After what felt like an eternity, Yoon-Ji felt the familiar jostling of a bump in the road, bringing her abruptly out of her slumber. She groaned and rubbed her eyes, trying to shake off the residual fog of sleep that clung to her senses.
Once she came to, she looked through the window and was pleasantly surprised to see the sun had risen in the midst of the hazy afternoon.
The girl took a moment to stretch her limbs while yawning, her body aching from the cramped position in which she had fallen asleep. Afterwards, she leaned back and closed her eyes, aiming to drift off to dreamland once more, but before she could continue, a tap on her shoulder snapped her out.
Her tired gaze slowly focused on Heo-Yool, a store-bought onigiri in his hand, as he expectantly looked at her to take it.
Eun-Ha spoke up from behind, "We already told him to leave you be. But of course, he doesn't listen to anyone."
Heo-Yool responded defensively, "I wasn't even going to bother her; I was just concerned!"
He turned to Yoon-Ji, adding, "It's about past afternoon already; I figured you would want to get something inside your stomach once you wake up."
Yoon-Ji's face warmed slightly as the others teased her about Heo-Yool's actions, while Heo-Yool himself only continued to grin toothily, seemingly unfazed by all the teasing. His attitude towards the situation made her think, and while she admittedly did find the notion a little flattering, she knew that Heo-Yool's actions were not meant to come off as romantic in nature.
'He's just always been mindful like that,' Yoon-Ji thought, feeling grateful that she was close friends with such a great person.
She sent the other a smile before taking the food in hand and swiftly biting out of it. As her tongue touched the cold rice, she was met immediately with an explosion of delectable flavours from the filling.
"Mmh!" Her eyes went wide, and she excitedly looked at Heo-Yool who was grinning back at her. "Tuna Mayo?"
"You bought that from the stop earlier?" Interjected Yeon-Woo, gazing longingly towards the food in Yoon-Ji's hold. "Do you have another one?"
Heo-Yool shook his head no before another friend, Im Eun-Chan, cut in to ask, "Hey, hey, hey... really, When are we going to start?"
Hearing this, Heo-Yool seemed to recall something, and he turned to face Yoon-Ji once more. "Actually, you woke up just in time; we were about to play another round of mafia. A new version of mafia!"
"You're going to join, right? You promised you would join," he pressed, his demeanour comparable to that of a puppy pleading for food.
Although she couldn't remember when she had promised that, she felt bad at the thought of turning down her friend's invitation, especially when he was asking her so cutely.
"M'kay, let's... do it," Yoon-Ji nodded, her words slightly muffled as she chewed on her food.
The group cheered enthusiastically, but Yoon-Ji couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when she noticed classmates from other rows turning to stare at them, giving them unpleasant looks. Even the president, Kim Jun-Hee, awoke briefly to look at them.
Im Eun-Chan, the game master, noted the glances they were getting and tried to pacify the group so they could begin the game, but the noise seemed inexhaustible when they had Heo-Yool whooping loudly every now and then.
"Anyways," Yoon-Ji inquired after swallowing the last bite, making everyone listen in. "What's with this new version we're going to be playing this time? Additional general rules? New roles?"
"One new role, to be exact," Eun-Chan answered, showing off the title card on his phone, which read 'Vigilante'.
A girl seated to the far right side of the last row, with blonde streaks in her hair, Choi Mi-Na, perked up, "Just one? How is it going to change the game, then?"
"That's why I told you guys to read the description earlier." Heo-Yool cut in, rolling his eyes and shaking his head in mock disappointment while the others bemoaned about his words: "Basically, the Vigilante is a killing role, but they're still an innocent. They're not required to kill anyone during their turn, but if they do, they can only kill after two nights have passed."
Everyone took in the information and responded varyingly, with some being quickly receptive to the change and others just confused about what strategy could be used with the additional role in the play.
To Heo-Yool's side, Yeon-Woo held out his green can of Pringles and said, "Since they're citizens, does that mean-"
"-they have to help find the Mafia. Yep." Eun-Chan finished, "So, can we finally start?"
Everyone agreed and the air was filled with excitement as they started the game with the new role. Over time, the more they played, the more they became immersed. Their voices rose higher with each passing round. The sounds of laughs, gasps, and cries of surprise filled the air, the students getting so caught up that they barely noticed how the sun had started to set outside, casting their bus in a golden hue.
