Ch. 99 - Eleventh Ghost Story - The Forgotten Friend (12)

What?

I looked up in surprise and raised my head to see the message in front of me in detail.

However, I ended up lowering my head down to the table in front of us, as if I had no strength left in my body.

I stretched out my arms to support my collapsing body, barely managing to avoid burying my face in the teacup.

For some reason, I couldn't feel any strength to support my back.

'What, what is happening…’

I gasped as I struggled with my weakened body and somehow opened my mouth to call my friends while keeping my head lowered.

"...Hey, guys."

Since a while ago, the club members had been quiet for some reason.

Even though I was acting like this, there was no response from anyone.

"...Guys?"

“……”

"Haa, haa."

A sudden and inexplicable wave of drowsiness washed over me.

A feeling of paralysis as if the part of my brain responsible for reason was hardening and becoming numb from deep within.

I barely managed to straighten my back, struggling to keep my eyes open and fighting the sensation that I might lose consciousness if I closed my eyes.

“Haa, haa.”

My neck and spine felt stiff and tense, so I shifted my weight and leaned unsteadily against the sofa, using my hip muscles to stabilize myself.

My back leaned against the sofa, and my head dropped helplessly over the edge.

“Haa, haa.”

My whole body trembled as I tried to regain control over my senses.

It was like when I desperately fought off the drowsiness that was coming during class.

I jerked my legs up and shook my head.

Despite attempting all methods, I still felt my consciousness slipping away in moments.

If someone were to put me to sleep right now, they could take everything I have and I wouldn't be aware.

I barely managed to overcome those feelings and twisted my hips with great difficulty to turn towards Sunah, who was sitting right next to me.

“Sunah…! Sunah…?”

“……”

The only one who could protect me from the current predicament was Sunah.

However, Sunah was just staring blankly, her mouth slightly open and eyes unfocused.

“Su, Sunah…”

I couldn't muster any strength in my arms, so I nudged her with my shoulder, however, there was no response from her.

“....Guys?”

“……”

The other members sitting beside me were behaving the same way.

Jinhee was leaning her back against the sofa with her eyes closed, and Gyeongwon was just staring blankly into the air, drools dropping down the corner of his mouth.

I twisted my body to check on Hayoon and Dukhun through the corner of my view, but both of them were also seated with their eyes closed.

“Huuu, Huuu. Who, who’s awake…”

Just as I tried to quicken my breathing to keep from losing consciousness and raise my heart rate.

I heard someone walking toward the room from the hallway.

Step, step, step.

Step, step, step.

Creak-

The door opened, and the counselor entered, hands clasped elegantly in front of her and looking this way.

She glanced at us lying on the sofa and snickered.

“You’re all asleep already?”

At that moment, I felt a slight flinch right next to me, and Sunah stood up, her whole being trembling unsteadily.

She fumbled to take out the usually pink boxcutter from her pocket and forced her unsteady fingers to curl around it before raising the blade.

Step. Step. Tak.

She staggered forward, step by step, and approached the counselor.

Click.

Tak-

The counselor teacher, Ryu Jinah, closed the door to the counseling room, and calmly watched Sunah approaching her with trembling steps with an almost bored expression.

Sunah staggered forward and stood in front of the counselor silently for a long while, trembling with the boxcutter in her hand.

As if that was how far she could go, her back shook slightly as she stood there, not being able to do anything.

The teacher, who had been quietly watching Sunah, soon smiled and playfully flicked her long finger, giving Sunah a light flick on the forehead.

Thud-

With just a simple touch, Sunah tumbled down straight to the floor as if she had lost consciousness.

The pink boxcutter in her hand fell to the floor, making a cheerful clanging sound.

“You drank all that and still managed to walk this far. What a strong-willed child.”

Sunah's curled up body, which was lying down at the teacher’s feet without saying a word, flinched.

Soon, the teacher walked past Sunah and approached us, leisurely surveying the five of us sitting on the sofa who seemed to have lost their consciousness.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, even if you’re sleepy. I have a lot to ask you.”

In my hazy consciousness, the counselor's whispers sounded like the voice of a goddess.

“Who would like to explain first?”

Resting her hand on her chin, she leisurely looked down at us and pondered.

