“Hyung, is there anyway that she’s right?” Jinyoung blurted.

They were back to the school again to find more information on the arsonist. It has been days since the first arson had happened, but there were no other substantial leads other than the fact that the arsonist follows a ritual of every few days.

And that the unknown suspect didn’t manage hurt other victims. It was as though the fires were to show power over the victims.

“Power over victims…” JB repeated his thought.

“Hyung?”

Jaebum glanced at Jinyoung before shrugging. “I think there is a little truth to her words. But we can’t ignore any possible leads.”

They walked into the school office and bumped into a crying female student. Behind her was a fuming department head.

“Woah, you okay?” Jinyoung asked. “Jihee-ah.”

She wiped her tears away and was about to reply when she noticed JB giving her a look. She switched her gaze back to Jinyoung.

“I’ll… I’ll talk to you later.”

She scurried off, chin tucked towards her chest, eyes on the ground.

“Jinyoung-ah,” JB suddenly called out. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Kang Jihee, that girl I was talking to you about? The one that the three boys bullied before.”

JB just nodded and they entered the makeshift office. They headed towards the fuming teacher as she calmed herself down to speak to the men.

“What just happened?” JB pointed over his shoulder.

“Nothing much,” Ms Wang sighed. “Jihee came, here again, to lodge a report to 3 boys ganging up on her.”

“Again?” Jinyoung gaped.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “It’s her fourth time this month.”

“And you don’t think her complaints are important enough to be acted upon?” Jaebum questioned.

“If I were to check out every complaint I receive from students, wouldn’t there be no one to care for the student body’s activities?” Ms Wang argued.

“You forgo one student’s well-being to take care of the entire school?” JB snorted. “She came to you 4 times in a month, don’t you think that she might just be speaking the truth about the harassment and bullying?”

Ms Wang’s brows narrowed and glared at Jaebum. “Officer, you are here to take care of the arsonist case, not teach me how to do my job. Let’s stay in our own lane and mind our own businesses.”

Jinyoung had to pull JB back, he was fuming.

“Why didn’t you at least check it out, Ms Wang?” He asked in place of his partner. “She might actually be bullied by those boys. I’ve seen them do that in person.”

Ms Wang shook her head and reached down to her desk. She picked up a document. Handing it over to Jaebum, she said, “You’ll understand once you see this.”

Jaebum opened the file, Jinyoung peeped over his shoulder.

The document contained several black and white screen captures presumably from a CCTV from the angle of the photos. It was photos from a chemistry classroom and there was a lone girl in the room.

They went through photos and photos, only to realise that it was the fire that first happened a few days back. The two officers saw that it was Jihee that was experimenting with several different liquids.

“She’s… She’s the one who set the fire?” Jinyoung asked.

“She came to the office once that day to tell us about the bullying but everyone was busy in the office. She wrote on a piece of paper that she was locked in the janitor’s closet for the whole morning and no one came to help her.” Ms Wang rubbed her temple.

“And when do you plan to tell us about these issues?” JB fumed, dots connecting in his head.

“We didn’t think--”

“She’s our unsub!” Jaebum grunted and threw the files on the table. “Where is her next class?”

Ms Wang was taken aback at his sudden outburst. “What’s an unsub?”

“Unknown suspect.” Jinyoung pressed his lips together. “Where is Jihee’s next class, Ms Wang?”

“SR3.” She stammered.

“I need you to evacuate the building. She might go after her final targets, her bullies.” Jaebum explained. “After she gets her recipe right, she’ll won’t go to another substitute, but to the original stressor.”

With that said, the two officers left the room. Ms Wang went to the door and hit the fire alarm.

***

Taemin, Jiwoong and Seunghyun were already seated in the classroom, chatting and fooling about when Jihee strolled in. The boys looked up and gave each other knowing looks.

She slammed the doors shut and locked them up, breaking the handles off the door. The boys sat up.

“Ya, Kang Jihee. What are you doing?” Taemin asked.

“Are you trying to get us alone so that we can have some fun?” Jiwoong chuckled, nudging Seunghyun.

The latter just laughed at the comment and got out of his seat. He sauntered over to the girl, whose hands were behind her back.

“What do you have there in your hand?” Seunghyun rubbed her arms. “Care to show us?”

She avoided his gaze and turned her face when he leaned down to kiss her cheek. With a swift motion, she shoved him back and splashed him with the chemicals she had hidden behind her back.

He stumbled and coughed, squeezing his eyes shut to avoid getting liquid in his eyes. He wrinkled his nose as his friends came running towards him.

“What the hell is this?!” Seunghyun sniffed himself.

“Improved Benzene. Why?” She smirked. “Can’t I get you all wet before we start our game?”

“Benzene?” Taemin whispered.

“Highly flammable, very dangerous. A fire