Back to School (11)
Back to School (11)
Just then, Ms. Kim called her.
"Hello," Gayoon answered. "Where's Jina?"
"Ma'am!" Ms. Kim exclaimed. "I can't find the little miss anywhere!"
Gayoon froze in shock. "S-she must be there in the house!" Gayoon reasoned, trying to stay calm. "Probably in the garden-"
"We've searched everywhere," Kim stated. "But we can't find her anywhere! Jang has gone to her friend's house but why would she go there so late at night?"
"I'm returning home!" Gayoon said and hung up the phone. She tried to call Minho but to her shock, his phone was also busy! Damn it! She cursed and headed off to find him.
She ran through the large field, looking for him. "Minho!" she shouted. "Minho where are you?"
Gayoon was frantic. She tried to call his cell phone again but now it was out of reach. Trying Jina's number again, she hoped that the little girl would pick up but the phone was busy. Who was Jina talking to? What if she was kidnapped? Or worse?
She did not want to think of the possibilities. Her heart was panicking and even though she tried to stay calm, when it came to her daughter, she could not help but become mad with worry. She ran around, heading for the old school building to look for Minho. He had walked off with Jaewan and she was unsure where they went.
Jaewan…
She was about to dial his number but to her horror, her phone battery died!
"UGH!" she shouted. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"
She ran into the empty building, looking for Minho. "Minho!" she called for him. "Minho!"
Gayoon was so worried that she did not notice the air thickening around her. A cool breeze was coming from somewhere, brushing her skin but she was preoccupied with the thoughts of her daughter who was missing. She cursed her luck and needed to find Minho but where was he?
"Minho!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the empty hallway.
…
"How did he really die?" Minho asked. "How did Park Seungjo die?"
Jaewan took a deep breath and sighed. He knew that Hwang Minho would probe into Gayoon's past sooner or later but he did not expect him to find out about Park Seungjo.
"No one really knows," he admitted. "We were told that Yoo and his friends had pushed Seungjo off the roof. There was a festival going on and all of us were busy with it until we heard the crash and saw Park Seungjo on the ground, dead. One of the students looked up and saw Yoo peering from the roof."
"But did anyone actually see him fall from the roof?" Minho asked.
"I...I don't know," Jaewan frowned. "Why are you so curious about this?"
"When did Gayoon tell you that she can see ghosts?" Minho asked.
"She always claimed it so," Jaewan shrugged. "I just never questioned her. But she was highly disturbed after Seungjo's death. She couldn't eat nor sleep. Everyone thought it was because she was dating Seungjo but that wasn't true. She never dated him. On the contrary, he was stalking her. She told me about how someone attacked her house and she thinks it was Seungjo. There wasn't any evidence because the CCTV was tampered with but Seungjo could have done that. He was good with cameras and knew how to disable them."
Minho did not need to be told that. He knew exactly what that monster did with cameras.
Just then, his phone rang up. It was Jina.
"Jina?" he frowned, answering the phone. "What-"
"Hwang Minho?" A familiar voice came from the other end. "I'm Shinjin. We met during CCK's exorcism."
"What are you doing with Jina's phone? "Minho demanded. "Where is she?"
"Dad, I'm alright!" Jina replied. She was in the car with Shinjin and Junho, the latter quietly listening, trying to hide his panic. For some reason, Junho told them not to take Yumi and Casper with them citing that he would explain everything later.
"But-"
"Dad, listen to me," Jina said. "Whatever you do, don't leave mom alone tonight! Get out of there, now!"
Minho frowned at his daughter's words. "Park Seungjo," Jina said. "That spirit's name."
"We had trapped him in the school's ground eight years ago," Shinjin explained. "But your workers had opened the box with the uniform and the button in it! Now his spirit is in that school waiting for Gayoon to turn up!"
"I saw him in my mind when I touched the uniform!" Jina added. "He's gonna hurt her!"
