Chapter 80
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: The Invisible Person (15)
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“…We’ve figured out that house isn’t a comfortable place for him, which is good, but still.”
Woli said, her brow furrowed. She wasn’t in a great mood.
The other two weren’t much better off.
“This is too awful.”
Seuli’s words had Boyoung nodding in agreement. The man’s story was tragic, but that didn’t make it any kind of excuse.
“We can’t fix it, can we?”
Seuli shivered slightly again at Boyoung’s remark.
“Looking at it like this, it’s pretty impressive he held out this long in that kind of environment.”
“Yeah, really…”
Seuli nodded without thinking.
With the mood so dour, Boyoung clapped her hands loudly once.
“Whoa, you scared me! What’s with the sudden noise?”
The sound was loud enough to make even Woli jump and complain. Boyoung smiled as she spoke. It was a bit forced, but better than everyone moping around.
“It’s to smash this gloomy vibe. Anyway, what we need to do now is drag out that Youngmu guy… or whatever we’re calling him?”
Youngmu-ssi? Youngmu oppa? Didn’t matter either way. Boyoung went with the most basic.
“Either way, we’ve gotta pull Youngmu out.”
Boyoung stretched after saying that.
“It’s getting late anyway, so let’s call it for today.”
Seuli was already pretty wiped out, and the others weren’t in top shape either. The two nodded.
“Then I’ll mull over some options tonight, so you two come up with one solid way to definitely lure that guy out.”
“Lure him out?”
At Woli’s question, Boyoung shouted loudly.
“Obviously!! Youngmu, duh. Even if we’ve dug up a bit on him, he’s not gonna just come quietly, right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
If his house was like that, he probably saw school as his last safe haven. Expecting someone like that to step out just because we knew who he was? That’d be idiotic.
Knowing his name or his backstory wasn’t enough to drag him out.
“So you two prep another method. You seem like the types who’d know how to talk someone into things.”
Boyoung said it outright, her eyes saying she knew they had a trick or two up their sleeves.
“…Fine. We’ll figure something out.”
It was only natural, really. Boyoung already knew Woli had helped the two from the movie club.
* * *
Seuli took on finding a way to persuade him, while Woli brainstormed forced eviction methods.
But ideas like that don’t just pop up out of nowhere. Woli sank deep into thought for the first time in a while.
“What to do…”
Taeju approached Woli as she groaned over it. He was bored and curious.
“How’s it going?”
“Not well. Gimme some caffeine.”
Woli waved him off lazily. Taeju shrugged and deliberately made her an Americano.
“Here.”
“…This has no sugar. Gimme something sweet! Sweet!”
Taeju looked at her pitifully as she whined.
“Then just ask for sugar next time.”
He said that, but ended up taking it back and making her a properly sweet one.
“Next time, be specific if you want something.”
Taeju said, slurping the Americano he’d planned to drink himself from the start.
“…Nah. You figure it out.”
Woli got extra whiny when she was thinking hard.
Sure, she acted even more childish, but it was proof she was trying. Taeju smiled faintly.
“Sounds rough, huh?”
This time, Taeju was only giving the bare minimum info—no extra help. So he was a bit curious how things were progressing.
“Dunno.”
Woli frowned slightly at his question.
“Didn’t Seuli say it was going okay when she was talking?”
Taeju had already given Seuli a few pointers. He’d naturally pieced together the situation.
“Well, there’s progress, sure…”
Seuli had practically whined it out.
“That house was just too weird.”
Taeju had heard most of it from Seuli already. He nodded.
“Guess that confirms what I said before. School’s probably his best memory, so he’s stuck there.”
“That’s good? No one paid him any attention, right?”
Woli sounded baffled, but Taeju replied matter-of-factly.
“You don’t need attention from others anyway.”
Woli’s face scrunched up at the bluntness.
“Maybe it felt better than living alone with someone who hates you.”
“Someone who hates him…”
Woli had said it that way herself, so it wasn’t wrong. Strip away the family filter, and it was spot-on.
“For him, school was a safer fence than home. At least the people there didn’t hate him.”
That’s why he couldn’t leave, acting all subservient like that.
“Sigh. I get it, but why school of all places? It’s not exactly livable.”
“Probably his only fence.”
Taeju thought for a moment before speaking.
“School’s a weird space. Outsiders can’t get in easily. But for a closed-off place, it’s pretty big, so hardly anyone knows every student. If someone your age is in uniform, almost no one can swear they’re not from the school. …Actually, I just wanna say no one knows, but one of your friends seems to.”
School was super closed-off yet subtly loose. That’s how Taeju figured he could hide like a ghost at first.
No telling when he actually became invisible, but it probably started that way.
“Huh? School’s closed-off?”
Woli tilted her head. Being a student herself, she didn’t feel it much.
“School seems open with its big front gate everyone knows, but it’s super closed-off. What if I just walked in unannounced during broad daylight?”
The class in PE would spot him, scream, teacher’d tell him to leave. Maybe cops even show up.
At night? Forget it.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Flip side, people inside can’t just leave whenever. Can you get up in the middle of class and walk out?”
“…I could, but I wouldn’t wanna. I’d rather nap.”
Woli got it. School protected students, but it also obligated them.
“So school’s a fence. Shields you from the outside.”
