Namjoo was puzzled when Jessica, Minho, and L arrived at her room. They were all pale, especially L, and everyone was breathless. Had something happened before she was discharged? It would be only a matter of days until she could go back on her feet. Was there some kind of important news that the three had to report to her or were they going to argue and fight?"

"Did something happened?" Namjoo finally asked. Minho stared her, composed himself, then brought a couple of chairs for L and Jessica to sit on. He took a seat on a nearby stool, then folded his hands together.

"Suzy's dead," Minho informed her. "It was on the news."

The hospitalized girl turned white. "Wha…Wait, why–"

"They said it was suicide," Minho continued, not letting Namjoo speak up. "They found the bullet straight at her heart, and bullet belonged to a gun that was in her pocket. Police are still investigating the scene, but I don't believe Suzy would've committed suicide."

"So what are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that Kai killed her? If he did, why would he do it? He hardly knows Suzy, right? Do you believe that he's trying to target everyone in the neighborhood?" Namjoo asked.

Jessica narrowed her eyes. "You seem awfully protective over Kai, even knowing how evil he is."

"Guys," L interrupted, causing everyone to stare at him. "I'm going to tell you guys the history and everything that happened from my point of view. I'm going to explain about Krystal, what happened at her funeral, and everything else. I'll answer all your questions at the end, but let me explain."

Minho widened his eyes, but Jessica stood still. Namjoo made herself comfortable, knowing that the story was going to take a while. L waited for a few seconds, then took a deep breath.

"I was Krystal's childhood friend, not to mention that I also attended the same class with her. Though when we were kids, I wasn't her only friend. In fact, Kai was there, too. He struggled to get along with the neighborhood kids, but we welcomed him with open arms. He was always strange and a peculiar child. He played nasty pranks on Krystal which could've end up with serious injuries. He'd trick Krystal into running across the street when a truck would head towards her, or even burned a pile of her clothes and forced her to grab something in the flame. I didn't say much, and I regret that. I told him to bug off once or twice, but he'd shoot me this odd look as if he was trying to test my loyalty towards him.

"One day, we were playing at Kai's home, and Krystal and I decided to play a prank on him. It was supposed to be a harmless prank, but it turned out to be a deadly one. We were just switching on the lights when Kai was gone from his home, hoping that he'd get in trouble when he came home. However, the two of us practically any switch we saw. Krystal saw the stove, realized that the knobs could turn, and the flammable gas flowed out of the stove. We didn't think about the consequences, so we left the house. Hours later, there was a loud explosion, and the two of us went outside, only to see Kai's house catch on fire. Unfortunately, Kai's parents didn't make out of the fire and burned to death. It was strange how Kai was the only one alive, but the news of the tragic deaths made on the headlines with Kai standing at his very home with the two of us besides him. One day, he suddenly disappeared, and we were told that he was going to live with his grandparents, who passed away quickly and sent him to the orphanage to be adopted.

"Since that day, Krystal's family had become worse. Her parents lacked the love they once shared, Jessica became a delinquent, and Krystal couldn't do anything but go along with the flow. I saw Krystal's mother beat her up, and I was going to protect her, but her mother beat me up, too. It was a useless fight between the one with authority and the one without. I was so afraid of going back to Krystal's home, and I was so afraid that if I got close to her, then her family would despise me even more. Of course, I naturally began to avoid her, and when we reached middle school, we hardly saw each other. In high school, I decided to get stronger and become a better public figure, thus leading to me dating Suzy and respecting my mother's selfish wishes.

"Then, Minho came… He came, and he did what no other person would ever do for Krystal: he protected her when she was the most vulnerable. His friends hated him for that, but he didn't seem to mind. He just saw this helpless kid be bullied by my girlfriend, but I supported my girlfriend. I don't deserve to be called Krystal's friend, especially since I deserted her when she needed my help the most.

"Things were going okay with a few bumps here and there, but Kai came back. I still have no idea why he came back, but he did. He came back with this strange smile and was being too friendly. I was sure that he was mad about us causing that fire incident, but he seemed to not care. I was terrible wrong about this. He did care, and he came back to avenge his parents. He took my own parent's lives, and I have no idea how he cleaned up his evidence so well. The investigators tried to look for any hints, but they only confirmed that my parents were murdered and that was it. I don't remember much about what happened afterwards, but I do remember seeing Krystal fall off the roof with her hands wrapped around Kai's neck. From that day, all I can remember is how I could've ran below them and saved them from this new chaos that was seeded the moment Kai came back to our neighborhood."

L quietly finished his last words, and looked down in shame. Jessica was already in tears, remembering about the hardships she had to went through with her family. Minho stood silent, but he was proud of how L managed to gather up his courage and finally tell the truth. He looked up at Namjoo, who still couldn't believe what Kai had done. 

