Trip (9)
“Then why not just tell me what's going on?”
At Kim Hayan's words, Min Iri hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth.
“Gahee and Taeyang seemed to have good chemistry. So I was just trying to help them get together.”
“Iri, you're misunderstanding something.”
“Misunderstanding what?”
“Taeyang has no feelings for Gahee at all. He even messaged her last time saying he just wants to stay friends and turned her down.”
It was true that Gahee liked Taeyang, but he had no romantic interest in her. If anything, he just wanted to stay close as friends, but her feelings were weighing on him like a burden.
“Gahee got rejected?... Why?”
“Taeyang said it himself. It's too much pressure.”
What's Gahee lacking that he'd turn her down?
Iri couldn't wrap her head around it. She had the looks, the personality—nothing was missing. It was impossible to find a single flaw in Gahee that you wouldn't like.
But in the midst of that realization, one fact hit her.
Then that means I don't have a chance either.
Iri steeled her resolve and said, “Still, you never know. He's young, maybe his standards are too high right now. He might end up with Gahee later.”
“Is that really what you want?”
Iri clamped her mouth shut for a moment. A surge of emotion welled up, but she calmed herself and steadied her voice.
“Of course. They're both great people. As a friend, it's only natural to root for them.”
“Even though you still have a chance?”
“That's why I have no idea what you're talking about!”
Iri was annoyed at having to explain herself like this. It should've been enough for Gahee and Taeyang to just be happy together. Why drag her into it?
Hayan, spotting the flicker of turmoil in Iri's eyes, let out a long sigh.
“Then at least figure it out during this trip. See what's really in Taeyang's heart.”
“Fine!”
“I'm asking you to act normal around him.”
“……”
“Iri, you've been blatantly avoiding Taeyang lately. He's worried about you, and so is Gahee.”
Iri had nothing to say to that. She'd thought she was doing it for their sake, but she'd only created awkwardness. The fact that Hayan had pulled her aside like this meant her behavior had looked off to everyone.
“...Okay. I'll act natural.”
“Good. And Iri, you're plenty attractive, so don't be afraid to be bold.”
“Jeez... that again?”
Hayan was always like this. She'd sense it like a ghost if someone seemed down or had something bothering them. Instead of letting it slide, she'd grab hold and coax them like a friend or little sister, doing everything she could to cheer them up.
“Seriously, Hayan, you haven't changed a bit since the old days.”
“Same goes for you, doesn't it? Oh... actually, you have changed a little. Your figure, for one.”
“Don't say weird stuff... Eek—what, what are you doing?!”
Hayan had snuck behind Iri and suddenly pulled her into a tight hug, groping her body.
“Hmm~ Knowing you'll be in a swimsuit with a figure like this tomorrow? That's pretty dangerous.”
“Ehehe—stop, that tickles! Why are you so gross?!”
Freed from Hayan's grasp, Iri lunged at her in retaliation, reaching for Hayan's breasts.
“Kyaa~ Stay back!”
“You did it to me first!”
The mood lightened as they laughed and horsed around, but soon they came back to reality.
“Shouldn't we head inside soon?”
“Ah……”
“It's getting late. Come on.”
Hayan held out her hand, but Iri's feet felt rooted to the spot. She'd been too focused on Taeyang earlier to notice, but now that it was time to actually enter the haunted house, fear hit her hard.
“Haha, Hayan, do we really have to go in? The others should be coming out soon anyway.”
“We're supposed to meet at the balcony at the end of the haunted house course.”
Hayan showed her phone—there was a message from Choi Seonwoo saying to gather there and exit together.
“Ugh... Hayan...”
“Don't worry, Iri. Big sis has got your hand tight.”
“Okay~ Sis.”
Even in the tense moment, they traded jokes as they stepped into the haunted house.
And mere seconds later...
“Kyaaaaah~!!!!!!!”
Iri's scream echoed through the haunted house.
“Kyaaaaah!!!”
“Looks like Iri and Hayan just came in.”
“……Yeah.”
It was loud enough to hear from this distance—wonder if Iri-noona's okay. Even I'm scared, so...
Especially that crawling corpse dummy. Hope she doesn't faint from it.
Anyway, not the time to worry about others. I let go of Choi Gahee-noona's arm that I'd been clinging to.
“Gahee-noona, you can go on ahead now.”
“You sure? Don't push yourself.”
“Yeah, I'm not scared anymore.”
Crash-thud-
“Who's there!!!!”
“Eek!”
“Yuyeong, it's fine... Taeyang?”
Damn, are those guys listening in on purpose? Ever since the initial scare-fest, whenever I tried to pull away from Gahee-noona after snapping out of it, something would pop up.
I glared irritably at the dolls dangling from the ceiling and straightened my huddled body.
“I'm fine, so you...”
-Ugegegegegege-
The dolls swarmed to block my view, circling around. Up close, they were genuinely creepy, goosebumps for real.
Just wait a bit. They'll go away on their own.
Sure enough, the dolls started retreating via their wire mechanisms.
“Taeyang, you okay?”
“Yeah, Gahee-noona.”
As the dolls slowly cleared, Gahee-noona's voice came from beside me.
“Taeyang, you okay?”
“Yeah, I'm fine!”
“Taeyang, you okay?”
“I said I'm f—”
“Taeyang, you okay? Taeyang, you okay? Taeyang, you okay? Taeyang, you okay?”
