Chapter 12: The Strange Boy, Lee Hwi-jun(12)

A voice, unpleasant like the sound of fingernails scratching metal, filled the air, sending chills down my spine, making the hair on my body stand on end.

The moment I heard it, I realized that it was a voice that no ordinary person — no, it wasn’t even made by a person to begin with.

Was it an instinct to avoid fear?

Yoo Da-hyun unconsciously thought to herself that she didn’t want to look at the source of that sound, that she didn’t want to see the being that produced it.

But even before she could finish that thought, her head and gaze turned.

And Yoo Da-hyun couldn’t help but see it.

A pale, filthy arm gripping her wrist, darker than the polluted water, and the hollow pupils right next to her face.

Despite being empty, Yoo Da-hyun could tell that it was staring at her.

The chilling gaze that seemed to freeze her entire body, and the icy feeling running through her wrist, made her realize that something non-human was looking at her.

And at that moment, Yoo Da-hyun screamed.

…! ……!”

But her body, frozen in fear, couldn’t even scream.

The only thing her body could do was shiver like a trembling aspen leaf.

Cha-aaa, cha-aa, cha-aah.

That’s why Yoo Da-hyun couldn’t resist as it muttered in a delighted tone, dragging her along.

Over the school gate, onto the sidewalk, and then to the road right in front of her.

And when it pushed her with both arms toward the oncoming car, the honk of the horn blasted loudly, and the dazzling headlights came toward her, illuminating everything in its path.

“…Ah.”

Yoo Da-hyun, sensing her imminent death, couldn’t even cry out in despair as she squeezed her eyes shut.

Moments later, a shock hit her body.

Thunk.

The sound of a heavy lump of meat being thrown to the ground echoed through the street.

And then,

Baaang!

“Crazy bastards, do you want to die?! Why the hell did you jump into the street?!”

A voice filled with panic and anger, shouting in the distance, gradually faded away.

“…Huh?”

Yoo Da-hyun, still conscious and strangely not feeling much pain despite being hit by the car, opened her eyes in confusion.

‘Huh…? I’m alive..?’

She was stunned by the realization that she was still alive, even though she thought she would die.

For a brief moment, she was dazed, but the painful groans from above made her realize she was being held in someone’s arms, and she looked up.

“Is this… Hwi-jun…?”

When she looked up, she saw Lee Hwi-jun, the stalker she had thought of earlier, holding her tightly so that she wouldn’t touch the ground, groaning in pain as he lay on the road.

When she muttered his name in a daze, Lee Hwi-jun, noticing her, looked up with a pained expression, checking her condition as if to make sure she was alright.

“…Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Uh? Uh-huh….”

Even though he looked like he was in more pain, Lee Hwi-jun was worried about her first.

Yoo Da-hyun realized that he had saved her by throwing himself in front of the car, preventing her from being hit.

She was alive, and she had been helped.

As she thought this, tears nearly welled up in her eyes.

“…Damn it, you’re not hurt, right? Get up quickly!”

“77…?!”

However, before she could even feel relief from being alive or express her gratitude, Lee Hwi-jun hurriedly helped her up, forcing her to stand without a moment’s hesitation.

Startled, Yoo Da-hyun screamed, but there was no need to ask him why he was doing that.

Because at that moment, she could see it too.

“Eek?!”

“Run!!”

“Where to?!”

“Towards the school, quickly!!”

At Lee Hwi-jun’s shout, Yoo Da-hyun followed him as he grabbed her hand, running toward the school gate.

Behind them, the dark figure started following, bending its arms repeatedly like it was expressing rage.

The terrifying, grotesque figure made Yoo Da-hyun cry out in fear, but thanks to the slight resilience she had developed to the terror, her body no longer completely froze.

Tears still welled up as she ran, and she screamed at Lee Hwi-jun.

“Hey…! What is that thing…!! What the hell is that ghost-like creature?!!”

“…What? Wait a second. Yoo Da-hyun, can you see that?”

Lee Hwi-jun, looking surprised, turned to ask her, and Yoo Da-hyun shouted back.

“Of course I can see it! It’s right there, throwing a fit and chasing after us!!”

“…Hah… should I be grateful for this…?”

Lee Hwi-jun muttered with a complicated expression and then answered.

“Well, even if you ask what that is, I don’t really know how to answer. But just think of it as your stalker for now.”

“My stalker? What do you mean by that…!”

“He’s the one who always stood in front of your house at the bus stop, just standing there. He decided to follow you all the way to school, so yeah, that’s a stalker.”

‘He must have been bothered by me calling him a stalker earlier!’

