Chapter 22: CUT. Can I Stop the Camera? (1)
by fnovelpia
CUT.
Yeoreum’s alma mater, true to being an art college, was overflowing with all sorts of clubs.
Among the many clubs, the least popular was the ‘Horror Film Club’.
All members of the Horror Film Club were like ghosts.
There was a rumor that whenever they had a gathering, one more person than the total membership attended, but no one knew for sure.
After all, they hadn’t had a gathering in nearly 50 years.
Even if they did, no one would show up.
The club’s leader was said to be a weirdo, a social outcast with mental issues.
With a leader like that, it was impossible for the group to function properly.
The old club room, sought by no one, was covered in dust.
Before Yeoreum knew it, he had become a member of this bizarre club.
It was Yuna Yeon’s doing. She had arbitrarily added Yeoreum’s name to the membership application.
The official reason was to study horror films together and broaden their horizons…
But there was definitely some ulterior motive.
Tonight, Yuna Yeon and Yeoreum came to the Horror Film Club room.
No one had invited them.
Yuna Yeon had dragged him along, somewhat forcibly.
“Hehe… This place has a great atmosphere, right, Yeoreum?”
“No.”
“As expected, I knew you’d like it…!”
The school at night.
The empty club room was eerily silent.
TVs and players, projectors and filming equipment, tools used for special makeup, and killer masks were scattered about in disarray.
Moreover, in one corner stood a monster resembling an amphibian.
Its skin was a dingy green, like rotten seaweed, and it seemed to be about 160cm tall.
It stood on two legs like a human but was not human.
It was a large rubber model.
It was made so realistically that it wouldn’t be surprising if it suddenly moved.
“What’s this bizarre fish-man?”
“It’s ‘Gill-man’ from <Creature from the Black Lagoon>. A legend in creature films… Haven’t you seen it yet…?”
“First time hearing about it. Does it hold a camcorder in the movie too?”
In the left hand (webbed) of the fish-man model was a camcorder.
“It must be the club president’s prank. That person likes this kind of joke. Total nutcase…”
Yuna Yeon poked the fish-man model while saying so.
Hearing a nutcase call out another’s craziness felt oddly amusing.
Next to the fish-man was a bookshelf.
It was filled with horror movie discs, all B-grade horror films.
Terrible films churned out by ‘Troma’, ‘New Concorde’, ‘Asylum’.
They sat down in front of the TV, leaving the fish-man model behind.
Yuna Yeon swiftly pulled out a DVD.
“Shall we watch a movie…?”
The reason he was dragged to the empty club room was to watch horror movies.
According to her, one could approach movie watching with more reverence in the club room than at home.
That was Yuna Yeon’s claim, anyway.
“Wait. Didn’t you say we were going to watch a horror movie?”
“Yeah… This is a horror movie, right?”
Where exactly.
The DVD cover Yuna Yeon was holding featured a semi-naked woman in a lewd pose.
Black lace barely covered the essential parts.
It was the kind of pornographic material that made your face heat up just by looking at it, and Yuna Yeon was holding it shamelessly.
“Art and obscenity are only a paper’s width apart.”
Yuna Yeon made a lame excuse.
It was absurd.
“What movie did you bring, Yeoreum…?”
“I don’t know what it is.”
“Huh?”
He took out the videotape he had brought.
A sleek, black tape with no title attached.
The circumstances of its discovery were strange.
Last night, early in the morning.
He woke up to a strange sound.
It was like a hammer fiercely smashing a glass marble.
Thinking it was a burglar, or Yuna Yeon sneaking in, he jumped out of bed.
But the window was intact, and there was no broken glass around.
Only this videotape was lying on the floor.
It felt ominous, like a letter from the afterlife.
“Let’s watch this video first.”
“Ugh, okay… Oh, right, let’s drink some beer. I brought some…!”
Yuna Yeon smiled widely and handed over a can of beer.
“Wait. Why is the lid already open?”
“…Oops.”
The beer can was put away.
The videotape was inserted into the VHS player.
In the dark club room, the TV was emitting a blurry light like a dying firefly.
“Phew~ But it’s kind of hot here…”
Yuna Yeon fanned herself with her hand and then took off her outerwear.
Her pale shoulders were exposed.
Yeoreum was taken aback.
Yuna Yeon’s outfit was exactly like the woman on the DVD cover.
Black lace contrasted against her pale skin.
To think someone would wear such clothes to a school, even if it was at night.
It was madness.
Still, he couldn’t help but glance her way.
Yuna Yeon seemed especially seductive today.
She had swept her bangs, which usually covered 1/3 of her face, to the side, revealing her pretty features.
A late moonlit night, in a narrow club room on campus, a young man and woman…
The atmosphere was charged.
“What are you looking at…?”
Yuna Yeon’s teasing voice.
Only then did Yeoreum snap back to reality and hurriedly looked away from her body.
“I, I wasn’t looking at anything.”
