I Became the Hidden Mastermind

Chapter 31

031 – Missing #3

The literary girl Yudahee bought a bunch of snacks and cup ramen from the convenience store and shared them with me.

I received one cup ramen and one bag of snacks.

Crunch, crunch.

When I poured water into the cup ramen, Yudahee followed suit.

It was a bit unexpected.

Yudahee from Class A of the first grade was quite famous at school. It was because she drove to school every morning in a black and luxurious-looking car.

It was natural for rumors about such a rich girl to circulate.

So, it was a bit strange to see a rich girl sitting in a convenience store chair in the busy street on a Friday night, boiling cup ramen when it was almost 10 PM.

“It should be cooked now. It seems okay to eat.”

Swoosh.

When I opened the lid of the cup ramen, the red broth seeped out from the chewy noodles, emitting a fragrant steam.

Although I had eaten soup earlier, I honestly didn’t know where it went, and since I left in the middle of eating, my stomach still had room.

You should never underestimate the disguise of a high school freshman boy.

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Slurp.

Sitting in the convenience store, eating ramen, the events that had just happened felt like a dream.

And as I gradually felt the fullness in my stomach, the situation I was experiencing began to feel like one of those unreal dreams.

To think that I, along with Yudahee, the famous literature girl from school, was sitting in a convenience store in the busy district at 10 PM.

Sllurp-.

Yudahee finished the cup ramen and opened her narrow eyes.

“You haven’t been to school these days, right? Thanks to that, I had to clean the library alone.”

“Well, I had some things to take care of at home.”

“Oh? Was it something bad? Is it resolved now?”

“Sort of.”

I hesitated, not knowing what to say in front of Yudahee.

The three years spent in middle school turned me into a timid guy in front of girls.

While I could confidently mix words with rough guys like Yang Ju-hee or Bong Ji-yeon, who lived their lives carelessly, it was different with girls of my age.

Yudahee was, among the girls I had seen, the most elegant… or should I say, refined.

If I were to metaphorically describe it, it felt like encountering a stray alley cat and realizing it’s a Persian cat from a rich family.

I didn’t know what to say.

I was worried about looking foolish or appearing awkward.

Come to think of it, these past few days have been so hectic that I couldn’t even wash properly or do my laundry!

I wonder how I appear right now.

“……”

The conversation between Yudahee and me naturally came to an end.

Yudahee was casually surveying the surroundings with a relaxed attitude, while I was contemplating whether it would be better to say anything in a very awkward manner.

I wondered if the feeling I had now was similar to the embarrassment experienced by men on awkward blind dates where things just don’t click with the other person. I don’t know. You’d have to have experienced a blind date to know.

Why am I going through this right now?

Who is Yudahee?

I knew very little about Yudahee.

The library committee member of Class A.

A person who likes foreign novels.

Rumored to be from a wealthy family.

Apart from these, there was almost no information.

High school was a structure where it was harder to become friends with people from other classes than with those in the same class.

Honestly, if I didn’t have the title of a library committee member, I might have lived my whole life without any connection to Yudahee.

“Oh.”

At that moment, something crossed my mind.

I opened my bag and took out a book that I had been keeping since some time ago.

It was the book “Easy Understanding of Feng Shui.”

“You gave me this book the other day, right?”

“Oh, that book.”

“It was quite helpful.”

“Really? But this is strange. I’ve never given you a book like this forever.”

What’s this nonsense again?

There was definitely a Post-it with ‘Yudahee’ written on it!

I wondered if this was some kind of ghostly or mysterious trick, and my vision became dizzy.

That’s when Yudahee laughed.

“hehehehe. Just kidding. I left it by your bedside because I thought waking you up might be a bit awkward. What were we talking about then… ghost stories, maybe.”

We did talk about ghost stories, not in a dream.

The boundary of memory was vague about where the dream started and ended.

Now was the moment when it was clearly sorted out.

“Did we talk about ghost stories?”

“Wow. Seriously? Did you forget the conversation we had?”

Yudahee made a face, turning her head to the side as if pretending to vomit.

Just that alone caused me tremendous psychological damage.

It was a different kind of attack from Yang Joo-hee asking, “Do you want to die?”

