# Chapter 90
After finishing our meal satisfactorily, we seriously considered where to go next. Since a fight had already broken out once, there was no guarantee it wouldn’t happen again, so we deliberated carefully.
“We should temporarily give up on the rides. It would be hopeless if someone picked a fight while we’re waiting in line.”
“What about the safari?”
“Imagine meeting them on the bus. That would be completely hopeless.”
“But we can’t just stay here forever.”
No matter how much we discussed it, we couldn’t see a solution, so Baek Han, Kwon Dojin, and I all heaved deep sighs. Who would have thought that overlapping field trip dates with another school would create such a desperate situation?
The lives of those ranked 2nd and 3rd were exhausting.
“…I think there’s one place.”
Kwon Dojin, uncharacteristically hesitant, opened his mouth. Still struggling to think of a suitable place, Baek Han and I immediately perked up.
“Where is it?”
“Anyone here dislike scary things?”
At the mere mention of “scary things,” I froze, having an inkling of where he meant. Baek Han also seemed to have figured it out, nodding as if it wasn’t a bad idea.
“The haunted house should be fine. There probably won’t be any waiting lines, and we’re unlikely to run into others there.”
“We can’t stay there for too long, but as Habin said, we can’t just keep staying here. It’s better to move somewhere for now.”
Unlike me, who had completely tensed up, Kwon Dojin and Baek Han smoothly continued the conversation. As the two of them started to gather their things, I finally came to my senses and clung to Kwon Dojin’s shoulder beside me.
“I-I can’t do it.”
“Huh?”
Kwon Dojin looked back at me with a surprised expression. His attitude suggested he hadn’t anticipated this at all, which made me even more surprised. How could he not have predicted this when I’d been so vocal about being a scaredy-cat all this time?
“Don’t tell me you’re terrified of scary things?”
“Don’t say ‘don’t tell me’! It’s obvious! Do you think I call myself a scaredy-cat for no reason?”
“You don’t have to declare it so proudly—”
Baek Han tilted his head and trailed off. Since what mattered now wasn’t his attitude, I immediately focused on Kwon Dojin.
“Isn’t there another way? Does it have to be there?”
“I can’t think of any other suitable place. And we’re running out of time…”
This was the only franchise outlet inside E-Land, so there was a high possibility that students would flock here. It was only fine now because it was too early for lunch.
Still, I really, truly, absolutely hated the haunted house because it was too scary.
“But you have courage that doesn’t match your scaredy-cat reputation. Let’s go confidently this time too.”
“Y-you! Do you want to say whatever you want because it’s not your problem?”
Since just imagining entering the haunted house was terrifying, I glared at Baek Han with tears in my eyes, but he just shrugged.
“If you don’t like the haunted house, should we just keep walking around? Moving flexibly might work.”
“Talk sense. If our range of activity widens, we’ll encounter more people, increasing the chances of a fight.”
Kwon Dojin wrapped his arm around my waist and spoke soothingly, but Baek Han immediately shot him down. Though I knew Baek Han’s words were completely right, scary things were still scary.
“Wait a second. Come to think of it, it’s still late May, right? Don’t haunted houses usually open in midsummer?”
Hopeful at Baek Han’s comment as he flipped through a brochure, I quickly picked up my phone. Such information is usually shared online, so searching would be faster.
“…Don’t lie to me.”
Why are you doing this to me? What did I do wrong that you’re so eager to torment me even at an amusement park?
When I searched “E-Land haunted house,” a poster popped up announcing that as a special event, it would open for a limited period with the same concept they did every year.
Hoping it wasn’t true, I checked the dates again, but the numbers “2017.05.01.~06.01.” didn’t change. At my muttering, Kwon Dojin, who was looking at my small phone screen with me, remained silent, while Baek Han let out an exclamation.
“This is basically the universe pushing us to go.”
“…Haunted houses must be popular too! Right? Who doesn’t know how famous the haunted house is here?!”
“Actually, since no one would think it’s open yet, it might be empty?”
I glared at Baek Han, who had so easily crushed my hope. He didn’t even pretend to be scared and just brushed it off with a smirk.
“Hey, think about it. Apart from the risk of getting into a fight, wouldn’t it be a shame to come all the way here and go home without enjoying anything?”
“Are you saying we should enjoy the haunted house?”
“If you’re scared, just stick right behind Kwon Dojin. If you really can’t bear it, we can always leave midway.”
Baek Han leaned his upper body toward me and spoke in a subtle voice, gently coaxing. His whisper was perfect, but his eyes, full of mischief, couldn’t be hidden, so I wasn’t fooled.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“What a hurtful thing to say.”
“If you’re going to lie, at least wet your lips first! You just want to see me scared in the haunted house!”
