The devastated girl enters the classroom filled with chatters which then turns quiet. She sat on an empty seat in back then facing the figures in front of her.
"Vernon is sad and it's your fault."
She looks at the boy a few seats ahead who had red eyes and dried up tears while a few students comfort him. She couldn't believe how he faked things up so well after everything he had done.
Only a week had passed after she and him had become close and that closeness hadn't lasted long. He asked her to lend him a large amount of money in cash, which he took up from the bank account. He promised her he'd return it, and she needed him to fulfill that promise if she didn't want her parents to get mad at her.
They were still only highschool students. If ones parents got to know their daughter lent such a large sum of money to a fellow classmate, who wouldn't be mad? Even if her family was filthy rich, she never made their money a part of her personality. Always down to earth, she thought she had to help him like anyone would but the promise of returning the money was never fulfilled.
It got the point where she yelled at him demanding the money back. What would she tell her parents? What example was she setting upon them? She thought he'd realize her stubbornness and return it but no he had other plans.
The next day a rumour spread saying Hyunjin was a bully, threatening him and taking advantage of her high position. He told everyone how she tricked him into doing work for her and he could only obey the richer friend, afraid of having to face the consequences set by the rich family if he didn't follow.
Everyone sympathized with him, turning the rich girl into the bad one in the picture. Everything he said was believed and she was labeled as a toxic girl who took advantage of a man's vulnerability.
She was helpless. Her few friends- who were only friends with her for money, then turned against her too. She was left all alone and received the most hate from Vernon's best friend.
Lisa.
They were so close. They didn't have the most memorable relationship but they were in the same class, with same memories, which have now been erased from Lisa's mind. Lisa couldn't believe people like Hyunjin existed. It wasn't until one day after her suicide she came across the black remote like device which turned out to be a voice recording.
It had Hyunjin's voice, her having a conversation with Vernon about the truth. The truth of him scamming her for money and then pretending to be the victim. It was one of Lisa's worst shocks hearing her best friend's unraveled truth.
This one recording made it easy to understanding what really was going on behind the scenes. She left everything and knew she had to get it to the police station first but to her suprise Vernon was standing there, right behind her.
She argues, telling him how he was a disgusting person who fabricated the whole thing and she'd get the truth out with the recording. She then sees him approaching her and she knew she had to make a run.
She runs, ignoring the muffled voices in the back. She doesn't seem to pay much attention to the corner which eventually leads to her head being banged. She didn't care about the pain. She wanted to get up and run, proving someone's innocence that had been overlooked for so long. She had that voice recording with her, protected till the end.
Vernon had to make a run for it knowing, he'd be suspected for chasing the woman. A passerby saw the situation of the car's front damaged while the girl lay, almost lifeless in her own blood. All four people in the scene were rushed to the hospital. Lisa, and a whole family in the car.
She never saw the voice recording again. Infact she didn't have a trace of memory of her previous school. Her parents were too traumatized seeing their daughters situation and wanted her to stay out of that school forever knowing there was some connection with her accident.
On the other hand they were unaware of the shocking news a 17-year old boy had got. His parents didn't make it. He was alone in the world now. How would he make it alive without the people he loved the most? He looked up at the doctors, who were happy seeing him atleast alive. The weird thing was, the doctor's lips moved but he wondered why they weren't speaking. And that's when his eyes widened realizing they weren't mute...
He was deaf.
His parents weren't the only thing he lost that night. He lost his ears, his hearing and it took a long fight of money, insurances and a mute world before he finally got his hearing aids he'd been longing for, for so long. He could finally get lost into the noises of the world and the one he dreaded for, for so long.
The unknown voice recording that had ended up with him.
♤
Lisa told everyone about her relationship with Vernon and what he did to Hyunjin. Her side of the story matched Nail and Chaeyoungs'.
"No wonder he always left the scene when the topic was brought up... and that's why he went insane thinking I'd remember..."
She whispers the last part whispered by her didn't go unheared by the group. He was the one behind Lisa's dreams, going lengths just to make sure she wouldn't remember the incident. Yuri looked at her in shock. This also meant he was the one who kidnapped her.
Suddenly the computer screen turned black and there was a message shown.
Turn off windows view-cache buffer flushing on the device to prevent data loss. Remove the hard drive slowly to avoid damages in memory unit.
Cancel
The hard drive was pulled out by the person everyone was dreading right now. He stared at all of them with cold eyes and a light grin. Taehyung gets up standing infront of them as Yuri holds Heejin's hand assuring her everything will be okay.
A soft cracking noise echoes in the library as they look over to see blood dripping from his fingers, him crushing the hard drive with his bare hands. He didn't seem to care about the blood in anyway. Tears were streaming down Heejins eyes as Lisa hugged her telling her she's there for her.
"Your game has ended. Surrender."
Taehyung said boldly, he was wearing his CIA badge.
