“Putting blackout curtains in the hallway like this…”
A few days before Seo-yeon was set to film a commercial.
Seo-yeon went to the old school building with her classmates.
“It definitely has a bit of atmosphere.”
Gil Da-hyun, the class president of Class 4, couldn’t help but marvel at the quite convincing setup.
First, they blocked the windows with blackout curtains, and then they taped white paper to the walls, splattering dark red paint to create a vibe.
So what happened next?
“Wow, honestly, I’m a bit scared.”
A female student shuddered.
And why wouldn’t she be? This building they were turning into a horror booth was the old school building.
And not just any old school building—it hadn’t been used for a long time.
An unmaintained building with that unique vibe that comes with time.
A strangely eerie atmosphere.
The classroom windows were cloudy and cracked.
And since it was an old building, the floor was wooden.
“…Do we really need to go to the first floor and the second floor?”
Some girls already overwhelmed by the atmosphere mumbled to themselves.
“What are you talking about? Of course, we have to do it right!”
The enthusiastic class president shouted, glancing over at Seo-yeon, who had been quiet up until now.
She was the actress who had been in the news for various reasons lately.
And now, Seo-yeon had even volunteered to play a ghost.
“Uh, Seo… ahem! Seo-yeon. You can act as a ghost really well, right?”
It was a bit awkward, but when she thought about it, they had been in the same class for a few months now.
They couldn’t stay awkward forever!
“…Yeah.”
Seo-yeon felt a bit pleased by the class president’s attitude.
‘Hmm.’
Honestly, she was a bit nervous.
Not so much about the role itself.
But more about how the vibe was strangely reminiscent of that horror game she played before…
An old white building.
Darken it with curtains, and it was even more similar.
“We’ll give everyone a flashlight starting from the first floor.”
“Why? Even with the blackout curtains, we don’t need flashlights.”
“Oh, you don’t get it. Flashlights are part of the atmosphere.”
Even holding a flashlight sounded strangely familiar.
Something felt odd.
‘It should be fine.’
Seo-yeon slowly nodded.
What could possibly happen?
What was wrong with something resembling a horror game?
‘The only thing I was scared of back then was the appearance of the monsters. The jump scares.’
There was no way she’d be scared of a ghost house made by high schoolers.
Most importantly, Seo-yeon was the one who would be doing the scaring.
She was playing the same role as the monsters that had startled her in the game.
“…”
Thinking like that made her a bit excited.
Even the class president seemed to be looking forward to her ghost performance.
‘This might help, too.’
Coincidentally, she was playing the killer in a thriller movie.
That emotion might help when she acted as a ghost.
‘Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve really only been focusing on Cha Seo-ah’s human side.’
That thought suddenly struck Seo-yeon.
She felt this way even more because she thought of Cha Seo-ah as a similar character.
But Cha Seo-ah wasn’t someone to be pitied.
As the perpetrator in a thriller movie, she had to instill fear in the audience.
‘All the properly shot scenes so far were parts of the highlight, so it was fine to show Cha Seo-ah’s character.’
But they hadn’t filmed much of the earlier parts, just the chase scenes.
They had filmed the daily scenes and the highlights, but the scenes of the crimes in the middle hadn’t been shot yet.
‘Then.’
It seemed like it would be good to highlight the scarier aspects in the second half.
If she could use that in this ghost house…
“Seo-yeon!”
The class president called out to Seo-yeon at that moment.
When she looked up, she could feel the other students staring at her.
“We’re going to practice now; is that okay?”
To be honest, they had already practiced several times during the day.
But doing it in the dark was a first for Seo-yeon, so she felt a bit anxious.
Of course, it was absolutely not scary.
Really.
*
“Hmm.”
With just three days until the festival.
Seo-yeon sat deep in thought on a chair at home.
Today the commercial shoot had ended relatively successfully.
Especially since the director, Do Hyung-tae, had given her rave reviews, which only left Seo-yeon feeling a bit awkward.
Before the shoot, she had heard,
“Oh, if the director of this CF is Do Hyung-tae, it’s going to be quite intense.”
“Why?”
“I’ve heard he has a very picky personality.”
He was famous for creating visually stunning advertisements.
But that also meant he had a lot of requirements from actors and was strict, leading to mixed opinions among the staff.
‘For someone like that, he was pretty much a yes-man though.’
Seo-yeon recalled her experiences during the shoot.
Just holding the cosmetics and acting lightly as written in the script had led everyone to rave about her.
‘Is it really okay like this?’
She couldn’t help but wonder.
After all, this was her first CF since she had grown up.
Maybe her acting skills had genuinely improved and helped her with the commercial.
Anyway, she hadn’t seen the final product yet since they said they were using a lot of CGI.
They would probably send it to her once it was completed to some extent.
‘Anyway.’
Seo-yeon thought about the ghost house.
The practice today wasn’t bad.
About ten female students were playing the ghost roles.
Since they hadn’t done any makeup, none of them had really immersed themselves in the roles.
“Uuuh!”
“Oh, it’s okay, it’s okay. It’ll be scary if you run in wearing a wig later, right?”
“Right?”
It felt like they were focusing a bit too much on jump scares.
That’s just how ghost houses are, after all.
But for Seo-yeon, it felt different.
“Seo-yeon is the highlight on the second floor. Let’s show your face slightly from the stairs and then shine again later. It’s a boss vibe.”
“Wow, that sounds good.”
They weren’t asking for too much.
Just peeking her face from the stairs on the second floor and then popping out at the end to scare everyone.
“The real actors’ ghost performances must be super scary, right?”
“Wow, just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.”
But after preparing together, the students felt a sense of closeness compared to before.
Moreover, since they were actors, they had slightly higher expectations.
