Chapter - 46화 (46/150)
Terrified, Dansol's fear had gone beyond simple fright—his head was throbbing now. Standing on the cliff above, listening only to other people's screams as he waited for his turn to come back around, only made the fear grow.
He thought the only thing he could rely on was the oil lamp, but even so, having one person with him instead of going alone gave him no small amount of strength. With that thought, Dansol turned his gaze to Taeohh beside him, about to ask if he was okay.
But Taeohh was already drenched, like he'd taken a shower in sweat. Seeing how indescribably frightened he looked, Dansol ended up gazing at the oil lamp with a strangely tender look.
—Joo Dansol, Ma Taeohh. Please depart.
"Haa..."
"Taeohh, are you okay?"
"Yes... I see this place every day, so why is it so scary?"
"It's... it's probably just in your head."
Dansol grabbed Taeohh's trembling hand and forced his feet to move, even though they didn't want to. The hand he held was so sweaty it felt like someone might mistake it for a hand that had just been dipped in water.
"T-Taeohh... I think it's raining... water keeps dripping from somewhere."
"I'm sorry... it's my sweat."
As Dansol let go to wipe his damp hand on his waistband, Taeohh reached the pine forest, then—leaving Dansol behind—started screaming at the ghost doll placed at the entrance and bolted off on his own.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Aaaaargh!"
Frightened by the shadows the oil lamp's flicker threw around, Dansol even tossed the oil lamp away and just ran blindly in the direction Taeohh fled.
"Wait!"
When they reached the trap that had caught the people ahead, Taeohh shouted. Dansol stopped at the sound, but he couldn't beat his momentum and slid across the dirt—he almost fell into the trap.
"Looks like someone marked it. It's a trap."
"A headlamp...."
Right where Dansol nearly fell, the headlamp Iiyeon and Minhyeok had worn was blinking.
"There might be more traps like this. Watch your step and let's go slowly."
Taeohh spoke in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry.
"Ah... okay... but could you let go of this?"
Despite what he said, Taeohh was clinging to Dansol so tightly he couldn't move a single step. With Taeohh, who was at least twenty centimeters taller, hanging off him, Dansol felt like he'd die faster from being strangled than from ghosts.
After that, it was a series of devices that were more like cheap pranks than anything—wigs dropping from trees, sudden bursts of fog, and the like. It wasn't that they didn't get startled, but they were the kind of things you'd commonly see on variety shows.
They passed through the pine forest and opened the main gate of the abandoned house set. The hanok set with its low wall looked so real it was like they'd moved an actual house there. Right then, from somewhere, a baby's crying reached Taeohh's ear.
"Um... Dansol... did you hear something?"
"...Wh-what are you talking about, hearing something...?"
"Ah... a baby crying...."
"T-there's no way there's a baby here. Didn't you just mishear a crying sound or something?"
"Huh...!"
"W-why...?"
Up until then, Dansol had been walking almost half-held by Taeohh, and he tried to turn around, but Taeohh's arms, stiff as stone, blocked him from moving. And Taeohh—who had just scared Dansol so badly—didn't say anything.
"D-Dansol. Over there... there's a child."
"Huh?"
"He's... telling us to come."
As Taeohh's arms suddenly loosened, Dansol creakily turned his head. But the child wasn't there—maybe he'd vanished already. All Dansol could see was Taeohh, walking into the room as if entranced.
"...Taeohh? Where are you going⁈ I'm... scared...."
Despite being so afraid, Taeohh suddenly seemed to have found some kind of courage. He didn't even answer Dansol and just went inside, and Dansol grew restless. Even so, he couldn't bring himself to follow, so he stood blankly in the yard for a long time.
Had about five minutes passed? Taeohh came out of the room grinning from ear to ear.
"Thanks!"
There was a pouch in Taeohh's hand.
"Taeohh! What is that? Where did you go?"
"The kid told me to follow, so I did... and this was in the room."
Inside the pouch Taeohh held out were eight elimination voting rights.
"So it wasn't one hidden per place—they put them all together...."
"Seriously, if they put it like that, you can't find it. Now we just have to go to the cave and it's over... let's get out of here."
Only then did Taeohh seem to relax. Linking arms with Dansol, he headed toward the cave. Thanks to the moonlight, the path to the cave didn't feel that scary.
"Boo!"
