Chapter 72: Always Sincere (2)
Chapter 72: Always Sincere (2)
“With these blackout curtains hung all along the hallway…”
A few days before Seo-yeon was scheduled to shoot her commercial.
She visited the Old School Building with her classmates.
“It definitely has an atmosphere.”
Gil Da-hyeon, the president of Class 4, clicked her tongue in admiration at the surprisingly well-decorated space.
First, they had blocked the windows with blackout curtains to keep out the light. Then, they had covered the walls with white paper and splattered dark red paint to set the mood.
As a result, the place looked like this:
“Wow, honestly, I’m actually a bit scared.”
One female student shivered.
It was only natural. The building they had received permission to turn into a horror booth was the Old School Building.
Specifically, an Old School Building that hadn’t been used in a long time.
An unmaintained building.
There was a unique aura that neglected buildings developed over time—a strangely chilling atmosphere.
The classroom windows were cloudy and cracked.
And because it was an old building, the floors were made of wood.
“…Do we really need to use both the first and second floors?”
A few girls, already overwhelmed by the atmosphere, muttered under their breath.
“What are you talking about? Of course we have to do it properly!”
The class president, full of ambition, shouted loudly and glanced at Seo-yeon, who had been standing quietly.
An actress who had been making headlines for various reasons lately.
And that very Seo-yeon had volunteered to play the role of a ghost.
“Um, Seo… ahem! Seo-yeon. You can pull off the ghost role well, right?”
It was still a bit awkward, but when she thought about it, they had been in the same class for several months now.
They couldn't stay awkward forever!
“…Yeah.”
Seo-yeon felt a bit pleased by the class president’s attitude, but at the same time…
‘Hmm.’
To be honest, she was a little nervous.
It wasn't nervousness about the role itself, but rather…
‘The vibe is really similar to that horror game I played back then…’
A dilapidated white building.
Making it dark with curtains made it feel even more similar.
“We’re going to give everyone a flashlight starting from the first floor.”
“Why? Even with blackout curtains, it’s not like they’ll need flashlights to see.”
“Ah, you don’t get it. Flashlights are all about the atmosphere.”
Even the part about carrying a flashlight was the same.
Something—something felt strange.
‘It’ll be fine.’
Seo-yeon nodded slowly.
Surely, nothing would happen.
What was the problem with it being similar to a horror game?
‘The only reason I was scared back then was because of the monsters’ appearances and the jump scares.’
There was no way she would be frightened by a haunted house made by high schoolers.
Most importantly, Seo-yeon was the one doing the scaring.
She was playing the same role as the monsters that had terrified her in the game.
“…”
Thinking about it that way made it feel a bit fun.
Even the class president was looking forward to Seo-yeon’s performance as a ghost.
‘This might actually be helpful.’
Coincidentally, the role Seo-yeon currently held was a killer in a thriller movie.
The emotions she tapped into while playing a ghost might help with that.
‘Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve been focusing a bit too much on Cha Seo-ah’s human side.’
The thought suddenly occurred to her.
Since she viewed Cha Seo-ah and herself as similar people, that feeling was even stronger.
However, Cha Seo-ah was not someone who deserved sympathy.
As the culprit of a thriller movie, she ought to instill fear in the audience.
‘The parts I’ve filmed properly so far were the highlights, so it was fine to show the character of Cha Seo-ah.’
For the early parts of the film, they had only shot things like the chase scene.
They had filmed the daily life scenes and the climax of the middle section, but they hadn't yet filmed the actual crime scenes in the middle.
‘In that case.’
She thought it would be good to emphasize a more terrifying side in the middle section.
And if she could practice that in this haunted house…
“Seo-yeon.”
Just then, the class president called her name.
When she looked up, she could feel the other students watching her.
“We’re going to try a rehearsal now. Is that okay?”
In fact, they had already practiced several times while it was light out.
But since this was the first time doing it in the dark, Seo-yeon was secretly nervous.
Of course, it wasn't because she was scared.
Really.
*
“Hmm.”
And so, three days before the festival.
Seo-yeon sat in a chair at home, lost in thought.
