I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 48: Red Brick House

Caught off guard by the sudden burst of familiarity, Ayun blinked rapidly in confusion.

From the side, Hyeyeon stifled a laugh.

...So she does have a clueless side to her after all.

Or maybe she just hadn’t had many chances to meet other women?

Thinking back, especially to the time they’d laid in the same bed together, it certainly felt that way.

The reason was unclear, though.

In any case...

This wasn’t a fan meeting, so Hyeyeon stepped in and gently pulled the woman back on track.

“All right, let’s save the fan meeting for another time if we get the chance. Today’s for business.”

“Ah, right. I just couldn’t believe it even seeing you in person... If someone said you were my little sister, I’d believe them.”

“....”

Ayun’s mood took a turn as she remembered what had happened on the bus ride over.

Her expression soured, and her brow furrowed noticeably.

Faced with that displeased—but still faintly cute—face, the woman quickly let go of Ayun’s hand in a panic.

Looking sheepish, she pulled out a chair and sat down, exhaling quietly before continuing.

“Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Park Hyunseo—the one who sent the story.”

With simple introductions exchanged, the three immediately dove into the main topic.

As they began, Hyunseo’s face, which had briefly brightened, turned dark again.

“As you saw in the story I sent... strange things keep happening in the house I moved into.”

Ayun nodded along in empathy at the creepy account, though one thing still bothered her.

“But why don’t you just move...?”

Ayun’s question came out in short, clipped fragments, making Hyunseo crack a slight smile.

“You can talk normally, just like you do on your streams. That felt super awkward.”

“...Then I’ll {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} talk more casually.”

Ayun responded hesitantly, and Hyunseo gave her a nod of encouragement.

At the same time, though, a bit of unease began to creep in.

The real-life Ayun seemed far more reserved than the confident one on camera... Was the stream just an act?

...Maybe everything happening in my apartment is just in my head too.

Hyunseo shook the thought away.

Now that things had come this far, whatever happened would bring results either way.

From everything she’d seen so far, there hadn’t been any signs of fakery—so she decided it would be easier to just believe.

Still...

She really is small in person.

That thought was impossible to shake.

Because Ayun really was small.

As her soft, pale face tilted slightly, strands of silver hair tinted with lavender shimmered.

Hyunseo, caught staring, quickly realized the gaze had been noticed and cleared her throat.

“Um, where was I again?”

“...You didn’t say anything yet.”

“Oh... right.”

Feeling the temperature in the air drop, Hyunseo rushed to explain her situation.

It wasn’t anything extraordinary.

A broke student’s circumstances were easy enough to imagine: moving farther out would make commuting impossible, and she didn’t have the money to find another place.

Ayun deeply related to her story.

She was in a similar situation herself, in many ways.

With a resolute expression, Ayun promised to do her best to resolve the situation.

Hyunseo nodded as if hypnotized by that dependable look.

Watching the little play unfold from the side, Hyeyeon spoke quietly.

“It’s great that you’re motivated, but don’t forget you’re here to stream.”

“...Obviously.”

After listening again to a summary of the events that had occurred in the house, Ayun and Hyeyeon nodded—nothing seemed different from what was written in the submission.

“Then let’s go take a look.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay...”

Unlike Hyeyeon, whose face showed interest, and Ayun, whose eyes had steeled, Hyunseo looked distinctly uneasy.

The group stood, cleaned up their things, and stepped outside the café.

What greeted them was—

The sun’s dying gasp as it sank past the horizon.

A vivid sunset.

“The sun’s setting fast.”

“Well... Perfect timing.”

The three retraced their steps to the alley where Hyeyeon and Ayun had stood earlier.

From there, they climbed a bit farther uphill, until an older-looking villa appeared amidst the rows of red brick homes.

The exposed exterior piping was heavily rusted, showing the weight of time, and scattered broken bricks marked the outer walls.

Between buildings, the narrow alleys were littered with grimy water meter covers and all kinds of discarded trash.

To Ayun, it felt strangely familiar.

...It wasn’t much different from the place she lived in now.

The three pushed open the heavy iron gate in silence and climbed the stairs.

When they reached the second floor and Hyunseo pulled out her key to unlock the door, Hyeyeon held her back.

