# Chapter 155
“Ah, is that the delivery?”
Hyegang, who had been the main instigator of the intense atmosphere, casually stood up and muttered. Come to think of it, he had ordered additional drinks a little while ago, saying they didn’t have enough. It seemed that had arrived.
I really thought my heart would burst. While Iyeon was gathering his startled wits, Hyegang turned on the office lights as he went to receive the delivery. With a click, the room brightened.
“Man, that really scared me…”
Jaekyung mumbled as he gulped down his beer. Hyegang, returning with a heavy bag in high spirits, looked at Iyeon with round eyes.
“Why are you two like that?”
“Huh?”
Responding in confusion, Iyeon only then realized he was firmly clutching Sano’s clothes. He had gripped them so tightly that the stretched neck of the summer knit revealed Sano’s collarbone clearly, deeply wrinkled from his grasp.
“Oh! Sorry.”
Iyeon released his hand in shock. He had been wondering why something felt strangely warm—his body had naturally nestled into Sano’s side. It had felt so comfortably fitting that he hadn’t even noticed they were touching. As he awkwardly pulled away in embarrassment, Jaekyung’s amused voice drifted over.
“You two really get along well. That part-timer friend of yours has such a gruff personality.”
Sano, seemingly too bothered to properly introduce himself to Jaekyung, had stubbornly refused to give his name, and strangely, Jaekyung continued to accept this without asking further—perhaps he was too scared to ask. Since Sano didn’t speak up, neither Iyeon nor Hyegang dared to casually call Sano by name, and Jaekyung ended up referring to him simply as “part-timer friend.”
So even to others, we look like we get along well. That fact made him secretly proud.
“They live together, you know.”
“Right, that was surprising too. How did you end up living together?”
“Well… I picked him up when he was sleeping on the street.”
“Gasp. Sleeping outside like that can cause facial paralysis. I see your part-timer friend was fortunate to escape unharmed.”
Jaekyung seemed to take the 100% pure truth as a joke. Not feeling the need to correct his playful response, Iyeon just shrugged and smiled. Meanwhile, Hyegang had unwrapped the package and distributed new beers to everyone. As they ate and drank, a naturally chatty atmosphere formed.
“This reminds me of high school. You do a lot of this stuff during school days. Turning off all the lights in the classroom and telling scary stories.”
“Ah, I’ve done that too. The whole class gathered at night for a courage test on school grounds.”
“That’s right. I did it casually with my friends.”
The voices of Hyegang and Jaekyung, chatting comfortably, were excited as if they had returned to childhood. Setting aside Sano who naturally didn’t speak, Hyegang looked curiously at Iyeon, who was unusually not participating in the conversation.
“Haven’t you ever walked around school at night and done things like that? I thought you would have enjoyed it.”
“No, I haven’t.”
Iyeon’s voice was light, but his answer wasn’t what had been expected.
“I took the GED. I dropped out of middle school and never went to high school.”
Hyegang and Jaekyung both looked at Iyeon with wide eyes. It wasn’t a secret, just something he hadn’t had occasion to mention. Iyeon shrugged nonchalantly.
“I wasn’t in an environment where I could attend school.”
After having his gi-ryeok drained by Taejin and fainting, he had reopened his eyes two years later at 16. By then, it was too late to attend middle school at his proper age. And after that… Hyegang, quickly noticing Iyeon’s eyes darkening, deliberately changed the subject.
“Then shall we go now?”
“Huh?”
“We’ve had our fill of ghost stories, so now we can try the courage test.”
“…Now?”
It’s not like I want to go right away… Jaekyung quickly chimed in, somehow interpreting Iyeon’s lukewarm response.
“That sounds good. It’s in the next neighborhood, right? It won’t take long to get there.”
“That’s true, but… Are you sure you’re okay with this, Jaekyung-ssi?”
Jaekyung had been as scared as Iyeon throughout the stories. He seemed to believe in ghosts too… Listening to stories could be considered an indirect experience, but going in person was a different matter. When asked, surprised that he would readily join such an outing, Jaekyung said with a solemn face:
“Y-yeah. If we all go together, I think it’ll be fine.”
“Right. We’re just going to take a quick look at an abandoned building and come back.”
“Exactly. And since Iyeon-ssi hasn’t experienced it before.”
Looking at Iyeon, Jaekyung awkwardly added.
“…And it would be nice if we find a mutant along the way.”