As the sun began to set in the sky, the excitement and anticipation for the game continued to take hold, All were completely engrossed, not wanting to stop until the game had reached its climax and they found the Mafia.
"I told you I'm not the mafia!" Eun-Ha raised her voice, sending the group an almost desperate look while she pleaded innocence. The players returned it with a doubtful look, all except Yoon-Ji who was taking the opportunity to sneakily peek at every player's micro expressions.
"Come on, you basically have 'guilty' tattooed on your face," Heo-Yool tutted at Eun-Ha, before saying, "Let's vote her out now and win!" to which everyone murmured in agreement.
Before they could do anything more, Yoon-Ji finally decided to cut in: "No, wait! Let's do the vigilante phase first; maybe they already know who the mafia is this time and can finally take action for us. If we vote now and choose wrongly, the Mafia will just win."
"You heard Yoon-Ji!" Eun-Ha urged, making the others quickly turn around from agreeing with Heo-Yool to agreeing with Yoon-Ji.
The male continued to argue otherwise, saying if the Vigilante chose wrongly, the citizens would lose as well. Yoon-Ji defended it by saying that, at least then, the game would end with a bang. The two quarrelled for a bit and only quietened down once Eun-Chan signalled for all of them to close their eyes altogether so they could start the next phase.
"The sun has started to rise," he read off from the phone. "Vigilante, you may now open your eyes and point at the player to kill. If you choose not to kill, you may close your eyes again."
"Hey, Vigilante," Eun-Ha spoke up, her eyes shut tight in anticipation. "Come on, do something..."
After a few moments of silence passed, Eun-Chan surprisingly started to crack up, eliciting various noises of confusion from the players. They wondered what happened that could've made the male suddenly break out into a laugh. Had they won?
"Everyone, you may open your eyes now," Eun-Chan instructed with a large grin on his face. The players excitedly did so, and afterwards they started making drumbeat sounds to build up excitement.
"In the previous phase, the Mafia..." everyone's eyes widened, "was killed by the Vigilante! Which means the innocent citizens have won!"
All the citizens from the round loudly whooped in joy whilst Mi-Na, and Heo-Yool, the Mafia killed by the Vigilante at the last moment, groaned.
"Since we know the mafia were Mi-Na and Heo-Yool, who was the vigilante?" Eun-Ha asked to which a hand was slowly raised by the one player who remained calm throughout the session, Yoon-Ji.
"Yoon?" Heo-Yool repeated as though he couldn't believe it. "How did you know it was me?"
"Who wouldn't know it was you? Definitely not me and Yoon-Ji." Eun-Ha remarked, side eyeing all her other fellow citizens who suspected her wrongly, and earning apologetic looks from them.
They listened in as Yoon-Ji began to explain how she'd done it. She had been looking at everyone's micro expressions since the very start, going as far back as when they first received their roles. She pointed out how the whole time, Heo-Yool seemed way too excited and would even recklessly pin accusations onto other players. After rounds of this, and with Eun-Ha being pressured into being voted out during the deciding round, Yoon-Ji finally stepped in to do her job. This explanation roused sounds of amazement, in awe by how perceptive she'd been.
"Ah, so, Yoon..." Heo-Yool, however, reacted differently. He oddly wiggled his brows, face breaking out into a sly look. "You were focusing on me, huh?"
Laughter erupted among the group as they watched Yoon-Ji's face contort into a grimace of unbridled discomfort. Unbeknownst to them, their excitement had grown so raucous that it stirred someone from slumber, a fact that escaped their notice amidst the chaos.
Class delinquent Go Kyung-Jun had only been looking to rest the whole afternoon. He wanted to make it so he had enough energy for his own personal activities during the retreat. However, his planned rest kept getting interrupted by the loud noises constantly erupting from the back. No amount of mentally tuning out helped. And so, left with no other ideas, the male glanced at the source of the noise, his eyes sweeping over the lot to get an idea of who to teach a quick lesson, until they focused at one point.
He watched them for a bit more, before finally sitting back down, grumbling, "They're so loud."
As Kyung-Jun resettled, Shin Seung-Bin, who was sitting next to him, stood up and unprovokedly slapped the back of the heads of the two students sitting in front. The unfortunate victims took sharp intake of breaths, but never raised a fuzz. Seung-Bin turned to the person seated behind him, "Hey, tell them to shut their mouths."
