To avoid the crowds, the company specially arranged to enter the amusement park at noon on a weekday to film the group variety show. Although the amusement park is not very large and cannot compare to the most famous large amusement parks, it has a wide variety of attractions, and the haunted house inside is said to be the park’s crown jewel.
The weather was unusually good, with the sun shining brightly, warming everyone’s bodies. As soon as the car door opened, the six boys from Kaleido scattered in all directions like ducks being released.
“Wow, this roller coaster is so tall!”
“I want to ride the pirate ship!”
“Is there a shooting game?”
It had been ten years since Fang Juexia had last visited an amusement park, and seeing these attractions, he felt a touch of nostalgia. The sun was so bright it was hard to keep his eyes open, so Fang Juexia raised a hand to shield his eyes and looked toward the carousel in the distance.
The sunlight was a master at creating illusions, and the scene before his eyes seemed like an old photograph trembling in the light, growing hazy as it swayed. A seven or eight-year-old child suddenly appeared on the candy-colored carousel, with a hint of red at the corner of their eye. Beside him were his father and mother, spinning round and round, repeating the circular trajectory, as if they could keep spinning like this for a lifetime, laughing for a lifetime.
That seemed to be the only time his parents had accompanied him to the amusement park.
“You like these kinds of things for kids, huh?”
The voice of Pei Tingsong came from behind him. Fang Juexia turned his head, breaking free from his memories, and shook his head.
Pei Tingsong turned his head to look at him, “Then why are you so engrossed in watching it?”
Fang Juexia wore a white baseball cap backwards, revealing his entire face, which looked fresh and comfortable. Pei Tingsong couldn’t help but look at him a few more times, noticing that his fair ears were almost translucent in the sunlight, and even the tiny hairs and capillaries on his earlobes were clearly visible.
“I rode it when I was a kid.”
He noticed Fang Juexia’s chest rise and fall slightly, as if he had taken a deep breath.
“That’s nice. I never came to a place like this when I was a kid,” Pei Tingsong said casually.
“Really?” Fang Juexia found it hard to believe. “Your parents never took you here?”
Pei Tingsong stuffed his hands into his shirt pockets and shook his head. “I see them no more than ten times a year.”
Fang Juexia asked, “At the same time?”
Pei Tingsong shrugged. “Separately. The times we see them together are even fewer.”
His voice was still a bit hoarse, and there was an inexplicable hint of sadness in his words. Fang Juexia wasn’t good at comforting people, and he wasn’t in much better shape himself. Besides, Pei Tingsong had a strong personality and certainly didn’t want someone like him, a complete stranger who knew nothing about the situation, to comfort him.
So Fang Juexia just looked up, tilted his face slightly, and smiled at him. “So this is your first time.”
His first amusement park experience.
The birthmark at the corner of his eye glowed brightly in the sunlight, tinged with orange, like a piece of soft candy.
“Are you happy?”
Whether it was this question that struck a nerve with Pei Tingsong, or the rare smile on his usually indifferent face, Pei Tingsong seemed spellbound and actually felt a bit happy.
“What’s there to be happy about? I’m not a kid.”
He turned his head away, and their shadows overlapped, closer than their actual bodies.
The director’s team brought the camera over and gathered them together to record the opening footage, explained the day’s schedule, and finally led everyone to today’s main event.
“Today, our Kaleido group’s horror special has arrived at the abandoned school hospital in Horror Park! This is the most famous haunted house in the amusement park. There are two floors in total, with only one route, so don’t worry, you won’t get lost.”
Ling Yi joked, “Director, do you think I’m afraid of getting lost?”
“Hahaha.”
The haunted house in front of them didn’t look like the typical dark, cave-like haunted houses. It was an old two-story building. It does indeed resemble an abandoned hospital, with large red crosses painted on the walls, peeling plaster, and a rusted sign above the entrance bearing the hospital’s name. The hospital naturally has windows, but each one is boarded up with thick planks, leaving no room for light or air to pass through.
Fang Juexia looked up, his expression still calm on the surface, but his heart was already racing.