Today’s commercial shoot had ended successfully.
In particular, the director, Do Hyeong-tae, was so full of praise that Seo-yeon actually felt awkward.
After all, before the shoot…
“Ah, if the director for this CF is Do Hyeong-tae, it’s going to be tough.”
“Why is that?”
“From what I’ve heard, he has a very difficult personality.”
He was famous for directing commercials with incredible visual beauty.
In exchange, he demanded a lot from his actors and was so strict that his reputation among staff was polarized.
‘For someone like that, he was such a yes-man.’
Seo-yeon recalled the events of the shoot.
She had simply held the cosmetic product and performed lightly as written in the script, but everyone was full of praise.
Is this really okay?
The thought had crossed her mind involuntarily.
Come to think of it, this was the first CF she had filmed since she had grown as an actress.
Perhaps her improved acting skills were helping with the CF as well.
Anyway, they said a lot of CG would be added, so she hadn't seen the finished version yet, only the raw footage.
They would probably send it to her once it was somewhat finished.
‘Anyway.’
Seo-yeon thought about the haunted house.
Today’s rehearsal hadn't been bad.
There were about ten girls playing the roles of ghosts.
Since they weren't wearing makeup yet, no one was particularly immersed in their acting, but…
“Uwaaaaa!”
“Oh, that’s good, that’s good. It’ll be scary later if you wear a wig and run at them.”
“Right?”
It felt like they were focusing heavily on jump scares.
Then again, that was how most haunted houses were.
However, in Seo-yeon’s case, it was a bit different.
“Since Seo-yeon is the highlight of the second floor, let’s have her peek her face out briefly from the stairs and then show her face again later. Like a boss character, you know?”
“Wow, that’s cool.”
They didn't ask for much.
Her role was to peek her face out from the second-floor stairs and then pop out at the very end to give them a real fright.
“A ghost played by a real actress must be terrifying, right?”
“Wow, just thinking about it gives me the chills.”
Still, after preparing together, it felt like the wall between Seo-yeon and the other students had lowered.
Plus, since she was an actress, their expectations were a bit higher.
Above all, Seo-yeon herself was full of motivation.
“Kyaaaak!!”
The first scream erupted during the rehearsal.
It happened when Seo-yeon glided into view on the stairs and then suddenly popped out at the end.
The atmosphere she projected was beyond eerie.
“Y-yeah. There’s a reason movies like Whispering Corridors exist.”
“What’s Whispering Corridors?”
“A movie that came out before we were born.”
The high school girls chatting away were full of praise for Seo-yeon’s acting just now.
Gil Da-hyeon, in particular, was impressed.
‘She’s not an actress for nothing!’
Gil Da-hyeon had been right there when the scream happened.
After entering the first floor, there were stairs in the middle of the hallway.
It was a place you had to pass before you could complete the mission at the end of the hall.
The composition involved Seo-yeon standing at an angle on the stairs, looking down at the students.
Honestly, she hadn't done anything grand.
She had simply stared, but her red eyes, which stood out particularly well in the darkness, combined with her gaze to make people involuntarily stop in their tracks.
And what about the ending?
Seo-yeon, appearing quietly at the second-floor mission site, was truly worthy of being the highlight.
She was on a different level from the other students who were just making vague "urgh" sounds, unsure if they were zombies or ghosts.
‘With this, the most popular booth will definitely be ours.’
The location was good, and the actress was good.
“I think this will work, Seo-yeon! I’m counting on you on the day of the festival!”
“Ah, y-yeah.”
Seo-yeon nodded at Gil Da-hyeon’s beaming words, but…
‘…Hmm.’
Unlike the others, Seo-yeon was deep in thought.
Something was a little different from what she had expected.
*
And so, the Yeonhwa High School festival began.
Unlike university festivals, outsiders weren't allowed in, but it was a major event held among the students.
Every class had a booth.
It was supposed to be a lively and fun event… or so it should have been.
“…It’s raining.”
Swaaaaaa!!
And it wasn't just a drizzle; it was a torrential downpour.
Thanks to that, the classes that had set up outdoor booths had to tear them down with tears in their eyes.