Most importantly, Seo-yeon was full of enthusiasm.
“AAAH!!”
The scream burst out for the first time during practice.
When Seo-yeon slightly emerged from the stairs and shocked everyone at the end.
The atmosphere was more chilling than usual.
“Well, that makes sense. There’s a reason why urban legends about high school ghosts exist.”
“What’s high school ghost stories?”
“A movie that came out before we were born.”
The female students chatting away seemed to overwhelmingly praise Seo-yeon’s performance.
Especially Gil Da-hyun.
‘She’s really an actress!’
Gil Da-hyun had been in the same place where the scream was heard.
Entering the first floor, at the central staircase in the corridor.
It was the place they had to pass before proceeding to the mission at the end of the hallway.
There, Seo-yeon stood atop the stairs, looking down at the students.
Honestly, she hadn’t done anything spectacular.
She was just looking, but her glaring red eyes standing out in the darkness caused people to instinctively stop in their tracks.
And what about the very end?
Seo-yeon appeared quietly from the second-floor mission area, matching the highlight perfectly.
She was completely different from the other students mumbling “Uuuh,” sounding like zombies or ghosts.
‘With this, the popular booth will definitely be ours.’
They had a great location, and Seo-yeon was great too.
“I think we’re good to go, Seo-yeon! I’m counting on you on the festival day!”
“Ah, umm.”
Seo-yeon nodded at Gil Da-hyun’s bright smile, but…
‘…Hmm.’
Unlike the others, she was lost in thought.
Something felt a bit different from what she had expected.
*
Thus began the Yeonhwa High School festival.
Unlike university festivals, outsiders couldn’t enter, but it was a major event for the students.
Each class had their booths.
It was supposed to be a lively and enjoyable event…
“…It’s raining.”
Swoosh!!
And not just lightly but coming down in buckets.
Thanks to this, the classes that set up outdoor booths were crying tears of blood as they had to disassemble.
They had heard it would rain to some extent, but they never imagined it would pour like this.
As a result…
“Still, there are many booths indoors, right?”
Most booths were made using classrooms or hallways.
Like a makeshift café or dart throwing.
Those small recreational booths.
And unexpectedly, the most eye-catching place turned out to be.
“A ghost house?”
Lee Ji-yeon squinted her eyes.
“I heard the kids in Class 4 turned the old school into a ghost house? They said it would start at 10, so it should be open now.”
At that, Lee Ji-yeon crossed her arms.
‘That sounds like something Joo Seo-yeon mentioned.’
Something felt off.
When she had originally heard Seo-yeon talk about it, she thought it would just be a typical ghost house at the high school festival.
‘But for them to go so far as to rent the old school building…’
Moreover, there was something else bothering her.
“On top of that, she’s going to play a ghost!”
“She?”
“Joo Seo-yeon, your friend.”
Joo Seo-yeon as a ghost?
That made Lee Ji-yeon even more uneasy.
And it made sense because whenever Seo-yeon acted, she gave her all.
Ten years ago, during the kindergarten play.
In elementary school.
In middle school.
It became an annual event.
At least in middle school, Ji-yeon managed to intervene and it ended relatively calmly, but this time, they weren’t even in the same class.
“Let’s go take a look.”
“Uh?”
“Oh, I’m just curious.”
Ji-yeon said this but was still worried in her heart.
From what she knew, Seo-yeon didn’t seem to particularly enjoy scary things.
Although Ji-yeon hadn’t realized it before, she figured it out after watching the recent broadcast of “If I Were a King.”
That girl liked ghost stuff?
So naturally, Ji-yeon had to worry.
‘About the other students.’
Of course, she didn’t worry about Seo-yeon.
The real problem was the poor students who would be on the receiving end of that runaway train of a girl.
*
“Oh, this isn’t… too bad?”
Holding a flashlight, two male students entered the ghost house for the first time.
With the heavy rain and no particularly fun booths elsewhere, they stumbled upon the ghost house booth by chance.
“Maybe it’s the rain, but it’s a bit scary.”
Swoosh!!
The sound of the rain rang in their ears.
The sun was hidden behind dark clouds, not casting any light.
And with the blackout curtains added, the hallway was eerily quiet and dark, like it was midnight.
The outer walls were painted in dark red, resembling blood.
And with the sound of rain and the creaking floorboards under their feet, they couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their spine.
“Good thing we have the flashlight.”
“Right?”
If they hadn’t had flashlights, they might have stumbled in the dark corners.
But perhaps the batteries were dying, and the flashlight’s light flickered, only increasing their fear.
“NUUUUUAAAAHHHH!!”
And then there were ghosts appearing now and then.
They made startled jumps that caused their hearts to race.
“Ugh, I hate jump scares. Seriously. This is a key feature of a badly made ghost house.”
“What do you mean badly made? Ghost houses are supposed to be like this.”
“You just haven’t been to a well-made one.”
Feeling ashamed for being startled, the larger male student said this.
And as he smirked while walking, the smaller student suddenly noticed the staircase.
In the middle of the corridor.
They were told they would have to pass this area on the way to the mission to get stamped before heading up to the second floor.
And at the end of the second floor, something white caught their attention.
‘What is that?’
At first, it looked like something.
Then they realized belatedly that it was a hand.
They weren’t grasping the stairs with feet, but with hands.
And when they slightly tilted their gaze upwards,
There were those red eyes.
Slowly.
A woman in a white outfit was walking down the stairs, upside down.
It felt like a scene from an old movie they had seen long ago.
Drip, drop.
The black liquid trickling from her eyes.
And those shining red eyes in the darkness.
In that moment…
“KAAAAAaaah!!!”
They couldn’t help but scream and run.
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