“Um... Is something wrong?”

Looking puzzled, Hyunseo blinked, and Hyeyeon asked:

“You cleaned up inside, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Satisfied, Hyeyeon nodded, then turned to Ayun.

“Unnie, let’s start the stream now. Hyunseo-ssi, you said you didn’t really want to appear on camera, right?”

“Yes... It’s not that I hate it, I just don’t see the need.”

“Then wear this, just in case. Since it’s your home, there’s probably no way to stay out of frame completely.”

“That’s fine.”

While Hyunseo took the offered mask and put it on, Ayun—now a bit more practiced—connected her smartphone to the selfie stick.

“Alright, I’ll start my stream too.”

“Okay.”

With a nod from Hyunseo, Ayun started broadcasting and looked into the camera.

Her face immediately filled the stream window.

...Still not used to seeing myself like this.

After a brief moment of staring at her own reflection, Ayun spoke.

“Hey.”

– Noona, your intros are getting shorter every time

– Yeonha~ (Ayun hi~ lol)

– Yeonha~ (younger than Ayun lol)

– You two are insufferable, seriously

Ayun read the chat and chuckled.

“Yeonha’s cute. So do the older viewers say ‘Yeonsa’ or something instead?”

– Uh...

– Yeonba~

– Haha this is great

– Just type ‘lol’ and leave, seriously

“...If it’s not funny, just say it’s not. Anyway.”

She panned the camera around the darkening surroundings.

Her movements were much more confident now.

Behind her, the classic buildings of an old suburban bed-town loomed in frame.

“Like I said before, I’m here at the house we got the story from. If you didn’t get picked today, there’ll be other chances, so don’t be too disappointed.”

– Why didn’t you come to my place ㅡㅡ

– Whoa, this looks exactly like the neighborhood I used to live in

– But like... how long are you gonna keep calling us ‘viewers’??

Ayun blinked at the unexpected comment.

“I mean, if you’re viewers, what else am I supposed to call you?”

Seeing the complaints about the term, she squinted slightly, then muttered:

“We’ll decide later. Right now someone’s waiting. You guys came for the spooky stuff, didn’t you?”

– True lol

– I came to see noona

– Shut up, ffs

([Ayun(Zinc)Eater] has donated 5,000 won.)

– Look at these cursed bastards getting all hyped to see a ghost lmao

“...Thanks for the donation, but your username kinda bugs me. Still, I like ‘cursed bastards.’ That’s your new name now. You’re all cursed bastards.”

– Declaring a sweep, lol

– Honestly, kinda love it

Watching Ayun handle the stream more smoothly than last time, Hyeyeon let out a quiet breath of relief.

But now it was time to get down to business—she gave a small cough to signal Ayun.

Their eyes met, and Ayun gave a nod.

“Let’s save the rest for later. Time to head in.”

Taking the cue, Hyunseo quickly slotted the key into the lock and opened the door.

Meanwhile, Ayun switched the camera from selfie mode to regular.

Creeeaak—

The door opened with a strangely familiar sound.

Ayun stepped past Hyunseo, who had moved aside, and entered the apartment.

Before long, her serious voice rang out.

“...Did you leave the lights on?”

Hyunseo, her face suddenly pale, answered shakily.

“...N-No.”

“They’re on.”

Whatever the cause, Ayun thought one thing was certain—this couldn’t be forgiven.

...How much electricity has this wasted?

She wasn’t exactly an environmentalist, but it still made her furious.

Taking her shoes off carefully, Ayun entered the apartment, grinding her teeth as she looked around. Behind her, Hyeyeon and Hyunseo quietly followed and closed the front door.

What showed on Ayun’s stream was a home that seemed slightly too large for one person.

As mentioned earlier, the fluorescent light in the small living room-slash-kitchen was still on.

Shhhhhhh—

Ayun turned toward the sound of running water.

It wasn’t coming from another floor or apartment—it was coming from inside.

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She located the source and opened the door to what appeared to be the bathroom.

Water was gushing from the sink.

“The faucet’s on too.”

Something terrible was clearly happening in this place.

...At least, it was clear to Ayun and Hyunseo.