Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 132 Making a Wish
Jung-won politely thanked him and then began to savor the Korean beef, which was already grilled to a crispy exterior and tender interior.

The meat is tender and melts in your mouth; it's no wonder it was air-shipped from Jeju Island.

But at this moment, Zheng Yuan lost his appetite.

Miko was busy at the barbecue grill from time to time, bringing the meat that was almost cooked to the table.

“I’ll pour everyone some wine,” Miko said, unscrewing the jar of her homemade raspberry wine. “Everyone has always loved drinking raspberry wine.”

Shihao was the first to raise his glass, saying, "Miko understands us best! Miko, please, fill everyone's glasses!"

“Yes!” Minghao added, “Last year, the president recommended our raspberry wine to foreigners at the state banquet during the APEC Seoul Summit. Now this wine has gone international!”

While sake is the dominant alcoholic beverage in Gangwon Province, fruit wines like raspberry wine are also quite popular among locals. The students are mostly from this small town, and their elders usually keep some of these kinds of wines in their homes.

The wine has a dark red color that is somewhat black, and at first glance it does look a bit like red wine.

Zheng Yuan immediately remembered what Xu Yinqiu had said earlier. Why did she mention this wine back then?
Just as Meizi was about to pour wine for Xu Yinqiu, the latter shook her head and said, "I won't drink this wine."

"Hey, why aren't you drinking?" Soon-hee asked, puzzled. "I drove here, but I'm still drinking. We're all staying here tonight anyway. Besides, you don't seem to be driving, do you?"

"Maybe Yinqiu isn't used to it," Dafeng said with a simple, honest laugh. "Meizi, in that case, pour me some wine first."

Xu Yinqiu watched as everyone drank the fruit wine, her gaze constantly scanning each person, which Zheng Yuan found very strange. It was as if she wanted to observe everyone's reactions after drinking the wine.

What did she mean? Did she think there was something wrong with the wine?
"Hmm!" Shihao praised, "Miko, the raspberry wine you brewed tastes as good as ever, sweet and smooth, and not too sour."

Given Ms. Park's health condition, she naturally couldn't drink alcohol, but instead drank the seaweed soup that Miko had cooked for her.

At this moment, Minghao seemed to think the atmosphere was just right, and he opened the lid of the birthday cake.

It was a two-tiered cream cake, pure white, decorated with delicate patterns, with the words "Happy Birthday, Teacher Park" written on top in red jam, and garnished with a few bright red cherries.

However, the sight of those cherries immediately reminded him of blood.

Just like the day my mother had her car accident, she died on the road in front of the school, with a lot of blood gushing out from under her body.

Zhengyuan frantically rushed toward his mother's body, but no matter how much he shook her, she couldn't wake up.

The cake was also a blindingly white, so white...like the white flowers at a mother's funeral.

He shook his head, trying to shake off the absurd idea.

So many years have passed... It was just an accident; my mother didn't look at the traffic lights carefully. But that painful memory is still deeply etched in Zhengyuan's heart.

Just then, he noticed a sharp gaze.

He looked up and saw Xu Yinqiu staring coldly at him and Meizi, her eyes filled with an indescribable hostility.

Zheng Yuan was taken aback, not understanding what he had done to offend her.

In his memory, his relationship with Xu Yinqiu during his student days was just so-so, and many of those memories are now completely blurred.

"What's wrong?" he asked Dafeng beside him in a low voice.

Da Feng followed his gaze and shrugged: "Who knows? Probably because Jiang Jin and Liu Yan didn't come, and things weren't very pleasant."

Zhengyuan was even more confused. What did this have to do with him and Meizi?

Xu Yinqiu's gaze was too sharp, as if silently accusing something. Did she think that Jiang Jin and Liu Yan's absence was her and Meizi's fault?
"Alright, it's time to light the candles!" Minghao's loud voice interrupted Zhengyuan's thoughts.

Mija takes out eight candles from the cake box—symbolizing Teacher Park's age: 48 years old.

Then, she carefully placed the candles of different colors one by one on the top layer of the cake, as if worried that she might damage the words decorated on it.

"Meizi, let me help you." Zhengyuan stood up, took the candle, and was about to put it in when he noticed Xu Yinqiu's gaze beside him.

Her gaze remained icy, almost impossible to conceal.

What's wrong with her? Is she giving everyone a hard time at her teacher's birthday party, which is her first time attending this year?
"Zhengyuan, you light the candles."

After all the candles were lit, Nanmei smiled and handed the lighter to Zhengyuan.

Zhengyuan nodded, turned on his lighter, and lit the candle.

The flames flickered in the breeze, lighting the candles one by one.

Every year, this step is handled by Masamoto and Miko, and he's long been used to it. But for some reason, this year, something just doesn't feel right to him.

Then, he subconsciously looked towards the basement window not far away.

From where he is standing, he can see the window very clearly.

He had a strange intuition that a gaze was directed at him from that direction.

And this feeling intensifies with each new candle lit.

Finally, all the candles were lit.

"Come on, everyone, let's sing the birthday song together!" Shihao clapped his hands.

Everyone stood up, gathered around the cake, and sang "Happy Birthday" in unison.

"(Happy birthday to you)..."

