Kim Su-hee (1)
“Come on, let's go. And don't wave.”
“Huh? Oh, uh, okay.”
“And you don't say 'I'm off' twice either. Just follow me.”
*Clunk!*
I had no idea what was so urgent, but she shoved open the front door like it had offended her and dragged me outside.
She kept holding my hand the whole time, staring at me with a face frozen stiff.
*Grind...*
“...Looks like I need to teach you again...”
“What?”
“Listen up, oppa. In our house, you greet them when you leave, but you don't greet them when you come back. When you're heading out, don't look at Mom and Dad—don't wave. Don't pay attention to what they're eating. And if they're at the dinner table, you don't go into the storage room. Got it? Oppa, did you get that?”
She rattled off these bizarre safety rules that sounded straight out of an urban legend.
What the hell was this?
“I don't really under—”
“Did you fucking get it?!”
My sister—who'd never once yelled at me—screamed with a face twisted like a vengeful ghost.
But it wasn't anger or irritation. It was closer to fear. Anxiety.
She's scared of what might happen to me?
Another riddle.
Mysterious parents that even my enigmatic sister feared...
At first, I'd thought Kang Jia was using some kind of suggestion superpower to drag random neighbors home and puppet them.
That alone was creepy enough.
But apparently not even that?
What the fuck was wrong with this world?
What kind of reality was I living in?
As I shut my eyes tight, lost in the chaos, Kang Jia spoke up.
“Ah, ah, th-that, um, oppa? S-s-s-sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to say bad stuff, okay? You got scared, right? I'm... sorry... I forgot for a sec. That you still don't know all the common sense stuff. I'll teach you nice and gentle from now on!”
She must've thought I was freaked out because of her tone—she started laying on the aegyo thick.
Good. That was a relief.
“Yeah, got it. If Jia's gonna teach me nicely, I feel secure. Oppa will trust his little sister forever, okay?”
“Eek...!♡ Y-yeah! Just me... trust only me, oppa! I'll... protect you! Just like I always have... forever and ever.”
She thought stalking one guy for seven years, locking him in a weird house, and brainwashing him was “protecting” him?
“Sure.”
But all that came out of my mouth was a soft voice.
“Anyway, let's hold hands and walk to school together today too!”
Kang Jia's hand was as cool as ever.
“So, no waving for 'I'm off,' no greeting when you come back, ignore what parents are eating, and don't go in the storage room if they're at the table... right?”
That weird curiosity and impulse from earlier was abnormal.
I probably would've triggered something horrific if I'd gotten closer.
Jia's words or not, memorizing it couldn't hurt.
“Yup! That's right. Aww, you're doing great~”
*Pat pat.*
Was she praising me? I felt her hand tapping my ass.
We chatted about the taboos as we walked, and soon the school came into view.
But someone was inside the school.
A woman...?
At 1 a.m.?
My sister was too busy staring at my face to notice, but I'd seen it clearly.
A woman with long straight hair walking the first-floor hallway of the main building—then vanishing into thin air.
I played dumb and entered the school with Jia for now.
“Oppa, you know?”
“Huh? Know what? Oh, uh, nothing. Anyway, what's first period today? Just one class again?”
“Yup! Probably just one for a while. Today's is... PE!”
“Again?”
“Huh? It's not 'again'! Yesterday was health and PE. Y'know, sex ed practice. Today it's real PE.”
“So we change clothes again?”
“Yup! That's common sense. Why? Excited? Wanna see your sister in short shorts, thighs all out...? Perv♡”
Truth be told, that handjob was so intense, dolphin pants might get me hard again.
Separate from the disgust and wrongness I felt toward her, that demonic technique was pure-drug-level pleasure.
“Yeah, wanna see. So hurry and change.”
“Ooh...? Oppa seems kinda manly and cool today... Being honest is hot maybe...”
I needed to ditch her fast to chase that woman.
Go, quick.
“Okay, be right back!”
She vanished into the shadows somewhere.
I bolted straight for the annex hallway. No time to waste.
*Thud thud thud thud thud.*
My footsteps echoed in the dark corridor.
Where'd she go?
I had to find that woman.
The one walking alone in this school after even the janitor uncle had clocked out.
Midway down the annex hall, just past the central staircase landing—something dragged from the upstairs hall.
*Slide—*
A sliding door opening.
Second floor?
“Huff... huff...”
I raced up the stairs. The end of long black hair slipped into the door of Class 3-2.
She'd just opened the sliding door and gone in.
I followed, sliding it open—and there she was, standing in the classroom.
*Slide!*
“Hey.”
“Eek!? Kyaaah!!”
She'd been pacing near the teacher's desk. My voice made her jump out of her skin, screaming as she toppled over.
“Whoa... you okay?”
“Hic... Wh-who, who are y-you?”
Her legs had given out completely, splayed awkwardly—giving a peek at her crotch wrapped in black pantyhose.
