Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 130 Teachers and Students
Upon entering Mr. Park's house, one finds a spacious living room, with a "fake second floor" resembling an attic directly above, surrounded by a narrow corridor.

At the corner of the stairs leading to the second floor, all the students' artwork and graffiti from back then are posted, and Teacher Park has kept them all to this day.

This house is almost exactly the same as Zheng Yuan remembers. He remembers that when he was a child, he and his classmates often came here to play.

At that time, the teacher's son, Young-min, was kept in the basement. It was said that the teacher's husband forcibly kept him there because Young-min was born with facial deformities, so he always wore a rabbit mask.

"Oh, it's Zhengyuan!"

A loud voice came from the porch.

Zheng Yuan looked over and saw a man with a meticulously trimmed mustache and wearing a smart suit striding towards him.

"Minghao-ge!" Zhengyuan walked up excitedly and said, "You really are the first one here!"

The man with the mustache is named Kim Myung-ho. He was Jung-won's classmate in school and is now the president of an IT company.

Minghao grabbed Zhengyuan's shoulder with such force that Zhengyuan stumbled.

"Alas, our Zhengyuan is still so weak and frail!"

Minghao laughed loudly, and there was a faint smell of cigarettes on him.

"How about it? Want to work for my company? With your looks, I guarantee all the female colleagues in our work group will be smitten!"

Zheng Yuan scratched the back of his head sheepishly: "Minghao, stop teasing me. Your company went public recently, right?"

"Oh, it's just good luck." Minghao waved his hand, but he couldn't hide the smugness in his eyes.

He turned to Shunxi and Dafeng, "Celebrity Zhao and contestant Xu are here too! Shunxi, you're getting slimmer and prettier."

Soon-hee took off her sunglasses and said, "President Kim is a big shot now, it's an honor that he still remembers us little guys."

Her tone was tinged with good-natured teasing.

Then Minghao walked up and patted Dafeng on the back: "Hey, our Xu is an MVP candidate this year! I still have your autographed ball hanging in my office!"

As the group exchanged pleasantries, two more people emerged from inside the door.

The man had slightly messy short hair, strong facial features, and a somewhat melancholic expression; he wore a gray suit. The woman beside him had neat short hair, soft eyes and brows, and a beige suit that accentuated her gentle demeanor. Standing together, the two looked like a couple from a magazine.

Zhengyuan immediately stepped forward and respectfully said, "Brother Shihao! Sister Enying!"

These two were Li Shihao, the class monitor, and Wu Enying, the vice class monitor.

Li Shihao nodded slightly, his posture elegant and proper: "Zhengyuan, it's been a long time."

His voice was deep and steady, suggesting that he had already inherited the family business.

Wu Enying stepped forward and looked Zhengyuan up and down, saying, "Zhengyuan, you look much thinner than last year. No matter how busy you are, remember to eat well."

Jung-won smiled and said, "Eun-young is still as gentle as ever. I heard you and Se-ho got engaged? Congratulations!"

Eun-young blushed and glanced shyly at Se-ho: "Yes, the wedding will be next spring. You all have to come."

Shihao put his arm around his fiancée's shoulder and smiled, a rare sight for him: "Our teacher always said that we were a match made in heaven, and now it's proven true."

Minghao chimed in, "Wow, our class monitor is finally ending his single life! So many girls were heartbroken for him back then!"

"No way! Back then, our class monitor was the most popular with the girls, it was you, Minghao!"

Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere became relaxed and pleasant.

Just then, the creaking sound of a wheelchair came from inside the door, and everyone's expression immediately became respectful.

Their former elementary school teacher, Ms. Park, was sitting in a wheelchair as Nam Mi-ja slowly pushed her out.

She looked older than last year and had a lot more gray hair, but her eyes were unusually bright.

“I just heard Soon-hee and Da-bong’s voices from inside…” Teacher Park looked at the new students, “Jung-won, you’re here too…”

"Teacher, I'm about to film a TV series!" Soon-hee walked up and hugged her teacher in the wheelchair. "Please remember to watch it! My dream is to act with Jang Dong-gun someday!"

“Teacher,” Dafeng walked up, half-squatting down, and said, “I’m here! I won MVP again this time. It’s all thanks to your encouragement back then that I’ve kept playing baseball!”

"Good, good, I'm happy to see you all succeed..." Teacher Park's voice was hoarse but powerful.

Afterwards, once inside the room, the students immediately stood up straight and bowed deeply in unison.

Zheng Yuan knelt down and performed a standard "grand salute," his forehead almost touching the ground: "Teacher, happy birthday, may you live a long and healthy life."

Teacher Park's lips curled up slightly: "Get up, Jung-won. You're still so polite."

“Teacher,” Minghao suddenly said, “You’ve always been in a wheelchair, yet you live in this house without an elevator. It must be very inconvenient for you to go up and down.”

Without turning her head, Teacher Park said, "I'm old and my legs aren't very strong. I usually just stay on the first floor. I rarely go up to the second floor."

Her tone was flat, but Zhengyuan noticed that her fingers were gripping her trouser leg tightly as she spoke.

He heard from Miko that the teacher was now almost completely unable to take care of herself, and incontinence was a common occurrence. The teacher had no relatives left and relied entirely on Miko for care, whom she treated like her own daughter.

Miko said, "Teacher, I'll go prepare some tea and snacks first. Let everyone keep you company while you chat."