Zheng Yuan noticed that although Xu Yinqiu was singing along, her lips were only moving slightly, and her eyes were always fixed on him and Meizi.

After finishing the song, Teacher Park closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.

She's about to make a wish.

Everyone quickly covered their ears, as per rule number six.

Actually, this rule is really strange. If you don't want anyone to hear your birthday wish, can't you just say it silently in your heart? But the teacher wants to say it out loud, yet also wants everyone to keep it from being heard. Helpless, everyone has no choice but to comply, just like in previous years.

Jung-won raised his hand and covered his ears tightly, waiting for Teacher Park to finish making her wish.

Teacher Park's lips continued to move, as if she were chanting some kind of incantation.

For some reason, Zheng Yuan felt a chill creep up his spine. He looked up at the sky—the sun had been obscured by a dark cloud, and the entire courtyard was shrouded in an eerie shadow.

The candle flame suddenly began to shake violently, as if being manipulated by some invisible hand, even though there was no wind.

Zheng Yuan's heart raced, and an ominous premonition arose from nowhere.

Finally, Ms. Park opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and blew out all the candles with her students.

Wisps of smoke rose and drifted in the air.

"Alright, let's cut the cake."

Ms. Park looked relieved, as if the wish she had just expressed had eased her mind considerably.

Miko picked up the cake knife and began to carefully cut the cake.

According to rule number seven, a piece must be reserved for Teacher Park's deceased son, so the cake, which was supposed to be shared by the nine people present, was cut into ten pieces. In fact, Minghao thought there would be ten students this year, so the two-tiered cake he bought was quite large, and cutting it into twelve pieces would have been more than enough.

As Meizi's blade sliced ​​into the cream, Minghao, who was sitting next to Zhengyuan, suddenly raised his hand and covered most of his face.

Furthermore, Zheng Yuan noticed that Ming Hao's eyes seemed somewhat... evasive, even...

A little scared?

"What's wrong, Minghao?"

“Hmm… that cake knife…” Minghao looked at the knife in Meizi’s hand, “I don’t know why, but every year when I cut the cake, I feel a little uncomfortable.”

How is this going?

"Do you think that once you've painstakingly framed the calligraphy, it'll all be gone if you cut it?"

“No, not really…”

Minghao leaned closer to Zhengyuan and lowered his voice, saying, "Zhengyuan, I'm only telling you this because we have a good relationship. Don't tell anyone else."

"Um, you, you said..."

In Zhengyuan's memory, Minghao had always been a cheerful and straightforward person. How could he have become so hesitant and evasive in his speech?
"I always felt that the knife was cutting into a person's body, rather than slicing a cake..."

"what?"

This struck Zhengyuan as absurd. How could Minghao have such a strange idea?
Next, Mija respectfully handed the first piece of cake to Teacher Park, then to Se-ho, Eun-young, Myung-ho, Soon-hee, Da-bong, and Heo Eun-qiu, and finally to Jung-won and herself.

The tenth slice of cake was placed separately on a small plate at the very front of the table—the spot reserved for Youngmin.

Not only that, but there was also a seat in front of the cake, as if Youngmin were really sitting there.

"Come on, everyone, let's dig in!" Teacher Park said with a smile. "Remember, you must finish your share of cake, don't leave a single bit, that's the rule."

When she said the word "rules," Teacher Park emphasized the pronunciation.

Zhengyuan looked down at the cake on his plate.

Because of Minghao's words, he felt like he couldn't look at the cake directly anymore.

The white cream, the red cherries, and the cut of the cake resemble a dissected wound.

He picked up his fork and managed to scoop out a small piece and put it in his mouth.

The cake was delicious, but the cream was a bit too sweet.

"What's wrong? Jung-won, do you not like the cake?" Teacher Park suddenly asked, staring intently at Jung-won.

The way this question was phrased made it sound as if Teacher Park had prepared the cake.

"No, it's delicious." Zhengyuan quickly took another big bite.

Minghao looked at Zhengyuan with confusion and asked, "Zhengyuan, you look terrible. Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no..."

Jung-won mechanically chewed the cake in his mouth, finding it too sweet. He then picked up a piece of lettuce, rolled it up with a piece of freshly grilled Korean beef, and stuffed it into his mouth, trying to dilute the overwhelming sweetness.

Afterwards, everyone started chatting about fun things that happened during their student days.

“Speaking of which,” Shihao wiped his mouth and smiled at his fiancée Eunyoung, “I barely won when we were electing class monitor back then.”

Eun-young smiled and said, "Yes, he won by two votes. Then he became the class monitor, and I became the vice class monitor."

"I remember Mija had a vote too?" Soon-hee suddenly interjected, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Who voted for her?"

The dining table fell silent for a second.

Miko waved her hand and laughed, "Maybe someone voted in the wrong place."

Zhengyuan's fingers unconsciously tightened around the fork.

Only he knew the answer to that question: he was the one who cast that vote.

At the time, he simply felt that Meizi was more attentive and more suitable to be class monitor than Shihao, but he didn't dare to admit it openly because of Shihao's prestige in the class. However, this was only the superficial reason; Zhengyuan himself knew the real reason all too well.

“Speaking of which,” Minghao suddenly patted Zhengyuan on the shoulder, “Zhengyuan, back then…who did you vote for?”

(End of this chapter)