Archive of Our Own

At first, Baek Saheon thought Kim Soleum had encouraged him to get off the train knowing his eye would be lost.

'I mean, it's hard to not be critical of other people's motives, isn't it?'

But, after Baek Saheon had seen the look of shock and regret on Kim Soleum's rapidly paling face as those thin metal spikes surgically removed his eye, he had to accept the fact it was completely unknown to Kim Soleum. He hadn't wanted to see him suffer. He was being honest.

(But he still remembers the creepy laugh that had escaped Kim Soleum when the majority of their fellow passengers had gotten off at the wrong station. Baek Saheon tried to convince himself he had misheard, really he did, but there was no mistaking the automatic sly smirk that crawled onto his face at seeing people who he had no doubt labeled as 'annoyances' die in such an excruciating way.

...He's still trying to rationalize it to himself. There's a condition that makes people laugh at inappropriate times, isn't there?)

Growing up in a cult with no one but his sister, he couldn't trust anyone. When his sister died, the only thing on his mind was survival.

Surviving. That's all that matters. (What's the use of valuables if you're too dead to enjoy them?)

Well, anyway, Baek Saheon must have done something worthwhile in his previous life, after all!

Because in this so-competitive-it's-fatal company he had met someone who earnestly just wanted to see him live; had been randomly assigned to share a room with that person out of 7 new employees.

Not only is Kim Soleum a good person, he's quite the considerate roommate too! He cleans up after himself, but never blames Baek Saheon if he leaves his dirty dishes in the sink. When making himself food, Kim Soleum makes an extra portion specifically for Baek Saheon, even though Baek Saheon had never asked him to do that. He even waits for Baek Saheon to leave the apartment or go to sleep before watching horror movies in the living room.

Another thing, Kim Soleum never got any physical mail.

(Well, neither did Baek Saheon.)

But...

'I'll admit, I'm a little bit curious..'

...Baek Saheon had arrived home to find a package and a letter addressed to Kim Soleum.

"I don't even think he has a copy of the mail key," Baek Saheon mumbles to himself, grabing the mail to bring back to their room.

* * *

Kim Soleum wasn't home when Baek Saheon came back.

'Ah, he was just here... Seriously.'

......

Being alone in their shared housing, with mail that Kim Soleum probably had no idea was waiting for him...

Baek Saheon couldn't resist.

He picks up the letter.

"Oh, it's from the government..?"

He carefully rips open the envelope and pulls the papers out.

"......!"

The first one is a copy of a will. Kim Soleum's (now) deceased uncle's will.

'I shouldn't read this...'

So he looked at the other papers.

Multiple slightly old looking pieces of lined notebook paper with the same slightly smudged handwriting on all of them. The tops of the pages are numbered and at the bottom of the third, and last page, is the same name that was in the will.

'I guess his uncle wrote this for him?'

Baek Saheon picks up the first page.

[Your father probably never mentioned me, as we had quite the strained relationship, but I care for you as if you were one of my own. I never had children, so this item should go to you. You should have gotten a package along with this letter.]

"...'Item'? What weird wording,"

 [This item will bring you luck. This old uncle of your's also got this from a relative. You never met your father and I's dad, right? Ha, our dad gave it to me, and your father was so upset!]

...The rest of the first page seems to be Kim Soleum's uncle rambling on and on about Kim Soleum's father.

He skips to the second page.

[From what your grandfather told me, if something terrible happens, you can use this to reverse it. So keep it on you at all times! I don't want something to happen to my precious nephew and him not be able to fix it.]

Oh, so it's that kind of item.

'...Is it really an item, though?'

What if it's just some random trashy item that those geezers think will fix their lives?

'And if it really is, that guy will just hand it over to the company..!'

Because Kim Soleum was that kind of person.

He'd hand it over to the company to see if it really was something supernatural, and If the company finds it useful, they might take it and not give it back.

Baek Saheon's eyes drift to the package.

'I won't be able to tell just by looking at it, but...'

...He won't lie to himself, he's also curious about this item.

Baek Saheon rips the tape off of the box and flips it open.

Sitting on a decent amount of brown tissue paper is an aged and slightly dirty ivory cassette tape. The text on the label has been gouged at with something sharp, leaving it unreadable.

'......'

There's no way this is something helpful. Baek Saheon can feel the ominous aura just by looking at it.

"Why would his uncle send him something like this!?"

"What are you looking at, Saheon-ah looking at?" Kim Soleum was standing in the doorway, taking off his shoes after just arriving at home from work.

"Ah... Welcome home Soleum-ssi..."

"Hmm? Why do you look so guilty?"

"......"

"...So you really did do something."

"I," he stutters, "I was just curious!"

"So is that not your mail? Who's mail is it?"

