Ch.78078 – Crazy Woman 1

# 078 – Crazy Woman # 1

“So I guess I’ll have to live pretending to be Hong Yeri for a while. More precisely, I’ll be acting as Hong Yeri who was pretending to be Hong Miri. This is really confusing.”

Teacher Hong Miri decided to live by acting out her everyday life as if nothing had happened, just as she had been doing until now.

I’m not sure if she, whose time stopped at 17, can pull off acting as a high school English teacher.

“Teacher. If you want to act like Teacher Hong Miri, you need to speak more rudely.”

“More rudely? Ah… I get the feeling. Punk. Idiot. Like mixing in insults and speaking indifferently, right?”

She’s pretty good at it.

I guess it’s true that twins resemble each other.

Anyway, I saved Teacher Hong Miri’s life, and in return, I even got a kiss.

Getting a kiss from a female teacher.

Isn’t that the first time since kindergarten?

Just thinking about it again makes my face burn hot.

“It’s getting late. Hey, punk. Shouldn’t you be heading home now?”

Teacher Hong Miri asked me while looking out the window.

It was extremely dark outside.

It’s already 8 PM.

I wonder if Mom has returned home by now.

The thought of going home made me feel a bit tired.

When am I going home?

“Want me to drive you? Looks like I have a car too, judging by the car keys in my pocket.”

“…Teacher, you might not have a license, unlike Hong Yeri, right?”

“Haven’t you heard of muscle memory? They say the body remembers.”

“…No…”

Whatever, I don’t even know anymore.

With a come-what-may attitude, I got into Hong Miri’s car.

Hong Miri started the car with a somewhat clumsy feeling.

“Wow. You don’t turn a key to start it, just press a button? Nice car.”

“…Can’t I just walk home?”

“Hey. Just sit still. I think I’m starting to remember.”

But after that, she was really smooth.

Whether muscle memory really exists or not, Teacher Hong Miri drove as smoothly as a best driver.

This was more amazing than a ghost becoming human with its head falling off and reattaching.

“See you at school then.”

“Um, Teacher. I’m really curious… what are you going to do with that body and head?”

I was still concerned about Hong Yeri’s body and head.

I’d probably wonder about it for the rest of my life, until the moment I die.

Hong Miri said:

“She’s the one who betrayed me and caused me so much pain. I wouldn’t feel satisfied unless I torment her just as much, right?”

Shudder-

I felt chills and goosebumps all over my body.

They say when a woman holds a grudge, frost falls even in summer.

That saying was spot on.

“Hey. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re not affected at all. I’m just planning to get a basement or something, lock her up, and keep her there.”

Hearing the truth makes it even scarier.

“Well, goodbye! See you at school!”

Vroom-

Teacher Hong Miri drove away.

I returned home.

Mom saw me and said:

“Son! Where did you get kissed? What is that? And why do you smell like urine?”

“Huh?”

Wondering what she meant, I looked in the mirror and saw a clear pink lipstick mark on my cheek, blooming like a butterfly with its wings spread wide.

“What is this?”

I rubbed my cheek with the back of my hand.

But for some reason, the lip mark wouldn’t come off at all!

I quickly changed out of the clothes I’d wet myself in and went into the bathroom to wash my body, scrubbing hard at the lipstick on my cheek, but it wouldn’t wash off.

I’m screwed.

But somehow, I felt good about it.

“Hehehe.”

I couldn’t help but smile, like a deflating balloon.

The corners of my mouth kept relaxing.

Well, I did get a kiss from a pretty female teacher.

“She was really grateful.”

Teacher Hong Miri was genuinely thankful to me. Come to think of it, Gu Hyena, who also got her body back, seemed grateful despite being wary of me.

Have I ever received such gratitude from anyone in my life?

“Not everything is bad, I guess.”

Since the Status Window appeared, no, even longer ago… since I met that girl in the storage room and my life completely changed, I thought my life was always full of misfortune.

But thinking about it now, I’ve had quite a few fun memories and fulfilling moments.

