"KYAH!"

A loud, high-pitched scream echoed from the shoe lockers. Every head turned to the source of the scream, who was no other than Choi Jinri. Her face was white as snow and her whole body trembled as her slim fingers gripped the edges of the red-inked paper. She stared at the words, terrified as her friends gathered around to see the commotion.

"What's wrong, Jinri?" Naeun asked.

Hyeri, who noticed Jinri's terrified expression and the paper in her hand, started feeling strange. For some reason, the whole event began to feel familiar.

Didn't we do this before? Hyeri wondered.

Suzy snatched the paper from Jinri's hand. Hyeri poked over her shoulder, and widened her eyes. It was the same exact chain message that she had received not too long ago. Not only that, but the message was even written in a similar blood-red texture.

"Alright, who's doing this?" Suzy yelled, crumbling up the letter.

Jinri panicked and grabbed the paper back. "Don't ruin it! You're going to get me cursed!"

"Jinri, it's not real. Who believes in these stupid chain letters?" Suzy snapped.

"Well, this time, we're going to turn it into the principal!" Naeun threatened loudly, hoping that the culprit was nearby. "Give it to us, Jinri. We'll take care of this."

"No! That's like me passing it to you! I don't want to pass it to you!" Jinri hissed and nervously glanced at the paper. "Three people… I just need to put it in three random desks, right?"

"Jinri, don't be an idiot. Give it to me," Suzy ordered. "If you follow the letter's instructions, then you can get in trouble. Whoever is doing this is just messing with you. Leave this to us."

"W-Wait," Jinri said. "I-I just can't give this to you to show to the principal. I don't want the principal or you to get cursed."

"Jinri, just give it to Suzy. She doesn't believe in these kind of stuff, remember?" Naeun pointed out.

"Exactly. Thank you, Naeun. Now, Jinri. Give it to me." Suzy held out her hand, almost glaring at Jinri to give the piece of paper.

Jinri looked at Suzy's hand worriedly. She glanced at Suzy, then at Naeun, and finally at Hyeri. Her eyes turned hard as she stared at Hyeri for a long amount of time. Feeling uncomfortable, Hyeri cleared .

"What's up?" Hyeri asked.

"Y-You… You didn't p-pass this and put it in my locker, right?" Jinri asked cautiously.

Hyeri widened her eyes in horror. Suzy gave Jinri an offended look while Naeun remained a bit more careful.

"Are you serious, Jinri? You're suspecting your own friend?" Suzy asked. "Hyeri is, like, the nicest person on earth! I can't believe you're suspecting her!"

"W-Well, it's just that she had the letter before I got it. I mean, we all know that Hyeri's pretty smart. I wouldn't be surprised if she memorized the letter and wrote it down after you ripped it up," Jinri said, trying to defend herself. "Don't get me wrong! It's not like I want to suspect Hyeri, but…"

There was a loud slam a few feet away from them. The four girls looked up and noticed Yezy and Minzy standing near Yezy's locker. Yezy angrily crumbled up a similar paper to Jinri's and looked around.

"Who the  decided to mess with me and put something ty like this in my ing locker?" Yezy snapped, raising her voice. The entire school remained awfully quiet and tense as Yezy went up to random people and demanded answers. 

"Someone put a chain letter in Yezy's locker? Geez, they're practically asking for a death wish," muttered Naeun.

"If Hyeri put the chain letter in Yezy's locker…" Jinri's voice faded when Suzy angrily glared at her.

"How could you say that? Hyeri and Yezy aren't related to each other at all!"

"W-Well, Hyeri never really liked Yezy, and Yezy never really liked Hyeri! I-I just think that if it was Hyeri, then it would make a little sense," Jinri said quietly.

Hyeri wasn't sure how she should feel. For some reason, she felt like she was being set up. Why was Jinri looking at her like that? With those kind of eyes? Was everyone staring at her with suspicion? But she didn't do it. She really didn't do it.

But could she prove her innocent?

There's just one person who would do this to me, Hyeri thought. She whirled around, noticing at Seulgi was entering the school with Seunghwan and Taehyun walking besides her. The three were enthusiastically chatting about something, but Hyeri could care less. She was just sure that Seulgi was doing this. She's sabotaging me! I can't believe that she'd stoop so low—

Seulgi opened her locker and a piece of paper floated down to the ground. Hyeri's heart stopped as she watched Seulgi bend down to pick up the paper in a curious manner.

It can't be, Hyeri thought. She can't have one. She—

"What's that? A love letter?" asked Seunghwan.

Hyeri sudden looked at her group and back at Seulgi's group. Since when did Seunghwan join Seulgi's side?

"A love letter? Her? As if!" Taehyun cried out.

When was Taehyun stuck besides her, too? 

"Maybe it's you-know-who!" Seunghwan exclaimed, implying that it might've been from Jongin.

