It had been two weeks since Jiho had committed her unfortunate incident. The school had a heavy atmosphere, thick with depression and fear. Anxiety traveled through the student's blood as the faculty members eyed them closely, refusing to let the students show even a hint of remorse. Any time a student seemed like they were in despair, teachers would gang up on them, asking if they were okay, asking if they needed help. Always asking, but never listening. Never reading emotions. Never reading the atmosphere.

So people were forced to wear masks—masks that showed that they were fine, that they had forgotten. A mask of happiness that made their lips curl and their laughs slightly louder than normal. Soon, the school resumed to its normal routine. Students went to class, learned, and studied. Teachers resumed to teaching, making sure to say every little detail of their lecture. 

Eunbi continued to distance herself from her classmates except for Yoobin and Dongmin. At first, Eunbi kept a close eye on Yoobin, mainly since she knew about her friend and about her possible disappearance. Eventually, the two had grown quite close, and Eunbi was able to tolerate her. Dongmin would often come up to the two to talk, but he'd tell the others that he was only talking to them because Eunbi was a transfer and that it was his responsibility to "make the transfer student feel comfortable."

Jungkook, on the other hand, was a whole different story. The boy was so popular, he always had a flock of girls following behind him. They would only disperse when Jungkook was near Mingyu, who coldly shoved him away multiple times. Whenever Mingyu wasn't around, Jungkook found himself hanging out with Eunbi, Yoobin, and Dongmin.

Eunbi was clearly irritated with Jungkook's presence. He was painfully annoying, constantly making sure that there was room for him to squeeze into the group. Even when Eunbi tried to exclude him, he was the type to cling back in and find a spot for himself. He was like the smell of soggy water that kept refusing to leave the sponge: not wanted, but bearable for the moment.

"Hey," Eunbi said seriously, slamming the cold can of orange juice against the table.

The four were eating lunch outside, hiding from Jungkook's little fan club. Everyone looked up from their meal and stared as she glared. "Don't you have any other friends to hang out with?"

Jungkook eyed at Dongmin and Yoobin, who refused to look at him. They started to understand that when Eunbi was annoyed, it was pretty much a sign not to oppose her. Jungkook, who quickly understood the atmosphere, cleared his throat after he finished chewing.

"Friends? What do you mean?" Jungkook asked, probing around the question.

"You're obviously the most popular boy in school. Don't you have people you hang around with?" Eunbi pointed out. "Like, other popular kids. What about them?"

"Mm…" Jungkook tapped his chopsticks on his lip and looked up at the sky. "I don't know. The guys don't like me too much because they think I flirt with girls a lot. I've hung around with some guys, but they kept telling me to stop being nice to girls they had crushes on. Apparently it creates a lot of 'misunderstanding' and stuff." He popped in a tiny sausage in his mouth. "The girls tend to get clingy and annoying. I only dated Jisoo because I knew that if I dated her, the girls would stop bothering me. It worked, but since we broke up, people have been flocking towards me again."

"That sounds like a pain," Eunbi murmured. She paused, then caught sight of Mingyu purchasing something from a vending machine not too far from them. Her eyes were on the rough-eyed boy as she asked another question. "Then what about Mingyu? What's your relationship with him?"

"Mingyu's my best friend!" Jungkook exclaimed, proud. His smile turned to a disappointed grin. "Which is what I'd say if that was true. Honestly, I just like sticking myself to that guy. He's cool."

"He's cool?" Eunbi faked a laugh and stared at Jungkook. "I don't see anything about him that's cool. He's just snobby."

"Mingyu's a good guy. You really need to know him to understand him," Jungkook said. "You two just got on a bad start. That happens a lot with someone like Mingyu. If you give him a chance, you'll see what a great guy he is."

"Hmph." Eunbi ignored him and continued to eat.

"I'm seriously. I wish he'd interact with people more, but he doesn't," Jungkook said.

"He's just a delinquent. The teachers already gave up on him. He's hopeless," Dongmin said. He waved his chopsticks in the air in disapproval. "You shouldn't worry about him at all. You're wasting your time if you're doing that."

"He's not a delinquent. He's just misunderstood."

"He's a delinquent in everyone's eyes, and that's all that matters," Dongmin insisted. Jungkook scowled and remained quiet.

"So, why aren't you guys friends?" Eunbi asked Dongmin and Jungkook. "Dongmin's the top student in academics and you're the most popular student socially."

"Different classes," Jungkook answered. "Students who are in different classes usually end up not hanging out."

"You're in a different class with us. Why are you hanging out with us?" Eunbi pointed out.

"I can hang out with whoever I want," Jungkook said in a matter-of-fact tone. Also, he's busy with student council stuff. Before you came around, he was always attached to the student body president."

"Junyoung?" Eunbi asked.

"Yeah, and I kept having to keep my eyes on you and Mingyu," Dongmin said, addressing the first part of his sentence to Eunbi and the second to Jungkook. He narrowed his eyes. "Especially Mingyu."

"Mingyu wasn't even causing trouble, but you kept making trouble for him," Jungkook argued.

"How bad of a student was he?" Eunbi asked.

"God, he was terrible. Every single day I would find him picking a fight with someone. He's been awfully quiet these days. I'm worried that he's going to do something crazy any moment now," Dongmin said tiredly. He heaved a loud sigh. "Just thinking about him is exhausting."

"It's not like he wanted to get in those fights. People were being rude," Jungkook argued. "I didn't see the student council stand up against Jisoo's little gang. You know how bad she can get, even if the victim isn't Yoobin."

Eunbi looked at the two boys quarrel. Then, she looked at Yoobin, who was quietly sitting next to her. Yoobin seemed completely unengaged with the entire conversation. Her eyes were dead, as if she had given up on everything and accepted her fate. For her, this was her life—this was the way that people looked at her and judged her.

And she was okay with that.

Eunbi gave the quiet girl a small nudge with her elbow.

"What are your thoughts?" Eunbi inquired.

Yoobin snapped out of her thoughts and looked up with wide eyes. "W-What?"

"I was asking what are your thoughts on Mingyu?" Eunbi repeated.

