Ch.150Theater Voyeurism

Jung Haewon stood at the front holding a flashlight.

I continued moving while being carried on Daju’s back.

The rest of the people followed behind, carrying luggage they had gathered from the apartment.

Jung Haewon shined his flashlight into the dessert shop.

“This place is open too.”

“People? None, right?”

“That’s right.”

The path leading to the theater was strangely wide open.

Just with the lights turned off.

All doors were open, and the security system wasn’t working either.

The shops along the way were the same.

Convenience store. Smoothie shop. Fast food restaurant and so on…

We checked each one, but not a single place had locked doors.

This is definitely strange.

“So that means no one left work normally.”

“Is that what it means?”

“Of course. People usually lock up before leaving work.”

Jung Haewon took out his flashlight and illuminated the path ahead again.

“But like this, I really feel like something’s going to appear.”

“Shh. There might actually be something.”

“Really!?”

“I said be quiet!”

I’m just as anxious.

Truly, it felt like something could jump out at any moment.

It’s not just a vague fear of dark spaces.

The scariest part is not knowing what the Foundation might do.

The Foundation is putting all its efforts into exterminating humanity.

For now, they’re just broadcasting “strange waves” to induce suicide, but it’s only a matter of time before they introduce new methods.

For instance…

Releasing that thing.

The flashlight beam hits a statue and reflects.

“Huh!”

“Noona, what’s wrong?”

“Oppa?”

Jung Haewon and Daju turn to look at me, suddenly tense.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Fortunately, it was just an ordinary statue with no anomalous properties.

A yellow Minion figurine placed there to promote an animation.

I was so startled for a moment.

It was almost laughable.

“It’s nothing.”

“Noona, are you really okay?”

“Yes. I just saw something wrong.”

Right now, only Jung Haewon and I can properly communicate.

Daju is carrying me on her back, but she’s wearing earplugs so she can’t hear properly.

If there’s anything to communicate, it goes to Jung Haewon first.

“First, let’s turn on the lights. Then play any movie, go inside the theater, and hold out.”

I muttered our plan for what’s ahead.

“Then everyone can take off their earplugs. And it will almost completely cancel out sounds from outside.”

“Yes, noona.”

“……”

“……”

A moment of silence passes.

Jung Haewon is shining his flashlight in my direction.

Wait a minute. Could it be…?

I slowly turned my gaze behind me.

Nothing there.

Is it further away?

Or on the ceiling?

What is Jung Haewon looking at behind me?

Jung Haewon quietly opens his mouth and begins to speak.

“But how?”

“Ah.”

I tensed up completely and then relaxed again.

“I thought there was something again!”

“Uh, what?”

“I thought there was something behind me! Standing there stupidly with your flashlight pointed like that!”

“There’s nothing behind you.”

“Hah… I thought I was going to die of fear.”

When I shouted, Daju laughed from below.

“What are you two talking about, oppa?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Daju tilts her head.

Right. Daju is wearing earplugs.

[Nothing happened]

I showed Daju the card and then turned back to Jung Haewon.

“Anyway. Jung Haewon, don’t scare people like that when you talk.”

I was really startled.

Jung Haewon was looking this way with the flashlight, and his expression was so blank that I thought he’d frozen after seeing something scary.

Turns out the kid was just being stupid.

Thanks to that, I completely fell for it.

“But noona.”

“Yes?”

“What you just mentioned. Turning on lights, playing a movie. Do you know how to do that?”

“I’m not sure either. Do you?”

Jung Haewon shrugs.

“I don’t know either.”

“Wait. Let me think about it.”

I thought about what I know about theaters.

I don’t go often, but I’ve been a few times.

“Ah!”

“Did you remember something?”

“Yes. Sometimes before a movie starts, you can briefly see a computer desktop on the screen, right?”

“Yes. I’ve seen that a few times too.”

“Then there’s probably a computer connected to the theater screen.”

“So we need to find it and play any movie, right?”

“Exactly.”

That’s the plan so far.

First, we need to settle in.

“Let’s go into the theater, unpack first, and then look for where the central control room is.”

We brought quite a lot of luggage from the apartment.

Several suitcases packed full, which the others are quietly pulling along.

They must be quite heavy. If we keep moving like this, we’ll all collapse from exhaustion.

I also feel bad about being carried by Daju the whole time.

Clunk-

Jung Haewon opened the theater door.

While Jung Haewon shined the flashlight to check if the inside was safe, I checked the number above the door.

“Remember the number well. Theater 1.”