It must be very dark inside…
He had been worried about this since last night. The haunted house had very little light, and for someone like him with night blindness, going inside would be like groping in the dark.
Fang Juexia could already envision himself bumping into things and stumbling around inside.
“Little Pei is young but bold,” Lu Yuan teased him.
“Isn’t it just a matter of walking around and coming out? Why divide into groups?” Pei Tingsong didn’t understand what was so scary, so he turned to look at his teammates, “Who’s afraid?”
Everyone raised their hands in unison, and Fang Juexia, seeing this, raised his hand a moment later to keep in line.
The team spirit of this group always came out of nowhere.
The director shook his head, “It’s not just a walk around. This time, to increase the difficulty, we’ve placed a Q-style doll of each of you in every room, six in total. You have to take all the dolls out to complete the challenge.”
At this, cries of despair filled the air.
“Alright,” the director, who was already accustomed to the group’s constant complaining, said sternly, “Let’s start dividing into groups now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ling Yi grabbed Jue Xia’s arm, “I want to be with Jue Xia! Jue Xia clearly isn’t the type to be afraid of ghosts, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
Pei Tingsong glanced into the abandoned hospital. It was pitch black inside, and with Fang Juexia’s night vision, going in would be like groping in the dark.
“Fang Juexia, you’re with me.” Pei Tingsong stepped forward and pulled him to his side.
“Why? First come, first served! You’re not afraid of ghosts, so why are you trying to take my spot?“ Ling Yi grabbed Fang Juexia’s hand. ”Juexia, who do you want to go with?”
Fang Juexia was about to speak, but Pei Tingsong pulled him behind him and pressed Ling Yi’s head down with one hand, preventing him from getting closer.
“He’ll definitely choose me. Give up.”
The director’s team intervened promptly: “Alright, Juexia, Lingyi, and Xiao Pei will be in one group, and the remaining Ziyang, Luyuan, and Xiaomiao will be in another group, divided by age. Is that okay?”
Lingyi: “Objection!”
Pei Tingsong: “Objection denied.”
After hearing the director’s announcement, Fang Juexia broke free from Pei Tingsong’s grip, stretched his wrist, and stepped out from behind Pei Tingsong.
In fact, he had almost blurted out Pei Tingsong’s name earlier. For other projects, it wouldn’t matter who he was paired with, but in the haunted house, there was no light, and Pei Tingsong was the only one who knew about his night blindness. It would be safer to go in together.
“Then let’s start with Xiao Pei’s group.”
Ling Yi jumped in surprise, “Is it starting this soon?” After saying that, he immediately stuck to Juexia like a magnetized doll, “Juexia, you have to protect me.”
“I’ll try…” Fang Juexia swallowed hard, his heart filled with anxiety as he stepped onto the stairs.
Pei Tingsong followed behind them. Ling Yi extended his trembling hand and gently pushed open the dusty hospital door. With a creak, the door swung open, and a musty, stale air swept out. Pei Tingsong’s throat was still sore, and he coughed as soon as he stepped inside.
Hearing him cough, Fang Juexia glanced back at him, then quickly turned away.
The first floor was similar to a regular hospital, with an empty lobby and no one sitting on the chairs along the walls. In the center was a semi-circular reception desk. Large red arrow stickers were stuck on the floor to guide visitors.
“Where could the doll be…” Ling Yi’s voice trembled.
Fang Juexia remained relatively calm, “It should be in areas with surveillance cameras.”
Following the arrows, the three of them slowly moved toward the front desk. Ling Yi was so scared that he hid behind Fang Juexia, clinging to his shoulders and only showing half his head.
Fortunately, the door was still open, so they could still see a little.
Just as Fang Juexia was thinking this, there was a loud bang, and the door slammed shut from the outside!
“Ah!” Ling Yi stamped his feet in fright. “That scared me to death!”
“Who said that? I’m just protecting you.”
Fang Juexia couldn’t see his expression at all, so he didn’t know if he was really scared or just pretending. If he was really scared, then they were doomed. With two cowards and a blind person, when would they ever be able to complete their mission?
Ling Yi’s voice trembled, “It’s so dark in here… Are there no lights at all?”
