Ch.148148 – A Woman’s Heart 2

# 148 – A Woman’s Heart # 2

On the way to the old school building.

I glanced at Yu Dahui.

She was acting like nothing had happened since then, which made me even more anxious.

“Dahui.”

“What?”

I called Yu Dahui while Teacher Hong Miri and the others were busy picking the lock of the old school building. Then I spoke in a voice quiet enough that others couldn’t hear.

“About what happened yesterday.”

“Yeah.”

“I think I should give you an answer as a man.”

“Answer?”

“When this is all over, I’ll make things clear.”

I told Yu Dahui the same thing I had told Yang Juhui.

Soon, Yu Dahui chuckled.

“Yeongwon, I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

I’m misunderstanding?

Clank-

Just then, the padlock on the main entrance of the old school building opened.

However, Teacher Hong Miri continued fiddling with the lock as if something wasn’t right.

“Why won’t this open properly? The lock seems broken.”

The school was old, so the lock must have been old too.

I took a photo just in case.

Click-!

Whatever happened, taking photos now gave me peace of mind.

Thanks to that, we had many photos.

“Let’s put them all in an album later.”

Yu Dahui chuckled.

Bong Jiyeon, who was standing next to her, shuddered.

“Still creepy. Do we really have to go in there?”

Despite the insane summer heat outside with a feels-like temperature of 38 degrees, this basement was not just cool—it was cold.

“Look at that mold growing! Eek!”

Kwon Sua was terribly frightened.

“It looks just like a human face! The mold!”

“Ugh, it’s true. What is this?!”

I was really startled when I saw the mold Kwon Sua was pointing at.

It looked like the wails of hell had been imprinted on the wall.

“I think I’m developing pareidolia!”

Kwon Sua rubbed her arms below her short-sleeved T-shirt.

Jeongseok said to her:

“Pareidolia isn’t actually a real phobia.”

“Really? Well, I still don’t like it.”

I didn’t like these terrible patterns either.

Weren’t these things not here the last time we came to the basement?

While I was feeling afraid, Teacher Hong Miri spoke.

“We broke down all the walls leading to the second and third basement floors and opened the doors. The mold probably formed because of the humid air coming from deep underground.”

“I see. It’s because of the water veins, right? I heard there are large water veins under Gaeryong City.”

“That’s possible. Highly likely, in fact.”

Teacher Hong Miri nodded at my guess.

Water veins, huh.

Even though I had fought with ghosts, I still found it hard to believe in things like large water veins.

It just didn’t feel real, I guess.

Anyway, we continued going down, deeper into the basement.

Eventually, we arrived at Buldansa.

I still couldn’t believe that such a large and ominous temple was built so eerily in the school basement.

“My sister opened her eyes!”

Just then, Bong Jiyeon, who had been carrying Bong Seyeon’s head, shouted loudly.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to Bong Seyeon, who was blinking her pitch-black eyes.

“……”

Blink, blink-

Sister Bong Seyeon said something.

Since she had no vocal cords, we still couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Only Teacher Hong Miri, with her ghost experience, could understand this “severed head language.”

Teacher Hong Miri said:

“She says this is a place in her memory. She died here.”

“…My sister died here?”

“Yang Dohui was walking around this area carrying her head… that is, Bong Seyeon’s head. Apparently, Yang Dohui said she would send her home. Then… she was attacked by some man…”

Attacked by some man.

The same keyword came up again.

Who could it be?

Was it Kim Haeil, the crazy Christian who killed Bong Seyeon and Gu Hyena?

That seemed highly likely.

Rustle-. Rustle-!

Just then, there was a sound from the direction of Buldansa.

We were all startled.

We knew exactly what kind of place this Buldansa was, so we couldn’t help but be surprised.

The only things that could appear in this Buldansa were monsters and ghosts.

In that moment when everyone froze like mice before a snake, someone appeared.

Swish-.

It was a woman bleeding profusely from her forehead.

“…Gong Yerin?”

Her face was covered in blood, and her hair was cut short, making her hard to recognize, but the woman who emerged from the darkness of Buldansa was definitely Gong Yerin.

Our Class D’s Gong Yerin.

We were all shocked to meet Gong Yerin in this Buldansa.

So when a brief silence fell, Gong Yerin’s blood-soaked expression brightened.

“I’m… alive. I’m alive! You guys! I’m so glad to see you! I’m alive!”

Gong Yerin dragged her legs as she approached us.

Now that I looked closely, her clothes were torn and she was bleeding as if she had been beaten by a group of people.

She was barefoot without shoes.

“Help me! Get me out of here! Please! Please! If I stay here, I’ll die!”

Gong Yerin cried profusely with her blood-soaked face.

Seeing her pitiful and miserable appearance, Jeongseok said in a voice quiet enough for only us to hear:

“Let’s hear what happened.”

That seemed like a good idea.

I was curious about why Gong Yerin had emerged from this Buldansa.

And it would be good to hear why Gong Yerin was so frightened, like a cornered mouse.

