Chapter 51
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: The Cursed Video (13)
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“What are those people?”
Seonwoo said in disbelief. The two of them had been all but chased out of the office, unable to hide their bewilderment.
“No, maybe they really do have their own rules or something?”
Seonwoo didn’t respond to Suhyeon’s words, still frowning. Then his face suddenly flushed red.
It was because he’d just realized they were alone together. It was the first time they’d been by themselves since borrowing the pad.
When they’d been in club activities before, being alone together hadn’t felt this awkward.
“Anyway... should we go?”
Suhyeon said. The silence was too hard to bear.
“Where to?”
Seonwoo asked where they were going. Suhyeon hadn’t thought that far ahead, so he just rolled his eyes. Seonwoo laughed at the sight, and the awkwardness seemed to melt away.
“Hmm? Anywhere?”
“Let’s go to your place.”
“My place?”
Suhyeon echoed Seonwoo’s words. Thinking of the horrific state of his house, he panicked again and started stammering.
“Uh, um... not today...”
“What are you imagining? I’m just going to walk you home.”
Seonwoo chuckled softly at Suhyeon’s ridiculous response. Suhyeon felt relieved inside.
As the two were talking, a tall man appeared in front of Suhyeon.
It was strange. The street had clearly been empty just moments ago, but suddenly the man was standing there.
The black-haired man looked Korean, but also foreign. He seemed unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar too.
“Hello?”
Suhyeon jumped in surprise. He hadn’t expected the stranger to speak first.
“Uh, hello?”
Suhyeon responded timidly. Up close, the man was even taller than he’d thought. With a height in the late 180s, Suhyeon had to crane his neck way up to look at him.
Without realizing it, Suhyeon had pushed Seonwoo behind him. It was almost instinctual.
“Ahaha, I’m not a bad guy. Don’t worry.”
The man spoke casually to a stranger, flashing a friendly smile. Suhyeon awkwardly smiled back. It wasn’t because he was happy.
“Hmm, you probably didn’t get an introduction, but I’m the director of that office.”
“Oh, I see!”
Suhyeon finally understood the weird atmosphere a bit.
The man who’d introduced himself as the director smiled brightly and said,
“Yeah, I came because I have something to receive.”
“Receive?”
“If you got that much help, you have to give something in return, right?”
His tone and expression were like a loan shark’s. Suhyeon’s face soured again. Seonwoo, standing beside him, looked displeased too.
Seonwoo stepped forward and said,
“I made the request, so I’ll pay the fee.”
“No, you went through all that trouble because of me. I can’t make you pay too. I’ll cover it.”
Suhyeon spoke without knowing how much Seonwoo had agreed to pay. No matter the amount, he thought it was right for him to handle it.
The two bickered over who would pay. Watching them, the director grinned like it was amusing.
“Suhyeon, okay, but you heard me. I don’t take payment in money.”
“But we don’t have anything else to give right now.”
That was Seonwoo’s reply.
No matter the sum, it was said with the confidence that money could be paid if needed. But the director hadn’t wanted money from the start.
“Nothing to give? No way~ There are plenty of things in the world you can give even if you have nothing.”
As the director smiled, Suhyeon’s expression hardened sharply.
“Wait, what exactly are you demanding?”
All sorts of bad thoughts raced through Suhyeon’s mind.
“Don’t worry. I planned to ask you from the beginning. Yours has more value.”
The director looked at Suhyeon and smiled broadly. If he’d felt uneasy before, now chills ran down his spine.
“M-Me? Value?”
The director opened the bag in his left hand. Suhyeon focused intently on what came out. It was a pen and paper.
“Here, sign this.”
Some kind of contract? Whatever it was, he couldn’t let Seonwoo do it.
Just then, the director handed the pen and paper to Suhyeon. Seonwoo looked at him anxiously. Suhyeon nodded reassuringly and took the paper.
“What’s it say...”
Suhyeon tilted his head after taking it. Nothing was written on it.
“Um... what kind of contract is this?”
Suhyeon asked. The director laughed ha-ha and said,
“Huh? Contract? Just sign big! As big as possible.”
“Wh-Why?”
Suhyeon couldn’t understand at all.
“I’m gonna laminate it and keep it. Your signature’s gonna be worth a fortune in the future.”
“My signature?”
Suhyeon didn’t believe it. No way that’s all he wanted.
“Don’t believe me? Fine, but sign it properly and hand it over. That’s all I need!”
The director said that, pulling out a stand from his bag and waving the paper and pen.
Suhyeon hesitated but signed big anyway.
He wondered if this was right, but the director happily took the paper with a big smile and went on his way.
He didn’t even check if the signature was done properly.
Was this really it? Suhyeon and Seonwoo looked at each other. But it really was over. The director had vanished completely, leaving just the two of them on the street.
