(Class D-11, 1st period, homeroom)

"Hello D-11, your devil is coming!" The homeroom teacher comes in and throws a sarcastic joke. 

The class can't do anything but secretly laugh up their sleeves.

"So, let's go over some amazing things you guys have done since the beginning of the week." She emphasizes the word amazing.

She opens a report booklet in which other teachers write reports about the class, manners, and anything that came up during class time. To teachers, it is a great way to keep track of naughty children, as well as those who specially stand out, and also to consider the best class of the year. But to students, it is like a blacklist of a-bit-too-energetic kids, or those who can't get further in studying. It's also the way the school put pressure on excellent students.

"Let's see...Monday, Yoo Hansoo and Hwang Yoonhak, stand up!" The teacher shouts

The two boys immediately stand up without knowing what happened.

"Monday, third and fourth period, why are you two absent?" 

"We were on a basketball tournament. It's the game for the city round so we can't be absent." Hansoo says.

"So the city ticket is more important than studying?"

"We don't mean that. But we met with the teachers and they retaught us everything. No grade is missing."

"But that doesn't mean you two can go any time you want. You didn't tell me. The coach didn't tell me. You think the semester exam just finished and you can flow anywhere? I told you what? The midterm is coming in next month! You have less than 20 days to revise for it. If you keep missing out like this, there is no way you can achieve your best grade and attendance!"

"We're sorry." The two boys keep their heads down.

"Sit down! Because you guys won, I'll let you go to the city round. Then no more basketball till the summer!"

The two guys sit down and the class turns deeply quietly when the teacher keeps scanning the booklet. Everybody was nervous to hear the next victim.

"Han Mihwa, Ryu Sunji, and Kim Jiho! Tuesday, second period, no homework submitted? Why?"

The three girls stare at their tables and make no sound.

"Why don't you answer me?" The teacher slams at her table.

The girls tighten their lips and keep their mouth shut like clams.

"Haiz, I'm so fed up with you guys. You are lowering the average grade of the class. A-11 is catching up with us. You guys can't just sacrifice your study. I know this is the age girls want to hang out and care for themselves, but try thinking about that. If you want to catch up on stuff on Twitter and Instagram, do something for your life first! A smart girl will never be underestimated! Sit down!"

Them three sit down, let their breath down in sync.

"And you Jiho, since you had a boyfriend, your grades are saying goodbye to you!" The teachers emphasizes. "This doesn't only happen to these three. I tell all of you, I keep track of all of your social network account. I know what you post everyday, so don't try to fool me. Any boyfriend girlfriend, any food, any video, I've seen them all. Hyun Seunghee, pretty deep quotes, hah!"

Everybody looks at Seunghee, while she pretends to hear nothing.

"Anyway, I get tired of this scolding. You guys need to fix yourselves before somebody fixes you." She lets out her breath. "Now some good things. I don't go to work everyday to scold you. Bae Yoobin!"

"Ye...yes!" Binnie stands up in surprise since she didn't do anything wrong.

"Congratulations! You earned second place of the National Mathlete Association. Give her an aapplause, people!"

The class attempts on a weak clap, but it is too weak that the teacher demands a louder plaudit.

"Come on people, your friend beats Jeon Minha's record. You should be proud of having a classmate like Yoobin!"

The weak applause starts to die down as they hear about the dead person. Especially Binnie, Seunghee and Jiho go pale and throw eye-contact to each other.

"OK fine! It's the end of the period now! Enjoy the rest the day, my class."

(Class D-11, 2nd period, Literature)

"Hello D-11 stars, take your books out and turn to page 204."

The Literature teacher's mentioning of "stars" doesn't give the students any appeal, as for the bad scold of the previous period. Also, this woman is known for having a secret hatred on this class that she leaves at least two complaints on the report booklet per week. None of the students like this lady, as the talks as fast as wavesound and if you ever say that you don't understand what she said, she may hit you on the head with her wooden ruler.

"We're starting Friendship chapter, which is more practical than the previous chapter. The first poem is called "What is a friend?" While I'm reading it, I want you to copy it to your notebook."

What Is A Friend?

by Kit McCallum

A friend is someone you hold dear:
Someone who is always there, through thick and thin;
Someone who is only a phone call away.

A friend is someone you can always rely on:
Someone who is there to share your thoughts with;
Someone to listen, no matter the subject.

A friend is someone you can feel comfortable with:
Someone you can sit silently beside, without conversation;
Someone you do not need to fill the quiet moments with.

A friend is someone you can trust:
Someone who will guard your deepest secrets;
Someone who will never let you down.

A friend is someone who is not judgmental:
Someone who will gently offer advice and opinions,
Yet, someone who is not overbearing or critical.

A friend is someone who can keep you grounded:
Someone who can help you see through your obstacles;
Someone to shoulder you through life's trials.

A friend is someone who shares unconditionally:
Someone to laugh and to cry with;
Someone to lean on, through both the good and the bad.

A friend is someone you choose wisely,
For a friend is your own mirrored image:
Someone to compliment your own self;
Someone who indicates who you are as a person.

A friend.... is what you are to me.

"OK, first, take this handout." She puts a stack of printed instructions on the nearest table. "Take one and pass around. Circle the positive verbs and negative verbs. Identify any literary terms. Write an analytical paragraph about this poem and state your definition of a friend. It is due at the end of the class so you better not be chatting. If there is any question, come see me."

