Set up your music player, find the song and listen to it while you read the story part of this novel. Set up your music player, find the song and listen while you read the part of the story of this novel.
1. SF9 – Different
2. Chen & Punch - Everytime
3. Sondia – First Love
4. Im Hanbyul – Heejae
5. Chunji & Eunha – Hold Your Hand
6. Bolbbalgan4 – To My Youth
7. EXO - Wait
8. ASTRO – We Still
9. Jeong Sewoon – When You Call My Name
10. J_Ust – You
SPECIAL APPEARANCE:
AN DOHYEOK = Kang Daniel
NURSE 1 = BLACKPINK Jisoo
NURSE 2 = BLACKPINK Rose
BAEK CHOEUN'S POV
The Friday that Hyojae University students have been waiting for has arrived. Since my friends are all excited for this, I'm excited too. After all, Million Stars will also indirectly become sponsor in this event, I will just relax by enjoying the event there. Besides, I heard that there is a lot of food being sold at this event. The event itself will last for three days from 9am to 10pm. I can just enter as soon as the door is opened because I have a special sponsorship access card. Everything around me is colorful: there are lots of tents, various decorations and the buildings in the distance are also decorated with banners and other decorations. I received a brochure in the form of a folder and an event schedule from a student. The band competition will be held today at 4pm, and surprisingly the sports faculty, medical and of course, the arts faculty, all three of them made it to the finals, and that means I can watch Chungdae today. Besides, I need to try the Haunted Maze from the medical school too, because I made a promise with Donghyun. I don't think it would be too scary, right? So I'll try that after watching the band competition later.
"Noona!"
"Choeun, welcome!"
"Welcome!"
I was greeted by beautiful and excited students when I got to the art faculty tent, where the name of the café they chose was Artafe. Their concept that combines art and café is quite unique, but I haven't had the chance to enjoy the concept yet because Chungdae took my arm as soon as I stepped into the café. Eunyul eonni is already standing by behind the bar. I also love seeing the cute waiter and barista uniforms in silver colour.
때로 사랑은 참 외로워
Often, love is so lonely
그래 삶이란 늘 어려워
Yes, life is always hard
알아 우리 함께 했던 날
I know, the days we were together
가슴 시리게 사랑했었던 날 있었어
I had the days I loved you heartbreakingly
넌 나에게 매일 첫사랑
To me, you are my first love everyday
봄눈이 오듯 그렇게 나는 기다려
Like the snow in the spring, I'm waiting for you
설레이던 그날도 취했었던 그 밤도
The day when my heart was pounding, the night when I was drunk
마음이 이상해 바람 불어올 즘이면
I feel strange when it gets windy
넌 나에게 매일 첫사랑
To me, you are my first love everyday
봄눈이 오듯 그렇게 나는 기다려
Like the snow in the spring, I'm waiting for you
슬퍼 울던 그날도 비틀대던 그 밤도
The day when I cried so sadly, the night when I was staggering
마음이 이상해 바람 불어올 즘이면 여전히
I feel strange when it gets windy, even now
(Sondia – First Love)
"Look who's so excited to be the first guest of our cafe," said Eunyul eonni while pointing at Chungdae with a nod of her head.
"I know noona will definitely come here first," sure Chungdae.
"Yes, I will buy a drink made by Eunyul eonni first before taking it while traveling."
"Okay, what do you want to order?" asked Eunyul eonni with a laugh.
Five minutes later I said goodbye to Eunyul eonni, and when Chungdae and I left the cafe, we bumped into Donghyun.
"Oh noona, you've come," said Donghyun.
Today Donghyun is wearing a plain white shirt with plain white trousers, maybe he means to look simple, but I think he looks like an angel instead.
"You look in rush."
"Yes, I want to order a drink, some seniors also want to order, so I'll just help them," he explained quickly, "I have to return to the location as soon as possible."
