─────── 𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑   𝟏𝟏 ───────

[3:13pm]

"I can't believe I actually ever said yes to her," Riki muttered as he and Jake began sneaking through the halls of the Accommodate Building.

The place wasn't as sheltered as they imagined. It was exactly as 'guarded' as it had been when Dana was still alive.

"I can't believe I decided to go with you," Jake whispered back to him.

They were on their way to Dana's dorm room, she had been staying in before her death. Her parents were always abroad, either on business trips or on getaways. And Dana never liked the idea of being by herself, and so she got her parents to talk with the school and get her a room.

It was now closed off, waiting to be emptied by her parents.

"Isn't that it?" Jake pointed to a red door nearer to the furthest end.

"Is it room 141?" Riki asked, confirming the number from the message Yeram had sent him to look for.

"Yeah," Jake nodded.

They got closer and indeed it was Room 141, Huang Dana's home for the last 6 months of her life.

Riki looked around the place, making sure no one was around as his partner went to open up the room. Jake twisted the door handle, expecting it to open gently- but instead it remained closed. He tried a couple of more times, but it wouldn't budge. "Fuck's sake, it's locked."

Riki turned around, "Closed?!"

"Yeah."

"Now what are we going to do?" Riki huffed, combing his hair back with his fingers.

"Text the girls," Jake instructed. "Tell them it's safe enough for all of us to be here- there aren't many cameras around. We can figure out the rest together."

Riki nodded, quickly taking out his phone again and messaging Yeram, the mastermind of the whole plan, about the issue.

[3:21pm]

"You're fucking kidding me," Yeram's voice broke through in the corridor, making the two boys turn their heads. She was striding up to them, Aera following behind her. "No way it's locked." Yeram brushed past the boys, trying to open the door herself- but to no avail. "How on Earth are we going to get this open?" She gritted her teeth, putting all her might into pushing the handle a couple of times.

Jake put his hand over hers, stopping her from doing so any further. "Careful, it's gonna break if you do that anymore."

Yeram sighed, taking a step back. She crossed her arms, looking at everyone in turns. "Anyone got any ideas?"

Riki shrugged, "Aren't you the know-it-all?"

"Clearly not anymore, no."

"How did we not realise this earlier?" Jake groaned. "Of course it was going to be kept locked."

"I have an idea actually," Aera hesitantly put up her hand.

"Oh yeah?" Yeram asked, everyone turning to her.

She nodded, moving past all of them to stand by the door. "I actually learnt this in summer camp when I was 14, hopefully I can still remember how to do it." Aera brought her hands up to her hair, which was tied in two messy buns, and she pulled out a bobby pin, holding it up for her friends to see.

She separated the two ends, pulling it out into a boomerang shape. Aera put one side into the keyhole, beginning to harshly move it around inside. She struggled for a bit, trying to find the correct latch.

But soon, and surely, enough, something clicked-  giving her the notion she was on the right track.

The other three watched, praying it would work. And it did, because a couple of seconds later, a louder click was heard and the door creaked open just a millimeter.

Aera pulled back, smiling. "There!"

Yeram almost jumped up in excitement, "Whoa! Well done Aera!!"

"Yeah, that's really sick man," Jake agreed, staring at her and then the open door back and forth in awe.

"Thanks," she said, fixing her bobby pin and putting it back in her hair. "Let's go in, shall we?"

Yeram nodded, leading the way. 

Dana's room smelt just like her, lavender and vanilla. The fragrance is what hit them all first, the sweet nostalgic scent of their friend.

"Where does she keep her diary?" Yeram asked.

"There, the second drawer," Aera answered instantly.

Yeram wasted no time, rushing over to the white high gloss dressing table, rummaging through where she was told to. She pulled out a half full notebook, decorated with floral stickers at the front and the name Dana engraved in the middle in cursive writing, "Found it."

"Ok, let's quickly go then," Riki rushed. "We can't stay any longer."

Everyone collectively nodded, happy now that they had found what they came for. They walked out, Jake closing the door behind them.

"That was fun," Yeram commented. "Don't you think so?"

"Kind of," Jake shrugged. "But let's never do it again."

Riki nodded his head in agreement, "Ever."

The girls chuckled.

"Sure," Yeram rolled her eyes.

"Ahem."

Upon hearing someone clear their throat behind them, they froze in terror.

Shit.

It was going so well too . . .

Aera slowly turned her head, bracing herself to face the wrath of the teacher that caught them in their act. But instead her eyes widened in shock at who she saw. "Oh my god."

When hearing her, the rest turned round too.

Jiu was standing at the door frame of the neighboring room, sleepy eyes and still in her uniform.

"Jiu?!" Yeram asked.

"Oh.. hi guys? What are you doing here?" The girl asked.

The boys refrained from speaking, leaving it up to the girls.

"We were just here to collect something from Dana's room," Yeram made up an excuse. "We never realised we'd left it here until today. It was part of our project."

"Oh," Jiu frowned. "The school just let you?"

"Yeah, totally," Yeram adamantly nodded her head.

"Hm, that's cool," Jiu shrugged. "I'm going back to sleep, see you guys tomorrow."

She yawned loudly, waving at them weakly before stepping into her room and closing her door.

Aera clutched her chest, "Phew, that was a close one."

"Mhm, imagine how much trouble we'd have been in if it was anyone other than her," Yeram thought.

They all began walking back after their little encounter.

"I never knew Jiu lived here too," Jake said.

"She's in foster care," Aera explained.

"So it makes sense I guess," Yeram concluded.

"Foster care?" Riki scowled. "Why?"

"Her parents died, Riki," Aera replied to him.

"But doesn't she have an older brother, he's like twenty something I swear," Riki recalls the time he met Kwon Seojun at parent's evening back in freshman year.

"Maybe he lives somewhere else," Yeram suggested. "He could have a family of his own."

"Probably," he said.

They walked back to their common room, collecting their stuff before leaving the school. Jake and Riki went off to play in the arcades near the school. And the girls went their separate ways home.

[11:17pm]

Yeram sat up in bed, only a little lamp light illuminating her dark room. She was flicking through the pages of Dana's diary, trying to find any date for an incident she had with Doyoung recently.

The first half of written work was nothing much, just ordinary events in her daily life she had down on paper.

But then she reached one date that was specifically highlighted.

Written in bold.

And underlined.

21st January, 2022.

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