#Side Story 5
It was a place Ho-woo hadn’t even considered entering, since Oh-yul didn’t seem likely to be scared of supernatural phenomena like ghosts at all. It was obvious that only Ho-woo would be trembling, providing good entertainment for Oh-yul, so why bother going in? However, Oh-yul was looking towards the haunted house with a rare curious expression. The corners of his lips curled up like a cat’s, holding a subtle smile.
“I’d like to go there.”
“…It’s not an interesting place.”
Ho-woo couldn’t understand at all why people would pay to enjoy something scary. If you wanted something truly terrifying, there was plenty outside the city. Ho-woo looked at the handsome man’s face for a moment. Usually, Oh-yul didn’t force things Ho-woo disliked. Rather, he would often take the initiative to change things Ho-woo didn’t like, so Ho-woo naturally expected Oh-yul to change his mind upon seeing his expression of clear dislike.
“Let’s go.”
The Esper’s face was full of interest as he walked towards the haunted house first. When they finally reached their turn after queueing behind others, the staff member helping with entry recognized Oh-yul’s face and stuttered while reciting the precautions.
“Um… the ghosts are real people, so you can’t hit them or anything.”
“Is it okay if they’re not people?”
“Huh? Ah, no. You can’t damage the facilities either.”
Though stumbling a bit, the staff answered Oh-yul’s question as kindly as possible. It was a much better reaction compared to before when people would just avoid Espers. People’s perceptions had certainly changed frighteningly.
Ho-woo shook his head and entered through the entrance covered by blackout curtains. The dark passage without a hint of light would have scared ordinary people, but the two of them were different.
Since they could distinguish objects with very little light, they easily passed through the dark corridor. What greeted them was a staff member in ghost makeup who suddenly popped out from the side.
“Aaaaargh!”
The staff member who stuck out their head while screaming their best was embarrassingly met with Ho-woo and Oh-yul staring blankly at them without any sign of being startled. In fact, Ho-woo was quite startled. The problem was that the surprise was directed at himself, not the ghost.
Even before pulling back the curtain, Ho-woo had sensed that person crouching in the corner. Is that what they call a presence? That ticklish and mysterious feeling that made one side of his body itch bothered him. Since he already knew someone was there, he couldn’t be surprised even if they suddenly jumped out and screamed.
Silence fell between the three for a moment. The embarrassed ghost slowly retreated back into their corner.
Instead of feeling fear, Oh-yul walked along the prepared course, casting glances as if observing humans. Staff in ghost makeup jumped out and chased after Ho-woo and Oh-yul at intervals, but they retreated under blank, embarrassed stares.
“Interesting. Do ordinary people get surprised by this level?”
“Usually, yes…”
Ho-woo scratched the back of his head. Perhaps because he had seen so many unimaginable things while traveling outside the city as Oh-yul’s partner, he wasn’t very startled by the crude models in the amusement park. He’s changed a lot, Ho-woo thought anew as he walked down the dim path, then stopped as he bumped into a large back.
“What’s wrong?”
Oh-yul, who had been walking ahead, was staring at a pitch-black corner where no light entered.
“Didn’t they say we shouldn’t hit people or damage facilities?”
When Oh-yul mentioned the precautions the staff had earnestly reminded them of before entering, Ho-woo lightly replied, “They did.”
“Then, are we not supposed to catch monsters either?”
“…Pardon?”
The Esper slowly began to draw up energy. The air settling coolly became sharp enough to pierce the lungs. The installed props shook violently as if caught in a fierce storm, making a loud noise.
Grrrr-
When a familiar growl was heard amidst those sounds, Ho-woo took a short breath.
It’s a monster.
There was no mistaking it. It was the sound he had heard most often when leaving the city.
This was the cry of a merciless killer growling with hunger. How it had broken through the defense wall and why it was here wasn’t important right now.
Transparent ice covered the crude plastic trident. The blunt end was sharpened, and the short handle was extended to match Oh-yul’s height.
“Step back.”
The Esper, his eyes dyed deep blue, lowered his body towards the darkness and leapt forward in one breath. Though he kicked off as lightly as a feather, the tip of his spear accurately pierced the monster hiding there.
