Ch.56056 – Ghost Mansion #2

# 056 – The Ghost Mansion #2

What a truly strange woman.

The sensation of her white, sticky hand touching my face still feels vivid.

I hope this doesn’t cause skin problems.

My smooth skin is one of my few points of pride.

“Yeongwon! Over here. Sit here, next to me!”

When I went down to the dining room on the first floor, everyone was already seated at an incredibly long table.

Yu Dahui pulled out the chair beside her and gestured toward me, looking just like a noble lady attending a ball.

Actually, that wasn’t far from the truth.

The table was set with antique-looking candlesticks, plates, forks, and knives.

Classical music drifted languidly from somewhere.

A chandelier glowed above our heads, adding to the overall luxurious atmosphere.

For a high school student like me, it felt as ill-fitting as wearing my dad’s borrowed suit—completely out of place and awkward.

Perhaps that’s why none of this felt real at all.

I found it somewhat amusing that this kind of dining experience—a once-in-a-lifetime event for me—was just everyday life for some people.

I decided to take a sip of water from the bowl in front of me.

Slurp—

It was delicious.

Is this Evian water?

Soon, Yu Dahui burst into laughter.

“Yeongwon, that’s water for washing your hands.”

“I know. But it tastes good. Right, Juhui?”

When I brazenly made this joke, Yang Juhui, who had been drinking the water following my lead, frowned.

She put down her bowl and looked around cautiously before asking:

“So when is your grandfather coming? I feel like we’ve been waiting for at least ten minutes.”

There’s a saying that the protagonist always arrives late.

In that sense, Yu Dahui’s grandfather, Cheon Daegon, was truly the protagonist himself.

And as they say, speak of the devil—clank—the large dining room door opened, and a man appeared.

He was an elderly man leaning on a cane. His build was somewhat gaunt, and his hair was completely white, without any dye. His eyes were sunken, giving his entire face a shadowy impression.

And I recognized this face.

The self-portrait!

So he’s the owner of that self-portrait hanging in the hallway earlier!

“Take your seats.”

The old man’s voice was neither low nor high.

It was ordinary.

And that’s what surprised me.

I found it fascinating that even an incredibly wealthy person could have such an ordinary voice.

Rustle—

We all sat down, and the old man slowly examined us with his dim-looking eyes before a gentle smile spread across his lips. He looked like a kind grandfather.

“So you’re my granddaughter Dahui’s friends. Nice to meet you. I’m Cheon Daegon, the owner of this mansion. Just a worthless old man. Thank you for accepting my invitation today. Now, let’s begin our meal.”

Cheon Daegon sat at what could be called the head of the table.

At the most prominent, extended part, I mean.

When he rang the bell installed in front of his table, the door opened, and young women appeared from somewhere to place dishes in front of us.

I was shocked.

All the women in black dresses were young and pretty.

And among them was Teacher Hong Miri!

“Teacher, what are you doing here?”

“Working.”

I see.

Aren’t teachers not supposed to have second jobs?

But then again, maybe there’s no issue with a private school teacher working at the chairman’s house.

Teacher Hong Miri’s real problem isn’t about having a second job anyway!

Anyway.

The variety of food placed before us ranged from Korean to Western, Chinese, Japanese, and even things I’d never seen before. I didn’t even know how to eat some of it.

But everything smelled delicious.

For high school students in their growth phase, such temptation was absolutely irresistible.

Swish—

Chairman Cheon Daegon raised his hand to begin eating, and soon we awkwardly followed suit.

I most enjoyed the meat placed on a round bowl.

I wasn’t sure what kind of meat it was, but it was incredibly tender and delicious.

The spicy sauce was perfect too. Is this lamb?

“Is there any more of this?”

I asked. Then Mrs. Danvers (as I’d nicknamed her), the creepy woman who had been waiting near the table, approached us and said in a chilling voice:

“There’s more. It’s so fresh you could say it was just killed. Very, very fresh. Aren’t you curious what kind of meat it is? Hmm?”

Ugh, damn.

This is ruining my appetite.

I should stop eating.

Just as I was thinking that, something like a hair got caught in my mouth.

“……”

What is this?

Looking at it, I saw it was a very white, long hair.

It doesn’t seem to be human…

“Is there a problem?”