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall suddenly filled with the eerie music of a music box, tinkling and echoing throughout the entire space. Fang Juexia, who was usually quite brave, was also affected by the spooky atmosphere.
“This music is really…” Pei Tingsong was about to curse, “It’s giving me goosebumps.”
The music suddenly stuttered, and a few lights flickered on the walls of the hospital lobby, emitting a faint yellow glow. However, for Fang Juexia, they were practically useless. Suddenly, a girl’s voice came over the intercom, sweet yet eerie, “Welcome to the Horror School Nurse… What ailment do you have?”
The last word, “illness,” suddenly turned into a shriek. A disheveled female ghost suddenly stood up from the empty space at the front desk not far from them. She was wearing a nurse’s uniform and a nurse’s cap, her pupils were completely white, and her face was covered in blood. She was holding a document in her hand and handed it over, which was also covered in red.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
Two screams, one high-pitched and one low, overlapped, and Fang Juexia felt like his ears were about to explode. But he couldn’t see anything, only feeling a sudden emptiness on his left as Ling Yi seemed to let go and run away. He followed the footsteps and looked over, “Ling Yi?”
“Ah, don’t come over! I’m leaving, I’m leaving. Please don’t come over…”
He really ran away…
Fang Juexia thought of Pei Tingsong’s scream just now, “Didn’t you say you weren’t afraid?”
Pei Tingsong hadn’t recovered from the scare of the ghost nurse yet, and his voice trembled, “I… I didn’t know it would be this terrifying when I came in! And I’ve never been to a haunted house before, how would I know if I’m afraid or not?”
“You don’t even know if you’re afraid, yet you say you’re not afraid.”
“What’s the point of saying that now?”
“Yes.” Fang Juexia couldn’t see clearly, so he reached out to feel around. However, the document was snatched away by Pei Tingsong, who bluffed, “You! Do you have any dolls here?”
“Thank you…” Pei Tingsong took the doll and dragged Fang Juexia, who was still trying to bow, away. They could hear the ghost nurse calling out from behind, “Remember to give this paper to the doctor in Room 202~”
They could hear Ling Yi’s screams from the second floor, getting louder and louder.
“Ling Yi is even singing in a high-pitched voice.” Fang Juexia looked up at the second floor.
Pei Tingsong’s usual cool demeanor was gone, replaced by a trembling, chattering voice, “Oh my god, this is so scary! Why did they create such a terrifying place? Are people who like haunted houses all perverts? Have they all gone mad?”
Fang Juexia was practically being dragged along by him, and he was puzzled, “Aren’t you a philosophy major? Why are you afraid of ghosts? Aren’t you supposed to be an atheist?”
Following the red arrow, Pei Tingsong trembled as he walked up the stairs on the far right of the hall. With each step he took, a light on the wall beside the stairs would turn on, seemingly a motion-sensor light. “Who told you that philosophy equals atheism? Early philosophy was inseparable from religious studies!”
Although he was afraid, he still carefully supported Fang Juexia, slowly climbing the stairs step by step. “Besides, does being an atheist necessarily mean you’re brave? What kind of logic is that…”
Just as they tremblingly reached the corner, a ghost in a hospital gown suddenly stood up from the dark corner, its green face and sharp teeth lunging toward them!
“Fuck! What the f…”
Pei Tingsong was so scared he started swearing, throwing himself onto Fang Juexia and knocking him down against the wall.
This was a group variety show, and the post-production team would have to censor his words again. Fang Juexia reached out to cover his brother’s mouth, “Shh… It’s fake, it’s fake. Your throat isn’t fully healed yet, so don’t scream.”
“Ugh! The doll… ugh!”
Fang Juexia finally remembered, “Right, right, did the doll fall?” He let go of his hand, and Pei Tingsong also let go of him. After searching on the ground for a while, he found the fallen doll and pulled Fang Juexia up, ready to run away.
“Thank you for your hard work.” Fang Juexia bowed toward the staff member dressed as a ghost based on his instincts, but since he couldn’t see, he bowed in the wrong direction.
A young man suddenly bowing to an empty wall startled the staff.
