- ͙۪۪̥˚┊❛ [𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞] ❜┊˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
so-yeon was silent
we all were
we had to leave since the spheres were way more than we could handle. hyun-sik was alone, and we couldn't even retrieve his body
my hair and clothes were drenched in rain, su-cheol walking beside me with his hand intertwined with mine. the others were muttering, crying over the loss
my tears were soaked with the rain, na-ra and yu-jeong glancing at me from time to time. we were still clueless to where we should be staying at, and i couldn't bring myself to think about it
yeong-su's story was fast, and i couldn't make out what actually happened
there was no way a sphere would drag a body that far. they'd kill, devour the body and let it be on the very same spot
but i refused to let any doubts get within us
it's not the time to suspect one another, we needed to find a safe place, treat so-yeon, and go back to seoul
"guys, i don't think we can go any further. the detector isn't catching anything, so let's spend the night there" yu-jeong said, pointing at our school that was beside the road
the others agreed, some collapsing in exhaustion as su-cheol squeezed our hands together before going down the slippery road. he jumped down, holding my waist and brought me down carefully
my feet touched the wet mud, as i shuddered at the coldness
"are you cold?" he asked as i shook my head
"i'm okay. it's bearable" he nodded, making our way to the building as we entered it and went straight to our classroom. i sat on my chair, su-cheol grabbing one and sat beside me while the others started to put their stuff aside
i put my backpack down, my gun rested beside the table su-cheol handed a towel
"your hair" he said, dropping it on my head and rubbed it up and down to dry the excess water. i formed a weak smile, letting him be as joon-hee suddenly spoke
"the detector didn't detect any spheres" i slowly looked up, bearing the guilt of leaving hyun-sik behind as su-cheol put the towel aside
"do you guys think he could swim to safety? would it be possible?" hee-rak asked and stood up, and i could hear the crack in his tone. both him and il-ha had become closer with him, constantly giving him advices on how to win so-yeon over
il-ha pulled him down, shaking his head with a tear rolling down his cheek. i looked away, closing my eyes as i tried to block any memories i had with him
"let's look for him in the morning" yu-jeong said, also standing up as he looked at me with hesitance
"yeah, we should find his body at least. it could be floating" yeong-sin said, looking down
"you're right. it's not right to just leave him like that" seo-yoon also agreed, glancing at me with sympathy. almost every one of them had looked out for me through our walk earlier, considering how i was the closest person to him
"let's not split up again" ae-seol said, gaining our attention as i glued my gaze on my desk
"i really.. don't want to lose anyone again" i wiped a tear that fell, and screamed in frustration inside of my head. i looked up to see yeong-su walking out, and his unfocused gaze was confusing me even more
he was stumbling on his steps, mumbling when he explained the situation, and it didn't add up. so-yeon was also constantly glancing at him, and it weirded me out on how scared she was
there was something wrong, and i have to find out
"i'm gonna go to the bathroom" i said to su-cheol, standing up as he quickly grabbed my wrist
"should i go with you?"
"no, it's fine. i'll be quick" i said, sending him a small smile before walking out. i quickly followed yeong-su out, being extremely careful to not make any sound from my footsteps
he was outside, in the storm while laughing out loud like a maniac. i furrowed my brows, wondering why the hell would he even laugh about at this situation
so i hid behind the wall, crouching down and tried to peek through the window. his voice was drowned in the storm, but i could still hear him
"it was self-defense" i frowned, hearing him again
"if i didn't shoot him, he would've shot me. even if he lives, my life would end if he told people what i've done" i gasped, covering my mouth as i collapsed down to the floor
"what?" i breathed out, widening my eyes at the realization
it wasn't the sphere, it was yeong-su
"i did it to survive, didn't i? to survive!" he started to laugh again, throwing his head back like a total lunatic as i looked up to the ceiling
i refused to believe it
"no" i whispered, shaking my head as i tried to pull myself together. tears were starting to stream down like a waterfall, and i refused to hear it
"that scumbag. he was just a newcomer and already told me off for liking the girl i've been in love with way longer than him. who the hell does he think he is? it's better for society if i were to survive and not the likes of him... this is all because of that witch, cha so-yeon" i furrowed my brows, listening to his crazy rant
"she looks down on me"
so-yeon was hurt because of him, and hyun-sik was killed by him
i wasn't sure what to do when he suddenly went silent and stepped away. i hid behind the wall, into the darkness in fear he would catch me sneaking around him
