Chapter 41
There’s no pain.
I bent and straightened the fingers that had been reattached. I could feel sensation. That meant it wasn’t just some illusion.
“T-thank you….”
How did this even happen? I lifted my hand and examined it closely. It was properly reattached, no matter how I looked.
“Was this your doing?”
Dan Seo-hyeok, who had been watching the scene unfold, stepped forward and asked the Quick-Service Ghost.
[Th-th-thank you sincerely for using Quick Service.]
It ignored him beautifully.
The Quick-Service Ghost just stared straight at me. I already thanked it, but was it waiting to hear something else?
Unsure of its intention, I stared at the visor of its helmet.
[…Please use our service again.]
Then it gave a slight bow and walked back to the motorcycle.
I also bowed to its retreating back.
Vroom.
The engine growled—and in an instant, the motorcycle vanished.
Only Dan Seo-hyeok and I remained in the alley.
“…It ignores me completely.”
“Come on, it’s not like it hurts you. Let it be!”
“So it’s ‘kind of fond’ of you, huh? Should I feel insulted?”
He looked sulky. For once, I didn’t hear him accuse me of being careless around a ghost.
By now, even he must’ve understood that the Quick-Service Ghost wasn’t dangerous.
“It put me through something scary, but I don’t think it had bad intentions.”
I spread out all ten fingers proudly. Dan Seo-hyeok sighed and grabbed my hand in his much bigger one.
“Okay, I didn’t get a chance to ask earlier because everything was a mess, but what the hell did you do to lose your fingers? Playing hospital with ghosts?”
Wow. The sarcasm.
“I was just doing some nostalgic games. Like the finger-folding game, and a treasure hunt.”
“And the treasure was your fingers?! Hoo….”
Oh, he’s holding back from yelling.
Why…?
Normally, he would’ve exploded instantly.
The lack of anger made me more nervous than if he’d yelled. And since he was still holding onto my hand tightly, I couldn’t even pull away.
His hand is ridiculously big…
Part of it was that my hands were small for my age, but being able to grab mine so easily was ridiculous.
Wait—why am I being held like some criminal? Let go already!
Just as I was thinking that, he spoke.
“Next time, don’t decide things alone. Discuss with me first.”
“Huh? You’d just oppose me anyway, so what’s the point?”
“……”
“And let go of my hand, will you?! Why are you still holding— ow ow ow!”
My arm, still held by him, was suddenly yanked upward. I had to stand on tiptoes!
“Oh? My head’s suddenly itchy.”
Why pretend your head is itchy while holding my hand up there?! You’re not even scratching!
“Showing off that you’re tall or what, you psycho?!”
“You call the person who followed you out of worry a psycho?”
“I thanked you for that already!”
“That gratitude lasted less than a day.”
“Ugh, seriously!”
I kicked his shin irritably, and only then did he release my arm.
I quickly stepped back and glared. But he stood crookedly, looking down at me without even flinching from the kick. Oh, look at him.
“What are you looking down on me for?”
“Should I look up at someone shorter?”
…Fair enough.
He stepped toward me, and the angle of his gaze was seriously irritating.
“…In what culture is staring at someone’s scalp while talking considered polite?”
“I just wondered how much further down I could look.”
This bastard!
I tilted my head way up to meet his eyes. I didn’t go up on tiptoe—that was my last shred of pride.
“Why did God give you height but not a personality? You think I’m short because I want to be?! And I’m still around average height!”
“If that bothers you, why not ask the ghost to deliver some height along with your fingers?”
He covered his mouth with a hand, pretending to be concerned. But I saw it—his lips had twitched up into a smile just before he hid them!
“And I think you’re misunderstanding the definition of average.”
“HEY!!”
“Peanut.”
“WHAT!”
“The place you went to was seriously dangerous.”
He stepped back. Finally, it was easier to look at him without straining my neck.
Massaging my sore neck, I heard him continue in a serious tone.
“You could’ve actually died. You’re lucky it ended with just your fingers.”
