"Aaaah!"
Startled, Hamin let out a scream, his first in this school garden, echoing through. Sihyun, more astonished now than when the statue's eyes flashed, looked at Hamin. The teachers, who had disappeared to the end of the walking path due to the disruption, began to walk back.
Sihyun, feeling the presence, touched his forehead in surprise and led the breathless boy behind a tree. The other kids, sensing the situation, found their own hiding spots. Seeing Geonu taking care of Haewoon and Haru and hiding, Sihyun looked around, realizing who had caused this commotion. With a scolding glance, he saw Hamin, who seemed perplexed. Before Hamin could scream again, Sihyun covered his mouth with his palm, frowning.
"Quiet."
After signaling with his eyes, Sihyun exchanged glances with the kids hidden behind trees and bushes. They all held their breath, waiting for the teachers to disappear. As the teachers turned toward the main building after wandering around a few times, their footsteps faded. Sihyun, relieved that they hadn't been discovered, let out a sigh of relief. Relaxing his tense body, he closed his eyes.
"Ha…"
Breathing a sigh of relief at not being caught, he considered it a stroke of luck. After sitting briefly on the ground, he stood up, brushing off his legs. Hamin, who had let out the strange scream, stood up slowly, looking embarrassed.
"…Sorry."
Apologizing quietly for causing a disturbance, he knew what he had done. Reflecting on whether this was a nerve-wracking exercise or just a risky night adventure to avoid getting caught by the teachers, Sihyun shook his head. If they had known it would be this chaotic, they shouldn't have come out.
Of course, there were some gains from the courage training. Seeing the statue's eyes light up, rumored to cause death to anyone who saw them, was a rare occurrence in a school where such rumors circulated. If what he saw was indeed a spiritual phenomenon, ignoring it was the right thing to do, and even if it was some kind of device, pretending not to know was better. The proverb "ignorance is bliss" wasn't coined for nothing.
It wasn't too late to discuss this point, and while trying to persuade Haewoon, who was still talking, Sihyun looked around, realizing that Haewoon wasn't visible. Haewoon had walked alone to the front of the Eve statue and was touching it with an interested expression on his face.
"Wasn't I the only one who saw the eyes light up earlier?"
"I saw it too."
"Me too."
"Right? Since Mini screamed, it seems certain…."
Rarely serious, Haewoon debated whether it was a spiritual phenomenon or a secretive device. Although Sihyun had guessed, he didn't seem greatly surprised by the phenomenon just now. Instead, he seemed to be showing curiosity in an unusual place. Before his thoughts could reach that point, they needed to stop him before he went around exploring every nook and cranny to investigate what device might be on the statue.
"Let's stop here."
"What?"
"We've seen enough. We saw the statue's eyes open, what else do we need to see?"
"That's why we need to find out more! Aren't you curious about what we saw?"
"Not really."
People who get involved in something bizarre like watching a horror movie always end up provoking the wrath of ghosts and dying. It would be absurd if everyone but him were to react as if they had experienced something commonplace. Hamin, who narrowed his eyes at the strange situation, glanced at Haewoon, who was staring at the statue, with curiosity.
"It's not late enough for us to be wandering around the school. We should go."
Trying to persuade Haewoon, who was still discussing, Sihyun observed the kids with an incredulous look.
Walking around the school in the middle of the night and seeing the statue's eyes open, and then being frightened and surprised, but the only one who experienced this strange phenomenon was himself. Although everyone had experienced the same phenomenon, pretending as if it hadn't happened was almost like lying. Hamin, who trembled, stared at Sihyun trying to persuade Haewoon, Geonu talking to Haru, and Seowoo humming softly, then ruffled his hair. Everyone's nonchalant reaction made him feel like he was the odd one out.
Feeling captivated by something strange, Hamin turned to look at the statue. Gazing intently as if to penetrate the robe, he found nothing. When nothing happened despite his efforts, Hamin, who had raised his expectations in vain, let out a sigh.
Observing Hamin, who seemed captivated by something strange, Sihyun thought it was time to leave and turned to walk away.
It didn't seem like much time had passed, but already two hours had gone by. Yet, to Haewoon, who insisted it wasn't that late yet, Seowoo handed over the baton of persuasion that Sihyun had failed to finish.
Seowoo gently coaxed Haewoon, saying if today wasn't enough, they could come out again later. At first, Haewoon stubbornly resisted, but in the end, he relented. They agreed to come out again another time and moved on. While it was a given, Sihyun had no intention of wandering the school in the middle of the night after such an experience.
Passing by the statue while keeping the secret, they headed toward the walkway. Sihyun observed the statue in suspicion, but it remained just as Haemin had described, motionless. It seemed Haemin might have indeed seen something falsely, as people can hallucinate when they become frightened.
Recalling information from a book he had read in the past, Sihyun looked straight ahead. It was when they were halfway down the walkway.
"This is strange...."
Seowoo, who had been humming quietly, stopped and expressed doubt. Sihyun turned to look at the platinum-haired boy who had been looking around suspiciously and opened his mouth.
"What's strange?"
"It's been unusually quiet since earlier, don't you think?"
"It's 2 a.m. in the morning, would it be noisy?"
"It's not that, it's strangely silent, to the point of being eerie."
Seowoo, who had been surreptitiously glancing around, looked at Sihyun as if seeking his opinion. Their eyes met. Not showing any signs of joking around, Sihyun, who had stopped walking, closed his mouth.
Certainly, no sound could be heard.
Not even the occasional sound of the wind or the chirping of crickets that had been audible when they entered the garden. Even the alertness of the security guard could not be felt, as Seowoo's blue eyes looked around. Upon paying closer attention, it was excessively quiet, just as he said.
"Come to think of it, weren't the teachers quiet earlier too?"
At Haewoon's words, Sihyun recalled the earlier situation. The teachers, who had been engaged in various conversations at first, remained completely silent as if they would die if they made a sound after Haemin screamed. If they had come to survey the garden because of the scream, they should have at least said something like "didn't you hear anything?" or something similar afterward. It was strange that the security guard, who muttered to himself, and the teachers who were walking with them did not say anything.
"Don't scare us for no reason and let's go back to think about it?"
As the conversation dragged on, Haemin, as if he couldn't bear to stay in the garden for even one more second, spoke with an expression that he didn't want to be there. Following the boy who urged them all the way to the dormitory, Sihyun walked with him. At that moment, Haewoon stopped as if he were startled by something and stood still. Seeing Seowoo acting strangely along with him, Sihyun looked at them with a puzzled expression.
"Why are you acting like that again?"
Asking what he had discovered to behave like that, Sihyun looked at him with a calm face when Haemin suddenly closed his eyes slowly, then looked at each of the children after opening his eyes again.
"I hear one more sound."
"What?"
"The sound of footsteps has increased by one more."
With a cautious tone, Haemin stared at Sihyun after counting the children. Sihyun's eyes widened at the unexpected information.
"...I haven't counted yet."
"......"
With that statement, the faces of the children looking at him froze. There were five faces, not a single unfamiliar one. Since there were no unfamiliar faces among them, Sihyun counted again, saying he would count once more. One, two, three, four, five, six.
...Seven.
This time, Sihyun counted clearly, including him. He looked at each of the children in turn.
Six faces, seven people.
One of them was a presence he couldn't recognize.
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