Mudoo - Chapter 23

“They should be nearby.”

Tae-shin added that the dead often linger around the place where they died. He ducked under the police tape and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. Following behind him, Seula couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling creeping in.

“Should we really be going in there like this? What if we get tied up in the investigation?”

“If that happens, it’ll be a real headache.”

Tae-shin frowned deeply, clearly not even wanting to entertain the thought.

“I hate crime scenes.”

Seula was about to ask if he’d been involved in a case like this before, when they turned the landing and started up the next flight of stairs. Standing above them was a schoolgirl with her arms crossed, staring down at them.

“Ahhh!”

Startled, Seula yelped and ducked behind Tae-shin’s back.

Unlike other ghosts, this girl didn’t flee at the sight of Tae-shin, but her expression clearly showed she didn’t like what she saw.

“Who are you? You’re giving me such a bad vibe. Creepy.”

Peeking over Tae-shin’s shoulder, Seula looked at the girl. She was dressed in a simple school uniform, her voice still youthful—clearly a high school student. Seula didn’t know what had happened to her, but she felt a pang of sympathy for someone so young.

“Is that… you?”

Seula pointed to the white chalk outline at the bottom of the stairs. The girl nodded.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Her eyes lingered on the spot.

“Someone pushed me down the stairs. Hard.”

“……”

“……”

“I’m not going anywhere until they catch who did it.”

Seula and Tae-shin exchanged a look. They both got the same sinking feeling—this wouldn’t be a straightforward retrieval.

Tae-shin checked his watch.

“We don’t have much time.”

They had to finish the job before sunrise. But finding the culprit who pushed the girl would take much longer.

The girl sighed deeply, looking frustrated.

“I told the cops over and over that it was murder, but they won’t listen. They’re trying to close it as a suicide from exam stress. Can you believe that? I haven’t even taken my college entrance exams yet. It’s insane.”

Seula lightly tapped Tae-shin’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we hear her out first? Even if we leave now, she’ll just keep resisting.”

Tae-shin seemed to agree and rubbed the back of his neck as he walked up the stairs.

“There are two people here who can hear you. Start from the beginning. Tell us everything.”

“…Don’t laugh.”

Despite her earlier confidence, the girl hesitated, then turned to lead them down the hallway.

She stopped in front of the study room door.

“I shouldn’t have come here that night…”

Seula noticed the embroidered name tag on her vest beneath her slumped shoulders. She gently called out,

“Bok-young, can you keep going?”

Startled to hear her name, Bok-young brushed a hand over the name tag on her chest.

“I heard a rumor that if you spend the night in this annex study room, you’ll ace the college entrance exam.”

Tae-shin scoffed in disbelief. Seula elbowed him in the ribs, silently begging him to keep quiet.

“I know it sounds dumb, okay? But I was desperate. Normally, only top students can use this place during the semester. Even in summer break, it’s reserved for the best. This was my only chance. It wasn’t even going to cost me anything—I figured one night wouldn’t hurt.”

“You sure like your preambles.”

Tae-shin brushed past her and pushed the door open.

A sudden, sharp gust of wind blasted out from inside. Seula stumbled, and Tae-shin immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her close.

“Careful.”

Something invisible had just flown out of the room.

Watching them, Bok-young asked with a flat tone,

“What’s with you two? Are you dating or something?”

Seula, a bit flustered, gently pulled her arm free and smiled awkwardly. Bok-young walked into the room as she continued.

“Please, keep it down in front of me. I’ve never even had a boyfriend. Anyway, back to my story.”

Following Tae-shin’s instructions, Bok-young detailed her movements, what she’d done, and even which workbooks she used that night. Seula listened carefully, hoping something might stand out as a clue.

Meanwhile, Tae-shin was standing at the front wall, staring at something intently.

“What are you looking at?”

Seula followed his gaze.

ANNEX STUDY ROOM RULES

Turn off or switch phones to airplane mode.

No loud talking or phone calls.

Sit only in your assigned seat.

Leave the room before midnight.

If you stay past midnight, do not leave until morning.

Most of the rules seemed ordinary, but the last one caught their attention.

“That last rule feels weird, doesn’t it?” Seula asked.

Tae-shin ran a thumb over his brow and tilted his head.

“Yeah. Makes me wonder—what happens if you leave after midnight?”

“What happens?” Bok-young chimed in between them. “You end up like me.”

“There’s always a reason adults say not to do something. I should’ve taken it seriously. If I’d just waited until morning… I wouldn’t have died.”

Her voice was thick with regret and longing.

While Seula tried to think of how to comfort her, Tae-shin looked down at her with cold eyes.

“But you’re already dead.”

“What kind of jerk says that? You think I don’t know that?”

“Regret won’t do you any good. The more you cling to the past, the harder it’ll be to move on.”

“You sound worse than our oldest teacher. You’re such a boomer.”

Seula quietly nodded. Of course, Tae-shin was over 500 years old—he wasn’t going to be easygoing.

Bok-young glanced back at her old study desk and said firmly,

“I’ll go with the grim reaper once I know who pushed me. Until then, I can’t leave. It’s just too unfair.”

“You think someone killed you?” Tae-shin’s tone dulled with disinterest.

“That’s the police’s job, not mine.”

“I don’t care if it was a person or a ghost. I just want to know who it was.”

“And what would you do with that knowledge? You’re dead.”

“Oh my God, seriously. Are you some kind of sociopath?”

Furious, Bok-young glared at Tae-shin and stepped toward him. Seula quickly held her back.

“Let it go. He’s not good at this kind of thing. Just… let’s try to pity him a little.”

Tae-shin, mildly offended by the unexpected sympathy, opened his mouth to respond—but Seula spoke first.

“I think I can do it.”

Both Tae-shin and Bok-young turned to her.

“Do what?”

“What are you talking about?”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Seula carefully explained what had been running through her mind.

“I’ll retrace Bok-young’s steps exactly the way she did before she fell.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Tae-shin shot her down immediately.

“But who else can do it?” Seula argued. “Bok-young is already dead. No one’s going to approach you. And we’re running out of time. We have to try something.”

“Don’t you think this is reckless? Who’s going to clean up the mess if things go wrong?”

“I won’t let things get out of hand. You won’t have to step in.”

“What if you die?”

The moment the words left his lips, Seula was speechless. The retort—What, you think I’ll really die?—was on the tip of her tongue. But then she thought about all the souls she’d met—how many of them had truly expected to die?

Tae-shin’s intense gaze felt like it was boring into her. She hesitated, then turned her head and replied softly,

“You’re not going to let me die, are you?”