“How about you, the smart-looking one with glasses?”

The teacher circled the table and gracefully sat down between me and Gyeongwon, where Sunah had originally been.

In that moment, the faint, dreamy scent enveloped me, making it feel as if my consciousness might drift away once more.

“Tell me. What is the reason you're looking for Eunjung?”

The teacher whispered like an angel in Gyeongwon's ear, who was blankly staring and drooling.

“I’ll listen to everything.”

The teacher pulled Gyeongwon, who was about to collapse, toward him and pressed her face against his.

Then, Gyeongwon slowly started mumbling incomprehensibly while still staring blankly.

“…Jinhee told us a story and suddenly Eunjung appeared? ….Ghost story? Hoo, hoo.”

The teacher gently stroked Gyeongwon’s head, encouraging him to explain, as if handling a kindergarten child.

“....So that’s why you came all the way here. You must have had a hard time. Running all the way here. Haaa… Yeah. It’s okay.”

Gyeongwon was pulled into her embrace and hugged tightly, while the teacher slowly patted him on the back.

“Sleep well… sleep well…”

At that languid voice, even I, who was sitting next to him, was about to be enchanted.

I struggled to keep my wits, moving my waist and twisting my hips, which was still barely able to exert strength and fought to stay focused.

Bump, bump.

My waist kept bumping into the teacher's lower back as I tried to turn my back.

Eventually, the teacher turned around to look at me, stopping the process of putting Gyeongwon to sleep.

Seeing me squirming and bumping her hips, she narrowed her eyes and smiled.

“Don’t be so desperate, Joon. You'll have your chance to be counseled by me later.”

For some odd reason, Jinhee's elementary school counselor knew my name.

Of course, there was a name tag attached to my uniform.

However, she hadn't even glanced at me from the moment I arrived until now.

Soon, Teacher Ryu Jinah smiled with an amused expression, her pink lips curling up in a mocking smile as she glanced at me.

“You'll end up revealing everything to the teacher, including your most precious... deepest secrets.”

With a sudden twist of my back and hips, I collapsed into the narrow space between the table and the sofa.

Clink. Thud.

“Haa, haaa.”

As I fell, snacks and drinks spilled over my body, cascading down from my waist.

And in front of me, Dukhun and Hayoon’s legs were hanging limp.

The teacher looked down at me with an amused expression before turning her gaze back to the other members.

I fell face-first into the floor as if kissing it, my nose must have broken at the impact.

But perhaps due to the effects of the medication, I didn’t feel any pain.

‘Haa, haa.’

I wriggled like a worm as I crawled toward Sunah who was lying by the entrance, dragging my body forward with my cheek pressed to the floor.

From behind, I could hear the teacher's gentle whispers, continuing to play with the other members' minds.

“....Is that so? You were Eunjung’s gaming buddies when you were young. Now? …You don't know?”

Then, the teacher sat down on Dukhun’s thick thigh and tickled his ear.

In the meantime, I finally managed to reach Sunah and slipped the boxcutter she had dropped between my fingers.

“Huuu, it’s all over.”

The teacher stood up and walked over to me.

“It’s finally your turn, Joony.”

She approached my fallen self, which was struggling and lying face down on the floor, and bent her knees as she whispered in my ear.

“You’re actually excited for the session, right? To be able to be counseled by the teacher.”

With gentle movement, she turned me over with her hands and made me lie on my back and facing the ceiling.

“Oh my! Your nose is bleeding.”

My face, which became messy from pressing it against the floor and squirming.

The teacher’s delicate eyes with double eyelids looking at me turned to a mocking sad expression.

She crouched down, lifted my head, and offered her knees as a pillow.

Then she began gently stroking my head.

“Stay still, why did you do that?”

Ah.

She’s really like an angel.

I want to tell her everything.

Swish- swish-

The teacher's delicate and long fingers pressed against my philtrum, gently wiping away the nosebleed that had trickled down.

Noticing me staring at her with a dazed expression, the teacher let out a soft laugh.

“It seems you're eager.”

I nodded with my mouth agape, gasping for breath.

“Okay. I’ll help you up.”

She pulled me into her embrace, helping me straighten my body.

However, my body was so weak that I couldn't sit on my own, and I immediately slumped back into the teacher's arms.

