Bailonz Street 13-Chapter 253.1

Lee Jaheon opened his eyes.

A tidy bedsheet, exposed gray bricks. An old-fashioned, clean atmosphere filled this two-person dormitory room.

Outside the window, gray clouds hung low and heavy, maintaining their dull, sunless density.

In the fifteen days since he’d awoken here, he had not once seen sunlight.

It must be a feature of this place.

♩– ♩–

A deep, resonant bell sounded. Lee Jaheon rose from the bed and changed clothes.

At St. Anticus Boarding School, it was the rule that students always wear their uniforms outside of the bedroom.

He folded his pajamas neatly on the bed.

All trainees were given pajamas made from the same gray linen fabric, cut to a standardized pattern and divided into five sizes. Lee Jaheon had been given the largest size, and he folded it completely.

But that wasn’t the only garment that needed to be arranged.

Next to the groom trainee’s pajamas, one must always neatly fold the white dress of the bride.

This was part of ‘training as a groom’, a component of the school’s curriculum titled ‘Lessons for a Successful Wedding Ceremony’.

Lee Jaheon finished arranging everything in an instant and left the dormitory at the designated time.

♩– ♩–

Then came breakfast.

One must not be late for meals, must sit upright, and must handle the cutlery in the prescribed order.

The menu varied daily, but today’s consisted of almonds, roasted heart, and cornelian cherry juice.

During the meal, trainees were instructed to ensure the bride’s glass was never left empty.

The seat opposite the groom was empty, yet the goblet set for the bride would occasionally have its contents vanish for no reason.

A trainee failed. Demerits accumulated.

♩– ♩–

In the morning, grooms learned refinement.

They studied poems and idioms about marriage and recited them, practiced the instruments favored by brides, and learned etiquette for receiving guests.

By ‘our’ decision, Lee Jaheon completed every task without a single reprimand.

A trainee failed. Demerits accumulated.

♩– ♩–

Lunch consisted of light sandwiches or finger foods. The groom trainees were instructed to ‘grow accustomed to the bride’s form’ through the fingers served alongside.

So they could later slip the ring on skillfully during the ceremony.

In the afternoon, the group went together to the kitchen to prepare the evening’s multi-course meal.

It was a lesson on how to select fresh ingredients and cooking them according to the bride’s tastes…

“Urk— blaargh!”

“……”

“……”

“W-Wait, no, don’t…!!”

A trainee failed. Demerits accumulated.

♩– ♩–

The evening course meal was long and elegant. Groom trainees maintained composure and dined quietly, gracefully.

Taking into account the bride’s dietary habits, they learned to identify and leave untouched whatever foods they should not eat from their own plates.

Once the final dessert was served, they cleaned up, offered words of gratitude to the head instructor for the day’s lessons, and were finally permitted to rise from their seats.

♩– ♩–

Then came a short period of rest.

Lee Jaheon walked down the hallway at the prescribed pace.

At this boarding school, trainees were encouraged to avoid stepping into ‘unclean areas’ outside of trainee-designated zones, and even their method of rest was recommended.

The ideal way, it was said, was to spend rest time contemplating ‘what vows one would declare to the bride at the wedding ceremony’.

Sometimes, this would be asked about during the following day’s breakfast, so one should be prepared with an answer…

Someone grabbed his arm in the hallway.

“Hey, hey…!”

Lee Jaheon stopped walking.

A desperate whisper followed.

“Y-You’re human, right? You are, aren’t you…!”

“Yes.”

A pale face, a terrified expression.

A civilian.

“What… what the hell is this place? What’s going on!”

“This is a boarding school where training is conducted to become a good groom by the judgment of St. Anticus.”

“What the fuck are you even talking about— There’s no such thing in 21st-century Korea!”

Lee Jaheon replied,

“Yes, it does not exist.”

“H-Huuuh?”

He began to step forward again…

“W-Wait! So… you mean this isn’t Korea? What, is this some cult? Were we kidnapped? What the hell, this isn’t some horror game… or ghost story, right?”

“You are correct.”

“…Huh?”

“You are currently trapped within a supernatural phenomenon that could be classified as a ghost story.”

Lee Jaheon finished his response.

And then, as planned, he began walking again…

“Hey.”

……

“Then why the fuck are you so calm? You’re calm because you know how to get out, right? That’s it, isn’t it?”

“That is not the case.”

“The hell it isn’t. Fuck.”

The whisper, lost and desperate, tangled with a feverish rage, his eyes rolling white.

Anyone else listening would’ve felt a chill.

Lee Jaheon didn’t register that complicated, twisted tension, but he clearly understood the next words.

“Since we’re both going to die anyway, want to die together?”

“N—”

“The hell you wouldn’t. If I fight you here, we both get penalized, you goddamned bastard. You want both of us to rack up penalties, or you wanna share the way out?”

It was a threat.

—Do not raise your voice during rest hours.

He must have known that rule.

Or rather, that’s probably how he’d survived this long…

The only problem was that fear had dulled his observation.

“Hey, answer—”

“Do not walk while pressing your feet down.”

“…Huh?”

It was already too late.

A massive shadow loomed over the man who had grabbed Lee Jaheon.

The disciplinary supervisor.

“W-Wait a minute. We weren’t fighting, really. We were just having a chat. It’s rest time, you know? Haha, ha…”

The supervisor nodded.

However, since their actions violated the school’s educational objectives, he announced that demerits would be accumulated.

Of course, this was not expulsion, merely an act of encouragement and assistance.

“…Please?”

Because they had stomped their feet and made noise in the hallway.

Imagine, a groom behaving so disgracefully at his own wedding, how shameful that would be. Therefore, it must be corrected now.

That’s why you are receiving instruction at St. Anticus Boarding School.

“W-Wait—”

The man was seized.

“Ghk—!”

The education housemaster moved to assist the penalized trainee.

According to the offense.

“—!!!”

The surface of the man’s soles were sliced open.

The housemaster kindly placed soft rubber and clay into his hands, materials to mold soundproof pads matching the shape of his feet.

He must complete the pads himself and insert them into the wounds on his soles for the penalty to end.

A gag made of cotton and flesh was inserted into his mouth to prevent him from screaming.

Blood from the body convulsing in pain and terror stained the corridor red.

That, too, was a violation.

—Do not cause any disturbance during lessons.

Further corrective action was taken within the housemaster’s deliberation.

The trainee, once his foot procedure was finished, was to walk silently on his own, repeating the task until he could do so without making any sound at all.

“…!!, !!!”

Before this entire scene, Lee Jaheon briefly tried to judge it by ‘our’ standards.

The justification for helping.

The practicality of helping.

……

Both reached conclusions.

Ambiguous.

Negative.

Of the three trainees who had sought his help over the past fifteen days, two died instantly during demerit accumulation, and one died mid-training from complications.

Compared to the two who had sobbed as they were forced to penalize themselves, the housemaster’s ‘assisted’ penalty might, in terms of mental anguish, actually be merciful.

Better that than struggling in terror and resignation to carry out some unthinkable act that amounted to self-torture just to survive.

Salt Goblin

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