Kim Jin-Ha's gaze shot towards the source of the commotion, a curse escaping his lips before he unleashed a thunderous shout. "Hey!"
Instantly, the group froze, their antics grinding to a sudden halt as the chatter dissipated into an eerie silence. They exchanged startled glances, their previously joyous expressions replaced by expressions of shock as they registered the furious reprimand from the disheveled-haired Kim Jin-Ha. "Kyung-Jun is sleeping right now. You're all too loud," he continued, his tone laced with irritation.
With that, Jin-Ha turned away, oblivious to the seething glares boring into the backs of his, Seung-Bin's, and Kyung-Jun's heads.
Now, Yoon-Ji could understand where Kyung-Jun's group was coming from; after all, their group had been very loud since afternoon. However, the fact that the admonition came from them, the notorious troublemakers, rather than from one of the class officers like Jun-Hee, So-Mi, or even their homeroom teacher, left a sour taste in her mouth.
'What a bunch of jerks,' she thought to herself, feeling as if her enthusiasm had been snuffed.
Turning to Heo-Yool, she casually announced that she would be sitting out the next round. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but Heo-Yool readily concurred, recognizing how swiftly Yoon-Ji's composure could unravel. Deep down, though, another reason weighed on her decision: she was already feeling drowsy again and longed for some rest before they reached the retreat center.
The group went on to play some more, Yoon-Ji choosing to ignore their withdrawn talk entirely in favour of taking in the scenery from the window.
The bus ambled down the road for another hour or so, surrounded by dense, towering trees that closed in on all sides. Its engine hummed quietly, breaking the serenity of the night. Inside, the students who had long since fallen into a tranquil silence, gradually started muttering amongst themselves and their plans for when they arrived.
Yoon-Ji didn't know what she wanted to do. Organization wasn't exactly her strong suit; she tended to fly by the seat of her pants, living in the moment rather than making elaborate plans which explains why her current to-do remains a blank slate.
But one thing she knew was that if she was looking to have fun, she only needed to join her best friend, Heo-Yool. With his knack for spontaneous adventures and infectious enthusiasm, she knew that whatever he had in mind would lead to a memorable experience.
Before long, the bus came to a gentle halt by the side of the road. The occupants of the bus cast their gaze upon the strangely foreboding building that loomed to their right, whereupon stood the very place they would spend their retreat in, the Muryeong Youth Centre.
As the class disembarked from the bus, they were immediately met with the scent of earth, a strong contrast to the familiar city air they were accustomed to. Their homeroom teacher, visibly annoyed by a disrupted phone call due to the lack of signal, stormed off ahead, leaving Jun-Hee and Kim So-Mi to handle the task of settling everyone in.
Yoon-Ji emerged from the bus, snatching her bag from Heo-Yool's outstretched hand. Heo-Yool, ever the instigator of mischief, darted off with Eun-Chan and Yeon-Woo in tow, their laughter echoing across the landscape.
"Hey, you guys wait for me!"
A smile played on her lips as she watched the trio dash toward the building, their youthful energy contagious. She couldn't help but feel a fondness for her friends, amused by their boundless enthusiasm and endless capacity for fun.
With the trio out of sight, Yoon-Ji took a moment to survey her other classmates. There was Ahn Na-Hee, a shy girl from class and Jang Hyun-Ho, an athlete, the two looking very sweet as they walked side by side. Some ways away was Jung-Won, who made her way towards the entrance, leaving her friend Yoon-Seo lingering behind, her gaze fixed intently on the building.
Seeing the odd fixation the girl showed, Yoon-Ji made a move to check up on her, but stopped hearing a voice call out from behind.
"Yoon-Ji," She spun around and was faced with Mi-Na, who was with Lee Joo-Young and a bunch of others. "We're gonna be practicing a dance routine in the gym; will you be joining?"
The girl contemplated for a moment before declining with a shake of the head, "I was actually planning to rest first."
"Rest again?" Joo-Young chimed in, her tone almost in disbelief which Yoon-ji couldn't blame her for since they'd basically seen her sleep throughout most of the ride. "You're going to miss out on half the retreat if you keep sleeping it off."
Yoon-Ji giggled, waving off their concerns. "Don't worry, I won't be a sleeping fish the whole time. I'll try to join you when I can."
With that, the girls bid her farewell and continued on their way, leaving Yoon-Ji to her own thoughts once more. She felt grateful that they had thought to invite her; though she wasn't particularly close with any of them, their gesture warmed her heart.
