There was no best option, only the darkest one. Kang Sihyun realized that attempting to evade with vague responses amidst the ghost's clear inquiry would only lead to unraveling secrets and potentially risking lives. Anything he said would be exposed as a lie unless he mentioned possession. The ten seconds the ghost counted felt incredibly long. Surveying the faces of the children, Sihyun made his decision.
"Kang Sihyun!"
As Sihyun remained silent, Hamin exclaimed with a grimace. 2, 1... The final second passed.
"You didn't answer?"
"Yeah."
As he confirmed dimly, five pairs of eyes felt like they were fixed on him. Purposefully avoiding their gaze, Sihyun waited for the impending punishment.
"The punishment is as stated, half of your life."
Half of mine to take.
The ghost murmured darkly. Annoyed by Hamin's outburst, Sihyun reluctantly responded, and Haru, appearing worried, grabbed Sihyun's clothes. Anticipating that the five boys present would endlessly doubt him for dodging this question, Sihyun swallowed a bitter emotion.
Suddenly, as if something pierced through his body, Sihyun felt lighter. He had expected severe pain or discomfort from losing half of his life, but it was the opposite.
Feeling unexpectedly refreshed, Sihyun stumbled, and the ghost chuckled.
"It's not as bad as you thought, right? Half of your weight in the afterlife decreased. If half more disappears, you can go with me."
The ghost added with excitement, urging Sihyun and the children to ask questions. It was a confident attitude, believing he had the upper hand.
There were two chances left. If they didn't figure out the ghost's identity within them, the ghost would pose another question. Sensing that he wouldn't be able to answer the next question either, Sihyun swallowed hard.
"Who wants to ask?"
Having made a mistake before, Sihyun wanted to step back this time. As Seowoo's words were transferred to Sihyun, the children who had been watching him nodded in agreement. They all seemed to have something to say, especially Hamin and Geonu. Seeing their curiosity, Sihyun skillfully avoided their gazes and looked towards Seowoo and Haewoon instead.
The two people he thought would be the most suspicious and inquisitive were surprisingly quiet. That fact made Sihyun even more anxious than usual, and he carefully observed their expressions. Seowoo, who seemed deeply lost in thought, closed his eyes.
After a long silence, the boy who had been staring at the ground broke the silence.
"I'll do it."
The quietly uttered four syllables were firm. After briefly glancing at Sihyun, he turned to the empty space.
"Is your original body alive?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm asking if your original body is a living being or an inanimate object. You could be a tree or a flower."
"...It's inanimate."
With a slight hesitation, the ghost, who had shown a bit of hesitation unlike before, replied with an eerie voice. Just as the ghost was about to change the mood with the next question, Seowoo intervened.
"I think I know."
"...Huh?"
Taken aback by Seowoo's sudden remark, the ghost showed a puzzled reaction. Seowoo, having surveyed the garden once, let out a short laugh-like sound and stood up from his seat. Simultaneously, Haewoon, who was sitting next to him, exclaimed, "Ah," as if she had found something. Both of them seemed to have the attitude of having found the ghost's original body.
"Why are you standing up during the game?"
"Because I think I found your original body."
"What?"
"Is that it?"
Najik pointed, and Seowoo gestured towards the statue. As Sihyun, who followed their gaze, sighed quietly, just like Haewoon did, the conditions were all met. Moreover, since the statue was the reason they came here, it was a credible deduction.
With the sudden realization, the ghost, who had been laughing strangely, fell silent. Eventually, the air became even chillier.
"Are you talking about the statue?"
"Yeah."
"If you're wrong, you'll have to give up half of your life."
"I could probably give up half bravely."
The boy replied playfully. Startled by their sudden eye contact, Sihyun narrowed his eyebrows to understand the intent of the question. It felt like the ghost's question was taking away half of his life, or mocking the ghost, or perhaps both. It seemed like there could be both, so his hand instinctively went to his chest for no reason. The feeling of lightness remained.
"So, what's the answer?"
Since the ghost had only been making unnecessary questions and threats, and avoiding answers, Seowoo, confident that they had the upper hand, urged him to respond. Holding their breath, Sihyun and the children stood up from their seats. Due to the ghost's reaction, the remaining people also had confidence.
It was time to end the game.
"...It's not fun."
After a long silence, the ghost finally uttered a word. It was as good as a positive response, so Sihyun and the others breathed a sigh of relief. The ghost clicked his tongue and said that as promised, he would return the life half he took. Sihyun, who suddenly felt heavier and stumbled, stood up with the support of Haru. It had only been a few minutes, but his original weight felt excessively heavy.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Thank you, hyung."