Pei Tingsong tightly held Fang Juexia’s hand, dragging him up the stairs, not daring to look back. The motion-sensor lights flickered on with each step, and the two finally reached the second floor. Unlike the first-floor lobby, this floor featured a long cross-shaped corridor, with four rooms on either side—some open, some locked. The ceiling lights were a harsh white, and a few seemed broken, flickering constantly.
Before taking a step, Pei Tingsong felt a chill run down his spine. “Can this background music stop for a moment? It’s playing nonstop!”
Fang Juexia held the documents in his hand, still thinking about what happened at the front desk. “The girl just said to go to the second floor and find the doctor in Room 202.”
“Right, right.” Pei Tingsong wrapped his arm around Fang Juexia’s shoulder, holding him like a crab as they moved to the right side of the corridor, inch by inch forward. “Room 202… 202, this one.” He looked up and saw the iron sign for Room 202, which had what looked like bloodstains on it. Pei Tingsong didn’t dare to look at it for too long and walked up to the closed door.
Fang Juexia also reached the door and knocked on it habitually, “Is anyone there?”
“No one, just ghosts!” Pei Tingsong gripped the doorknob and turned it.
Fang Juexia spoke solemnly, “There’s no such thing in this world…”
“Ah!!! Holy shit!”
He was startled by Pei Tingsong’s curse. He had no idea that when the door opened, there was a ghost standing right in front of them. Fang Juexia couldn’t see it and stepped forward, colliding with the staff member dressed as a ghost.
“Eh? Sorry, sorry, I’m sorry for bumping into you…” He reached out and touched the staff member, pulling Pei Tingsong past the fake ghost, “Don’t curse people like that.” “Fang Juexia, are you a pervert? You’re not afraid at all.”
I can’t see either.
Fang Juexia tightly gripped the guide dog, which was on the verge of becoming agitated, and slowly walked into the room. He tried to ask, “Doctor?”
Pei Tingsong held the doll in one hand and embraced Fang Juexia with the other, forcing himself to look around the room. The lighting was dim, and the furnishings looked like those of an ordinary clinic. A table was placed not far ahead, with a swivel chair behind it, its back facing them.
Pei Tingsong knew instinctively that turning the chair around would be terrifying.
“High energy ahead, high energy ahead, high energy ahead…”
Fang Juexia furrowed his brows, “Why are you suddenly sending out a barrage of comments?”
Pei Tingsong covered his eyes with the doll in his hand, then snatched the folder from Fang Juexia’s hands and threw it on the table in front of him.
“Take it, take it. Doctor, isn’t this what you wanted?”
Fang Juexia was amused by him, “Pei Tingsong, you stuttered.”
The chair did indeed turn around, but Pei Tingsong could only see the part of the doctor below his head. He saw him put away the file, slowly open the drawer, and take out a Q-style doll.
Pei Tingsong took a step forward, stretched out his hand to grab the doll’s foot, and ran out with it. Seeing the ghost at the door, he jumped in fright.
“See you again?!” Pei Tingsong shoved both dolls into Fang Juexia’s hands. “Hold on tight and stay here.” ” With that, he quickly rushed into the open door across the hall, quickly scanned the entire room with tactical narrowed eyes, and finally found a doll on a shelf filled with disgusting specimens and ran off with it. The fake corpse sitting inside didn’t have time to scare him and could only watch as the tall man ran away.
Room 203 was a hospital ward with three beds. Pei Tingsong pulled Fang Juexia inside, their fingers intertwined, the two of them walking close to the wall. Pei Tingsong kept looking around for dolls while muttering, “Don’t mess with me, don’t mess with me, I don’t want you to mess with me…”
The first two beds were empty, with no patients or dolls on them. The last bed had a curtain drawn in front of it.
“Oh, this must be terrifying. I don’t want to go over there. Please, don’t scare me, don’t scare me…” Despite his constant muttering, Pei Tingsong trembled as he approached the last bed.
Fang Juexia whispered beside him, “Your hands are shaking so badly.”
“I… I’m not…” Pei Tingsong gritted his teeth and pulled the curtain open with all his strength, then jumped back in fright, “Ah!!!!”