Gahee-noona's voice, echoing distorted and repeating from between the vanishing dolls, warped into something eerie. Once they fully disappeared, what stood there wasn't Gahee-noona...
...but a ghoul with a melted face, rolling its eyeballs at me.
The ghoul's mouth struggled open, emitting a creepy, dissonant deep male voice.
“Taeyang~ You okay?”
“Uwaaaaaah!!!!!”
“Stick close to noona, Taeyang.”
“Ugh...”
“Hehehe, it's okay, it's okay.”
The guy in the ghoul costume chuckled as he shuffled past.
Getting scared by the costumed staff... how embarrassing. But what can you do, it's scary!!
“Taeyang, stay right by me.”
“Yeah!”
Screw it. Favorability, whatever—just make this end quick.
In the end, I clung to Gahee-noona's arm, trembling as we kept going.
“Oh, they're here.”
“Haha, looks like you two got pretty spooked.”
When I came to, we'd reached the balcony at the end of the haunted house.
I heard Seonwoo and Seong Juyeon-noona's voices and finally lifted my head.
“...Why are you two dressed like that?”
They were wrapped in black cloaks with hoods connected to hats, wearing white masks.
“To drag you to the afterlife, Taeyang.”
“Juyeon-noona, that's not funny. Cut it out.”
I let out a sigh and quickly pulled away from Gahee-noona.
No traps here, apparently.
Gahee-noona looked disappointed but patted my head.
Normally I'd shove her off and tell her to stop, but... she got me this far, so I couldn't.
Fine, it was unavoidable here. Once we're out, I'll wipe out all the favorability I've built with Gahee-noona.
“Hayan and Iri haven't shown up yet.”
“Yeah, we heard screams from midway, so it'll take them a bit.”
-Uwaaaah!!!!! Hayaaaaan!!!!!
“Whoa, echoes all the way here.”
Everyone else was grinning brightly, but I couldn't laugh—probably feeling bad for Iri-noona. Shared suffering, I guess.
I eyed Juyeon-noona and Seonwoo, who had taken off their masks, while listening to the bitter echoes.
They all looked relieved and happy it was over, but Juyeon-noona especially seemed exhilarated.
She subtly hooked her arm through Seonwoo's, and he blushed, looking awkward.
Something must've progressed between those two. I didn't know the details, but it matched the post-flag reactions from the game.
Not a total loss, then. Blocking Hayan-noona's flag and raising Juyeon-noona's was worth the sacrifice.
“Whoa, let's dress up too!”
Having forgotten her earlier terror, Lee Yuyeong shouted that she wanted to costume up like Seonwoo and Juyeon-noona.
There was a booth in the corner of the balcony for scaring the next group—purely for fun.
“Isn't that too harsh on people who barely made it through?”
No. If Iri-noona had just listened to me, we wouldn't be in this group. Maybe time for some payback?
With that in mind, I picked up a mask from the props... but then thought of Iri-noona.
Actually, she'd been off since we arrived at the trip spot. Aside from the barbecue, she barely talked to me and lacked her usual energy.
“Taeyang, what's up?”
“Nah, I'm good.”
Now wasn't the time for pranks. Better to ask her directly.
If I'd done something wrong, I'd apologize and get back to how we were.
Couldn't approach playfully without knowing her state.
Everyone grabbed props, excited to scare the last group.
Time passed, and Hayan-noona and Iri-noona arrived.
“Huff... Thought I was gonna die.”
“...Pull yourself together, Iri. It's over.”
Hayan-noona supported the nearly collapsing Iri-noona as they entered.
“Uweeeek—!!!”
“Kyaa-!”
Thud.
Iri-noona collapsed, drained.
“Iri-ya~!!!!”
Once Iri-noona snapped out of it, the costumed group quickly shed their disguises and apologized.
“We went too far.”
“Sorry, really. Hayan, Iri.”
“We're sorry. Didn't think it'd scare you that bad.”
“……Haa~ I just wanna go home.”
Iri-noona plopped into a balcony chair.
“Talk go well?”
I whispered to Hayan-noona, who nodded.
Iri-noona looked exhausted, so no grilling her with questions yet.
“Here.”
“Huh?... Thanks.”
I handed her water instead, and she drank it without a word.
“Rest a bit, then we head out together?”
“Yeah, we've got time left anyway. Exiting should be easier!”
Each team got 1 hour 20 minutes for the haunted house. But we'd reached the balcony in just 20 minutes.
Everyone agreed, relaxing leisurely on the terrace.
At that point, none of us questioned why they gave so much extra time.
“Uwaaaaaah—!!!!!”
“Gahee, you okay!!”
“Sis, you hurt?”
“I'm fine, hurry up and come here!!”
“Block the door quick! The door!!”
“Where's everyone?”
What the hell's happening? Nothing major.
We'd finished the haunted house and were heading out when the way back suddenly blocked off, and the locked doors swung open.
Figured we'd detour, so we searched for a path... then zombies swarmed out of nowhere.
Caught off-guard by the sudden zombie horde, we bolted without knowing what was going on, running blindly until the group scattered.
“Juyeon and I are in the study on the second floor, Gahee too!”
“Hayan-unnie and I'm in what looks like a bathtub area!”
“……”
“Iri! Taeyang!”
“Yeah! We're in a bedroom on the third floor!”
Somehow, I ended up locked in the haunted house bedroom alone with Iri-noona.
“Iri-noona?”
“……T-T-Taeyang...”
As expected, the terrified Iri-noona clung to me tightly and wouldn't let go.