"You're still training Kim. I know the rules. The hard drive is gone better all of you forget it. Heejin and Lisa should be dead anyways-"
A punch landed on his face by Taehyung. He held his jaw in sudden shock before regaining his posture. Those words said by him with no remorse shocked everyone. The memories seem to flood the girl's minds as they wiped their tears wanting to stay strong.
He had tormented a girl till it didn't hurt anymore. He hit her, locked her up, blackmailed her with her own worth and pushed someone off a terrace. The girl lived with the horror for rest of her life. It messed with her mind and it was a fight for sanity, running her relationship relationship her dearest in the process. And he lived, moving on with his life without sitting and reflecting on himself even once. After everything, his actions didn't show the slightest guilt. How pyscho could one get?
"There's nothing you all can do, just accept it. You just learned something you shouldn't ha-'
"Shut the hell up, you're going to join prison, better know your place."
Vernon chuckled, about to place his hands on Taehyungs shoulder, when it was held harshly by him.
"The CCTV of the library is paused, give up-"
All heads turned towards the library entrance at the sudden loud noise echoing throughout the library. Vernon seemed to be feeling his whole ground shatter beneath him. It was Jimin, followed by Officer Ji-sun. Vernon immediately stuffed his hands in his pockets at the scene of multiple more police men entering. He recognized that man and he knew knew the scene was about. For a second he felt his whole life flash before his eyes.
No word left his mouth as his hands were grabbed, handcuffs locked around them.
"Hansol Vernon Chwe you are under arrest for money fraud, kidnapping, homicide, attempted murder and few more. You have the right to speak up when you're in court till then we request you obey with us."
"H-hey wait y-you don't have any proof I ju-"
"Actually we do. Hear this bestie."
Jimin spoke sassily with a familiar black device in his hands. Everyone in the room recognized it immediately especially Lisa who thought she had lost it forever. The recording played, a conversation between him and Heejin playing. The recording was 3 years old yet depicted the situation of him framing her as a bully and walking away with the money.
"T-that isn't me-"
"It is. We have got this material from people working with us itself."
Vernon looked up with desperate eyes, ready to negotiate with made up stories any second now.
"Who would that be!?"
"My dearest assistant, Taehyung."
Officer Ji-sun winked at Taehyung playfully who had a proud smile on.
"On the day of my car accident, Lisa bumped into me. The officials found the recording and thought it was my property so it was given to me."
"That's not all. We found Lisa's hair in your car which we tracked because the number was seen around the time of her kidnapping." Jimin spoke proudly followed by Taehyung again.
"And ofcourse, the clip of the hard-disk was being live recorded and screen shared with the police. It doesn't matter if you crushed it or rather crushed your bones with it...
The officials have already seen it."
"Kim Taehyung you're getting promoted."
Officer chuckled pointing at him before Vernon was being held harshly by the police and dragged out. Everyone watched him yelling saying it was unfair while the police kept repeating his rights to speak, just not now. Eventually the voices stopped, as Heejin walked near the window to see multiple police cars lined up while the students surround it.
"Its all over finally."
"We're going to be heavily interrogated by everyone." Jimin sighed.
"Jimin oppa how do you know Officer?"
Chaeyoung asked as everyone looked at him intrigued to know it themselves.
"He's my father."
"What the hell have all of you all been hiding I hate you guys." Yuri yelled once again, mainly to distract her best friend lost in deep thoughts.
"Says the one who hid her bruises for months." Jimin spat back sternly not forgetting to glare at Heejin who looked away.
"Okay!? You or Taehyung never told us Taehyung was training as a fucking cop under the one and only Officer Ji-sun." Yuni yelled back continuing the argument.
"Not like Taehyung told yall I was the one who helped him after he lost his parents."
Jimin said proudly then looking around wondering why everyone was quiet. It was definately shocking but it only reminded everyone why he needed the help. Yuri turned towards Lisa who had more than just an apologetic expression on. No one expected everyone to be tied to each other since the very start, 3 years back.
"T-taehyung I'm so sorry I never knew it was y-you because of me you-"
It was then Lisa realized the reason behind him acting cold to her. She was interrupted by him who spoke in a geniune yet tired tone. Tired from all the movie-like drama that had been going on in his, and everyone's lives for the past months.
"Its the past. We would've never come so far if that didn't happen."
He was relieved to finally find the real person behind his parents death. If Vernon wouldn't have been chasing Lisa none of this would've happened. And most importantly if he hadn't pushed Hyunjin off in the first place everything would've been normal.
Yuri wouldn't have had to have a battle against her own mind every night. Lisa wouldn't have to live with a trauma that'll now haunt her for rest of her life. Heejin wouldn't have to go through those insane asylum- like moments trying to keep her mind in place. And most importantly Hyunjin, the old Heejin would've been alive. Vernon was the real reason to all of this, it had never been Heejin.
Vernon was the real pyscho since the very start.