Ch.30030 – Missing Person 2

# 030 – Missing Person # 2

When I entered the hospital room, Mom was sleeping in a private room.

Her face looked somewhat haggard.

She seemed to have lost weight and become thinner.

She had been missing for three days after all.

There were bound to be some changes in her appearance.

I’m just grateful to find her alive.

A doctor wearing glasses kindly explained to me.

“You must be her son, Yeongwon? Your mother needs rest now. She seems to be experiencing mild delirium and confusion with her memories. That’s probably why she was wandering the streets.”

“Delirium…?”

“She appears to have suffered quite a psychological shock. However, these symptoms can be temporary, and she should gradually improve with time. We’ll need to monitor her condition a bit longer.”

So Mom experienced mental confusion due to a severe shock…

She wandered the streets instead of coming straight home because of the psychological impact.

And that psychological shock… was probably from when she was trapped in the elevator.

Looking at my sleeping mother again, I asked the doctor.

“Does she have any injuries?”

“We’ll need to run more tests for details, but there are no visible external injuries. She seems slightly malnourished, but strictly speaking, she’s in good health.”

Phew…

For three days, I’d felt like my lungs were blocked and I couldn’t breathe properly, but now I finally felt like I could breathe again.

Reality was finally sinking in.

I was hungry, dizzy, and my legs were trembling.

Honestly, I don’t remember how I spent the last three days.

Whether I ate or not.

Whether I slept or not.

Whether I went to school or not…

It felt like all the things I had been ignoring while focusing on “finding Mom” were now presenting their bills to me one by one.

“It would be best if she stays hospitalized for a few more days. We need to run some more detailed tests. I need a guardian’s signature, but since you’re a minor…”

“I’ll be the proxy. I’m an English teacher at Yeongji High School.”

Thankfully, Ms. Hong Miri was with me.

She became my legal proxy for matters that would be difficult for me as a minor to handle.

I was worried about the cost of a private room, but…

With my miraculous status window, I thought I could manage to raise the money somehow.

Slap-

The English teacher smacked my shoulder with her palm.

“Hey. How can a man look so down? Let’s go get something to eat. I have my car.”

Click. Click.

Ms. Hong Miri walked energetically out of the hospital.

A red sports car that seemed too expensive for a high school teacher’s salary was parked at the hospital, and Ms. Hong got in skillfully.

“What are you doing? Get in.”

Swoosh-

As I got in, I smelled a fresh air freshener.

It seems most female teachers’ cars smell this nice.

Vroom-

After driving for a while, the teacher stopped in Jimun-dong’s motel district.

Literally, there were many motels around.

I suddenly remembered the rumor that Ms. Hong Miri and Kim Geonho, the troublemaker from Class D, had been seen wandering around this motel district in Jimun-dong.

If someone saw me walking here with Ms. Hong Miri, would similar rumors start about me too?

“What are you doing? There’s a soup restaurant I know around here. It’s really delicious.”

“…”

I walked around Jimun-dong with the English teacher.

Soon, the English teacher pointed to an alley.

“This is where your mother was found. Someone had collapsed here. When I reported it to the police, they checked her ID and said it was your mother.”

“Ah.”

“Hey! You kids! Yeongji High students! Why aren’t you home yet?!”

Ms. Hong Miri suddenly shouted loudly, startling me.

When I turned my head, two female students in Yeongji High uniforms were smoking. They were startled and quickly ran away.

“See that? Tsk tsk. Those troublemakers always hang around here causing problems. There’s one in your class too, right? Kim Geonho. A real punk. I see him around here a lot too. But I haven’t seen him lately.”

“Ah. Kim Geonho.”

“You’re thinking about the rumor that Kim Geonho and I went to a motel together, aren’t you?”

“What?”

I was greatly embarrassed.

The English teacher pinched my side hard.

“Look at this naughty boy. Those rumors among you students have been going around for ages. It’s too tiresome to explain every time. For your information, I prefer older men, so I have no interest in little kids.”

I see.

The rumor about Kim Geonho and the English teacher wandering around the motel district seemed to be a misunderstanding. Someone probably saw Ms. Hong Miri guiding the troublemaker Kim Geonho.

