Chapter 25: Princess hug

To be honest, the haunted house punishment the members gave me wasn’t all that scary.

It was my first time experiencing a haunted house like this, but when I was a guy, I often watched movies because I had nothing else to do besides fanboying, so I’m somewhat used to horror.

Besides, this is just an amusement park haunted house.

In other words, it’s a low-difficulty haunted house that even children can enjoy.

Unless a real chainsaw murderer pops out, I probably won’t be scared.

However, I’m more worried and, at the same time, expectant about my wife Haruka, who’s standing with me in front of this haunted house.

She, usually strong and calm, is staring at the entrance with a slightly stiff expression.

Perhaps this very moment is a golden opportunity to see a hidden weakness of hers, who always appears confident on stream.

I can’t miss such a rare moment.

Besides, this punishment isn’t something Haruka has to do alone; I have to go in with her.

In other words, while experiencing the haunted house, we’ll be sticking close together…

Ehehehehehehehehe.

Honestly, if she gets scared with that pretty face, whimpers, and clings to me, my heart might stop, so it could be a little dangerous…

“Haruka, if you’re scared, you can hide behind me.”

I put on a sly smile and, plausibly, extended my arm to shield her, showing a dependable side.

‘I’ll protect my wife!’

“…It’s Han Seoyoon, not Haruka. We’re outside, so we should be careful with names.”

“Ah, I’m sorry…”

Oops.

Since I’m a VTuber far from mainstream recognition, it’s unlikely anyone would recognize me, but it’s still right to be careful, just in case.

I scratched my cheek, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed.

I got excited and accidentally called her by her stage name.

By the way, Haruka is quite rational and sharp even when she’s scared.

‘As expected of my wife. I should learn from her and, right now, look at her not as a fan of Haruka, but as a fellow Belus member and a future junior.’

First, since we’re outside, I need to correct the name.

“Pfft. And I don’t think hiding behind you, Wooseo-nim, would actually conceal me.”

“……”

Not Haruka, but my wife Seoyoon, threw a joke as if to hide her subtly trembling eyes.

‘…I really hate this short, stubby body.’

She looks to be about 170cm tall, which is quite tall for a woman.

So if Seoyoon tried to hide behind my body, she’d still be completely visible.

“…Let’s go in. I’ll take the lead.”

“Oh my…”

I couldn’t bring myself to hold her bare hand, so I just lightly gripped her sleeve and led the way.

Even though I’m only holding a bit of her clothing, my heart starts to pound.

But the moment we stepped into the haunted house entrance, my racing heart rapidly cooled down.

“Uh, this place is, more than I thought…”

‘It seems scarier…?’

A sense of unease, that something was going wrong, washed over me.

‘It definitely wasn’t this scary when I watched movies alone.’

But I’ve already taken a step, so there’s no turning back.

Seoyoon will be more scared than me, so I have to protect her somehow.

And then, if we inevitably end up sticking together, some skinship too… Hehe.

With that, trying to shake off the strange tension, I firmed my sly resolve and entered the dark passage, only to see a rather long queue in front of me.

Most people were whispering to their companions with terrified expressions, and some were already sniffling.

• Kyaaaaaaaah!

• Kyak! You crazy b*tch! Take me with you…!

A chilly wind, cold air brushing against the skin, screams faintly heard from a distance.

And even the smell of alcohol, like one you’d find in an operating room.

As I felt when I first entered, it was a very eerie atmosphere, different from what I had imagined.

Clank- Drip…drip.

• Heuk… Mooooom.

The horrible sound of chains scraping, flowing through the speakers, and the sound of water dripping from somewhere could be heard.

And the occasionally heard suppressed breaths from afar also stimulated a primal human fear.

‘…Wasn’t this supposed to be a haunted house where even children could have fun with a moderate amount of tension?’

“Please take this and go in…”

“Hiiiiiik!”

“…!!”

Suddenly, a staff member silently approached from the side and handed me a flashlight.

Seoyoon let out a sound close to a scream and grabbed my arm.

Thanks to that, a slight tremor was transmitted.

Hehehe. Seoyoon is leaning on me…!

But that joy didn’t last long.