“What the heck?”
With the tension released, laughter escaped Suhyeon’s lips. Seonwoo, beside him, found the situation funny too and wore the same expression.
“Ah, we’re such idiots. What were we thinking?”
“Haha, yeah...”
In the absurdity, the two laughed. It was a good thing. After laughing once, the tension between them dissolved. The awkward feelings from before had mostly faded. Things felt a bit like they used to.
Suhyeon was able to have a proper conversation with Seonwoo for the first time in a while. Even trivial talk kept the conversation going.
“Man, do you know how hard I worked to keep the club going while you were gone?!”
“Sorry, and thanks for your hard work.”
The two walked slowly, as slow as could be. But before they knew it, the apartment was close.
The sun hadn’t fully set, so the sky was red.
“Um... next weekend, wanna go see a movie?”
His voice trembled and cracked. It was something he’d said often before, but this time it was hard to get out. His face flushed. But the sunset hid Suhyeon’s reddened cheeks.
“What’s that?”
Seonwoo smirked. Finding Suhyeon’s demeanor funny, he chuckled and nodded.
“Pick a good movie. I’ve gotten better at it too lately.”
“...Yeah.”
“See you at school tomorrow.”
With those final words from Seonwoo, the two parted.
Suhyeon’s house was still a mess inside. He resolved to clean it all before going to school tomorrow.
Shoes in the shoe cabinet, scattered clothes, filthy floor—by the time he finished cleaning, it was already midnight.
Suhyeon’s house, unlike before—or perhaps like before—was now clean.
“This is how our house used to be.”
Suhyeon felt a wave of nostalgia looking at the tidied living room. Some things were gone, but this was close enough to how he remembered it.
At that moment, a creaking sound rang out. Suhyeon turned toward it.
“No way,”
Suhyeon muttered to himself without realizing.
The open door was to the room where he kept his movies. The door he’d locked had opened on its own. In an empty house, a door opening by itself would normally be terrifying, but that wasn’t what Suhyeon felt now.
It was mystery and awe.
Perhaps this was his long-neglected passion for movies calling him back.
As if entranced, Suhyeon entered the room again. The stacks of movie DVDs, posters, and pamphlets were all covered in dust but in their places.
Everything was back where it belonged.
Suhyeon picked up the album. He remembered the last page was empty.
Suhyeon opened the desk drawer. He’d put the poster of the remake of the final Ring series there, since he hadn’t scrapped it.
The album, started in childhood, had some crooked pages, but he carefully pasted the last one straight into its place. Now the album was complete. The final piece.
* * *
“When are you gonna let me out?”
Woli’s hollow shout echoed inside the boundary.
She’d figured they were doing teardown work outside, but being alone in a sealed space was incredibly unnerving.
Sia and Taeju knew that too, which was why they’d hurried the two away.
Finally, the boundary began crumbling from the top down. Woli closed her eyes. Watching it made her dizzy.
Soon wind whipped around, the boundary collapsed, and a smell started wafting. Feeling it fully dissolve, Woli opened her eyes.
“Eugh, the smell.”
It couldn’t be helped.
Sia had burned special stuff inside for the boundary, mixing in its unique odor.
And the fruit scent added to mask it just made it weirder to Woli’s sensitive nose.
“Open the door, the door!!”
Woli naturally pinched her nose and said. As Woli opened the door, cleanup began.
“I’m here.”
The director arrived, as always, only after everything was done.
“Ah, Director, don’t close the door! We’re airing it out!”
Woli urgently said to the director who was about to shut it.
“Is it that bad? It’s basically just steam anyway.”
Sia said defensively.
“It is bad!”
Smoke or mist was the most effective for maintaining boundaries. Woli knew it was unavoidable, so she didn’t complain more.
“Did you see those two who just left?”
Taeju asked the director.
“Yeah. Got my payment too.”
“What’d you get?”
“A signature.”
“A signature?”
“Yeah. One that’ll be worth a fortune later. Not that I’ll sell it,”
The director proudly showed off the paper with the signature, already laminated. The others couldn’t grasp its value at all.
“How much is it worth?”
At Hanseol’s question, the director declared confidently,
“Can’t put a price on it. It’s worth whatever you call it.”
Taeju shook his head at the director’s words.
“Well, if it’s valuable, good for you.”
Taeju said half-heartedly and decided to let it go.
“But if you had to price that signature, how much?”
Woli asked, still curious.
“I told you, I’m not selling. It’s for my personal collection.”
“Abuse of power! Abuse!”
But the director wouldn’t say, and Woli grumbled.
“Why’s it valuable? It’s just a signature.”
At Sia’s question, the director smiled. It seemed like the question he’d been waiting for, as he finally answered willingly.
“It’s the only real-name signature that’ll survive into the future.”