The style of short and blunt instructions is her brand. But it helps her students think by themselves and generate their own ideas without fixing into any mold. The proof is her students' grades are always higher than other teachers' students.

From the last row, Seunghee secretly looks around. Then she busies herself writing a sticky note to Jiho and Binnie.

Seunghee: Hey girls, I don't feel like this is going normally.

Jiho: Yeah same. I feel weird too.

Binnie: Aish, I ain't have time for this stupid.

Seunghee: It's not stupid. It's getting real!

Binnie: Don't send this too me anymore.

Jiho: It's like being curse!

Seunghee: Yeah, I've been feeling this way since we chatted with ABC.

Jiho: I want to believe but I can't.

Seunghee: Can't do anything about this.

"Yah Seunghee, Jiho! Have you done your paragraphs? Are they worth more than a 80?"

As soon as the teaceher discovers the sticky note, Seunghee hides it in her bag and pretends she is really into the poem.

A friend is someone you can always rely on:
Someone who is there to share your thoughts with;
Someone to listen, no matter the subject.

A friend is someone you can trust:
Someone who will guard your deepest secrets;
Someone who will never let you down.

A friend is someone who shares unconditionally:
Someone to laugh and to cry with;
Someone to lean on, through both the good and the bad.

Seunghee has already written half of her paragraph. She's done picking out literary devices and linked them to her evidences. But the summary parts confuses her. It makes her read it over and over again, but she can't get even a little line of it. Words, phrases and sentences are floating in her head like clouds. Sweat drops on her notebook. Her cheap pen starts to ooze ink out since she held her pen in the air. Wind blows toward her eyes and she doesn't close them.

She can't concentrate anymore.

Some one you can always rely on.

Someone who is there to share your thoughts with.

Someone who will guard your deepest secrets.

Someone who shares unconditionally.

Rely

Share

Secrets

Unconditionally

Minha-ah~ Please forgive me~

"Seunghee-ah! Are you hearing me? Seunghee-ah! This is not good. Girls, take her to the nurse! Quick!"

(Class C-10, first period, Computer Science)

"OK, is there anybody absent?" The teacher shouts out and looks around the computer lab. "Yes? No? OK. Log in your computers and then look up here when you're finish."

The sound of keyboard typing is like the most intriguing sound ever happened. Because it's the sign of something happening. 

The school provides every student with an account, but what nobody knows is, some of the students get two accounts on their own.

Arin quickly logs in her computer. She types in the username and an assigned password, but when she presses Enter, it appears that her account is permanently blocked. 

"What the hell?"

She turns off her computer and does the same log-in. But the still gets the same red error window.

"What's happening?"

Being blocked means she can't log in the school community site, can't submit online homework, can't have access to resources posted on teachers' pages, can't check her grade and can't post anything. Is it the computer or her?

Arin secretly logs in with another account which is her sister's old account that has been abandoned. But all it appears is the message Your account is invalid. 

"This is not good at all."

She is about to report this problem but seems like the teacher doesn't care what's happening and keeps on talking about the lesson.

"Done? Look up here. I need all of your attention please. OK. We've done a lot of crazy stuff on the computers and now we're coming to a very exciting chapter about social network before learning about social media. I bet every one of you has at least one SNS account of any type. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Line, Kakaotalk, whatever, I don't care. We're gonna learn about safety first."

The teacher sees the students are secretly laughing up their sleeves, which makes him unhappy.

"I know you guys are gonna laugh at me like that. Quick question, raise your hand if you have a Facebook account?"

More than half of the class raise their hands.

"Did anybody really read their policies when you sign up for Facebook?"

This time none of the hands is up.

"See, I told ya. Another question, has anybody posted something about somebody else that turned out terribly? I know you're not raising your hands. But looking at your faces, I know some of you have done that. Have you started aconversation of a stranger?"

One-third of the class raise their hands.

"I knew it. Social media is the best way of approach people anonymously. Yet it brings some kind of good stuff, like meeting your soulmate, but really at this age you won't. People usually look at the sunny side but forget the dark side of it. How many of you have heard about Amanda Todd?"

None of the students raises their hands.

"It's OK if you don't know her because she's from America. She died at age 15 due to cyberbullying on Facebook, after two attempts to suicide. You guys should really look up information about her. It can be a life lesson. I take her story for an example for today. And I tell you guys, I'm one of the few teachers who oppose the school's community site. It's not wrong, it's a place where students and teachers interact online to share work and stuff, but the thing I oppose is the student-managed confession site. Yet it's not wrong if it's used for its very original usage: to reveal secret feelings and memories and whatever, I don't care. But you know, not everything is perfect, and I know too well that somebody has died because of this."

Author's note:

1. So, D-11 is not as wonderful as people thought, the internal situation is only by the homeroom teacher and members of the class. But do you feel like the teacher is really complimenting on Binnie's achievement, or she just prefers Minha to Binnie?

2. Seunghee has such strong sixth sense. She feels the past is happening again. But what happened to her at the end?

3. Minha's case seems to be actually controversial and all teachers are acting toward it. Is this a coincident to ABC's conversation? 

4. Quote of the chapter: Due to success I started losing friends. (Ace Hood)

5. Sorry for the late update. Next time I will post 2 chapters: 1 for background charac and 1 for main charac + clues.