They had heard there would be some rain, but no one imagined it would be this much.
Because of that…
“But there are still plenty of indoor booths, right?”
Most of the booths were set up in classrooms or hallways.
Small-scale recreational booths like pop-up cafes or dart games.
And there was one place that unexpectedly drew the most attention.
“A haunted house?”
Lee Ji-yeon narrowed her eyes.
“I heard the kids in Class 4 turned the Old School Building into a haunted house. They said it opens at 10:00, so it should be open now.”
At her classmate’s words, Lee Ji-yeon crossed her arms.
‘I think Seo-yeon mentioned that.’
She had a bad feeling about this.
When she had heard about it from Seo-yeon before, she thought it would be a typical haunted house you’d see at any high school festival.
‘I didn't think it would be this serious, to the point of renting out the Old School Building.’
There was one more thing weighing on her mind.
“They even said she’s appearing as a ghost!”
“She?”
“You know, Ju Seo-yeon. Your friend.”
Ju Seo-yeon as a ghost?
Her anxiety grew even further.
It was only natural, as Seo-yeon became dead serious the moment acting was involved in anything she did.
It had been that way ten years ago during the kindergarten play.
In elementary school, too.
And in middle school.
It was practically an annual event.
At least in middle school, Ji-yeon had been there to stop her, so it ended relatively peacefully, but they weren't in the same class this time.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, I’m just… a bit curious.”
Ji-yeon said that, but she was genuinely worried.
To begin with, Seo-yeon didn't seem to like scary things very much.
It was a fact even Ji-yeon hadn't known, but she realized it after watching the recent ‘Play Until the King’ broadcast.
A girl like that playing a ghost?
She couldn't help but be worried.
‘For the other students.’
Of course, she wasn't worried about Seo-yeon.
The problem was the students who would fall victim to whatever that runaway train of a girl was about to do.
*
“Oh, this is… actually pretty good.”
Flashlights in hand, two male students were the first to enter the haunted house.
It was raining hard, and they hadn't found anything particularly interesting at the other booths, so they had happened upon the haunted house booth by chance.
“Maybe it’s because of the rain, but it is kind of scary.”
Swaaaaaa.
The sound of rain reached their ears.
The sun was hidden behind dark clouds, casting no light.
With blackout curtains added to the mix, the hallway was as silent and dark as the middle of the night.
The outer walls were painted with red paint that looked just like blood.
The sound of the rain and the creaking of the old wooden floor with every step made the hair on the back of their necks stand up.
“I’m glad they at least gave us flashlights.”
“Tell me about it.”
Without the flashlights, they might have tripped in the excessively dark sections.
But perhaps the batteries were running low, as the flashlight beams flickered, creating an even greater sense of dread for no reason.
“Gwaaah!!”
On top of that, ghosts would occasionally pop out as they walked.
They were startled enough to make their hearts skip a beat.
“Ugh, I hate jump scares. Seriously. This is the hallmark of a poorly made haunted house.”
“What do you mean poorly made? All haunted houses are like this.”
“That’s just because you’ve never been to a well-made one.”
The large male student spoke as if to cover up his embarrassment at being startled.
The shorter male student, who was walking with a smirk at his friend’s words, suddenly looked toward the stairs.
The center of the hallway.
They were told to complete a mission at the end of the first floor, get a stamp, and then head up to the second floor.
So it was a place they had to pass.
At the very edge of the second floor…
He saw something white.
‘What is that?’
At first, he wondered what it was.
Then he realized, belatedly, that it was a hand.
He realized that it was bracing itself on the stairs with hands, not feet.
And as he raised his gaze slightly…
There were red eyes.
Slither.
Black hair flowed down the stairs.
Belatedly, he realized that it was a human head, and an upside-down human body.
“Uh.”
From the very top of the second floor, slowly.
A woman in white was crawling down toward the center, upside down.
A sight just like a movie he had seen long ago.
Drip, drip.
With black liquid flowing from her eyes.
And those red eyes gleaming in the darkness.
At that sight…
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!”
He had no choice but to scream like a little girl and bolt.