Hesa opened the student council room door and stepped inside. The air still felt cold, and there was no one else in the room besides him.
After placing a drink on one of the tables, Hesa returned to his own desk and began working on several tasks.
Without realizing it, time passed quickly. Hesa was almost finished when someone opened the student council room door.
Kreeeet—
"Morning," the person greeted as they entered.
"Morning too, Min," Hesa replied, turning toward his friend.
"Not many people have arrived yet, huh," Minju said while placing her bag on the table.
"Same as always—everyone's late," Hesa replied as he closed his book, having finished his work.
Minju let out a short sigh before sitting down, but her gaze was accidentally drawn to a packaged drink on the table. She picked it up.
"Seems like no one left anything behind when we went home yesterday," she said in confusion.
"That's from me," Hesa said.
"Winter won't be mad, right?" Minju asked.
"No, relax," Hesa replied.
Minju narrowed her eyes at him. It was unusual for him to be this nice.
"What do you want? There's definitely something going on, right?" Minju said suspiciously.
Hesa immediately became awkward, scratching the back of his neck even though it didn't itch. "Em, yeah… I want to go to the archive room. And if I remember correctly, the student council secretary holds the key, right? It'll be easier to look for files there."
"What are you doing in the archive room anyway? Did a teacher ask you to?" Minju asked.
"N-no. I want to look up student data," Hesa replied.
"For what?" Minju pressed.
"My book got swapped with a junior's. I saw their name tag briefly, but I don't know which class they're from," Hesa lied.
"W-wait, swapped? How did that happen?" Minju asked.
"We bumped into each other in the corridor. I was in a hurry, so I left right away and didn't realize our books were already swapped," Hesa explained.
"Oh," Minju nodded in understanding.
"You can take me to the archive room, right?" Hesa asked.
"That book must be important," Minju said.
"O-of course it is, why would you even ask?" Hesa replied.
"Alright then, let's go to the archive room," Minju said.
They both left the student council room and walked down the corridor toward their destination.
As they passed the field, Hesa saw one of his friends practicing basketball alone.
"Joanan Xavero…"
Hesa was reminded of what Arkha had said the day before—that the cute-looking boy should be suspected. But now Hesa already knew who the real traitor was. So did he still need to suspect Joan?
"What's wrong, Sa?" Minju asked.
"H-huh? What?" Hesa replied, confused. He thought Minju hadn't heard his muttering.
"You looked like you were saying something," Minju said.
"Oh, no. I was just saying the name of my friend who was practicing on the field," Hesa replied.
"Oh," Minju nodded.
"By the way, what's the name of the junior you bumped into? Maybe I know them."
"Jihan Anastasya," Hesa answered.
"Jihan?"
Minju looked surprised and confused upon hearing the name. Her expression even showed a hint of sadness.
"What is it, Min? Do you know her?" Hesa asked.
"I-I've heard that name before. I think she's a tenth grader," Minju said.
"Okay, thanks for the info," Hesa replied.
When they arrived in front of the archive room, Hesa immediately went inside while Minju waited outside.
"Could Jihan really be a tenth grader?" he muttered as he grabbed a file from one of the shelves and began examining it page by page.
Fifteen minutes passed, but Hesa still hadn't found what he was looking for.
"This is the last tenth-grade data. If Jihan is a tenth grader, her data has to be here," Hesa said before opening the file.
He flipped through the pages until his hand stopped.
"This is it—the one I've been looking for."
Hesa quickly took a photo. Now he had Jihan's home address, which meant that after school today, he might go to her house to ask about the past he had glimpsed. Who knew—maybe Jihan could help him find other clues related to the terror.
"So it really is this kid…"
Hesa turned around and found Minju already standing there.
"What's wrong, Min? You said you didn't know her," Hesa said.
"I really don't know her personally, but she and her friends lived in the same neighborhood as me. About a week ago, my mom took me to visit their houses one by one for condolences," Minju explained.
"W-what do you mean? They died together?" Hesa asked.
Minju shrugged uncertainly. "What I overheard from the neighbors' gossip—apparently they all went camping and had an accident. Only Jihan survived."
Hesa froze after hearing Minju's words. Could that be true?
If it was, why did Jihan lie to him? Was it possible that Jihan was also experiencing terror, just like Hesa and the others?
