My name is Jung Krystal and I'm a professional liar.

Okay, okay, that's not entirely true. Maybe not professional per se, considering that fact that I don't actually do it for a living. I'm just really good at it. Like, really good. I know that lying is bad, that it's frowned upon, blah, blah blah, but we all do it right? So aren't we all hypocrites then?

I'm still not sure whether my startling ability to lie is either a blessing or just a curse. Sure, it means that I can talk myself in and out of an unexpected situation without breaking a sweat but it also means that people don't trust me. I don't have many friends, you see. I'm okay with that though. I always have been, well, up until now. Not when there's a murderer on the prowl. Not when everybody suspects that it's me.

I didn't kill them, in case you were wondering. I'm a liar, not a murderer, but as usual, everyone suspects that the weird, liar chick did it. It isn't really hard to blame them though when part of me blames myself.

Choi Sulli and Lee Taemin were the school's 'it-couple'. They were rich, powerful, and absolutely stunning. Sulli was the captain of the cheerleading team, in other words, the ' brigade' as I would like to call it. She could have had any guy in school, but of all the hot guys around, she chose nerdy little Taemin and bam! The school's fairytale of the century ---- the pretty little rich girl falling in love with the shy, anime enthusiast. It was hard for people to accept it at first, but god did they make a good couple. They were both absolutely perfect for one another. They never left each other's side, they were picture-perfect, and they even finished each other's sentences. Sulli had turned Taemin from a geeky little nerd into some sort of well-feared rock star. The transformation itself was almost comical.

I used to talk to Taemin once in a while, before he became popular. He was a nice guy actually. Cute, shaggy brown hair and stunning brown eyes hidden behind thick lenses. Also, he had a great sense of humor. It wasn't so surprising that his popularity shot up so quickly when he started dating Sulli.

You see, I was the last person to see the couple before they died. Well, at least that's what the officers are saying.

It was at the back of the pharmacy that was just a few blocks away from Kyunggi High School, the high school where I'm a junior at. I was at the register paying for my mother's prescripted medicine. She's dying of Malaria, which she caught on a weekend trip to Hawaii with her new boyfriend. Dr. Kwon declared that she only had a few months to live.

....okay, that was a lie. My mother is completely fine and I went to the pharmacy to buy tampons since it was my time of the month. Sue me. So, I decided to go around the back of the store so that I could get home faster when a harsh voice spoke through the thick trees. I quickly ducked down to listen.

"How can you read so much into that?! I was only talking to him! You're acting like I was giving him a freakin' !!" a sharp and feminine voice snapped. I recognized the voice immediately. It was the same voice that muttered snide comments whenever I walked past its owner ---- Sulli's voice.

"There's a big difference between talking and flirting, Sulli and in that case, it was definitely not talking." a deeper voice responded and my eyebrows shot up. Sulli and Taemin never fought. would hit the fan if the school ever found out about this.

"God, you can be such a prick sometimes, you know that?!" Sulli shouted back. I craned my neck high enough to be able to see the back of Sulli's long, wavy and silky black hair. Taemin was leaning over her, fury and jealousy evidently burning behind his eyelids. His cheeks were gleaming with anger, shiny, red and adorable.

Wow. Trouble in paradise, indeed.

Before he could even respond, Sulli furiously stomped across the street, her heels clicking behind her. "Sulli? Sulli! Hey, wait a second, I'm still talking to you!..." his voice grew farther away as he chased after his girlfriend. They both disappeared into the thick bushes surrounding the aread. I waited for a couple more seconds before getting up and quickly walking towards the path that leads to my house. Clutching the packet to my chest, I willed the thundering heart to slow.

Okay, I lied, again. That wasn't the last time I saw them; however, nobody knows that.

"Freak."

"Psycho."

"Liar."

Yeah. These were the words I was very familiar with. I've been hearing them for as long as I can remember. It's almost disappointing, really, that people couldn't come up with anything more original anymore. That would be nice for a change. I can tune hem out pretty well. I've been so used to hearing them that the names and comments they would say almost felt comforting. Like classical music playing in the background.

That's a lie, of course. The insults drive me crazy.