"......"

"......?"

"...It's yours." He admits, quietly.

"What?"

"It's your mail."

"Oh," Kim Soleum blinks, before shrugging with a smile, seemingly not caring that Saheon had opened his mail, "Who's it from? I didn't realize someone was sending me something."

Baek Saheon remains silent as Kim Soleum decides to ignore the package and letters on the counter, wanting to force Baek Saheon to share who exactly had sent it to him. He strides into the kitchen and starts heating up leftovers.

"Um, it's from the government. Your uncle on your dad's side died, and he left you this."

"......?" Kim Soleum freezes, "That shouldn't be possible."

"Well, your uncle did write in the letter that your dad ever spoke about him..."

"......"

"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

Kim Soleum jumps slightly when the microwave goes off and turns around to retrieve his meal, "What did.. my 'uncle' send me?"

"Ugh," Baek Saheon shudders a little as his eyes fall on the cassette tape again, "just some creepy cassette tape. He said it would bring you luck, but there's no way this--"

Kim Soleum interrupts him, "Baek Saheon."

"Y-yes?"

"That isn't from my 'uncle'." 

"......?"

"It seems someone's trying to kill me." Kim Soleum says, staring into Baek Saheon's eyes, forgetting his food.

"Huh? What are you talking about?!"

Kim Soleum reaches over the counter and picks up the cassette tape from the box, "This is a darkness. It'll attach to either the first person to see it or the first person to touch it, and once all the tapes are claimed, it brings everyone to a cabin. One of the cassette tapes will contaminate someone into being a serial killer, and they'll kill every other owner."

"......"

"Currently, it seems the government has control over who gets the tapes. Haha."

"......"

"...You didn't touch it, did you?"

"Did you touch it specifically so I wouldn't be considered the 'owner' of it?"

Kim Soleum smiles, "Am I that easy to see through?"

'...I think he thinks that he's harder to read than he really is.'

Kim Soleum, his saint-like roommate, who he might or might not spend an excessive amount of time thinking about (again, he laughed at people melting into gold! It's not weird to be caught up on that specific detail!), had decided to sacrifice himself so Baek Saheon could live.

...Again.

"You...!" Baek Saheon yanks the cassette tape out of Kim Soleum's grasp, "You did something like this in that train too, don't you have any survival instincts?"

"...Well, it's not like I can be completely sure it didn't attach to you immediately. I'm not exactly sure how it works either."

"......"

"But, now that I touched it, it should bring me in too, right? I don't want you to go into that ghost story alone." He says, with his smile on his face like he didn't just say something crazy.

'Why does he always want to put himself in danger?'

"Anyway," the black haired man sing-songs, taking the cassette tape back and sliding it into his pocket, "I'll keep it on me so I can know exactly when it starts luring us in."

"...Soleum-ssi, in the letter, it says to always carry it around, so I don't think you should keep it on yourself," Baek Saheon turns away, "Besides, if it attached itself to you, I wouldn't know when you get..." he trails off.

Kim Soleum chuckles and tilts his head, "I'll try to find you, if that happens." He goes around to the other side of the counter to stand next to Baek Saheon, completely forgetting the food he had just warmed, "Besides, I have Braun!" he jokes, patting the cute pink rabbit keychain he always wears in his breast pocket.

"I don't think a rabbit keychain is going to protect you from something like this"

Kim Soleum, putting his hand on his chest in faux-offense, scoffs, "He's not just a keychain! He's my very good friend!"

"And what about me? Am I not your good friend?"

"Ugh! Don't make me rank my friends! So rude, I don't know if I want to give you the gift I got for you earlier anymore..."

"Ack, I'm sorry! Really, I apologize! Of course Braun is closer to you than I am! Forget living together, he lives on you! Forgive me!"

"So materialistic, this guy..." Kim Soleum sniffles dramatically and takes Braun out of his pocket, "Should I forgive him Braun? I did already spend the money, and I don't have any use for it..."

"......"

'He occasionally teases me like this...'

"Ah, yes!" Kim Soleum nods excitedly at the rabbit before tucking it back into his breast pocket, "Baek Saheon, if you make it up to me by watching something with me, I'll forgive you!"

"...It's not a horror movie, is it?"

"......" Kim Soleum avoids eye contact.

"Ugh, fine..."

Baek Saheon huffs out a laugh as his roommate smiles widely and grabs his shoulders to push him to the couch, then sits down so close to him their sides are pressed together from knee to shoulder.

Maybe he should mind it, this closeness that seemed to appear from nothing but the fact they were on the same train car and happened to end up in the same dorm, but he can't bring himself to.

* * *

Several weeks later, Baek Saheon had almost forgotten the incident. 

