.  Should I take it out or not? However, my case–shifting to other universes–had proof, but this one didn’t have a piece of plausible evidence and seemed like complete nonsense, so I couldn’t bring up the topic readily.

  ‘What if he tells me this time to stop writing crap? Geez, then I can’t sustain myself……’ I thought. Then at the moment, I raised my head as I heard Jooin calling my name.

  “Mama?”


  “Huh? Oh, I forgot to tell you something very important……”


  As I responded that way, the look on Jooin’s face slightly changed.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “The security camera,” I replied with no hesitation.

  Jooin frowned for a moment.

  I continued, “There’s a security camera on each staircase, right? That’s what I heard. Anyway, the cameras are also installed in some places that have dangerous or expensive stuff such as the science lab, computer lab, home economics lab, etc.”


  “.……”


  Lowering my voice, I held my hands together and pleaded, “Would you please check them out for me? I really need to know about that girl.”


  Jooin, who stood stiffly like a rock, then quickly turned around. He replied, “Alright, mama. Let’s go ask the securities then.”


  “Right now?”


  “Uh-huh, let’s go as we are reminded of it.”


  I nodded at his suggestion and followed Jooin. On my way out of the classroom, I saw Ban Yeo Ryung and noticed the emotions she was having about me–a violated trust–through her eyes. That was when I realized the mistake I had just made.

  Yikes, how could I show her leaving the classroom with Jooin as soon as he stepped inside? Earlier, didn’t she feel upset about me searching for Jooin, instead of her?

  I tried to make an excuse, but Jooin had already left for the hallway.

  Urgh…… covering my forehead, I grappled with the situation, but in the end, I stepped outside to the hallway and murmured, ‘Forgive me, Ban Yeo Ryung.’ But according to her facial expression, she didn’t seem to let me off the hook.

  After the little fuss, I was now in the campus security office where I confronted something more preposterous.

  “.…… The surveillance footage is gone?”


  Regular students wouldn’t be able to request those videos unless they were involved in crimes or special occasions, but we had a free pass ticket–Eun Jiho, the chairman of the board’s cousin. However, regardless of the free pass thing, they didn’t have the surveillance video in the first place, so using Eun Jiho was useless here.

  The security pressed a few buttons in bewilderment. He replied, “Yeah, I didn’t know that until you guys told me about it…… This seems to have been out of control.”
……

  Since when? From lunchtime……?

  Listening to the guy gradually murmuring to himself, I narrowed my eyes. How could the security camera that had no problem seven days a week become out of control at that very moment? That’s literally too coincidental to be a coincidence!

  Rubbing my chin, I asked myself, “Is this also ‘something’ that the girl can do? Or else……”


  “What do you mean by ‘something,’ mama?”


  I quickly pulled myself together when Jooin flung that question. Lifting my head, I showed a bitter smile, pretending that I said something out of my mind, but of course, Jooin didn’t seem to ignore my fake reaction.

  Facing the sharp look in his eyes, I felt the corner of my stomach beginning to ache. The continuous strain from stress–Ban Yeo Ryung’s memory loss to the things that happened today–might have slowly worn down my health, and it seemed to have exploded right now. Even Jooin, who would usually become a buffer against things among us, was now acting too sensitive today.

  When I raised my thumb and firmly pressed it near my chest, that was when Jooin loosened up his strained look and apologized to me.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to interrogate you.”


  “That’s okay. I do understand which part you have guessed.”


  Having an acute sense, Jooin might have definitely noticed how significant the information I had been hiding from him was. And perhaps that’s why he was behaving that way.

  Besides, Jooin’s attitude was actually nothing. It was just a feather-like, no, just weighing a bit more than that on me. The rest of the things I had gone through was what mattered the most.

  Feeling the presence of the note that I still had in my pocket, I pressed my chest again. Geez, how could she have such ability to write a note that would take effect?

  ‘Come on, this isn’t a death note or something……!’ I thought, looking down at the floor. Then I lifted my head and asked a question.

  “Anyway, both of us have something that we can’t tell each other, right? And it’s related to that girl.”


  “.…… Uh-huh,” replied Jooin hesitatingly. He nodded heavily.

  I responded with a sigh, “Then let’s just move on until we’re ready to bring this up again. Cool?” After a short pause, I added, “.…… I don’t want things getting awkward between us just because of a nobody.”


  Only a few months passed from the struggling times we had back then. Thus, I wanted to keep our friendship alive and last longer.

  Jooin seemed to hesitate for a moment, but he soon nodded as in agreement.

  Once we finished our conversation and turned our heads, the security was looking back and forth between us absentmindedly.

  He carefully asked, “.…… What makes you two so serious……?”


  We slightly nodded as an apology for making a fuss then left the office. Before we stepped out, I seemed to have heard something, so I looked back.

  “Did you say something?” I asked.

  “Huh?”


  Jooin lifted his head with a refreshing smile. It was so out of the blue that I could hardly imagine us arguing with each other earlier. Staring at him for a second, I soon shook my head and quickened my pace.

  Taking a step forward, I wondered, ‘I think I’ve heard him say sorry. Did I mishear it?’


  * * *

  During the next break time, I went to see Ban Yeo Ryung, but I couldn’t. Instead, Eun Jiho was there greeting me with a perplexed look.

  “Hey?” he said, stepping out of the door.

  I asked, “Where’s Ban Yeo Ryung?”


  “She went to the cafeteria with other girls.”


  WHAT? I responded in fright, “Is it okay to send her alone?”


  Ban Yeo Ryung’s state of mind wasn’t stable right now. She couldn’t even distinguish between who’s close to her and who wasn’t!

  Eun Jiho shrugged at my question and replied, “They didn’t ask her to go with them. It was Yeo Ryung who grabbed the girls and asked to go with her all of a sudden. What could I do? She was looking at us like saying, ‘Don’t follow me at all.’ I can’t help that.”


  Looking dumbfounded, he continued speaking, “So, why did you go outside with Woo Jooin at that time? You should have seen how Ban Yeo Ryung looked right after you guys left. Geez, that was awful.”


  “Gosh……”


  “Was there something serious going on?”


  As he asked the question, I briefly explained the situation. Of course, I left the story about the note part unspoken. I just told Eun Jiho that the girl I bumped into in Yoo Chun Young’s hospital might be the same person whom I met today, and the surveillance footage that captured her was also missing.

  Listening to that extent, Eun Jiho folded his arms around his body. He replied, “It sounds like a horror story. So, that suspicious girl is in our school? She was so small and petit like a middle school student……”


  “You know our school is a private, prestigious, and safe institution……”


  But I slurred the end of the sentence when things flashed through my mind–Ruda having a chase with the men in black or Lucas walking around the school with no hesitation.

  Oh, then I couldn’t be assured that she was actually attending our school……

  As I thought that way, feeling despondent, Eun Jiho spoke in front of me.

  “Well, since there’s no one in our grade or the upper-grade who saw that girl, she’d probably be in freshmen year. I’ll check it out anyway.”


  “Yeah……”


  “So, I guess you have to be worried about something else.”


  Dropping that remark, Eun Jiho pointed at the opposite side of the hallway with his chin.

  Just in time, Ban Yeo Ryung, walking along with other girls, found me and hid behind the corner. Watching the sight, I heaved a deep sigh.

  ‘Ah, that’s hurting my feelings, Yeo Ryung.’