Ch. 15 - Fourth Ghost Story - Mom (3)

Trigger warning: This chapter has depictions of Violence and Suggestions of Suicide. Readers, please be advised.

As I rushed home, it had somehow already become evening outside.

When I reached the apartment complex entrance, I could see Mom standing on the dark veranda from a distance.

… It was the same spot as before.

‘What about Dad? Has Dad not come home yet?’

When I reached the entrance to the apartment building, I could see my Dad standing in front of the entrance in a daze.

“Dad!”

I ran to him in a hurry.

“… Joon. Did you just get home?”

“Dad, did anything happen to you?”

“What do you mean……?”

Dad feigned ignorance, pretending to be calm.

But from what I could tell, it seemed like he had gone into the house first, met that thing pretending to be Mom, and ran out.

What other reason would he have for not going into the house and loitering around in front of the entrance?

“Dad! There’s something weird in the house. It pretends to be Mom and everything.”

“……!”

Dad looked at me in surprise.

“Since when have you been able to see it?”

“After school ended today, when I came home.”

“I see.”

Dad let out a sigh and then spoke.

“For me, it started three days ago.”

According to Dad, he started to see it three days ago—or rather, the night before the day of my entrance ceremony.

He stated that it all started when he woke up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He saw Mom doing a handstand in the middle of the dark living room.

"Honey, what are you doing in the middle of the night?"

"All the other husbands all come by to pick up their spouses by car. How come you’re the only one that doesn't, saying it’s too burdensome……?"

After slowly saying those words, all while continuing her handstand, she had headed back to the balcony on her hands and disappeared.

The next day, while he had been at work, a call had come from home. It was during the time when I was at the entrance ceremony and Mom was working at the mart, so no one should have been at home.

"Hello?"

"Is only your mother a Mom? I also want to go back to my parental home and see my parents……"

He said that it was my Mom’s voice.

"Hello? Honey? What are you saying all of a sudden?"

"On your days off, hang up the laundry or something… It’s not like you’re the only one earning money……"

Click.

Beep- beep- beep-

After she said those words, she hung up.

He was surprised, but also felt that something was off, so he tried calling the house again. However, no one answered.

He called Mom’s phone, but she of course replied that she was at work.

Additionally, my Dad was such an incredible lovebird that, even while living in a household with two incomes, he was the type to try to do all of the household chores—often fondly bickering with Mom over who got to do what.

He might have been my Dad, but he was also a very family-oriented and earnest person, and he wasn't someone who had heard such complaints from my Mom before.

From my understanding, the relationship between my paternal grandmother and Mom was normal, too.

And today…

On his way back home from work, he was surprised to see Mom standing on the dark balcony and hurried home.

Right before he opened the front door, he thought something seemed off. He checked through the peephole and he saw that thing standing on the other side of the door, mumbling to itself. He came running back down and ended up waiting there, which was where I found him.

“And so, for the past few days, I waited for your Mom to get home and went inside with her—even though I got home first.”

‘I see. Now that I think about it, this week……’

I remembered that the two always came home together, even though their workplaces were different and their jobs ended at different times.

Because I had lived for three years before coming back, I just passed it off as there having been a time in the past where they used to come home together.

“… What should we do, Dad?”

“I’m not sure… Haah…”

My Dad rubbed his forehead briefly before coming to a decision.

“For now, let’s go up to the house together. It’s not like we can report this anywhere.”

“… Will it be alright?”

“We can’t put your mother in danger, either. Before your Mom gets home, us guys should try to handle this somehow. If it’s two grown men, shouldn’t we be able to handle this?”

I nodded my head and followed my father onto the elevator.

That was right. It was our house.

We can’t continue to let the weird thing pretending to be Mom steal our place and force us to sit around outside.

After we got out of the elevator, Dad input the passcode to the front door.

Beep.

I clenched my fists.

I wasn’t sure if that monstrous existence would be affected by my fists, but I was thinking that I might have to resort to violence.

Creak-

Dad opened the front door and went in first. I followed behind him and stood by the shoe rack.

Just in case we needed to run away, we left the front door wide open.

It was evening.

The inside of the house was completely dark, without a single ray of light other than the weak orange sensor lights on the shoe rack shining roughly on the living room.

A weird noise could be heard coming from the kitchen, located around the corner and through the living room.

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

The sound of a knife chopping something could be heard.

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

“Dad.”

Dad turned around as he was about to enter the room after taking off his shoes.