Thankful for his concern, Sihyun nodded his head and looked at the empty space. The various attitudes the ghost had shown so far flashed through his mind. After a brief reminiscence, Sihyun concluded that the ghost they were dealing with was a child.
If it was a prank due to loneliness, and if he didn't care about his feelings, it was a lie. But even so, there was a place they had to go back to.
Putting aside his hesitation, Sihyun spoke up.
"We won, right?"
"Yeah. You won. Now, go away!"
"So, how can we get out of here?"
"You just have to break the statue."
"The statue?"
"Yeah."
Kang Sihyun, with a bewildered expression at the nonchalant response from the air, glanced at the children. They had no proper weapons, yet they were supposed to break the statue somehow. He wondered if it was a way of telling them not to leave.
Boom! Crash!
"...."
Interpreting my gaze, the four boys, excluding Haewoon, approached the statue and began kicking it one by one. The stone statue, seemingly impenetrable, shattered under their assault. The giant Eve statue wobbled and tilted.
"Wow, they're strong, aren't they?"
Haewoon, who was watching, regained his usual energy and admired enthusiastically. Sihyun, stunned, glanced at the sky as he felt a chill above his shoulder. Somehow, it felt like an intangible force was swirling above his head.
Disappointed.
"...."
Sihyun flinched at the voice that whispered into his ear. Turning to see, he spotted Haewoon cheering on the kids. Apparently, he hadn't heard the sound just now.
He wondered if it was a hallucination and pinched his ears. Then, a low and childish voice echoed in his ear once again.
But it's okay. It was fun.
"...."
Thank you. Goodbye.
Unlike the gender-indistinguishable, profound voice heard before, this time, a young girl's voice filled with a sense of regret came through.
Crash!
The massive statue finally collapsed entirely.
And a bright light enveloped Sihyun and the children.
"...."
Groaning as if his whole body had been beaten, Sihyun opened his eyes and looked around. The Eve statue the kids had broken stood intact in the garden, and other kids who had been leaning against it earlier came into view. Seeing them breathe normally and look peaceful, Sihyun breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced up at the sky.
The moon rose, bathing his blue eyes in its radiant glow.
It truly had returned.
After savoring the reality for a moment and taking a deep breath, Sihyun reached out to the other five boys who were still unconscious. To avoid getting caught by the teachers and guards, they had to hurry and wake them up and return to the dormitory.
Starting with Seowoo and going down the line, Sihyun shook and woke them up one by one. Each of them groaned and got up, holding their heads in pain.
"Ugh, my head hurts. ...So, we're back?"
Seeing Haeun frowning with a headache, Sihyun nodded. When Geonu asked how much time had passed, Sihyun checked the time on his phone. It had been less than 10 minutes since he last checked. It felt absurd that although they had spent what seemed like 30 minutes in the other world, in reality, only 10 minutes had passed.
"Damn, never doing this again."
Haru, the last to wake up, muttered curses, revealing his feelings about the courage test. Sihyun agreed and nodded, then counted the people in the garden.
One, two, three, four, five.
And six.
Exactly six, including himself. He pointed at himself and said the number, and the children all let out a long sigh simultaneously. Different-colored eyes met each other. Suddenly, laughter bubbled up.
For some reason, this situation seemed amusing and pleasant to them. Sihyun, laughing along with the kids, shook his head lightly. That's when it happened.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, as if his vision were flickering, Sihyun stiffened.
"Sihyun!"
Startled by the sudden collapse of the boy, Haru grabbed Sihyun and supported him, then checked the boy's condition. Fortunately, he was breathing normally and looked comfortable. The other kids, who had come close because of the sudden fainting, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Sihyun's condition. Seowoo was the first to speak up, trying to organize the situation.
"Looks like you were really tired."
"...We're tired too, but he's been hanging by a thread, so can't you be a bit more understanding?"
Haru replied with a tongue click, glancing at the boy who had fainted. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Just as they were about to head back to their rooms, carrying the sleeping boy, Haewoon spoke up, breaking the silence that had descended like a rule.
"Sihyun's secret."
"...."
"Let's pretend we didn't hear it."
"...."
"Don't ask, don't pry. Just."
Now that he had finally opened up, if he were to run away because of that, what would they do?
Najik added, looking at the other children. They all sighed and nodded in agreement. Once everyone agreed, Haewoon, who couldn't bear not to intervene, shouted as usual that if Sihyun ran away, it would be their fault and rushed back to his room with Geonu in tow.
The three boys who went into their rooms without stopping, glancing back at Sihyun on the bed, watched him for a while.
The night grew deeper.
It was a restless night for the five boys, excluding the one who suddenly fainted.
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