Baek Saheon had arrived home before Kim Soleum, as he usually does. He quickly started getting ready, as Kim Soleum had agreed to go to the store with him to find an appropriate present for Baek Saheon's team supervisor's birthday.

He walks into the living room, harshly drying his hair with a towel, when...

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

'Oh, Soleum-ssi must've gotten home when I was in the shower. What's this song, though?'

He looks towards the couch, expecting his roommate to be waiting there. 

.......

Where is he...?

Baek Saheon's eyes flick to the entry way, where only his shoes sit.

"......"

His pocket feels heavy, all of a sudden.

Shakily, he moves his hand into his pocket and--

"Fuck!"

Pulls out the cassette tape.

Baek Saheon tosses the cassette tape across the room and hurriedly shoves his shoes onto his feet, sprinting out of the room.

"Saheon-ah!"

He almost runs into a worried looking Kim Soleum on the stairs in his haste to widen the distance between him and that cursed object.

"Ugh, Soleum-ssi..." He heaves, catching his breath, "That cassette tape just appeared in my pocket...!"

"Yes..." Kim Soleum rubs his neck awkwardly, "Looks like me touching it that time didn't do anything. Sorry."

"Don't apologize, seriously."

"...Right."

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

"Ack!" Baek Saheon startles hard, and would have fallen down the stairs if Kim Soleum hadn't reached out to balance him.

"I guess there's no running away from it..." He scowls, eyebrows briefly furrowing as his eyes widen. He catches himself and quickly smoothes his face out into a light frown before Baek Saheon can make sense of it.

Baek Saheon blinks. What a strange expression.

"Ah, yes..."

Kim Soleum clears his throat before continuing,

"We should head outside. It's probably not the safest idea to sit in a stairwell..."

Baek Saheon nods in agreement and starts heading down the stairs, walking in front of Kim Soleum.

'......!'

His hand gets grabbed.

He pauses and turns around to look at the culprit with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't want to lose you." Kim Soleum looks away bashfully, "What if I don't even get taken with you? It's safe like this."

"...Do what you want." He says as he continues down the steps.

'Ugh, I can practically feel him smiling behind me...'

After that, they continue down the stairs quietly and leave the officetel building.

"Hah..."

The scenery wasn't right.

They had definitely just walked out of the building their dorm is in...

Baek Saheon twists around to see that they had walked out of a shed.

He makes eye contact with Kim Soleum, who smirks and starts walking up the thin path up the hill towards the grand mountain villa

"Wh-- Hey! Wait for me...!" Baek Saheon has to jog to catch up with him.

When Baek Saheon reaches the front porch, Kim Soleum stops peering into the dusty windows and turns around to face him,

"It's too dark for me to see in, but hopefully the door is unlocked,"

"...Yeah."

Drring--

The sound of a bicycle bell came from behind Baek Saheon.

A lightly built man with dark clothes, a hat pulled low, and a mask covering his face gets off his bike.

"......"

"......"

A slightly awkward silence fills the air as the newcomer and Kim Soleum stare at each other.

'...They clearly know each other, so why aren't they saying anything...!'

"Uh," Baek Saheon starts, interrupting the staring contest the two were having, "If you two aren't going to say anything, I'm going inside."

Kim Soleum smiles brightly, "Yes! I'll follow you,"

"...You're acting like that guy won't?"

"......" The stranger stands there quietly.

But before the three of them head inside, Baek Saheon notices the mark printed on the stranger's bike.

[Seoul Metropolitan Government #2153]

'......!'

Oh, so he's an agent.

Baek Saheon flicks his eyes up to meet Soleum's, who mouths the words 'Disaster Management Bureau' to him.

'.......'

How does Kim Soleum know a Disaster Management Bureau agent?

"I'll open the door." The agent says, slowly opening the door.

Creeeeak.

"Anyone here?" The agent asks into the dark entryway.

The midday sunlight spilled into the slightly dim interior of the lodge.

And then--

"Ohhh, hey? More people are here!"

"Are you the owner of this place?"

People who had already arrived began to emerge.

A married couple who looked to be in their forties.

Three young adults in their twenties.

And a middle-aged man.

Six people in total.

Including the three of us, that made nine.

Baek Saheon looks towards Kim Soleum, who should know how many cassettes tapes are out there, and he nods slightly.

'So, it's starting then?'

Ugh, just our luck...!

* * *

Everything proceeded as predictably as a cliché could.

The married couple claimed their GPS led them here.

"I mean, the GPS sent us to the wrong place, the car broke down, and our phones don't have any signal... It's driving me crazy!"

"Huu. Honey, I told you so, didn't I? We should've gone to Sapporo instead of Sokcho!"

Three university students from a hiking club, who claimed to have gotten lost.