“You’re being a spoiled brat now. Even elementary school kids don’t do that.”

The teacher whispered as she pulled me close, embracing me tightly.

"I’ve always wanted to meet you since they mentioned you so many times during the meetings, and now we've ended up in this situation so suddenly."

“……”

“Come a little closer.”

“Yes…”

Like a baby nestled in its mother's arms, I lost myself in the moment, rubbing my face against the fabric of her dress.

“Do you know whom I was talking with just now on the phone?”

The teacher's languid voice wrapped around my consciousness, soothingly overpowering my thoughts.

“Your school Vice Principal.”

Haha, the teacher laughed pleasantly.

“When I told her that the students of Nakseong High School have arrived here, asking about the child who had died after being sent to our organization’s alternative school, she immediately asked if it was related to the members of the Ghost Story Club.”

Gently stroking my head, she whispered softly like a saint.

“So when I mentioned that the boy named Lee Joon, whom I saw in the photos during the meetings, was involved, she immediately said you guys probably already sensed something so you arrived here. She advised me to hold you here for now. They would be sending someone from the school.”

“……”

“That was really fortunate. This teacher had already prepared the medication since the moment you arrived and started asking about Eunjung."

Teacher Ryu Jinah tickled my ears with her laughter.

My lips went up naturally.

“Life is meaningful for those who prepare in advance. Isn’t that right?”

Feeling as if I were wandering through a dream, I nodded strongly in agreement from the safety of the teacher's embrace.

In fact, I was already prepared to accept and follow anything this person said.

“So, what about you?”

She pressed her red lips close to my ear and whispered secretly.

“Something like a Ghost Story Club. Why did you create it?”

“That’s…”

“You can freely tell me everything. I won’t tell anyone.”

In that moment, completely surrendering, when I was about to lose my reasoning and reveal everything.

Sunah, who was lying face down behind me, suddenly began to thrash and convulse, perhaps because she couldn’t breathe.

She kicked me hard in the back.

Thud-

For a moment, I regained consciousness, and focused all my strength in my limped hand.

Using my shoulder joint, I threw Sunah's boxcutter toward Hayoon on the sofa with all my strength.

Thud.

When the boxcutter suddenly hit her cheek, Hayoon instinctively frowned.

‘Just as I thought, she was awake.’

I noticed it when I was falling over the table.

Hayoon’s teacup was filled to the brim with the suspicious beverage.

She must have been pretending to be asleep and observing the situation.

The teacher showed no particular reaction even after seeing the sight.

Soon, she quietly looked into my eyes and let out a faint smile.

“You should respond properly when people are nicely asking you.”

She released me from her embrace and slowly stood up.

With her arms crossed, she looked down at me coldly as I fell down to the floor and laid back limply, staring at the ceiling.

“Do you really want to die? Why do kids crawl all the way up to your head when you treat them well?”

Then she took off her slippers and stepped on my mouth and nose with one of her stockinged feet.

“Ugh… Umph…”

Cough, cough.

My face was already a mess with blood pouring out of my broken nose.

The teacher's foot mercilessly crushed my airway, making it impossible to breathe.

“Hmm? Hmm?”

“Umph… Umph…”

Her toes dug into my nostrils, not being able to breathe, my face turned red as I struggled desperately.

As if she had never been kind like an angel, Ryu Jinah, the counselor, furrowed her brows and stepped on my face.

“You idiots. You annoying brats. If I treat you well, you climb all the way to my head.”

“Umph- Umphh-”

“Because of you, even the Young Miss-”

In an instant.

Swish.

Hayoon, who had her eyes closed pretending to be asleep on the sofa, grabbed the pink boxcutter that I had thrown at her, rushed over to the teacher and slit her throat in one swift movement.

“Cough, ugh.”

The teacher grabbed her neck and a painful grimace appeared on her pretty face.

Without being able to let out a groan, the teacher staggered and fell straight down to the floor.

Soon, Hayoon hovered above my face, holding the boxcutter with both hands and smiling bitterly.

“Let’s try again, Joon.”

Swish-

With that, the blade plunged straight into the forehead.

Stab-

[You are dead.]

[You'll start again from the previous checkpoint.]

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