“Welcome to the haunted house- If you get too scared in the middle or can’t move, please raise your hands above your head and make an X-“

“…Yeees?”

‘What does that mean? Is it scary enough for people to give up midway?’

I’m getting unnecessarily more nervous…

Anyway, I passed by the strangely monotonous-toned staff member and went into the even darker-looking interior.

Then, the field of vision illuminated by the flashlight became too narrow.

I carefully moved my feet in the limited visibility, leading Seoyoon.

My legs seem to have been trembling a little since earlier, maybe it’s because it’s cold…

It’s definitely not because I’m scared.

Nope.

“I-I’m a little nervous.”

Actually, I don’t care about ghosts or anything right now.

This situation where Seoyoon is holding my arm is more on my mind.

Her chest was a little smaller than Nayeon Mamang’s, but it was still sufficiently soft and resilient…

• Save me!!!!!!!!

Just then, as I was briefly enveloped in a strange sense of satisfaction.

Suddenly, something popped out from a hole in the wall.

“Kyak!”

“Kkeuang!”

We jumped in surprise and shone the flashlight.

And we saw hair.

No, is it even hair?

The long, straggly black strands were coarse, reminiscent of twisted rope, and had some sticky liquid attached, making it look grotesque.

But there was something else that captivated our attention even more.

Pale skin visible sporadically between the long, pitch-black strands of hair.

Veins faintly visible on the surface, rough, torn wounds as if cut by a saw.

Marks that looked like they were stitched with thread.

And…sharp eyes.

Those inorganic pupils, as if they would suck you into the darkness, were staring right at us.

“Heop…!”

I froze on the spot, forgetting to even breathe.

And while we were huddled together, trembling, the ghost’s bright red lips, which had popped out of the hole, opened.

• Save me… Eeheeheeheeheehee!!!!!

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”

We screamed simultaneously, not even knowing who had screamed.

Seoyoon grabbed me and ran, and I was dragged along by her, half out of my mind.

“Wh-What is this!”

She kept brushing around her face with her other hand.

What came into my dazed upward gaze were thin threads descending from the high ceiling.

Those sticky threads coming down from above seemed to wrap around our bodies as if trying to catch us every time we passed.

• Help me!

• Is anyone there?

The deeper we went into the haunted house, the closer the sounds became.

The cold and dampness brushing against the nape of my neck seeped onto my sweat-soaked skin.

My legs kept giving out, and I almost collapsed.

“Huuueup…!”

A groan escaped my lips involuntarily.

My lips had long since dried up, and my heart, which had cooled down due to the gloomy atmosphere, began to pound again.

‘This wasn’t the haunted house experience I had in mind… I just wanted to enjoy some sweet skinship with Haruka…!’

• Thwack!

“Kyaak!”

“Kkeuaaaaaaang! Save meee!”

Air shot out from a hole in the wall along with the sound of something bursting.

I fell to the ground, my hair flying.

Then, she, who was ahead, turned around, looked surprised, and ran towards me.

“Wooseo-nim…! Are you okay?!”

A groan escaped my lips.

I unknowingly looked at the floor and trembled my hands.

‘Skinship or whatever, I don’t want any of it anymore.’

‘I just want to go home…’

‘Ghosts are scarier than people…!’

“Get a grip!”

“Eueh?”

Haruka, no, Han Seoyoon, grabbed my face with both hands and shook it.

Her fingertips were slightly cold, and her expression had become serious.

It confused me that she, who I thought was more scared than me just a moment ago, was holding me like this.

“Can you walk? I didn’t expect you to be more scared than me.”

I stared at her blankly and nodded.

‘I wanted to protect her as her husband…’

“Get up, first. Your clothes will get all dirty.”

While she held my hand and helped me up, confusing thoughts tangled complexly in my head.

‘Showing such a weak side, I don’t know where my manly pride went.’

“Th-That’s not because I was scared…”

I regretted saying it as soon as the cool-sounding words left my mouth.

Contrary to my thoughts, what came out sounded too pathetic.

Even worse, I was trembling and whimpering, which made it more miserable.

“Yes, yes.”

