Cameras.

Noises.

Click.

Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Kai wasn't sure what was wrong, but he knew that something was wrong. If things were perfect, then why were there several reporters standing outside the gates, their pens ready, tapes recording, and cameras flashing? Ever since last night, the neighborhood was flocked with worry and doubt. It was one thing that two students were missing, but an additional three?

"...Kai!" a voice yelled. He snapped out of his thoughts, then turned back to see JR almost glaring at him.

"Ah... Yes?" Kai asked.

"I've been calling you for the past five minutes. What are you thinking about?" JR questioned him.

"Nothing much... Why?"

"A girl's here to see you."

"Namjoo?"

"No." JR blinked his eyes. "Though I'm surprised that you mentioned her first. She's been pretty quiet. Miss beating her up?"

Something was wrong. Kai tasted something bitter in his throat, and he was sure that it wasn't blood or anything. It was more like he was... angry. No, it was the taste that he had forgotten two years ago: guilt.

"Ah... I guess. Hey, when are the reporters leaving? I heard that they want to talk to the principal or something," Kai said, peeking back at the window. A flash of white light blinded him for almost a second. He closed the crimson curtains and scowled.

"I think the reporters are planning to stay... They're trying to interview some of our students, though. I heard that they're asking if severe bullying is taking place, or if there was anything abnormal going around this school. It's chaotic!" JR exclaimed. "Anyways, should I let the girl in? It's Minzy, if you haven't figured it out."

"Send her in."

The door clicked open, and the short-haired girl walked in. Her face was unusual pale, not to mention that her lips were slightly purple. It was as if she had met the most terrifying monster a second before she stepped into the room. JR quickly decided to give the two some alone time and raced outside, closing the door behind him. When the door slammed close, only silence filled the air. Kai kept quiet, and Minzy pressed her lips together. He stared and stared, almost intimidating her with his cold glare. However, Minzy stood firm and tall, as if she was the one who was in charge.

"Kai," Minzy finally started, "I don't know Jiyoung and Niel eloped, and I don't think the three others ran away."

"So what's your point?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.

She took a deep breath, then made eye-contact with him. "I want you to confess that you did something to them."

He dropped his hands to the side. He couldn't believe what he heard. Was she crazy? Why would he do anything to people who supported his view of a utopian world?

"I know you told them to back off or something. Kai, I don't want this mess to be even crazier. I don't want to be involved anymore. I admit, I was doing the wrong things. Though now the whole world has their eyes on us. Kai, let's end this tyranny and confess that you did everything," Minzy suggested, hoping that her desperate cries reached his heart. Instead of responding, Kai turned his back on her and stared back at the window. His fingers were curled up into a fist, and he didn't dare to move an inch from his spot.

Her words did not reach him.

"Why would you think that I did something?" he questioned her. "What if you did something to them?"

"You don't scare me."

"Then why are you trembling?"

"Because the world scares me, and I think that the world will find out what I did wrong."

"Then don't let them find a damn thing about this place!" Kai shouted, slamming both fists against the table. This startled Minzy, and when she realized that there was no way to get him to change his mind, she stepped back. She muttered an apology, then scurried over to the door. Before she left, she glanced back at Kai, who would only give her a menacing look.

"Kai," she said softly, "I think I know what scares you."

"What?"

"Yourself."

She ran away, leaving Kai stunned and puzzled with her strange answer.

"...As the police are investigating the school, the principal has finally announced that the school will shut down for the next two or so weeks. Fortunately, the school has already distributed the students to different schools temporarily, hoping to finish the investigation sooner than planned. This is Reporter Kwon from--"

Ilhoon quickly turned off the remote. He was stuck in the hospital, sitting next to Namjoo, who was stuck in bed. It was funny how he wasn't the one ill at the hospital. All his life, he believed that he would be the one to end up in the building, disappearing into death's open arm. He found it strange how Namjoo, who seemed to be the one striving to live on, was sitting on the hospital bed, eating a bowl of soup and frowning at him for turning off the television.

"Ilhoon, I was watching that!" Namjoo complained.

"Well, I don't want to watch it anymore. I feel sick," he replied earnestly, looking away. 

She heaved a sigh. "Well, soon enough this news report will be on almost every channel, I bet. I should hurry and get better before Kai does anything worse."