"Uh, I don't know," she said in a small voice. "A delinquent…? He's a bit scary…"

"Ha!" Dongmin shouted, pointing at her rudely. He looked at Jungkook. "See? She agrees!"

"Shut up," Jungkook muttered bitterly. He looked at her lunch. "You hardly touched your food."

Yoobin nervously looked at her meal. "O-Oh. I'm not that hungry…"

"You look concerned about something," Eunbi said.

"It's not much…"

Everyone knew that Timepiece was on her mind. From the look of distraught, it was clear that she was bothered with the game, despite being in the game for the longest period of time.

"We're a team now," Dongmin said, looking straight into her eyes. "If you have something in your mind, speak."

The quiet girl bit her bottom lip. "I…I'm just a little worried about the next game."

The group went silent. They all started to think carefully about the situation and her honest words. Yoobin, flustered, began to feel guilty.

"S-Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up," she stuttered.

"No, it's a good topic to bring up. There hasn't been a game for weeks," Eunbi added. "It doesn't look like anyone from this school had a game. We should all be on our guard and prepare for the worst."

A minute later, the student council president spotted the group and approached them with a smile. Junyoung's smile disappeared when he saw the four's dark expression. He made a small frown, but took a seat next to Dongmin.

"What's going on here?" Junyoung asked. He tried to take Dongmin's food, but the vice president slapped away his hand. Junyoung pouted.

"We're talking about Timepiece," Eunbi told him.

"Oh, that game?" Junyoung said. "What about it?"

"We're concerned with what's going to happen," Jungkook said. "There hasn't been a game for two weeks."

"You guys are still playing that?" the president asked. He let out a small chuckle and made a second attempt to steal food.

Eunbi stared at him for a moment. She let him chat a little with Dongmin before gathering the courage to confront him.

"Junyoung, I'm a bit concerned about you. It's been on my mind, but it doesn't sound like you believe that this is important," Eunbi said seriously.

"It's just a game, no?" Junyoung asked.

"It's a game that gambles your life."

"My life?"

"If you lose the entire game, you'll be…possessed without even knowing."

Junyoung gave her a shocked expression. Then, his face darkened, giving her a serious look.

"You're right. This is ser…" Then, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay, I can't. Clearly, you guys are way into this game."

Eunbi curled up her fingers. "Junyoung, I—"

"If you're going to insist upon this, then tell me, how does it work?" Junyoung asked. He crossed his arms. "How is it possible that when you lose, you find yourself possessed?"

Eunbi clenched her teeth. "Honestly, I don't know if it's some supernatural force or anything, but I do know that it's—"

"A lie," Junyoung said, finishing for her. She was about to say something in protest until Junyoung stole a piece of chicken from her lunch box. "Eunbi, it's great to see that, as a transfer student, you're fitting in quite nicely, but please, don't be too obsessed over a game. It's unhealthy, especially for a student attending Shicho High School." He turned to the rest. "I'll see you all later." He looked at Dongmin. "We have a student council meeting after school. Don't be late."

"I'm never late," Dongmin said cheerily.

Right when Junyoung got up, loud bells rang in their hands. Everyone flinched except for Eunbi, who was already getting used to the cacophony. Eunbi only closed her eyes gently.

She opened her eyes. Once again, Eunbi found herself wrapped in darkness. She got up and took out her phone, pointing it in front of her. A portal appeared and her phone began to ping, sending her notifications that she had friends in the area. She was about to enter the portal until she heard a small laugh. She frowned and turned around. She made a small glare when she saw Jisoo enter her area of space from another portal.

"What are you doing here?" Eunbi asked. "You should go to the Creation Hall."

"I need to talk to you privately," Jisoo said, crossing her arms. 

"You know that you can't hurt me here, right?" Eunbi told her. She eyed at the portal. "Lots of people are going into the Creation Hall. You should go soon, too."

"Relax. I'm just here to let you know a few things about Yoobin," Jisoo said.

Eunbi raised an eyebrow. "I have no interest in listening to what a bully has to say about my partner."

"Look, you're new. I get it. You're not aware of anything that's going on here," Jisoo said. "Especially with Jiho's suicide? Yikes. There's definitely not enough time for you adjust and understand the rules around here."

"I'm a First-Time Returnee," Eunbi said, tilting her head. "I'm sure that I know a lot more than you."

Jisoo smirked. "I wasn't talking about Timepiece. I was talking about school. I have no doubt that you hold some sort of experience in Timepiece. The fact that you got out of the Zombie Apocalypse showed me that you either knew how the game worked or that you were just plainly lucky. I want to talk about your place at school. You're a transfer student, and you obviously don't know what goes around at school."

"I don't need to know all the behind-the-scene stuff. All I know is that you're a pain," Eunbi snapped. "Leave. I don't want to deal with a ."

The redhead stopped smiling. "Fine. Suite yourself, but you just made an enemy with someone you didn't want to."

"You were my enemy the moment you locked me in the bathroom in Apocalypse," Eunbi muttered.

Jisoo gave her a smug look and nodded. She turned and pointed her phone at where she came from. A portal appeared and she went through another portal. Eunbi huffed and entered through her own portal.

Upon entering, Yoobin, Dongmin, Jungkook and Junyoung were near her. Eunbi nodded her head at their existence, but stopped when she saw Mingyu nearby, too. Mingyu didn't seem to take notice of the group's presence. Instead, he was on his phone with a hand in his pocket with a look of determination that he was going to go through this alone. She scowled.

"What a coincidence," Eunbi muttered. "He spawned near us."

"Actually…"

Eunbi looked at Yoobin, who hesitated to speak. 

"What?" Eunbi asked.

"Jungkook and Yoobin kind of befriended him," Dongmin said, crossing his arms. "They have him as their friend in Timepiece."

"You guys what?"

"He's my friend," Jungkook argued.

"I-I felt bad for him!" Yoobin stuttered.

Eunbi face-palmed herself. She heaved a loud sigh before she heard her phone ring a message. Without looking, she pointed her phone at the stage and rolled her dice. Everyone else followed.

She looked at Junyoung, who didn't seem to think much about the situation. She sighed and looked at the screen.