"We parked right below the trail, though."

"Yeah, but... Ugh, this is so annoying."

And finally, a middle-aged man who'd been trying to catch the nearest bus stop after finishing a shift as a designated driver.

"Aigoo. Still, seeing people around is such a relief. If we wait, the owner should come, right?"

Baek Saheon silently hoped the lodge owner didn't show up for a long while. 

Kim Soleum had taken him into a quiet corner and lightly explained the concept of this darkness to him.

"So, once the lodge owner shows up, the bloodbath begins?"

"Something like that."

We couldn't talk for long, though. We were soon asked questions by the others.

"What about you folks? What brings you here?"

"Oh, we're just office workers. We must've gotten on the wrong bus while heading out for fieldwork. I'm here with my subordinate." Kim Soleum lies quickly, putting a hand on Baek Saheon's shoulder.

Baek Saheon nods in greeting, deciding to let Kim Soleum do all the talking.

"Ahh, I see. It's nice to meet you two."

"By the way, is that young man from your company too?"

"Oh, no, we just met at the door..."

Kim Soleum makes eye contact with the agent, a tall man with sharp eyes that gave him an intimidating presence. He sighs lightly and responds lightly,

"I'm a public servant from the Seoul City Hall."

'Oh. He actually admitted it.'

The agent briefly explained that he was a public servant and had gotten lost while riding his bike.

And that was the end of it.

He conveniently left out the part where he worked for the Disaster Management Bureau, and that we were all stuck in a ghost story where a serial killer would soon be picking us off one by one.

Still, people aren't fools. They began to sense something was off.

"So all these people just happened to lose their way in broad daylight and end up at this countryside lodge?"

"Maybe we've been bewitched or something."

"Hey! Don't say such unlucky things."

The more people there are, the braver they get.

Even while bringing up ghosts, the group began glancing around the room like it was some kind of curiosity show.

"Come to think of it, this place..."

"Looks pretty fancy, doesn't it? Like one of those mansions rich families had in every neighborhood back when we were kids."

Baek Saheon had to agree.

The wooden lodge, built in a style popular a few decades ago, was a mix of quaint charm, rustic wealth, and understated elegance.

"Oh, look over there! That's a gold frame, isn't it?"

On one side of the living room was a large framed picture, its frame seemingly made of real gold.

But what caught my attention wasn't the frame, it was what was inside.

--------------------

Joyful Mealtime

The rabbit bakes in the kitchen

The deer is caught in the backyard

The pigeon is fattened in the bedroom

The lamb is sliced in the living room

Boing, boing, the sound of hopping with laughter

The wooden floors beneath go bam, bam

The table, full

Humming, in the air

The family gathers round

Bon appétit

--------------------

"......"

Ugh, seriously?

'Of course, I know since Kim Soleum told me, but... Isn't it too obvious?'

Yet no one here seemed to be particularly interested in horror or mystery genres.

The university students claiming to be part of a hiking club chuckled amongst themselves and even pocketed an ivory trinket from the side table near the sofa.

......

They clearly don't take this seriously enough.

Clunk.

"......!"

There was a sound from the kitchen at the back.

The shadow of the back door swinging open fell across the room.

And then, a figure slowly stepped through the open door.

The person, cloaked in an old, tattered hoodie with their face hidden and body hunched, greeted us.

"Good afternoon, visitors of the lodge."

"......?!"

"I am the caretaker of this mountain lodge, here to serve you during your stay."

Their voice was deep and formal, and they bowed politely, speaking in an old-fashioned Seoul accent.

The other people in the lodge looked shocked by the dissonance between the caretaker's shabby appearance and refined speech.

"E-Excuse me, we're not really guests. We just got lost and were hoping to use a phone..."

"That's not true. You've come to the right place."

"What?"

"You're here to exchange the cassette tapes, aren't you?"

Everyone froze.

"The ones in your pockets."

"......!"

As if hypnotized, they all reached into their pockets and pulled out objects.

Including Baek Saheon.

(Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the agent's surprised face. What's the agent surprised about? Is it really weird that Baek Saheon has a cassette tape just like every other person here?!

......

Maybe it's because... he has it?

...So this agent knew Kim Soleum was specifically chosen for this.)

They were all holding old ivory colored cassette tapes, with the titles scrawled out, just like Baek Saheon's.

"That...!"

"How does everyone have those...?"

"The master of this lodge was a very wealthy man. During his lifetime, he distributed those cassette tapes far and wide."

The group flinched.

"And he made a promise."

"W-What kind of promise?"

"'If you visit my lodge with one of these cassette tapes, I shall trade it for anything I possess.' That was his promise."

"......!"

"And even in death, that promise remains valid."

Very obviously bait...

