practice today."
Practice ended earlier than usual.
A wise choice. Overdoing it before a big schedule would just backfire.
"Okay. Good work, everyone."
"Let's rest today!"
They were all packing up to leave when.
"Hae-sol. You not going?"
In the corner of the practice room, Eun Hae-sol sat huddled, spacing out.
Eun Hae-sol glanced at us briefly before turning his head away.
"I'll go when the bus comes. You guys head out first."
We left the practice room, leaving Eun Hae-sol behind.
Everyone knew he usually took taxis instead of the bus, but no one pried.
Eun Hae-sol had long since become a tiresome presence to us.
* * *
Click—
We got back to the dorm at 10 p.m.
As soon as I entered the room, I flung myself onto the bed. My exhausted body sank in, and sleep started to wash over me.
That's when I was closing my eyes to sleep.
"Wait."
Some inexplicable feeling jolted me awake, and I looked around.
Then it hit me—I'd left my watch in the practice room.
"Ah, damn it."
I clutched my head and groaned.
'Should I go get it? Or not?'
My body, having already tasted heaven under the covers, desperately pleaded to stay put.
I must have agonized over it for a while.
"Let's go."
I threw off the blanket and got up.
* * *
DIEN company hallway.
It was already 11 p.m., and the dark corridor echoed only with my footsteps.
Thud, thud—
'Not scary at all. Not scary at...'
Ring ring ring—
The phone startled me. The screen showed Baek Si-woo.
I held the smartphone to my ear.
"Hello."
"Eun-ho! Where are you? I went to your room and you're not here, so I called!"
"I'm not at the dorm. I'm at the company."
"Huh? This late at night? Why?"
I hesitated before answering.
"Left my watch."
"Your watch? That beat-up old thing? Just get it tomorrow. Why bother...."
"It might get lost."
"You're something else. Not scared?"
"Scared of what? Hanging up."
As I moved to end the call, Baek Si-woo's urgent voice came through.
"Wait!"
I brought the phone back to my ear.
"Be careful."
His worry made me chuckle in disbelief.
"Careful of what. Hanging...."
"You know? The practice room ghost story."
Practice room ghost story? I'd never heard it before, and curiosity sparked somewhere inside me.
"What's that?"
At my response, Baek Si-woo groaned.
"You've been a trainee here at DIEN for seven years and you don't know? Even kids from other companies know it."
"Hey. I was busy practicing back then. Anyway, you believe that stuff?"
"No, listen. More than one or two people have seen it."
"Ha. Fine. Tell me."
Baek Si-woo cleared his throat and continued.
Truth be told, I had zero interest, but his voice was so excited I couldn't bring myself to hang up.
"About three years ago? A trainee came late at night to grab something they left in the practice room, just like you. But unluckily, it was the night of a blackout."
"A blackout that night of all nights? Come on. Too unrealistic from the start."
"Just listen! So...."
I walked while listening to Baek Si-woo. The practice room at the end of the hall came into view.
"Too dark, so he borrowed a flashlight from the security guard and somehow made it to the A practice room?"
"And then?"
The moment I looked up, I realized I was right in front of the A practice room.
The call and the situation synced up perfectly, sending chills down my spine.
"You know our company building layout. A and B practice rooms are right next to each other. He goes to A for his stuff, but keeps hearing weird noises from B."
Maybe because of Baek Si-woo's story, the B practice room across from A felt eerily creepy.
"What kind of noises?"
"Thumping sounds. Like when you stomp your feet dancing. That's what he heard."
A chill ran through me for some reason. I'd planned to hang up at a good moment, but I was too curious to cut him off.
"The trainee just wanted to grab his stuff and go, but.... hearing thumps from the practice room makes you wonder, right?"
I stood still in the hall, listening to Baek Si-woo.
"Late at night, lights all off, and someone's practicing? Let's check who! So he yanks open the B practice room door!"
I swallowed hard without realizing it.
"So what happened?"
"In the darkness, someone was dancing against the wall. Snapping their joints—crack, crack, crack."
"......"
"But it's too weird. Dancing with no music? He looks closer and...."
Baek Si-woo said in a creepy voice.
"It's not dancing. Their limbs are broken, body thrashing like mad. Something in the shape of a person...."
A long silence followed.
I snapped out of it and spoke.
"...That's it?"
"Yeah."