Well… most student rumors were like that anyway.

Two bowls of soup arrived.

It was delicious.

“What kind of soup is this? What meat is it?”

“Don’t know. Teacher’s going to have a drink. You can find your way home by yourself, right? You don’t need me to drive you?”

The teacher ordered a bottle of soju and poured it into a beer glass, drinking it down.

A teacher drinking alcohol… It reminded me of the “Ajumma Ghost,” which made me uneasy. Ms. Hong Miri is 27 this year, so it might be a bit much to call her an ajumma, but…

“It’s fortunate that your mother is safe. I don’t know why people disappear so often in this city. Maybe it’s because of the water veins.”

Water veins…

Come to think of it, didn’t the English teacher mention water veins at the library before?

Is she someone who believes in superstitions or such things?

Drip-drip-

Just then, blood dripped from the teacher’s neck.

“Uh… Teacher. You’re bleeding from your neck?”

I thought some horror or ghost had appeared again, but the teacher opened her expensive-looking bag, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the blood flowing from her neck.

“Oh, this. I had major surgery before. I thought it had healed completely, but sometimes the wound opens up like this.”

Looking now… the teacher’s neck and face had different skin tones.

Maybe it was the alcohol, but below her neck was very red, while her face above the choker was extremely pale.

A difference in makeup?

No, it seemed too extreme to be just makeup…

A chilling sensation crept up the back of my neck.

“By the way, how’s your class? Class D has been strange lately. The students seem unsettled. Anything unusual? Anything strange? Kim Geonho isn’t coming to school either.”

“I didn’t know Geonho wasn’t coming to school. I’ve been distracted lately…”

“Weren’t you friends with Kim Geonho? Don’t you know why he’s not coming to school these days? He seemed to have changed after staying overnight at the old school building. Didn’t he tell you anything? Like ghost stories.”

“Ghost… stories?”

“You know. Like the Red Mask that appears on dark streets. Don’t kids these days know about the Red Mask? Wearing a red mask. With high heels and something like a trench coat. With a mouth split wide open.”

“I think I’ve heard of it, but I don’t think Geonho mentioned anything like that…”

For some reason, I felt it was better to pretend I didn’t know anything in this situation.

Honestly, I couldn’t even tell where the soup was going.

Ding-

Just then, my phone rang.

“Oh, teacher. I should go now. They say my mother has woken up. You’ve been drinking, so you don’t need to get up. I can go by myself.”

Screech-

I pushed back my chair and got up.

The English teacher said to me:

“Be careful on your way home at night.”

# # #

8 PM.

I arrived back at the hospital.

The message that Mom had woken up was real.

When I entered the room, I saw Mom sitting up in bed.

Was she having dinner?

“Mom.”

“…”

Mom frowned when she saw me.

She seemed to be trying to remember who I was.

“Mom. It’s me, Ha Yeongwon. Your son. Don’t you recognize me?”

“…Son? That’s strange. My son is Ha Yeongwon…”

Mom tilted her head.

It seemed her mind or memory wasn’t fully recovered yet.

I ran to her and hugged her tightly.

“Ah… this I remember…”

Rustle-

Mom hugged me back.

Mom’s warmth, smell, everything was vivid in my memory too.

But as her son, I could tell.

…Mom was a little different.

Others might not notice, but whether it was her weight or something else, she had changed slightly.

I found this fact quite sad, but for now, I was grateful that Mom had returned alive.

“Oh, Yeongwon. What are you doing? Mom can’t breathe!”

“Mom! Do you remember me now?”

“Of course. Ha Chaeyeon’s son, Yeongwon! What happened? Did I drink too much? It feels like I completely blacked out. Where’s Mom’s phone? Have you seen it? What day is it today?”

Mom’s attitude quickly returned to normal.

The doctor had said that the memory confusion and mental delirium were temporary, and it seemed he was right.

“Mom. From now on, please keep your battery fully charged. And carry a power bank.”

Slide-

I handed over Mom’s phone that had been placed in the hospital drawer.

Mom took the phone, connected it to the charger, and tried to operate it, but she shrugged as if something wasn’t working.