"Aaaaargh!"
"Kyaaah!"
And when the two of them picked up the date ticket placed on the table inside the cave, the people who had departed earlier popped out and startled Dansol and Taeohh.
"Oh... Ma Taeohh. When were you trembling and saying you were scared, and now look at you—you got both the date ticket and the elimination voting rights."
"Seriously... no matter how much we searched, we couldn't find them. Where did you find them?"
Jisu and Iiyeon asked Taeohh.
"In the main room. That... that child actor friend told me. But wow... the makeup was so real. I almost peed myself right there."
"Huh? A child actor?"
"Yes, a little kid with a pale face, big eyes, wearing denim overalls...."
"What, Ma Taeohh's got some room to spare now that he's done? Earlier you were shaking, but now you can say stuff like that? I just got goosebumps."
Jisu said as he rubbed his forearm.
"What? Wh-what... are you guys messing with me? Dansol! Dansol, you saw it too!"
Dansol shook his head. More precisely, he had only seen Taeohh go into the room—he hadn't heard the baby crying Taeohh mentioned, and he hadn't seen any child actor.
Then Mijin, the PD, stepped forward.
"Taeohh... didn't you see something wrong? We... never hired a child actor. And logically, there's no way a little kid would be standing by alone at this hour..."
"Eek!"
"Taeohh!"
"Ma Taeohh!"
The moment he heard that, Taeohh fainted.
Even as Taeohh fainted, he was still clutching the elimination voting rights tightly. Looking troubled, the youngest assistant director spoke to PD Choi.
"Um... PD. I think I forgot to hide the elimination voting rights...."
"...What? Then what is this?"
"Ah... I couldn't find them no matter how much I looked... so I thought the seniors had hidden them."
"What⁈ You little—!"
As the staff erupted into a heated argument at the sight of the voting-rights pouch holding all eight at once, Daesu—who had checked Taeohh's pupils and pulse—shouted.
"A person has collapsed, and that's what matters? He just fainted, so let's move him to the dorm first."
That night, as Dansol lay in bed, the wind sounded unusually loud in his ears. Pulling the blanket up to the tip of his nose, Dansol recalled the conversation he'd had with Jisu when they'd returned to Chunmonggak earlier.
"Hyung... what do you think Taeohh really saw?"
"...No, there was a child actor. I saw him too. The staff were just messing around."
Maybe Jisu was forcing a lie to reassure him.
Just then, rain began to fall. Startled by the sound of wind and rain, Dansol pulled the blanket all the way over his head, and thunder and lightning started outside.
"...I'm scared...."
Kwagwagwang—!
With a flash of light, there was the sound of something splitting outside. In the end, unable to bear it, Dansol grabbed his pillow and bolted out of his room. Only now did the terrifying ghost makeups he'd seen earlier swirl through his head.
At this rate, he felt like he wouldn't be able to sleep at all tonight. Out in the hallway, Dansol knocked on Jisu's door. This wasn't the time to worry about pride.
Knock, knock.
"Who is it."
"Hyung... it's Dansol."
Thankfully, it seemed Jisu hadn't gone to bed yet. When Dansol spoke, Jisu threw the door open like he'd been waiting.
"Sola, what's wrong?"
"Ah... I... well...."
Dansol hesitated for a long time. It took more courage than expected for a grown adult to admit out loud that he was scared to sleep alone.
"Al... alone... sleeping...."
"I was already so scared to sleep alone too. You came here thinking of hyung?"
Quick-witted, Jisu got ahead of him and grabbed Dansol by the wrist, leading him inside. It looked like he'd been reading—by Jisu's bedside were a book and the PPL drink he'd had earlier in the day.
"Calamansi... you must really like it, hyung."
"Yeah... I've always been good with sour things."
"You were reading? Demian? Mm... it looks hard."
"It's not that bad. When I'm done, I'll lend it to you."
"Thanks. But just looking at it makes me sleepy... I'm going to sleep."
The moment he saw the book cover, Dansol fell asleep.
It had been like that the whole time they filmed the variety show, but today, he was especially exhausted.
Feeling the familiar weight climb onto his bed, Jisu smiled. After tidying Dansol's hair, he adjusted the brightness of the lamp on the side table and leaned against the headboard, reading while listening to the rain.
Peaceful. Quiet.
For Jisu, it had been a completely satisfying day.
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