I remember my first day in Kyunggi High School. I pretended to be an albino. I mean, I had the skin for it. Pale as snow, my mother says. She was right. My skin was the delicate color of a snowflake, whiter than anything. At that time, I had dyed my hair in a color of pale, dusty blonde just before the first day of high school. It suited me though, I tell you. My hair was wavy, ending at my waistline. I hardly ever cut my hair to be honest.

My eyes were a problem, though. They were brown, like the land that we walk in and it was a definite sign that I wasn't an albino. So, I wore sunglasses to cover them up. I walked around school, completely dressed in black clothing and the amount of stares and whispers I got were ridiculous.

But I loved every minute of it.

I guess that's the reason why I lie so much. I crave the attention and the adrenaline you get from it. I love the way you can make people mindlessly believe in things that aren't true by simply manipulating words. It made me feel invincible and I loved it. It was the greatest feeling in the world. Okay, another lie. There's another act I have in mind, which includes the removal of clothing. That's the greatest feeling in the world. Lying came in a very close second.

"Are you really an albino?" a voice asked behind me during English class. Since it was my first day, the teacher ---- Miss Yoon ----- made me get up in front of the class and introduce myself. I put on an American accent that speaks in Korean and vaguely declared I was an albino and that my family came to the US to run away from a group of African hunters who believed that albino blood cured all diseases. I received a few gasps and a crap load of stares by it. I greedily soaked it all up in return.

I turned in my seat and face a tall, rather good-looking jock. He had an arrogant smirk on his face, as if he owned everything here in Seoul or something, which I later learned that his family sort of did. He was Kim Jongin, known as Kai, Kim Jaesoon's youngest son. Kim Jaesoon’s family was the richest family in Seoul.

"Of course I am. Why would I ever make up something like that?" I asked innocently, still laying on the American accent that had a hard time speaking the Korean language. I had the perfect Korean accent though but I thought that maybe having a "hard time" with it would be fun. He seemed to buy my explanation, because his smirk grew even wider.

"Well, I think that's awesome." he said, holding his hand out "I'm Kai."

I nodded and carefully took it. "I'm Krystal."

"Hmm...Krystal. A nice English name." he said, putting my hand to his lips as he gently kissed it

"Smooth." I grinned

He grinned back. "I know."

After that class, word got around very quickly that I was an albino. By the end of the day, I was already considered unusual. Exotic, even. Almost every student came up to me and asked me questions and I answered every one of them. I basked in the attention.

Actually, no. That's a lie. Word got around that I was an albino, but my biology teacher forced me to take off my glasses. "You can't be an albino, dear. Your eyes are brown. Albinos lack pigmentation in the eyes. They're either red or purple. Google it." Mrs. Lee smiled sweetly, her sharp eyes burning with malice. I immediately hated her after that.

The class suddenly broke out in whispers and the curious, awed stares I had been receiving all day immediately turned into bitter disgust. I was caught red-handed. .

Ever since then, I had been known as the lying psycho.

"Why are we even bothering with all this ? We all know Jung did it!" tall, and black-haired Gong Minzy muttered bitterly. Everybody calls me Jung. Never Krystal. Apparently, my reputation was too low for people to call me by my real name. I wasn't considered "worthy enough" to be thought of as a human being. Being a liar does that to people, I guess.

I sat silently. My entire history class sat in a small, makeshift circle. Three police officers have come down to our school to investigate all the students about Taemin's and Sulli's murder. They were attempting to do the whole 'group interrogation' first.

A few people grumbled in agreement after hearing Minzy's words, throwing me dirty looks. I still sat there silently, my long hair hanging like a curtain around my face. A lie. They didn't just give me dirty looks. Their gazes pinned on me murderously, as if I were Satan himself. In their minds, I had killed the most popular couple in the whole school. If I thought my reputation was low before....

"Language, Ms. Gong." Mrs. Kwon scolded. She was a strange lady, with her ankle-length dresses and frizzy hair. The lipstick she put on her teeth was even more than on her lips.

