“Mi Joo, meet me in the gym. I have something to tell you,” Hui Ju texts.

Break begins. Mi Joo comes out of class, and she receives the text from her best friend. Mi Joo reads it and closes her phone. She heads to the gym. When Mi Joo is near the door, she hears a loud thud. Mi Joo slowly walks to the door and takes a peek inside.

“Hui Ju,” Mr. Hong says. “Don’t be like this.”

Mr. Hong is the math teacher. Students adore him because he is very easy going, and when he teaches the materials, he does so in a way that everyone understands.

“What do you want me to do,” Hui Ju asks.

“Turn a blind eye for me just once,” Mr. Hong pleads.

“Why? What are you going to do if I don’t?”

“Don’t push my buttons,” he threatens.

“And you shouldn’t push mine. What you did is wrong.”

“I know, but I had no choice.”

“I have no choice either. What you did is wrong, and I’m going to report you.”

Mr. Hong lifts his hand.

Mi Joo takes a step towards them. She is ready to go help her friend, but someone stops her.

“What are you doing,” a deep voice asks.

Mi Joo turns around, and her fellow upperclassman is standing in front of her.

“Nothing,” she replies.

“Are you looking at something fun,” he asks.

“No.”

He walks in and looks around.

“There’s nothing,” he says.

Mi Joo is surprised, so she walks in, and he is right. Hui Ju and Mr. Hong is no longer there.

“Where did they go,” Mi Joo asks.

“What,” he asks.

“Nothing.” Mi Joo turns around and walks away. She turns her phone on and texts Hui Ju. “Where are you?”

Hui Ju doesn’t reply.

Class starts again, and Mi Joo still haven’t receive any text messages from Hui Ju.

“Where are you,” Mi Joo texts Hui Ju. She’s secretly doing this underneath her desk, so the teacher doesn’t see her. “Did something happen,” Mi Joo texts. She puts her phone away and pays attention to the lecture.

After school, Hui Ju still hasn’t replied to Mi Joo.

“Hui Ju, text me. I’m worried,” Mi Joo texts.

However, Hui Ju doesn’t text Mi Joo back even when Mi Joo is back in school the next day.

Mi Joo is impatiently waiting for Hui Ju to text back. This makes it hard for her to concentrate in class.

Ms. Baek, the physical education teacher, comes running in.

“Hui Ju,” Ms. Baek heaves a deep breath. “Hui Ju is found dead on top of the roof.”

“What,” the teacher asks.

Mi Joo jumps up from her desk and runs out of the classroom. Everyone else follows. Mi Joo runs to the rooftop, and sees policemen and paramedics there already. Some teachers are also there. Mi Joo runs over to Hui Ju and falls down. She immediately cries and grabs Hui Ju’s hand.

“What happened,” Mi Joo cries. “Who did this to you?”

Mi Joo’s homeroom teacher walks over to her and pulls her up.

Mi Joo tries to wiggle free, but her homeroom teacher holds onto her tight.

“Hui Ju,” Mi Joo cries.

The paramedics put her onto a gurney and puts a white cloth over her. They start to roll her away, but Mi Joo grabs onto the cloth and pulls it off. She sees that Hui Ju’s neck is purple and bruised. Her teacher pulls her back, and the paramedics put the cover back on. They roll Hui Ju away.

Class is canceled for that evening.

The funeral for Hui Ju is in progress. Mi Joo and Hui Ju’s parents are with Hui Ju for the entire time. All of the classmates come to show respect for Hui Ju, but they never stayed for long. After the funeral is over, Mi Joo asks Hui Ju’s parents if they know anything about Hui Ju’s death.

“The police said it was murder,” Hui Ju’s dad says. “But they don’t know who could be the culprit.”

Mi Joo thinks back to when she disappeared with Mr. Hong. She suspects him, but she doesn’t have evidence for it.

“Did Hui Joo come back home yesterday,” Mi Joo asks.

“No. She never did come home,” Hui Ju’s dad says. “The culprit probably held her captive.”

That makes Mi Joo suspect Mr. Hong even more.

The next day at school, Mi Joo heads straight to Mr. Hong’s office.

“Mi Joo,” he says with a smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I have a question for you, Mr. Hong,” Mi Joo says. She puts on her serious face.

“What is it,” he asks charmingly.

“Where were you yesterday during break?”

“I was in the teacher’s lounge.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course. I was having a snack with Ms. Baek.”

“You sure you weren’t somewhere else.”

“I’m sure.”

Mi Joo nods her head and turns around.

“Of course he won’t tell me the truth,” she tells herself. “What culprit does?”

The day goes by as usual, but when break comes, Mi Joo talks to Ms. Baek.