"You will definitely be busy, Donghyun," complained Chungdae, "will you be able to watch my competition later?"
"I'll be on duty at three until evening, so I have to miss your competition hyong."
"Well, is that how deep our friendship is?"
"Sorry hyong," answered Donghyun with a laugh, "but you will stop by right?"
"Yes, we will stop by this afternoon. See you later!" I said goodbye while patting Donghyun's back.
"Success, hyong. Beat..." Donghyun slowly said silently, "Hyunah for me."
I laughed out loud, "she represents your faculty, how can you say that?"
"Just do it hyong."
I was invited to tour the campus by a guide who really understood campus details, and obviously, just like back in Hwachin, Chungdae had lots of friends. But I think his popularity is growing now thanks to the title of first team football captain he is holding and also his new profession as a model. Honestly, I felt a little insecure walking with him, because suddenly I felt that my boyfriend was twice as handsome as usual, even though he looks casual now. Lots of people greeted him during our tour of the campus.
"Why does Donghyun hate Hyunah so much? Is their story still ongoing?"
"Hyunah just sticks to him whenever they can meet... and Donghyun said there are some of his courses in common with Hyunah, but I think he just needs to survive this semester and next semester their courses will be completely different," Chungdae explained long, "and because Hyunah is the captain of the women's basketball team... sometimes our practice times are the same."
"Ouch, poor Donghyun. Sometimes Hyunah likes to stop by cafe too... that's why Donghyun now always asks me if she was at the cafe before he came."
"She gave me goosebumps," complained Chungdae, "even though Donghyun obviously doesn't like her, how come she's still desperate, huh?"
"Maybe she was willing to be desperate for Donghyun. Isn't Donghyun cool? The vet candidate who is handsome, good at sports and smart."
"Noona is right. But I'm cooler than him, right? I'm a handsome aspiring athlete and actor, I'm also good at sports and I'm a model."
While saying that, Chungdae walked backwards in front of me and put his two fingers under his chin while smiling broadly.
"No, you're not cooler than him."
"Evil noona..."
I laughed with satisfaction after teasing him. The crowd to my right caught my eye: they seemed to be swarming around some sort of huge TV screen under a tent.
"What's in there?" I asked, pointing to the crowd.
"Oh, that's the voting place for the fashion show contest."
"Oh... that's what's keeping Dongsun busy lately huh? Eunyul eonni complained about that."
"Oh, really? Noona complaining? Why?"
I told Chungdae what happened three days ago.
I was enjoying the cool autumn breeze in the side courtyard of the café. The evening sky had started to darken and that meant another day had passed, and I hadn't seen Chungdae in the past week.
"Choeun."
"What about you? Is there a practice schedule today? But didn't Bojin say that eonni had practiced enough last week?"
"Yes, there is no practice, I just want to talk to you."
But her expression looked unhappy, so we ended up sitting together at an empty table. I'm sure she came to talk about something.
"What's up, eonni? You look unhappy."
"Dongsun. You know that he's been really busy lately?"
"Is it because of that campus event? Chungdae once said, they have basketball, soccer practice, and I heard that Dongsun also joined the band, the cooking competition committee and joined the fashion show competition?"
"Hmm, yes. Who is busier, him or Chungdae?"
"I think it's the same. Even Donghyun looks busy too."
"We were supposed to be on a date this afternoon, but five minutes before I left the house, he canceled it."
"Well, that's so unusual. I guess Dongsun really had to do that."
"He was forced. That's because he has to meet the designer and take care of the costumes."
"Oh, what a pity..."
"It's not that I don't like him having lots of activities, but... it feels like it's still empty. I can't complain to him, can I? I'm also busy myself... although not as busy as him."
"Be patient, eonni, I think things will return to normal soon after the event ends."
"I hope so."
"Yes, let's get excited. Let's go to Itaewon and eat whatever we want tonight."
"Good idea to divert my mind," Eunyul eonni sounded excited, "let's go."