< DICE HAVE BEEN ROLLED. CALCULATING… >
< 4 EVIL EYES HAVE BEEN ADDED. CALCULATING… >

"Did any of you use an Evil Eye?" Eunbi asked.

"I used mine," Yoobin said. She looked down. "I don't really like holding onto Evil Eyes…"

"That's not a smart strategy," Eunbi scolded.

< THE HOST HAS BEEN CHOSEN. CALCULATING… >

The stage lights pointed at a man with a owl mask. His head mask consisted of rough brown feathers with horned ears perking upwards in the infinite black sky. His eyes were beaming yellow, his black pupils shrinking in size as the light crossed his mask. Despite his odd frown, he seemed quite delighted that he was pick—a common attribute seen in the lucky members who were chosen to host a game. 

Ping!

The players all looked down.

< THE CLOCK TURNS COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. TICKING… >

Eyes grew wide. 

Silence filled the atmosphere.

Suddenly, a shrill panic exploded amongst the audience. A few players began to scream in horror while others yelled furiously at the owl-masked man. The owl-masked man threw his hands up in the air in celebration, opening his sharp beak as if he was laughing. The other masked Timehosts applauded him and whistled for achieving the rare opportunity to hold a counter-clockwise game.

Jungkook and Dongmin, remembering what Eunbi had said about holding hands, reached out for her hand. However, she instinctively grabbed Yoobin's and Junyoung's, making her hands full. The two boys looked at her, stunned, then quickly ran through the crowd to find Mingyu. They grabbed Mingyu's hand, to his surprise. He finally looked up and landed his eyes on Eunbi. The two looked at each other for a brief moment.

< THE CLOCK HAS STOPPED TICKING. REVEALING GAME INFORMATION… >
< GAME: TRIVIA >
< TEAM: ??? >
< ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: THIS GAME IS COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. HAVE FUN! >
< GAME WILL AUTO BEGIN IN 10 SECONDS >

"What's going on?" Junyoung asked, confused.

"It's counter-clockwise," Eunbi said. "Brace yourselves. We might not be in the same team."

She squeezed their hands before a light shined in front of their face.

Eunbi opened her eyes. Rather than waking up with a headache as usual, she found herself standing and holding onto one end of the podium. She looked over the podium, noticing that here was a bright red light flashing on the front of the stand. She lifted her head and noticed that across the room, there was a guy sitting in a red chair. When she squinted her eyes, she noticed that it was Mingyu, chained to the seat.

She looked to her left. Dongmin, who was standing behind the brown podium, was now regaining consciousness. Across from him, Jungkook sat down in the brown seat. To Eunbi's left, she saw Yoobin, who stood behind the yellow podium. She was already awake and alert. Her hands were clinging onto the edge of the podium as she stared at Junyoung, who was sitting in the yellow seat.

Ca-ca-ca-ca-chunk.

The floor between the ones standing and the ones sitting began to open up. The owl-masked Timehost appeared from the center of the floor. A loud jingle played throughout the room,  sounding like a jingle from a trivia gameshow. Flights flashed on. Once the lights were blinking, a loud cheer came from the darkness. No matter how many times the players squinted their eyes to look, all they could see was black, but they all knew that there was an audience hiding in the darkness.

Eunbi was about to move until she realized that her ankles were shackled down to the ground. She glared at the Owl, who held a thin microphone below his beak, staring ahead at the audience.

"Wakey, wakey!" the Owl yelled. The unconscious three who had been sitting in the chairs finally woke up from the blaring music and the sound of his screechy voice. "It's time to play: Trivia!"

The invisible audience cheered. Once everyone was awake and confused, the host directed the players to a large screen behind him. The rules suddenly displayed behind him, giving the players a chance to review the rules.

What kind of consequences? Eunbi wondered. This is counter-clockwise. It has to be something messed up. Or are the questions messed up? I never played Trivia, so I have no idea what to expect—

"We will calculate the amount of fear you have to see who goes first!" the Owl declared.

The rules disappeared from the screen. Instead, a profile picture of Dongmin, Eunbi, and Yoobin was displayed on the screen. A bar in their color quickly shifted up and down, creating suspense.

Obviously, the bar over Yoobin's head was the highest. Firework effects decorated around her as her profile picture expanded, emphasizing the fact that she was first. Yoobin paled and her breath became awfully shaky.

"It's okay, Binnie!" Junyoung yelled in support. "You got this! It's no big deal! They'll just give me a small shock if you're wrong! I played this game before. It's harmless." He smiled awkwardly. "I don't know why we're tied up like this, but it'll probably make the shock slightly bigger.

That's when it's clockwise. This isn't clockwise. So if they shock in clockwise, they might do something outrageous with electricity. Or maybe it'll have to deal with the punishments? The question itself can be outrageous, too. Eunbi's face crumbled. I have no idea what's going to happen to my partner if I answer wrong.

"Question one: What did I eat for lunch today?"

There was an awful pause in the air. Yoobin's breath became even more shaky as she blinked her eyes. Junyoung, who had played this game once, also seemed to be taken aback by the odd question.

The buzzer buzzed, informing the host that Yoobin was out of time. The Owl shook his head and turned to Junyoung, who was prepared to get a small shock. However, the Owl approached Junyoung and circled around him. Then, he stood behind the student body president. Junyoung, who was feeling a bit awkward, made a small smile at Yoobin, trying to exchange some kind of mental conversation. 

The Owl twirled his microphone in the air. Then, shaking his head while chuckling ever so softly, he raised the end of the microphone. In seconds, he swung the microphone in a downward motion between Junyoung's right ear and his head. Tension filled the air as the entire group awaited to see what the Owl had just done.

Splurt!

Junyoung's awkward smile changed into a look of horror. His entire right ear flopped to the floor as blood gushed out of his right head. Some of the blood got on Mingyu's hand. Everyone in the room widened their eyes.

Junyoung screamed hysterically, struggling to get out of the seat. He panicked and paled as he saw his ear on the ground. 

"GET ME OUT OF HERE! HELP! GET ME OUT!" Junyoung yelled desperately. He stared at the Owl in a crazed manner. He saw his blood resting at the blades of a snall knife that was attached to the end of the microphone. He continued to wiggle in his seat, trying to free himself from the metallic chains. "He's a ing psychopath! Let me out of here! Help! Oh god, help! We're going to die!"