“Huh?”
“That kid’ll use a pseudonym later. All his movie-related signatures will be pseudonyms only. No matter who asks, he won’t sign his real name. Why?!”
The director beamed happily.
“Because he gave it to me!”
Only Taeju understood the director’s final words.
“Damn, he becomes that famous?”
“Of course. No director like him for decades.”
If the director said that much, they figured the kid must become someone huge in the future.
“He won’t do it till his last day, to keep the value of the one I got. Except for official documents, that is.”
“...So it’s the only one in the world?”
At Hanseol’s question, the director nodded and said,
“Exactly! So this’ll truly be the world’s only one.”
“But if no one knows you have it, doesn’t it end up worthless?”
At Sia’s question, the director grinned slyly. No need to worry, he smiled confidently.
“Haha, no, he does an interview while alive. Says he signed his real name exactly once. His first and last real-name signature.”
“What, like the Pirate King’s treasure?”
Taeju burst out laughing, imagining an old man yelling ‘The autograph exists!’
“Yeah. And this signature will be called a ‘phantom signature’ in the future. One whose existence is unclear, but the signer himself claimed it. It becomes a fantasy in itself.”
That did make it pretty fun and valuable. The problem was it’d take at least thirty years to become that.
The director grinned. In the end, knowing the kid would become great in the future, he’d gotten a fan signature.
“Feels a bit like I got shortchanged for just a signature. But knowing he’ll do well later makes me happy.”
Woli sighed in relief.
“In the end, this job didn’t make us any money either.”
Taeju scratched his head. The director would handle their salaries, but Taeju felt a pang at not seeing tangible results.
The director said consolingly,
“Well, not every job can make money. I still take care of your pay.”
He patted Taeju’s shoulder.
“You did great work. That’s enough for me.”
Since even the director said that much, it seemed like a truly satisfying deal from his perspective.
“So now we gotta go back to school tomorrow?”
“Ah, yeah!”
The two who had school tomorrow said regretfully. Taeju said as if just remembering,
“Right. You know your face-covering got totally busted, right?”
“What? It got found out?”
Woli whipped her head toward Taeju, genuinely shocked.
“Of course it did, dummy. Seonwoo glimpsed it day one, and Suhyeon brought you himself. They know.”
“Seriously? Then what was the point of...”
“Well, if you play dumb first, they’ll pretend not to know too.”
“Still bugs me.”
Woli grumbled. She got it, but could those kids treat her normally at school? Probably not.
“You got a lot of friends at school?”
“Huh? Why?”
“You investigated way better than I expected.”
At Taeju’s words, Woli averted her gaze a bit and said,
“Uh... a few.”
“A few? Mmph!”
Woli hurriedly covered Hanseol’s mouth.
Not having friends at school was fine, but she didn’t want to look like it.
“Well, if something like this happens again, I can just ask you. Good to know.”
“Yeah, leave school stuff to me from now on.”
Woli thought maybe she should start building some relationships. If these members ever showed up as guardians later, she’d need something to say.
“Anyway, what happens to those two?”
Sia wondered. Anyone could see they liked each other.
“I’m not spoiling it. Ruins the fun.”
The director smirked at Sia’s question and answered that way.
“You spill useless stuff but hold back on this.”
Taeju said with a dissatisfied look. But the director just grinned and left.
“Heh heh, I’m off.”
“Hey, tell us before you go!”
Despite Taeju’s shout, the director ignored him and headed to the elevator. Sia stretched and said,
“They’ll figure it out. At the end, when they looked at each other, it was all honey.”
“Hope it works out.”
Hanseol smiled and said.
“Hey, go ask later. We’re curious too.”
At Taeju’s words, Sia nodded.
“Nothing as fun as someone else’s love story.”
Meanwhile, Woli made a face of disgust.
“Always asking me? Wait, this was a romance?”
Taeju laughed and said,
“Better than curse stories, right?”
* Next Story *
The funeral was nearly over. Just the final procedure left. Now he could leave this place, the boy thought with a sigh.
“We’re waiting thirty minutes or so before departure.”
Someone said from the front of the bus. He didn’t know details, but the funeral ended when this bus arrived. The boy leaned against the rattling window and looked outside.
Still some time till departure. With a bored expression, the boy gazed out the window. A bit farther off, he could see the funeral hall building where he’d spent days.
By the wall of the funeral home, cats he thought he’d seen before were gathered. The boy watched the group closely, wondering if the one he’d played with was there.
“Huh?”
Among them was a cat he’d never seen. It was huge, eye-catching.
Was there a cat that big? Is that... a cat...?
Some instinct told him not to look closely. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away. And he realized.
That’s not a cat.
It slowly started turning its head. But he couldn’t close his eyes or look away.
Their eyes met.
“Ah, aaah! Aaah...!”