After all, what happened to Gong Yerin could happen to us too.

“Yerin, what happened?”

I pretended not to know anything and asked.

Then Gong Yerin began to tell her story while sniffling.

“We… we were going around the school for a courage test… and accidentally found this basement… we came in out of curiosity, but suddenly…”

“We? Who do you mean by ‘we’?”

“Jahyeon, Huiyeon, and Kim Geonho… But as soon as we entered this third floor, Kim Geonho went crazy and tried to kill Wang Jahyeon… and tried to rape me! So I ran… ran away.”

Kim Geonho did?

Kwon Sua, who was listening to the story, got angry.

“How can someone be so evil…”

Being a woman, she seemed to empathize.

A classmate who barely escaped.

It seemed right to help as much as we could.

Couldn’t we at least safely escort her out of the school?

“Kim Geonho tried to kill Wang Jahyeon and tried to rape you? Is that true?”

Yang Juhui looked at Gong Yerin with narrowed eyes.

She even pulled out a box cutter, looking as if she suspected Gong Yerin.

Even I was scared by Yang Juhui’s threatening manner, and Gong Yerin answered while trembling:

“Look. He even tried to tear my clothes. I ran away desperately. He-help me. Please! I’ll really die if I stay here!”

Gong Yerin pleaded for help with a tearful voice.

Eventually, everyone’s eyes turned to me.

The leader was the one who made decisions at times like this.

I thought we should help Gong Yerin.

If we ignored or drove her away, I felt like the daily life I wanted to protect would break down.

It didn’t seem like peaceful days would continue after refusing to help a classmate.

Also, if we could persuade Gong Yerin to join our side instead of Wang Jahyeon’s group, it would clearly be a big help. I said to Yang Juhui:

“Juhui, let’s take her outside and hand her over to the police. We can do that much, right?”

“……”

Yang Juhui sighed.

She put away her box cutter as if she had no choice.

Soon, Gong Yerin’s expression brightened.

“Th-thank you, Yeongwon. I always thought you were kind. I thought you were kind. I won’t forget this favor. This favor…”

Trembling-.

Gong Yerin approached us, truly grateful.

And as she came close to me, she took something out of her pocket and stabbed it into my chest.

Stab-!

“…Ugh…”

I couldn’t even scream.

My chest felt hot, and all the muscles in my body contracted as if being burned by fire.

Before I could even understand what was happening, Gong Yerin laughed.

“You stole our stuff, Ha Yeongwon, you bastard. You believed me just because I cut my forehead and bled a little? You idiot. I knew it was you guys!”

“You bitch, fucking Gong Yerin, you fucking bitch! I knew it, you dog!”

Yang Juhui pulled out her box cutter again and got furious.

However, since Gong Yerin was holding a knife to my neck, she couldn’t move rashly.

“Jahyeon! Huiyeon! Kim Geonho! Come out quickly! I did it! Success! Success!”

My chest hurt as if a fireball had entered my body.

What hurt even more was that my goodwill had been betrayed.

If I stay like this, I’ll die…

In a situation where my senses were becoming dull, I desperately clung to consciousness.

I need to turn back time.

# # #

“The Broken Clock rewinds its spring.”

“100P consumed.”

“Remaining points: 610P”

“We have to go back into this creepy place again?”

Bong Jiyeon trembled.

My body was trembling too.

“……”

Swish-.

I touched my chest.

There was no wound, but the sensation of being stabbed was still vivid.

Thud-.

I sat down on the floor.

Jeongseok was surprised to see me like that.

“What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly like this?”

“Guys, I don’t think we should go in here today.”

I recalled the conversations I had heard as my consciousness was fading.

Gong Yerin had called for Kim Geonho and Wang Jahyeon.

Maybe they were already lying in ambush inside.

“Teacher Hong Miri. You said the lock was strange, right?”

“Yes. Why?”

I recalled something from a long time ago.

Scenes of Kim Geonho giggling while picking the locks of bicycles parked at school.

I had heard that Kim Geonho usually rode stolen motorcycles too.

Maybe picking locks and locking them again would be nothing to him.

“…That happened? That bitch Gong Yerin is a complete psychopath?”

Yang Juhui got angry at my brief explanation of why I chose to rewind and what had happened.

Thinking about it now, Yang Juhui’s judgment, growling at Gong Yerin, had been right.

But I still couldn’t believe it.

All those tears and pleas were lies?

Can a person really do that?

It was shocking that my trust had been betrayed, and Gong Yerin’s acting skills were impressive.

Dahui gently patted my back.

“A woman can do anything for the person she loves.”

“Th-that’s right. That’s what a woman’s heart is. Devoted…”

Kwon Sua trembled as if she was scared.

Whatever the case, it seemed dangerous to enter the old school building now.

“Yeongwon, if what you’re saying is true, it means those guys have already figured out who we are.”

Jeongseok made a cold assessment.

His legs were trembling nervously as he spoke.

If that’s the case, there’s only one way.