Idol Project: They All Gave Up Center

Tears streamed down my face while Jessica's lips quivered, unable to form words.

"If you don't tell me, I won't take the center position!"

"No, you have to!"

"Then tell me, why are you all insisting that I be center?"

Jessica bit her lip so hard it nearly bled. After what felt like forever, she finally spoke.

"Last night, you said you slept until morning, but do you know what I saw?"

Jessica explained that she was almost asleep when she saw me leave the dorm.

"I kept calling your name, asking where you were going, but you didn't turn around. It was like you couldn't hear me."

"I followed you to the practice room, where you started dancing... practicing the center position's dance moves!"

"I was angry. I kept asking you why you didn't just say you wanted center position. I would've given it to you - there was no need to practice in secret."

"That's when you turned around... I... I..."

Jessica's voice cracked with tears. I gave her an encouraging look, unconsciously gripping her wrist tighter.

She took a deep breath before continuing, "When you turned around, there was blood... coming from your eyes, nose, and mouth. You asked me, 'How was my dancing? Can I be center?'"

"Are you sure it was me? Could it have been someone playing a prank?"

Jessica shook her head, "Even though the lights were off, I could see clearly in the streetlight. She had your exact face!"

"I was terrified. I ran back like crazy, but when I got to the dorm, you were still lying in bed."

We stared at each other, sharing the same fear in our eyes.

Jessica had seen a "ghost" that looked exactly like me - what had Ava seen?

To avoid frightening her more, Jessica spoke with Ava first.

Just as my patience was running out, Jessica came back.

Her face was ashen, "Kristen, I think Ava should tell you herself."

When Ava saw me, she still couldn't meet my eyes, though I could tell she was trying hard to keep her composure.

"I don't understand what's happening!"

"Ever since I got center position, I felt someone watching me intently from the corner during practice. Then one day, I saw... a face floating behind Kristen's head! A face identical to Kristen's!"

Cold sweat beaded on Ava's forehead as she covered her face in fear.

"I was too far away to notice anything wrong at first. I thought Kristen was trying to tell me something, so I stupidly went over to say hi. But when Kristen turned around... I realized that face was growing from the back of her head!"

"I ran back to the dorm terrified. When I calmed down, I finally understood what those lips were saying."

"They were asking, 'Can I be center?'"

She grabbed Jessica's shoulders, shaking them, "My gut tells me that thing that kept watching me was that face!"

Ava's words made my skin crawl.

I stiffly raised my hand to touch the back of my head, relaxing slightly at the normal feel of my hair.

To keep others out of it, I accepted the center position.

After calming down, I thought about it for a long time. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed impossible.

Were they really afraid of me because of a ghost?

Before this, I was a skeptic - I never believed in ghosts.

So when the production team wasn't looking, I secretly checked the practice room's security footage.

I set it to early morning and slowly moved through the timeline, but the ghost never appeared.

Just as I was about to give up, a face identical to mine suddenly filled the enlarged screen.

The face took up the entire screen, crying tears of blood and grinning grotesquely at the camera.

My mind went blank, and I let out a terrified scream!