i slowly got up, looking at the window to see him walking further away. i stumbled upon my steps, and my vision was slowly blurring from all the tears in my eyes
i leaned on the wall for support, closing my eyes as i tried to stand up properly
"kook yeong-su... why... why in the world would you do such a thing?" i muttered, asking myself and tried to hold in my sob. i closed my eyes again, taking a deep breath, and exhaling it with a shaky breath
i wasn't sure whether to tell everyone about it, but i'm scared if they would tell me off as a liar
i didn't have any evidence anyway, and it would be a groundless accusation. but i couldn't let him be around us again, not after what i heard
he's a murderer, and he's not mentally unstable to be in this war
so i stumbled on my steps, heading to the classroom but froze when i saw yeong-su running upstairs. i widened my eyes, following him up and hid beside a wall when he watched our classroom through the window
i caught a glance of an abandoned gun beside me, and flinched when he suddenly crouched down and covered his ears in panic
i frowned, watching as he suddenly hit his head repeatedly while repeating 'i'm screwed'
there was nothing happening inside, and i could hear the others' voices softly conversing with each other. i took out chun-ho's military tag, gripping on it tightly as i thought of the decision i should make
i could grab the gun and threaten him to spill the truth in front of all of us, or wait for the right time and keep this all to myself
i closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and decided to do the latter
so i uncovered myself from the wall, freezing when i saw him picking up a gun scattered across the hallway. i widened my eyes, grabbing the gun beside me with hurry, and checked the bullet magazine
my eyes was moving from him and the gun, but my heart dropped at the empty case
"shit"
he was standing in front of the door, hand on it, trying to slide it open as i quickly ran to him
"stay the fuck away from us!" i yelled, slamming my body to him as the door slid open by our fight. the others had gone silent, yeong-su trying to aim the gun at me as i quickly pointed it upwards
"yeong!" i heard su-cheol yelling as i screamed
"stay away!" i pushed yeong-su back, and my hand slipped from the slippery gun as he pushed me to the floor. i fell on my back, widening my eyes when the gun was pointed towards me
i covered my eyes with my arm, feeling the bullet piercing through my stomach as another gunshot could be heard
but there was no more bullet in my body
i slowly uncovered my eyes, yeong-su collapsing down with his forehead bleeding from a bullet buried deep in it. su-cheol was holding the gun, his hands trembling as the others screamed in terror
"cho-yeong!" almost all of them yelled, running towards me with fear and shock. na-ra and yu-jeong were crying and trying to stop the bleeding, while yeon-ju was yelling for a cloth or a towel
their voices were drowsy in my ears, and i could feel the pain piercing through me. i couldn't say anything, it'll hurt like hell
so i just laid there helplessly, watching the others panicking over my state, and yeong-su who was now dead. il-ha and hee-rak were running with a towel, giving it to yeon-ju while telling me something
"stay with us, cho-yeong!"
"bring me more towel!"
"no... cho-yeong, please stay with us"
"what should we do?!"
their voices were mixed with terror, but i was somehow relieved
when i saw yeong-su with the gun earlier, all i could think of was killing him myself and save everyone else. to think that their deaths could be caused by such person would've destroyed them
yeong-su was our classmate, a friend
i was glad that everyone was safe for the time being, and the real cause of hyun-sik's death was revealed
i didn't know what i would do if i hadn't followed him earlier
we would've been dead by now
"yeong!" i heard su-cheol yelling, collapsing to his knees beside me wit terror in his eyes, his voice shaking and hands trembling at my sight. i tried to form a weak smile, a small assurance that i was fine but he was crying his eyes out
"no... no, yeong. we'll get you treated, don't worry" he said hurriedly, stroking my hair while trying to keep a smile on his face, but it failed horribly. i almost laughed
"i'll be fine" i whispered, hissing when the pain started to grow more unbearable as yeong-sin came with a first aid kit. yeon-ju was trying her best to keep her hands from trembling, reaching into the kit while yu-jeong quickly helped her
na-ra was holding my hand tightly, the others panicking and crying in worry
i chuckled weakly at how worried they were, feeling sleepy enough for me to close my eyes. i tried to stay awake, but i couldn't
"yeong" i heard su-cheol calling out my name, over and over again as i tried to keep my eyes open. he was shaking my shoulders, waking me up for the third time as i gave up
i closed my eyes, and the last thing i heard was footsteps running towards us with the others freaking out and gasping in shock
"cho-yeong!"
it was chun-ho, my supposedly dead brother