“Wow, that was impressive. Your voice just hit an F5. Doesn’t that mean you can sing high notes too?”
“Is that the point?!”
His guide dog was about to lose its mind. Fang Juexia held back a laugh, half-hugging him and patting his back, “It’s fake, it’s all fake.”
On the hospital bed lay a fake corpse, its features blurred, holding a doll in its arms.
“Ah, I can’t take it anymore, I can’t take it anymore,” Pei Tingsong reached out with two fingers, grabbed the doll’s head, and pulled it out. “Four down, two to go. Let’s get out of here.”
The last room was the morgue, filled with a faint green glow. As soon as Pei Tingsong pushed open the door, the “corpses” inside suddenly sat up in unison, startling Pei Tingsong so much that his legs went weak, and he fell to the ground by the door.
“Epicurus, Democritus, Lucretius, Spinoza, Hobbes, Lamettrie, Feuerbach, Satyr…”
Fang Juexia felt around in the dark and pulled Pei Tingsong up, asking in confusion, “What are you muttering about?”
“The great atheists of history, please protect me and don’t let them bother me.”
Fang Juexia couldn’t help but laugh and mimicked him, reciting, “One plus one equals two, two plus two equals four, three plus three equals six, four plus four equals eight…”
Perhaps fear made him quick, as Pei Tingsong quickly found the last two dolls. “Why do you keep reciting the multiplication table?”
“Is that so…”
Fang Juexia had no idea what was going on. It was pitch black inside, and he couldn’t see anything. He could only be dragged back and forth by Pei Tingsong, hearing him scream and curse from time to time. He didn’t find it scary at all; he just found it hilarious.
“You’re still laughing.” After leaving the morgue and returning to the corridor, Pei Tingsong leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. It was finally over. Following the arrow downstairs should end it.
“How can you still laugh?”
Fang Juexia held a pile of dolls and tried to suppress his laughter. “Because you’re so cute.”
“Cute??” Pei Tingsong wasn’t happy to hear that, pretending to be cool and powerful, “Who are you calling cute?”
However, the haunted house gave him no chance to catch his breath. Just as he was about to let loose with a threat, a group of one-legged people appeared at the end of the corridor, all wearing school uniforms, zombielike, hopping toward the two of them. Each of them held a pen in their hands, making a motion as if to stab them.
Pei Tingsong was so scared he blurted out a string of English swear words. He had thought these ghosts would all charge at him to scare him, but it turned out they were targeting Fang Juexia instead. Three or four of them grabbed his shoulders and arms.
Fang Juexia, who was being forcibly dragged away, was still dazed. “Hey? How come there are so many of them…”
“Ah, the doll fell.” Fang Juexia was focused solely on the task at hand.
Though terrified, his courage faltering, Pei Tingsong still trembled as he stepped forward to pry away the strange ghostly students. “Don’t pull him! Thank you, thank you… God! Sister, your makeup is way too scary…”
In the darkness, Pei Tingsong grabbed Fang Juexia’s wrist, and his heart finally settled. “Come here.” He suddenly pulled him back into his arms.
The ghostly students behind them were still putting on a show of crazy siege, so Pei Tingsong had no choice but to press him against the wall and hold him, trying to use his own back to block the ghosts. “Don’t come any closer, you guys. Go away, go away.”
The hasty movement was too rushed; he couldn’t control the force or the distance. Pei Tingsong lowered his head but lost his balance, accidentally brushing against his cheek.
In the fleeting moment, soft lips glided over smooth skin, pausing by his ear.
In the darkness and chaos, Fang Juexia felt nothing. His back was pressed against the cold wall, but the chest of Pei Tingsong pressed against him was warm, very warm.
Their bodies were pressed closely together. Pei Tingsong’s chest, rising and falling with excitement, stirred a tide of blood and flesh within Fang Juexia’s body.
He could smell a faint scent of perfume on Pei Tingsong—sea salt mixed with a hint of musk. The fragrance wafted up, like its owner brushing against Fang Juexia’s cheek. The sound of hot breath and heavy panting filled his ears, amplified and elongated in the darkness, wrapping around him like seaweed, kissing every inch of his body.