Jeongseok. Yang Juhui. Yu Dahui. Bong Ji…yeon? And others.

I’ve made some reliable friends too.

When I lie in bed to sleep, I feel excited about all the things I’ll do tomorrow.

I wonder how the kids will react when they find out I defeated the terrifying Hong Yeri.

I’ve already sent messages, but I felt good about the thought of talking face to face.

Have I felt this fulfilled recently?

Maybe because of that, I gained a little courage.

“Mom.”

I called out to Mom’s back as she was washing dishes.

Mom asked while continuing to wash:

“What?”

Clatter clatter. Swoosh-

“That girl from elementary school.”

Clatter.

I felt her hands stop washing dishes for a moment.

But only briefly.

Clatter clatter clatter.

“What girl?”

“The girl Dad had with him. What… happened to her?”

“…I thought you didn’t want to talk about that time? You had such a hard time because of it.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up.

I thought I should just go to my room and sleep.

As I turned to leave, Mom said:

“I’m sorry. I just… suddenly feel that way.”

Mom apologized.

I couldn’t understand why she was apologizing.

# # #

“Teacher Hong Miri, did you change your style?”

“Why from red to pink?”

“Did you get a boyfriend?”

The day after the female teacher’s attack on a male student.

Students showed interest in Teacher Hong Miri when they met her in the hallway.

They seemed surprised that Hong Miri, who usually wore only red fashion, had decorated herself in pink today.

Thump-

Just then, someone hit my shoulder.

Wang Jahyeon had bumped his shoulder against mine as he passed by.

“Ah. Sorry.”

Wang Jahyeon smiled good-naturedly.

This jerk, pretending not to know after deliberately hitting my shoulder.

There were girls beside Wang Jahyeon.

Lim Huiyeon and Gong Yerin.

These two girls frowned when they saw me.

“Hey. Ha Yeongwon. Don’t block the way, move.”

“Why do you have a bandage on your face? Did someone hit you again?”

I’ve heard this kind of talk before.

For some women, men who don’t meet their romantic standards are like NPCs.

I must seem like an NPC to Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon.

Why are they being so rude?

Of course, it was true that I was blocking the way.

“Gong Yerin. Lim Huiyeon. Stop chattering in the hallway and get inside. We’re having a pop quiz in first period. If you get less than half right, you’ll take an additional test.”

Just then, Teacher Hong Miri scolded Gong Yerin and Lim Huiyeon.

Her attitude was similar to the usual casual Teacher Hong Miri, and it was quite surprising that she even remembered all the students’ names.

She really is Teacher Hong Miri.

She’s become the perfect Teacher Hong Miri.

“You’re that punk Yeongwon, right?”

While I was very surprised, Teacher Hong Miri’s eyes narrowed.

Then she suddenly grabbed my arm and linked arms with me!

“Then Yeongwon, let’s go to the classroom.”

“Uh─. What are you doing?”

I was flustered.

Suddenly the teacher linking arms with me!

The sensation of volume against my arm made me feel dizzy.

The other students seemed quite surprised and confused too.

“What? What?”

“Wow, arm in arm.”

“That’s hilarious!”

Wang Jahyeon in particular forgot his specialty of managing his expressions and frowned.

“What’s that about?”

I don’t know either.

It was a moment when my face felt hot.

Anyway, first period was English.

The class was better than expected.

In some ways, she taught better than the original Hong Miri.

It’s like the information was hammered into my head, sinking in easily.

They said the original 17-year-old Hong Miri had such good grades that she could easily aim for a top university in Seoul. It seems that was true.

The problem came after class ended.

“Hey. What’s going on? Why did the teacher link arms with you?”

Yang Juhui pulled my hair from behind after class ended.

It hurt a little.

“…I told you yesterday. I defeated the fake Hong Miri and saved the real one!”

“So what does that mean?”

If only we could talk openly in some secret place.

There were too many listening ears in the classroom.

It seemed like we should discuss our secret base as soon as possible.

Anyway, the day passed quickly in that kind of atmosphere.