This is where we’ll be staying for a while.

With Jung Haewon, me, and Daju in the lead, everyone entered the theater with their luggage.

…It’s really dark.

We must be right next to each other, but if you don’t look carefully, you wouldn’t even know others are there.

“Oppa, come down carefully.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Daju carefully lowered me onto a theater seat.

“Daju. Wait.”

I reached out toward Daju’s face.

I removed her earplugs and whispered quietly.

“You can take off your earplugs in here now.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes.”

A theater is one of the most soundproof facilities.

Even when playing loud blockbuster movies, if the doors are properly closed, you can barely hear anything outside the theater.

But even in a facility like this, that “sound” is still faintly coming through.

Faint, but definitely there.

“But just to be safe, you should keep wearing them.”

“It’s so uncomfortable though.”

“Keep them on until we play a movie. That’s when it’ll be completely safe.”

After saying that, I put the earplugs back in Daju’s ears.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.

Looking around, I could see the others had unpacked their luggage and were sitting in their seats resting.

I nudged Jung Haewon’s arm as he sat next to me.

“Let’s go turn on the movie now.”

“Noona, your ankle is broken.”

“Ah. Right.”

Maybe it’s because I’m anxious. I keep forgetting and trying to move.

Even though I’m clearly not in a state to move on my own.

“Noona?”

“……”

I sat still and shined the flashlight on my ankle.

My broken right ankle was swollen so badly that my sock and shoe were now tight.

“Ugh.”

Maybe it’s because I’m looking directly at the injured area.

The pain I’d been forgetting starts to come back.

A hot sensation with a dull, throbbing pain.

And a sharp pain that comes immediately with even the slightest movement.

It hurts so much with just the tiniest movement that even my pulse makes the pain worse.

“Ow.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Not dying.”

I tried to act tough in front of Jung Haewon, but it actually hurts terribly.

I feel like I could burst into tears at any moment.

“Here.”

“Huh?”

Something cold touched my hand, startling me and making me flinch.

The pain immediately attacked my ankle.

“Ah. Aaah! Ughh… It hurts…”

“Noona!?”

“It hurts… It hurts… Ugh…”

The tears I’d been holding back almost burst out.

The others seemed to notice something was wrong and were looking over with concern.

I wiped away the welling tears and glared at Jung Haewon.

“W-what was that suddenly!”

“I’m sorry. I was just trying to give you this… Here.”

Jung Haewon was holding out a frozen ice cup.

“Ah…”

“I grabbed it from the convenience store earlier. And I’m really sorry about just now, I didn’t mean to, I was just trying to give you this…”

“Yeah… Thanks.”

From what I could tell, it was an ice cup sold with pack drinks at convenience stores.

Originally meant for pouring drinks into to keep them cool, but thanks to that, we got some ice.

“Here’s a towel.”

Jung Haewon then hands me a towel he found in the luggage bag.

“Do you need help with the compress?”

“I can do it myself.”

Crash-

I poured the ice onto the towel and carefully wrapped it to make an ice pack.

When the cold touched my ankle, the pain seemed to subside a bit.

“Phew…”

“I’ll go set up the movie by myself.”

“Take Robin with you.”

Robin turned her head sharply when she heard her name.

I flipped through my cards to convey the meaning.

[Movie]

[Play]

While showing the last card, I pointed at Jung Haewon.

[Together]

Robin also flipped through her cards to answer.

Combining the meaning of the cards with my limited English knowledge and gestures, it meant:

‘Dan and I will go with Haewon.’

The group was formed, but Jung Haewon was still standing there awkwardly.

“Hey. Jung Haewon. Do you speak English?”

“A little.”

“Then try talking with them. The three of you.”

I pushed Jung Haewon’s back.

He left the theater somewhat awkwardly with Dan and Robin.

Jung Haewon looked back.

I mouthed words of encouragement.

“Fighting.”

I sent him off with a smile, but I couldn’t help feeling frustrated.

I should have gone with them.

I squeezed the ice pack wrapped around my ankle.

“Oww.”

Tears welled up.

To think even this much pressure causes so much pain. How seriously injured am I?

Someone approached and grabbed my wrist firmly.

“Let me see.”

It was Heo Yoon.

Using her nursing background, Heo Yoon removed the ice pack and began examining my ankle.

“It does look broken. A sprain wouldn’t swell this much. Normally you’d need a cast, but that’s impossible here. I think wrapping it with bandages is the best we can do… But first, the swelling needs to go down.”

The ice pack was placed back on my ankle.