"Ah, that's how it is... it's true that Dongsun is so busy because he entered the final for this fashion show competition."
"I hope he can reduce his busy life later."
"Hmm... I don't know, noona."
"Let's vote for Dongsun."
"Are you sure you want to vote now? Very crowded here..."
"Let's just vote now than we forget."
"Never mind, come on noona."
We finally lined up in the tent to wait our turn to vote. After lining up for what seemed like five minutes, we finally arrived at the screen.
"We can vote once a day, noona. Because we use the iris recognition system, we can't fool the voting machine. Come see the photos of Dongsun, me and Joonki who became the photographer."
Chungdae pressed the touch screen and the photos of the seven models passed quickly and I didn't even have time to read their names, before finally the photo of Dongsun came out and his name was clearly printed under the photo of him wearing a kind of dark blue school uniform: Min Dongsun. After that, there are four other photos: the first is a photo of him wearing a long purple coat over a white shirt and black trousers with a sunset background ("I took it!" Chungdae exclaimed proudly) and yes, I can see Chungdae's name printed small on the lower corner of the photo: HCD (the initials he always uses in the photos he takes); the second photo of Dongsun wearing an all-white costume and his hair is a bit messy ("My idea!" Chungdae shouted again); the third photo of Dongsun wearing a dark blue short-sleeved shirt with a vertical striped cloth motif photographed by JKSon; and the last photo of him, Dongsun's hair is messy again and he is staring at the camera, wearing a black and white patterned long sleeve shirt buttoned up to his neck, and he looks like a boy group member there, that last photo was taken by Joonki too. Dongsun is basically handsome, but he doesn't really pay attention to his appearance as much as his younger brother does, so if their appearance is compared, Dongsun will look more "haphazard" than Donghyun, but his charm really looks perfect in these photos. I quickly cast my vote on him without seeing the other nine candidates. After Chungdae and I voted, we were able to see the page with the voting results shown in a bar graph. Dongsun is contestant number eight and the bar is red.
"Wow, I think Dongsun has quite a lot of votes... he seems to be tied with participant number two... they are in third place."
"Let's remind the others to vote too," I asked while taking out my cellphone, "where's Dongsun? I wonder what costume he wears today. And I also want to meet the great designer."
"I think he can be anywhere today... maybe with Eunyul noona? We'll meet him later. The designer can be anywhere now..."
We had a nice afternoon tasting lots of food and drinks, then Chungdae also won some small games, so now I'm holding up a large shopping bag all of which contain the prize Chungdae won. And at three o'clock in the afternoon, I sat in the very front row of seats in front of the stage to wait for Chungdae who got ready at the backstage. They will be the third participant, the first to appear is from the medical faculty. There are three lecturers who become the jury (the three are chosen who do not teach in the three participating faculties) and 30% of the final score will be taken from the audience voting. I know Chungdae has been training hard for the past three months, so I hope he will win. But actually by going to the final they will definitely win, it's just that of course the first position will be more fun to achieve. I admit Hyunah is good at singing and her band is good; the band from the art faculty is of course very good too; and finally Chungdae's band appeared. I could hear excited and lively screams when they came onto the stage, and I was sure to hear Chungdae's fans screaming his name hysterically. It feels a little jealous and I'm quite proud actually. They played one of Day 6's band entitled "Love Me or Leave Me" and with my little knowledge of music, I felt Chungdae played pretty well, and there was no mistake. Chungdae joined me after struggling my way through the crowd that seemed want to kidnap him, when the sky had turned a deep orange color.
"How was that?" Chungdae asked excitedly.
"My boyfriend is so cool," I said while wiping the sweat from his temples with a tissue, "let's hope you win."
"Then give me a present," he pointed at his cheek.
"Are you crazy? I won't do it here!"
"Then let's do it elsewhere."