“Take this.”

I handed Dad the umbrella that was placed next to the shoe rack.

He accepted the umbrella without a word and nodded his head silently.

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

After Dad took a slow step forward, he softly called out.

“Honey?”

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

He gripped the umbrella tighter as he tried again.

“…Honey? Is that you, dear?”

I also took off my shoes and followed after my Dad, wielding a random glass bottle as a weapon.

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

Afterwards, my Dad turned the corner and checked the kitchen. His face morphed into an expression of astonishment.

I rushed forward to see what was happening, looking into the kitchen.

Astonishment washed over me, as well.

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

Mom was performing a handstand over the sink on one hand. Her feet were pressed against the ceiling and her other hand was gripping a kitchen knife. She was swinging the knife against the chopping board.

Dad’s lips began to tremble as he shouted.

“D-disappear if you’re a ghost! Leave if you’re a person!”

Chop- chop- chop- chop-

Mom continued to wordlessly swing her kitchen knife against the chopping board, as if she were cooking.

Dad gripped his umbrella with shaking hands as he shouted again.

“D-disappear if you’re a ghost! Leave if you’re a person!”

The moment that he held up the umbrella, as if he was going to use it to attack her, the thing pretending to be my mom twisted her head in our direction.

“Why is it always one person who makes the mess and another who cleans it up?!”

“……”

“……”

Dad and I lifted our weapons.

“WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS MAKING A MESS?!!! WHYYYY!!!?????!!!”

The thing jumped off the sink while still upside down as she screamed, bolting towards us.

“LET ME BREATHE FOR ONCE!!!!! PLEASE!!!!”

“You b*tch! Why are you having a fit in someone else’s house?! Leave!”

Dad took on an aggressive pose as he shouted back.

Mom was hopping on one hand while upside down, her other hand swinging the kitchen knife towards my dad’s ankles.

Dad opened the umbrella and used it to block the kitchen knife.

The kitchen knife pierced through the plastic of the umbrella but was thankfully blocked by the metal handle.

“YOU CAALLL YOURSEELLLFF A PERSON WHEN YOU DRINK SOO MUCH?!!”

“You insane b*tch! Leave our house immediately! Do you want to fight!?”

Dad didn’t lose out at shouting, but it was most likely a bluff.

Although both of us didn’t go out of our way to say it, we both knew that thing wasn’t human.

Despite knowing this, Dad was still fighting to protect our house and family.

While ‘Mom’ and Dad were causing a scene, I rushed around them to help out.

If she were in a normal position, I would have aimed for her head. Since she was performing a handstand, I had no choice but to swing somewhere around her waist.

“Stop pretending to be my Mom and f*ck off, b*tch!”

Smack!

“AAAAAACCCKKK!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES A SMARTPHONE EMITS??!!”

Her head twisted around a hundred and eighty degrees and stared up at me from below.

“BAN JANGHUN’S MOM SAYS THAT HE CAN SIT STILL AND FOCUS FOR OVER THREE HOURS. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAD A CHILD LIKE YOU!”

“SHUT UP!”

When I kicked the ghost’s head, she finally lost her balance and fell over sideways.

Crash!

Dad and I caught our breath and quickly stepped back, adjusting our positions.

“Huff, huff… Joon, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m alright. How about you, Dad? Did you get stabbed?”

“Other than a slight graze, I’m unharmed. Huff huff.”

Mom started twisting around while still on the floor before slowly getting back up, but the way she did was not human.

Her waist jerked up unnaturally and then slowly began to float midair.

In that position, her arms were brought up and then she began to wiggle side to side as if she were dancing.

Her hair acted as if it was no longer affected by gravity, floating around in all directions.

“Honey, we can’t live like this anymore. Let’s all hang ourselves and die.”

“… J-Joon, come over here.”

As my Dad broke out into a cold sweat, he told me to get behind him.

“Something doesn’t seem right, Joon. Stay behind Dad.”

“Yes……”

I could also tell that the atmosphere had changed.

Just before, although she did seem like a monster, it felt like we would be able to tackle this situation somehow. Now the atmosphere seemed different.

Before, she had been shouting out complaints. Now, her voice seemed calm…

And weirdly, even more threatening.

Mom’s wiggling sped up until it looked like she was having a seizure.

After waving her hands like crazy, she suddenly let out a cough and went completely limp.

“……”

“……”

Was she pretending that she had hung herself?

