Regardless of the happenings going around, recess was still recess, and in order to not draw any attention to themselves, they were forced to socialize with the other boys.

However, for Wonsik and Sanghyuk, it was a chance to leave it all behind, and be normal high school boys for a change. 

As they engaged in a lively game of basketball with the other boys from their grade, Teacher Lee watched them from the staff room window.

"Is something wrong, Teacher Lee?" 

She turned to the other staff teacher who had approached her. "Uh...nothing, nothing, Teacher Hong," she quickly said.

He peeked out of the window to see what she was staring at. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the group of boys happily engaging in play. "Why are you looking at those students playing?" he inquired.

When she didn't answer, he followed her gaze to land on Wonsik who had taken the ball and Sanghyuk running ahead and jumping to ask him to pass him the ball. "What about those boys?" he asked.

After a little while she caved. "Don't you think there's something off with those boys?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. "They seem like normal teenagers to me."

"No, not like that," she said.

"What's bothering you?" he asked.

She sighed. "I may be wrong, but I have a hunch that something is wrong."

"A hunch?" he asked. "You're basing your suspicion of two innocent students on a hunch?"

"I just...something feels off," she told him. "I don't know what, and it may also be nothing, but I feel like something's off."

He was now concerned. "Have you been working too hard, Teacher Lee?" he asked. "Maybe you should approach the Principal to give you a couple of days off?"

"I'm absolutely fine, Teacher Hong," she snapped. "Something's off, and I know it. I can't prove it, and I can't explain it, but I know it."

Sanghyuk and Wonsik paused near Hongbin and Taekwoon's classroom when they saw Hongbin leaning against the wall, his eyes on Taekwoon talking to a girl a little way away.

"Huh, that's..." Sanghyuk was surprised when he recognized the girl in question.

The two drew close to Hongbin, who but acknowledged them with a slight smile. At that moment, the girl waved goodbye to Taekwoon and left. Taekwoon turned around and returned to the three of them.

"So what did Woori want?" Hongbin asked.

"Wait, you know Go Woori?" Sanghyuk blurted out.

He then realized that he probably shouldn't as the three turned to look at him with questioning gazes. "The real question should be how you know Go Woori," Wonsik said.

The youngest shrank under the gazes of the other three. "Uh...we...that...uh...we met on the roof..."

"The roof?" Wonsik asked, narrowing his eyes.

Hongbin shook his head slightly and turned back to Taekwoon. "So what did she want?"

Taekwoon looked up to Hongbin. "She asked me why I hadn't come around for a while." He then chuckled lightly. "Apparently, he's been missing me."

Wonsik chuckled. "Makes sense that he'd miss you," he said. "So what did you tell her?"

"I told her that I'd come around this evening," Taekwoon said.

"Wait, wait," Sanghyuk asked. "What's going on?"

For once, Hongbin took to explaining. "Go Woori's been an old friend of Taekwoon's," he said. "He walks her dog after school."

Sanghyuk furrowed his brows in confusion. "But...I've seen nothing of that sort since I came here."

"Yeah, because with the threat of demonic spirits there's always time to go walk a friend's dog, isn't there?" Taekwoon said sarcastically. 

He turned back to Hongbin. "Anyway, I have to go now. You'll keep an eye on Kim Namjoon for me, won't you?"

Hongbin nodded. "I'll keep an eye on him, so don't worry. Go!" He ushered Taekwoon away.

Sanghyuk turned to Wonsik. "What was that about?"

Wonsik shrugged and sighed heavily. "Taekwoon-hyung thinks that his Class Monitor is the next victim," he said. 

"And what do you think?" Sanghyuk asked him. 

"We all have our own theories," Wonsik said. "According to me, it's more like a matter of chance."

"Meaning?"

Wonsik put up his finger. "The first victims, our families, taken off the board." He then put up his second finger. "The second victim, Kang Minhyuk, had little to no relation to any of us. All he had done was approach Taekwoon-hyung for some study notes, yet the hellhounds took him off the board as well." He put up his third finger. "The third round of victims, those three cousins. Their relation? They almost raised Hongbin-hyung and Taekwoon-hyung. They got taken off the board too."

He looked at Sanghyuk. "What do you see in this?"

Sanghyuk thought about it for a while, staring at Wonsik fingers, his mind running through all possibilities. "There's...no pattern...is there?" he slowly asked.

Wonsik looked at him silently. "I mean, it seems like the people closest to us are targets, but then Kang Minhyuk breaks that pattern," Sanghyuk continued. 

Wonsik nodded. "So you're saying that almost anyone we even talk to could be a target?" Sanghyuk asked.

Wonsik shrugged. "I guess so, yes."

"But we're students," Sanghyuk pointed out. "We interact with hundreds of people every day!"

"Exactly."

Wonsik's words left a cold chill in the air as Sanghyuk took a step back. He turned his head a bit to see the numbers of students passing by him. He couldn't recognize many faces, since he was new, but he knew that Hongbin and Taekwoon, as seniors, probably knew at least half of them. They probably socialized with them the entire day.

There were so many people to choose from.

"It's like we're being served on a silver platter," he said, his voice choking up.

Wonsik nodded. "We're all just grapes right for the picking."

"And they get to have their pick."

Sanghyuk felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, pushing him down. 

So many people. How could they know who was the one? How could they protect them all?

"I don't know, Sanghyuk-ah, I don't know..." Wonsik slowly said, as if he had just read the younger's mind.

Hongbin bought himself a banana milk, keeping a watchful eye on Kim Namjoon, who was busy paying for his own strawberry milk and some ramen. 

Kwanghee, the clerk billing him, looked over. "Is something happening?" he asked Hongbin in a low voice.

Hongbin turned to him, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you so curious?" he asked.

The younger shrugged. "It's just that you were acting like something was going to happen to him, I thought something was was going on." He smiled a big wide smile. 

Hongbin gave a light chuckle. "What are you talking about?" 

Kwanghee gestured to his own eyes. "You just had this really intense look in your eyes," he said. "Kind of...like...those actors in action movies." He snapped his fingers. "Like Tom Cruise!"

Hongbin could honestly say he'd never heard that ever, in his whole life. "T-Tom Cruise?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Kwanghee said, excitedly. "Like in Mission Impossible!"

Hongbin lightly hit him on the head with his milk. "You've gone crazy, yeah, you've totally gone nuts working here, haven't you?" he asked. 

Kwanghee's smile didn't fade. "You can't fool me, hyung," he said. "An action movie addict can always see right through people."

"Just take your change," Hongbin said, trying hard (and failing) to hide his smile. He placed the money on the counter and turned his head to find Kim Namjoon, only to find him gone. 

"He must be outside, if you're looking for him," Kwanghee helpfully offered. 

Hongbin smiled at him. "Thanks," he said. "But seriously, get some help." He playfully swatted the younger's head before stepping outside, and finding Kim Namjoon digging into his ramen at a table nearby.