Yoo Da-hyun finally realized that Lee Hwi-jun had been somewhat sensitive about being treated as a stalker.

“Bus stop…? Ah, that time…!”

And from his response, Yoo Da-hyun suddenly recalled the time Lee Hwi-jun had pulled her away, warning her that she was in danger, and asked, “Then, you protected me from that guy back then…?”

“Yeah.”

“Ahh, so that’s what happened…!”

‘Was he trying to help me back then? He was such a nice guy. What kind of misunderstanding did I have about him…?!’

Realizing that Lee Hwi-jun’s actions had a reason, Yoo Da-hyun began to feel guilty for the misunderstandings she had had all this time.

She then thought to herself.

She should apologize for her misunderstandings and thank him for helping her.

But that was only something that could happen once they were safe.

The most urgent thing right now was dealing with that monstrous ghost that was still crazily chasing them, so Yoo Da-hyun yelled at Lee Hwi-jun.

“So you could see that thing from the beginning?! Then, do you know how to stop that monstrous ghost?!”

She asked, thinking that since she was seeing it for the first time today, if he had been seeing it all along, he must know how to deal with such a thing.

However, Lee Hwi-jun replied, sounding troubled.

“This is the first time I’ve gotten involved with someone like that, trying to directly harm us. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to do either.”

“Then this is a big problem…! Do we have to keep running away like this?!”

Realizing that the expert she had thought was an expert was actually a beginner like herself, Yoo Da-hyun screamed in despair. But then, a thought crossed her mind, and she shouted at Lee Hwi-jun.

“Th-the teacher’s office! If we go to the teacher’s office, the teacher will be there! If we ask for help…”

“…That won’t work.”

As soon as she made the suggestion, Lee Hwi-jun immediately objected, and Yoo Da-hyun was about to shout “Why?” But as if to show her the reason, Lee Hwi-jun pointed to somewhere. Following his finger, Yoo Da-hyun looked, and…

“…Huh?”

She realized the reason why he had said it wouldn’t work.

“Why… are all the lights off…?”

The lights in the school building, which should have been on at least with the duty staff, were all off for some unknown reason.

This was a bizarre phenomenon, and as soon as it happened, Yoo Da-hyun began to feel something was wrong.

‘Now that I think about it, this is weird. We’re causing a scene like this, but no one is coming out…’

It was as if the entire school grounds, except for them, had become completely empty, devoid of people.

Perhaps it was because of her growing unease, but…

“Ugh…!”

Her legs, which had been running well until then, stumbled, and Yoo Da-hyun fell to the ground with a crash.

As her feet stopped, she suddenly felt a chilling gaze from right behind her.

But at the same time…

“Ah?! What are you doing—!”

Yoo Da-hyun couldn’t help but scream in horror. After she fell, Lee Hwi-jun dashed forward and spread his arms, blocking the ghost’s path to protect her.

Wham─!

“Ahhh…!!”

Yoo Da-hyun screamed as she saw the black ghost extend its arm and violently push Lee Hwi-jun away. She thought the ghost would immediately pounce on the fallen Lee Hwi-jun and harm him.

But…

For some reason, the ghost stopped in front of the fallen Lee Hwi-jun.

“…Maybe I was lucky after all.”

Lee Hwi-jun, sitting on the ground, muttered quietly.

“You don’t know anything but the way to kill by pushing people into oncoming cars, right? That’s all you’ve been practicing.”

As he stared at the ghost, who was now repeatedly bending and straightening its arm.

“Maybe that’s why it was good that I ran back to the school. Cars don’t come here.”

It wasn’t really much of a countermeasure, but explaining why he had fled back to the school instead of anywhere else, Lee Hwi-jun said that.

Then, in front of him, the ghost, seeming flustered, began to flail its arms frantically.

The ghost, seemingly frustrated, twisted its arms and body as if trying to reshape itself.

At first glance, it looked like a small bus.

“…I didn’t expect this.”

And Yoo Da-hyun, seeing Lee Hwi-jun waving his hand as if telling her to run, thought to herself,
Anyone, please, someone, help us!

At that moment,

Crack─!

“Ah? Ah? Ahhhh???”

A sudden flash of blue lightning covered the ghost’s body.

“…When the barrier set up in the school triggered, I wondered what was going on, so I came to check.”

From beyond the blue light, someone muttered while slowly approaching.

“What the heck is going on now…”

Yoo Da-hyun, who saw that person, couldn’t help but stand there dumbfounded.

In their hand, they held a burning talisman, and standing there was…

“…Seon-yul?”

It was her friend, Na Seon-yul.