Bleed.

Scream.

Fall.

Ilhoon kind of enjoyed seeing his fellow classmates–no, the enemies–cry out in pain as they fell out of the window or on the cold ground. It made him happy to see how the people who crushed him earlier were now being eliminated. He wanted to smirk and tell them how they had dug their own graves; he wanted to tell them that it was their fault for the situation they were in right now.

Maybe Kai was more a friend. Maybe Kai had set this up in order for him to live life to the fullest. Maybe Kai wasn't such a bad guy. After all, he was helping him destroy all the people who tainted this school. The students always bugged him and treated him as trash. They'd whisper how weak he was and how they didn't want to "point out any names" when it was obvious that they were talking to him. 

Disgusting, Ilhoon thought has he remembered the bitter, yet loud gossips he had heard about his physical strength. Purely disgusting. How can they say that I'm weak when they're just the same as me? Disgusting. They're just utterly disgusting little hypocrites who can't even do anything right with their own lives.

"Run! This way! I saw Kai come over there at that corner!" someone yelled. 

Adrenaline rushed through his veins. He couldn't wait to see the look of the upcoming student's face. He could only image the horrified expression that would stand out, the sudden heart-jumping thrill that would beat against the victim's chest.

The insane boy raised his gun and pointed at the blank walls. It felt good to hold such a deadly weapon. He loved how his hands fit nicely around the gun, which seemed to shake with anxiety and excitement. He heard the sneakers squeak loudly, and he knew that the newest trouble makers were coming close. Then, he heard something fall to the ground, and Ilhoon couldn't wait to make his appearance in front of their eyes.

"Oh my gosh! Minho, go carry Namjoo!" a loud, yet familiar voice, shouted.

Ilhoon almost dropped the gun. He stared at the empty wall, puzzled to hear such a mature voice ringing in the isolated hallways.

"I'm not that strong, okay? I haven't worked out or anything for the past few years," the deeper voice complained. "Stop running so fast! Namjoo isn't stable enough to run like us. Hey, what's this… G.NA! Her forehead! It's bleeding again!"

"Are you kidding me? Let's go into that classroom and hope that no one comes," the nurse muttered.

Ilhoon didn't dare to move. He heard the classroom door shut close, but he didn't open it. His mind suddenly recalled Namjoo, who was being targeted by Kai. He wanted to protect the door, but he was afraid that he would scare Namjoo. No, wait, didn't he already scare her?

His mind was jumbled with worried thoughts. What if Namjoo did not accept him? What if she didn't want everyone to die? Why wouldn't she want to see everyone get punished? They hurt her, too! It was only a reasonable thought to eliminate everyone who dared to step on their path. After all, didn't the other students try to do the same thing, too?

He looked down at gun. He remembered how Suzy wanted to tell him something, but what was it? He knew that he would never figure out those final words she had to say, and he knew that he would be the cause of it. In order to get rid of the guilt of killing or to get rid of the sight of death, he didn't even listen to anyone. Or was it that the gun didn't listen to anyone? 

I got to save Namjoo, he reminded himself. He weakly stepped away from the door, looked to his left and right, then ran to the nearest staircase to find Kai.

He knew that Kai–friend or foe–had to be gone from the world that only desired to prosper with good and virtue.

"This isn't good," G.NA muttered, staring at Namjoo's pale skin. "She's slowly losing conscious."

"Then should we go back to the nurse's office? Look, the bandage around her forehead is already soaked with blood," Minho pointed out. 

He was right. When Namjoo checked her forehead, she felt the cold red liquid trickle down her cheek. Not only that, but the white band that was wrapped around her head was now useless, as it did not stop the blood from flowing. She heaved a shaky sigh, and tried to calm herself. The sight of losing blood made her feel sick. She knew that if she panicked right now, nothing would be fixed.

The poor girl looked at G.NA with worried eyes, pleading her to save him. G.NA bit her bottom lip, then glanced back at Minho. He gave her a blank stare, but slowly widened his eyes as if the two were communicating with their brown orbs.

"You don't want to leave here like this, do you?" Minho asked carefully.

"Look, as of now, two people are trying to kill others. If we stay here and try to aid Namjoo, more people are going to be killed."

