𝓰𝓲𝓵𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓵𝓲𝓵𝔂 ᴳᵒ ᴷʸᵘⁿᵍ⁻ᴶᵘⁿ ˣ ᴼᶜ

⁶ ᴴᵉˡᵖ ᶜᵃⁿ ᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵃⁿʸᵒⁿᵉ,

▌│█║▌║ ...ᴀs ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴀᴄᴋsᴛᴀʙʙɪɴɢ. ║ ▌║█│ ▌

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Once again they gathered in the lobby. The place was slowly becoming overwhelming for Na-Ri. The only thing that comforted her was the statue. But the statue was too far away to lean against, so she sat at the bottom of the stairs and stared silently ahead.

She was lost in thought, and now that they were in a calmer environment (mean, there was no axe of death hanging over either of their heads), Na-Ri could finally organize what she had.

Hearing a loud crash, Na-Ri figured she'd have time to sort things out later.

"Damn it!" shouted Seung-Bin in frustration, as Na-Ri looked down at the floor to find that he had slammed his phone on the floor in his nervousness. "Why won't our phones work?" he asked nervously. Na-Ri knew he didn't really expect an answer to that question from them.

Seeing as they didn't know themselves.

Dae-Bom rushed to Seung-Bin's phone and picked it up, returning it to the bully.

"What do we do now?" asked Mi-Na in a trembling voice. Seung-Bin's seizure seemed to have started their conversation.

"Will we all die if we stay here?" she continued, slightly tearful. Walking to her side, Hyun-Seok gave her a comforting gesture and pulled her into a half-hearted hug, into which Mi-Na leaned in obediently.

Na-Ri thought that Sang-Hwan's death had brought them a little closer together.

"Our teacher will be back soon." Jun-hee said soothingly, making Na-ri wish someone would hit him.

Why had he given the others hope when it was obvious that it wasn't going to happen?

"Let's wait." Jun-hee added afterwards.

"No one's coming." Ji-Soo replied in a voice close to tears, and Na-Ri's head turned towards her.

Trust Ji-Soo to say what no one else dares to say.

"How much longer must we be around the bodies?" Na-Ri saw Eun-Ha tense at that, her gaze immediately began to search for Heo Yoo, as if checking to see if he was still there with them. Was he still breathing. "I can't stand it!" Ji-Soo's voice got a bit more whiny towards the end. But Na-Ri could understand.

If she could, she would run away from this place as long as she could.

"Can you not...." Eun-Ha gulped a little, stopping the tears from welling up. "...call them bodies?" she asked, glancing at Ji-Soo.

"They're dead." Ji-Soo replied with cruel sincerity, making Eun-Ha wince. "What else am I calling to them?" she asked, and Na-Ri looked at her..

"They were friends of some of our classmates. And we saw them every day." She said softly, her eyes searching Ji-Soo's. "In fact, they're dead, as is the fact that we bonded with them, even if it was minimal. Everyone processes this differently, Ji-Soo-ah. I wasn't close to Ju-Won or Sang-Hwan, but I don't want to refer to them as body either." Na-Ri finished, not knowing what else to say.