'Or maybe it's so obvious that it works too well.'

Money has that certain magical power, after all.

...But you can't use money if you're dead! These people aren't careful enough!

......

'Why do I even care...?'

Even as they laughed nervously, everyone's eyes reflexively darted to the display cases full of gold and celadon treasures.

The middle-aged man let out a booming laugh, half-jokingly grabbing the golden frame as if testing his luck.

"Hah, so can I just take whatever I want like this?"

The lodge caretaker responded smoothly and politely.

"Of course. However, you will only be able to take it with you after three days."

"What?"

Just like Kim Soleum had said.

"We give you three days to deliberate so you won't waste your one and only opportunity to exchange."

"I don't need time to think!"

"Then you may leave now. However, the exchange will no longer be possible."

The married couple clamped their mouths shut. It seemed the thought of leaving behind free money was too bitter to swallow.

One of the student hikers in the group raised their hand from the back.

"Excuse me, so... can we ask for something outrageous? Like, 'Give me all the inheritance'?"

"That is possible."

"......!!"

The hiker's playful tone vanished in an instant.

"Can I ask for ownership of the lodge itself?"

"Yes."

"......"

The group's expressions shifted.

'Now they want to believe.'

The uneasy chill in the air was gone, replaced with a sense of fortune as if the kind of monetary windfall they'd only read about on the internet was suddenly within reach.

Once the caretaker produced documents, including the will, their skepticism transformed into certainty.

'Even if Kim Soleum really hadn't known anything about this, going from one will to another...? Does the Bureau think Kim Soleum is stupid?'

Baek Saheon subconsciously side-eyed the agent as he thought that.

But...

"This... this looks legit."

"Unbelievable..."

Even the cursing married couple's demeanor changed.

"Forget the weekend trip, let's tough it out. Worst case, we can call the police, right?"

"Exactly! Wow, maybe this tape has some kind of charm on it, like from a shaman's talisman. It's crazy how everyone ended up here."

The lodge caretaker even gave everyone time to make phone calls.

After finishing their calls, the group's mood had turned lively, as if they were part of some grand event.

The caretaker, observing them, bowed deeply.

"When so many visitors arrive at once, the order of exchange becomes very important."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense!"

"Yeah, like if the first person demands all the inheritance, it's game over for everyone else!"

"Therefore... priority will be given to those with the most cassette tapes."

"......!"

The group immediately glanced around at one another.

The three university students exchanged quick looks amongst themselves.

If grouped together, they had the most tapes.

"Wait, are we supposed to buy tapes off each other now?"

"I am merely explaining the rules. It is not mandatory. You are free to negotiate your own exchange conditions as you see fit. The order is important, after all."

"......"

A tense, meaningful silence passed between them.

"Shall I prepare your rooms, then? There are suitable bedrooms upstairs."

"Ah, yes."

"Sounds good. Let's get the rooms sorted first..."

Suddenly, rain started pouring, thumping against the glass as if it were extremely windy, and a large flash of lightning illuminated the room.

"Oh, it seems a torrential downpour has started. It's probably safer to stay inside, if any of you were curious. Thankfully," he pauses, pulling a pull switch on a lamp, turning it on, "the electricity remains functional, so your stay will be unaffected."

"......"

Baek Saheon and Kim Soleum make eye contact.

'How convenient.'

Kim Soleum's smile seems to reply, 'But of course!'

Now that things had reached this point, no one would be able to leave until everything that was meant to happen had unfolded.

Baek Saheon was a little worried. Now that everything was really starting, he'd have to figure out a way to survive this.

'If the Bureau is the one who sent us these cassette tapes... then the serial killer should be the agent, right?'

Ah, wait a moment.

He doesn't have to think of a way to survive, does he?

'Kim Soleum's here.'

He has a genius rookie on his side.

Baek Saheon exhales a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Kim Soleum lightly pats his back with a confused expression on his face.

Suddenly, the agent spoke up,

"I'll step outside to check the weather."

"Go ahead." Someone from the group replied automatically.

Kim Soleum quietly followed him outside.

"......"

Wait, obviously that agent knows who Kim Soleum is, because he was sent the cassette tape, but...

'How does Kim Soleum know that agent?'

......

Baek Saheon walked upstairs to his room knowing Kim Soleum would tell him if it was important.

Kim Soleum came up shortly after, secretly entering Baek Saheon's room without even knocking,

"If that agent pulls you away to try and talk to you, just play dumb." He purses his lips, "Well, I'd rather you not be alone with him in the first place, but if you reject him too much, it would be suspicious, so just... Stay safe."

"How could I not be?" Baek Saheon asks seriously, "You'd protect me, anyway."

Kim Soleum stares at him before exiting the room without saying anything else, presumably to head to his own room.

