The first thing he checked was the lock. Thankfully, the window was still shut tight. That gave them a little time… or so he thought.
Seo Jae-ha’s eyes flew wide. The window frame was oddly bent.
[If you’re caught, you’re it. If you’re caught, you’re it.]
Only then did he notice the ghost’s finger pointing toward the window, its voice bubbling with excitement. Something was squirming through the narrow gap between the dark window frame and the wall. Black candle wax was forcing its way inside, prying the frame apart as it trickled down the plaster.
“Sunbae, we have to go!”
The lock rattled weakly, clinging as if announcing its final duty was done. Drrrk. The moment something wrenched and cracked, Ju Hae-hyun pulled him hard.
Hae-hyun flung open the door they had locked and sprinted into the hallway. They’d barely passed a couple of doors when the staggering ghost lurched out of the room they had just left.
[Who’s it? Who’s it?]
Its footsteps thundered after them. No longer moving like the newborn goat it resembled in the auditorium, its gait was steadier now—more practiced.
Dragged along by Hae-hyun, Jae-ha kept glancing back. It was fast—faster than he expected. No matter how hard he ran, the gap didn’t grow. It shrank. Taking the stairs two and three at a time, his breath grew ragged. Behind them, the ghost followed, still grinning wide enough to split its face.
Jae-ha’s eyes locked on Hae-hyun’s back ahead of him. Hae-hyun was a PE major; Jae-ha was just a student who only worked out as a hobby. His speed and stamina were no match.
At this rate…
[Who’s it?]
The ghost was right on him now. Its long arms flailed, reaching for him. The distance shrank—first an arm’s length, then a forearm, a hand’s span, a fingertip away.
Finally, just as its hand stretched out to seize him—
Jae-ha’s body lurched violently sideways.
He’d been shoved without realizing it. Thrown off balance, he crashed to the ground. As his vision cleared, he snapped his head around—his eyes went wide.
[Got you.]
The ghost’s hand was clamped around an arm. Black energy streamed from its grip, coating the flesh.
“J–Ju Hae-hyun.”
It was Hae-hyun the ghost had caught.
“Sunbae, run.”
“What—wait. Ju Hae-hyun, what the hell are you doing? Are you out of your mind? If it takes you—!”
“Run!”
The desperate shout cracked like a whip.
Jae-ha staggered to his feet, dazed, but couldn’t bring himself to leave him. Hae-hyun’s voice cut in fast, reading his hesitation.
“I’ll be fine. It’s you it wants. What matters is that you get away. Go! Now!”
There was no way he’d be fine. But if Jae-ha wasted this chance, Hae-hyun’s sacrifice would mean nothing. Grinding his teeth, he forced his legs to move. His footsteps smacked against the floor with a hollow sound.
He ran without thinking and suddenly realized he was on the third-floor hallway. He couldn’t even remember how he got there. His mind buzzed with Hae-hyun’s final words: Run.
At the last instant, Hae-hyun had pulled him aside and stepped in himself. That decisive grip—it had to have been his plan from the start.
“……”
Jae-ha squeezed his eyes shut. Even if the ghost only wanted him, what difference did it make? He had no power to fight it like Hae-hyun. Being left behind didn’t mean he had a solution.
Frustration at his own helplessness flared, but he didn’t stop running. Hae-hyun had bought him time with his life—he couldn’t waste it. He had to find a way to set things right.
“…If I knew how to do that, I’d already be an exorcist.”
He muttered bitterly, scanning his surroundings while trying to quiet his presence.
Whether it was fortunate or not, he didn’t know. But with Hae-hyun caught, the game seemed over. All that was left was to deal with the ghost hiding somewhere in the building. That was the key. He forced his expression steady.
At this point, rejoining Ju Hae-ryeong in the basement auditorium seemed best. She was busy holding her own, but at least she might have advice. …And she needed to know what had happened to Hae-hyun.
He’d only wandered the building for half a day, but it was enough to memorize the layout. Another stairwell mirrored the one they had climbed, on the opposite side. The elevator was in the center, but using it was too risky.
The dawn was still and hushed. Only the brush of wind against the windows disturbed the silence. The complete absence of the ghost’s presence felt even more ominous. Jae-ha tread with extreme care.
By the time he slipped quietly past the silent second floor and down toward the first, sweat slicked his palms. Just one more level and he’d reach the basement, where Hae-ryeong was. Peeking carefully around the stairwell wall, he froze.
Something strange sprawled across the first-floor corridor.
What the hell…?
Black lines were strewn across the floor, crooked and messy, as if flung there carelessly. He squinted, but they were too far to make out clearly. Under the faint moonlight, he could only tell they were too thick to be string, with a dull, waxy sheen.
They hadn’t been there earlier. Which meant they had to be connected to the ghost.
After a moment’s hesitation, he checked the hallway. Still silent.
He crept closer.
Thankfully, nothing happened. Crouching, he studied the strands closely—and finally realized what they were.
Candle wax.
Black wax stretched like tangled cords across the floor. His eyes traced the trail until he found one end leading to the stairwell opposite the one he had come down.
Come to think of it, when the ghost first possessed Yoon-taek, black wax had dripped from the candle then too.
Was this its trail? A tether to the candles in the basement, maybe.
He didn’t waste time. Pulling out his wallet, Jae-ha scraped at the wax with a card.
Ordinary wax would have come off easily with a little effort. But this was ghostly candle wax—it clung stubbornly. He strained until his knuckles turned white before finally prying off a chunk the size of a fingertip.
If breaking the lines could solve this, that’d be ideal. But the trails were scattered everywhere, so tangled he couldn’t tell which part mattered. Should he scrape them all up? Or head toward the auditorium side and sever the line there?
“Sunbae?”
Jae-ha froze.
That familiar voice made him whip his head around. At the far end of the corridor, near the stairwell, stood a tall figure.
“…Ju Hae-hyun?”
He muttered in disbelief.
The shadow hid his features, but the build was unmistakable—it was Hae-hyun. His physique was nothing like Yoon-taek’s possessed body.
But how? The ghost had taken him. Unless… he wasn’t just an ordinary human? Whatever the case, he was safe—and that was all that mattered. Relief swept him as Jae-ha waved him over.
“Come here. I’ve got an idea….”
Hae-hyun stepped into the corridor. Moonlight fell over him—
And Jae-ha froze.
The whites of Hae-hyun’s eyes were black.
Jae-ha’s face stiffened. Hae-hyun noticed and smiled, squinting his eyes. But the voice that came out wasn’t his low, steady tone. It was shrill, metallic.
[Found you again?]
It laughed.
[Who’s it?]
The ghost’s game rule. That eerie, singsong refrain rang in his mind.
“If you’re caught, you’re it.”
And the one it had caught was Ju Hae-hyun.