The darkness writhed with a sound like boiling phlegm. No, the black mass that had been thought to be darkness writhed. Oh-yul skillfully stepped on the black mass, pinning it down to prevent it from struggling. From where the ice spear had pierced, the monster seemed to be slowly freezing as the gurgling sounds gradually subsided.
Normally, he would have frozen and shattered it immediately, but considering the location, the Esper only dragged it out of the haunted house after carefully confirming the monster was dead. If Oh-yul hadn’t noticed, a tragedy could have unfolded today. Ho-woo felt chilled to the bone.
“What’s going on!”
The staff came running, shouting, perhaps because Oh-yul had shaken the building while releasing energy. They approached the two with hardened faces, then screamed upon discovering the black mass stretched out behind them. Although they had never seen a monster directly, they all knew what monsters looked like from video materials used in training.
The people who had gathered like clouds out of curiosity scattered in panic. In their terror-stricken eyes, the Esper standing on the crushed monster seemed invisible. The surroundings instantly became chaotic as people pushed each other to flee.
“Haa.”
Oh-yul, exhaling shortly as if finding them pathetic, applied force to his foot and shattered the frozen monster.
“Who’s in charge here?”
Blue eyes swept over the staff who had fallen to their knees, unable to escape. As the monster lost its form and shattered, they seemed to come to their senses somewhat and hurriedly made calls somewhere.
With one hand in his pocket and the other holding an elegant ice spear based on the crude trident, the man had red horns protruding from his head.
“……”
As the attempt at dignity fled, Ho-woo quietly contacted Han Seong-won via his pager.
***
“Ho-woo! I heard you went on a date!”
“Hello, Yu Hee-eun.”
Yu Hee-eun waved her hand and shouted loudly from afar. It was Team 1’s meeting time, so all team members were already in their seats. Although she arrived last, she boldly chased Han Seong-won, who had been sitting next to Ho-woo, out of his seat and took it.
Although he was Team 1’s vice-captain with decision-making power second only to Oh-yul, Han Seong-won didn’t seem to expect treatment befitting his position as he naturally turned on the PPT and cleared his throat.
“I believe you’ve all heard the news.”
A map of the amusement park the two had visited yesterday was displayed on the large screen. Among them, Han Seong-won aimed a laser pointer at the haunted house.
“Yesterday, the captain discovered an immature monster inside the haunted house of the amusement park on the outskirts of the city. It was killed immediately upon discovery, and there were no casualties, but that’s not what’s important right now.”
“That’s right, the important thing is that they went on a date.”
Choi Seon-woo interrupted Han Seong-won, snickering with a smirk.
“I heard a ton of photos were taken.”
Yu Hee-eun showed her phone to Ho-woo as if boasting. It was filled with various photos, such as the two walking side by side or standing in line in front of the haunted house.
What on earth?
Besides those photos, there were an incredible number of posts. Moreover, the cafe that used Oh-yul’s recent photo (from a speech) as a banner had quite a large number of members.
“…What is this?”
“Oh, this? It’s the captain’s fan cafe. I joined recently because the reactions were interesting. Want to see?”
She randomly clicked on one of the posts.
[Free Board] Please note that excessive spamming and defamation of Espers and Guides may result in post deletion or expulsion from the cafe.
Title: I saw him in person today!
Ho-woo carefully read the post, which had spelling errors from the title.
Guys ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I went to the amusement park today! I took a day off because I didn’t want to go to work at the end of the year. But I was so bored, so even though it was a bit late, I decided to go to the amusement park alone.
My boyfriend was working, so I just went to feel the end-of-year atmosphere, but I saw him there.
The god.
Wow, photos really can’t capture even half of his beauty. When I saw him in person, my phone wallpaper of my boyfriend looked like a squid in comparison, so I changed it because it was painful.
Anyway, it looked like he came to play with his guide, and you know how there’s been a lot of debate about whether he’s really dating HWH guide or not. Since it hasn’t been officially announced, there were people saying Espers normally do that much for their guides, and others fighting fiercely saying those eyes couldn’t just happen naturally, but I made up my mind that day.
This is the real deal.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