I glared as I threw back the words Baek Han had said to me earlier. Perhaps my determination not to go was conveyed, because Baek Han dropped the act and clicked his tongue.
“Why are you only perceptive about these things?”
Is this what they call survival instinct?
I pouted at Baek Han, who seemed disappointed. He seemed to have an excessive playfulness directed specifically at me. Come to think of it, Baek Han’s impression had completely changed since our first meeting.
At first, he was scar—no, actually, thinking about it more, it doesn’t seem like he’s changed at all.
“Let’s get up first. People are starting to gather.”
At Kwon Dojin’s words, I looked around and saw that, unlike when we first arrived, the place was starting to fill up. Given that this many people were here even though it wasn’t peak lunch time yet, it was indeed time for us to leave, as Kwon Dojin said.
Since we had already mostly finished cleaning up, it didn’t take long to leave the burger place. After coming outside, we wandered aimlessly with an implicit agreement to move around places with fewer people.
“I never thought I’d be worried about where to go after coming all the way to an amusement park.”
At Baek Han’s grumbling, I also let out a dejected sigh.
“It’s because you’re too popular…”
“That’s the kind of popularity I can do without. And if you put it that way, Kwon Dojin is popular too.”
“No one has picked a fight with me because of me today.”
Kwon Dojin immediately drew a line, distancing himself from Baek Han’s water ghost strategy, and flashed a pretty smile. Just as Baek Han was openly grimacing at him, an ominous sound came from somewhere.
“Huh?! Could that be Rank 2 Kwon Dojin?”
“Where?”
Kwon Dojin, who had immediately turned his body in the opposite direction of the sound, frowned. In contrast to him, Baek Han looked triumphant, as if to say ‘See?’
“What, that blue hair? With so many people who dye their hair in the world, you’re judging by hair color alone?”
Thwack! A sound of something being hit accompanied the voice. If they’d convince themselves it was a mistake, that would be great, so I tried to leave with Baek Han and Kwon Dojin, who were engaged in a silent battle against each other.
“Oh shit! Hey! Are you really that thick-headed? Can’t you see that white hair? Even if blue hair might be common, would white hair like that be? Huh?!”
Among the three of us, only one person had white hair. So I naturally looked at Baek Han, who was muttering curses with his brows furrowed.
“Y-you’re right. That’s not common.”
I could feel the group approaching us stealthily after finishing their conversation that would make anyone laugh just hearing it. They seemed about 99% certain after seeing the hair color, but were acting cautiously due to the 1% uncertainty.
“You two don’t plan on dyeing your hair, do you?”
“My white hair is natural.”
“Mine is too, but—if Habin wants, should I try it once?”
Assuming they had dyed their hair, I was shocked by Baek Han and Kwon Dojin’s words, my pupils trembling. It was hard to believe that hair colors that seemed impossible in this world were actually their natural colors.
“More importantly, those guys are getting closer—what are we going to do? Fight?”
“You were the one who said you didn’t want to fight in an amusement park, Baek Han. Besides, they might grab Habin and threaten him like earlier, so we should avoid fighting as much as possible.”
While Baek Han and Kwon Dojin were talking, I couldn’t resist my curiosity and glanced back briefly. At that moment, my eyes met directly with someone who was staring intently at us from the front of the group, startling me and making me quickly turn my head back. Hiccupping involuntarily and placing my hand over my chest was just a bonus.
“…Kwon Dojin’s bottom?”
Though it was a small voice, it was close enough for not only me but also Kwon Dojin and Baek Han to hear. And at the unexpected word “bottom,” all three of us froze in unison.
“Huh? So they really are Kwon Dojin and Baek Han?”
“It seems that way?”
The whispers also carried over, saying they weren’t sure if I was indeed “Kwon Dojin’s bottom” since they had only seen me briefly. Setting aside being called Kwon Dojin’s bottom, how did they even recognize me from just a glance?
“Wow, Lee Habin, you’ve become famous too.”
“I don’t want to be famous like this.”
“Bottom? They could have just called you his boyfriend or lover.”
“Boy-! Is that what’s important right now?”
Baek Han and Kwon Dojin took turns irritating me. Especially at Kwon Dojin’s words, my earlobes heated up, but I pretended not to notice and scolded him.
“Oh, forget it! Let’s just see for ourselves.”
Believing that avoiding a fight was best, we had been moving our legs without rest while chattering, but now we exchanged glances at the words heard from behind. Though it was a very brief moment, we perfectly shared our thoughts and, without any signal, started running at the same time.
“Huh? What?!”
“They’re running away! Catch them!”
I made a tearful face because of the group naturally chasing after us.
Really, at this point, it’s like they have a disease where they’ll die if they don’t chase us.