She looked like a young, pretty teacher overall. Her sharp eyes weren't my type, but guys who liked that cool vibe would go nuts. If she'd been at my high school, she'd have wrecked plenty of boys—top and bottom.
But how to explain myself? A 24-year-old freak mind-controlled by a psycho stalker, showing up at 1 a.m.?
“A-are you... from Class 3?”
Huh.
Well, I didn't look that old.
If she assumed that, great for me.
“Yeah, that's me. Here, take my hand.”
I approached and offered my hand.
Hers was pale as she grabbed it to stand.
“Whew! You scared your teacher half to death... But why're you at school this late?”
I barely remembered high school myself, let alone yesterday when she didn't even know my name. Coming up with a reason for a student at 1 a.m. was tough.
“Forget something?”
Again, she nailed a perfect excuse like she read my mind.
“Yeah... but now I think it's at home.”
“I see.”
The teacher bit her lower lip slightly. Something bothering her?
“Why hasn't teacher gone home yet?”
“Teacher had overtime, so I stayed... just checking the classrooms.”
That felt off.
Overtime till 1 a.m. happened, sure—but you'd bolt right after, not wander a dark school alone peeking into rooms.
Something was up with her. I could smell it.
“What's your name, teacher? I suck at remembering faces... so I can greet you next time.”
“Huh? I'm the homeroom teacher for Class 1, how'd you miss me? Teacher Su-hee. Kim Su-hee. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen your face before either...”
Kim Su-hee.
Remember that.
Anyway, she eyed me suspiciously.
We were both suspicious of each other.
“You... Class 3 student... right?”
Sensing something off, she stepped back and asked.
“Of course. But teacher, anything weird going on at school lately? I get this bad feeling every time I come here.”
Her pupils shook for a split second.
“Really...? Well, staying late does get scary... Hehe.”
That's when it hit.
*Thud!*
*Groooowl...*
Both Kim Su-hee and I whipped our heads toward the unidentified rumble echoing from the end of the hall.
“J-janitor uncle... why now!?”
Janitor uncle?
*Squelch—squelch—*
The sound of massive, slime-soaked feet dragging closer and closer.
“Teacher, what is that...”
“Shh!”
I barely got the words out before she flinched, pressing a straight finger to her lips—hush.
Even without the signal, I knew not to make noise.
In this unnatural realm, my survival instincts screamed it.
Meeting whatever made that sound wouldn't end well.
“C-come here!”
She grabbed my wrist, yanking me to the cleaning supply closet at the back. Her body trembled.
Like a herbivore smelling a lion or tiger.
Cold sweat beaded on my forehead too.
*Squelch—squelch—*
The grotesque noise drawing nearer.
“Get in quick!”
“Okay.”
*Clunk.*
It wasn't a big locker—just a supply closet. Two adults crammed in filled it completely.
Our bodies pressed tight.
Unlike my sister Kang Jia, this was a voluptuous, soft older woman's body. Good shampoo scent mixed with that thick, overtime sweat smell unique to working women.
But no lewd urges stirred. Fear dominated.
“Haa... haa...”
“Teacher, what is that? You know, right? What it is?”
“Later... I'll explain later. Be quiet now.”
Our lips were close enough to feel each other's breath. Faint mint from hers.
“Explain now. What is it?”
I didn't have time.
After this, Kim Su-hee would never stay late again, no matter what— she'd bail somehow.
Even salarymen wouldn't stick around after terror like this.
This was my one shot to learn what was happening at school.
“...You didn't read the school rules properly. It's the janitor uncle. The one who erases rule-breakers.”
Erases people...?
Wipe out your existence for breaking rules?
The thing making those freakish noises being the “janitor uncle” was insane to begin with. And this teacher talking like it was obvious? Not normal.
“But what rule did we break?”
“Nothing. I'm staff, you're a student. No rule against student meetups, no applicable rules right now—”
*Flinch!*
Kim Su-hee realized something—her eyes wide with terror, locking onto mine.
“Staff... can't have private meetings with non-students on campus...”
*Shiver shiver shiver.*
“Wh-who... are you...?”
Shit.
The one semi-normal person in this nightmare world was starting to suspect me.
*Squelch! Squelch!*
The sound closing in.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I'm not a student here. And I get you're scared right now, teacher Su-hee. But I'm not some weirdo. Trust me.”
“How can I—”
“Yeah, you can't. But we're both about to die to that janitor uncle. Let's calm down. Okay? I don't wanna die either. Believe that much.”
Appealing to universal fear of death worked—she clamped her mouth shut and nodded.
But a new problem arose.
*Rattle rattle rattle.*
*Clatter clatter clatter.*
Her tense shaking started bumping cleaning tools.
“C-calm down. We'll both die.”
“I-it's not... up to me...!”
*Slide!*
*Squelch. Squelch.*
It was in.
The formless monster.