Since starting high school, Yoon-Ji had made an effort to maintain friendly relations with everyone in her class, avoiding conflict whenever possible. Her approach had earned her the respect and affection of her peers, even if they weren't all close friends. For Yoon-Ji, the few meaningful connections she had forged, and the very existence of her close friends, were all enough to bring her contentment.
'Oh!' Yoon-Ji's stomach churned as the realization hit her. Before leaving, she had been tasked with a crucial responsibility by her father before departing – to contact him upon their arrival, ensuring his peace of mind and warding off any worries about her safety. 'He's gonna kill me!'
Frantically, Yoon-Ji unzipped her bag and rummaged through its contents, her fingers scrambling to find the thin, rectangular device nestled within. But before she could grasp it, the object was snatched away from her, leaving her empty-handed and bewildered.
"Who–?" Yoon-Ji's voice trailed off in shock as she turned to face the perpetrator, only to find Go Kyung-Jun standing before her, inspecting the device with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
A whirlwind of emotions swept through Yoon-Ji – embarrassment, annoyance, and a hint of fear from the unexpected encounter. Unable to collect her thoughts, she stood frozen, her gaze shifting between Kyung-Jun's face and the phone.
"Give it back," she pleaded, voice barely above a whisper.
Kyung-Jun examined the device, admiring the stickers adorning its case, before shooting Yoon-Ji a smirk. "Nice model," he remarked casually. "Planning to call someone? A boyfriend, perhaps?"
Yoon-Ji shook her head vehemently. "No, I need to call my dad."
Kyung-Jun's mouth hung as if to say 'Ah,' before mockingly asking, "Is that so?"
"Yes, so," Yoon-Ji hesitated before springing towards Kyung-Jun, her outstretched hand aiming to reclaim the device. "Give it back!"
Kyung-Jun simply raised his arms, blocking her access to the phone with ease. His towering height posed a challenge for Yoon-Ji, prompting her to consider employing underhanded tactics. Thoughts raced through her mind – should she jab him, bite his arm, or perhaps deliver a well-placed knee?
Just as quick as she was to think of those ideas, she was quick to dismiss them. The rumors swirling around Kyung-Jun's past altercations with female students, while being unsubstantiated gossip, wasn't something Yoon-Ji was willing to gamble on the slim chance of getting off scot-free.
And so, with a mixture of confusion, anger, and helplessness etched on her face, Yoon-Ji could only watch as Kyung-Jun pressed the power button, just to be met with a stubbornly unresponsive screen.
He raised an eyebrow, regarding Yoon-Ji with a scrutinizing gaze. "You brought a dead phone with you for the trip?" he inquired, incredulous.
Yoon-Ji shook her head, her own disbelief mirroring Kyung-Jun's. "No, I didn't. I... I'm not sure why it's like that."
It was indeed perplexing why her phone had suddenly ceased to work, especially considering Yoon-Ji's vivid recollection of meticulously ensuring it was fully charged before the trip. But since this suddenness took Kyung-Jun aback, she wasn't complaining.
Kyung-Jun studied her for a moment, his gaze momentarily softer, though she really doubted it to be true, and yet still carried an underlying hint of arrogance. "Well," he began, pocketing the phone, "I'll be keeping this for now."
With that, Kyung-Jun sauntered off, leaving Yoon-Ji to grapple with a whirlwind of questions. Why was he messing with her? Why now, and without his usual entourage? Frustration gnawed at her as she watched him disappear into the crowd, her mind racing to decipher his motives.
'Just when I hoped I would never be picked on by him, he immediately does this...' Yoon-Ji sighed deeply, resigning herself to the fact that answers wouldn't come so easily. With a heavy heart, she turned to join the others, disappointed that the trip had started on such a sour note.
Casting a final glance at the signpost for the youth center, Yoon-Ji pushed through the doors, only leaving behind the stillness of the night.
( a/n )
not a strong ending for a chapter
but I wanted to stop it right here
since it's already at 3k words T_T
also, I just want to inform y'all I hated
Kyung-Jun (and a few specific characters)
with a burning passion. Bullying, assault,
blackmailing and just about any violence
towards other ppl is not and will never be okay.
It was for this reason I took the liberties of toning down his character and changing some of others as well since I'm planning on going canon divergent soon anyways...