“Were you having a snack with Mr. Hong yesterday in the teacher’s lounge,” Mi Joo asks her.

“Yes. I did,” Ms. Baek says.

“Is Mr. Hong telling the truth then,” Mi Joo asks herself.

“Why do you ask,” Ms. Baek asks.

“No reason. Thank you.”

Mi Joo walks away. She goes outside and sits on the ground underneath a tree.

“I’ll make sure to find the culprit,” Mi Joo says. “I promise.”

She hears someone sit next to her, so her head turns.

“Lonely,” he asks her.

It is her upperclassman from before.

“I heard about your friend,” he continues. “I’m sorry.”

She looks into the distant.

“You look lonely without her. If you don’t mind, we can be friends,” he says.

“No thank you.” Mi Joo stands up and walks away.

“Wait!”

She keeps walking, so he stands up and runs to her. He grabs her wrist. She turns around and yanks her wrist out of his.

“What are you doing,” she yells.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She walks away with a frown on her face.

“What a freak,” she tells herself.

Mi Joo walks in and heads to Mr. Hong’s office, but she is hiding herself. She wants to follow him to see if he will confess. When he does, she will immediately report him to the police. When Mr. Hong makes a move, Mi Joo follows him quietly. If he finds out that she is following him, she will be in trouble. Mr. Hong walks to the copying machine room, and Mi Joo follows him.

Ms. Baek is in there too.

“Long day,” Ms. Baek asks.

“Yeah, but it’s fine since the kids keep me entertain,” Mr. Hong says.

“I’m so happy.” She touches his arm. “You got the job done without anyone knowing.”

“Be quiet, what if someone hears you.”

“Alright.” She smiles happily.

Mi Joo turns around.

“The job,” Mi Joo asks herself. “Is this about Hui Ju? Then that means that Ms. Baek is in with Mr. Hong. That can’t be.”

After school, Mi Joo heads to Hui Ju’s home and asks her parents about Hui Ju’s cellphone.

“We have it here,” Hui Ju’s mom says. She hands the phone over to Mi Joo, and Mi Joo takes it. She opens the phone and looks through Hui Ju’s phone, but there is nothing on it.

“Hui Ju told me that she has a diary. May I see the diary?”

“Why do you want to see it?”

“I’m looking for clues. I have an idea about who murdered Hui Ju, but I need evidence.”

“Who do you think it is?”

“Mr. Hong. Our math teacher. The physical education teacher might be on this too”

“Why do you think that?”

“He was with Hui Ju the last time I saw her, and I overheard Mr. Hong and Ms. Baek talking.”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“But they were acting suspicious. He was asking her to turn a blind eye for him, and she kept saying she wasn’t going to. It was as if they were threatening each other, and Ms. Baek said she was happy that Mr. Hong got the job done”

“She was acting a little suspicious every time she came home. Sure. I’ll give you her diary.”

Mi Joo looks through Hui Ju’s diary.

“March 18th, 20XX. Today, I was walking to the principal's office, and I saw Mr. Hong in there. He was acting suspicious, but he told me he wasn’t doing anything, so I went on with my day. March 22nd, 20XX. Today, I overheard Mr. Hong talking to Ms. Baek. It turns out that Mr. Hong broke into the system to change the wages for the teachers. My only guess is that he raised his wage. I was going to tell the principle, but he saw me, and he started to threaten me not to tell. April 3rd 20XX. Mr. Hong is getting more aggressive. He keeps threatening me. He even gives me threatening calls and texts messages.”

Mi Joo stops reading and picks up Hui Ju’s phone. She checks the messages, and just like Hui Ju wrote, Mr. Hong did send her threatening messages.

“You better not tell,” Mr. Hong texts. “If you do, I’ll make sure you fail the grade.” But the threatens get worse. “If you tell, I’ll make sure to kill you. No one will know how you died.”

“How awful,” Mi Joo says. She puts the phone down and starts reading the diary again.

“April 7th, 20XX. I haven’t told anyone yet. Not even my close friend, but I will tell her tomorrow. I have to at least tell someone. I can’t bare the threats anymore.”

“She never got the chance to tell me because of Mr. Hong,” Mi Joo says. She pities her best friend.

Mi Joo takes everything and brings it to Hui Ju’s parents.

“It was Mr. Hong,” Mi Joo says. “He’s the one who murdered Hui Ju. I have the evidence right here.” She shows them Hui Ju’s diary and phone, and they take it. “I say let’s go report it to the police.”

So they do.

“This is evidence,” the police asks Hui Ju’s dad.

“Yes,” he replies.

The police looks through the diary and phone.

“This does show that your daughter was being threatened,” the police says. “But it does not show that Mr. Hong actually killed her. However, this will lead us to the murderer. Thank you.”