Chapter 121

The Bride’s gaze felt like snakes coiling around their bodies, constricting them. Theo swallowed hard without realizing it, and at that exact moment, the Bride slowly turned her body toward them.

The Bride’s face, which they hadn’t been able to see clearly until now, was fully revealed. It was a pale, lifeless face with eyes daintily closed, and in their place, three eyes disguised as bridal spots sat on her forehead and both cheeks.

Watching those bizarre eyes glare and track them sent goosebumps sliding down their spines. Facing the Bride, Holanghee instinctively stepped backward. Theo, however, couldn’t budge an inch, as if his body and gaze were pinned down by the spirit.

The Bride’s gaze promised death as her frame began to vibrate with a ghastly tremors. She keeled forward, her body folding in a way that signaled only one thing: the spirit-shattering wail was coming. ‘Move! Now!’ Holanghee barked, grabbing Theo and dragging him into a sprint.

Snapped back to his senses, Theo was pulled out of the brush by Holanghee, and the two ran for their lives. Before long, the wail pierced the air behind them.

Having unleashed her wail, the Bride spotted their retreating backs and shrieked as she gave chase. Holanghee stole a glance back at the chilling figure of the Bride and gasped. She thought Theo might faint if he saw that and resolved to make sure he didn’t look back, but Theo had no intention of looking back in the first place.

After fleeing in zigzags to evade her, the two finally hid behind a massive tree. It was the perfect hiding spot, shaded by dense leaves that blocked out even the moonlight. As they held their breath and tracked the Bride’s presence, the sound of leaves being trampled passed by. Holanghee cautiously poked her head out to scan the area, and once she confirmed the Bride was gone, she collapsed as if the strength had left her legs.

Holanghee mouthed the words “She’s gone, she’s gone” to the still-tense Theo. Only then did Theo lean against the tree with a stumble. His labored, suppressed breath finally burst out, making his chest heave.

They remained hidden in the tree’s shadow for a while longer, staying alert. Once they were certain the Bride had truly left, they spoke in hushed tones.

“We didn’t even make a sound, so how did she find us? I thought you could avoid the dead if you stayed quiet.”

Holanghee spoke as if she were lodging a complaint. There was no point in arguing with Theo, but he was the only one there to talk to. Theo placed his index finger to his lips, signaling Holanghee to lower her voice even further.

“Maybe she already heard us whispering earlier?”

“What, is she the Bionic Woman or something…?”

“It’s a system. It might not be about the volume of our voices, but rather that it checks for any noise at all.”

“That’s annoying as hell.”

Theo nodded in agreement regarding how tricky it was. He scanned the area once more and reached out his hand to Holanghee.

“I think she’s gone for now. Let’s head to the altar while we have the chance.”

At Theo’s suggestion, Holanghee checked the surroundings and took his hand to stand up.

As they began to move, the wailing started echoing from afar again. It seemed Father and Blaine had successfully pulled the Bride’s aggro once more. Fortunately, the sound was coming from a fair distance away in the opposite direction of the altar, so the two were able to run toward it with some peace of mind.

After circling halfway around the pond, they reached the inner garden path leading to the altar and gauged the Bride’s location by the sound. A faint wail drifted over from a vast distance away.

The two looked at each other, nodded, and stepped onto the inner path.

After wading through the bushes for a short while, they saw the altar sitting solitary in the darkness. Since the Juyeong had been taken, the candles were all extinguished, leaving only the cold air behind.

Approaching the altar, the two stared at it in silence for a moment before turning their heads in different directions. There had to be an exit nearby. They had to find it.

Scanning the area and moving while keeping each other in sight, they discovered a wall hidden behind trees, bushes, and vines. Following the wall, they found a middle gate that led out of the garden.

To be certain, they tried the gate. With a creaking sound, it opened easily, revealing the hall sitting atop the stone terrace beyond. It was the same building where they had found the Seojodae.

They stared at the hall blankly for a moment before snapping out of it and turning around. Now that they had found the exit, they had to go get Father and Blaine. A faint wail echoed from somewhere far off, and the two used the sound as a beacon to guide their steps.

Father and Blaine would be where the wail was coming from, but the thought of jumping into the middle of that chaos made Theo feel a bit overwhelmed. Following behind the running Holanghee, Theo suddenly grabbed her and pulled her to a stop as something occurred to him.