Yoobin covered as tears began to spill down her eyes. Guilt overwhelmed her fragile heart. She grabbed a handful of her hair, whimpering and feeling faint. 

"You have four more tries," the Owl said to Yoobin in a low tone. 

Junyoung continued to scream in agony. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he kept crying, begging for mercy and for help. The Owl stepped away from the student body president and walked over to Eunbi. Eunbi gave the Owl a furious look as the Owl returned the look with a smug.

"Your turn," the Owl said nonchalantly.

" you," Eunbi muttered.

"Question two," the Owl continued. 

"I thought we could steal," Eunbi argued.

"You're too late to steal."

"Bull."

"In the games I host, I prefer the term owl pellet," the Owl said, trying to be funny.

Eunbi tried to punch him, but the Owl was far enough to barely avoid her fist. She scowled once more before letting the Owl continue.

"Question two," he repeated. "How long have I been a host?"

"Oh my god!" Mingyu yelled, rolling his eyes. "Can you give us some ing real trivia questions? For god's sake—"

"Since the moment you've been host and counting," Eunbi answered.

The Owl stopped. "Give me a number."

"That's not part of the question," Eunbi said, challenging his rules.

A smile formed on the Owl. "True. However…"

The host turned and threw the end of his microphone at Mingyu's eyes. The knife punctured and stabbed through his left eye. Mingyu roared in pain, shaking his head to get the knife out of his eye. The host slowly walked over and plucked out the knife, carving away Mingyu's entire eye until nothing but a hollow painful mess was left. The host stared at the eyeball attached to the tip of the knife and flicked it away from his weapon. The eyeball rolled down the floor as blood gushed through his empty eye sockets.

"I have to punish the Seaters who ridicule me," the Owl said cautiously.

" you…" Mingyu muttered after he was done screaming.

"Question three to Cha Eunwoo!" the Owl chirped. "Who is my best friend?"

"Your best friend is the friend that has been best to you," Dongmin answered with little to no sign of fear in his voice.

The Owl waited. He glanced over at Jungkook, who knew by now to keep silent. There was another long, aching pause during the third round. Then, the Owl made a small smile and accepted his answer. Lights around him flickered and the brown podium lit up as 200 points were delivered to the sign on his podium.

Jungkook happily jumped in his seat, but stopped when he remembered that he was tied up to the chair. Dongmin grinned, quickly understanding the method of the game. It definitely paid off to go last, but of course, he wasn't going to say that outloud.

Eunbi glanced over at Yoobin, who trembled. "Yoobin, focus. You only have one Timetick left. After this, you're done."

"I-I can't." She sobbed, staring in front of her partner.

Junyoung was shaking, trembling in fear. He looked hardly sane. It was amazing how fast the student body president could crumble down. Eunbi wondered what Dongmin was thinking. If anything, she figured that Dongmin was feeling sorry for the student body president, but the tight expression on his face made her think that he was thinking about himself.

"Next question," the Owl said, walking over to Yoobin. She gasped. "Are you ready for the fourth—"

"Hold up!" Mingyu yelled, interrupted the Owl. 

By now, the Owl had grown tired of hearing Mingyu's voice.

"What?" the host snapped.

"Is this a team game?" Mingyu inquired.

"You have someone who shares the same color as—"

"I get it," Mingyu said, cutting him off again, "but it doesn't say anything about how we have to work together. How do I know that I win if Eunha wins?"

There was a short pause. Eunbi's eyes went incredibly wide. It was true. All the game said was that the Seaters sat on the seat and the Quizzers stood behind the podium. The rules only stated how the Seaters would get punished if the Quizzers answered incorrectly, but there was never a clear rule defining whether or not this was a team game. If she remembered correctly, the prior game information in the Creation Hall even had question marks on the "TEAM" setting.

Her eyes slowly gazed over at the owl. Her heart stopped when she saw a crooked grin on the host's face. While his face were covered with the mask, she could see a wild gleam of amusement sparkling in his gaze. The Owl chuckled with a low voice.

"Ah, smart!" the Owl exclaimed. "That's beautiful!" The Owl spun around and gestured his hands towards the one-eyed boy. "100 Points for wisdom!"

Ping!

Floating above his head, the red numbers "100" were highlighted. Eunbi clenched her teeth and curled her fingers.

Thank god Mingyu caught that, Eunbi thought.

"So how do we answer?" Jungkook asked, gesturing his chin towards the ones tied up in the chair.

"By stealing," Junyoung answered after calming down. He looked at the Owl in a sickly manner. "You're disgusting…"

"Hoot, hoot!" the Owl hooted. He looked back at Yoobin.

"Question Four!" the Owl exclaimed, finally continuing with the fourth question. Yoobin flinched.

"Focus!" Eunbi warned her.

"How many eyelids do owls have?" the host asked.

Yoobin opened to answer, but Dongmin shouted something else:

"Steal!" Dongmin yelled. The spotlight quickly turned to him. "The answer is three!"

Ping!

The "2" from the "200" changed to the number "3". Dongmin grinned, but stopped smiling when he saw Eunbi glare at him. Yoobin whimpered and panicked as the Owl swooped over to Junyoung's side. Without hesitation, he sliced off Junyoung's other ear. Once again. Junyoung screamed in pain, this time tears spilling out and mucus dripping from his nose. Both sides of his head were covered in blood.

"What the hell is this?" Junyoung sobbed. "I thought this was supposed to be a game…" He mumbled something before glaring at the Owl. "I'll sue you! I'll sue you and make sure you get the death penalty!"

"Sue who?" the Owl asked, laughing again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Yoobin chanted, feeling awfully guilty about this.

"God damn it. I can hardly hear," Junyoung muttered. "It hurts…"

"Don't steal unless she really doesn't know!" Eunbi scolded Dongmin. "You're hurting the president like this!"

"I can't afford to lose!" Dongmin hissed at her. "We don't know how many Timeticks we're going to lose. For all I know, it might be that we'll lose all our Timeticks!"

Eunbi grunted. He had a good point—an awfully good one.

"Eunha, are you ready?" the Owl asked.