And, sure enough, when Baek Saheon had cautiously went down into the kitchen to see if this place even had any food...

"Ahem."

The agent had followed him.

"......? Yes?"

"...May we talk outside?"

"...Sure."

As soon as the backdoor had closed behind them, the agent asks,

"How much did your coworker tell you?"

'Ah?'

Playing dumb and innocent was Baek Saheon's specialty.

"Um... About what, exactly...?"

"This situation."

"...What do you mean?"

"......"

"......"

"Nevermind."

"Uh, right."

"To be honest, I'm not just a special servant. I'm... well, something like a government agent."

'Wow, I couldn't tell!'

But, despite his thoughts, Baek Saheon pretended to be amazed,

"Oh, wow..."

The civil servant hesitated briefly before asking him,

"How did you come across the cassette tape?"

"Oh, that?" He turns away, not having to pretend to be embarrassed, "It's quite embarrassing... My roommate," Baek Saheon fumbles on accident, but quickly recovers, "oh, my supervisor, Kim Soleum, you... spoke to him earlier, we live in company provided housing..." He smiles sheepily, "A package came and I thought it was for me, but, it was quickly apparent that it wasn't, haha... His uncle left it for him when he died."

"...I see."

Silence quickly encompasses them, and the agent has a conflicted look on his face.

"Are you familiar with supernatural phenomena?"

'Ugh, I refuse to play that dumb...'

"...Are you implying that's what this is?"

"......"

"This is indeed a supernatural phenomenon. Be cautious. As much as possible, stay close to me, or move in groups of at least three if it can't be avoided."

...Wait a minute.

'Isn't this guy supposed to kill me, since I have a cassette tape? And why is he telling this to a complete stranger? Does he feel bad that an innocent civilian got caught up in their death ritual?!'

"Um, sure, I'll listen to you," He looks down to the floor, "But what about the others?"

The civil servant answered firmly,

"You don't need to worry about them."

'Ugh.'

"What about my colleague? Would it be okay if I told Soleum-ssi--"

"No."

'Wow! That was immediate.'

"......"

Glancing toward the door behind Baek Saheon, the civil servant lowered his voice and spoke softly, as if revealing a massive secret.

"Actually."

Oh?

"...There is a killer among us."

Oh.

Yeah.

Baek Saheon already knew, of course... but he wouldn't let that show.

Feigning shock, Baek Saheon trembled minutely as he replied,

"A, a killer?" His eyes water, "How do you know that, sir?"

"This mountain lodge is no ordinary place. It's never been publicly disclosed, but similar incidents have occurred here multiple times. Guests were murdered by a killer."

"......"

"No matter how close you may be to someone, don't trust them. And under no circumstances should you open your door while alone in your room."

'Kim Soleum usually just opens my door without knocking anyway, so...'

"Oh, um, okay. Thank you."

He bows lightly and bids him a goodnight, before heading back inside.

'...Ugh, seriously. Why would he tell me this stuff if he planned to kill me anyway? To make himself feel better?'

Baek Saheon paused at the top of the stairs, looking at the door to Kim Soleum's room.

"......"

He at least has the decency to knock on the door before entering.

(He does not wait for an answer. Is that petty?)

The door opens, and Kim Soleum spins around, a sweet smile on his innocent face.

"...Kim Soleum."

"Yes?"

"You... Nevermind."

Kim Soleum is holding an axe.

"Well, it's good you came," his smile widens impossibly, "I was just about to get you!"

"...What are we doing?"

"Um. Here, let me explain." He turns around and puts the axe back on the wall, lightly pouting and mumbling to himself about how he didn't get the chance to scare Baek Saheon.

"...Do you want me to sit?"

"Yes, sit down!" Kim Soleum sits down on the bed, patting next to him.

When Baek Saheon sits down, Kim Soleum leans close, as he usually does when they speak, 

"So?"

"First," Kim Soleum's red pupils stare steadily into Baek Saheon's own, his smile finally dropping, "You don't want those other people to die, right?"

"......?" He shrugs, "Does it matter? Since we're in this situation, we don't have the privilege to think about other people."

For some reason, this makes Kim Soleum smile, "What if I told you nobody has to die to clear this darkness?" Kim Soleum turns away from him, staring at the door, "Would you care if they still died?"

"...I guess I would feel a little bad. Why?"

The black haired man hums noncommittally in response, before getting up and grabbing the axe again.

He looks over his shoulder with a smile at Baek Saheon, who is still seated on the bed, "Let's go fake your death."

"Sure. Let's go."

* * *

Kim Soleum led Baek Saheon to the basement, which was full of different body parts.

Baek Saheon gags a little at the smell,

"...Urgh."