*******
During break time, Genk 13 gathered at the cafeteria.
"Guys, I've got an idea. How about we go back to the villa?" Joan said.
"What for, Jo?" Setta asked.
"I've been thinking about yesterday's terror. I feel like there's a chance it might happen again," Joan said, glancing at Hesa.
Hesa noticed the look. He felt annoyed, but he also knew—it was really Joan, merely insinuating… or was there actually more than one traitor?
"What's the benefit of going back there?" Arkha countered, noticing the meaningful exchange of glances between the two.
"Just to look for something. Who knows, maybe we'll get a plot twist," Joan replied.
"I don't mean to be pessimistic, but I'm still kind of scared of yesterday's terror. It'd be better if we took a break and stopped looking for trouble," Satya said.
"We're not looking for trouble, Sat. We're just being cautious—like making a backup plan before something bad really happens," Joan argued.
"You were pretty messed up yesterday. Are you sure your mental state's okay?" Jio asked worriedly.
"Look at me now—I'm fine, right?" Joan replied.
"Alright, let's go," Hesa said.
Even though Hesa originally planned to go to Jihan's house today, he was starting to get fed up with Joan, who seemed to be forcing everyone to go to the villa.
If it continued, Joan would only grow more annoying with all the excuses he kept making.
Did that boy really need to be suspected?
Ding!
Hesa turned when his phone lit up with a notification. He looked up at the friend sitting across from him—Arkha.
He opened the message.
Arkha: You see how that kid's acting, right?
You: Even if he's suspicious, we might still be misunderstanding him
Arkha: ?
You: It's possible he's also a traitor
Arkha: "also"? So you've already found one
You: Yeah. The lavender demon dragged me into the past to see what really happened. I'll tell you later.
*******
Under the still blazing sun, the seven young men once again stood in front of a building that was no longer intact.
"My guess was wrong. They didn't keep Setta here," Hesa said softly, exhaling as he stared at the ruins.
"Guys… this really is the villa we visited and stayed at a few days ago, right?" Satya asked, glancing at his equally confused friends.
"I think there was a natural disaster here recently," Jio commented.
"Could be," Setta agreed.
"So what are we supposed to look for in a wrecked place like this?" Arkha sneered at Joan, clearly mocking him.
Realizing the meaning behind Arkha's gaze, Joan reflexively turned away without answering.
The silence didn't last long, as Niki spoke up.
"What else? Perform a summoning ritual?" Niki joked.
Jio, standing beside him, immediately smacked his head. "Why did I even pray at church yesterday if you're gonna deliberately summon demons?"
"We came all this way—are we really just gonna turn back now?" Setta said.
Hesa lazily glanced at the sweet-faced boy. He clearly said that on purpose, wanting them to stay longer.
"So what do we do then?" Satya asked.
"Take photos. The scenery around here is pretty nice," Setta replied.
Unexpectedly, the others agreed. They scattered to find good photo spots, while Hesa simply stood there observing. He glanced at Setta approaching Jio for help.
"Hey, take a picture of me," Setta said.
"Okay, strike a good pose," Jio replied.
Setta began posing as instructed.
"Done," Jio said, showing him the result.
"Why did you take a selfie instead?" Setta complained after seeing the photo.
Jio laughed, teasing him.
A camera flash suddenly went off, aimed at the two of them.
"I got it," Niki said as he approached and showed them the photo.
"This one's good," Jio commented.
"Only you look good. I'm barely visible," Setta protested.
"Oh wait, there's another one," Niki said, swiping the screen.
"What the hell—this is just a landscape photo. I'm not even in it," Setta exclaimed.
Niki and Jio burst into laughter, satisfied with their prank.
"You guys are such unlucky friends," Setta muttered before finally taking a selfie himself.
Hesa watched the warmth of the moment with a crooked smile. "Too bad that isn't the real you."
"Hey," Arkha nudged his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Why are you smiling like that? Want me to take your picture too?" Arkha asked.
"No. Too lazy. Besides, I already have plenty of photos," Hesa replied.
"Same. I'd rather just wait and play on my phone," Arkha said.
"Better to hunt foxes," Hesa muttered.
"Huh?"
Arkha looked confused, but Hesa responded with a meaningful smile.
"What are they doing now…"
Once again, the scene didn't escape Joan's watchful eyes.