"So you want to leave her to die?" he questioned her, creasing his eyebrows. Namjoo felt her heart pound against her chest in fear, while G.NA tried to comfort the weak body with her gentle hands.

"I'm not saying that we should leave her to die, but more like we should go and find Kai." A pause, then a sigh. "Okay, if we don't find Kai in the next ten minutes, then let's come back to this room and help Namjoo. Deal?"

"Got it," Minho said. He looked around the room, then placed a thin jacket around Namjoo's bare arms. "We'll be back, okay? If we're not back in ten minutes, then save yourself."

The two left, leaving Namjoo to believe that they would return. She stared at her phone, which kept saying that there were no connections. She slowly rose from the ground, but quickly collapsed when her knees began to buckle. The tired girl let out a small whimper, but quickly shushed herself when she realized that the enemy could be near.

Ten minutes had passed… eleven… fifteen…twenty…

Namjoo flinched when she heard more gunshots ringing through the air, adding with screams from both women and men. She glanced back at her phone, which read the time.

Over ten minutes had passed, and the two did not return.

She wanted to cry. Namjoo felt hopeless, as if despair had out all the words she needed for a single prayer. Her eyes glistened under the dim lights, which seemed to darken every time a young child had fallen to the ground. No matter what she did, Namjoo could not get up or say a word. Rather, she felt cold and faint, like a dying rodent living on the streets. Tears fell down her cheeks, mixing in with the blood that fell from her forehead. 

I've created a monster, she thought, when I was trying to make a monster. I created something that everyone fears. 

Namjoo raised her her phone in the air. Just when she was about to throw it, the corner of her eyes glanced at the screen.

One bar.

Before, there was a prohibiting sign over the four bars. However, when she raised the phone high enough in the air, one bar was colored. The smallest bar was shaded in a beautiful gray, informing her that there was signal.

Namjoo didn't even need to think about who to call. She pressed three simple digits on her phone, then rose slowly. Her knees shook and threatened to fall, but she managed to support herself by holding onto a nearby stool. She listened carefully, hearing the difficult rings which barely managed to echoe in her ears.

Then, there was a click. 

"This is 119. What is your emergency?"

Her purple, dry lips parted as she remembered the one thing that she never gave to Ilhoon when they had first met: help.

"Please… help."

Kai was proud to hear the door swing open. He was at the rooftop, as promised ten minutes ago. He hummed a tune while crossing off the list, especially the two people he had killed twenty or thirty minutes ago. He didn't think that the nurse was going to be at school, so he was quite surprised to see her. Nevertheless, the nurse was acquaintance with someone who he had to kill, thus he killed both G.NA and Minho.

The boy with dark skin turned his head and faced the only man who could manage to bear the thought of murder with him: Ilhoon.

"Took you long enough," Kai said, taking out his list. "Who'd you kill? I bet I killed more–"

"Did you kill Namjoo?" Ilhoon asked, getting straight down to business.

"Excuse me–"

"Namjoo. Did you kill her yet?" Ilhoon asked anxiously. 

Kai gave him a haughty smirk. "If I did?"

The other boy pointed his gun at Kai's chest. Kai stared at the gun in amusement, but calmly looked away as he met Ilhoon's eyes. The two exchanged develish glares, almost creating an unpleasant energy between the two. 

"Will you shoot?" Kai asked.

"Depends on the answer you give me," Ilhoon replied.

"What answer should I give?"

"Just tell me what happened to her!"

"Like I asked, what do you want to hear–"

"I want to hear the damn truth, that's what I want to hear!" the blond boy screamed, raising his gun higher. The empty whole faced Kai's forehead, who still kept a calm expression. Instead of fear, he felt pleased to know how far Ilhoon's corrupted mind could take him.

"Then unfortunately, no, I have not taken her life yet," Kai answered honestly. He paused, then chcked his list. "So, how many people did you kill?"

"Why does it matter? I came to kill you! I came to get rid of you! You've brought nothing but trouble to me. You made me suffer, and I've sick and tired of your tyranny. I despise the way you've treated me, and I can't stand the thought of you controlling my life. My father and my peers might've never cared much about me, so why should I care about them? Why should I count the number of casulaties–"

"The deal, Ilhoon. Don't you remember the deal? Whoever killed the least will have to jump," Kai said, pointing his chin to the edge of the rooftop. Ilhoon peaked down, then realized how high the two were from the ground. He knew that if anyone fell from this height, then they would end up with broken bones with flesh emptied of blood.