"What makes you think that Kai is doing all of this?" Ilhoon asked her.

"Um, hello? Who else would be doing this? We're talking about Kai, the one who created the hit-list. Though it's kind of funny how he's not going in order," Namjoo mumbled, pulling out the crumbled paper from behind the pillow. "It's almost like he's gone crazy and he's just slaughtering everyone. Kind of reminds me of those insane people in the movies who just like to kill for their own pleasure."

"They might not be insane," Ilhoon muttered to himself. "It' might be that they have a deeper reason..."

"Did you say something?" Namjoo asked.

The pale boy looked up and shook his head. Was it even possible to say anything, especially when he was the only witness who saw what had happened? After all, he did eliminate all the people with his own hand–with his own strength. Was there a reason to feel guilty? Not at all! In fact, he was only helping Namjoo. Helping did not harm... did it?

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. The door was already open. Who would knock? He looked behind him and saw the familiar figures standing at the entrance, staring at them with worried eyes. Namjoo widened her eyes, surprised to see her unexpected guests.

"Suzy... Come on in! You too, Minho, L. Jessica, good evening. Please, come on in! Find a spare chair and take a seat," Namjoo said hurriedly, putting away her bowl of soup to the side.

"It's okay," Suzy said, "we'll be short."

Jessica was the first to speak about the horrifying situation. "Is Kai on a rampage or something?"

"That's what I assumed," Namjoo replied. "Why?"

"People are getting worried. Family members and friends are suddenly starting to disappear or panic. The neighborhood is starting to suspect everyone, but no one's saying a word. The school is under shut-down, but I heard that Kai and a few other students are allowed to go back and in the school to discuss about any social matters taking place in the school," Jessica explained.

"Social matters? Like what?"

"Bullying," Minho said calmly, "black-mailing, and probably cyber-bullying. They're looking for students to break down and make them confess what's been going around in the school."

"So no one's said anything?"

"Nope," L replied.

Namjoo made a fist. "Why not? Why hasn't anyone said anything?"

"Well, the entire school took part of keeping these a secret. If one lets the secret slip out, everyone is doomed," Minho pointed out.

"But you two..." Suzy stared at Namjoo, then at Ilhoon. "You two are the ones who didn't participate. You can rat them out, right? You can make Kai deserve his punishment, right?"

Namjoo frowned. "I... I don't know–"

"Please, I beg of you!" she cried out. "I've been accused of being in fault for Krystal's death, and I do understand that it's my fault. Though I feel that a part of her death isn't only my fault. I don't think anyone understands the guilt I've been through. I've been stuck in this hospital for two years, and every time I step out, I feel like I'm suffocating. I just... I just know that Kai's somehow behind her death, but I don't have any evidence or witnesses. If... If he can just be punished for his part of the crime..." She sniffed, and wiped away her tears, which streamed down her cheeks. "I... I just want to breathe. I want to get this heavy feeling out of my chest!"

"But I can't do anything!" Namjoo exclaimed. "I don't have any evidence–"

"Yes you do," Ilhoon interrupted, giving her an empty look. For a second, she couldn't recognize who he was. It was like she caught a new side of Ilhoon for a moment. His eyes were almost black, surrounded by a tired shade of purple. There was a dark, unfamiliar glint, but it lasted in a blink of an eye. "You have the hit-list. Show the police that hit-list."

The girl silently crumbled the piece of paper in her hands, tucking it well back into her pillow.

"N-No," Namjoo stuttered. "I... I lost it. I don't have any evidence–"

"Tch. What a coward," L whispered, glancing away. The short-haired girl shot him an offended look, but Jessica was able to do all the talking. The older girl grabbed ahold of his collar, her fist pumping with fury and her eyes locked with his.

"You're calling her a coward? Ha! I can't believe it. I utterly can't believe it. You, who's the definition of a coward, is calling someone else a coward? You disgusting, little idiot! How dare you call her a coward? I'd like to see you tell us everything about what happened in the past. You're being a nasty hypocrite. I'm shocked, really. No, I'm petrified! Her? Coward? Ha! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Who're you going to call a coward next? My younger sister?" Jessica screamed. L narrowed his eyes, disliking the way he was spoken to.