“It’s okay, it’s okay…” Pei Tingsong murmured softly, unsure to whom he was speaking. He cautiously turned his head and saw that the ghostly students had all vanished, finally letting out a breath of relief.
Perhaps because it was too dark, the Fang Juexia he saw seemed to be scared stiff, like a little rabbit dared not move.
Suddenly, Pei Tingsong realized belatedly how close they had been, so he quickly moved away and hurriedly crouched down, “The dolls fell, let me pick them up.”
Fang Juexia leaned against the wall and took a deep breath.
He was like a stranded fish saved by the tide.
“Let’s go.” Pei Tingsong held a pile of small dolls in his left arm, took Fang Juexia’s hand with his right, and hurriedly left the eerie second-floor corridor. He descended the stairs at the fastest speed possible without tripping, following the arrows to find the exit of this haunted abandoned hospital.
“Wow!!! Finally out!”
“Ling Yi, that coward, abandoned you guys. The little shorty ran all the way out.”
“You’re the little shorty!”
Jiang Miao walked over to comfort the two, “Are you okay? You guys are pretty tough, you got everything out.”
Pei Tingsong held the dolls, his soul almost gone, “I’m definitely going to have nightmares tonight.”
The director checked the time, “29 minutes and 34 seconds. Faster than we expected. Impressive!”
29 minutes and 34 seconds. Fang Juexia silently repeated the number in his mind, only to realize that his internal clock had completely malfunctioned.
Because Pei Tingsong was there, it hadn’t moved a single second. It was broken, completely broken.
In that tiny haunted house, it felt like they had been walking for ages, staying for ages. The time in his heart was no longer objective; it couldn’t be measured or accumulated by established standards.
He Ziyan glanced at the two of them holding hands, “They’re still holding hands.”
The two of them jumped at the same time and quickly separated their tightly clasped hands.
“The next group is going in! Zi Yan, Yuan Yuan, and Miao Miao, get ready!”
“Okay—”
Fang Juexia walked a few steps forward alone and squatted down. He didn’t know what he was afraid of, since he hadn’t seen a single ghost.
“Are you okay?” Pei Tingsong walked around to his side and squatted down as well. “Did you bump into anything when you were rushing just now? Let me take a look.”
Fang Juexia shook his head, took off his hat, and put it back on his head, the brim covering his eyes, his head buried in his knees. His slender white neck stretched out, the light shining on the thin layer of sweat, glistening and exposed.
“What’s wrong?” Pei Tingsong knelt beside him, knees touching, and placed his hand on the exposed back of his neck.
Fang Juexia spoke softly, “Nothing, it’s just…”
His palm was damp with sweat, as if trying to press the burning body heat into his skin, along with the incessant low breaths echoing in his ears, into his flesh.
“My legs feel weak.”
Author’s Note: Card Group Mini-Drama:
After He Ziyan, Lu Yuan, and Jiang Miao entered the haunted house—
They encountered the front desk attendant:
He Ziyan: “Wow, uniform temptation.”
Lu Yuan: “Fire Brother, your taste is a bit heavy…”
The receptionist hands over the documents.
Jiang Miao: “Thanks for your hard work~”
Upon reaching the second floor:
He Ziyan: “Let’s search one room at a time.”
They opened the door and saw a ghost.
He Ziyan: “Wow…” He walked around it.
Lu Yuan entered the specimen room, “Old He, your doll is so ugly.”
Jiang Miao entered the hospital ward, “There’s a bed here.” She pulled back the curtain, “Thanks for your hard work, oh, it’s fake.”
The three of them opened the morgue door, and the corpse sat up. They all exclaimed, “Wow, that’s cool.” They closed the door and opened it again, and the corpse sat up once more.
The three of them: “Wow, that’s cool! Let’s do it again!”
The corpse: Are you messing with me?
Ghost students swarm in, dragging them along to sing on the spot.
“Have you heard our song? Kaleido, have you heard it?”
Ghost students: Confused…
——————
Staff: Turns out only the youngest and Meng 1 are afraid of ghosts in the whole group.
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