Tower of God (Highschool/Modern AU)

Accused

Nobody's POV

Today's the day where everyone gets their exam results back. Before the finals, every day after school they would go to Khun's dorm to study, and when it's the weekends, they would go to his house. Everyone was confident with their final results, and thanks to Khun's tutoring, their class average went up a lot.

"I'm ranked ninth place!" Endorsi exclaimed. "HAHAHA! WHO SAID PRETTY GIRLS WITH BIG EYES CAN'T GET GOOD GRADES?!"

"Literally nobody ever said that," everyone mumbled in unison.

"I got fourth! Thanks so much for helping us, Khun," Bam beamed.

"I made it to the top three! Third place, suckers!" Shibisu cheered.

"I told you I'll make sure everyone gets within the top fifty in our grade," Khun smirked. "But as usual, I'm first."

"Turtle! I'm ranked fifty!" Rak exclaimed happily.

"Fifty?? AFTER HOW MUCH I HELPED YOU? YOU GOT FIFTY?" Khun said then groaned. "I did say everyone will get within fifty, but really I expected everyone will be getting within thirty. But not too bad for yourself, Rak."

Lauroe hushed them then went back to sleep.

"There are only a few weeks left until summer break," Shibisu said. "Let's all hang out or something! You know, to celebrate that all our hard work had paid off!"

"That would be awesome!" Bam smiled then looked at Khun and Rak. "You guys would come, right?"

"Well sure... since you asked," Khun smiled back. 

"A celebration with a bunch of turtles won't be fun without me," Rak said.

"I'll think about it," Endorsi grinned, twirling her hair. "I'm a busy lady, you know? I have tons of modeling and parties to attend to."

"I wouldn't mind if you don't come," Khun smirked, shrugging.

"You jerk!"

As Lero Ro walked in everyone grew quiet. But for some reason, he looked disappointed.

Disappointed at the class.

"I heard the class average went up a lot," he said. "I was surprised and glad that my class did so well, but now I'm ashamed of you all. Cheating isn't right, guys. You all know that."

"Hold up," Endorsi said, standing up from my desk. "Cheating? What do you mean? We studied for this."

"Khun helped us! He tutored us! We didn't cheat!" Bam exclaimed. "We all worked hard, Mr. Ro!"

"How'd you even concluded that we cheated? What made you think so?" Khun asked, speaking up. His usual calm expression was now stern and angry.

"A student from another class said she saw you, Khun, stealing the answer sheets and giving it to your classmates," Mr. Ro said, crossing his arms. "The answer sheets were missing and I had to borrow new copies because I thought I just misplaced them. But this morning, I found them in your locker."

He held up the papers.

"What? You're accusing me of cheating now? I don't even need to cheat! And why would I even help these idiots to cheat? I helped them study, not cheat!" Khun protested then paused. "Wait a second, you went through my locker?"

"I'll be letting you all know the entire class will be facing consequences. Cheating is not acceptable," the teacher continued.

"Hey! I wasn't even involved!" Hwaryun raised her voice. "This isn't fair, Mr. Ro."

"I was sleeping. I didn't cheat," Lauroe said, defending himself.

"HELL NO!" Rak screamed. "BLUE TURTLE WOULD NEVER DO THAT! WE DIDN'T CHEAT, YOU CURRY TURTLE!!"

"You made it to top fifty in the entire grade, Rak," Lero said, walking up to him. "You were one of the last students on the list last term."

"I studied until four AM each day. I'm not accepting this," Shibisu said, fists clenching in anger.

"What other proof is there about us cheating? You're just gonna listen to that 'student' that accused us?" Endorsi yelled.

"Wait," Khun said, and everyone looked at him. "Mr. Ro, by any chance, was the 'student' a girl named Rachel?"

Lero Ro stared at his students then sighed. "You don't need to know that. But for now, everyone will be getting a ten percent off instead of a fail," he said. "But when we find full proof that you all did cheat, everyone will fail."

***

It was the end of the day. Everyone in the class was frustrated and annoyed. Endorsi noticed Bam walking back to the dorms then decided to tag along with him.

"I'm a hundred percent sure Rachel's the one who made up that lie about us!" Endorsi said, gritting her teeth with frustration. "Can't a girl have some peace? I can't believe everything Khun's done for us is all going to waste."

Bam looked down, his eyes filled with sadness. "We don't know if it's really her-"

"Bam," she said then stopped walking, causing him to stop as well. He faced her then gulped. "I understand you guys are childhood friends and all, but you can't keep defending her forever. Didn't she already make it clear enough for you back in camp?"

When he didn't say anything, she continued. "Even if she's an amazing person back then, she's obviously not at the moment. Maybe it really isn't her who accused us, but what if it was her? What will you do, then?"

There was a long silence. She was about to walk away, but he grabbed her by the arm and stopped her.

"It hurts," Bam said, feeling his eyes starting to burn. "It hurts to know that she hates me as much as I care for her."

"People change, Bam. We need to learn to accept that," Endorsi said, but this time her tone was softer. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "You have great friends, so don't just focus on Rachel. I'm sure you mean a lot to both Khun and Rak."

She awkwardly scratched the back of her neck then looked away with a slight blush on her cheeks. "I-I care for you too, you know? Also Shibisu, Hatz, and I'm sure even Hwaryun and Lauroe."

He looked at her then chuckled. "Thanks, Endorsi. I needed to hear that."

"Damn straight, Big Eyed Turtle," a voice said.

They turned to see Khun and Rak smiling back at them. Khun walked towards Bam then gave him a smile.

"You know, I've been smiling more since you came," he said. "Rak also haven't been screaming as much as he has before when you're here."

"Yeah! Forget about that Freckled Turtle! You have us!" Rak hollered.

"Let's all have a talk with her tomorrow," Khun said, the smile on his face disappearing. "She needs a little chat with us."