Minho was shocked to his very core. Park Seungjo was still existing as a ghost. Which meant…
"Gayoon," he whispered.
"He's lurking in the old school building," Shinjin said. "Around the fifth floor. That's where he's the strongest!"
Minho did not waste another minute and ran off to find Gayoon. Jaewan frowned when Minho raised past him.
"Hey!" he protested but Minho did not care. He was trying to call Gayoon but her number was switched off.
"Find Gayoon!" he yelled at Jaewan. "Look for her in the party hall and I'll look in the old school building. Now!"
Jaewan did not ask anymore questions and ran off. Meanwhile, Shinjin, Jina and Junho stopped in front of the school. Junho turned to Jina.
"Listen very carefully," he said. "Park Seungjo is a very powerful spirit and the years in captivity only made him stronger. You must not go too near him. We'll have to trap him again."
"Isn't there any other way?" Jina asked. "Can't we get rid of him for good?"
"We can," Shinjin sighed. "But he's too powerful. The obsession he carried towards Gayoon passed on to his spirit form, giving him a lot of strength. Moreover, his soul is trapped in two places. One part is in the uniform he was wearing when he was dead. And the other one in the button found near his dead body."
"We have enough powers to destroy one of them," Junho said bitterly. "But to destroy both the objects will need a lot more time and energy, which can kill us."
Jina was about to open her mouth but she noticed her father was running past them. He did not see their way because his mind was on Gayoon. Jnho quickly hid behind a seat to avoid his son.
"Go!" he urged them. "Go and help her!"
They did not need to be told twice. Jina sprang out of the car and followed her dad to the old school building with Shinjin in tow.
Meanwhile, Gayoon had reached the fifth floor, looking for Minho. The sight of the familiar place temporarily froze her. She tried not to think of those memories but she could still hear the jeers and taunts of her classmates as they made fun of her abilities. They saw her as a curse, an anomaly. The whole hallway was erupting with laughter of those teenagers as they jabbed at her, calling her names.
"Curse!"
"Witch!"
"Throw salt on her!"
Seventeen year old Gayoon was on the verge of crying. Someone threw white powder at her, turning her hair white. A girl stepped forward and pushed her back, cousin her to fall back.
"AH!" She yelled in pain. They crowded around her, laughing at her. Stop it! She begged inwardly, curling into a corner but their voices would not leave her. They were going to torment her until she vanished from the face of the earth.
"Stop it!" she moaned. She had to find her daughter! She must find Jina!
But her feet would not move, rooting her to one spot.
"Gayoon!"
Minho's voice caused her to turn around. Behind him, Jina was running towards them, yelling something but Gayoon could not hear them. A loud static played in her ears while the eerily familiar fear crept in her heart. The cold air was now clasping her palm, pulling her backwards. She wanted to stop but it kept on dragging her somewhere.
The door to 12A flung open. Minho watched as a portal began to open and Gayoon was being pulled right into it.
Jina came to a stop while Shijin appeared on the stairs. The little girl was terrified at what she was seeing. An archway had formed there and the nerdy geek ghost was pulling her with him.
"Where is he taking her?" she asked Shinjin. "What is that? Stop him?"
"What is what?" Shinjin frowned. He saw nothing but Gayoon being pulled by an invisible hand.
"You don't see it?" Jina asked in horror. "That door! He's-"
Suddenly, Minho leapt forward to bring Gayoon back but the ghost was surprisingly strong. He gave a rough pull, completely taking her into the portal.
But to the shock of Jina, Minho also went through the archway as if he was able to see where it was.
"Mom! Dad!" she yelled and ran forward but Shinjin pulled her back, finally realizing what was going on as he saw both Gayoon and Minho disappearing in thin air.
"Let me go!" Jina yelled. "I have to bring them back!"
She slapped his hands but the shaman was too shocked to care. How was this possible? Hwang Minho and Jina were able to see those gates?
"They went into the World of the Dead," he whispered.