“A fence…”
“He said the outside scares him or creeps him out, right?”
“Yeah.”
It was a guess from reactions, but it didn’t seem like he loved school too much to stay.
“Then the answer’s clear. Want him out? Make school feel unsafe. Shake things up.”
“Eek, that’s a bit…”
Taeju tossed out the risky line casually. Only after hearing Woli’s horrified tone did he realize how it sounded.
“I mean, figuratively. Not actually making school dangerous. Obviously.”
Taeju backpedaled.
“But he needs to feel like staying there won’t protect him anymore. Show him the fence is flimsy, and he’ll have to leave, willing or not. In this case, maybe make it so he’s not invisible anymore.”
“How do we make him not invisible?”
Taeju smirked at Woli’s question.
“Simple. You’d figure it out if you thought about it. If I spoon-feed this, the Director’ll make me pay you, so think it up yourself.”
Woli groaned.
“I’ve got an idea, but it’s kinda rough.”
“Then that’ll do.”
Taeju said indifferently.
Of course, with caveats like no one gets hurt.
“Might suit your style anyway. Even if you don’t like it much.”
Woli could just beat the ghost and fix things.
“I wanna try smart for once—”
Woli trailed off, looking dissatisfied.
“Sometimes I wish I could just solve it simply like that.”
People always envy what they lack. The two eyed each other.
“Sometimes simple’s smarter than complicated.”
Woli seemed resolved at Taeju’s words.
“Yeah! Screw it! Who needs smart!”
Woli downed the sweet cafe mocha Taeju gave her in one go and shot up.
“We’ll just smash the hell outta it!!”
* * *
“We’re gonna smash the schoo~l just a tiny bit.”
Woli blurted it out the second the three gathered.
Seuli rolled her eyes at the out-of-nowhere line, Boyoung’s jaw dropped. The meeting on luring out the invisible man paused before it even started.
After thirty seconds of blank staring, Boyoung sighed softly.
“I misheard that, right?”
“Nope! You heard right. Maybe a slight exaggeration.”
“Okay, not misheard then. Whew, good. Thought I was crazy. Turns out it’s you?”
Boyoung glared daggers, and Woli gave an awkward smile.
“Noo, just a window or two? That’s fine, right?”
“Fine my ass. Forget the invisible guy—you need catching first.”
“…You can’t just smash stuff when things don’t go your way, Woli.”
Even Seuli said it, leaving Woli a bit downcast. But she was confident, so she pressed on.
“No, think about it. How do you keep a school-hider out of school?”
“Huh?”
“Take away his spot!”
“What the hell…”
Boyoung looked dumbfounded.
“So you wanna wreck the school? Ever hear ‘burn the house down catching a flea’?”
Woli sighed.
“No! Not wreck it all! Just the fire alarm! Wait, not fire? Anyway, smash a few windows, duty teacher wakes up or calls security. Even an invisible guy can’t stay then.”
Turn his last incident against him. No matter how invisible, once real checks start, he can’t hide forever. And with his fragile nerves, he couldn’t handle the disruption.
“…Still sounds insane.”
Boyoung said it, and Woli thought it was a bust—but then Boyoung continued, and Woli grinned.
“But it sounds fun!”
“See!”
“So, you got a plan?”
Woli replied confidently to Boyoung’s question.
“Plan’s to wing it.”
“‘No plan’s a plan’ vibes.”
Feeling Boyoung’s gaze chill, Woli backpedaled fast.
“Ugh, yeah. Truth is, I hadn’t thought that far. How could I plan without knowing where or how to persuade?”
It was an excuse, but kinda reasonable.
“Was gonna decide after hearing you two!”
“Sigh, fine. We’ll talk that part later.”
Boyoung said, then looked at Seuli.
“What’s your take?”
“Have a proper talk this time?”
“…Sounds same level as Woli.”
“No! I thought this out better.”
She had a scenario in mind, but couldn’t explain it to Boyoung.
“Plus, we’re using info from work, so…”
“Top secret, got it?”
Boyoung accepted surprisingly easy. But would she nod at the next part? Seuli said it with some doubt.
“And one more thing… I gotta go alone.”
“What?”
“No Woli, no you. Just me talking.”
Seuli said it apologetically, but it was unavoidable. Couldn’t have Boyoung overhear a chat with an invisible guy.
“Didn’t I say I wouldn’t miss fun stuff anymore?”
“You did.”
Seuli nodded.
“But I have to be alone.”
“There a reason it’s gotta be that way?”
“Yeah.”
“Can’t even say?”
“Yeah.”
Short, concise, firm. Boyoung sighed deeply.
“Then you can definitely get him out?”
“…Probably?”
“Hey, while you’re at it, sound more sure.”
Boyoung scratched her head.
“Fine, go for it. See if you pull it off.”
Seuli’s eyes widened in surprise. Woli chimed in, equally shocked.
“Thought you’d never allow it?”
“Was gonna say no, but watching how this is going, my gut says leave it to you.”
Things went smoother with Seuli involved. Luck or whatever.
“Plus, movie club stuff. Dunno how, but if you can do that again, great. But after he’s out, no meddling in my part. Okay? That’s the deal.”
Boyoung grinned a bit fiercely. The smile felt chilly somehow, giving the two chills.