The woman asked me.

But the bespectacled housekeeper’s gaze remained fixed on Yu Dahui.

I remembered what happened earlier.

She called Yu Dahui a stray cat.

The atmosphere was extremely hostile.

So even this seemingly problem-free wealthy household has its own issues.

With that feeling, dinner ended, and desserts began to appear on the table.

“The mayor’s son. Jeongseok. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, hasn’t it? You were about five years old then, I think. Time flies so fast. Kids really do grow up quickly.”

“Hello. I’m glad to see you’re in good health.”

Jeongseok, who was already acquainted with Chairman Cheon Daegon, initiated the conversation.

Though Jeongseok was a coward, he was actually the mayor’s son and could be considered a silver spoon friend.

“Your grandfather and I were close friends. It’s quite regrettable that he passed away early because he didn’t take care of his health. Is your father well? I hear the preparations for the upcoming election are going smoothly?”

“I don’t know much about the election. My father doesn’t really talk to me about such things.”

“I see. That’s understandable. Well—tell your father that as long as he doesn’t cause any major problems, this election should go smoothly. I’ll try to use my influence a bit.”

It sounded as if he could control the election, and it didn’t seem like mere bluster. So this is how the powerful talk.

Soon the chairman inhaled—and closed his mouth.

About 10 seconds.

Could it be age-related illness?

Just as I was getting slightly tense, the chairman slowly opened his lips.

“You resemble her. You really do. Blood doesn’t lie after all.”

What on earth is he trying to say?

All of us ordinary high school students were tense.

“Yang Juhui, right? You look just like your grandmother when she was young. Junko… no, Sunja—I owe her a lot from when I was studying in Japan. She was a very capable friend.”

I see.

Yang Juhui’s grandmother was a foreign shaman that this man had brought from Japan.

The relationship between the chairman and Yang Juhui’s grandmother was somewhat special—is that how I should see it?

“When your grandmother was young, she was so popular that everyone who passed by would look at her and ask her out for a drink. Looking at you, I think you must be quite popular too?”

“Just average.”

Yang Juhui answered awkwardly, fidgeting.

She’s like a borrowed cat in someone else’s house.

So becoming an incredibly wealthy person can even make Yang Juhui this docile.

Now the chairman’s eyes turned to Bong Jiyeon.

“Who are you?”

“I-I’m Bong Jiyeon. I haven’t been friends with Dahui for very long… I used to do track and field. You might not remember, but… you once put a medal around my neck…”

“Ah. About two years ago? The girl who ran.”

“Yes! That’s right!”

As Bong Jiyeon was clearly delighted, the chairman cleared his throat.

“You ran very well. I thought I might see you in the Olympics someday, but it seems you’ve quit track and field.”

“Well, I injured my leg…”

“Ah. That’s truly unfortunate.”

The old man spoke as if he found it regrettable.

Based on the conversations so far, he seemed like a typical grandfather curious about his granddaughter’s friends.

But I clearly noticed that even though this old man occasionally had a smile on his lips, his eyes never once smiled.

What a suspicious grandfather. Maybe he has some ulterior motives while looking at high school girls. If I were a rich old man with lots of money, I would too. Anyone would.

“And who are you?”

Now the grandfather looked at me.

I answered simply.

“I’m Ha Yeongwon.”

“Ha Yeongwon. Your name has many circles in it. I heard from Dahui that she stayed at your house and received a lot of help. If there’s anything you want, just tell me. I’ll grant it if it’s within my reach.”

Is he offering compensation for Dahui staying at our house?

He’ll grant what I ask if it’s within his reach.

I’m not sure about the scale here.

“Um, how far does your reach extend?”

“Tsk. Yeongwon. What kind of manner is that to speak to the chairman?”

The one who answered my question was Teacher Hong Miri, who had been listening to our conversation from behind.

Of course, the chairman waved his hand toward Teacher Hong Miri.

“It’s fine. Children should be curious about many things. That’s the educational goal and philosophy of our Yeongji Foundation. To cultivate curiosity. Curiosity is important, even though it sometimes kills the cat.”

Swish—

At that moment, the chairman looked at his phone.

He stood up and said:

“I apologize. An urgent appointment has come up. I’ll have to leave first.”

