By Zephyria 
Yi-ho and Min-gyu were pulled up from their seats and dragged to the center, where they received a round of applause for reasons unknown. Since the people chosen from other groups were combinations of employees or assistant managers from different teams, the pairing of these two seasoned veterans stood out immensely.
We have gathered fourteen colleagues here who are sorry they haven’t become close. There may still be awkwardness, or conflicts created by inevitable professional clashes, but we will help you get to know each other deeply through this opportunity.
A staff member approached Yi-ho and Min-gyu, handing them a flashlight and some kind of map.
There is something called the “suspension bridge effect.” It suggests that the adrenaline secreted when facing a crisis together creates a sense of attraction. From this moment on, you and your partner will head to an abandoned house, complete a mission, and return!
Wow! Cheers erupted from the rest of the group, excluding those who had been selected.
“…Haa….”
Yi-ho carefully etched the names of the team members who were cheering and clapping particularly loudly into his mind.
The map pointed toward a mountain path behind the training center. The sun, which had begun to hide around dinner time, had now completely set. On the darkened path, there was a trail barely wide enough for two people to pass. Two sets of footsteps, dragging sneakers sluggishly, passed over the dirt road.
“What is this…?”
“I was wondering the same thing.”
“Team Leader Cha, didn’t you know about this event? You helped with the preparations.”
“No. I guess this was a surprise segment. It wasn’t shared with me.”
They hadn’t even been allowed to escape; they were kicked out immediately and empty-handed. Fortunately, Yi-ho had his phone in his pocket, so he used the flash to add more light. By the time it became difficult to walk without illuminating the ground beneath their feet, the sounds of people from the training center had faded into the distance.
“…Did we really look that much like we got along poorly? I thought we were just ordinary.”
“I wonder. Is that really the case? I guess our Song-i is quite a good actor.”
Min-gyu’s way of addressing him changed the moment the presence of others vanished. It was the first time he had suddenly switched from formal speech to informal, and it felt strange.
“…It’s not like I was trying to pretend we were on bad terms… aren’t we about the same as the other team leaders?”
“What are you talking about? You have no idea how scary Team Leader Song is when he deals with Team Leader Cha.”
Min-gyu took off the zip-up hoodie he was wearing. His large hand held the garment out to Yi-ho.
“Song-i Song-i is a mosquito buffet. Wear this.”
“…….”
“Hurry up. Don’t spend the next few days scratching yourself because your arms got eaten alive.”
Yi-ho eventually took the garment being waved in front of him. It was casual wear, yet not a single piece of lint was visible. As he slid his arms into the sleeves, the body heat of the person who had been wearing it until a moment ago lingered inside.
The size was larger than what Yi-ho usually wore. As he pulled up the zipper, the scent of the perfume Min-gyu usually wore wafted out. Yi-ho quietly took several deep breaths through his nose. Just enough so that his perverted behavior wouldn’t be noticed.
Did they really need to go to a scary place to raise their adrenaline? Song Yi-ho was already in a state of dopamine overload whenever he was in front of Cha Min-gyu. Enough to take down a ghost if one appeared in the abandoned house.
In reality, Yi-ho was numb to this kind of fear. Once you’ve lived in the world until you’re thirty-three, there are far scarier things. Like a piece of work you spent hours focusing on disappearing due to an error, a sudden family crisis with your parents, or having a long-time unrequited love discovered by a friend you’d die before losing.
Cha Min-gyu, an even more hardcore realist than Yi-ho, led the way fearlessly through the dark path.
“Cha Min-gyu, are we going the right way?”
“Yeah. Trust Cha Min-gyu’s experience living in the mountains, Song-i Song-i.”
“Nobody calls a house in the center of a metropolitan city ‘the mountains.’”
Yi-ho knew this because he had visited that house a few times during his college days. He had spent a night in Min-gyu’s room and gone to the beach the next day using his father’s car.
“Ah, not that house. Didn’t I tell you I was often left at a relative’s house when I was young? That place was much more remote than here. I used to climb trees and pick mushrooms with my cousins.”
Looking at Min-gyu, who was sensitive about fashion and picky about food, it was a past that was hard to imagine.
As they went deeper into the mountain, the temperature dropped slightly, making them shiver. It felt as if eerie sounds were echoing around them.
And in a place where the sound of grass insects grew thicker, an old house appeared. Perhaps because it hadn’t been maintained for a long time, the doors and windows had fallen off gloomily, and in the yard glimpsed over the wall, a dented tin basin and an old broom lay scattered.
“…Song-i Song-i, actually, I’m a bit scared of this.”
…Apparently, it was a different story when a place that looked like a horror movie set unfolded before their eyes. Both Min-gyu and Yi-ho hesitated.
“Uh, what did they say we had to bring back from here? Open the map.”
“Go to the kitchen and steal the ghost’s treasure hidden inside the furnace and return.”