“I know.”
“You know nothing. If you die, that’s it!”
It was the first time he had ever raised his voice at me. My body shrank on instinct, eyes squeezing shut.
Peeking one open, I saw him grimace like he regretted it.
“…Sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled.”
He must’ve assumed I was really scared. And well… he wasn’t wrong.
Wow… a big guy yelling like that is actually really scary. Maybe I should tone down the teasing…
Not that I could control myself, realistically.
But “If you die, that’s it,” he said.
That made something click.
So he really did enter that building before.
Just like in the original story, he must’ve experienced death more than once in that place.
And probably died other ways too.
I was terrified enough just losing fingers…
I couldn’t imagine—nor did I want to imagine—how he died.
I kept my mouth shut.
I already knew why he reacted so strongly. Unlike him, I had no regression ability, yet I acted recklessly.
And he worried about me because of that.
I didn’t know he had this side to him.
Aside from matters concerning his parents, Dan Seo-hyeok never attached himself emotionally to others. Never cared much.
But today… he had come after me, worried, and helped me.
If our positions were reversed… would I have done the same?
Even with someone I considered a close friend, I nearly ran away because I was so scared.
To follow someone into a ghost-infested danger zone for their sake?
I don’t think I could’ve.
“Haa…”
I let out a long breath.
Dan Seo-hyeok didn’t say anything more. He was clearly watching my reaction.
“I know I’m lucky it ended with just my fingers. I regretted it too.”
After hesitating—thanks to pride—I finally said the words stuck in my throat. My foot nudged a pebble on the ground.
“…I was really scared.”
“You…”
“I’m grateful you came even though you knew it was dangerous. But!”
When I lifted my head sharply, Dan Seo-hyeok flinched. Probably surprised by the sudden eye contact.
“If there’s even the slightest chance of finding my brother, I will absolutely do reckless things again!”
“What?”
“I’m just warning you now, since I can’t promise something like ‘I won’t ever do it again’!”
“Hah.”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“……”
Silence filled the alley.
“…Why are you telling me that?”
“Huh?”
“Are you telling me to stop caring about you?”
“No! You’re looking for your parents too, right? There’s a good chance they’re involved with ghosts. I’m saying we should each gather clues in our own way.”
I hadn’t expected him to misunderstand like that. I hurried to explain.
“I’ll handle the reckless stuff. You gather clues your way. Then we share.”
“…Share?”
“Yeah. Our goal is the same.”
“…Finding our family.”
I nodded quietly at his words.
Different personalities, different methods—so what?
As long as the goal was the same, we could work together.
“Yeah. I don’t just want to find my brother. I really do hope we find your parents too.”
In the original story, even by the middle, he had found no clues. All he confirmed was that they survived the escape-room game.
He pressed his lips together, watching me cautiously.
Then his mouth slowly opened.
“…Don’t do reckless things alone.”
Is he scolding me again?
I was being sincere here…
I felt my mood droop slightly.
Then—
“…From now on, let’s move together. I don’t trust you to be alone. It makes me anxious.”
For a moment I wondered if a ghost possessed him. But the redness in his ears said otherwise.
“Oh? Does that mean… you’re worried about me? As a person? Or as a teammate? …Or maybe as a friend?”
When I grinned and asked, he jerked his head away sharply in irritation.
And said—
“All three!”
He stomped off toward the end of the alley.
I stared blankly at his retreating figure.
The rising sun had already begun to brighten the once-dark alley.
He accepted the word “friend,” huh?
In the original novel, the protagonist took a long time to open up to anyone.
Somehow, I finally felt like I was seeing the real Dan Seo-hyeok—not the protagonist of a novel, but a companion who shared the same pain.
“Hey! Dan Seo-hyeok! You’re walking ahead ’cause you’re embarrassed, right?”
“Stop saying nonsense.”
“Then why are your ears still red?”
“For the love of—shut up, Peanut.”
For the first time in a long while, I genuinely enjoyed being with Dan Seo-hyeok.