“Did you… look at my chest?”
“I said I didn’t!”
“Yeoreum is a pervert~.”
Yuna Yeon closed the distance between them until their shoulders touched, sending a shiver through his body.
This is… seduction.
If he lost his composure and made a move on Yuna Yeon now, it would be his fault.
Of course, he wasn’t bold enough to actually pounce on her.
Yeoreum’s face heated up.
He lowered his head, not wanting his flushed face to be seen.
But then, Yuna Yeon reached out and gently grabbed his chin, turning his face towards hers.
Their eyes met.
Yuna Yeon’s gaze was strange.
Moreover, her face was several shades redder than Yeoreum’s.
Her breath was heated.
“You did something wrong… It’s your fault, Yeoreum……”
“My, my fault…?”
“You seduced me first…!”
No, wasn’t the seduction on her part?
He felt wronged.
He tried to back away, but Yuna Yeon resisted with force.
Trapped and unable to move, her moist lips drew closer.
She was about to kiss him…
At that moment-
The dim light from the dying TV screen intensified.
The start of the movie.
Without any introductory video from the distribution company, the first scene appeared.
A familiar face popped up on the screen.
“……Wait.”
Yeoreum adjusted his posture.
That person is…
No. It’s impossible.
He couldn’t believe it.
The movie showed a lumberjack with a huge build.
That’s… me?
Throughout the movie, his mouth remained agape.
The protagonist of the movie was Yeoreum’s inner self, a serial killer.
A grim expression, a bear-like stature, and a hand axe.
Just like when he was in the United States during the 1980s.
He meets a blonde beauty in the forest.
Zombies appear out of nowhere.
As the protagonist and the blonde beauty fight off the zombies, they eventually reach a lakeside house.
There, they have a confrontation with the homeowner and face off against zombies emerging from the lake.
After a fiery massacre, the house is engulfed in flames and collapses.
After a long night, the protagonist and the blonde beauty finally greet the bright dawn.
And so, ‘S#1’ ends.
“…That was a bit of an odd movie. The zombies were in the style of <Re-Animator>… So, what’s the title of this movie, Yeoreum?”
Yuna Yeon asked.
But her voice didn’t register in his ears.
The soul occupying the body of the killer in that movie must be the original ‘Han Yeoreum’.
Their bodies and souls must have switched.
The videotape was a window showing his true self in another world.
Ugh. His head felt like it was splitting open.
“Ugh…!”
It was right when Yeoreum pressed his forehead with his hand.
A sound came from behind him.
Ssss-sss.
It sounded like rubber scraping against the floor.
It’s just the two of them here.
What on earth was that noise?
A chill ran down his spine.
He slowly turned his head.
He saw the fish-man model standing behind him.
It was definitely holding the camcorder in its left hand before.
But now, it’s holding the camcorder in its right hand.
The fish-man model, shrouded in the corner’s flickering shadows, seemed to be trembling slightly.
But that’s… not alive.
It’s just a model made of rubber…
But then, suddenly, the model’s arm moved.
Ssssshh-
Webbed hands approached in an instant.
“Aaaaaaaah!!!!!!”
Both Yeoreum and Yuna Yeon screamed at the same time.
It felt like their hearts were about to make an emergency escape from their mouths.
“…Puhahahahahahaha!”
The fish-man burst into laughter.
It was a clear, joyful laugh.
Seeing this, they were dumbfounded.
The fish-man took off the rubber mask.
A woman with red short hair was revealed.
The fish-man was not a simple model but a rubber suit.
Until now, that woman had been standing in a corner of the room, pretending to be a model.
Yuna Yeon looked at the woman with an incredulous expression.
“Jung Joo-Yi senior…? Why are you coming out from there?”
“This is my club room.”
Jung Joo-Yi answered with a playful face.
Then she extended her hand to Yeoreum, whose face had turned pale.
“Nice to meet you. You’re the new club member, right? I’m Jung Joo-Yi, the president of the Horror Film Club!”
Jung Joo-Yi, a senior in the Film Department and the notorious president of the Horror Film Club.
Yeoreum ignored the hand she offered.
He didn’t really want to shake hands with such a crazy woman.
The president kept filming Yeoreum and Yuna Yeon with the camcorder, as if finding it amusing.
“Why are you holding a camcorder…?”
“I wanted to film the juniors mating. But, it was a failure!”
The president casually sat down between Yeoreum and Yuna Yeon.
“I have to make my graduation project! So, I’m looking for a good story.”
“……”
“Like juniors secretly playing at making babies in an empty club room. Or a fresh murder. Or a bombing at a nursing home…”
Suddenly, there was a noise from the corridor outside the club room.
It seemed someone had come.
Yeoreum stood up.
“Hey, president. Is there someone else here?”
“Only me.”
Maybe the security guard came after hearing the scream.
He listened at the door.
Squelch, squelch…
He could hear the sound of wet footsteps.
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