That was roughly what she looked like.

The thing pretending to be Mom was just hanging in the air, limp, before she slowly looked up and spoke.

“Mom asked all of the other mothers, but none of them mention that their children make life difficult for their parents like you. I no longer want to raise you, so get out of the house.”

I was triggered and shouted back.

“Stop talking bullsh*t. This is OUR house. You’re the one who has to-”

“HEEEEYYYY!!!!!!”

She suddenly screamed and flew towards me, aiming to claw at me with her fingernails.

“Joon! Run away!”

Dad pushed me away and tried to block 'Mom'.

The ghost pretending to be 'Mom' choked my Dad, just like that.

“Cough, ack!”

She was so strong that even my Dad, who was over one hundred fifty pounds, was lifted up into the air.

“Let’s all die! Let’s all hang ourselves and die!”

“Aack, cough, Joon… Run away!”

“Dad!”

At that moment, someone at the front door began to shout.

“Joon’s father!! What’s happening?!”

It was the mister living next door.

“Oh, oh my! What in the world?!”

His wife was standing next to him, positioned behind the front door.

The couple next door had heard the ruckus we caused and came over to check on what was happening.

The front door, which we had left open just in case, was something I became grateful for.

“Mister! Missus! Help us please!!”

“How, how could this be?! Stop it! Joon’s mother! What are you doing?!”

The mister ran over and clung to the ghost Mom’s arms, struggling to try to pull them off my Dad’s throat.

“Cough, aah, cough.”

“Always drinking and playing around. I can’t live in this house anymore. Our family all decided to hang ourselves and die so please don’t stop me.”

She mumbled expressionlessly as she continued to choke my Dad.

“What do you mean, Joon’s mother?! When did Joon’s father ever drink or play around?! Please wake up, please! Damn, what is this strength…?”

Mister grabbed the ghost Mom’s arms and tried his hardest to pull them away, but they didn’t budge.

I quickly rushed to my room and searched my desk for a boxcutter.

Then I brought it out and stabbed the girl’s hands with all my might.

The blood splashed all over my face.

“Kyaah! Oh no!”

The missus behind the door screamed in surprise.

I didn’t care whether she screamed or not, stabbing the hand with all my might.

“Kyaaahh!!!! Do you also treat your teachers that way outside?!! Do you think your Mom is laughable?!!”

It was only now that the thing pretending to be my mom let go and began to squirm.

“Cough, huff! Keuk!”

Dad collapsed and dry heaved a couple of times before catching his breath and shouting.

“Joon! Go hide next door with the missus and call the cops!”

“D-Dad! But—!”

I was thinking that it would be dangerous with only Dad and the mister, but then I heard some murmuring from behind me.

By the front door, a lot of the neighbors had come by to check out the source of the chaos.

“What in the world is happening here?”

“It must be a couple fighting. It seems a bit severe.”

A thought occurred to me, after seeing all of those people.

‘If there are this many people, then it’ll be safe!’

“Yes, Dad! I’ll call them right away!”

As I was about to take out my phone, my Dad quickly shouted.

“Go next door and hide before you call the police! Hurry, Joon! Your safety comes first!!”

“Dad! … Yes, I understand. Please be safe!”

Because the ghost was taking on the shape of Mom, if Dad ran away as well, we wouldn’t know what sort of weird things the neighbors would say.

The only people who knew that the thing was actually an unrealistically strong ghost were Dad and I.

Even in this situation, Dad was worried about my safety and wanted me to hide first.

While the ghost was holding onto her injured arm and causing a scene, I rushed past the murmuring crowd and ran next door.

Luckily, the door to the neighbor’s was open and the missus had followed me out.

Although she had been unable to do much before because of her shock and surprise, after seeing the crowd that formed, she seemed to have regained her calm.

So she calmly asked me about the situation.

“Joon, why is your mother suddenly like this? Your parents used to be so harmonious together……”

“I’m sorry. I’ll explain later.”

I locked the door and bolted it.

“… Is there a need to go that far?”

After seeing me calmly use three locking mechanisms on a neighbor’s door, the missus asked the question, as if she were stunned. I ignored her and called the police.

[Ah, you mean building 101, unit 502? A resident already reported the incident, and we have already dispatched people. Please wait there a bit longer.]

As they had said, as soon as I got off the phone I could see that the police had come because of the bright blue lights seeping in through the windows.

However, maybe because it was reported as a simple couple’s quarrel, only three officers could be seen.

