“Guess again,” the voice responded with an eerie playfulness. It belonged to a male, one that usually cackled, or spoke comforting words to his friend. But now, it was deep and grim, making her uncomfortable just by hearing it.   Ji Ae intuitively pulled her blanket closer against herself. “How did you get in here, Ho Seok?”   “You didn’t lock your door,” he answered in a matter of fact way.   Ji Ae felt her heart drumming against the insides of her ears. Something didn’t feel right. Ho Seok just stood there, still. He didn’t move or say anything. He only breathed and continued watching her from the shadows of her bed’s end.   “W-what do you want?” She finally gathered the courage to question him. Perhaps she had better kept the silence, for now he began moving in reply.   One knee rested against her mattress, and soon the other one followed. He was closing in on her, ignoring the panicked breathing escaping her parted lips.   “I want justice for Mi Joo,” Ho Seok whispered.   Ji Ae’s breathing came to a halt when she realized Ho Seok was already in front of her face. She didn’t know what to expect when he suddenly pushed her down roughly against her bed, his entire weight on top of hers. Her head hit the edge of the bedframe, but he did not care. He exerted some force when he aggressively pinned her wrist down against the bed. His body towered dangerously over her to keep her locked in place.   “Get off me! I can easily scream,” Ji Ae tried to utter the threat menacingly. But her voice was shaking. Her body was trembling. He was aware of it.   “But you won’t,” Ho Seok said with a mocking scoff. He then picked something up from his pocket.   Were those ropes?   “You’d be far more interested in what I’ll have to say.” He took one of her wrists and pushed it against the cold steel of the bed frame. Despite her weak resistance, he used the rope to tie a death knot, chaining her hand to the bed.   “What are you doing? Seriously, Ho Seok!” Ji Ae tried wriggling her entire body, but Ho Seok was still a man. He was much more powerful than she was, and was completely immune to her pathetic slaps.   He then grabbed her other free hand and tied it to the other side of the bedframe. Her arms were spread far apart from each other. Then he got off to tie her feet together against the bed’s foot so she’d be rendered completely powerless.   “Seriously! Let go of me. This is not funny. What do you think you’re doing?”   “I’m clearing up a misunderstanding,” Ho Seok said calmly. He then climbed over her tied up body once again, this time smirking.   “What misunderstanding?”   “The one where you can’t even trust your own boyfriend,” he said, his tone was so detached from any emotion. He took out something else from his pocket now, but she couldn’t make out what it was.   “I saw them cheating with my very own eyes!”   “Is that the only conclusion you could draw on?”   “What do you mean?”   “What if he had asked her for some help?”   Ji Ae’s eyes widened in surprise. All the arguments she had laid out in her head to defend herself as a victim were suddenly nullified. Her heart began to constrict in fear. Had she been wrong all along?   “W-what for?” She stuttered. Her mind was unable to come up with a rational explanation for his theory. It couldn’t be true. They were cheating.   “As foolish as Ji Min was, he loved you so much to the extend he was afraid you would leave him once you graduated,” Ho Seok said grimly. He was moving the object in his hand that resembled a cloth.   She watched him in silence; her lips parted, words unspoken.   “The day the fire broke out, he wanted to surprise you for your birthday,” Ho Seok returned his focus back on her and lowered his lips towards her ears, whispering the truth she should’ve known all along. “He wanted to propose to you.”   Ji Ae gasped out loud, uncontrollably. Her chest rose with panic. The tears threatened to escape her eyes, and her lips quivered in an attempt to hold it all in. Her entire body trembled beneath Ho Seok’s authority. “You’re lying. We were too young.”   “He is foolish indeed,” Ho Seok agreed with that. “He asked for Mi Joo’s and my help to create somewhat of a dance performance, which we agreed on. The reason Mi Joo was stuck in that tent was because he had asked her to change her outfit so we could start the proposal event.”   “No… That can’t be…” Ji Ae refused to believe it. She was wildly shaking her head in denial. Until Ho Seok had enough of it and held her chin still with more brute force. He pressed her lips together to create such an unattractive view.   “This is why I do not appreciate you calling Mi Joo a , or accuse her as the reason for Ji Min’s death. If you really want to put the blame on someone, do you know who you should blame it on?”   Ho Seok flapped the cloth now and she could feel some water droplets disperse from it. He then neatly folded it into a square, not waiting for Ji Ae’s answer that came in the form of frantic cries.   “Yourself.”   With that, he draped the wet cloth over her nostrils and open mouth. It was cold and sent the shivers down her spine. The girl began to scream, but the sound was muffled through the damp cloth. She began wiggling her body, but her arms and legs were tied to put up any real protest. There was no passageway for oxygen to pass through, and Ji Ae cried silently for the air to enter once again. But it didn’t. It coul