"When Krystal fell off the building, I was on the roof with her and Kai," Minho spoke up. "He was trying to kill me, saying how I was in his way of Krystal's, L's, and his friendship. Of course, I tried to fight back, but he was really strong and something about this aura he gave off made me paralyzed. Krystal managed to save me in time, but I couldn't save her. I could've ran towards her instead of thinking about how I couldn't breath, but I chose my safety over hers. I was so busy trying to catch my breath again after being choked by Kai's very hands, I couldn't think of saving Krystal. The worse part was that I was there, and I wasn't sure what to say. I graduated, went to a decent college, but I quit my love for soccer. If Krystal wasn't here to live for the things she loved, then why should I continue to live for happiness?"

The room became silent. Everyone stared at Jessica, waiting to see if she had to confess a secret she had kept herself. Instead, she got up from her seat, and gently wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She grabbed a tissue from her bag, and blew her nose as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She cleared , then let out a shaky breath.

"Thank you," the brunette girl whispered. "Thank you very much."

"I still don't understand why you guys are all here," Namjoo said. "What are you guys going to do about Kai?"

Jessica pursed her lips. She looked at Namjoo, who had an anxious expression on her face. She was reminded about the time when Krystal was also anxious and scared, always asking her what would happen to the family or if their parents would ever divorce. Jessica dug into her purse, then pulled out her sunglasses.

"Nothing, Namjoo. We can't do anything," Jessica said, causing Minho's and L's eyes to widen. "There is absolutely nothing we can do."

"What are you talking about, Jessica?" L asked, almost glaring at her. "Are you saying that we should give up?"

"It's just as you said, L," Jessica mumbled, sniffing. "We cannot go against a higher authority. We are weak, useless people who must accept the very fate given to us, whether it's a bad future or a good one."

Ilhoon paused. Receiving texts–especially when they were from Kai's henchmen–were quite common. However, this particular text was different. It was specifically addressed to him, yet it was sent by Kai himself. He often heard Kai's voice ring in his ears through the announcers, but reading Kai's name made him feel disgusted and more afraid.

The text was simply reminding him that he would be returned to school in a few days. Was it normal to have the student council president remind only one student that school would resume as normal? Being unfamiliar with how the school system worked, Ilhoon wasn't sure. He casually threw his phone onto his bed and walked over to his desk, where his torn backpack was filled with nothing but heavy, metal items.

The door swung opened, and he gasped. He quickly shoved his backpack below the bed, and turned around. His father (the despicable man he was) gave his son a smile. Ilhoon cringed, and only turned around to grab a book as if he was beginning to study.

"Yes, Dad?" Ilhoon asked, flipping to a random page.

"As your father, I wanted to ask if you were okay. Are you scared?" Mr. Jung asked, taking a seat on his bed.

"No dad," Ilhoon replied shortly. Why would I be scared about a silly murder? It was done by me, of course.

"Then as the principal of your school, is there something that happened to any of the students?"

"Um, a few kids disappeared–"

"No, I meant when everyone was at school. You know how proud I am of my school. If our reputation keeps falling, you know what happens," Mr. Jung said with intimidating eyes. Ilhoon his lips, but continued to stare down at the paper. 

He never really liked his father. Mr. Jung was a man who thought more about his job instead of family. His workaholic trait led Ilhoon's mother to walk out of the house, never to be seen again. At first, Mr. Jung had been angry at his wife for running away, but he was soon happy after she had sent him several amounts of cash, which he used for the school. Ilhoon remembered how he told his father that he was being bullied once, but Mr. Jung had coolly brushed him away and said that he was just being a "wimp" and that he had to "grow up soon."

Once those words had slipped out of his mouth, Ilhoon never bothered to talk to his father. What was the point in trying to get an adult to do something if they didn't care? Ilhoon had to get stronger, and he didn't until he met…

"…Namjoo's a suspicious girl, isn't she? Kai has told me all about her. She's rebellious and doesn't fit in our school. Perhaps I should expel her or something…" Ilhoon widened his eyes and stared at his father, who was still smiling. "She's the one who's been around you for a long time, right? She must be the source that ruins the school's reputation! Kai told me–"

"Whatever he told you, don't believe in it!" Ilhoon shouted. "This is my problem, and mine alone."

Mr. Jung gave him a skeptical look. Then, he slowly rose up from the bed and walked towards his son. His cold, large hands rested ontop of Ilhoon's thin shoulder, which shivered at the sudden contact.

"Ilhoon, you've changed," Mr. Jung commented softly. "You appear to look… corrupted, for the lack of better terms."

Ilhoon narrowed his eyes. "Is that any way to describe your son?"

The man laughed. "You've got a point there. Though I don't exactly know if you're my son–"

"Dad!" Ilhoon yelled, horrified.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! It's not like I suspect your mother or anything, you know?" The father faked a smile. "Well, goodnight, Ilhoon."

"Good night," Ilhoon muttered, hearing the door close behind him. 

To Ilhoon, it seemed like everyone was a despicable person.

Everyone except for Namjoo.