"I don't know how many I killed," Ilhoon muttered quietly.

Kai tilted his forehead, disappointed. "Aw, really? Then that's too bad. I guess you'll have to jump…"

Ilhoon widened his eyes. "What are you–"

Before he had the chance to say anything else, Kai's firm fingers wrapped themselves around Ilhoon's bare neck. The student council president violently began to squeeze his hands together, pushing his thumb close to Ilhoon's wind pipe.

Ilhoon dropped his gun as he tried to kick Kai with his feet, which slowly seemed to lift up from the ground. He tried to scratch Kai's hands, hoping that it would bleed in pain and that Kai would eventually let go. However, the desire to murder didn't leave Kai's eyes while he even pushed Ilhoon against the thin, loose fence.

"You have a nice shade of purple on your face. Maybe it should be blue," Kai mocked, choking Ilhoon to his heart's content. Ilhoon was unable to pry Kai's hands off his neck. He gave up fighting against the higher authority, and felt his mind blow in anger and frustration. 

"Stop it, Kai!" a feminine voice screamed. Kai and Ilhoon looked to their right, but didn't have enough time to identify the blurry figure. The girl jumped on Kai and tackled him, causing him to let go of his group.

Ilhoon desperately gasped for air, securing his neck with his own hands. He looked up, and was surprised to find Namjoo fighting Kai. She threw weak punches as her face was tainted with her own blood. Her knuckles broke and her skin ripped as it slashed against Kai's chiseled features. Kai tried to grab Namjoo, but her small body was able to dodge his grasps. Finally, Namjoo managed to drag Kai against the fence, which shook and threatened to fall.

"You two were better than this," Namjoo cried as snot and tear fell down to her trembling lips. "You two were a lot better than this!"

I'm sorry, Namjoo, Ilhoon wanted to say. I'm so sorry for becoming like this.

However, Kai was quick to take advantage of this situation. He stood up and grabbed Namjoo, switching poisitions so that she was leaning against the fence. She let out a scream, struggling to get out of his grasp. Ilhoon widened his eyes, scared and shocked to see Namjoo be lifted up from the ground as if she was just a mere doll.

"K…K…Kai…" She let out a weak whimper, gasping for air. Ilhoon was about to run towards them, but his feet wouldn't move. They were stuck to the ground, as if some kind of external force did not want him to save her.

"Do you really think that I was better than this?" he asked, laughing at a high-pitched tone. He laughed like a maniac, throwing his head up while shutting his eyes to prevent blissful tears from falling.

Suddenly, a sound of siren rang in the air. Kai widened his eyes, then turned around. Several police cars, firetrucks, and ambulence were parked in front of the school. One old woman with a megaphone stared at them from below.

"Stop right there!" the police officer shouted. "Do not move!"

Kai's usual tan skin turned white. He slowly gazed up at Ilhoon, who was stunned to see an emergency team. Namjoo let out a small grin when she figured that Kai's grip loosened around her neck. She quickly pushed him away and managed to run behind him. She lifted her phone, showing Kai the latest call she made.

"That's not possible," Kai muttered, staring at the phone. He angrily shook the phone in his hand. "That's not possible!"

"It's possible," Namjoo whispered in a hoarse voice. "There was one bar of signal. It was one step for hope."

Ilhoon let out a soft laugh until he saw Namjoo be snatched away by Kai. Kai quickly grabbed her wrist, kicked down the fence, and pulled her towards the edge of the roof. The blond boy let out a sudden gasp, surprised how the two were so close to their death.

"You're going down with me!" Kai announced loudly. "If I'm going to die, then you'll die, too!"

Namjoo yelled for help, trying to push Kai away. Her heart raced after realizing that this could be the last few moments of her life. She looked down at the ground, where the hot scorching concrete was. She quickly shut her eyes and held her breath. 

Five seconds… ten seconds… a minute?

Namjoo still felt the humid air hit her face, but she didn't feel like she was falling. She slowly opened her eyes, then widened her eyes. During the time she was panicking, Ilhoon had exchanged places with her. The two boys were wrestling, threatening their lives as they neared the edge of the roof.

