Ch.154154 – Your Name 3

# 154 – Your Name Is # 3

Thud, thud, thud, thud-.

Someone was repeatedly banging their head in the man’s room.

Despite blood streaming down their head, they continued to bang it against the wall.

“Hello. Hello.”

Thud, thud, thud-.

The man who owned the room ignored it.

That thing didn’t seem human anyway.

It’s best not to acknowledge such things or you’ll get entangled.

The man, Cheon Boseong, was a prisoner in jail.

He didn’t know when he would be able to go outside again.

By now, the outside world felt almost like an illusion.

Being confined for so long tends to drive one insane.

But he could vaguely sense that something was happening outside.

Strange phenomena in the prison were increasing.

Agonizing moans could be heard from empty cells, and non-existent guards knocked on doors, checking prisoners’ names and identities.

True ghost stories.

True anomalies.

To Cheon Boseong, who had been a pastor, these incidents felt like omens or signs.

Signs that something bad was about to happen.

But Cheon Boseong was a prisoner.

There was nothing he could do while confined.

He was imprisoned, naturally, to pay for his sins.

His sin from 5 years ago.

And further back, his sin from 17 years ago.

If only he had made better choices, everything might have been resolved well.

All a prisoner can do is regret.

Cheon Boseong had many opportunities.

But among all those opportunities, he had never once made the right choice.

‘The clock of eternity grants only one thing you truly desire. No one can lie before it. It tests the true nature of a person.’

Ha Chaeyeon, who had boasted she would restore everything to normal and climbed to the fourth floor, had a most desperate wish that wasn’t world peace or justice.

She ended up fulfilling the wrong wish.

“Should have gotten rid of that baby born like a cripple. By strangling it.”

“Is it really your baby?”

“Your whore was infertile, wasn’t she?”

The man who had been banging his head against the wall was now shouting loudly in Cheon Boseong’s ear.

Amid that noisy laughter—hahaha—Cheon Boseong recalled his past.

He remembered how his father, the Chairman, would scrutinize his face every day.

His father always doubted the blood flowing between him and his son.

And that doubt was passed down to his son, Cheon Boseong, almost like a trait flowing through their blood.

Except Cheon Boseong didn’t doubt.

“That child is indeed mine.”

Cheon Boseong recalled the moment he held the newborn baby.

The baby born from a supposedly infertile woman was deformed.

Despite being deformed, it wasn’t lacking in any way, but rather complete.

What’s lacking is rather now.

The once complete child was now living in the macroscopic world with an incomplete body.

Cheon Boseong took something out from his pocket.

It was a baby’s finger that had been cut off when the child was very young.

# # #

“……”

“Ugh, damn. You scared me.”

When I woke up, I was truly startled.

A man with blood streaming down his neck was staring intently at my face.

“Ugh, damn…”

After coming to my senses and turning on the light, I could see his face clearly.

It was Kim Geonho.

“Damn, the bully ghost really appeared…”

I had said something like this to Jeongseok before.

If I ended up killing Kim Geonho, he would definitely come back as a bully ghost to haunt me, and how would I handle that?

It was half a joke at the time, but I never thought it would actually come true.

“……”

The bully ghost Kim Geonho just stared at me.

He didn’t speak or do anything.

He just kept staring.

I could sense strange emotions in that gaze.

The pressure from his stare was intense.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Please find peace soon.”

Rub, rub-.

I rubbed my palms together like a fly in front of Kim Geonho, apologizing.

If the furious bully ghost Kim Geonho decided to harm me, it would be terrible. From yesterday’s interrogation, it seemed Gong Yerin had killed Kim Geonho, but I was the one who provided the cause.

As if my prayer worked, the ghost of Kim Geonho faded away.

“What are you doing so early in the morning?”

Jeongseok, who had been sleeping next to me, sat up.

We had stayed at Dahui’s house last night.

Jeongseok and I shared a room, and while it was a bit of an ordeal because he snored every time he slept, it was better than sleeping alone.