With the final exams approaching soon, most classes were self-study.

After school.

Jeongseok approached me.

“Yeongwon. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

He seemed concerned about me leaving alone after we went to the PC room together last time.

I was a bit panicked then.

I didn’t have time to worry about other things.

Jeongseok looked like he had a lot to say and ask.

But whether he was conscious of the people around us or reading my mood, he seemed unable to speak.

We all walked home together, except for Yu Dahui from Class A who had a special class.

Today was the day we were meeting at Jeongseok’s house under the pretext of studying for finals.

Jeongseok’s house was in an apartment complex.

“Oh, this is the same apartment complex as Kwon Suho.”

It was an extremely spacious apartment.

As expected of the mayor’s son.

He lives in a nice place.

“Oh, our Seok brought friends? My goodness, you’re Jiyeon! It’s been a while! You’ve become such a young lady! How are your mother and father?”

“Hello.”

Jeongseok’s mother was a typical madam-type middle-aged woman.

She wore glasses.

She looked a bit like Jeong Sojin.

I wonder if Jeong Sojin will look like this when she’s in her 40s.

Jeongseok’s room was quite spacious, though not as much as Yu Dahui’s room.

There were a lot of books.

“Mom. We’re going to study, so please don’t disturb us. We don’t need fruit or anything.”

Jeongseok spoke somewhat coldly to his mother.

I wanted to eat fruit, but I felt awkward saying so.

Anyway.

Jeongseok’s room was our temporary base today.

I told them about what had happened.

Of course, Bong Jiyeon acted as if she was hearing it for the first time.

“What’s this corridor and fake Hong Miri you’re talking about?”

Bong Jiyeon had been through several incidents with us, but she didn’t know the “truth” at all.

But after observing for a few days, I thought we could trust Bong Jiyeon.

Moreover, Bong Jiyeon had sufficient reason to cooperate with us once she knew the truth.

“We’re exploring the Nightmare Corridor. And I heard that at the end of it, there’s something amazing that grants wishes. If we do well, we might be able to save people, not just find your sister’s head.”

I was the one who had assembled Gu Hyena and Hong Miri’s bodies.

If we could find Bong Seyeon’s head… and if we reached the end of the corridor and obtained “something,” I thought it might not be impossible to revive the dead.

How would she take this story?

Bong Jiyeon’s expression changed dramatically.

“My horoscope today said I would face an amazing secret, and wow. The horoscope was right! So that’s why Gu Hyena’s body was moving and all that! That’s amazing!”

…Honestly, I was worried about how to persuade her, but she seems to believe it more easily than expected?

Bong Jiyeon seemed to be deeply into superstitions lately, so maybe that’s why she was open-minded.

I said to Bong Jiyeon:

“Jeongseok here has been taking good care of you. He earnestly asked to include you in our activities.”

“Hooo.”

Bong Jiyeon looked at Jeongseok with an impressed expression.

Jeongseok’s shoulders seemed to rise about 1cm.

“So? What are we going to do now?”

Bong Jiyeon showed interest.

“Can you heal my ankle too?”

That’s… I’m not sure.

Well, if we can revive the dead, healing an ankle should be easy!

“That should be possible too.”

I decided to make plenty of empty promises.

And as a leader, I decided to clearly establish what we should do next.

“Let’s see this through to the end since we’ve started. After the final exams, we’ll enter the second floor. So everyone, do well on your finals. And Bong Jiyeon, can you go back to Kwon Suho’s group for a while?”

“What? Why! You said I could join Yu Dahui’s group!”

This isn’t Yu Dahui’s group but Ha Yeongwon Pirates.

I had a lot to say, but I thought I should say this first.

“Kwon Suho seems to know a lot of things. His father, Kwon Oseong, seems to know even more. Kwon Suho still seems to have feelings for you. I want you to go back and act as a spy.”

“What? If I go back now, that psycho might kill me!”

“There’s a way. He must be suffering right now. When you approach Kwon Suho, ask if he’s unable to eat meat. Then tell him you know the solution.”