Seulgi turned into a bright shade of red as she playfully told her friends to stop. This only made Hyeri confused as she watched Seulgi open the letter and read the contents. The sweet smile on Seulgi's face faded when she read the blood-red text. Seunghwan glanced over Seulgi's shoulder. Her eyes widened for a brief moment, but she looked away, pretending that she was innocent.

"Is that…a chain letter?" Taehyun asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would you have something like that?"

"T-The last person I remember who had that was Hyeri," Seunghwan briefly mentioned. Seulgi quickly decided to take advantage of Seunghwan's short comment.

In a slightly louder voice, Seulgi said, "It can't be that Hyeri gave me one, right?"

"Hyeri? Give you one? No way. I heard that she ripped it up," Taehyun said. "Well, at least I heard that Suzy did it."

"What if she memorized it?" Seulgi asked.

Jinri, who had been listening, shrieked silently. She pointed to Seulgi's group anxiously, mouthing, "See? I'm not the only one who thinks like this!"

"I-I mean, it's not like I'm accusing Hyeri of doing it," Seulgi said quickly. "It could probably be anyone."

"But Hyeri is the only one we know who had one," Taehyun said.

The three began to mutter themselves until Yezy and Minzy joined Seulgi.

"Hey. You. Seulgi." The three looked up. Taehyun and Seunghwan tensed up and hid behind Seulgi, who stepped up to talk to the duo. Yezy raised up her paper. "Do you know who the did this?"

"No idea. I just got one right now," Seulgi said innocently.

"Do you know who has the third one?" Minzy asked.

"Me!" Jinri blurted, running up to the five. She waved her paper in the air and anxiously showed her paper to them. "I got one, too! It's a chain letter! Oh my god! It's the same one as yours!"

"This is sick," Minzy muttered.

"Who had it before us?" Yezy asked.

"Hyeri did!" Jinri revealed. Suzy narrowed her eyes and placed her hand out in front of Hyeri as if she was physically preventing her from intercepting.

"Jinri! I can't believe you!" Suzy yelled.

"What? It's true! Hyeri had it before me! Before all three of us!" Jinri sunk her head a little. "Also, she doesn't really like Seulgi…"

"Jinri! You—"

"Enough." Hyeri gently placed her hand on Suzy's shoulder. "Let it go."

Suzy frowned. "Hyeri, please! You can't have them talk down at you like this. This is absurd."

"Just leave it alone. Look at Jinri. She's not going to listen, no matter what we say," Hyeri pointed out.

"But—"

"It's fine," Seulgi said quickly, garnering attention. "I don't really believe in chain letters anyway. I mean, if you really hate me, then I guess that it'd make sense for you to do this…" She curiously glanced at Hyeri. "I mean, do you hate me?"

Hyeri felt her whole body become tense. Seulgi was asking such a personal question in front of the entire school. She knew that she was being set up, but she wasn't sure who set her up. She figured that it was Seulgi, but with the chain letter in her hand, it seemed like there was a third party who was messing with her.

Either way, her response to Seulgi's question would leave almost everyone unsatisfied.

I'm screwed, Hyeri realized.

"Hyeri doesn't really hate…you," Naeun said softly, trying to find the right words. It was then when Naeun realized that there was nothing that she could say to help Hyeri. She tried to remain quiet, but when she realized that people were anticipating for her to continue, she knew that there was no way to save Hyeri from the situation. With a hint of sorrow and guilt in her voice, she mumbled, "It's more like a mutual dislike…"

"Who said it was mutual?" Seunghwan asked. "In fact, I think Seulgi really liked Hyeri. I mean, if you think about it, Seulgi has been working really hard to get along with you, Hyeri. Isn't it about time that you stop hating on her and leave her alone?"

Suzy widened her eyes. "You, too, Seunghwan?"

"Yeah. It's not cool to send these messed-up chain letters to her and her friends, too," Minzy snapped.

"We're friends?" Seulgi asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course. You stand up for me, and I'll stand up for you," Minzy said. There was a look of happiness on Seulgi's face.

Hyeri continued to remain silent, unable to think of anything to say. Sure, she didn't really like Seulgi, but they were making it seem as if she despised her and wanted her dead. Also, why were there so many people against her? What did she do wrong? She didn't even do anything, yet they were making her seem like she had murdered someone.

I don't like it. I don't like how they're looking at me, Hyeri thought, deeply troubled.

"Hyeri… I thought we were friends," Jinri said softly.

"We are!" Hyeri exclaimed. "We are friends!"

"Not anymore," Suzy muttered.

"Huh? Suzy, what are you—"

"She turned her back on you," Suzy said, gritting her teeth. "I won't acknowledge a person who back-stabs you to be your 'friend.' You deserve better, Hyeri."

"Okay, but—"

"I don't think a true friend would leave a chain letter in my locker. You guys know that I'm highly gullible!" Jinri exclaimed.

"If you're gullible, then why can't you admit that this is fake and that it has nothing to do with Hyeri?" Suzy shouted.

"Woah, woah, woah."

A familiar voice silenced the argument. Everyone looked up to see Jongin and Sehun standing in front of the circled crowd. The boys looked shocked at the entire situation. Confusion was marked deep into their eyes as they glanced at the divided groups. 