나의 왼손과 너의 오른손
My left hand and your right hand
우리 서로 손 꼭 잡고선
Thinking about holding hands with you
거릴 걷는다고 생각하니 가슴이 떨려
Makes my heart tremble
나의 왼손과 너의 오른손
My left hand and your right hand
절대 안 놔 깍지 끼고선
I won't ever let go, out fingers will be laced
네가 원하는 곳 어디건
Wherever you wanna go
우리 같이 가
We'll go together
시간이 지나
Even after time
뜨거운 맘 따뜻해져도
When our hot hearts become warm
이 손 절대 놓지 마
Don't let go of this hand
너 오직 하나만
I will only love you
사랑하고 아껴줄게
And care for you
이제 내 손을 잡아
Now hold my hand
()
Chungdae already grabbed my hand even though I shouted "crazy" to him while laughing. But suddenly he stopped pulling me and took the cell phone from his pocket.
"Yes, Jehoon-ssi? Hah? What? How come? Now? I... yes fine, wait, okay."
"What is wrong?"
"Noona, I have to go back to the backstage, he said there was a problem with our sound system... I had to make sure it wasn't damaged or something happened before we returned it to the warehouse. Noona want to wait for me at where?"
"Hmm, because I promised Donghyun, I think I'll stop by his place. If you have time, we'll meet there. If not... maybe we'll meet at Eunyul eonni's cafe."
"Okay, noona. I'll call noona when the problem is resolved huh."
I waved at his figure who was running quickly away from me. Well, my boyfriend is very busy. It's okay, I'll go to the Haunted Maze first then. I scrutinized the map that I had kept well in my little sling bag and examined which path to take. I have to be extra careful because I'm easily got lost. Finally while looking at the map, I came to the Haunted Maze area. There were only about 4 people queuing in front of the maze. I was amazed when I saw medical students who must have struggled so hard to turn this parking lot with short grass into a maze with walls made of cardboard. But of course they didn't use just any cardboard, the walls looked pretty solid and I'm sure pretty thick too. Like other place, I had to fill in a list of names on the ipad that was held by the welcoming student. The student who greeted me looked very young, maybe he was the same age as Donghyun, and he seemed excited as he accompanied me to the queue.
"Good evening. There are a few rules I need to explain to guests who are trying Haunted Maze."
"Oh yes please."
"First, we do not allow our guests to take photos or videos, nor can we use light from cell phones, so cellphones can be left with us, and can be taken on the way out later," the student explained quickly, "the maze has five exits. quite close together and five dead ends. If you give up, please shoot this gun up. The gun will emit glowing smoke and we can get you. You also have to enter alone. We'll leave five minutes between each guest to enter the maze. If your trip is smooth, it only takes five minutes to get out of the maze. We also have a rule that guests are not allowed to leave via the entrance, there will be ghosts guarding the entrance and driving away guests if they try to get out of there. Is that clear enough?"
I think I'll be fine. I'm not afraid of ghosts and mystical things, but everything inside is fake right? With that in mind I guess I'll be fine. I nodded my head.
"Our ghosts won't touch the guests... but some might catch you up to some limit," laughed the student as he explained.
"Okay, I understand, no problem."
"All right, please vote for our maze at the exit later."
"By the way, do you know Min Donghyun?"
"Oh, Min Donghyun, second semester majoring in veterinary medicine? I'm also in the second semester but majoring in medical. I know him."
"Where is he? I heard he's on the committee too?"
"Yes, he's inside."
"Why is he inside? Is he become... a ghost?"
The student laughed before quickly changing his expression.
"Sorry, are you... his girlfriend?"
"Hah? What? I? Oh I'm not..."
"Oh, I thought... ah please come in. All your belongings can be left with me."