Holanghee, surprised by Theo’s sudden action, stopped and looked at him with a puzzled face. Just as she was about to ask why he stopped her, Theo spoke first.

“Let’s call them from here.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s call Father and Blaine from here and have them come to us.”

“But then the Bride will come too, won’t she?”

“We don’t know yet if the Bride only checks for nearby sounds or if she can pick up noises from far away too. If she only checks what’s nearby, she won’t hear us from this distance. But Father and Blaine will.”

“…….”

“If she can’t hear distant sounds, we can safely call Father and Blaine out and escape.”

“And if she can hear from a distance?”

“Then Father and Blaine will head this way anyway, saving us the trouble of going to find them.”

Holanghee pondered for a moment. It didn’t seem like they had much to lose by trying Theo’s plan. Whether two people were being chased or four, they had already found the exit, so they just needed to make a successful break for it.

Ending her deliberation, Holanghee looked up and nodded. The two exchanged a determined look and took a deep breath. Then, they began to call out for Father and Blaine at the top of their lungs.

After some time had passed, the sound of someone rushing through the bushes reached them from a distance. Suddenly, Father burst out from the greenery with a frantic expression and shouted urgently.

“What are you doing?!”

“Oh!”

Theo and Holanghee cheered at the sight of Father suddenly appearing. However, their joy was short-lived; they recoiled in horror as they saw the terrifying face of the Bride following close behind Father.

“Why did you bring her with you?!”

Holanghee jumped back and complained, but Father grabbed them both and pulled, shouting as if to tell them to shut up and run.

“You think it’s easy to shake that thing off?!”

Suddenly being dragged along by Father’s hand, Theo hurriedly scanned the area. Blaine was nowhere to be seen. Just as he was about to say they had to find Blaine, Father asked first, as if she already knew.

“Where’s Blaine?”

“I don’t know, he hasn’t shown up yet. You didn’t see him?”

“I was too busy running for my life. Did you find the exit?”

“Yeah, it was near the altar.”

Father seemed to think for a moment before letting go of Theo’s arm.

“…Then let’s split up here. I’ll go with Holanghee, so you find Blaine and come follow us.”

“What?”

The moment Theo asked back, a wail struck them from behind. Father shoved Theo’s shoulder, pushing him to the side, and Theo, caught off guard, tumbled to the ground.

The Bride swept past the fallen Theo. Unlike her face which looked forward, her three eyes glared at Theo for a split second, but she didn’t attack him, as if Father and Holanghee were her priority targets.

After confirming that the Bride was ignoring Theo to chase them, Father shouted once more.

“We’ll pull the aggro, so find Blaine!”

Theo stared blankly at Father and Holanghee as they fled frantically along the pond, then quickly snapped out of it, stood up, and looked around. The surroundings were deathly silent, as if not a single soul was nearby.

“Blaine!”

He called his name loudly, but there was no sign of anyone approaching and no response. Theo grew anxious. The thought of being alone made him even more scared and impatient.

“Blaine!”

Father had come when they called, so why wasn’t Blaine showing up? Had he already been caught by the Bride? All sorts of dark thoughts filled his head.

“…Soo-hyun, Shin Soo-hyun!”

There was still no answer. He didn’t have the courage to go back into the inner garden alone. Theo paced along the pond’s edge, screaming Blaine’s name until his throat felt like it would burst.

“Hyung.”

Right then, a voice calling him came from behind. He thought it was Blaine. Theo turned around quickly to call out to him. But as he turned his body, large hands reached out from both sides of his face and clamped firmly over his mouth.

Startled, he tried to struggle, but his back hit something broad and solid. Then, a familiar voice whispered in his ear.

“You mustn’t answer. That… that isn’t me, Hyung.”

Front, back—he was confused about which one was the real Blaine. Theo stiffly tilted his head up to identify the person holding his mouth. He saw a familiar face, panting and drenched in sweat. It was Blaine.

The moment he confirmed his identity, Theo’s face crumbled with relief. Looking at Theo with worried, slanted eyebrows, Blaine hugged his waist tightly and stared warily at the pond. Theo’s gaze followed his toward the water.

Now that he thought about it, the voice calling him from behind meant that someone had called his name from inside that pond.

[Do not answer things that are not human.]

The warning suddenly flashed through his mind. It made him dizzy just thinking about what might have happened if Blaine hadn’t stopped him. Theo pressed his body closer to Blaine’s chest for support and stared with terrified eyes at the silent surface of the water, shimmering with moonlight.