Let's Kill Her (Book #1)

(ﾒ￣▽￣)︻┳═一(30)

The dining hall is buzzing with conservation by the time Sejeong and I arrive, and even though the other students' body language is subtle, it's obvious they keep looking in our direction.

The teachers are paying more attention to us than they normally do, and Kang and Yoo are sitting with them, which is unusual. The air feels electrically charge, like one misstep and the whole place could spontaneously combust.

Sehun sits down across from us and immediately starts pilling fried noodles onto his plate, like everything is perfectly normal and he's starving.

"Any word on the guard?" I ask, keeping my voice low.

He shakes his head. "From what I've heard, no one has even been questioned yet. It's not like Kang. She usually goes right at an issue without hesitation."

"Like I keep saying," Sejeong adds, "something is off with this whole situation."

A girl and a guy sit down next to us and we all fall silent. Sejeong scans the room in a way that tells me she's lost in thought, and Sehun looks periodically to where Taemin and the other Tigers sit.

I dip some garlic bread into tomato sauce on my plate, flipping through my memories to find anything that might explain who I am and help me understand the missing pieces. I actually felt safer when I thought I might be accused of Taehyung's murder than I do now. At least then I didn't people were actively trying to kill me.

I keep replaying my conversation with Sehun about how Strategia don't get to decide to be anything else. Part of me refuses to believe it, but I know that part of me is wrong. If I manage to avoid my own death until I get home to Appa, I'm still trapped. I could try my best to fly under the radar, be so unimportant that no one would be interested in what I do for the rest of my life. But if I stay in Jeongseon, I'll follow the rules or I'll put myself and the people I care about at risk. And even if I spend my life following the rules, that doesn't mean I'll be out of danger.

I have to believe that Appa had no choice but to send me here or I don't think I can forgive him. He said I had to go to this school for my safety - now there's a laugh. I no longer know what I can trust or which of the things he said were actually true. Although by the time I get through the intense study regimen Sejeong has me on, I'm sure that will change.

I hold my hands out toward the campfire, warming them. The air is crisp with the scent of cold weather and leaves, even though they only have just started to change color.

"Why haven't I ever seen you dating anyone, Uncle Jin?" I ask, looking up at him. "You're funny and tough and I can imagine that people don't fall over themselves to ask you out."

Uncle Jin sips his drink, which I suspect is alcohol and leans back in his folding chair. "Not all fabulous people have long-term relationships, Suzy. Some of us are just too bright and handsome to tie down," he says. "Besides, can you imagine me tolerating something like that for the rest of my life?" He nods his head in the direction of appa's tent, from which comes a loud snore. "I have half a mind to go throw a rock at him as it is."

I laugh. "But you always said that when you were a child you thought you'd have six children."

"Ah, but then Nana had you, and you were perfect with those pink cheeks and that laugh. That laugh . . ." he says, and shakes his head. "It used to make me cry, you know. I see you looking at me like I'm sentimental fool, which I very well might be, but it did. Your father would come into a room and find the three of us in laughter. You laughing and us crying because we could not stand how adorable it all was. And since you were such a perfect baby, I figured that unless I had one exactly like you I would be forced to call it Secondo and dress it up in your old clothes."