“We were talking about the third ghost, not the shaman ghost or the head ghost. The scariest one is the third ghost, and everyone who meets it dies, so no one knows its identity.”

It was truly a terrifying story.

A ghost that kills everyone it meets, leaving its identity unknown.

But there was something that bothered me.

“How do people know that there is a third ghost? If everyone who encounters it dies and no one knows its identity, there wouldn’t be any rumors. With no witnesses, it wouldn’t have become known.”

“Well… now that I think about it, you’re the type to nitpick on such things, aren’t you, Yeongwon?”

Like this.

Did I delve too deeply into the details, causing my score to drop?

In the past few days, while battling ghosts, I’ve become accustomed to various fact-checking. Conversing with women was as challenging for me as defeating ghosts.

Yang Joo-hee was surprisingly easy to talk to.

Is this the difference between Easy Mode and Hard Mode?

“Someone said that there’s eventually an answer to every problem. Yeongwon, focus a bit more on the essence.”

“……?”

Whooosh-.

The wind blew, making it slightly chilly.

It was a spring evening anticipating summer, but it was a bit cool.

Unable to endure the momentary gap in the conversation and the silence, I thought it might be good to just say something.

“But. What were you doing here? Waiting for someone?”

“No? I just came out for a moment. My house is strict. I can’t make friends easily. Especially with guys, I can’t even talk. I’ll never have a boyfriend for life.”

“Huh? Really? There are still houses like that these days.”

While admiring in various ways, on the other hand, my heart fluttered a bit.

I’m having a conversation with Yoo Da-hee, who can’t easily make friends. It felt like I had become a special person.

So, I gained some courage.

“Um. Do you use Instagram or something? In case I can’t go to the library, we can contact each other in advance….”

“No.”

Drrr-.

At that moment, Yudahee pushed back the chair and stood up.

Thunk!

Have I crossed the line?

Even in my own thoughts, it seemed like I was blabbering endlessly!

“It seems like it’s time to leave now. I have to go. Youngwon, it was nice meeting you today. Finish the remaining snacks. Well, then─.”

Well then, goodbye-.

Was that what I was trying to say?

It was at that moment, as if possessed, waiting for the next words to come out of her plum-colored lips.

“─Well then, open your eyes now.”

# # #

“Ugh!”

I jerked my body as if my heart was being squeezed.

It was almost like having a seizure.

Even a cat suddenly splashed with cold water would be more composed than me.

Thunk!

In the end, I tumbled off the chair.

Whoosh-.

Torn snack wrappers showered over my head.

“Oh, geez. That hurts.”

Falling from the plastic chair in front of the convenience store.

What a bolt from the blue.

Looking around, the bustling convenience store street remained unchanged.

“What on earth.”

When did I fall asleep?

Have I ever experienced something like this somewhere?

Did I mention feeling a sense of déjà vu when seeing something like this?

“This is the second time.”

Whenever I talked with Yudahee, it was always like this.

It was when I thought of checking the time on my phone with a creepy feeling.

The phone’s clock pointed past midnight to 1 a.m.

What mattered wasn’t that, but the post-it attached to the phone.

An 11-digit number was written on it.

Seeing it start with 010, it was undoubtedly someone’s phone number.

And that ‘someone’ was probably…

“Was it a dream… or not?”

Somehow, I felt electrified and excited, my lungs swelling for the first time since I was born!

I got a girl’s number for the first time!

I should save it quickly!

If I save the number, it will automatically be added on KakaoTalk!

Oh, sh*t!

“But it’s getting late.”

1 a.m.

It might be a bother to contact someone at this late hour.

I hailed a taxi and headed home with a happy heart.

The next morning.

I woke up early and headed to the phone service center.

It was to repair my mother’s phone.

“It’s not charging. The battery is completely drained. The Galaxy series often experiences battery drain after using it for more than 5 years.”

The phone is drained.

But something was strange.

“My mother just got a new phone earlier this year. It’s the latest model, so how could it already be drained?”

“Well, machines don’t always work according to human desires. We can replace it with another phone while it’s still under warranty.”

It’s really strange.

Did my mother’s phone break down after all?