"Ilhoon! Watch out!" Namjoo cried out, reaching to grab his shirt.

Bang!

The atmosphere became silent and still. Namjoo watched one man fall out of the roof. The limp body fell heavely against the ground. The force of gravity pulled down the dead and shot body as if it desired to see it tumble down to its doom. Once the body finally crashed several stories from the rooftop, the same policewoman looked up and placed their megaphone over their lips.

"I said to stop right there, you criminal!" the old lady screamed. Finally, the cops ran into the building like ants swarming into the anthill. Namjoo began to panick as she turned to Ilhoon.

"Ilhoon! You're caught! You're going to jail!" Namjoo whailed. She was about to brush her hands aganist Ilhoon's until she remembered how he had shot Kai with his gun. In a blink of an eye, she withdrew her hand and brought them close to her chest. Ilhoon noticed how scared she was: her lips quivered and her eyes turned wide, glistening with fear and terror.

"Namjoo, I won't kill you," Ilhoon whispered softly, reaching for her hands again. This time, Namjoo backed away. She scotted away, avoiding Ilhoon's touch. He stood still, paralyzed about the outcome. Here he was, trying to save the girl he loved. However, the girl whom he rescued was backing away, afraid of seeing the blood stained in his hand.

I am a monster, Ilhoon realized. He almost felt tears trickle down his cheek. I am a monster who cannot be loved by the girl who saved him. I cannot give Namjoo my gratitude.

"Namjoo… Are you afraid of me?" he asked in a gentle tone.

"N-No, I–"

"Then can you hold my hand?" he pleaded. Namjoo tried–she honestly did–but her arms wouldn't quite reach him. Something would remind her about the greedy eyes Ilhoon had when he killed Kai. She shivered, and quickly brought her hand back to her chest. She pressed her lips, ashamed about how she could not even hold his hands.

"I-I'm sorry, Ilhoon. I just need to calm down a bit," she told him. Ilhoon kept quiet, then slowly shook his head. He let out a soft laugh, and took a few steps back. He stood at the edge of the roof, then looked back down to see Kai's broken bones create a strange inhumane shape.

"No, you don't need time. You'll never need time," he mumbled. "Namjoo, did you ever love me?"

She looked up. "Huh?"

"Did you like me at one point?" he asked. He shyly looked away. "I like you…"

It was difficult to answer his question. He had presented himself as a murderer, and he was starting up a confession? Namjoo tried to talk, but she realized that her body had become too worn out. She collapsed on the ground, using the palm of her hands to support herself. From fighting Kai to running around with a bloody gash on the forehead, it was no wonder why Namjoo could hardly stand.

"I-Ilhoon…"

"I'm sorry, Namjoo. If the police catch me, then I'll be stuck in a cell. I don't really want that…" He gave her a quick glance. "Thank you being my friend. Really, thank you."

"W-Wai…"

Bang!

Namjoo hitched her breath, saw the blurry figure fall from the roof, and out.

"So what happened to the students?"

"Several of them were buried. The survivors moved."

"Really? Who were involved?"

"A few kids. Apparently the school's shut down. There might be a new building over that school. Someone told me that it might be a mall or something. The student council was responsible, but he was killed by the principal's son. The principal's son committed suicide, and there was just one witness to see them."

"One witness? What about the suvivors?"

"I heard that they were too busy trying to stay alive."

"Oh… So who was the witness?"

"Suzy number two."

"Excuse me?"

"Remember Suzy? The girl who went insane?"

"So you're saying that the witness turned insane?"

"Exactly. Let's see, if I remember her name… Kim Namjoo was the one who turned insane."

"Interesting. How?"

"She was found fainted after losing lots of blood. She woke up after three days of coma. When she was told about what happened, she started screaming and acted like Suzy."

"Freaky."

"Yep. Nowadays, I heard that she keeps repeating, 'I love you, too' and 'I'm sorry' and 'No one must know the truth.'"

"That's creepy."

"I know, right? I heard that occasionally, she'll look up at the sky, and point at the stars as if she sees herself or someone suffering, and whisper, 'It's an angel suffering… an angel's agony…'"

THE END