"What's going on here?" Sehun asked, genuinely curious. "What's up with the big crowd?"

"Hyeri put chain letters in our locker and she won't admit that she did it," Jinri explained.

"That's because I didn't do it!" Hyeri cried out. She made a fist with her hand. "I didn't memorize what was written in the letters, and I didn't write it to pass it to your lockers! I did nothing of it!"

"Lies! I know you did it!" Jinri accused. "You guys are the only ones who would know that I believe in chain letters and take them seriously!"

"Whoever put it in must've known that, too! I swear, it was a coincidence!" Hyeri said.

"Oh, so it's a 'coincidence' that Yezy, who you hate, and Seulgi, who you also hate, got the letter, too?" Seunghwan asked, raising an eyebrow in a suspicious manner.

"Woah. Wait." Jongin looked at Hyeri. "You hate Seulgi and Yezy?"

Hyeri was beginning to grow frustrated and flustered. "I don't! I—" She met eyes with Sehun, who seemed unaffected with the entire situation. In fact, he seemed more amused. The next few words escaped her lips without a second thought as she stared at Sehun's smirk: "Did you do it?"

Everyone looked at Sehun, who widened his eyes. He pointed at himself, startled by the sudden attention.

"Me? Do what?" Sehun asked.

No. He wouldn't do that, Hyeri thought. She glanced at Jongin, who seemed to worry for her. She clenched her teeth, not liking the look he was giving her either. They're all the same. 

"You believe in Hyeri, right, Jongin?" Suzy asked out of the blue.

All eyes were on Jongin. He pressed his lips, forming a thin line as he carefully thought about the situation. Then, he walked over to Hyeri's side and observed her for a few minutes. A few seconds passed before he gently rubbed his hand on her back, showing his support.

Hyeri's heart skipped a thankful beat while Seulgi felt awfully bitter.

"I believe you, Hyeri," Jongin said. He glanced at the other side. "I hope you understand that Hyeri isn't the type of person to do this. If she did, then I'll apologize on her behalf. However, I really think that she wouldn't do anything like this." Before anyone had the chance to say anything, he looked back at the crowd. "Run along, guys! There's nothing to see here anymore!"

There was a short pause. Then, slowly, the crowd began to decrease. People returned to whatever they were doing. The last bits of the crowd finally went away when Jongin excused himself with Hyeri and walked back to class. When Jinri was about to follow, Suzy stopped her and glared at her.

"You're not welcomed in our group," Suzy muttered.

"I-I'm sorry!" Jinri stuttered. "But you don't understand. If you were in my situation, then—"

"You suspected Hyeri and made her look like she was the culprit when she wasn't. Hyeri might be cool with you, but I'm not. Unless I hear a formal apology to Hyeri, I'm not letting you go near her. Understand?" Suzy asked.

Jinri looked at Suzy in a bitter way. "It's not my fault! I'm sorry that I'm not like you, who was friends with Hyeri since childhood! I can't read her or believe her like you did! I only had a few years with her whole you had, like, a whole decade!"

"Length shouldn't matter, Jinri. I was friends with Hyeri roughly around the same time you were, but I stayed loyal," Naeun pointed out.

"Are you guys throwing me away?" Jinri asked, glowering at them.

"You threw us away. I think it's only right to throw you out, too," Suzy said in a matter-of-fact tone. "If you want to come back, just apologize to Hyeri."

"No way! I don't know if she didn't do it or not!" Jinri began to whimper. "Now I have to think of three people to put this in…"

"Not our problem," Suzy said, not showing an ounce of sympathy for the paranoid friend. She walked away and Naeun followed her. Jinri stood still, shocked and devastated.

Sehun made a small whistle as he glanced at a peculiar girl in the crowd. Soojung, who had been watching the entire scene near the entrance, met eyes with him. They looked at each other for a brief moment before Soojung broke away and continued to hide in the crowd.

What a mess, he thought, running his fingers through his hair. He walked over to Seulgi, who began to rip the paper and threw it in the trash can. "Seulgi? Can I talk to you?"

Seulgi scowled. "What do you want?"

"Do you want to talk privately or publicly?" Sehun quickly held up his hand. "No, wait. Never mind. You're more of a public person. There's no secret, right?"

Seulgi tensed up. She only hoped that he wasn't going to talk about the missions that Soojung had assigned to her.

"O-Of course," Seulgi stammered. "I have nothing to hide. I'm a woman with no secrets and no shame."

"Great," Sehun said, chuckling. He looked at Seulgi. "Tell this to your little friend: 'You did well. Now watch me do even better.'"

Seulgi frowned as Sehun walked pass her, messing up her long hair before heading to class. She scowled even more as she tried to fix her brown hair. Seunghwan and Taehyun glanced at Seulgi.

"What was that about?" Taehyun asked.

"Oh, nothing," Seulgi muttered. She glared at Sehun's fading back. "He's just a huge pain in the ."