Baek Si-woo replied sheepishly.
All the tension drained from my body.
'Classic third-rate ghost story. Got me worked up for nothing.'
Clearly made up by bored trainees practicing late and killing time on breaks.
"There's scary and then there's this. Hanging up."
I ended the call and was pocketing my phone casually when.
Thump—
'That sound....'
I slowly turned toward it.
Realizing it came from the B practice room, Baek Si-woo's story flashed in my mind.
'You know our company building layout. A and B practice rooms are right next to each other. He goes to A for his stuff, but keeps hearing weird noises from B.'
Thump, thump, thump—
The footsteps kept echoing relentlessly.
'Thumping sounds. Like when you stomp your feet dancing. That's what he heard.'
With a tense expression, I slowly approached the B practice room door and cautiously gripped the handle.
I don't know where the courage came from, but right then, all I could think was that I had to find out what was making that noise.
'Figures the guy like this dies first in horror movies.'
The moment I opened the door. A black, human-shaped something was visible. Someone was dancing in the darkness.
The dance that unidentified black figure was doing....
Was our debut song, [Blue Sky Below].
"Aaahhh!!"
As I screamed, the dancing black figure froze in place. Then it started coming toward me.
"Shit! What is that!"
As I turned to run.
The closer the black figure got, the more a familiar face emerged. The one dancing in the practice room was none other than,
"Eun Hae-sol?"
I blinked in disbelief. No matter how I looked, it was Eun Hae-sol.
"Why are you here?"
"That's what I want to ask you."
Eun Hae-sol said with a dazed expression.
I was mortified from screaming earlier, but I played it cool.
"I left something behind...."
"Must be pretty important. Coming back to the company this late at night."
"That's my line. What are you doing here this late? Practicing?"
Eun Hae-sol's face hardened.
"Just... the music video shoot's soon."
"Didn't know you practiced this late."
As I smiled faintly, Eun Hae-sol averted his eyes, looking awkward.
"How long?"
"Not much."
Eun Hae-sol entered the practice room with a curt expression, and I followed. But as soon as we were inside, he started packing up.
"What. Leaving?"
"Yeah. That's enough for today."
"Because of me? Me coming?"
Eun Hae-sol gave another cynical smile.
"Overthinking it? Not because of you."
That expression again.
'Infuriating little....'
Looking at Eun Hae-sol's face reminded me of a drama villain. That contrived look, like advertising 'I'm the bad guy.' He always made that face.
Irritation surged.
"Cut it out."
At my words, Eun Hae-sol stopped on his way out.
"Pardon?"
I blocked Eun Hae-sol, who was heading out with his bag. He looked at me in surprise.
"Why act like such trash all the time? You have to debut with us. We'll be active together from now on. This attitude only hurts you."
Eun Hae-sol looked away silently. I kept going, staring at him.
"Why are you like this? Tell me. You practice this late, so you want to be an idol, but why be uncooperative only around us? I just can't understand...."
Then Eun Hae-sol cut me off.
"Move."
He shoved my shoulder lightly and passed. Watching his back, I thought.
'What an unpredictable guy. If you don't want to, don't do it at all. Sneaking into the practice room at night to practice alone—what's he thinking?'
My head throbbed.
"Tch."
Eun Hae-sol was gone.
I went into the A practice room to get my watch. Flicking the switch lit up the dark room.
My watch gleamed on the practice room side table.
I clasped it on my wrist right away.
"Good thing."
This watch was a gift from Kwon Hee-yul six years ago, during end-of-month evaluations when I got bad scores and was on the verge of expulsion. Even as a six-year-old relic, it was priceless to me.
Glancing at it, time was already 12:30 a.m.
"Let's hurry."
The moment I stepped out.
Thump—
I doubted my ears. The mystery sound came from the B practice room.
'No one's in B practice room now.'
After Eun Hae-sol left, it was empty. No one there, so no footsteps either—that was normal.
'What the?'
Feeling uneasy, I opened the practice room door. No one inside.
'Did I mishear? Or is there really a ghost?'
Chills covered me as I looked up at the desolate practice room.
'Late night. Empty practice room. If someone's still dancing here, unable to leave, it probably means they have regrets.'
I murmured softly.
"May you leave no regrets, regrets, or grudges behind. So you can leave this place and fly free."
With that, I turned and walked away.
The footsteps didn't echo anymore.