She comforted me with a tone like she was soothing a child and chuckled.

Her smile flickered in the slightly dim flashlight beam.

‘…So embarrassing.’

“It’s okay. Whether you’re scared or not isn’t important. For now, I think we need to get out of here.”

At her words, I felt my face heat up unnecessarily and looked away.

If I had my way, I’d want to shout, ‘I’m not scared of ghosts! I’m scared of people!’ but then, in this terrifying atmosphere and with her calm reaction, I, who was shrinking in real time, would only look more pathetic.

‘I guess I really can’t escape being a loser VTuber otaku.’

“Now, let’s get out quickly.”
“Yeees…”

We relied on each other and moved forward little by little.

No, I was relying on her.

The development was so different from what I thought when we first came in, so I was flustered, but anyway, I’m having a lot of skinship with her, so isn’t that a good thing?

But that thought also didn’t last long.

Flicker- Flicker-

The lighting was already almost non-existent, relying solely on the flashlight, but even that lighting began to flicker.

And whenever the light briefly illuminated the wall, a picture of a mansion with no discernible meaning and a portrait of a woman with a grotesque expression flickered into view.

“Huuuuuuuuhh……”

My voice, which had stabilized, was once again filled with moisture.

I made almost sobbing sounds and clung to her, who was holding me tightly beside her.

‘Ugh… It’s so scary.’

Tap-

“Eueo?”

I was walking with my eyes tightly shut, fumbling, when something bumped into my face.

I cautiously opened one eye to check.

“Eh…?”

‘It’s pork.’

No, it looked like pig carcasses were hanging abundantly from the ceiling.

Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-

And then, the sound of an engine revving came from behind.

I cautiously looked back.

And I met them.

-A murderer holding a chainsaw.

“……!”

They say when a person truly faces fear, even screams don’t come out.

I froze on the spot.

I couldn’t think.

As I cowered, desperately praying inwardly that the terrifying murderer wouldn’t find us-

This time, something rustled across the floor.

And soon, a cold hand emerging from a hole in the wall grabbed my ankle.

• Gotcha…!

“Kkeuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!”

“They’re laaate-“

The other members, excluding Han Seoyoon and Wooseo Woo, were leisurely drinking beverages and sitting in front of the haunted house, waiting for them.

In fact, this amusement park has two types of haunted houses.

One is a light-level haunted house that even children can enjoy, and the other is an extremely difficult haunted house that even VTubers who come to review it end up crying and leaving, with a staggering mid-way dropout rate of over 70 percent.

That’s right.

Wooseo Woo, who had no information about the amusement park, had crawled in there of her own accord.

So, it wasn’t particularly the other members’ fault that Wooseo Woo’s back gave out and she came out of the haunted house being carried like a princess by Han Seoyoon.

“Uwahhhhhhh!”

“It’s okay. We’re out now. Stop!”

A small, cute pretty girl is being carried princess-style by a beauty charming enough to catch anyone’s eye, crying sorrowfully.

It wouldn’t be surprising if she was capturing the gazes of all passersby.

The members, who were blankly watching the scene, soon cleared their throats and looked away.

They were trying to pretend they weren’t part of the group because they were embarrassed by the excessive attention.

However, Han Seoyoon, unfazed by the members’ awkward reactions, strode over.

Then, she gently placed the still-sniffling Wooseo Woo on the table.

It was a natural motion, as if handling a puppy.

Wooseo Woo, thus naturally plopped onto the table in the middle of the amusement park, cried her heart out as if the world had ended.

“It was scary! Euh…!”

The members couldn’t bring themselves to ignore her.

She really looked like a drenched puppy.

“Wuuu… Ghosts are scarier……”

The members exchanged glances for a while, then naturally collected Wooseo Woo and began to leave the amusement park.

They judged that it would be difficult to stay in the amusement park any longer because too much attention was focused on them.

And while leaving the amusement park, Lee Nayeon, who was holding the sobbing Wooseo Woo’s hand, said with a troubled, bitter smile.

“…Want some cotton candy?”

Wooseo Woo, who was barely taking steps with legs trembling like an aspen leaf, blushed shyly.

“……Yeah.”