124. A Date with Seoyun - Horror Movie (3)
124. A Date with Seoyun - Horror Movie (3)
***
Mealtime with Seoyun passed without incident.
The food wasn't especially delicious, but it wasn't bad either.
Still, for the price, the taste felt a little lacking.
And I wasn't the only one who felt that way, apparently, because after we finished eating, Seoyun smiled faintly and spoke up.
"...The ingredients seem like they were really good, though."
Seoyun said it offhandedly while tidying up, and I found myself agreeing without thinking.
"It was a little disappointing, right?"
"Yeah... considering the price, I don't think I'd eat it again. Maybe it's because it was delivery?"
"Well, with high-end restaurants, taste is taste, but honestly the atmosphere is a big part of it."
"True. Maybe that's it, like you said."
We kept up the small talk as we finished clearing the table, and then Seoyun pulled out the hologram device again.
She took my hand and led me to the sofa, and I stared at her, wondering if it was going to be more shopping.
Seoyun shook her head slightly.
"Hey, it's not what you're thinking."
"Then what?"
"A movie!"
"You even prepared a movie to watch?"
I couldn't believe how much she'd prepared.
"Yep, I got everything ready today. I only picked movies with good reviews."
With that, she activated the hologram device and suddenly got up from her seat.
"I'll close the curtains, okay?"
Ah, she was going to block the light so we could watch the movie.
I got up too.
"I'll help."
—Swoosh.
—Swoosh.
We each took one end of the curtains and drew them toward the center, blocking out most of the sunlight coming in. Once the curtains were closed, the room darkened and actually felt kind of atmospheric.
"What genre do you want to watch? I brought two kinds—horror and romance."
As she said that, Seoyun navigated the hologram menu and showed me her saved movie list, and every single poster in the list was intriguing.
What the... it's either 19+ romance or nothing but horror movies?
Seoyun's taste in movies was seriously unique, and I hesitated for a moment.
But only for a moment. Romance seemed better than horror, at least.
"......Romance?"
When I cautiously spoke up, Seoyun looked at me with a sly glint in her eyes and poked my shoulder.
"What's this~ Are you scared of horror movies?"
She said it like a provocation, and for a second I laughed because her words were genuinely absurd.
"Pfft... no, Seoyun? I'm someone who genuinely doesn't even know what the word 'horror' means."
"Hmm~ what's this? Sis. Are you acting tough because you're in front of your little sister?"
"...I'm not acting tough. I'm telling you in advance, I really don't know what horror is."
I'd faced the terror of real death dozens of times over, so there was no way some horror movie was going to scare me.
"Then what's this? Why did you say you wanted to watch a romance?"
"Well, that's... if I watch a horror movie and don't react at all, wouldn't it be boring for you too?"
"Hmm... my sister~ since when did you get so bold?"
She kept provoking me as if she was pretty confident, and despite her cute appearance, she did seem to have some confidence when it came to horror movies.
"Seoyun, do you really want to watch a horror movie that badly?"
"No~ I'm just saying that because you said you don't know horror~ Actually, I do like horror movies, but is it okay if we watch one?"
"Sure, I don't mind."
"Okay! Then we're watching a horror movie?"
She manipulated the hologram and went into the horror movie tab, and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Seoyun, I told you in advance, right? That I don't know horror. Don't go saying it's boring because I don't react, okay?"
"It's totally fine if you don't react at all. Don't worry about that! I haven't seen this one either, so I want to watch it because I'm curious about the story. If you can watch a horror movie, I'm happy. So."
With that, Seoyun scrolled through the horror movies and soon picked one.
And the title of that horror movie was...
—Blind.
......
Inside a sealed space, surrounded by darkness on all sides.
Only the sound of dripping water echoed.
Drip.
Drip.
A white woman in her early twenties was tied to an old wooden chair.
Her head hung slightly, as if she hadn't regained consciousness yet, just sitting there blankly.
The film began by showing her, starting from a light, sensory moment.
"...!"
The woman's pale white foot suddenly flinched and trembled violently.
There had been no warning, no sign of anything.
The woman's body shook eerily, as if something invisible had done it to her.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound of dripping water continued, and the woman showed strange phenomena—her fingers twitching, her head jerking sharply—until at some point she came to her senses.
"...Wh-what? Where am I?"
The woman's eyes were covered, her limbs bound. She muttered blankly, as if she couldn't comprehend the situation.