I handed him my purse and shopping bag and confidently stepped into the maze. I heard from Donghyun, this maze is open from 5 pm, and I understand the reason. There was only dim light helping the guests from a few light bulbs that were mounted on the wall quite a distance away, and the dim light from the lights around the parking area. Luckily the road is grass, so the risk of falling is quite small. And now I'm sure the cardboard used as a wall divider is thick because the sound seems quite muffled here. I couldn't help getting goosebumps too... because it seemed like I was completely alone. I gripped the small gun tightly and warned myself not to shoot the ghost I encountered with the gun. At first the road had a straight fork and I took the far left. I heard there was a step behind me and I didn't want to turn around to see anything. But I was tempted to turn to the right, there was a mirror that looked large and ancient. Yes, I thought it was a mirror because of the ornate frame, but apparently the mirror was hollow and there was a pale face with all white eyes looking at me from there.
"KYAAAAAAAH!!!!"
I cursed and ran aimlessly, I didn't know where I was going and I still heard fast steps running with me, then I entered an area full of mirrors as a wall. With a beating heart I can see "me" anywhere, and it's quite scary. Even my face looks pale, I guess the effect of the shock was what made me like this. There are two roads forked before me, which one should I choose? I finally took the path to the left again, but suddenly a coffin fell at the end of the path I chose, the lid burst open and I turned around while screaming without needing to know what came out of the coffin. I ran to choose the other way and I still kept screaming. But suddenly someone touched my leg. That hand felt cold. I lowered my head and there was a very pale hand gripping my ankle, it was coming out of the wall.
"NO! DO NOT TOUCH ME!!!"
I struggled very hard and tried to run, but the hand that was gripping my leg gripped even tighter and I lost my balance, I fell forward quite hard. My chin hit the ground hard, and a moment later I felt my chin sting, as well as the palms of my hands and knees (I was wearing a mini dress combined with pants above the knee, which I regret now).
"NOONA!"
I felt someone pulling me up and carrying me, but when I came to my senses, apparently someone, I don't know, not someone, but a ghost wearing royal attributes (I recognized the hat he was wearing, a kind of hat worn by royalty or officials in the past), with a very pale face and bloodstained near his lips, is the figure who is carrying me now.
"LET ME GO! YOU SAY YOU WILL NOT TOUCH ME!"
As if driving my mind crazy, I bit this ghost's arm really hard and it screamed as loudly as I did.
"NO NOONA!"
But he didn't let go of me, he still carried me while running and taking me out of the maze. I could hear voices again, but my mind was too confused to understand what the voices were about. I just keep struggling because I was kidnapped by this ghost. I bit his arm again, harder.
"NOONA STOP, THIS IS ME, DONGHYUN!"
And guilt rushed over me as fast as my heart was pounding. I should have realized when he called me noona. And how can I not recognize his scent? How can I not recognize his voice? We entered the University Infimary (I had time to read the label of this room near the entrance) and two people wearing nurse uniforms screamed when Donghyun roughly slid the door and laid me down on the bed.
"Sorry, sunbaenim, it's me, Min Donghyun!"
"Oh, it's you, Donghyun. Crazy, you really drive us crazy."
"What happened?"
"It's okay, I can handle it."
The two nurses who seemed to know Donghyun looked at me for a moment, then they nodded their heads.
"Can we leave you for a moment then?"
"Yes, I will replace sunbaenim here. But please tell Sangsoo sunbaenim that I'll be back there at closing time."
"Wait, before that... we want to take a photo with you!"
"Ah okay sunbaenim..."
It must be weird taking pictures with... a ghost. But I also want to take a photo with him later.
"We will look for Sangsoo-ssi now. Thank you, Donghyun!"
The two beautiful nurses left laughing and whispering, and when the door slid shut, it was suddenly quiet. I can see Donghyun clearly now. While he was turning his back and busy in front of a cupboard, I could see his back: he was even wearing ancient clothes, but he was not an official, I recognized it as a king's robe. The replica of the robe is exquisitely made: the red fabric looks like an expensive cloth and the dragon embossed looks almost as if it was made with gold thread. Donghyun looked back at me and I screamed again.