“It won’t turn on. Is it broken? This is bad if it’s broken. I have important contacts and photos in there…! Oh, shit…! This is screwed…!”

“Give it to me. I’ll take it to the service center tomorrow and see if they can fix it.”

“But did you come alone? Didn’t she come with you?”

“What are you talking about? Who’s ‘she’?”

“You know, that pretty girl. What was her name…? I can’t remember. What did I just say?”

It seemed Mom would need to stay in the hospital a bit longer.

She probably needed to undergo more detailed tests too.

Since hospital visiting hours ended at 9 PM, I had to return home alone.

“…”

I wonder how much time is left on the “Subtle Perfume” I sprayed?

I don’t know.

When Mom hadn’t returned, I sometimes thought she might have died and become a ghost.

What if Mom had died and become a ghost… and because I sprayed the perfume, she couldn’t find me…

I was really out of my mind then.

But now that I could breathe a little easier, I was scared to go back to that house alone.

I picked up my phone and messaged the group chat “Ha Yeongwon Pirates” with Jeongseok and Yang Juhui.

“Found Mom”

“Yang Juhui: Holy shit, that’s a relief”

Yang Juhui immediately checked and replied.

Jeongseok also sent a message about a minute later.

“Jungle Jeongseok: That’s really a relief. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she seems fine for now. By the way, can anyone come to my house today? I’m scared to sleep alone”

“Yang Juhui: I can’t today. My mom is sick. I’m also aching all over after running around these past few days lol”

“Jungle Jeongseok: I can’t today either.”

I see.

Everyone has their own lives.

Thinking about it, everyone seemed busy after we got out of the elevator. I hadn’t been able to pay attention to my friends because of Mom’s situation.

Jeongseok seemed to be avoiding me a bit too.

“Am I scared…?”

The experience of the death floor in the elevator was particularly frightening.

It’s understandable that everyone was scared.

Ding-

Just then, a message came in.

It was a private message from Jeongseok.

“Jungle Jeongseok: I couldn’t tell you because of your mood and situation these past few days, but I found something. The place where we got off the elevator is very similar to the content in this game.”

Jeongseok sent me a link.

It was a game called “Nightmare Corridor,” priced in the 20,000 won range, a foreign horror game made by a Japanese company.

“Jungle Jeongseok: It’s a game where you hide from ghosts and escape.”

“Jungle Jeongseok: The company is in Japan, but the CEO is Korean. I thought there might be a connection. Tomorrow’s the weekend, so if you have time, let’s play it together at your house or a PC room.”

I thought he was avoiding me because he was afraid of getting involved in another ghost incident, but it seems that wasn’t the case. He really couldn’t come because of his own circumstances.

“Jungle Jeongseok: I also talked to my dad about trying to find your mother. Yang Juhui was also going around distributing flyers. Keep it a secret that I told you.”

I just hadn’t noticed, but everyone was helping me.

That’s completely touching. I felt reassured.

“Ah, damn… I’m still scared to go home alone. Maybe I should ask Mom if we can get a pet.”

Would having a dog make the house less scary?

Thinking about this, I wandered around the neighborhood aimlessly.

After walking for about 20 minutes, I noticed something.

Click. Click. Click.

Someone was following me.

They were about 20 meters behind.

When I stopped, they stopped, and when I looked back, they weren’t visible.

“Shit. What is this…?”

I was scared.

…Is the Red Mask really following me?

How do you ward off or evade the Red Mask?

While thinking about this, as I headed toward a bright, bustling area:

“Yeongwon. What are you doing here? I heard you haven’t been to school for days!”

Someone approached me like they knew me.

When I turned my head, Yu Dahui, the literature girl I had a crush on before, was standing in front of a convenience store with her bag.

“Perfect timing! If you have time, let’s eat this together! I bought too much.”

Literature girl Dahui laughed “Puhehe-“

Dahui was holding lots of snacks and cup noodles.

Maybe it was because I saw a familiar face, or maybe it was because of the convenience store lights, but my heart felt a little more at ease.

“…”

Still, I looked back just in case.

The presence that had been following me was no longer felt.

I need to stay with her for now!