‘Will that be enough?’

Ring ring~♬ Ring ring~♬

I had been watching the police enter the building from the window when I heard my phone ring and saw that it was Mom.

This time, it was my real Mom.

“Hello? Mom? Mom! Where are you?”

[Joon! Mom is in front of the apartment building! Is something going on? There are police officers saying that it isn’t safe. They won’t let me in!]

“Don’t come in, Mom! Right now, a robber has entered the house and is causing chaos!”

[A robber? They said it was a couple’s quarrel?]

“It’s not! It’s a robber! It’s dangerous because he’s wielding a weapon! Don’t come!”

[What in the world?! Are you alright? What about your dad?]

“I’m hiding next door! Dad should be alright, he’s with a lot of other people.”

[Y-yeah! I understand! You have to be careful!]

When I ended the call, the missus next to me stared at me with an expression of visible confusion.

“Did you just get off of a call with your Mom? But your Mom was just over there……”

Ding, dong.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

Missus went to the intercom first to check. When she looked, she made a surprised face.

She started shaking as she looked at me, so I also went to check the intercom.

The intercom showed an image of my Dad with his eyes rolled back and his tongue sticking out. His face was unnaturally close to the intercom camera.

With shaking hands, I reached out for the nearby fire extinguisher.

“… Dad?”

[Joon, it’s Dad. Open the door.]

“… Liar.”

It was the voice of an adult female, intentionally imitating a low voice in an attempt to sound like a man.

[I failed my business, was chased by debt collectors, and made your stomach hurt from only eating ramen. Aren’t you sick of life?]

“… Dad, you never started your own business. And when did we ever eat ramen?”

[Now I’m too tired, so I hung myself, along with your Mom. You should also hang yourself and die. Quickly open the door.]

“Stop spouting bullsh*t and f*ck off, you insane b*tch!”

When I shouted, my body shaking, the screen showed my Dad collapsing.

I could now see the hallway behind him, and all of the people that had been watching were floating in the air, struggling to escape.

Their upper bodies couldn’t be seen through the intercom, but the struggling lower bodies were more than enough to tell that they were struggling because they had been strung up.

I wasn’t sure how, since there was nothing on the ceiling and I couldn’t see the tops of their bodies through the intercom, but many people were hanging there and coughing.

“What did you do to my Dad, you f*cking b*tch?!”

As I shouted while crying, Mom’s face could be seen filling up the intercom screen.

[You little p*nk! How could you speak to your mother like that? You want to get in trouble? Nothing is going on here. Open the door quickly!]

For a moment, I flinched at the completely normal looking face and voice. Then I realized that there was no way it could be real.

I was even more angry at myself for flinching and almost falling for the trick.

“I will kill you! Just stop it, you b*tch!”

Even as I was spilling out tears and snot, I was so angry that I was looking for something that could be a weapon.

A golf club used by the mister next door was in the living room.

I grabbed the golf club, walked past the shivering missus and opened the front door.

Beep.

“HOW WILL YOU GET MARRIED IF YOU’RE SO FAT?!!”

“Shut the f*ck up, you f*cking b*tch!”

As soon as I opened the door, I swung the club in the direction of the 'Mom' ghost, who was rushing towards me.

The golf club cleanly hit her, square on the head.

I could see her brain matter splatter to the side.

However, it didn’t slow her down at all. She flew towards me and began to choke me.

“It’s because of your moronic personality that you have no friends and you’re always alone. How are you going to live with that rotten brain of yours? What’s so difficult about studying? Do you know how much your Mom is suffering out there working? You can’t handle sitting there and studying so you only play games all day, and you make your Mom want to hang herself and die……”

“Cough, gag… cough.”

I used all my strength to struggle, but it was no use.

The pressure was enough to make my eyes feel like they would explode. I lost consciousness as my tongue began to roll out.

[You are dead.]

[You will restart at your previous checkpoint.]

[Loading…]

***

“Ahahaha, be safe on your way home! Today was a lot of fun!”

“……”

Sunah had her back to the setting sun as she smiled at me.

Behind her was the old apartment, and the setting sun showed that it was almost evening.

“……”

“Um……”

Sunah stared at me, then she started speaking.

“I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

Was the red I could see on her face because of the sunset?

Seeing this dreamlike and lovely image, I slowly nodded and then spoke.

“Yeah, Sunah. Let’s see each other again tomorrow.”

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