Xu Yinqiu stepped forward and naturally took the wheelchair handle: "Teacher Park, how are you feeling today?" Her voice was very gentle, completely unlike the sharpness she had shown when questioning the rules outside.

Teacher Park patted the back of her hand: "With you kids around, I feel much better."

Suddenly, Zheng Yuan noticed that Xu Yinqiu was staring at a jar on a shelf not far away. The jar contained a black liquid, which looked like raspberry wine brewed by Meizi.

"Masamoto," Miko called to him, "could you come help me in the kitchen?"

“Of course, Miko.” Masamoto nodded to the others and then followed Minami Miko into the kitchen.

The kitchen was spacious but outdated, with equipment that was clearly from twenty years ago.

Nanmei quickly took out the tableware from the cupboard.

“Three more people came this year,” Nanmei said while wiping the plates. “It’s much more lively than in previous years.”

Zhengyuan helped tidy up the napkins and said, "Meizi, I think I saw some raspberry wine on the shelf outside just now. Is it your new brew?"

"Yes, I thought you would all like to drink it."

He hesitated for a moment and said, "Well, I'm a little worried about Yinqiu. What if she brings up the rules with the teacher later? I'm afraid it might upset the teacher."

Nan Meizi paused for a moment: "Yinqiu is a psychologist now, and she has her professional judgment. But I have repeatedly told her not to mention this in front of the teacher, and not to ask why there are those seven rules."

Zheng Yuan nodded: "I understand. Indeed, those rules are quite strange, especially the third and seventh ones."

"Shh!" Miko glanced nervously at the doorway. "Jung-won, just follow these rules for the sake of our teacher. She lost her son; we are her family now."

"Miko, you called me earlier and said that the teacher seemed to be hallucinating?"

"Yes, she seemed to have seen all of you in the yard early this morning, and she happily asked me when you arrived."

"The teacher's mental state is definitely problematic; perhaps we should take her to the hospital for another checkup. Also, Miko, why are we eating in the yard this year? Weren't we always eating in the dining room before?"

Nanmei smiled and said, "The teacher said she wanted to see the sea view. The weather is so nice today, it's perfect."

She took out a bottle of cleaning solution and said, "Zhengyuan, could you go to the yard and help me set up the barbecue grill? I need to make seaweed soup for the teacher."

A unique aspect of birthday celebrations in Korea is drinking seaweed soup. This is because pregnant women rely on seaweed soup to replenish their nutrition after childbirth, so drinking seaweed soup on birthdays is a way to remember the hardships their mothers endured during childbirth.

"Okay, leave it to me."

Teacher Park's backyard faces the azure sea, and the scenery is absolutely stunning.

As he squatted down to assemble the barbecue grill, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Xu Yinqiu.

"Do you need any help?" she asked, her voice much softer than before.

Zheng Yuan smiled and said, "Ah, no need, it will be ready soon."

Yinqiu had already squatted down and picked up a few screws: "Don't be shy, we're classmates."

Zheng Yuan looked at her practiced movements in surprise: "I heard you're a psychologist?"

“Hmm… Harvard Medical School. Specializing in post-traumatic stress disorder.” She said without looking up, “Professor Park has very typical PTSD symptoms.”

Then, Xu Yinqiu raised her head and said, "Zhengyuan, do you really think that the rules on the invitation were just caused by the teacher's mental problems? How were those rules formulated in the first place?"

“Three years ago, when Yingmin was murdered, it was a month before the teacher’s birthday,” Zhengyuan said. “The police never found the murderer. After the funeral, the birthday was originally going to be canceled, but Meizi said that we should still have a simple birthday celebration for the teacher, otherwise the teacher might really become depressed. Later, the teacher said that she could have a birthday celebration, but she had to follow the rules she set.”

"No entry to the basement, report any rabbit masks you see, cover your ears when making a wish..." Yinqiu's voice trailed off, "Have these been the seven rules ever since then?"

"Yes. Everyone felt that the teacher had suffered a great mental shock, so they went along with her. In fact, there was no such thing as a person wearing a rabbit mask. After Yingmin passed away, the mask he wore was burned."

"Yinqiu!" Meizi's voice came from the doorway, "The teacher wants to see you!"

Yinqiu immediately stood up, her expression returning to calm: "Coming right away."

She looked down at Zhengyuan and said, "Let's talk later."

Zheng Yuan watched her departing figure, then continued assembling the barbecue grill, but he always felt that someone was watching him.

"It's just my imagination..." Zhengyuan muttered to himself.

As the barbecue grill was nearing completion, he heard laughter coming from inside the house. Minghao's loud voice stood out: "Back in the 02 World Cup, I was the only one among us who bet that South Korea could eliminate Italy! In the end, I still bet on our country, and look what happened, we beat Spain and made it to the semi-finals!"

Zheng Yuan smiled and shook his head. Ming Hao was indeed a die-hard fan.

Just then, he subconsciously looked towards the basement window again.

On this day, he always subconsciously pays attention to that spot.

"Jungwon!" Soon-hee's voice came from the doorway. "Is it almost ready? Se-ho brought some top-quality Korean beef, just waiting for your barbecue grill!"

"Almost done!" Zheng Yuan forced himself to look away from the basement window.

Anyway, this is the fourth year, and the seven rules have always been followed in previous years. This year will be no exception...

(End of this chapter)