"Oh, I'm sorry noona, do I really look terrible?"
After placing the first aid box at the foot of my bed, he turned to the corner of the room and approached the large mirror.
"WAH CRAZY!"
I laughed at his reaction and he quickly took a tissue.
"Wait, Donghyun wait, don't erase it! Do you have a cell phone?"
"Yes, why noona?"
"Let's take pictures first. This is a rare opportunity. After all, you are so strange, when you took a photo with the nurses, you didn't pay attention to your makeup?"
"No, I didn't concentrate earlier..."
Donghyun took his cellphone from under his robe, then a few minutes later we were busy taking several photos with various poses. Now that I know that Donghyun was the one who picked me up and helped me, I feel ashamed myself because I yelled and bit him. Donghyun forgot to remove his makeup and is now busy treating my wounds.
"What happened? Why did you fall?"
"Someone grabbed my leg."
"Are you sure? Ghosts don't touch guests."
"I am sure. You don't see it?"
"I guess I'm a little late, because when I turned, I already saw noona fall."
"Are you sure ghosts won't touch guests?"
"Of course."
I shook my head quickly. I got goosebumps imagining...
"Could it be a real ghost."
"Ah, no way!" Donghyun shouted quickly, "I'll report it to Sangsoo sunbaenim later."
"Ouch!"
"Ah sorry, I'll slow down."
Donghyun blew on the palm of my hand which was spiked with medicine by him. I smiled because I was being treated by the king right now. Ah I mean, the ghost of the king.
"The makeup and costumes are great."
"Oh, this... we hired some young makeup artists, and the costumes were lent by the acting kids... ah wait! Did I break the costume?"
For a moment all this madness made me forget that Donghyun is actually ridiculous. He moved away and quickly took off his robe.
"YA! ARE YOU CRAZY?"
"I'm wearing clothes!"
And it's true he was wearing a plain white shirt and white pants under the robe. I was scared that he would strip himself in front of me. Finally he sat down again on the bed and examined my wounds.
"Since when did you follow me?"
"From the beginning. I heard your voice outside, noona. I am the ghost of the front door Dohyeok-ssi was referring to. I'm in charge of keeping the guests out of the front door."
"You really scared me. Why didn't you just say it from the start?"
"If I say, do you believe it? Besides, I thought that noona was brave enough to walk alone, so my plan was to only look after noona. Where is Chungdae hyong by the way?"
"Oh, it seems like something happened at backstage, so he told me to go first."
"Wait, what time is it? Are we too late to hear the winner announcement? Should we go there now?"
"Wait," I pulled Donghyun's arm, "let me check."
I pulled the sleeves of Donghyun's shirt up and I could see some areas that were bluish.
"This... I'm... sorry, Donghyun."
너 없는 길을 간다 해도
Even if I walk on a path without you
그 길 끝에는 네가 있을 것 같아
Feels like you'll be there at the end
너 없이 걷던 수많은 길을
All the paths I walked on without you
난 되돌리려 해
I'm trying to go back
As long as you love me
As long as you miss me
누군가가 아닌
Not just anyone
널 위한 한 사람
But one person for you
더는 숨기지도숨지도 않을래
I don't want to hide any longer
이젠 너에게 나
Now I'm going to you
As long as you love me
As long as you miss me
같은 곳을 보며
I want to look at the same place
함께 웃음 지으며
Put on a smile together
어여쁜 생각에
And with good thoughts
불러 주고 싶어
Call out
너의 이름
Your name
(Jeong Sewoon – When You Call My Name)
"Ah, it's okay, noona. It does hurt, but I think it will heal in a few days."
Donghyun lowered his shirt sleeve again.
"I'm more worried about this..."
Donghyun touched my chin and I automatically stifled a scream. Apparently the cut on my chin is not just an ordinary blister.
"Hurt? I will treat it slowly."
***