"Wh-what is going on right now..."
Drip.
Drip...
The intervals between the dripping sounds were gradually narrowing.
......
—Aaaaaaaaah!!!!
Along with an incredibly realistic scream, lifelike sound effects filled the living room.
It was enough to make my hand flinch without me realizing.
The holographic video went beyond mere visual beauty—it was three-dimensional, so it even felt real.
It was almost like someone was actually screaming right in front of me.
"..."
When I turned my head slightly, Seoyun was watching the screen with eyes full of excitement.
'...Isn't she scared?'
With that cute face, she was watching a horror movie like it was a fairy tale, and the sight itself felt surreal.
On top of that, the movie we were watching, Blind, wasn't the kind with a simple disgusting monster or a killer.
It was just human senses.
The protagonist's situation—her vision blocked by a blindfold she couldn't remove on her own, her limbs bound so even her movements were controlled.
All of it was depicted from the white woman's first-person perspective, and only at moments when the situation suddenly changed did the screen shift to third person, showing the protagonist's reactions along with the progression of events.
As bizarre scenes beyond comprehension intersected moment by moment, I got goosebumps without realizing it.
Beyond being brutal or grotesque, there was something in this movie that stimulated something primal.
......
—Ughhh...!! Ughhh!!!
As the strange phenomena continued, the protagonist suddenly thrashed her whole body as if she'd gone insane, and the realism—nothing like acting—made me clench my hands without thinking.
Beep...
Beep...
The disconnected dial tone kept ringing.
Drip...
Drip...
The sound of dripping water gradually narrowed its intervals, creating an atmosphere as if something was about to burst.
—Uhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Uhhhhhhhh!!!!!!
And at the end, the moment I was immersed in the sight of the white woman screaming—so wretched it was grotesque, as if she couldn't overcome the horror—
"Boo!!!"
At the sudden scream right in my ear, I yelled without thinking and twisted my body.
"Aaaaaaah!!!!"
I startled violently and jumped up, passing straight through the hologram.
Then the hologram scattered and vanished, as if the movie had dissolved.
"...Ah."
When I belatedly came to my senses and looked back at the sofa blankly, I saw Seoyun slapping the sofa and cackling.
"Pfft... someone who really doesn't know what horror is? Don't say it's boring because I don't react~?"
She recited my own words back at me, and in that instant, heat rushed to my face and I felt embarrassed.
"N-no!! If someone screams right next to you, anyone would get startled."
"Yes, yes~ I heard you loud and clear, person who doesn't know what horror is~"
"Seoyun. This is really unfair... not knowing what horror is and not knowing what a scream is are different things, right?"
"Oh, really?... Then what was that, Sis? You kept flinching your hands by yourself while watching the movie just now."
"That's... what. I-I was just loosening up my hands."
"Ah~~ is that what it was? I thought you were scared, that's all~~"
"...Ha. Seoyun, seriously, watch the movie again. I really wasn't scared."
Feeling stubborn for no reason, I sat back down on the sofa and said that.
"Hmm... okay. I won't scream like that anymore, so you have to watch until the end, okay?"
"Fine, I got it!! Hurry up!"
***
The movie resumed from where it had stopped at the same time my sister sat back down on the sofa.
Drip...
Drip...
The sound of dripping water.
The woman in the hologram was thrashing violently, struggling with all her might.
Seoyun, who had been watching quietly, smiled faintly.
She'd only said she wouldn't scream. There were plenty of other ways to startle her sister.
—...Kill me. Please... please, I'm begging you, kill me... please... please, I'm begging you.
Leaving behind the voice of the woman in the hologram, who was practically pleading, Seoyun slowly pressed her body closer to her sister, who was starting to immerse herself in the movie again.
She crept closer, happily pondering how to startle her, when she noticed her sister's hands twitching slightly.
'...Seriously, she's so cute.'
The way she pretended not to be affected, the way she talked like she was acting tough—every little thing was really cute.
As I pressed my body closer, I didn't act right away.
The movie was gradually building toward its highlight, so I waited for that moment.
—Aaaaaaaaah!!!!
The moment the woman in the hologram screamed as if vomiting blood felt like the right timing, so I moved in quickly.
But too suddenly, her sister turned her head.
'Huh...?'
Thump.
For a moment, I couldn't comprehend what had just happened.