In a world where ghosts appear at will, it’s less scary to sleep with someone else.

“…Kim Geonho’s ghost appeared.”

“You should have exorcised it.”

“I think I’d lose if I fought him.”

“Maybe it’s just an auditory hallucination? Hallucinations or auditory illusions caused by guilt. I heard that happens a lot.”

Maybe…

But it didn’t seem like a hallucination.

It was really Kim Geonho.

Thinking about it now, I wondered if there might have been a better way. Just like Dahui or Juhui did, we could have just kidnapped and confined him in this mansion without needing to kill him.

Realizing this, I felt like an idiot.

‘Why do I always regret things too late, like an idiot?’

Is it because I’m a broken clock?

Because I’m sloppy?

Each trait described a person’s personality and characteristics, and mine was exactly that.

I was broken and sloppy.

I don’t think I was always like this.

I was sharp and quick until elementary school.

“You didn’t kill Kim Geonho anyway. Wasn’t it Gong Yerin who killed him?”

“But I was the one who provided the cause.”

“If you go down that road, there’s no end. The ones who made you the cause were those who cornered you. And they cornered you because the talisman was stolen. And you stole the talisman—”

An infinite loop, is that it?

I knew Jeongseok was trying to lighten my burden, but I decided to shake my head.

“I want to keep this feeling.”

This guilt and clumsiness felt like the foundation that kept me as Ha Yeongwon.

I felt like if I lost this, I would no longer be myself.

Jeongseok either couldn’t understand or was still half-asleep, as he didn’t respond and just rubbed his eyes before getting up. He had said he would look into the “iron box” today.

He was going to meet a worker who had participated in the school’s construction.

“I’d like to meet Mr. Kang Bada too.”

We still couldn’t get in touch with Mr. Kang Bada.

I wondered if something had happened to him…

Swish-.

I recalled the business card I received when I first met Mr. Kang Bada.

It had the words “Beware of the sky” written in Morse code.

What did this “sky” mean anyway?

Was it referring to the Chairman and the Cheon family?

After washing up and brushing my teeth, I knocked on the door of a room on the third floor.

It was the room where Lim Huiyeon and Gong Yerin were staying.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Do you think I would have slept well if I were you?”

“I… I slept well. Thank you for dinner and the blankets.”

“Hey! Lim Huiyeon! Don’t accommodate them! What’s there to be thankful for!”

Humans really are adaptable creatures.

Watching these girls’ tenacity, I couldn’t help but admire their resilience in some ways.

“Ahhhhuuuaaahhhuuuaaahhhmmm.”

“Sua, that’s quite a yawn. Did you have trouble sleeping last night?”

“Ah, you have to pay!”

“Pay?”

“Did you think you could see an idol’s yawn for free? I don’t show this to just anyone!”

“Lucky me.”

“Yeongwon, you must have had trouble sleeping too. You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Ah.”

I thought I had slept well, but it seemed my fatigue had accumulated.

The events unfolding now were a bit too heavy for a high school student like me to handle.

Still, I was fortunate to have friends.

“Honestly, I think you’re amazing. With everything that’s happening now. If I were in a position of responsibility, I’d be crying my eyes out and unable to do anything.”

Hug-.

Kwon Sua unhesitatingly linked her arm with mine.

Squish, squish-.

I felt an incredible warmth and pressure that made my face flush.

I recalled a saying that marrying a woman with small breasts might be because she has various charms, but marrying a woman with large breasts is likely because her breasts are large.

It really is something extraordinary.

“Thanks for the encouragement.”

Slip-.

I awkwardly pulled my arm away and hurriedly moved on.

# # #

Today, we were going to meet a worker who had built the school building.

He was living in a motel room in a very remote part of Gaeryong City.

“Do people really live in places like this?”

Jeongseok gaped at the dilapidated motel building.

For the silver-spooned Jeongseok, it seemed surprising how impoverished people could become.