"Haha," Kim Soleum laughs, shaking his head "I'm afraid that, as my assistant, you'll be down here quite a lot."

"...I'll get used to it."

"Right."

And so they got to work.

* * *

The next morning.

A couple leaving their room heard a melody faintly blending with the heavy rain

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

 A hum.

"Isn't that the song that played when our car's GPS broke?"

"Omo, it does sound like it... Is this some local radio station?"

Breathing in the damp, eerie morning air, they held their cassette tape tightly like a treasure as they passed through the hallway to the kitchen.

And then--

"GAAAHHHHH!!"

They saw something stuffed into the kitchen hearth.

It looked like someone had detonated fireworks and toys inside, charring the area completely black.

The burnt remains.

Among the dark red ashes, two stick-like objects jutted out, bent at odd angles.

And at the end of those sticks...

Shoes.

The sneakers were partially burned, still clinging to what used to be a person's feet.

"Aaaaaack!!"

"Oh my God! Is that... a person?!"

"Aigoo, aigoo, what is this-- what's happening-- aigoo!!"

The couple's screams of horror echoed through the lodge, quickly drawing the others downstairs.

One by one, the others joined the chaos, their faces pale.

"What's going-- AAAAHHH!!"

"Gaaaasp...!"

The students, the middle-aged driver, no one was immune to the panic.

One person, the talkative and charming man from earlier, collapsed to the ground, his face drained of color.

But... weren't there two people who said they were office workers?

'No way...!'

The couple pointed at the burned feet sticking out of the hearth.

"The young man who came with you... is it him? The one with the eye patch?"

The remaining office worker stared at the scorched sneakers, covering his mouth, and gave a small nod.

"AGH!!"

Someone had died.

A person they had talked to just yesterday.

As the realization set in, cries and screams filled the room again.

"Call 119 right now!"

"What the hell is this?! Fuuuuck!!"

"I told you these old kitchens were dangerous! One small fire and look what happens!"

But in their hearts, a small voice whispered doubts.

'Was it really an accident?'

Could a fire burn only a person, leaving everything else untouched... and in such a horrific state?

'Could it be...'

Still in a state of panic, the group scrambled for their phones.

And moments later...

A collective chill ran down their spines.

"T-The phone isn't working. There's no dial tone!"

"Where's the caretaker? Someone just died here!"

But the caretaker, who had promised to take good care of them, was nowhere to be found, as if he'd vanished into thin air.

The dark, rain-soaked mountain surrounding the lodge.

Inside the lodge, only the group and the humming remained...

"......"

"......"

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

Outside, an unrelenting downpour lashed the area, and there were signs that a landslide had occurred overnight, burying the bus stop in debris.

"The road... it's completely buried."

"My car!!"

That's when the group began to realize.

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

Something was seriously wrong.

"I-I swear, that thing... it was moving earlier."

"......"

Near the hearth where the charred remains lay, a small, old analog cassette player emitted the humming sound.

Hmm, hmm-hmm, hmmmm, hmm-hmm-hmm.

Click.

One of the students switched off the cassette player and pulled something from inside it.

A worn ivory colored tape.

"......!"

The pale-faced office worker shakily removed his hand from his mouth.

"...That looks like the cassette Baek Saheon had..."

"O-Oh my God."

* * *

As a dead man, Baek Saheon wasn't allowed to be seen at all, which means that during the day, if he wasn't helping fake the death of another guest, he was in the basement.

......

'I really did get used to the smell.'

......

'Ah, it's so boring.'

......

'...Kim Soleum, come down here, already.'

Kim Soleum at least had the conscience to sneak Baek Saheon up to his room to sleep at night.

'Isn't it late? Where is he?'

......

Would that agent have...

'Don't think about it.'

Creeeeak.

'......!'

The basement door had finally opened.

Baek Saheon petulantly complained, 

"It took you long enough. I'm tired, and it's impossible to eat down here..."

Heavy boots hit the creaky wooden steps.

'......'

Kim Soleum was not wearing boots.

'Fuck.'

The tall figure in a black raincoat stepped off the final step and turned to look at Baek Saheon, who was wearing a dark green blood-covered rubber apron.

"Civilian," The agent says, pulling down his hood.

"...Agent-ssi."

"......"

"......"

"That roommate of yours is a psychopath, you know that right?"

"......!?"

"I'll tell you the truth." He sighs, "This disaster must happen every four years. It'll happen no matter what, so we send the cassette tapes to people who deserve to die. Innocent civilians will die otherwise."

"......"

"An agent is always sent in with the 'killer' cassette tape."

"Okay,"

"I haven't been killing these people," the agent eyes the bloody apron, "I'm sure you already knew that."

"...Yes." Baek Saheon suddenly felt a bit petulant.