# # #

Vroom—

The car carrying the chairman left the mansion.

That’s how dinner ended.

Looking back, it was much easier than I had been nervous about.

“Hey guys, want to stay overnight? We have plenty of spare rooms.”

Around 9 PM.

Late, if you consider it late.

Yu Dahui suggested staying overnight at the mansion.

“Sounds great!”

Bong Jiyeon was the first to accept.

Yang Juhui raised her thin eyes as if to say, “Another night away from home?”

Soon Jeongseok whispered to me quietly enough that only I could hear:

“We didn’t learn much from the conversation earlier, but if we stay overnight, we might find out more things. I think staying overnight is fine.”

“Sure.”

It’s not like I’d be doing anything better going home alone except sleeping with cockroaches.

Better to stay at Dahui’s hotel-like house.

With that thought, we all decided to stay overnight.

Since the mansion was extremely spacious, there were plenty of rooms.

Jeongseok and I would share a room.

And Yu Dahui, Bong Jiyeon, and Yang Juhui would share another room.

Of course, it was still too early to go to bed, so we decided to play “The Game of Life” that Yu Dahui brought out.

“An old housekeeper gave this to me as a gift, and I really love it. Let’s all play together!”

Yu Dahui seemed happy at the thought of playing The Game of Life with her friends.

Pretty modest for a rich granddaughter.

“Are you confident? I’m really good at The Game of Life.”

I, Ha Yeongwon, was good at all dice-rolling games.

I’d played them a lot with my mom since childhood.

But Yang Juhui won the game.

“I became a lawyer. Total win. Making tons of money.”

Yang Juhui chose a high-income profession and hit all the money-making spots.

She bought a house, got married, had children—a completely smooth road.

“Boring.”

After coming in last place for several rounds, I flopped down on the soft floor.

It was already 10 o’clock.

Just as I was thinking we should get ready for bed, Yu Dahui kept looking around.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just haven’t seen Baekseol for a while. Baekseol! Meow. Meow.”

Yu Dahui looked around, imitating a cat, apparently trying to call her white cat Baekseol. But as Yu Dahui said, Baekseol was nowhere to be seen.

Where could she have gone?

Jeongseok said:

“It’s a cat, so maybe it’s hiding somewhere? The house is big, so there must be many places to hide.”

“No. Baekseol rarely goes outside my room. Especially since the new housekeeper arrived, she hardly ever leaves my room…”

The disappearance of the white cat Baekseol.

Just as I was wondering what happened, Bong Jiyeon got excited:

“Dahui! I’ll find her for you! It’s still a bit early to go to bed anyway!”

All day long, Bong Jiyeon had been acting desperate to become friends with Yu Dahui.

And the problem was that Jeongseok was playing along with Bong Jiyeon.

“Right. If we all look together, we’ll find her quickly.”

Great, now we’re stuck looking for a cat in this mansion.

But… thinking about it objectively, exploring the mansion wasn’t a bad opportunity for me.

With the excuse of looking for the cat, I could wander around different parts of this mansion.

Pop—

With that feeling, we all split up.

I decided to search the first floor, but unfortunately, that scary woman was there.

“You. What are you doing? You’re not allowed to wander around the first floor after 11 PM. Go back upstairs now.”

So each area has its own curfew?

I said to the ghostly, creepy housekeeper:

“Um, I’m looking for a cat. A white cat. Baekseol.”

“That cat?”

The woman laughed sinisterly—kheeheeheehee.

Then she said:

“You already ate that cat during dinner. Very deliciously.”

“…!”

Ugh—!

I immediately felt like throwing up, and my whole body itched!

The meat I ate for dinner was cat meat!

Oh shit!

This really was a fucked-up mansion!

So that white hair I found in the meat was cat hair!

“I’m joking.”

“……”

What kind of housekeeper is this?

I was angry.

“Why would you lie about something like that?”

The woman replied:

“I find it most amusing in the world to scare cowardly children like you.”

What a twisted person.

Does working in a huge mansion turn people like this?

“A missing cat, you say… I’ll search the first floor, so you all go upstairs. And no matter what sounds you hear from the first floor after 11 PM, do not come down before 5 AM.”

“Why?”

“Never come down. Tell all your friends too.”