"How many tries do I have left?" Eunbi asked.

"Look at your partner," the Owl said. "How many times did he get harmed?"

Once. In the eye, Eunbi thought. So even though we don't win together, his behavior still affects mine, just like how if I get something wrong, it'll hurt him. If he becomes reckless, then he'll ruin my tries. If I can't answer or get it wrong, then he gets stabbed somewhere or something gets cut off. This is pretty terrible.

"Question Five!" the Owl exclaimed. "What are baby owls called?"

"S-Steal!" Yoobin stuttered. With her hands trembling she looked at the masked man. "O-O-Owlets!"

400 points were delivered to Yoobin's podium. Eunbi narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything.

The Owl went over to Mingyu. Mingyu scowled and braced himself for the upcoming pain. Before he knew it, the host had ripped his right ear and his left. He howled in pain and watched the outer frame of his ear drop to the floor like a toy. He threw his head back and kept shaking his head, hoping to cool down the pain. Tears swelled up in his eyes, but he didn't dare to let them fall. He hissed and seethed his teeth, remaining silent.

"I thought it was 100 points if you steal and 200 if you answer correctly," Eunbi said.

"And I thought that it was only one part of my body that was going to be cut off for every question she doesn't answer," Mingyu snapped.

"But you didn't add an Evil Eye," the host pointed out. "For Binnie, she'll get more points for answering and can commit more harm towards the other players."

"What? That's not fair!" Dongmin protested.

"It's definitely fair. It's your fault for not playing enough and for not collecting enough Evil Eyes," the host replied.

"Mingyu, hang in there!" Eunbi exclaimed.

"Don't ing tell me to hang in there…Just ing answer something already!" Mingyu yelled. She didn't blame him for being frustrated. If she was in his spot, she would've been fed up, too.

"Question Six for Cha Eunwoo!" the host shouted. "How many degrees can an owl rotate their heads to either side?"

"135 degrees," Dongmin answered confidently. He now had 500 points in the system.

Eunbi grunted. "Why the do you guys know these useless facts?"

"It's called 'Trivia' for a reason," Dongmin said.

"Question Seven, Binnie," the host called. "What kind of owl species am I?"

"Steal!" Mingyu managed to scream. "Great Horned Owl! You're a ing Great. Horned. Owl! Give me my ing points!"

"You use a lot of foul language," the owl said, walking over to Junyoung and stabbing his right eye. Junyoung howled in pain.

Mingyu's "100" turned to "300". He sighed heavily, feeling faint and exhausted. 

Mingyu's eye shifted to the owl.

"I don't see your ing ears chopped off and an eye stabbed out. Don't tell me that I use a lot ing 'foul languages' if you're responsible for it," Mingyu rumbled to the owl. 

"I knew you delinquents were hard to handle," Junyoung murmured bitterly. "Cha Eunwoo was right. I should've just let you do your own stupid activites… This is probably your fault, too."

" off," Mingyu snapped. "I can hardly hear you enough right now!"

"The only reason your eye was stabbed out was because of you. You have no one to blame but yourself for this," Junyoung said in a low voice.

"I'm so ing glad I can't hear you," Mingyu said, "cause every ing word you say is bull!"

"Owl pellet," the Timehost corrected.

"Trivia is supposed to be fun! It's supposed to be educational!" Junyoung yelled. He glared at the host. "How could you think about doing this to us? You're a monster! A psychopath!"

"I'm flattered," the Owl said, "but must I remind you that this is a counter-clockwise game? It's not my fault that your terrible fate led you to this game." He turned back to the dark audience. "As of now, Cha Eunwoo is in the lead with 500 points! Binnie is following close behind with 400 points, and miraculously Mingyu is in the top three with 300 points! Seaters Jun and Jungkook have no points as well as Quizzer Eunha."

The game continued. Eunbi's answer was stolen by Mingyu himself, who answered correctly and managed to achieve a total of 500 points. When the two realized that Mingyu would be spared for stealing Eunbi's answer, she figured that Mingyu had every intentions to steal her questions from that point.

Dongmin, as usual, was able to answer his own questions. Jungkook was spared, untouched. At one point, he was glad that his partner was the smartest student in the school, but at the same time, he was getting anxious over how he could earn points to win. He didn't want to hurt anyone, but at the same time, he didn't really know any of the answers to all these random questions.

The game went for another round, starting with Yoobin. This time, the questions were more related about school subjects, specifically math. Yoobin obviously struggled and felt terrible until Junyoung stole the chance and answered for himself. The points were given to him, awarding him with 200 points. 

Eunbi's turn came. While Eunbi knew the answer, Mingyu stole it. He had absolutely no idea what the answer was, but he didn't care. He didn't trust Eunbi enough, especially since it felt like she wasn't even trying to answer. He got the answer wrong, and eventually had his other eye carved out. Now, he was blind and could barely hear properly. One more wrong answer from either him or Eunbi would kick the two out of the game.

Dongmin answered the twelfth question without a moment of hesitation. Jungkook sat still, smiling, clueless. 

By the end of the fifteenth question, Yoobin managed to get 800 points, Jun with 200 points, Eunbi finally achieving 100 points, Mingyu stuck at 500 points, Dongmin tied with Yoobin for 800 points, and Jungkook still with zero. 

There was a lot of tension between Yoobin and Dongmin. Both were almost to their goal. All Dongmin had to do was steal, and all Yoobin had to do was answer before Dongmin could steal her question. As for Eunbi, she knew that she was going to lose. Her goal was just to answer or get Mingyu to answer so that he wouldn't need to suffer anymore.

"This could be our last question for this game," the host said to the audience. There were loud complaints and whines throughout the darkness. The game had been so bloody and competitive, the players had forgotten that there was an audience lying in the dark. 

The host continued to talk to the audience members. While he spoke, Eunbi tried to grab the other Quizzers' attentions.

"Pst. Cha Eunwoo. Binnie," Eunbi whispered. The two looked over at her. Even though she was talking to them, her eyes were gazed at Mingyu. "If, by any chance, the question comes to me, don't steal it from me."

"But we're almost done with the game," Dongmin said in a small voice.