"Don't you dare bad-mouth about me, you filthy creature! At least I was there when Krystal needed me the most! I tell you, she went through times that no child ever should've went through when they're only in kindergarten! You don't even have the right to be called a sister, you know? If you were her true sister, why weren't you there? She wanted a family, but you just left her alone in a really dark place. I came and picked her up, I was the one who comforted her, and I was the damn one who was with her the entire time she was driven to despair!" L yelled back, shoving Jessica away.

The brunette stepped back a few seconds, then let out a terrifying cry. She suddenly ran towards him, making him trip backwards and fall on his back. He widened his eyes when Jessica raised her hand and slapped him with anger and regrets.

"You were there? Oh, really? Please, you weren't even there for her all the time! You never picked her up. You just used her and laughed at her. Look at you right now! Do you think you're some kind of savior? Well, you aren't. You're the type of guy who'll give someone false hope, you know? You're just worried that you'll lose something precious like popularity or money if you're with someone lame, but you know what? That lame person can give you so many of life's lesson that you can't even earn with those useless stuff. You threw away my little sister for all those useless junk. If you're really sorry, and if you really think that you did something for her, then throw away all those selfish desires and give me back my sister so that I can love her again!" Jessica begged, throwing her hand across his bony cheeks several times.

Minho finally managed to pry her hands off of L's collar, and pulled her back before things could get messy. L rubbed his sore cheeks, slowly sitting up. He looked up at Jessica, then slowly widened his eyes.

Her hair flew all of the place, reminding him of a witch's hairstyle. Her eyes were sore and red with tears falling down to the floor. Her nose was runny to the point where they trickled over her lips, but she couldn't care less about how she looked. The boy continued to stare, slowly understanding the agony Jessica was feeling for the loss of her own sister. 

"I'll go and try to calm her outside," Minho said, dragging Jessica away from the room.

"Give me back my sister... my sister!" she whimpered, trying to resist the forceful pull.

Suzy let out a loud sigh. "Namjoo, Ilhoon, I am so sorry you had to see that. I guess we'll end our conversation for now. It'll be nice to see you get back on your feet."

"Oh, don't worry," Namjoo replied with a weak, awkward smile. "The doctors said that I can be discharged in a few days. I just lost some blood and got a bruise on my head, that's all."

"Alright then. Get better," Suzy said, wrapping her skinny arms around Namjoo's shoulder. She let go, then looked at Ilhoon. Instead of smiling, she gave him a stern look. "Take care, Ilhoon."

He paused and began to examine her. Did she know about his secret? Instead of saying anything, he only nodded his head and bid her a "goodbye."

As Suzy and L stood up and left, the two took the longer route to avoid seeing Jessica's miserable state. Once the two arrived at the elevator, Suzy heaved a sigh and blew her bangs. She pressed a higher floor number, indirectly telling L that she was going back to her room in the hospital. The two kept silent for a while, trying to take in the chaos that happened a few minutes ago. Finally, the elevator doors opened. Suzy turned to L, who refused to look down.

"Goodbye, L. Stay safe," Suzy told him. He only nodded his head. She walked out of the door, stepping onto the cold floor. When she didn't hear the elevator door close, she turned around and saw L holding down a button which forced the elevator to open up. She frowned, confused with his strange action.

"L? Did you need anything–"

"You were right," he whispered. "It wasn't all your fault."

The girl looked at him in distress. "What's this? Are you going to say that it's my fault later–"

"Kai was part of her death. It wasn't suicide," L confessed. Before the girl had anything else to say, the doors closed and he was already heading down to the first floor. Suzy stared at the cold, closed door, stunned by what he had said. She walked back to her room, then ran her fingers across the window pane. She stared outside, where she saw L walk out with his head down and his hands in his pocket. Soon, she saw Jessica and Minho getting into a taxi cab, probably going home.

It wasn't my fault, she repeated in her head. It wasn't suicide.

Subconsciously, Suzy unlocked the windows. She opened it, letting a fresh breeze blow into the room. The sound of birds rung in her ears, and her eyes widened as if she had taken her first mint candy in years. Her eyes sparkled, her heart leaped for joy, and for the very first time in two years, a smile had grown on her lips.

I'm so sorry for destroying your high school life, Krystal, she prayed, clasping her hands together. But I promise, I'll make up for it.

"Kai... No, Kim Jongin, I'm coming for you soon."

What she didn't know was that another man below her floor was also aiming for Kai, but in a much more bloody battle.