Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: The Tiny Soi
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*ZZZT—*
A sharp, grating noise scraped against my eardrums.
That static...
It made me vividly aware, once again, of exactly where I was.
*ZZZKT—*
The voice coming through the speaker addressed me with unnerving casualness.
[Employee Park Yeon-jeong! Did you enjoy your meeting with the customer?]
‘...Enjoy it?’
Just listening to Noise's cheerful, crackling voice filled me with...
A profound emptiness.
Followed by utter desolation.
Of course, it didn't mean I wasn't annoyed with Noise. It just meant I was starting to get used to situations like this.
This wasn't the first or second time, after all.
I hated myself for accepting this madness so nonchalantly.
But my once wild emotional swings had finally settled into something resembling composure.
I hadn't been in this bizarre space for that long, but I was a full-fledged member of the Ghost Story Company now.
Humans are animals of adaptation, after all.
My gaze slowly drifted toward the speaker. I answered Noise's question with all sincerity.
"Yes, thanks to you, we had a nice long chat."
And Noise...
Did you know?
I've been marked.
Every ghost story has its eyes on me now. I'm basically a famous influencer among the ghost stories!
*Drip—*
‘...Huh?’
For some reason, my eyes were getting misty again.
A droplet formed between my damp lashes, blurring my vision.
And right now...
I was crying.
......
I take back everything I said about keeping my emotions in check. All that smug nonsense.
Turns out...
Even my MBTI is extreme 'F.'
A sentimental guy, that's me.
So...
‘It's okay to get a little emotional, right?’
*Sniff—*
I was in the middle of wiping the moisture from my eyes when...
*ZZZT—*
A dull static rumble vibrated through my skull, drawing my gaze back to the speaker.
[You did great work again today. It's been a hectic week, so you must be exhausted.]
[Let's call it an early day.]
......Yes, got it. You too, Noise.
[Thank you, Employee Park Yeon-jeong.]
I responded to Noise's deep voice.
But the moment the words 'early day' hit my ears and raced to my frontal lobe...
My frontal lobe barely contained the explosion of emotions.
If it hadn't...
I might've whooped for joy right here.
‘I was waiting for those words! Noise!!’
I believed in you!
In that instant, I felt like I'd won everything life had to offer.
I'd just felt, with every fiber of my being, that 'happiness' wasn't so far off after all.
My steps were lighter than ever as I prepared to bolt home.
*ZZKT—*
Noise had one more thing to say.
[Employee Park Yeon-jeong, take tomorrow off too. No need to come in.]
"T-Tomorrow... off?"
I double-checked.
I doubted Noise's words.
Sweet promises from Noise always came with a weird catch.
I figured this was the same pattern.
But Noise's reply was...
*ZZZT—*
Calm and unwavering.
[Yes. See you the day after tomorrow, Employee Park Yeon-jeong.]
Noise...
‘You really are the best boss!’
As praises for Noise bubbled in my heart...
[Oh, right! As promised, I'll fix your watch.]
With that, Noise's words about repairing the watch came to an end.
*Poof!*
The White Librarian popped up in front of me, palm outstretched as if waiting for something to be placed on it.
Without a word, I unstrapped the battered Lie-Detecting Watch from my wrist and handed it over.
*Grip.*
The White Librarian snatched the shattered watch and vanished in a flash.
*Whoosh—*
?
But then, from another direction, our other White Librarian reappeared.
This one had its fist clenched.
With a 'no way, right?' in my mind, I watched. The moment it opened its palm...
*Snap—*
There it was.
*Jingle.*
A pristine new Lie-Detecting Watch, the exact same model I'd just given the first one.
......
I stared at the watch in the librarian's palm.
I kept staring.
*ZZZT—*
Until the irritating speaker static buzzed in my ears again.
[They say the best bosses always keep spares ready for emergencies. See? I really am an outstanding boss!]
[Please take good care of this one, Employee Park Yeon-jeong :)]
S-So...
By Noise's own words...
This guy had multiples of these watches stocked up.
Not just today.
He could've given me a new one anytime.
......
Why did getting a replacement still feel like such a betrayal?
...No more deep thoughts.
I'd just end up hurting myself.
Forget it.
Even with the new Lie-Detecting Watch, a bitter aftertaste left my body feeling as light as paper as I swayed forward.
It was an oddly draining commute home.
*****
In the empty space.