"That guy, Kim Soleum, is murdering people. He doesn't even have a cassette tape, he could sit back and nothing would have happened to him, but he's killing people because he has an excuse to."

"But, that's not true, is it?"

"What?"

"You sent that cassette to him on purpose. You sentenced him to death, for what?" Baek Saheon scowls, "You would have killed him anyway, because the government had wished it so."

"Like I said, the cassettes were only sent to people who deserved to die...!"

"What did he do? Tell me."

"That..."

"He saved my life, you know?!"

"......?!"

"And I'm not just talking about this d--," he stumbles, almost saying 'darkness', "Disaster, or whatever you called it. Back when we met, I lived because of him."

"Civilian..."

"I'm not an idiot, okay? I know he's crazy. We live together, how could I not? But he's saved me multiple times now, and I really do trust him with my life at this point..."

Right.

It's only been one full day, but Baek Saheon had already accepted the fact that his 'saint-like' roommate had laughed at the death of people he had capriciously sealed the fate of.

'He's just too morbid to be normal.'

......

But, for some inexplicable reason, he still seemed to want Baek Saheon alive.

'I mean, a total psychopath wouldn't have joined me here or told me any information, he would have just let me own that cassette player and made me fend for myself.'

And...

And that time with his eye...

Kim Soleum is actually pretty easy to read. At least, Baek Saheon thought so.

'That time...'

It really seemed like he hadn't expected Baek Saheon to lose an eye.

(Although, later he found out Kim Soleum had lied about not matching the requirements.)

Was he just that good at acting?

...Even so.

"So, because of that, you're... What, helping him kill people? In exchange for your life?"

"We haven't killed anyone."

"......"

"Ugh, I know! I'm covered in blood! But look around you!" Baek Saheon gestures annoyedly to the multitude of body parts scattered around the basement, "He's a fucking genius, so of course he figured out a way to get out of here without actually killing anyone. We did the same thing we did to me for everyone else. They're not dead."

"Even the college kid who died from anaphylactic shock because of his peanut allergy?"

"...What?"

"The third kid from the hiking club."

"...How is that Kim Soleum's fault?"

"Do you think a college student wouldn't know his own allergies...?"

"It could've been an accident!"

"It wasn't," the agent says, convinced.

"How do you know that? Weren't you so sure that we had killed all those other people, too?"

"Well, for one, I saw this one with my own eyes."

"......"

'Is it terrible that my first thought was that Kim Soleum would never be so careless to allow that?'

"He forced himself into that kid's room through the door and shoved a chocolate bar that had peanuts in it into his mouth and forced him to swallow it. He had a smile on his face while he did it."

"...How do you even know that?" 

"......"

"Hah, you're such a hypocrite...! You were hiding in that guy's room to kill him in a similar way, weren't you? And you're mad that Kim Soleum got to him first?"

"Kim Soleum," the agent says his name tightly, "Wouldn't know that he deserved to die."

"...So?"

"......" 

"It doesn't matter, right? He read that scroll on the wall too, y'know. And, like I said, he's smart, so obviously he figured out that people need to be 'killed' in the same way and order as it reads. It's not like you can fake death-by-gorging."

"To me, Civilian, it sounds like you're rationalizing this all to yourself."

"......"

Bang!

"Ack...!"

"......!"

Suddenly, the basement's door slams open.

"Agent." Kim Soleum says, looming over the agent from the top of the steps.

Baek Saheon can't see his face, but the tone of his voice alone (which is something that would never be directed at him, he's sure) causes him to tense up.

"Tsk," the agent clicks his tongue, "Stop what you're doing. I'm going to deal with you later."

"Ah, you're busy because it's about time for the landslide death?" Kim Soleum asks, with a cold smile that Baek Saheon can hear.

"......"

"It's okay, he's already dead, too."

"You...!"

"Hey! How can you blame me for some crazy guy running outside in this kind of weather? Seriously..."

"Ugh," Baek Saheon had groaned by accident because of the tension.

"Anyway, what I came down here for," Kim Soleum descends the stairs lightly, "Saheon-ah, let's go to bed! You're probably sick of this room by now, right?"

"Ah," Baek Saheon says, dumbly.

"......"

"...Come on, I'll feed you."

"...Yes." He says, awkwardly walking past the clearly very upset agent, "Oh, wait."

Baek Saheon carefully lifts the blood-covered rubber apron above his head and throws it haphazardly on the floor before casually walking up the steps.

Finally able to see Kim Soleum's face, the scary looking smile warms up into the one Baek Saheon is used to seeing,

"See you, Agent." Kim Soleum taunts,

"......"

Kim Soleum closes the door behind them and gently pushes Baek Saheon's back the entire way back to their room.