Chapter 117: CUT. Graduation Work
by fnovelpia
CUT.
Yeoreum barely escaped the witch’s forest.
Yuna greeted her recovered lover passionately, pressing her lips against his and slipping her tongue inside.
Yeoreum didn’t reject the soft lips and hot tongue entering his mouth.
“Nice kiss scene,” Joo-Yi said with a smirk. Behind her, red flames flickered.
The fire set by her lackeys engulfed the studio basement in an instant.
Smoke filled the enclosed space quickly.
There was no time to celebrate reuniting with Yeoreum. At this rate, they’d be smoked meat in no time.
Yuna glared at Joo-Yi.
“Senior, why’d you set the fire?”
“I need colleagues.”
Colleagues?
Her answer made no sense.
“You’ve got colleagues right here. The narrator and those monsters you modified…”
“I don’t have any director colleagues to make films with, to collaborate with.”
“Collaborate…?”
“I realized something recently. I’m not good enough to create a masterpiece on my own.”
Joo-Yi turned her back to the burning corridor.
The rising flames cast a hot backlight.
“I’m gonna backflow to the upper reality.”
Backflow.
The moment she heard that word, Yuna understood Joo-Yi’s plan.
Yuna grabbed Joo-Yi’s arm.
“That’s crazy… You’re gonna burn yourself alive here…?”
“It’s not suicide. It’s resurrection.”
Burning her body to backflow to the upper reality – that was the point of the arson.
“Don’t know who’s up there, but I’m sure it’ll be a director who gets me.”
“But… You said every reality needs a director. What happens to this one if you leave…?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ve got successors.”
Joo-Yi pointed at Yuna and Yeoreum.
“Yuna, you’re the new narrator. Yeoreum, you’re the new director.”
“What…?”
Become the narrator and director? It was absurd.
Yuna exploded in anger.
“No way…! How dare you decide that for us?!”
“You know it’s an offer you can’t refuse, right?”
That’s right. They had made a promise.
In exchange for sending Nancy back and recovering Yeoreum, they agreed to grant Joo-Yi’s request.
They didn’t expect this kind of request… but it was too late to back out now.
“No need for a handover, right? I’ve trashed all the ‘W’ facilities. This studio was the last one, and it’ll be rubble soon too. You’ll have to figure it out yourselves and make your own movie.”
The flames reached the ceiling.
The heat spread beyond the corridor to where they stood.
The space had turned into a furnace. The equipment that had been broadcasting 1980s America started melting.
Yuna was horrified.
“The only tape was ruined, and if this place burns down too… We’ll never see Nancy and Summer again!”
When the audience from the upper reality vanishes, the lower reality collapses.
With no way to access Nancy and Summer, they might cease to exist.
Just then, Joo-Yi pulled something from her pocket.
It was a warm VHS tape. The label read “Graduation Project”.
“Here, take this.”
“What… is it?”
“A gift for the new narrator and director. You can see Nancy and Summer with this.”
Joo-Yi walked into the flames. The narrator and werewolves followed.
Yuna and Yeoreum watched their retreating figures disappear into the fire, stunned.
The smell of burning flesh filled the air.
“It’s warm in here…”
Joo-Yi smiled as she vanished into the flames, turning to ash.
Yuna and Yeoreum escaped through the emergency exit.
The fire that started in the basement consumed the video store, reducing it to ruins. All that remained was a pile of ashes.
“Yeoreum… Are we really witches now?”
“…I don’t know.”
Jung Joo-Yi had dumped the ‘W’ director and narrator roles on them before burning herself.
Suddenly becoming witches who manipulate reality like a film – it felt unreal.
Plus, all ‘W’ facilities were destroyed. Like the previous director, Joo-Yi had sabotaged everything before leaving.
Making a movie using this reality as a stage.
It was overwhelmingly daunting.
Yuna, back with Yeoreum, stared at the tape in her hand.
It was the one Joo-Yi had given her just before vanishing into the flames.
The words “Graduation Project” on the label were in Joo-Yi’s handwriting.
Yeoreum frowned.
“Graduation project? What’s that about?”