*ZZKT—*
The speaker's faint tremor rippled through the drifting dust.
It wasn't even that loud.
Yet that subtle static was...
Infuriatingly...
Unpleasant.
*ZZZT—*
[Seeing the two of you... it drags up memories I'd rather keep buried.]
Ones I can never take back.
Moments from that day.
Regrets from that day...
[I ended up taking it out on her without thinking. Truth is, I'm still clumsy at sorting out my emotions.]
[But I believe you'll do better, Employee Park Yeon-jeong.]
So...
[Don't repeat my mistakes.]
*****
The sky was dark.
Not that night had fallen already.
Just overcast, like rain could start any second.
Maybe that's why?
My steps were quicker than usual. I picked up the pace to beat the potential downpour.
I hurried home.
And because of that brisk stride, I got there faster than expected.
I strode through the rickety front gate without hesitation, grabbed the key from my coat pocket, and jammed it into the front door lock.
*Flash!*
*Rumble-CRASH-CRASH—!*
Thunder and lightning greeted me.
!!
‘Whoa!’
I nearly dropped the key.
The yellow flash blanketing the sky and the thunderclap that sounded way too close made my body shrink involuntarily.
I froze solid.
A boom like that...
I might've gotten struck.
If...
'Unlucky Day' had triggered right then... I'd definitely be toast.
‘Park Yeon-jeong, extra-crispy.’
......
My lips went dry.
Every hair stood on end with dread, speeding up my hands.
I didn't want to become human barbecue.
*Click.*
The front door swung open.
I expected the usual cozy warmth inside, bright lights contrasting the gloomy outdoors.
Of course it would be.
...
...?
But what met my eyes instead...
No cozy warmth—just a damp, ruined building interior.
It was so different from the home I'd always known... I thought I was dreaming.
Wrong house, maybe.
No bright lights.
Shattered furniture and broken lamps, not a sliver of light penetrating the space.
Even the musty mold smell assaulting my nose. No trace of human habitation—an abandoned wreck.
The moment I saw it...
‘Did I use the wrong key?’
A natural suspicion.
It was the polar opposite of everything I'd seen here before.
I closed the door.
This time, I stared hard and inserted the key properly.
*Click—*
‘Good.’
I watched the whole door-opening process with my own eyes.
I was certain.
Now, opening the door would bring back the warmth and light.
Soi would be waiting at the entrance, greeting me like always.
I thought.
*Creak—*
The door opened again.
The view inside, captured in my eager eyes...
Darkness.
......
Huh?
The same scene repeated.
I tried closing and opening the door a few more times.
Nothing changed.
Far from it.
With each repetition, the reality sank in deeper.
Faced with this truth, I had only one conclusion.
‘Noise... the house dumped me.’
Soi dumped me.
How else to explain this?
Did she really vanish so ruthlessly just because I was gone a week?
Not a lover's breakup notice.
But a breakup with my house.
Standing dumbly at the dark entrance, refusing to accept it...
...Hic.
?
A faint sob from inside the building perked up my ears.
Wind?
‘Just the wind... right?’
No way someone was sobbing in a dump like this.
Unless it was a ghost...
...Hic-hic.
!!
‘G-Ghost!’
This sob was blatant, like it wanted me to notice.
No ignoring that.
It came from the bedroom.
...Hic-hic-hic.
......
Should I check?
That thing was clearly announcing its presence.
Maybe a warning to stay away?
‘Don't go getting possessed...’
Frozen like a totem pole, our Park Totem was debating whether to enter when...
......Ni.
?
Not a sob this time.
A voice.
And if I hadn't misheard...
That voice was...
‘Soi?’
*Step.*
Our Park Totem cautiously stepped inside.
*Step—*
My hesitant feet moved without pause toward the bedroom.
When they stopped...
The bedroom was dimly lit by faint outdoor light filtering through broken windows amid tattered furniture.
Hic-hic-hic.
The light silhouetted a dark figure—that was the source of the sobs.
Huddled in the farthest corner, its form indistinct.
Yet somehow, I whispered a name.
"...Soi?"
!
At my murmur, the figure that had been head-down snapped up to stare at me.
Jet-black bob hair.
Red-rimmed eyes brimming with tears met mine.
......
Through my still-open mouth, one thought raced through my mind.
Our Soi...
Had shrunk.
No... gotten younger.
"M-M... Mastew..."
A lot younger.
A lot.