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[05 | 03 | 23 , 1:46pm]

"Jake hyung's coming back tomorrow right?" Jungwon chewed on his plain sandwich.

"Mhmm, I think so," Yeram nodded.

"Sunoo hyung's coming back too, his foot's feeling better," Riki stated, remembering his earlier conversation with his friend.

"Oh, we'll be a full group again," Ahyeun cheered.

Jiu, who also for once had joined the group for lunch, chuckled. "I wonder how Jake will feel after coming back."

"Probably hate it," Heeseung shrugged. "It's hell here."

Everyone collectively nodded, agreeing that school wasn't something any of them looked forward to.

Ahyeun smiled, picking up her phone. Opening a message from the unknown, she frowned. She was sent a video, with a small note attached to it.

you might want to step out to watch this ;)

She knew that it was probably something crazy- after all this is a mastermind serial killer on the loose. Ahyeun cleared her throat, acting nonchalant.

"I'm going to go and speak to my teacher about something, I might be back," she quickly packed her belongings.

Everyone nodded, not finding it suspicious as it was nothing unusual.

Ahyeun said her goodbye before rushing off.

On her way out, she caught Yesol's eye. The girl smiled at her, smally waving with her fingers.

An army of goosebumps invaded the skin on her arms.

[2:12pm]

Becca turned to Hari, "Is your dad really coming back this afternoon?"

Hari dropped her pen mid-writing, rolling her eyes exasperatingly. "Yeah, and mother says he's going to host a party for his friends to celebrate his comeback."

"Oh that means I'm getting an invite," Becca teasingly smirked.

Hari forced out a shaky smile, "Yep!"

"See at least that's something to look forward to," Becca chuckled before turning back to writing her essay on Wuthering Heights again.

Her partner gulped, watching her. Hari sighed, brushing her front hairs behind her ears.

Becca being there was the thing she was least looking forward to.

[3:04pm]

By fate, the group was reunited once again after school and they all made their way to their shared bus stop.

"Uhm guys, have any of you seen Ahyeun?" Aera looked around.

Strangely everyone shook their heads.

"Now that I think of it, I don't remember seeing her in home economics either," Jiu scowled.

"Ok that's weird, so has no one seen her since she left us at break?" Jongseong questioned.

Once again a round of shaking heads.

"I'm going to call her," Yeram declared but before she could even unlock her phone, her screen flashed white with new notifications.

And sooner or later everyone else's did too.

They all found themselves opening the same video as Ahyeun.

Shocked gasps and murmurs went around as not even three seconds into the clip everyone paused it.

"I-Is that what I think it is?" Aera mumbled through her hands that clamped her mouth.

Jiu frowned, looking at everyone's mixed expressions. "What is it?"

Aera moved her phone towards Jiu's face, playing the video for her.

Jiu was quick to catch on, "What the- Is that who I think it is??!"

The look she gave everyone made it clear to them that she understood.

Sunghoon nodded, "I think so."

"Oh my, oh my god! Guys try and get a hold of her, like text her, call her.. Just do something!!" Hari urged everyone to try and get in touch with Ahyeun.

They all tried calling her but one by one their attempts cutoff to voicemails.

All of them tried her phone at least ten times each but to no avail because no one was answering on the other side. Ahyeun's phone was turned off.

"Shit, shit," Yeram panicked.

"Let's go over to her house," Aera suggested. "She's probably at home."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Riki agreed. But just then he received a call.

Everyone whipped their heads around in anticipation.

"It's Jake," Riki said before picking up. "Yes hyung."

He looked at everyone, giving them that look. "Yeah, we saw the video too."

Almost inaudible crackles of statics, which was Jake's voice in Riki's ears, could be heard.

"We're heading to her house now. You want to meet there?"

They patiently waited for Riki's next sentence. "Oh ok, yeah. We'll see you there then." He hung up.

"So Jake's coming too?" Heeseung asked.

Riki nodded, "Yeah."

"Look the bus is here too," Yeram pointed out.

They were in for a long evening.

[5:38pm]

It had been more than an hour since Ahyeun's friends started comforting her and she was in a worse state now than then.

The boys pretty much sat around, not really knowing what to say but just wanting to at least be there for her. The girls were trying their best to consolidate her and tell her it was going to be alright.

For Ahyeun it felt like the end of the world. That one video worth 10 seconds was enough to crash her world down.

"If he didn't get killed already, I would've murdered him with my own two hands," Heeseung said through gritted teeth.

"I hate to say it but unknown might have done something good this time around. At first I felt a bit bad for Doyoung, but now..." Yeram's words trailed off.

Upon hearing his name, Ahyeun burst into louder sobs.

[5:59pm]

Hari's mom had rung her up saying that her father was back home. She tried protesting but Mrs. Shin was adamant she was to be back within the next half an hour.

And so begrudgingly, the girl was making her way out of the house. She got as far as the door but was stopped in her tracks by a worried Mr. Rim.

"Ah, Hari," he cleared his throat behind her.

The girl turned around, bowing. "Annyeonghaseyo."

"How's Ahyeun? Is she ok? Is she feeling better?"

Hari was taken aback from all the sudden questions. She looked around frantically, not knowing what to say in this situation.

Yes on one hand she felt as though it was right for Mr. Rim to know what was going to with his daughter; but on the other it wasn't in her position to tell him Ahyeun was raped and there's a video recording of the moments before the disaster.

Before Hari could answer though, Geon appeared beside her husband's side with a frown on her face. "Let the poor girl go Michael, Ahyeun will be fine by tomorrow."

Mr. Rim was going to argue back but the stern look on Geon's face shut him up instantly. "Right... you're right, dear. You can go now Hari. Tell your father I said hello."

Hari nodded, bowing again to the couple. "Will do, take care."

"You too, darling," Geon said in her exaggerated posh accent, guiding Hari out of the doors.

Hari rolled her eyes, grasping the clutch of her bag tightly as the door slammed behind her. "When will they ever learn?" she sighed, stepping out onto the road.

———

honestly such a shitty chapter and lowkey (very) messy and allover the place but hopefully things will make more sense a bit later😪