“Keep icing it. Understand?”

“Yes.”

I realized Heo Yoon was still wearing her earplugs.

Instead of answering verbally, I nodded my head vigorously.

A little while later.

Lights came on over the screen, and a movie started playing.

Naturally, it was an ordinary movie. Probably a romantic comedy.

This should be safe enough for everyone to remove their earplugs.

“Daju.”

“Yes?”

I removed the earplugs from Daju’s ears as she sat beside me.

“I think it’s okay to take out the earplugs now, so tell the others too.”

Daju nodded happily and went around removing everyone’s earplugs.

The others resisted the sudden action, but it was no use.

In place of the earplugs, only Daju’s voice remained.

“Dabin oppa says we can take out the earplugs!”

Actually, Daju might be the strongest one among us.

She finished the task in an instant and returned to her seat.

“How was that? I did well, right?”

“Yeah…”

“But why aren’t you scolding me this time?”

“Huh? No… You did well.”

“Your expression used to be stern but now it’s softer. Ah! Your way of speaking has become gentler too.”

“What? No it hasn’t!”

“Heh.”

“I’m really the same as always!”

“Sure.”

Daju looks at me intently.

“But you’ve really changed a lot since the beginning, oppa.”

“How have I changed?”

Daju creeps over, crossing the theater seats, and draws out her words.

“Hmm… Enough that I could call you unni?”

“Shut up.”

I reached out and pushed away the approaching Daju.

“I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“Sure~”

The squabble with Daju was brief.

Suddenly, lights came on in the theater.

Seok Hyunmin was somehow already near the screen, by the wall.

In the now fully lit theater, Seok Hyunmin waved at us.

“I found the switch here!”

“Ah. Good job!”

“What?”

“I said good job!”

Seok Hyunmin returned with a light step.

“So the three people went to turn on the movie?”

“Yes. Looks like they just succeeded.”

“That’s good. Now they just need to return safely…”

Seok Hyunmin muttered and plopped down in a theater seat.

Shortly after, the three who went to turn on the movie returned safely.

After being tense the whole time, we could finally relax a little.

Everyone seemed tired.

Seok Hyunmin, Heo Yoon, Riko, and Yebin too.

They were all slumped in their chairs.

“You need to wear earplugs when sleeping.”

After reminding the others, I sat in my chair and leaned back fully.

[You’re sleepy now? In this situation?]

“Mmm…?”

How long had I dozed off?

Looking at the movie still playing, it couldn’t have been that long.

As I rubbed my eyes and looked around, I noticed Jung Haewon.

He wasn’t sitting in a chair. He was awkwardly crouched in the aisle beside it.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah. Noona. Smartphones work here, so I was looking at news and stuff.”

“…Were you crying?”

“No. Just, the air is a bit dry…”

“You’ve had your earplugs off this whole time, haven’t you.”

“Never mind that. Look at this.”

Jung Haewon holds out his smartphone screen.

On the screen was an internet video.

“The situation outside. It’s much worse than we thought.”

“…Hey.”

“Yes?”

“How long has it been since you first saw this?”

“This video?”

“Quickly!”

“Uh, not long. About 5 minutes?”

“Ah. I should have told you not to go on the internet!!!”

“If we turn it off now,”

“It’s no use. Just watch it to the end.”

In the video, a monster that looked about 2 meters tall was tearing people apart.

Black, bumpy skin. Long arms and legs, and an excessively thin waist. Broadly speaking, it had a human shape, but its appearance was grotesquely bizarre.

“Aaaahh! Aah!”

A white-skinned foreigner was grabbed by the creature’s hand and lifted into the air.

Crack-

His neck was ripped off, spraying blood everywhere.

The monster’s black, bumpy skin was covered in blood.

Drenched in blood, the monster stood still for a while, doing nothing.

Gulp, gulp.

Its skin melted and the monster’s form changed.

Like kneading clay. The color and texture remained the same, but its appearance changed rapidly.

This time it was shorter, with hands so large they covered half its body.

The transformation was complete.

Now it turned its gaze toward the next target.

It was,

moving at a speed the camera could barely capture.

“Kyaaah!”

This time, a heavy-set Black woman was torn in half.

Like a balloon popping, purple cloth fragments and flesh scattered across the pavement.

The creature changed its form again.

A giant, glossy eyeball. With no white part, it looked like a black pearl.

And black muscles supporting it.

The eye rolled around for a while, turning its gaze here and there, then suddenly stopped at one spot.

Outside the screen. Toward where we are.