How to Survive the Horror Novel I Wrote
Chapter 32
“Ji-an’s husband.”
It was an instant reply. I looked at Ugeum with wide, dubious eyes.
“Ooh… Are you going to marry Teach?”
“Of course.”
What do you mean, ’of course’? How could we get married? You aren’t even a real person.
“Will you invite me to the wedding too?”
“Need you even ask? You’re in trouble if you don’t show up.”
At Ugeum’s shameless reply, On-dam glanced at me as if seeking confirmation. I had no other choice.
“If we ever do.”
“Oppa, did you hear that? Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“You’re not going to?”
Ugeum asked in a tone of disbelief, I mumbled an evasive answer, and On-dam burst out laughing.
It was an evening where the scent of grilling meat, warm heat, laughter, and a pleasant touch of embarrassment tickled my chest.
* * *
After the barbecue ended, On-dam headed into her room with a sly grin.
“The third wheel will take her leave then. Have a wonderful time, you two.”
My face flushed at her suggestive words. Why are kids these days so precocious? Cooling down my burning cheeks with the back of my hand, I stole a glance at Ugeum.
Watching me with curved eyes, Ugeum spoke as if he had been waiting.
“Let’s go for a walk. Get some fresh air.”
“Okay.”
We stepped out of the lodge.
Outside, it was dark and cool. The mountains, stained with autumn foliage, had draped themselves in shadows over the fall colors.
The rustle of a chilly breeze, the shaking leaves, and the distant cry of wild animals scattered beneath our synchronized footsteps.
Normally, I would have terrified myself imagining something—someone—watching, following, or ambushing me from behind a tree, deep in the bushes, or right behind my back, yet I felt surprisingly calm.
Because I was with Ugeum.
He didn’t terrify me like usual either. Today’s Ugeum was… how should I put it, like a different person. An unthreatening person. An ordinary person—though his looks were anything but ordinary. And a good person.
When I glanced up at him, Ugeum asked with a soft gaze,
“What is it?”
“Just… thank you.”
“For what?”
“For bringing me here. Today was fun. I feel like I was able to heal thanks to you. Me and On-dam both… I didn’t expect you to bring On-dam along too.”
“Honestly, I wanted to come with just the two of us.”
My heart thudded hard. Heat rushed to my face. I didn’t know what to say. If… we had. If we had come just the two of us.
The dream from last night flashed in my mind, sending a tight flutter through my stomach. Embarrassed to meet his eyes, I turned my head to look at the distant mountains.
“Still, the three of us had fun.”
I rattled off some meaningless words, and Ugeum smiled silently.
Walking side by side, the backs of our hands brushed against each other. Each time I flinched as if scorched, Ugeum gently reached out and took my hand.
I held his hand back. As if he had been waiting, Ugeum interlaced our fingers. His hand was so large and warm, it felt as though it wrapped around my entire body.
And so we walked silently down the night path. It happened just as we made a wide loop around the lodge grounds and turned behind the building.
Catch.
Suddenly my foot snagged on something, and I instantly lost my balance. But just as I was about to fall, a firm hand caught my arm.
A heavy, subtle scent rushed over me, and a broad chest filled my vision. Before I knew it, I was in Ugeum’s embrace.
I looked up at Ugeum with startled eyes. He was looking down at me with dark, sunken eyes.
Ah… those eyes.
They were the eyes from my dream. Burning with dark, smoldering desire.
My chest flared hot as if catching fire. My words of thanks died in my throat, and a strange impulse surged within me. Unconsciously, I rose onto my tiptoes. Just as Ugeum’s face drew right in front of mine—
“Ji-an.”
“……?”
“Look over there.”
Ugeum raised his free hand and pointed behind me.
Reluctantly, I turned around. And there, leaning precariously between the black trees, stood a wooden building.
It was a shed. A small, weathered shed.
The moment I saw that shed, a bone-chilling cold swept over me.
I know this place. I’ve been here before. Photos of that shed were still saved in my research files for the Night Series.
