When I opened my eyes the next morning, I could not help but feel sleepy due to the nightmares I had about last night.
"Thanks a lot, Bahng," I thought to myself.
I briefly explained what kept me awake last night because of the shadows under my eye. Mom advised me to stop being friends with Bahng since she had a bad feeling that he would someday murder me if I tried going near next time. It would be hard, but I'll have no other choice but to keep myself safe even if it meant losing my childhood best friend since kindergarten.
My days in school had worsened... but better at the same time.
It was better because our school band got to perform at a local theatre to raise money for a cancer research hospital for children. After the concert, our conductor took us on a trip to the hospital to do a presentation on a charity event and got to meet a bunch of sick kids - who looked super excited to see us when we walked in. Meeting the kids was my favorite part. I lied, my favorite part was when Jungkook and I spent time hanging out with the kids. Jungkook with kids was probably the most heartwarming thing I have witnessed. I was more shocked when he told me he wanted to have kids in the future if the lady of his life was up for it. Jungkook said that he was hoping she would give him one girl and one boy. If his kid were a boy, he would name his son Jeon Seol, which means becoming a legend of this world. If his kid were a girl, he would name his daughter Jeon Yool, which means giving everyone in this world some shivers with your greatness. Those names made my heart flutter.
It was also better because I continued topping my grades in school and hanging out with the same people every day for lunch, and almost every weekend. Mom was happy about how popular I became this year.
It got worse because Bahng went missing when I decided to confront him about his behavior. His parents said that they were worried about Bahng not arriving home yesterday. Usually, Bahng would tell his parents where he would be and when he would be home. They tried calling the cops, but they got frustrated about their laziness and thought Bahng was a rebellious teenager who loved vandalizing the streets and smoking cigarettes. It got worse because there was breaking news of someone posting a viral TikTok video of Bahng trying to attack me. That was when the police department finally decided to move their butts to search for Bahng and arrest him for assault. His parents were disgusted, knowing that they never raised their son to be so cold-hearted. I have a feeling his parents would disown their son by the time he's been found. It got worse because Bahng did not show up at school. I know I'm no longer best friends with Bahng, but I was still worried. It got worse when Dong Min complained about how their coach was training the football team harder than usual since their team wouldn't have been strong without their captain. The football team would've been strong with or without their team captain. It was worse when he did not show up to class. The fact that we were halfway through the semester was the worst part since Bahng was always an ambitious student who studied hard to be one of the top students. I know I decided not to become friends with Bahng anymore, but I knew that he would be distraught if he failed the eleventh grade.
Even though he was absent, I could still feel his cold stares at the back of my head whenever I was studying in my bedroom, fast asleep, or hanging out with my friends. It felt as though he was stalking me from a far distance. It was probably because I was either having difficulty moving forward from staying as Bahng's ex-best friend or I was hallucinating - or both.
On a school day, the police department came to our school to interrogate the people who investigated Bahng's missing: Dong Min, Mingyu, Lisa, Jihyo, myself, and Seokmin. I was the last person to be interrogated.
"So, what happened before Bahng went missing?" the chief asked.
"Well, I was supposed to go to a fall festival with a group of friends, including Bahng, my childhood best friend. Ex-childhood best friend, to be exact," I replied.