"I don't know how many Timeticks we'll lose, but I'm sure that if someone steals, Mingyu is going to lose a lot more points than any of us. His ears and eyes are gone, and I have a feeling that the last thing that's going to be cut off is his lips or tongue."

"He's a delinquent. He deserves it," Dongmin murmured.

"Just try to win," Eunbi told them, "as soon as possible. Mingyu and I aren't going to steal questions from any of you. We both understand that we can't afford to steal."

"You're speaking for someone you hardly know," Dongmin argued.

"Trust me." She narrowed her eyes at Mingyu, who was completely blind. "I know what he's thinking."

Dongmin was going to say something, but the host turned and walked over to the rest. The Owl curiously looked over at Mingyu, whose face was dripping with blood. Then, he looked at Eunbi, who gave him the same glare she had been giving him since the beginning of the game. He slowly slid over to Yoobin's side, and glanced at her.

"Question Sixteen," the Owl said slowly. He paused, and stared at Yoobin. Yoobin avoided the host's gaze. Before they knew it, the host spun over to Junyoung and directed his question towards the boy sitting on the yellow chair: "Who is responsible for starting the harassment and bullying of Binnie?"

The room went cold. Junyoung stared at the host, speechless. His lips quivered and he looked at Dongmin for a brief second. Dongmin stiffened and looked away. Junyoung quickly turned to the two other boys strapped to their seats. Mingyu remained silent while Jungkook stared at Junyoung with innocent and curious eyes. Even though Mingyu couldn't see or hear as well, he could sense that there was some sort of awkwardness in the room.

Eunbi wanted to steal and say that Jisoo was responsible, but the odd atmosphere and the long pause made her realize that there might be more to the answer than just the red-haired bully. She remained silent, not daring to risk Mingyu's life for an answer she wasn't a hundred percent sure.

No one was going to steal the question.

No one wanted to steal the question.

The timer buzzed. The host hooted and raised his bloody knife. Junyoung shut his eyes, bracing for the pain. Just like how his first eye was carved out, his last eye as stabbed multiple times before it was pulled out of his sockets. Junyoung howled in pain, but he didn't dare to say anything. A part of him was grateful for being blind at the moment. He didn't want to see Yoobin's facial expression.

"How disappointing. Everyone was looking forward to seeing the game end so quickly, right?" the host said, faking sympathy. The Owl looked at Eunbi. "You're turn. Question Seventeen."

Eunbi felt her heart race. Either she or Mingyu had to answer correctly, or else it would be game over for the two of them. She just hoped that Yoobin and Dongmin wouldn't say anything. Jungkook had been quiet the entire game, and Junyoung didn't seem like he was going to start talking any time soon.

Listen well, Mingyu, she wanted to say as she keenly opened her ears to the host.

"My question for you is… What is the greatest sin Eunha has ever done related to Timepiece?"

Eunbi felt her heart skip a beat for a moment. Her fingers curled and her whole body shook a little. She gave the host a clear hostile expression before answering his question:

"I tried to kill a Timepiece user in real life," Eunbi stated. Her words were clear, but there was a hint of guilt hidden beneath the layer of confidence. Everyone looked at her direction, completely shock. The only person who didn't react was Mingyu.

Eunbi knew why the host had asked her such a question. It wasn't a stupid question at all. In fact, for the host, it was probably a wise decision to ask such a personal question. At this point, she could tell that the host was trying to ruin her relationship with her temporary friends. Timepiece saw what she was planning, and they were trying to break it before the relationship could even build up.

"200 points have been added to your score! You now have a total of 300," the Timehost exclaimed, applauding Eunbi for answering truthfully.

"I know what you're trying to do," Eunbi told him.

"I'm just doing my job," the host said casually. He moved onto Dongmin. "Ready for our, again, possibly last question?"

"Yes, I am," Dongmin said, sighing. He just wanted to be done with the game. The scent of blood and the echoes of scream made him feel nauseous.

The host raised his microphone, which was dripping with blood from the end.

"Question Eighteen: Who was responsible for Binnie's death in Zombie Apocalypse?"

Dongmin stiffened again. His lips were sealed, his face guilt-ridden. Yoobin opened , completely lost. Jungkook's eyes widened when he realized that this could potentially be his first time getting his ear or eye cut off.

Jungkook raised his voice. "Stea—"

"Steal!" Yoobin yelled, her voice echoing in the room. All eyes were on her as she shook and looked at the ground. "C-Cha…Eun…woo…"

No one said anything.

So she was aware, Eunbi thought.

Dongmin had a look of sorrow and Yoobin looked away, avoiding his gaze, pretending that it was okay.

Ding!

1200 points were displayed on Yoobin's podium.

Confetti flew down from the ceiling as the audience clapped and cheered for Yoobin's necessary win. Yoobin looked at Mingyu and Junyoung with pitiful eyes. A portal appeared behind her. Her shackles unlocked itself. She hesitated at first, but slipped out when Eunbi encouraged her to leave.

Moments later, another portal appeared for the rest of them. Everyone was freed from their chains. Jungkook and Dongmin walked towards the center of the room. Dongmin went over to Junyoung and helped lead him to the center of the portal. Junyoung tried to pick up his ears and eyeballs that were on the floor, but Eunbi stopped him.

"Don't try to do that," she told him. "You'll get everything back when you go into the portal."

Junyoung nodded in a shaky manner. Dongmin guided the student body president into the portal. Jungkook slipped inside the portal after Eunbi walked over to Mingyu and grabbed his hand, leading him out of the game.

"So we lost?" Mingyu asked.

"Yeah," Eunbi said, nodding her head. "You did well."

"I knew I would," he said, grinning. She couldn't believe that he still had the courage to joke about the situation.

"Did it hurt?" she asked quietly.

"Hell yeah."

The two entered the portal, leaving the horrors of playing a counter-clockwise game behind them for now.

The moment Eunbi blinked, she found herself standing outside at the outdoor lunch tables. Everything was the same except for the fact that the sky was blood orange. Clearly the school had ended a long time ago and majority of the students had already left the building. She found Junyoung sitting on the table, horrified and baffled by what just happened. Eunbi quickly took out her phone and checked how many Timeticks she had.