Now I knew. Where this place was. In the end, the deja vu I felt earlier today was right.
This lodge was Ugeum’s hunting ground in ‘Red Night’. And that shed was the place where the protagonist, Woo Yiseon, met his end.
Woo Yiseon was a counselor who worked at a suicide prevention center. Every now and then, he gathered a few of his clients and organized suicide trips, handing out pills that put everyone into an eternal sleep at the destination. Only two pills among them were fakes: a vitamin for himself, and a sleeping pill for the other.
What awaited the one who woke up was a gruesome end. Not by their own hand, but by Woo Yiseon’s—in ways they had never even imagined.
With a suicide note in hand, and having had them settle their personal affairs beforehand, disguising it as a suicide was child’s play.
To avoid police suspicion, he changed destinations every time, and this place was Woo Yiseon’s final trip.
And his grave.
Whoosh—
The sound of rustling leaves rode the night wind, shaking the dark forest.
Above me, frozen in place, something long and black descended across my vision and wrapped around my neck.
In that instant, a scene from ‘Red Night’ flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern.
[Fuck.
Swallowing back the curse threatening to burst from my mouth, I limped forward into a run. If I made a sound, I’d get caught. Even now, I was scattering all kinds of noise into this damned darkness.
Limping footsteps, ragged gasps, leaves crunching underfoot, snapping twigs, rustling grass… fuck, I never should have come to the mountain.
“Haa. Haa.”
While a sweet, metallic taste filled my mouth, the faint stench of blood rose from my knee.
With every step I took, the sharp pain driven into my knee shot along my bones and through my entire body. It felt like my knee was completely shattered. It was from smashing against a jagged rock when I fell earlier.
I could feel blood trickling down my shin. The soaking-wet pants clung to my knee and shin, impeding my run.
Catch.
The moment something caught my foot, I tumbled forward inevitably—crashing down over exposed tree roots, jagged rocks of all sizes, and thorny bushes.
A scream tore from my throat unbidden. Startled by my own scream, I hastily looked back.
All I saw were black trees lined up densely like iron bars, and the eerie, misty moonlight filtering between them—nothing else. Nobody was there.
But I knew. That bastard was chasing me.
That guy. That crazy bastard.
The bastard who tricked me by showing up in a wheelchair, pretending to be crippled. I should have realized it from the start. A guy who wants to die could never have eyes that calm. A desperate person giving up on life could never be that relaxed.
I should never have come alone with a bastard in the first place. I should have called it off when those other two bitches cut contact and disappeared.
When the son of a bitch in the wheelchair suddenly stood right up, only then did I realize something was terribly wrong.
Scrambling up in panic, I limped forward into a run again. How many times had I fallen like this already? It was so fucking dark I couldn’t see a goddamn thing. Even though I had my phone, I couldn’t turn on the flashlight for fear he would spot me.
No matter how much I ran, I couldn’t escape this damned forest. The black woods surrounding me felt like a labyrinth from hell.
Hell, my ass. Did I even deserve hell? What the fuck did I do so wrong?
I only helped people who wanted to die. Sure, a few of them whined at the last second that they didn’t want to die anymore. Well, actually, quite a lot of them.
But those people wanted to die in the first place. Nothing about their situation had changed; they were just hesitating because they got scared of dying when the moment came, and I merely gave them a push!
In front of my eyes as I panted and limped away, a dilapidated shed suddenly appeared.
There! I have to hide in there! Without a moment to think or hesitate, I sprinted toward the shed.
But the moment I reached the shed and went to open the door—
A long cord dropped across my vision and clung to my neck. In an instant, the cord around my neck tightened into a noose.
“Ghk.”
The trapped breath caught in my throat. Digging my fingernails into my neck, I clawed frantically at the cord biting into my flesh. I thrashed wildly to shake off the bastard behind me.
But it was no use. Strength steadily drained from my body. My breath suffocated, and my eyes rolled back.
Just then, a low, whispering voice drifted into my ears.]
“[It’s time to pay the price for your secrets.]”