"We're not exactly sure who did it yet, Miss Gong. No accusations will be made until we have evidence." the tallest officer ---- Officer Kang ----- explained. Out of all of them, he looked the most compassionate about everything.

When the school announced that two of its students had been murdered, the entire school went into a state of shock. People couldn't believe that something like that ----- the two, most well-known people in this huge school of ours being killed ----- could ever happen in such a seemingly friendly neighborhood. Families nearby were devastated, homes went on lock-down. The same message seemed to spread like wildfire around the houses, streets and neighborhoods here around Seoul; nobody was safe. Somebody, living around here, was killing innocent civilians and unless that person was caught, we were all possible targets. Anybody could be next.

The Choi family ---- one of the richest families in all of South Korea ---- had gone into overdrive. Posters and missing signs were on every corner, every window and every telephone booth. It was all over the news, all over the newspapers and on every source of media here in Korea. You couldn't turn on the television without catching a glimpse of Sulli's bubbly, smiling face. You couldn't turn on the radio without hearing Taemin's name. The school was even organizing a huge memorial ceremony for both of them. A lot of people would be attending and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Even the people who didn't really know them that well would be attending.

"But Jung said that she was the last person who saw them, didn't she? That means she killed them." one of the cheerleaders ---- Luna, I think ---- asked hopefully. The entire cheerleading team went into a state of depression after the news. Practices were cancelled and every member has been sent to talk to a grief counselor. I saw them walking around the school with smudged mascaras and watery eyes. Part of me thought it was all an act.

"Why would you even listen to her? She's a liar. She lies about everything." a voice said nearby. I didn't bother to look and see who it was

Finally, I decided to speak for myself. "I saw them and I didn't kill them." I said in a quiet manner. This was the first time I've spoken since I walked into the room. I dropped the American accent long ago.

"Bull." somebody muttered

"Language!" Mrs. Kwon snapped again

"Miss Jung has an alibi. There is no use on following a lost lead." said the blonde, short officer. I think her name was Kim Hyoyeon but everybody called her Officer Kim. She had been watching out argument in total silence, her sharp eyes calculating.

"Then she's lying." Luna snapped

Officer Kim ignored her. "What we do know is that Choi Sulli and Lee Taemin were both at the party before the murder, " I saw a few people flinch at what she said "We need to know who attended the party and who didn't. We will be opening interrogations for those people, every single one of them."

Almost all of the students in the room raised their hands. The third officer ----- I've forgotten his name ------ slowly went around to write down their names and details in a clipboard. No more group interrogations. Only one-on-one this time around.

The police wouldn't exactly tell us how much evidence they've gathered so far. They haven't even told us whether they've found the bodies. Sulli and Taemin have been officially missing for three days now. While there were people who hoped that they were still alive, the chances were honestly very, very low. I sat quietly for the rest of the session, tuning out everything, except for the times when I participated in questions that were directed at me from time to time. As soon as the bell rang for lunch, I gratefully stood up and went to my clocker.

"Oomph..!!" my body was shoved painfully against the cool metal of the lockers. A blast of pain shot up my shoulders. Strong hands gripped me, and two sets of murderous hazel eyes met my own.

"You little ! You killed my best friend!" Park Luna exclaimed, harshly slapping her hand across my cheek. Her hand was pretty small, but Jesus did it hurt. "I'm going to ing kill you!"

"Stop it, stop it! I didn't kill her! Let me go!" I thrashed against her, but she was too strong. No matter how cute she looked in her little cheerleading outfit, she packed some serious muscle in her body.

She jerked my shoulders, so that my head slammed against the metal. My eyes stung with pain and I could hardly see the group of people that were already crowded around us. I could hardly even hear whatever they were chanting. I shoved her off of me. The principal came rushing towards us where we were causing the huge scene and broke us apart. The chanting quickly turned into disappointed moans and grumbles. Another teacher held onto my arms as she led us to the principal's office, shouting god knows things at me. I couldn't even listen to her since my mind was still occupied by the earlier events.

That was a lie, by the way. The principal never came, well, not until after a while, at least. Nobody broke us apart. Instead, I used one of my hands to yank her brown hair and used the other to punch that in the face as hard as I could.

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