Chapter 14
"Hey. Jung-seok. It was you? Who wrote this note?"
Slide-
I asked in a voice only Vice President Jung-seok, who was distributing money, could hear. His gaze flickered like a candle in the wind when he saw the photo on my phone.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Vice President Jung-seok denied it. He probably didn't want anyone to know he was Class D's informant.
I could understand why he'd deny it. He must have seen Geonho saying "Find out which bastard wrote the note."
What would Geonho do once he found the informant? Obviously.
That's why everyone either ignored or went along with the bullying in Class D.
"Your handwriting matches exactly."
Slide-
I showed him his signature "Confirmed." on the hidden quest note. The writing was as neat as if typed on a computer.
Finding the informant through handwriting-
This simple yet classic method was inspired by Ms. Kang.
Remember how Ms. Kang said "Young-won, your writing is too messy to be from you"? That's why I tried to find the informant through handwriting.
Someone who writes this precisely would be easy to find.
While I was wondering how to compare everyone's handwriting, the "Group Chat Death Game" hit us, giving me a chance to collect everyone's signatures.
Turning crisis into opportunity-! Reversal-!
These words perfectly fit my current situation.
"What are you talking about? What about the handwriting? Don't start trouble for no reason."
Objection-!
Of course, Vice President Jung-seok was still in denial. Does he think Attorney Ha Young-won's "evidence submission" is insufficient?
"I have more evidence. Look at this."
Take this-!
I pointed out another commonality between the note and signature besides handwriting. Jung-seok's shoulders twitched like someone caught with evidence of a crime.
"Hey, Vice President. Just because I imitate Pikachu under Geonho's orders, do you really think I'm Pikachu? You underestimated me too much."
I'm Ha Young-won, Class D's library committee member.
I've read enough books to proudly call myself a literature enthusiast.
And people who read a lot inevitably end up writing.
Books-.
I've scribbled some short stories too, and developed a habit. You could call it a quirk - I can't stand finishing a sentence without adding a period!
Habits can be scary things.
"Bullying is occurring in Class D."
This short sentence had perfect grammar and punctuation.
The hidden quest signature was the same.
"Jung-seok: Confirmed."
While others scrawled or joked with their signatures, only Jung-seok wrote neatly with a period.
"You have a habit of always adding periods to your sentences. It's a quirk that people who write a lot develop. And you're the only one in this class who has it."
Yeongji High's delinquents don't have this kind of detail. But... this alone wasn't enough evidence to prove his guilt. I had no decisive proof.
Still, Jung-seok's notably flustered attitude was enough to confirm he was the informant.
I told him:
"Hey. If you're going to write a report like this, you should've used your left hand or changed your handwriting. Though I guess you didn't think anyone would compare handwriting or look for habits."
"...What..."
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone it was you. If anyone asks, deny it like you just did. From now on, we'll say I wrote this note. Got it?"
I called Jung-seok to tell him never to reveal he wrote the note. Say it was mine-. That way I can deal with Geonho quietly and effectively.
Ding dong-
The bell rang signaling the end of break time.
"Hey, Sojin. Feeling better now?"
"Yeah, Young-mi. I was acting crazy lately, right? Sorry. I'm better now."
I watched Jung-seok's back as everyone returned to their seats.
Vice President Jung-seok. What kind of person are you?
***
May, warm spring.
About two months into the semester, but being somewhat of an outsider, I still didn't know much about my classmates.
Jung-seok.
At first glance, he was a proper young master type. He had decent height for a first-year and good at sports like soccer.
Midterm grades... the fifth in school? He was also the best student in our class.
But to me, he was just another bystander, and I wasn't particularly interested in him.
Mutual indifference. That's how it was.
But now I wondered what made someone like him write such a note...
Buzz-
Then, my phone vibrated.
Checking it, there was a message from "Jung Sojin: hehe"
...What the hell is this?
Class president Sojin messaging me during class. Is this the start of new harassment? Maybe it’s revenge for slapping her in the nurse's office.
"Jung Sojin: What're you doing?"
"......"
Damn, another one! She must've developed a taste for harassing me!
I decided to reply briefly.
"Listening to class"
"Jung Sojin: Liar lol you're looking at your phone lol"
"......"
Hey, Sojin. What are you trying to do?
How did she even get and save my number?
...Well, actually, it wasn't strange for Sojin to have my number. As class president, she would have the "Class Emergency Contact List."
I remembered Sojin passing around paper at the start of the semester saying "Could you write down your phone number here?"
"Class president..."
As class president, she must know a lot about our classmates. I decided to use this situation as an opportunity.
"Hey do you know what kind of person Vice President Jung-seok is?"
"Jung Sojin: lol yeah"
The reply came so fast there wasn't even time for the '1' read receipt to appear. That means Sojin was actively watching our chat!
It was scary and burdensome, but also surprising.
"Jung Sojin: Jung-seok is my cousin lol why?"
Vice President Jung-seok is Class President Sojin's cousin? Now that I think about it, they share the same surname Jung.
Cousins running Class D as president and vice president. What is this, some kind of dictatorship?