The chances of a mutant suddenly appearing in a building, especially one where doors supposedly appeared and disappeared according to the ghost story, were extremely low. Jaekyung seemed to know this, as he fidgeted awkwardly before suddenly downing his beer in one shot and slamming the glass on the table somewhat roughly. The bang echoed quite loudly.
“Then it’s decided! Shall we go?”
Strangely overwhelmed by his momentum, Iyeon nodded dazedly, and both Jaekyung and Hyegang stood up simultaneously, busily preparing to go out. Iyeon looked at the two blankly, feeling something difficult to explain.
In truth, Iyeon didn’t really care either way. Though Hyegang’s story made him a bit reluctant, there wouldn’t actually be an extra door, and thinking of it as neighborhood patrol, it wouldn’t be too inconvenient. Even if it wasn’t his neighborhood…
Separate from that, he thought he understood why the two were moving so enthusiastically, and it made a corner of his heart feel a bit ticklish.
While he was calming that sensation, Hyegang nagged. “Hyung, hurry up and clean so we can go. Give me that plate.” At the unusual urging, Iyeon responded with an “Oh” and handed over the empty disposable plate. Jaekyung was spreading out a plastic bag to sweep in the trash. His expertise showed how often he ordered delivery food.
And then there was Sano, who had been sitting silently before smoothly rising to stack the cups neatly.
It was nothing special, but somehow it made Iyeon smile. He secretly turned up the corners of his mouth.
With everyone moving diligently, the place quickly became clean. It didn’t take long to finish tidying up and head outside. Everyone’s faces seemed excited about the unplanned outing.
Since Hyegang’s story took place in the neighboring area, it didn’t take long to walk there even in the late hour when public transportation had stopped running long ago. Surprisingly, Sano seemed to have no desire to use the underground elevator, cooperating docilely with the walk.
After walking for some time, Dongno Station came into view.
“Oh, Dongno Station! That’s it, right?”
“Yes. We need to walk to that point and then turn.”
The area near the station was a main road, but since it was a street with many shops, there were few people at night. Almost no cars were passing through, and the quiet road was dotted only with streetlights.
Until now, Iyeon hadn’t thought much about it since he often hunted mutants in the early morning, but after hearing Hyegang’s story, even the empty streets seemed somewhat eerie. If this makes me unable to complete dawn missions, it’s all Lee Hyegang’s fault. Iyeon, having become too immersed in ghost stories, developed a somewhat skewed perspective.
It took quite some time to walk from the station to the ghost story building. The area showed signs of aging as they went deeper into it. The narrow roads and the stains or cracks visible on buildings and walls were evidence of this.
“Oh, the atmosphere is already building.”
“Yeah. Which way is it? Do we have to go much further?”
“We need to go a bit more.”
“I see.”
Hyegang, who had been walking ahead with Jaekyung while chattering, turned around with an exclamation of “Ah!” as if he’d had a good idea. Those following behind looked at him curiously.
“Since it’s a small building, shall we split up when we go in?”
“What?”
“Huh?”
The two people most vulnerable to the situation flinched simultaneously. Hyegang smiled mischievously.
“Let’s divide fairly with rock-paper-scissors, two by two. How about it?”
“Jaekyung hyung might be a bit scared, but Iyeon hyung has been to places like this many times for missions.” At this statement, cleverly provoking their pride, both Jaekyung and Iyeon bristled.
“I told you I did something similar in high school!”
“Hey, I don’t believe in ghosts, you know!”
“Then it’s settled. Rock, paper, scissors!”
At the sudden shout, Iyeon thrust out his fist without thinking. Jaekyung similarly relied on instinct with a rock. Hyegang, who had spread all five fingers wide, waved his hand flutteringly.
“I won. Then I’ll go with hyung.”
The one Hyegang pointed to was Sano. Iyeon opened his eyes wide.
“With him? So I’m supposed to go with Jaekyung-ssi?”
“Iyeon-ssi, those words are somewhat hurtful?”
Regardless of Jaekyung’s grumbling, Iyeon’s face said this was absurd. This was none other than Je Sano. Except for unavoidable circumstances, Sano had never once allowed Iyeon to move alone. Unless he wasn’t there at all, he would definitely follow Iyeon, and he had never even asked for his opinion on the matter.
Such a person would not suddenly leave Iyeon behind and team up with someone else. Wouldn’t he rather go alone? Even for a simple courage test, even with Hyegang…
“Why? Hyung, don’t you want to go with me?”
Hyegang looked questioningly at Sano. Sano glanced alternately at Iyeon and Hyegang, then bluntly answered.
“I don’t care.”