“…Where is the kitchen?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Why don’t you know? You said you had experience living in the mountains.”
“Song-i Song-i, it still wasn’t a house with a furnace. It was a place that had a gas stove and a refrigerator inside.”
“…….”
The two were momentarily speechless in front of the main gate, which was open by about a hand’s width.
“…We have to go in. How embarrassing would it be if the team leaders came back last.”
“Team leaders are at an age where they should consider their heart health….”
“Ah, then I’ll go first.”
Yi-ho took the lead and passed through the gate. Min-gyu followed, placing his hands on Yi-ho’s shoulders as if using him as a shield.
As if on cue, a chilly wind blew. After entering the yard, Yi-ho shone the flashlight toward the inside of the house.
“Ugh!”
“Song-i Song-i, what is it?”
“No, there’s a doll sitting over there….”
Right behind the wooden veranda sat a mannequin in white clothes with its hair disheveled. If he had seen it during the day, he would have thought it was crude, but now that it was dark all around, the hairs on his neck stood up.
“If they have money to decorate things like this, they should just increase our holiday bonuses….”
“CEO, instead of Song-i Song-i, who doesn’t even buy rice cakes with his bonus, please increase mine.”
“Ah, stop it.”
Still, talking nonsense helped the fear subside… or rather, once the talking stopped, the surroundings felt even more sinister.
“Song-i, use the power of electromagnetic waves to repel the ghosts.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? Use your major, you brat.”
“What can a mere Language and Literature major do? Negotiate with the ghost to please spare the teacher’s life?”
“…….”
Now that he was getting annoyed, the fear seemed to be offset to some extent.
“First, shall we try going around that way?”
Min-gyu pointed to the side of the building. There was a small path between the wall and the fence. Of course, the grass around it had grown lush, reaching knee-height.
The two moved slowly along that path. Min-gyu, looking up at the roof, made a humming sound.
“I think this is it.”
“What is?”
“Places where you burn fire have chimneys. That’s why I came this way.”
“Ah.”
“There are probably a lot of bugs, so Song-i, you come slowly.”
Min-gyu strode along the wall. His back, leading the way, looked strangely broad.
“I told you I don’t need the suspension bridge effect….”
“Oh, Song-i. I found the kitchen here!”
“I’m coming!”
Yi-ho hurried his pace. Hearing the voices of the two, a shadow moved quietly from one side of the abandoned house.
When Yi-ho arrived behind him, Min-gyu was bending his back deeply, checking the inside of a furnace in an old-fashioned kitchen that looked like something from a folk village.
“Do you see anything?”
“Yeah. It looks like there’s something inside there.”
“I’ll shine the light for you, so take it out.”
“I’d like to, but….”
Min-gyu gently placed both hands on his own shoulders.
“My shoulders are stuck.”
“……?”
Yi-ho looked at Min-gyu once, and then at the width of the dark furnace again. The shoulders that he had thought looked exceptionally reliable just a moment ago now began to look unnecessarily wide.
“…Move aside.”
Yi-ho leaned down and braced himself on the floor with his elbows. When he shone the flashlight, he saw something rectangular beyond the black ash. To get it out, it seemed inevitable that he would have to put his upper body inside the furnace.
Yi-ho hesitated as he was about to crawl. It seemed inevitable that the clothes Min-gyu lent him would get dirty. He stepped back out, took off the clothes, and leaned his body inside. His shoulders got slightly stuck at both sides of the furnace entrance, but frustratingly, he passed through without much trouble. And since it was a tight fit for him, Min-gyu certainly wouldn’t have been able to enter.
He crawled in bit by bit on his elbows. For a moment, the thought crossed his mind—wasn’t this how the witch in Hansel and Gretel died? He thought there would be piles of ash and dust, but it wasn’t as difficult to breathe as expected. Then again, that would be a problem where someone could actually get hurt, so they probably wouldn’t go that far…. It would be troublesome for the company if an accident happened during a workshop.
“Ugh.”
After getting in to a certain extent, he reached out his arm, but his fingertips only brushed the box. Still, it was just a little further now.
“Um, Team Leader Song. Team Leader Song?”
While he was reaching out, a call came from outside the furnace. Even when he muttered, “Hold on…,” the calling became more urgent.
“Team Leader Song….”
“What!”
“I’m sorry to bother you while you’re busy, but could you look at me for a moment? It’s a bit of an urgent matter.”
“Wait. I’m almost… there!”
“Ah, how could this be….”
But why the sudden formal speech? The box was finally caught in his outstretched hand. Finally! Yi-ho pulled his dust-covered body out with the box.
“Cha Min-gyu, I found the treasu—”
—re. The rest of the words were swallowed back into his mouth. Min-gyu was surrounded by three people dressed as ghosts. Of course, since Min-gyu was significantly taller than average, his head protruded above them, and he could be seen smiling and waving his hand.
“I’ve been caught.”