“Let’s go to my place and check it out. Your player’s busted anyway…”
They headed to Yuna’s house.
They put the “Graduation Project” in the player. When they hit play, the TV screen lit up.
Summer, the Strode mother and daughter, and the Hyper sisters appeared.
Yeoreum and Yuna sighed in relief. They’d worried the 1980s American reality might vanish since the original tape was ruined and the studio burned down.
Joo-Yi had left this backup.
But it wasn’t an ordinary copy.
The screen showing Summer suddenly switched to a different video.
It showed someone stabbing a soggy zombie with a mop handle.
“That’s… what happened outside the club room!”
“It’s part of Jung Joo-Yi’s film. So that’s why it’s called ‘Graduation Project.'”
“Did she edit them together…?”
They didn’t know how she’d mixed footage from 1980s America and 2020s Korea.
But it was clearly the final spark that crazy Jung Joo-Yi had left in this reality.
The scene changed again, showing Summer and the Strodes. The mother and daughter were confessing their love to Summer.
When the scene changed once more, Yeoreum and Yuna appeared. They were smiling and drinking cool drinks on screen.
Different realities played out, alternating like a movie.
The madness Jung Joo-Yi had captured on camera became memories.
Moments Yeoreum and Yuna shared together. The memories were precious just by existing.
Sitting side by side, Yeoreum and Yuna watched the screen, transfixed.
Those days were beautiful. Beautiful enough to make their hearts ache.
Just then, a small note fell from Yeoreum’s pocket.
Yuna picked it up.
“…What’s this?”
Yeoreum didn’t stop Yuna from unfolding and reading the note.
It detailed everything from when Yeoreum landed in the strange world up to now.
A little map to the truth, prepared for the attempt to switch bodies with Summer.
He’d written down everything so Summer, back in his body, could understand what happened.
It became useless when he switched with Nancy Strode instead of Summer…
Yuna read the whole note.
Her eyes landed on the last paragraph.
‘Han Yeoreum. I lent your <Hostel> Blu-ray to Yeon Yuna.
Yeon Yuna’s the girl next door. She sits behind you in every class.
She looks gloomy but she’s a good kid. Big heart, cries easily. Loves horror movies like you.
She helped me a lot. We became friends.
Yuna might be heartbroken thinking her friend left for another world without a word.
Or maybe she’ll be happy to have the real Han Yeoreum back.
Either way, treat Yuna well.
If she’s sad, comfort her.
If she’s happy to have you back, be happy with her.
If you can’t do either…
Give her the <Hostel> Blu-ray I borrowed as a gift.
I want her to keep our first meeting as a good memory.
This is my last request.’
The note shook in her trembling hands.
Tears fell onto the paper.
“Yeoreum……”
Yuna couldn’t speak and burst into tears. They streamed down her pale cheeks.
The <Hostel> Blu-ray sat on her desk. Precious, like a treasure.
Joo-Yi’s “Graduation Project” played on the TV.
The memories they’d made together flashed by once more.
“Yeon Yuna, you once said movies are metaphors for life.”
“Yeah…”
“I’ve thought of a movie I want to make with you.”
“What kind of movie…?”
“This kind.”
Yeoreum leaned in. He pressed his lips to Yuna’s soft ones.
A shy kiss. His first time initiating it.
After a long kiss, they parted. Both their faces were flushed red.
They held hands silently. Their hearts swelled with warmth.
Love blossomed.
Just then, a narration came from the speakers.
-[Now, time for the post-credits scene!]
It was Joo-Yi’s voice.
-[It’s called ‘Yuna F*cks Hypnotized Yeoreum’, a sex tape I got with great difficulty so enjoy it!]
The screen showed Yeoreum on a bed. His unfocused eyes showed he was hypnotized.
Yuna approached naked, revealing her smooth skin.
Her spread pelvis, curved butt, and distinct back mounted Yeoreum.
Just before lewd, messy moans could be heard – Yuna reached out and turned off the TV lightning-fast.
“…”
A chilling silence fell over the room that had been full of emotion moments ago.
Yeoreum barely managed to speak.
“…What was that just now…?”
0 Comments