It was truly a worn-down building.

It even smelled of mold.

It was a three-story building with many rooms, but most were vacant.

“Since there are many empty rooms, we accept long-term guests as if renting them out. About 100,000 won per month. Mr. Kim is one of those guests. But he’s a bit strange.”

The motel manager, a bald man, chuckled “hehehe” while repeatedly glancing at Teacher Hong Miri’s face. He seemed to be charmed by the beauty of the adult woman, Teacher Hong Miri, and was being extra kind.

“But well, it’s only natural that people staying in such a run-down motel have their stories. Yes. Still, be careful. That man abandoned his family and is drunk even during the day… really…”

“Is it that end room?”

The end room on the first floor.

We were told that worker Kim lived in the motel room that got the most sunlight.

Worker Kim, who had been part of Yeongji High’s construction, might know the most about the “iron box.” He might even know about the fourth floor beyond the third basement level.

Click-.

The door wasn’t locked.

When we opened it, a pungent smell of alcohol hit our noses.

It smelled more like vinegar than alcohol.

The wallpaper was yellowed, and the floor was littered with liquor bottles and ashtrays. Seeing this, Kwon Sua trembled slightly as if taken aback.

Despite being a bully, Bong Jiyeon, who was rich enough to live next door to Jeongseok, was the same.

However, Yang Juhui, who had seen the depths of human misery from a young age, seemed indifferent.

And Dahui, whose thoughts I’d been curious about lately, was also expressionless.

“Mr. Kim Cheolyong? I’m Hong Miri, the teacher from Yeongji Foundation, who arranged to meet you today.”

Rustle-.

Someone who had been sleeping under a newspaper responded to Teacher Hong Miri’s voice and soon got up.

He had a swarthy complexion, a square jaw, and a sturdy build.

He seemed to be past middle age, but I couldn’t tell exactly. His hair was completely white, and he had a messy beard.

“Yes, I’m Kim Cheolyong.”

His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn’t fully woken up.

Was he drunk?

“As I mentioned on the phone, I wanted to ask you about the construction of Yeongji High.”

“Yes, I remember. Just a moment.”

Swish-.

He got up, hastily put on his clothes, and pulled his hat down low.

Everything was old and shabby.

There was nothing new in the room.

“I participated in the construction. I was the only Korean worker who also worked on the underground construction.”

Flick-.

Kim Cheolyong lit a cigarette and started smoking.

Bong Jiyeon coughed at the sight.

“I’m going to the bathroom for a bit.”

She smokes herself but doesn’t like secondhand smoke?

Seeing this, Kim Cheolyong chuckled “hehehe.”

“You kids are Yeongji High students, right? My son also attends Yeongji High. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead now, but he’d be about your age.”

So this person was also the head of a family.

How did a man with a wife and son end up alone in a place like this?

As I was feeling curious, Kim Cheolyong asked, as if it was a very embarrassing question:

“…Um, teacher. About the money you said you’d give… is it real?”

“Yes. I’ll give you half now and the other half after hearing your story.”

Swish-.

Teacher Hong Miri took out a rather thick envelope of money from her pink bag.

I didn’t know how much was in it, but it looked quite substantial.

Life returned to Kim Cheolyong’s previously dull eyes.

Thud-.

Kim Cheolyong took the envelope and carefully placed it in a drawer.

Then, scratching his messy beard, he began to speak as if lost in memories.

“It was strange. I’ve experienced rituals and shamanic ceremonies when building structures before, but what they did for that school was on another level. It was extraordinary, you could say.”

I listened attentively.

Mr. Kim Cheolyong spoke better than I expected.

“It was strange to build a temple underground. Except for me, all the other workers were Japanese. The stranger and more bizarre things happened after moving the ‘iron box’.”

“The iron box?”

I couldn’t help but ask.

The man looked at me with a peculiar gaze.

“…The reason I’m living like this is all because of that box!”