"Jung Sojin: Seok's dad is a former prosecutor super scary person so don't get caught doing bad things hehe"
Jung-seok's father was a former prosecutor. Past tense? That's quite useful information.
"Jung Sojin: If I tell uncle about you slapping my cheek earlier you'll be in big trouble hehe"
"Jung Sojin: Just kidding hehe"
This Sojin girl. True to her nature, even her jokes sent chills down my spine.
"My battery's low talk to your boyfriend if you're bored"
"Jung Sojin: I don't have a boyfriend hehe"
F*ck off!
Slide-
I used the low battery excuse to close my phone. Continuing to chat with her felt like it would shorten my lifespan.
In some ways, Sojin scared me more than the supernatural entities.
Anyway-
The day gradually came to an end.
"Hey! Geonho! Let's go smoke! Or should we skip class? We got 30,000 won too!"
"No way. Teachers are patrolling around the old building these days."
"Ha, Geonho you bastard. Why are you acting like such a coward lately?"
Today was more peaceful than ever.
Geonho, acting unusually subdued, didn't bully me, and Juhee sitting behind me didn't act out either, probably reading the class atmosphere.
Lucky for me. Honestly, fighting the "Death Game" since first period had drained my mental and physical energy.
Soon it was time to go home.
Juhee, sitting behind me, was fidgeting more frequently.
She’s pobably stressed about possibly facing Class C students behind the old building's auditorium after school.
However, I was confident nothing like Juhee getting beaten up would happen today.
***
"Hey, there's a police car outside?"
"Why? Because of the missing person case?"
"Sh*t, is it because I scammed someone on Danggeun Market?"
Police came to Yeongji High School. No matter how tough they act, they're still first-year high school students.
The atmosphere naturally became strange with the police's arrival.
In this atmosphere, Class C kids wouldn't dare attack Juhee behind the auditorium. Even delinquents wouldn't cause trouble with police cars at the front gate, right?
"Geonho, why are you shaking?"
"This bastard must be scared they're here for him."
"...Shut up, you bastard!"
I was admiring my own wisdom while looking at the 'senior police officer' contact I got during the "Auntie Ghost" incident.
I was also surprised that the police actually responded to my text saying "There might be a violent incident at school today."
There are many reliable adults in the world.
Passing the front gate on my way home to check out the police car, I made eye contact with the familiar police officer.
What if he calls me over- then it might leak that I was the one who called the police...? That would definitely make the rest of my school life troublesome.
I worried about this, but surprisingly, the officer didn't call or stop me.
Soon, the Vice Principal came out and bowed to the officer.
"Ah, Detective. Thank you for your hard work! Having you patrol like this makes the school feel safer! This is the first time seeing you since that... incident, right?"
"We'll patrol like this often from now on. To prevent any additional incidents-"
"Ah, let's discuss such matters inside."
I see.
Well, this should count as protecting Juhee. Today, I should go home and plan which players to put in the "Nightmare Corridor."
As I was heading home through the winding alleyways with these thoughts.
Rumble-
I saw a familiar group of students entering an alley.
A girl with short hair, braces, and an extremely shortened skirt caught my eye.
Seeing the ankles in white socks and sneakers, it looked like Class C's tyrant, Bong Ji-yeon.
"Hey. F*cker, keep quiet and follow. You're dead today."
Who is Class C's Ji-yeon gang taking into the alley? Maybe Juhee?
Peeking into the alley, I could see... Class D's Vice President Jung-seok going somewhere with Ji-yeon! What's he doing there?
"And who are you? Ji, you know this kid?"
Then someone grabbed my shoulder. Though his face was unfamiliar, I could tell he was from Class C.
"Oh, I know him. Isn't he Geonho's lackey? Since you mentioned it, should we check his pockets? How much you got?"
They want to steal my money? No! I have my hard-earned money from points in my wallet right now!
"Oh? Look at this guy? You’re resisting now? You must be loaded? Should we strip you completely down to your underwear? Stay still if you don't want to get hurt. Hey! Oh? This won't do. Take off his pants and underwear."
-yeon narrowed her eyes.
Watching her crunch candy with her braced teeth made my blood run cold.
I could tell at a glance. Unlike Juhee, Ji-yeon isn't the type of bully who jokes around! She really intends to strip off my pants and underwear!
Slide-
My pants fell down helplessly.
I'm screwed!
As this thought filled my head…
"Hey!!! Bong Ji-yeon!!!"
Someone screamed.
What happened next was so sudden I could hardly believe my eyes.
Bam-
Juhee appeared out of nowhere, running powerfully to grab Ji-yeon's hair and strongly slap her cheek with her palm!
Slap slap-
"Kyaa! Wh-what! What is this!"
Charging alone against a gang of five including guys…
As I wondered if this was even possible, I remembered the quirk Juhee had gotten.
『Yang Juhee: 《Boiling Blood》 - Blood heating up like a blast furnace sometimes clouds judgment. Do you know that courage and anger stem from this heat?』
Juhee's fidgeting all day wasn't from fear. It was anger from her boiling blood!