< HELLO, EUNHA. YOU HAVE: 2 TIMETICKS. >

She let out a sigh of relief. The counter-clockwise game had only taken two points away. 

"Are you guys okay?" Eunbi asked. "Check your phone. Check how many Timeticks you have."

"We did," Jungkook said. "We're all at two Timeticks."

"Amazing," Eunbi murmured. She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we're all okay."

"'Okay?'" Junyoung whispered. He looked at her with dreadful eyes. "You think we're okay after all that?"

Eunbi remained tense. The group quickly heard foot steps running towards them. They turned and found Mingyu, who had ran out of breath just to find them.

"Are you guys okay?" Mingyu asked. "I still have two Timeticks left."

"Same for all of us," Eunbi answered him. "We're all fine. We're still in the game."

"Is this what all the games are like?" Junyoung asked, his voice hoarse.

"It was a counter-clockwise game. Those games are more messed-up," Eunbi said, trying to change the topic.

"So there are games worse than that out there?" Junyoung asked. He stood up and stared at her. "I played Trivia before! It wasn't like this! It was harmless! A good game! This? This was insane! I-It was crazy! It was so psychotic, I still want to throw up! I still don't feel like I have eyes and ears attached to me!"

"It's true. The effects feel pretty real," Mingyu said casually, touching his ears.

"How are you so…so calm? Is that a proper reaction when you see someone all bloody and chained up?" Junyoung cried out.

Eunbi grimaced. "There's nothing I can do. I can't comfort you or anything because there's no reason for me to comfort you. This isn't just a game. I told you this multiple times—"

“I’m going to tell them,” Dongmin said out of the blue. The group went silent.

"What?" Eunbi asked.

“I’m going to tell the principal about Timepiece.”

Junyoung snapped his hands. "Great idea—"

“Woah, woah, woah.” Eunbi stepped in front of Dongmin and pushed him back, preventing him from heading towards the principal's office. “I am not letting you snitch on us.”

“What do you mean? You were there! You were the witness!” Dongmin exclaimed. "You saw how crazy those games can get! Those can do some ridiculous mental damage to us in real life!"

“Did you read the ing contract? I assumed you did based on the fact that you gave yourself an alias, unlike those two idiots,” Eunbi said, referring to Jungkook and Mingyu. “Rule number two: Any reports given to a non-Timepiece user about Timepiece will result in an immediate loss of the user’s Rights to Existence.”

“I know, but it’s better risking one life than many more,” Dongmin reasoned.

“You don’t understand the gravity the situation, do you?” Eunbi asked, scoffing. “Do you know what ‘Rights to Existence’ is? It’s your life. By telling the authorities of this school, you are giving up your life to Timepiece. They—Timepiece—get to make the decisions for you. Your fate, destiny, dreams—it's all in their hands. Your emotions, mentality—it is all up for them to determine.”

“Can’t we sue them? They never specified anything about trading our lives for these games.”

“Sue them? Sue them?” Eunbi faked a laugh. “You think there’s an actual company running this thing? Dongmin, we’re talking about a game that can bend reality to their own will. A game that can displace us at a random time and space in real life. You think a human can judge the will of a god?”

“I don’t see how you can keep calm and quiet about this! Eunbi, you’re basically encouraging the act of killing people!” Dongmin cried out. "A good citizen would be willing to bring this up on behalf of the safety of others!"

“Oh, so this is about being a hero, huh? About being on the 'good side' of the spectrum? Well, let me tell you this: this game is not looking for a main character or a hero. This game is to see us become savages. It wants to test us; it wants to know how much we value our lives, how much we are willing to fight for our existence and for our purpose in life,” Eunbi explained. “If you think telling the authorities will help you play the role of a 'good citizen' and make you look good…Well, then you never belonged to this game in the first place.” She turned her body. “Fine, go ahead and tell them. I don’t care. Mention our names if you have to. I’m going to deny it. But I’ll let you know, rules exist for a reason. Don’t be stupid and break them.”

She let the group, fuming with anger. 

The rest looked at Dongmin, who seemed a little bit hesitant now after she gave him a full lecture. 

"Are you really going to tell the principal?" Mingyu asked.

"I have to as the student body's vice president," Dongmin said in a dutiful manner.

"Well, I'm going to follow Eunbi's lead. Besides, they won't believe you if you drop my name. People in this school don't believe in me anyway," Mingyu pointed out. He started to walk away.

"I'm joining them, too," Jungkook said. He followed Mingyu, trying to be friendly with the troublemaker again.

"Yoobin, we need as many people to back us up," Dongmin said. "Will you support us?"

Yoobin bit her bottom lip. "T-The daughter of the principal is someone who hates me. I don't think he'll want to believe in my words…"

She gave the two boys an apologetic look, then walked away, exhausted.

Dongmin exhaled through his nose. Junyoung placed his hand on his shoulder in support.

"Let's go," Junyoung said. "We have student council stuff to do."

"Yeah, you're right," Dongmin replied, nodding.

The two boys walked away from the table. They entered the building, preparing to fulfill their jobs as student council members.

On their way to the principal's office, a classmate had stopped Dongmin and asked him to deliver a stack of paper to another classroom. Dongmin had hesitated at first, but he agreed after Junyoung encouragd him to go. For a brief moment, Dongmin parted ways with Junyoung, who went to the principal's office alone. 

After a good ten minutes, Dongmin finally delivered the papers and started to head back to the principal's office. When he was almost there, he saw Junyoung leaving the office. Surprised by how fast Junyoung had left the office, he quickly approached the student body president.

“Junyoung!” Dongmin exclaimed. “Did you tell them? You came out so fast!”

“Yeah. I just told them about Timepiece,” Junyoung said. 

Dongmin stared at him. “You did? Already?”

“Yeah. Of course, I only mentioned your name. I felt like if I mentioned Mingyu’s name, they wouldn’t believe him. Jungkook and Yoobin were part of my back-up plan, but since they already told us that they’ll deny it like Eunbi, I decided not to mention them,” Junyoung said. “They’ll talk to you about this tomorrow since school is over. They said to drop the student council activities for now and head back home early. They want to get a thorough report of this by tomorrow morning.”

