ULAS 60

Chapter 60

“Right. We’ll stay with you until dawn. If you don’t want to be the seeker… should I do it instead?”

[N-No! I’ll be the seeker!]

The Hide-and-Seek Ghost hugged the severed head—
the same one she had swung around so violently earlier—
like it was a beloved stuffed toy.

“Good. Since you’re fast and we’re slow, can you wait a hundred seconds before coming to find us?”

Maybe because the smoke around her had turned green,
I made a suggestion I normally wouldn’t.

Dan Seo-hyeok stared at me like What the hell are you doing?
but fortunately the hide-and-seek ghost grinned brightly and nodded.

[Mm-hm! Okay!]

“Since we’re going to play multiple rounds of hide-and-seek,
don’t kill us when you find us, and don’t leave only our heads.
If we get hurt, it’ll be hard to hide quickly—so don’t do that, all right?”

[Multiple times…? O-okay!]

Her eyes sparkled with emotion before she nodded quickly.

She looked so obviously excited that I smiled without meaning to.

She really does seem like an innocent kid when she’s like this…

She was wearing a pink dress—probably something she wore when she was alive.
It was a little eerie, but her bright personality made it clear
she must’ve grown up loved by her family.

It hurt to think about how she ended up here, trapped and harming people.

But there’s nothing I can do for her right now.

I signaled to Seo-hyeok to hide.

After that, it became a normal game of hide-and-seek.

[Three.]
[Two.]
[One.]
[Ready or not, here I come! I can see your hair!]

Her cheerful voice echoed through the underground space.

I hid a little distance from Seo-hyeok, peeking out.
I was inside a trash bag, so I shouldn’t be easy to find.

Why is he hiding so half-heartedly?

Seo-hyeok was just sitting behind a pillar.
Seriously, who plays with a kid like that?

He must’ve judged that the ghost wasn’t planning to kill us anymore
and decided it was safe enough to slack off.

I couldn’t scold him out loud—he’d give away our position—
so I just sighed inwardly.

[Are you here?]

[Nope.]

[Are you here?]

Thankfully, the ghost didn’t want the game to end too quickly.

Just like the original story…

Even though she clearly saw Seo-hyeok,
she pretended not to and wandered around.

A normal person would’ve fainted from terror at that behavior.

I had no idea how much time passed.

[I found Oppa!]

Seo-hyeok was caught,
and the ghost ran around the basement with a radiant smile.

She spread her arms like a tiny airplane.

[Where’s the pretty Unni?]
[Where could she be?]

Was she just super energetic?
Or did she love singing?

She hummed a little tune as she skipped around.
Her footsteps grew closer.

I held my breath and stayed perfectly still.

Did she pass?

But the moment I tried peeking out—

[Unni! Found you!]

A ghostly face popped up right in front of me.

I screamed silently.

Seo-hyeok stared from afar, looking completely disappointed in me.

“H-ha… haha! You found me already!”

[Mm-hm! Hide-and-seek again? You said we’d play lots!]
[The sun is still sleeping!]

“Of course we’ll play more. You’re really good at finding us, huh?”

Her joy tugged at my heart.

After a brief hesitation, I slowly reached out
and patted the top of her head.

She looked up, startled—then smiled shyly.

[…Hehe.]
[Let’s play more! It’s fun!]

“Yeah, yeah.”

A promise is a promise.

We played hide-and-seek over and over until late into the night.
At some point, even Seo-hyeok seemed to accept his fate
and began taking the game seriously.

The moment he imitated me and climbed into a trash bag to hide,
I was honestly surprised.

Since he normally hid so half-heartedly,
the ghost seemed thrilled by the change.

Her laughter echoed through the underground.

[Pretty Unni is last!]

I lost track of how many rounds we’d played.

The basement was slowly brightening—
sunlight was filtering through the small window.

I wondered if it was okay to say
“Let’s stop now” since dawn was coming.

Then something small crawled into my arms.

The hide-and-seek ghost.

[This round was fun too.]
[Thank you, Pretty Unni.]

…Thank you?

I never thought I’d hear a ghost thank me.

The quick-service ghost was satisfied with gratitude
—and now even this one was thanking me?

The hide-and-seek ghost lifted her head.

The bandages wrapped around her were now spotless and white,
and the smoke around her had become a pure green.

[You’re the first human who ever played with me.]

She looked so happy I placed my hand on her head again.
For some reason, I wanted to pet her.

Come to think of it, she asked if we could stay with her until dawn.

Was she scared of the night?

I thought ghosts felt no fear…

Maybe she’s just a child who doesn’t realize she died.

I crouched to match her gaze.

Thankfully, Seo-hyeok didn’t interrupt—
he simply waited silently beside me.

“Let’s play again next time.”

The ghost blinked like she was startled,
then slowly nodded.

[Me too!]
[I want to play with Unni again.]
[Unni, can’t you just stay here with me…?]

“You—!”
Seo-hyeok tried to speak, but I cut him off with a gesture.

The smoke around her swirled wildly—
turning yellow, then green, then yellow again.

Like she was confused.

Every time the yellow smoke appeared,
a chilling sensation brushed my skin.
Seo-hyeok must’ve felt it too.

“I’m sorry. I have things I need to do outside.
I don’t think I can stay.”

[Things to do?]
[Hide-and-seek?]

“Mm-hm. Hide-and-seek.”

[With who?]

“With my little brother.
But he didn’t choose to hide.
Someone hid him away so well
that I have to go find him.”

[That’s awful!]
[Hide-and-seek shouldn’t be forced!]

“Right? Something really bad did that.
My little brother is waiting for me,
so I can’t stay here.”

[…Mm. It’s okay.]

The smoke slowly turned green again.

[Unni is busy.]
[My dad was always busy too.]
[So I’m good at waiting.]
[I’m always alone, so I can stay alone.]

“Your dad was too busy to play hide-and-seek with you?”

[Mm. But when he came home, he always hugged me
and told me he loved me.]

[On my birthday, he bought me a big stuffed animal!]

The severed head in her arms began to change shape—
into a large, white teddy bear.

[It’s cute, right? Daddy bought it for me!]

“It is cute.”

[He’s late this time,
but Daddy said he’ll definitely buy me another present
for my birthday!]

[So I’ll stay here!
Come visit anytime, Unni!]

A birthday present?

Something clicked in my mind.

After a moment of hesitation, I carefully asked:

“…Do you remember when your birthday is?”

[I dunno!]
[It’s the day I eat cake with Daddy!]
[The day Daddy leaves work early!]
[The day Daddy smiles at me!]
[Oh! It’s a really warm day!]

I see…

I smiled brightly and promised I would visit.

I hugged the hide-and-seek ghost.
And when I blinked—

I was suddenly outside Eden Villa.

The sun was rising.

“Ma Choyeon, seriously—what were you thinking earlier—!”

“I’m sorry, Seo-hyeok. I just remembered something I needed to do.
I have to go ahead!
Thanks for today!”

“What? Hey! Hold on—!”

Ignoring his voice, I ran.

That dawn,
I stood alone in a quiet alley with a large paper bag.

My breath puffed white in the cold air.

An all-too-familiar motorcycle engine approached.