I went to the hospital and told my mother about this.

“Did your phone break down, Mom? Oh no, this is a disaster. My life is ruined. At least if it turns on, I can try to transfer the files inside! Can’t it be fixed?”

“They said it’s just a drained battery. They said it’ll be fine if we replace the battery.”

“But why would a phone that’s not even a year old be drained already? It’s really strange. From what I saw, it seems like the service center is lying.”

“Well, it didn’t seem like it to me. It’s just, well, things can break down.”

Maybe it’s because of the elevator.

When I had such thoughts, Mom spoke.

“Yeongwon, there’s no such thing as ‘just’! There’s an answer to every problem!”

“…?”

I felt a strange sense of apprehension.

What is it? It feels like something is about to come to mind.

Well, there was no way to fix a broken machine just by regretting it.

Mom said she had various tests at the hospital today. I thought hospitals usually took weekends off, but maybe it’s because it’s a large hospital operated by a corporation that the doctors work even on Saturdays.

I decided to go home.

Jeongseok and Yang Ju-hee were supposed to come to our house today.

“Uh… Hello, ma’am.”

But Yang Ju-hee didn’t come to the house; she came straight to the hospital where Mom was hospitalized.

It seems she remembered the name of the hospital and the room number that I told her yesterday.

“Oh, she’s really pretty. Who are you?”

“I’m Yang Ju-hee. I’m in the same class as Yeongwon.”

Classmates.

Were we like warm acquaintances, like friends?

Yang Ju-hee, who usually acted without hesitation, twitched her body awkwardly, as if she were uncomfortable somewhere. Soon, Yang Ju-hee said to Mom.

“You look really young. I think I can call you unni.”

“Of course. I had Yeongwon when I was your age. Looking back now, I was really young and inexperienced. Seeing you reminds me of those days! By the way, Ju-hee, do you have a boyfriend?”

“Yes?”

“If not, how about our eternity? Aren’t I handsome? In the style of the kids these days! I’m also from the same MZ generation. In my opinion, I think I’m good-looking!”

Oh, damn.

Suddenly, I felt intensely embarrassed, and I had a premonition that if I stayed here any longer, some embarrassing history would be created that would haunt me for the rest of my life under the blankets.

“Mom! I’m leaving! Juhee! Let’s go! Jungseok is coming to our house soon!”

“Yeongwon-ah, wait a moment.”

Mom called me.

Then, with slightly teary eyes, she opened her wallet and whispered to me.

“I’ve been keeping this to give to you someday. Finally, that day has come.”

Wondering what it was, I accepted it, but it was a packaging that seemed to contain vitamins.

However, it wasn’t vitamins; it was…

“No, Mom!”

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“Why. Birth control is important. Keep it in your wallet.”

“Oh, come on. Mom seems to be all right now. Anyway, I’m leaving!”

I left with Yang Juhee.

Today, the pirate crew planned to gather, share opinions, and play games together.

Ding-dong-.

Coincidentally, it seemed that Jungseok also received a message.

Are you already here waiting?

But when I checked, the message was from someone I hadn’t expected at all.

「Yudahee: Why didn’t you contact me yesterday? I was waiting ㅎ」

“……”

“What did Jeong-seok say? If you come first and wait, ask him to buy a few bags of snacks.”

“Huh? No.”

I was startled and quickly hid my phone.

Then, Yang Joo-hee’s eyes, who was leaving the hospital, widened.

“What’s wrong? Why are you acting like that? What are you hiding? Isn’t it Jeong-seok? Are you still in contact with Jeong-sojin? She’s a total psycho! Do you know what happened at school yesterday?”

Something happened with Jeong-sojin at school yesterday.

I don’t know.

Anyway, the important thing is that Yoo Da-hee sent me a text message.

Ding, ding-.

Since I keep receiving notifications, it seems like she’s saying something to me.

It was a bit awkward to check it in front of Yang Joo-hee.

“Just a moment, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Hayoung-won, you’re acting really suspicious right now.”

I know.

I know too….

Before leaving the hospital, I quickly ran to the bathroom on the first floor and opened my phone.

“Yoo Da-hee: What are you doing today?”