Dongmin smiled. “I knew it. You really are the perfect student body president.”

Junyoung laughed. “Well, frankly, I don’t believe in this ‘Rights to Existence’ stuff. I should be the one to choose how to live my life, right? I mean, how do I know that I haven’t given up my ‘Rights to Existence’ yet?”

“Good point,” Dongmin said, chuckling along with him. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure. You'll definitely hear about me tomorrow…”

A strange grin appeared on Junyoung's face as he turned and walked away from the vice president in an odd, puppet-like manner.

The next day, everyone was instructed to head towards the auditorium. Students swarmed into the room, wondering what was going on. Dongmin was following the students while he was trying to look for the student body president. When he believed that it was time for him to settle inside, he gave up and took a seat at the edge of the row.

Everyone waited, chattering nonstop until the principal of the school came forth to the stage. In seconds, the students kept silent in respect to the higher authoratative figure. The principal cleared his throat, then looked at the audience with a sour expression. He first thanked the students for taking the time to come into the auditorium for a last-minute announcement before he continued with his speech.

“…We have very, very upsetting news,” the principal stated. “Following the suicide of Kim Jiho, our student body president, Lee Junyoung, has also passed.”

Loud whispers emerged from the crowd.

Dongmin felt his heart stop. His brown eyes widened. His skin paled and he looked over at the principal. He was so shocked, he almost forgot how to breathe. Something was wrong. Something was definitely, definitely wrong.

He searched for Eunbi in the crowd, but failed to spot her.

“We would like to inform everybody that we take bullying and harassment very seriously in this school,” the principal said.

Dongmin wondered where this entire speech was going. When he looked around some more, he finally met Eunbi's eyes. She gave him a cold gaze.

The principal continued. “Yesterday, Lee Junyoung has informed us of a game that might have affected Jiho’s suicide. However, this morning, when we received Junyoung’s suicidal letter and journal, he confessed to have lied about the game’s existence. We checked, and we confirm that the game he was talking about doesn’t exist.”

That’s because the game doesn’t show up on a normal application store! It doesn’t exist unless the user is invited! Dongmin exclaimed in his head. How could Junyoung not include that part?

“In addition, his journal revealed that he was behind the reason for Jiho’s suicide. In his suicide note, he has written—in detail—about ually harassing Jiho and bullying her.” 

The principal started to describe every disgusting ual act written in the letter. The entire student body listened passionately with hate. Their minds were tainted with cruel images of their previously beloved student body president torturing an innocent female student. 

“Students, I urge you that if you are a victim, please reach out for us…”

Dongmin couldn’t believe his ears. Junyoung was the kindest, most responsible student he knew. Junyoung was a righteous man, the type of guy who wouldn't hesitate to throw himself into the street to save a stray cat. There was no way that Jiho and Junyoung were related in anyway, especially in such a disgusting manner.

“…For now, we will dismiss the students. Classes are canceled for today. Please return home peacefully while keeping in mind what I have said,” the principal stated.

Mutters whispered in the room. One by one, the students got up and walked out the door, following the staffs' instructions on how to leave safely.

Dongmin got up from his seat. He pushed against the crowd and ran towards the stage, hoping to talk to the principal. The principal had it all wrong. Someone had to tell him. Someone had to tell him the truth—!

Someone grabbed his arm when he reached the stairs. Dongmin turned, noticing that it was Eunbi.

“Let it go,” Eunbi urged him.

“T-This isn’t right. This isn’t Junyoung! Junyoung wouldn’t do that kind of thing! He suffered through that game! He doesn't deserve this! Why would he say that he harassed Jiho when it's a lie? Why would he write that he was responsible for her suicide when it's all a lie? He's not the kind of guy who would do that!”

“And he didn’t,” Eunbi said. She grabbed his wrist tighter. “I told you that this is what happens when you give up your Rights to Existence.”

“I thought you died!”

“I said you give your life—literally, your entire life. Your being, your existence. I told you that they get to rewrite your story and give you a brand new ending. You can’t choose your ending once you give up your Rights to Existence,” Eunbi reminded him. “This is the ending Timepiece has chosen for Junyoung. He snitched and broke the rule.”

“T-This isn’t fair!” Dongmin exclaimed. “I-I’m going to fix it! I’m going to prove it—“

“You can’t prove it,” Eunbi said. “Timepiece probably used him to make sure that any evidence the cops and detectives find, it will prove his new ending: that he's a bully and an advocate of ual harrassment.”

“He…He wasn’t…He's not like that…He was supposed to be a person you could look up to,” Dongmin whispered. His legs were about to give up on him until he heard an adult call his name. He turned. His eyes landed on the principal and the teacher who was the student council's advisor. They approached him quickly like they had something to offer him.

“Dongmin, we’d like you speak to you,” the principal said. He cleared his throat. “Normally, we would hold elections again for the student council's president position. However, we’re in the middle of the year, and we don’t want to distract the students from their exams. That’s why, we were wondering if you would take it?”

"Take…what?" Dongmin asked, choking on his words.

"The position of student body president. Frankly, that would leave the student body vice president position open unless someone else wants to take it. However, we feel that it'll be fine if there is no vice president for the remaining year," the principal explained.

Dongmin was stunned. Student body president? That title belonged to Junyoung! The kind, gracious Junyoung!

He was about to reject the offer until Eunbi touched his shoulders and pulled him away from the adults for a second.

“If you really want to be a hero, accept it,” Eunbi whispered in a low voice. “If you really want to continue Jun's legacy, take the offer. Be the person he yearned to be, but only do it if you really feel guilty about the whole thing.”

"It's Junyoung," Dongmin corrected.

"Not anymore. Junyoung is the guy who drove Jiho to commit suicide. Jun is the one who sacrificed his life in attempts to save people from Timepiece," she said.

Dongmin felt weak. Tears threatened to slip out of his eyes, but he held them back. He took a deep, shaky breath and turned to the principal. Staring directly into the authoritative figure's eyes, he broke into a smile and extended his hand.

"It is my pleasure to take the title of student body president for the remaining term," Dongmin said politely.

The principal smiled warmly and shook his hand, preparing to make this announcement in a mass e-mail.